So many stories landed today that some will have to wait. Tonight’s news, though, boils down to Republican attempts to retake control of the government in the 2022 elections…and, if Trump has his way, even earlier.
I have another bone to pick with the media. Why was the blonde girl's disappearance national news? Why was her disappearance so much more important than all the native women and black women that have gone missing and even died? I want to thank Joy Reed for asking this question on her show and sharing stories of some of the native and black women who have gone missing.
Thank you Cathy - on that note, please accept this associated note:
Have you heard of a court case called Brackeen v. Haaland? If you’ve followed our communications for any length of time, you likely recognize one of those names. Indeed, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland — the first Native Cabinet secretary in U.S. history — is already under legal attack. And it probably won’t surprise you that the powerful entities behind this threat include the State of Texas and lawyers representing Big Oil.
But it’s not just Secretary Haaland being targeted. The suit, which seeks to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act, directly targets Native children and families. And because of the specific legal argument in play, it could also mean the end of tribal mineral rights, gaming revenues, Indian law as we know it, and ultimately our sovereignty as Indigenous nations. It’s not an overstatement to say our entire future could be at stake with a single decision — and that choice will now be made by a conservative-majority Supreme Court.
PLEASE READ OUR COMPREHENSIVE BLOG ON THIS CASE TO LEARN MORE:
From there, immediately take action by signing and widely sharing our petition to President Joe Biden and Department of Justice attorneys. Tell them it’s absolutely critical they protect Native children and safeguard Indigenous rights!
Right now — even as I drive from South Dakota to Minnesota in support of my Indigenous relatives fighting the Line 3 pipeline — the high court is deciding whether or not to hear this case. We will keep you updated every step of the way. This may well be the most important decision the Supreme Court has ever made in relation to Native justice. Please help us spread the word and stop this unconscionable attack on our Indigenous communities.
Tell President Biden and the Department of Justice: defend Native children and families, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and Secretary Haaland with everything they’ve got.
This one really caught my eye: ICWA of 1975 was a huge step toward protecting native children; I worked in child welfare all my working life and we dedicated many hours and personnel to insure that any tribal associations/links were fully investigated before any final placements were made. It had opened my eyes as a young social worker to the devastation the native communities had faced through the years when children were removed from their homes and no attempts to return them were made, based on, of course, “best interest”.
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 countered the despicable history of U.S. government policy of deceptively or forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families—state sponsored cultural genocide. Children adopted into white Christian families had their ancestry erased. Children sent to Indian boarding schools had their ancestry, culture, and language beaten out of them. Many were physically and/or sexually abused—and killed.
I, too, followed through on joining the Lakota People’s Law Project. And learned that a great museum is opening this weekend in Oklahoma: First Americans Museum.
Since my spouse has Lakota ancestry, we receive lots of info from this organization and also from his many relatives. Now Noem (the Gnome) is trying to influence what is taught in social studies classes in SD.....another attempt to hide the loathsome history of the nation's interaction with indigenous people. I am happy to read here the response to the post above with membership and donations.
In another story from Oregon, last weekend members of the party of death were at the state capitol building protesting the two things that actually help with the virus. Three young people were there trying to film. First, some female called them commies and then the intimidation brigade appeared and forced them into traffic on the street that runs by the building. Oh yeah, very fine people/s.
Thank you Kathleen, I have long had a strong sense of destiny. I think you may have just told me what it has to be. Are you Lakota? My destiny is somehow linked with the Oglala Lakota. Although I am not Native American, my family history is linked to the Oglala. I will definitely go study this!
Thank you too Cathy - I am sure your commitment will be welcomed ... no, I am not of the Lakota lineage ... born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I descend from the invasive Anglo-Saxon species ... still, feel native to the region ... so full of love for these forests and fields, rivers and streams, majestic mountains and ever changing wild skies of the Salish Sea ... and so utterly appalled by the massive devastating footprint of what we call "progress" ... I am great-full for the leadership of first nations people to address these problems by civilized means - a guiding light, and stark difference from the methods of dominance and control characteristic of the murderous, rapist, self-serving ways of "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE" ....
Thank you Stuart ... I feel the least we can do is keep informed, spread the word, pressure our congressional reps and contribute whatever we can to support those on the front lines of these challenges - the real American People ... and, by the way ... STOP LINE 3:
... and ..., this webinar is happening today, Sep 21, 2021 11:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada):
The Urgent Need for an Amazon Exclusion Policy // La necesidad urgente de una política de exclusión en la Amazonia
The Amazon is critical to global climate regulation. The continued financing of industrial oil and gas activity in the region from major European and American banks is pushing the rainforest over the brink. Indigenous leaders and environmental activists are now calling on banks to immediately adopt an Amazon Exclusion policy: a commitment to end financing for any oil and gas activity in the Amazon biome, in line with the need for a global shift out of fossil fuels.
Join them to learn about how they are securing urgent adoption of an Amazon Exclusion policy from the world’s leading financial institutions.
On the call, we’ll be joined by leaders of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, investigative researchers, and climate campaigners. Together, we’ll discuss the need for financial institutions to commit to ending financing for any oil and gas extraction in the Amazon ― and we’ll share what you can do to help.
The Amazon is home to thousands of Indigenous communities, provides habitat for around 10% of the world’s known species and is absolutely critical to global climate regulation. Yet, continued financing of oil and gas extraction in the Amazon, by megabanks like Chase and CitiBank, is causing massive deforestation and pushing the Amazon toward the brink.
... I posted this last week - might have gotten lost on the shuffle of other concerns ... pretty sure it refers to the above mentioned issue:
9/8/2021
I’m writing to you as the leader of more than 500 Indigenous nations across the Amazon to ask for your support.
Days ago, I left my home, my family, and my mother, the Amazon rainforest, to attend the world’s biggest conservation summit and deliver an urgent call to protect at least half the planet, including 80% of the Amazon.
We MUST protect the forests, rivers, and oceans that sustain us all, from the Amazon to Africa and Indonesia. Our survival depends on it.
But too many of our leaders are still blinded by short-term political compromises -- refusing to stop our forests from burning, our rivers from dying, and thousands and thousands of species going extinct.
So we’re taking a stand. We’re only a handful of indigenous leaders here, but if millions across the world back us, we can wake them up!
So join me now, and I will use my speech to governments to deliver our voices in the heart of the negotiations, urging them to protect our homelands and at least half the Earth -- before it's too late:
My people have defended the Amazon for generations. But it's not just the Amazon -- Indigenous communities are responsible for protecting 80% of the world's biodiversity. Without our wisdom, our customary practices and our dedication to Mother nature, life on Earth is at greater risk -- day and night, we are risking our lives to defend what's left of nature.
That's why I refuse to go back to my home with empty promises from our governments.
This is a chance for us to create a beautiful, new relationship with nature, honouring the great web of life, on which we are all entirely dependent. Humanity is driving the next mass extinction, which means we can stop it -- if we all act together.
This is the first time we, Indigenous people, have a voice and a vote at the IUCN Congress -- and I will fight tooth and nail to ensure our leaders hear the people and the planet speaking through them.
Add you name now, and help us reach 3 million people backing the call to save nature, while we still can:
We, the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, have a long history with Avaaz. This community has been instrumental in our fight to protect the world's biggest rainforest, home to more than 500 Indigenous nations. We are stronger together, hand in hand, and now we have a unique chance to deliver a joint message in the corridors of power. Join now.
With hope and determination,
Gregorio Mirabal, General Coordinator of the COICA (Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin), together with Avaaz
Stop Line 3! Thank God for Native people’s dedication. And thank you Kathleen, for highlighting the Lakota People’s Law Project. Great organization doing seriously important work. Mni Waconi. Water is Life.
We're sorry that you were not able to attend The Urgent Need for an Amazon Exclusion Policy // La necesidad urgente de una política de exclusión en la Amazonia.
“The banks that finance this destruction are complicit in what is a genocidal threat for us, and an existential threat for all of humanity and our planet.”– Marlon Vargas, president of CONFENIAE.
It's time for a mass exit from Amazon oil and gas. Each bank that finances or invests in oil and gas from the rainforest plays a vital role in ending its destruction, and its impacts on Indigenous communities. These are the key elements of the Amazon Exclusion Policy and Exit Strategy:
-An immediate commitment (by the end of 2021 at the latest) to not finance or invest in the expansion of any oil or gas activities in the Amazon Biome.
-A commitment to end, by 2025, financing and investment for any and all companies currently engaged in oil or gas activities, for the purpose of facilitating the responsible wind-down of operations.
-A commitment to exit all loans, letters of credit, and revolving credit facilities for all traders actively trading oil or gas originating in the Amazon Biome by the end of 2022.
Learn more about we're going to end amazon crude here:
I too live in the PNW and I never cease to be amazed by how, in a relatively short period of time, white people have managed to destroy nearly everything all over the nation. To me the earth is sacred and as a gardener of nearly 50 years on our nearly half acre lot, I try to keep that in mind. We don't spray and don't have a lot of grass, but there are many Mr. Chemicals around in the neighborhood and in a drought keeping that grass green.
We have serious water problems here even in the Willamette Valley (thankful for the inch and three quarters we had this weekend). And in other parts of Oregon, it is even worse. Now we find out that illegal marijuana farms are quite literally stealing water as well. I foresee a food shortage.
Me too Michele ... and if the Maggot Hat crowd prevails ..., unless we're kissing/sucking up to THE BIG BOSS, and associated money mania, anticipate dysrupted technologies/communications, critical lack of food as well as grounded community relations - a zombie apocalypse driven by appetites out of bounds ... truly a time of testing who we are ....
I have always considered high tech very frail. Talking with the man who sells heritage pork done right at the Saturday Market, his creek is dry, his spring is dry, and they are using house water to keep things going. Many of the areas that produce food here on the west coast are experiencing drought. After this weekend's one and three quarter inches we got.8 in a surprise this am. But all over the news and even from our insurance company we are hearing about continued wild fires. In an aside, I let a couple of the Lakota cousins know what people are posting here in terms of sites and groups and the enthusiastic response that I have seen on this thread. Best thing I saw all day yesterday.
Thanks for posting this Kathleen. The Lakota People’s Law Project does excellent work on several issues lots of us here care about but this issue is really frightening to me. (A friend of mine was arrested at Standing Rock protesting the pipeline; that’s how I found them because they helped provide an attorney to defend her.) can highly recommend them.
Just signed up. Thanks for bringing this important case to our attention.
The Brackeen family who adopted an indigenous child against the wishes of his tribe and then tried to adopt his sister argued In state court that they had more money than the child's Navajo relations, and would therefore be better for the child. Such horribly skewed values, but not uncommon in our Uber-capitalist society.
Hi Kathleen, I have signed and contributed, but on your second sink here: https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/donate5, I received the following message 3x: 404 Page Not Found. Thank you.
Agree. But since I was in high school (over 50 years ago), the media doesn’t give a sh*t about anything other than what sells newspapers or entices tuning in to THEIR network. It is a sad commentary on our world/country. But it is not about right or wrong, it is about what sells and they pander to that.
Yes, Cathy, and also obscenely clear was the absence of stories about climate, urban and rural gun violence, tax policy, long-haul Covid-19, the employment picture, struggle over the spending bill...for an addition to a missing young woman. Much of the public love such dramas, and they are so much easier to cover.
The NYT had a piece about the missing, now known dead, young woman. It was interesting in the way it highlighted the role of social media in connecting strangers and provided clues to the police about the mystery of her disappearance. Personally I find this both creepy and awesome. It's hard to find too much fault with it as it is similar to the way the murder of George Floyd was brought to light in a way that made it much harder for police and investigators to ignore as they no doubt would otherwise have done. The media picks up what the general public seem to be interested in and disappeared woman of color is sadly not it. How do we change that????
Yes!!! Facing the fact of this is hard. Why, indeed? Another moment or, rather many moments, when the racism that permeates this nation has been exposed. ❤️🤍💙
Last Friday morning, I was awakened around 3:00am by a most dreaded sound: that of a freight train about to run over me. Native Midwesterner that I am, I grabbed my dog and old cat and headed to the basement. About a minute after I got there, I heard a very loud boom and felt the ground under my feet shudder.
An EF 0 tornado had popped out of the clouds right above my back yard and twisted off the tops of three mature oak trees and dumped them on the ground. My neighbors lost a poplar and a giant cottonwood; another neighbor had a huge spruce laid flat on his house. 20 minutes later, the storm had passed.
Reading this LFAA this morning felt like having another tornado pop out and lay me out flat like my beautiful trees. So much effort out there to shred democracy and subvert the peaceful transfer of power. And they are still at it.
Took me a while but I now have crashed through to the fact that these duly elected bastards really do want to destroy this country. Gobsmacked yes. Go down in their ship? Never.
Like many here, I often feel helpless in the face of such greed and hubris. But I also know that one person can make a difference- even if only for themselves and their immediate community.
I have a ton of work to do to clean up my backyard literally as well as politically. I’m on it. Chop wood, carry water. Write letters to my representatives, postcards to voters, phone calls to potential voters, checks to good candidates. Sucks but I just will not give up without a fight. Glad you all are here.
In five short paragraphs, featuring a woman, her dog and old cat, Sheila, you have told a true story of America. At first, it read like a 1950's classic short story. Details of the storms, their physical and political forces, both substantial, with the dangers expounded upon, and it is 2021. It is the story of a brave woman, ploughing through and knowing that she is not alone. While cleaning up the backyard hit by a tornado, chopping wood and writing letters to her representatives, this is a woman of true grit; her smiling, although, sometimes, weary heart, nods in recognition that LFAA's Forum stands behind her.
Brava to Sheila, the strong American woman persists.
Thanks for this Fern. True grit? Maybe. Weary heart? Definitely. So grateful every time I read these letters and the comments. As for persisting? I’m half Irish and journalist trained. Too mean to just fade away (fellow PBS alum too :-)
"Too many nice-looking houses in America built by the First and the Second Little Piggy."
That's a great line. It could well describe and summarize U.S. financial markets in the past few decades. The exclusive aim for quick profits: get in and get out. Not inquiring into the real structure and viability of a business. No concern for your neighbors or the future of the U.S. itself. It's "take the money and run." Seems to me that the U.S. doesn't have a basement.
Plainly I was thinking only of houses as such when I wrote of the Two Little Piggies, but I’m most grateful for your insight into the deeper implications of my own expression and the realities that underlie it.
Your last sentence says it all.
I’m reminded of what my Japanese friend said in Manhattan to a group consisting mainly of Americans nearly a quarter of a century ago.
His words:
“In this society, everything is on the surface, there’s nothing behind it. With such a severe imbalance, the only possible outcome is sickness”.
The Europeans had no difficulty making sense of this. The only Americans who understood were people who’d lived abroad. For the others, he might as well have been speaking Japanese…
A year after 9/11, this same friend asked me what I made of that terrible event.
I said “You already answered that question when we were in New York in 1997.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said ‘With such a severe imbalance, sickness is inevitable.’ And… if it doesn’t strike within, it must come from outside.”
A long silence followed. Then my friend said:
“I felt terrible when this happened. But then I thought about it, and in the end I said to myself ‘This was only Nature at work’.”
It would be instructive to know what readers in this thoughtful and deeply committed community make of the foregoing. It must still be gobbledygook to most Americans. That is plain from all that has happened since 2001 and from all that is happening (or not happening) in America at this very moment.
Still sleepwalking towards the edge of the abyss…
Maybe we should publish this exchange again if and when the right opening arises. Few will read it at this hour…
How did know that we have few things in common? Sheila, I was stilled by your description of so much coming down on you. I stopped reading and tried to live with your experience. Thank you, sister friend.
As one who has also hauled ass to the basement carrying pets & important paperwork to take shelter from tornadoes I am very glad that you and your dog and cat are okay. How scary to face one out of a sound sleep and so very close by. I am sorry about your trees. I too am quite fond of all my growing things - except the bindweed.
I applaud your carry-on & keep fighting attitude and your words give me strength. Thank you & I'm wishing you well.
Kasumii, many thanks for using the phrase, “hauled ass to the basement carrying…” I knew immediately that you understood what that experience is like but more importantly, just cracked me up. Glad you can find strength in my words. Thank YOU for the giggles.
I am glad that your "native Midwesterner" was able to recognize the danger signal from the depths of sleep and respond accordingly, saving you and your animals. It is sad to lose those old friends in your yard. I'm glad you and the animals are safe.
Anyone who has ever lived through a tornado knows exactly what I felt- you don’t think, you just move. Instinct is a great thing. I miss my tree canopy but that’s a first world problem, lol
So glad you are safe. Your trees served you well until their end. Will you be replanting more?
I know you are a fighter as I am. I’d like to suggest TCinLA’s (as he is known in this forum) Substack column, That’s a Fine Mess. Currently a series is starting for subscribers and authors to think about and converse about strategies that will go far to secure the 2022 elections so that Pres Biden’s agenda will continue. A bigger majority in House and Senate are needed and that’s that. All else is hand wringing until then as we wait for courts to move at their speed. There are things we can do! HCR’s Letters and TC’s column are a 1-2 bam bam punch of action for me. Here’s the link.
That sounds just scary as hell. Talk about being knocked down by a "metaphor." Good luck, sure and glad the kitty got grabbed (they're always the one likely to run and hide where you can't get them immediately in such situations). And very glad you are all safe.
You understand cats well, TC. My younger cat skittered away when I tried to grab him. When I came up from the basement, he was sitting on his cat tree looking out into the back yard through sliding glass doors - you know, the kind that shatter when slammed by 85 mph winds. Like winds whipped up in an EF0 tornado. Sigh. Cats!
Animals, in general, are amazing. We lived in Jupiter, FL, about 2 blocks off the Loxahatchee River when Hurricane Andrew hit. Initial reports were that Jupiter would receive a direct hit. We had several horses, including a mare and a 2 week old foal. Conventional practice is to turn the horses out, which we did. I have never been so anxious in my life. Jupiter did not get a direct hit and when things settled down Coca and Maggie, the foal, were just fine – nonplussed by the whole affair. Amazing.
Back when I lived in San Francisco, the flat I was sharing came with my room-mate's very eccentric calico cat, Miss Dolly. In the living room there was one particular table with a cloth over it that she would always dive under just before an earthquake. If you saw Miss Dolly "hauling ass" (see above) to get under that table it meant,"HANG ON!!" Animals' sense of stuff like that is nothing short of amazing.
Been through my share of tornadoes too...back in April, 2012 I was conducting our college's chorale in a Spring concert. During the concert the sirens began wailing, just as the men were singing their number, "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" (from "Life of Brian")! Perfect piece for the situation! We managed to finish and everybody, audience included, "hauled ass" (it's what one does in a tornado) to the basement. No tornadoes touched down, thankfully...but this was the same onslaught of tornadoes that did so much damage in Tuscaloosa, AL.
Animals’ instincts are amazing-Miss Dolly sounds like a great companion for anyone willing to live in an earthquake zone. Though my sympathies to you for having to live with a calico!
And yes. Hauling ass is the perfect phrase for what one should do when a tornado approaches. Forever grateful to Kasumii for that laughter.
What I experienced last week in Minnesota was nothing compared to what hit Tuscaloosa. Bejeebus, that must having been terrifying to even be close! Thanks for the lyric laughs!
Sheila, so glad that you were able to find shelter with your pets in the basement and that the damage was not worse. You are an inspiration to all of us with your activism and resolve.
Thank you Sheila E. I feel the terror of the siege and needed to read what you wrote. My condolences on your - and our - losses.
May you and we build back better. May our enemies never amass what they covet and kill for, and may the gnashing of their teeth be in their immediate future. 🙏🏻
I laughed when I saw this Jean-Pierre. I’m Sheila B. I think you are a musician though so called me Sheila E, (Prince’s sidekick.) Don’t I wish I had that much talent!
Sheila - glad you are OK but sorry for the mess you have to clean up at home.( And sorry for the mess we need to clean up in this country!!) It's a perfect analogy.
I'm glad you are OK. Your comparison of that tornado to what is going on is spot on.
You wrote: "Took me a while but I now have crashed through to the fact that these duly elected bastards really do want to destroy this country. Gobsmacked yes. Go down in their ship? Never." I had not read this, but I just posted a comment on FB that mirrors your thoughts.
Brava! Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, you've stood up, dusted yourself off, and are recommitting to the good fight...perhaps absorbing the energy and force of that tornado to spark and fuel your rejuvenated commitment.
(P.S. I live in the tornado-prone Midwest as well. If we had a very close strike here, I would grab my wife and 'old Solo' to head for the basement.)
Helpless is the worst. Turns out yard work helps with rage attacks as well as helpless. Hopefully we can prune away some of these so-called politicians next year.
"Trump is under criminal investigation in Georgia for his previous attempts to overturn the state’s election results."
He's been under investigation in NY, on a number of issues, by NY state and federal SDNY attorneys. When are we going to hear from any or all of these investigations?
All I want for Christmas, 2021 please, not '22 or '23, are some indictments!
The Trump Organization and it's CFO are now under indictment. And other members of that "crime family" are talking. I believe that ultimately, there will be Trump Organization figures that will spill the beans to save their skins. I know, I know...from my lips to....
I have to believe that this whole process is taking so long because prosecutors want to build as powerful and leak proof case as possible. But isn't the waiting agony?
But Weisselberg’s likely trial is a year away. If the little fish lead to the big fish, we have A LONG time to wait. However, Jill Wine-Banks says she thinks Vance will indict trump before he leaves office at year’s end. 😦😦😦
White collar crime has a long history of never coming to justice. Trump has proved this over his entire life. This may be our nation's greatest Achilles heal.
I am reading "First Principles" about our Founding Fathers' struggle to design a government that ably dealt with "self interest" as they came to recognize during the years of operating poorly under the Articles of Confederation, that "virtue" (self sacrifice for the common good promoted by Greek and Roman philosophers) only goes so far. States were refusing to pay the Continental Congress to cover the recent war and national expenses. What they did not discuss was the ease with which individual white collar crime could compromise and infect our governments. They did not seem to discuss how private and corporate interests might buy off the government from the outside. They worried more about how self interest would set states against each other and the national government. And how self interest would affect elected representatives on doing their duty within the government. They had a more positive view of how competing interests of citizens and states would offset each other and bring compromise and cooperation. They must have been somewhat giddy with having started a new nation with the belief that they could do everything better than thousands of years of human history, an American concept that often leads to trouble.
I just started “Captured” by Sheldon Whitehouse. In the introduction and the first few chapters, I think he speaks to the fears in the early days that forces would try to advantage themselves.
Also in the “Great Courses” , “Books That Matter: The Federalist Papers” the worries and compromises made to gain union are clearly discussed. The Constitution was definitely a compromise position and the cause of great angst.
There was a hearing in the Weiselberg case yesterday and his attorney said they expect more indictments. It was a curious turn of phrase. But that's what he said.
I also read about that. A couple of people are already talking. The author of the piece noted that the Trump organization is small and who is left last names start with T. i hope he is right.
Matthew Calamari worked as Trump’s bodyguard and rose over four decades to become the Trump Organization’s chief operating officer.
Interesting read:
Trump Organization Trial Is Scheduled for Next Summer, Judge Says
A Manhattan judge set a trial schedule for Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization on Monday that could coincide with the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections.
You can and should be quoted, because you are correct.
“We remain in discussions with the district attorney’s office relating to Matthew Calamari Sr.,” said Nicholas Gravante, a lawyer for Calamari
*and his son, also a Trump employee *.
Prosecutors continue to investigate whether Matthew Calamari, the company’s chief operating officer, who received untaxed perks, similarly benefited, people familiar with the case have said.
He used the argument that more defendants were expected to play for time. He's saying that the addition of more defendants will require him to modify his defense to include the additional evidence which will be presented.
Methinks you need more than one early night per week. This news is nightmarish!
What 45 and the GOP have plotted -- and continue to connive -- is beyond horrific! I dare Stephen King to write a more destructive horror story! That monster and his lackeys have no right to be free while so many innocent human beings are behind bars.
As a nation, in order to retain a small modicum of normalcy, we must vow to vote the GOP out at every turn!
I listened to Alex Jones in the days leading up to the January 6th insurrection. He had a few guests on his show like John Eastman laying out ' legitimate ' paths forward for Trump to reclaim the 2020 election. One major component was that the count in the House be interrupted. Of course this would be the job of the 'Trump following, public demonstrators '. This is awesome how you have parsed this out HCR. I guess reading Woodward and Costa's book would explain what you've said here in excruciating detail. This is serious business because this is another example of these 'determined people' throwing stuff up against the wall in order to see what will stick ... Democracy hanging in the balance.
Bill, I admire that you spend some time listening to Alex Jones. I too spend a good amount of time (but always a small fraction of my day) in "Discussions" on right wing-sites. I often engage in vigorous debate which results in "teasing-out" THE REAL VALUES being debated.
My friends can't understand why I would listen Alex Jones, Mike Savage, The Daily Shoa and others. I don't understand why they wouldn't want to know the logic behind these folks behaviors !
It was a blessing to having been exposed to Heather Cox Richardson. After absorbing a lot of paradigm shifting attempts at normalcy that don't mean Democratic folks any good ... she is an intelligent breath of fresh air !
Once again, America is at a point where the right decision would be to charge the former president with either insurrection or treason, and with plenty of evidence, it won’t be done.
In this country, we chase commies out of fear, but let fascism bloom; Americans believe the boogie-man stories about Democrats but don’t address real violence against women and children; Americans believe justice comes in the courtroom when it sees an injustice, but can’t tell a real crime from a false charge made to politically smear someone. And Americans believe falsely that millions of non-Americans are voting th create invalid election results, when in reality, other countries around the world are making themselves stakeholders in our election process that they are influencing our democracy.
There are people today who claim Pres Biden is a criminal running our country, so every act he takes is unlawful and invalid. THIS MUST STOP, and the former president continues to tell the world that he won’t stop until he is forced to stop. He has plenty of fans and enables in government who also see their own demise in the new For The People Act provisions.
Jane- Each time I read about yet another plot to destroy the election results I am overwhelmed with panic and fury! If Bob Woodward has obtained this information- you’d think that an investigative arm of the government would also have this information and be able to act on it.
I’m sick of the lies, the hate, the vitriol. I’m sick of the politicization of this pandemic, in which the Rs are sacrificing their own constituents to regain political power. Most of all I sick of all the sound bytes that raise to the top of the news feed and drown out the real issues that need to be addressed.
How much longer do we have to swim through this sea of sh!@? Where are this countries leaders? I’m exhausted and it’s only 6:30AM.
Through all this, though I’d be remiss not to thank Dr Richardson for he together these letters each and every day. And thanks to all who contribute in the comments. As bad as it is, it’d be worse without this forum to try and sort things out. How are you all holding up?
I live in PA, and right now, I am INFURIATED! Not only does our state government, (one of the highest paid, least effective state legislatures in the country) think they can hand over our personal information to an outside company, they are sitting on a 10 BILLION DOLLAR SURPLUS, which they claim they are going to hold for a Rainy Day Fund! They’re going to use it as their personal slush fund, sending out dollars to companies who donate to them! If there’s one thing true about PA government, the power of the purse goes to the guy who writes the budget.
Please call your state reps & senators & gov. Encourage friends & neighbors to do so too. Go to the politician's media pages & post there too. Let everyone in your state know that this is not permissible.
Sharon, thanks for your part in this daily touchstone. I live in perpetual cognitive dissonance. Grateful for the gifts of my own personal life while feeling growing anguish about our country and planet. Actions, however small, keep despair at bay.
Sharon, that was very nice of you to ask. It is your concern, and the decency OF EVERYONE I KNOW that keeps me progressing. I like to make progress and see improvement (however small) result. This is how I generally feel.
But in the last few days there has been a ripple set in motion in my neighborhood. We're a very diverse, somewhat community oriented neighborhood (for NYC that is; everything's relative). An incident occurred nearby that brought the fight that was only going on "out there" (beyond NYC) home.
It was an ugly incident and a strain on all of our peace-of-mind.
Now I don't know if that was an isolated incident, or of the problems of "out there" are starting to arrive.
It has gone on since Thursday and getting worse. There's national coverage. Just google news "Carmine's BLM". The media have spun it every which way, and folks have broken off into camps. I actually know the facts on the ground, as I live 1/4 mile away. It'll get worse before it gets better. Then it'll fester.
Just did, haven't been watching news that covered that. How in the name of ..... does BLM think this egregious overreaction will do anything to help their cause?! They're claiming racial bias but do they have evidence that only African-Americans are being denied entry if they don't have a valid vax card? A couple of articles say that the vax cards were considered to be fake; how was that determined, if it was? When I searched, btw, the majority of article hits were from publications biased to the right including far right, I read only a few just to see what different detail might be in them, only 2 left leaning one of which was almost at the far end of Left on the MediaBias/FactCheck page (checked bcz I wasn't sure what their bias might be, the others were the usual suspects).
I have the facts, because I live nearby and walk past Carmine's regularly.
I mentioned that ours is a diverse neighborhood. Half of the diners at Carmines are Black. Black neighbors are outraged at these 3 women, their lawyer, and the BLM response.
The attacked hostess is a 24 year-old Asian. Very decent person.
Instead, here's a quote from the lawyer for these 3 Texan beaters:
Moore, who represents Dr. Kaeita Rankin, said the hostess used a racial slur during their exchange...“Now they said that this woman was Asian-American, but we know there has been a long legacy of Asian hatred towards Black people in this country,” Moore said.
The people from the restaurant that stopped the beating of the Asian hostess were all Black. They felt these 3
women were trash.
P.S. Demonstrators at the BLM demonstration also slurred gay people. Seems they are all-inclusive haters in this one.
So now, in my neighborhood, the Black, White, Asian, Brown community were all involved in the incident.
And ALL ARE UNITED TOGETHER against these 3 attackers.
Did I mention that we are a very divers, and yet still pretty community-minded here?
We all don't like Troublemakers coming into our neighborhood.
Mary Trump has said Donald will continue with his “let’s you and him fight” as long he knows HE is physically safe, which I guess he will always be with SS protection.
One would hope that Republican voters would wake up and acknowledge that Trump is a liar, cheater and a psychopath and will not vote for another sh*t show in 2024, but if he runs, they'll put the MAGA hats back on. One would hope that as Trump's chickens come home to roost--charges of tax evasion, potential indictments out of Georgia for trying to sway the 2020 election, rape charges, enormous personal debt defaults--would dim his star, but they won't. And now, in the face of voter suppression laws, Democrats are scrambling to eek out a win in 2022. The odds are definitely stacked against them.
Good doesn't always prevail. The recent Russian elections in which Putin opposition candidates were purged from the ballots demonstrates this. As Leonard Cohen sings, "Everybody knows the dice are loaded, everybody knows the good guys lost." Republicans are loading the dice and Americans must fight back.
That Cohen song has been my anthem for some time now. Sadly, I also feel evil will prevail unless a real fight for justice happens - protestors in the streets, etc. Hitler redux it appears. But I for one will be ready to hit the streets. They can jail or shoot me; at 66 I've had a great life. I hope this is crazy talk.
Not ready to give up on this country, but if we don’t change the Supreme Court, we are sadly screwed. I thought that there was hope in the beginning but that did not last long.
Same age and same "crazy" sentiment here. History has taught us exactly what is happening here. I have had a great life, too...but I will not stand silently by.
Republican voters know that “Trump is a liar, cheater and a psychopath.” They regard those attributes as advantages in their pursuit of continued dominance of the US government by white men.
"Democrats sued Friday to stop the release of the voter information, and two Democratic representatives to Congress have asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether the subpoenas could violate federal laws by leading to voter intimidation."
Penelope - Indeed! I am sick to deal of court case after court case. The energy and expense that is going into this continuous litigation. But - what other choice is there when this kind of crap keep happening? And what else is happening while we're all focused on these court cases? Sometimes I think it's all a smoke screen for some other more nefarious going on.
Regarding Trump's effort to get Pence to refuse to verify the Electoral College ballot count on 6 January, we see how Trump gets others to perform acts of commission that would provide him cover of plausible deniability of intent to commit an illegal act in his own name. He used others the same way: Michael Cohen, Allan Weiselberg (sic), President Zelinsky of Ukraine (unsuccessful), the white supremacist groups of January 6 at the Capitol fame, to name a few I can recall. He's using the tactics of a mob-boss, one with a sick mind. I'd love to know the name of the person, or persons, who create such incredible game-theory schemes for Trump; I detect he learned a few things working at his daddy's elbow. I don't believe Trump himself has enough of an attention span, or powers of imagination, to put such barely believable Lego machines together.
watched a documentary on HBO about Q-Anon and its role in the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection. Between the election and Jan 6, Q sent out a flurry of “intel” on election machines and possible scenarios of their hacking. The admin of 4chan, believed also to be Q, parroted some of the claims, stating that the machines were produced in Venezuela and couldn’t be trusted.
But the big Q-Anon news in the weekend leading up to the insurrection was that Q had released a 4000 page report describing Mike Pence’s treasonous acts against Trump and America. And though I bet nobody actually read the report, they took it at face value from Q that it was real. On January 6, Q signed off for the last time, a see-you-later too fearful to be found.
I bring this up because Q’s acts dovetail neatly into the narrative that Trump looked for any means necessary to change the results of the election.
Teflon Don. After a life of crime, he’s still free to terrorize us. A painful lesson for the USA. We need laws and timely justice to prevent bullies from taking over our country while we watch.
"without opening itself to Republican attacks that it is 'soft' on immigration"
"the administration kept the public health guidelines established during the pandemic under former president Trump [...] But right-wing media is, once again, insisting that Biden is allowing a flood of immigrants to overrun the U.S"
These realities stand in such stark contrast to each other.
There is no longer any such thing as behaving in such a way that one doesn't open oneself up to attacks my Republicans. They've learned they can make up a narrative out of whole cloth at any time they choose, about anyone, and it's become one of their only tools. They declared him illegitimate from before the beginning - of course he has already been declared unacceptably soft on immigration, and even if he were to out-Trump Trump in cruelty, that would be the narrative simply because he stands in the former President's way of power.
This is post-reality. We've moved well past a point where it was possible to earn respect or bipartisanship through any means. Being too soft will doom us far less quickly than trying too hard to avoid the ire of a group of people among whom esteem is only earned, temporarily, through corruption and predation.
I agree - it seems as if the Democrats (Congress) are so fearful of "appearing" or being "too soft" - ENOUGH! Just do your jobs & do what the people (we) want you to do. Ignore this rabble rousing bunch. They have no legitimacy just, as Heather said - corruption!
This is exhausting and demoralizing, which is exactly the objective. The endless barrage of lies, lawsuits, and gaslighting is pure Trump.
By creating mistrust, chaos and fear he keeps his opponents off balance, reactive and confused. It’s how he ran his business and now the Republican Party. The US is his ultimate mark.
I have nothing profound to say about all of this. Sometimes I'm whelmed by the fact that our country is FUBAR. Constant, outrageous Republican behavior. TFG's perpetual, evil manipulating. Sedition and treason arguably (?) the foundation of the radical right. By the time I finished reading, my heart was pounding and tears were trying to out themselves. One might reasonably conclude that I could use a sedative and/or a good therapist. One might be right. But I maintain that knowing instead of guessing is the far better thing. That's why I come here. But damn!! It's really hard.
When you find a sedative that works, please share it! My question is where the hell are the laws and safeguards that should put these rogue politicians and lawyers, and tfg in jail? Are our laws only for the “little guy”? The everyday American? How can we not have laws that prevent FOX and the other trump fake news organizations from having a platform that makes Hitlers brainwashing look like child’s play? I just don’t get it. Where is the outrage from Lindsey Graham, Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Merkowski and the rest of the so called Senators who love America? The frustration that I feel is debilitating…I can’t even imagine how HCR is coping. We are watching our democracy burn down in real time and the firefighters have dry hoses!
My deep hope is that all our cracks are being deeply revealed so that when we take the reigns of our democracy back, we know all the loopholes to fill in and the changes that need to be made so democracy will thrive. But big money and corporations are in cahoots on a global scale. The current administration needs to demand justice much faster. I guess we need to help. Oct. 2, take to the streets.
YES! I couldn’t find any one to march with me in DC. Being 71 I’m not too keen on heading there by myself so I’ll be marching in Richmond, VA where I have friends …and it’s closer to home.
"But I maintain that knowing instead of guessing is the far better thing. That's why I come here. But damn!! It's really hard."
Find out everything you can, who is behind it, where the money goes, who meets who, what's planned. Best chance to get your head around it all. That will get you going. And that will stop your heart from pounding and tears.
As an aside, when you wrote that "But I maintain that knowing instead of guessing is the far better thing. That's why I come here." You need get and know more, to be prepared.
Yes, to all of that. I'm not new here. I've been an activist and a political info sponge much of my adult life. (I'm older than primordial ooze.) I bused to D.C. for the Women's March in 2017. I've marched in Minneapolis. I've attended many vigils. I write OpEds and LTEs. The thing is, the more we know, the more we realize there is neither a blueprint nor rules/regs that seem applicable to this unholy mess. When that hits home, there is a definite twinge of hopelessness. But given our individual and collective resiliency, we bounce back--at least some of the way--and keep on keeping on. That's especially hard when the weight of it all is excessive. I remind myself from time to time that despair is what the rat bastards are counting on. That's a powerful incentive to rise and, if not to shine, at least to sparkle.
"The thing is, the more we know, the more we realize there is neither a blueprint nor rules/regs that seem applicable to this unholy mess. When that hits home, there is a definite twinge of hopelessness."
No need to fight their battle. We fight ours.
There are plenty of blueprints for fighting Fascism.
I think we should be sharing the following and making sure people understand that it's President Biden taking care of our children.
Open SmartNews and read "When Joe Biden said his COVID relief package would ‘cut child poverty in half’ he wasn’t joking" here: https://share.smartnews.com/dJJXv
Thanks! Drowning feels prevalent every other day. LET'S hold one another up!! Sinking down will not get us anywhere! Focus on the positive!! Thank you Beth and Christine!! Breathe slowly and deeply to calm the anxiety and bring your blood pressure down, folks. This ride is a long...we need to pace ourselves on days like this.
My daughter is a recipient of those funds in rural KY. I suggested she make sure her neighbors know the DEM President was responsible as McConnell said directly he didn’t vote for it. She said it would make no difference to them.
I have another bone to pick with the media. Why was the blonde girl's disappearance national news? Why was her disappearance so much more important than all the native women and black women that have gone missing and even died? I want to thank Joy Reed for asking this question on her show and sharing stories of some of the native and black women who have gone missing.
Thank you Cathy - on that note, please accept this associated note:
Have you heard of a court case called Brackeen v. Haaland? If you’ve followed our communications for any length of time, you likely recognize one of those names. Indeed, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland — the first Native Cabinet secretary in U.S. history — is already under legal attack. And it probably won’t surprise you that the powerful entities behind this threat include the State of Texas and lawyers representing Big Oil.
But it’s not just Secretary Haaland being targeted. The suit, which seeks to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act, directly targets Native children and families. And because of the specific legal argument in play, it could also mean the end of tribal mineral rights, gaming revenues, Indian law as we know it, and ultimately our sovereignty as Indigenous nations. It’s not an overstatement to say our entire future could be at stake with a single decision — and that choice will now be made by a conservative-majority Supreme Court.
PLEASE READ OUR COMPREHENSIVE BLOG ON THIS CASE TO LEARN MORE:
https://lakotalaw.org/news/2021-09-17/icwa-sovereignty
From there, immediately take action by signing and widely sharing our petition to President Joe Biden and Department of Justice attorneys. Tell them it’s absolutely critical they protect Native children and safeguard Indigenous rights!
Right now — even as I drive from South Dakota to Minnesota in support of my Indigenous relatives fighting the Line 3 pipeline — the high court is deciding whether or not to hear this case. We will keep you updated every step of the way. This may well be the most important decision the Supreme Court has ever made in relation to Native justice. Please help us spread the word and stop this unconscionable attack on our Indigenous communities.
Tell President Biden and the Department of Justice: defend Native children and families, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and Secretary Haaland with everything they’ve got.
https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/protect-icwa
Wopila tanka — thank you for helping us stand up to racist colonial law.
Madonna Thunder Hawk
Cheyenne River Organizer
The Lakota People’s Law Project
https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/donate5
This one really caught my eye: ICWA of 1975 was a huge step toward protecting native children; I worked in child welfare all my working life and we dedicated many hours and personnel to insure that any tribal associations/links were fully investigated before any final placements were made. It had opened my eyes as a young social worker to the devastation the native communities had faced through the years when children were removed from their homes and no attempts to return them were made, based on, of course, “best interest”.
ICWA of 1978
Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this bombshell.
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 countered the despicable history of U.S. government policy of deceptively or forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families—state sponsored cultural genocide. Children adopted into white Christian families had their ancestry erased. Children sent to Indian boarding schools had their ancestry, culture, and language beaten out of them. Many were physically and/or sexually abused—and killed.
I, too, followed through on joining the Lakota People’s Law Project. And learned that a great museum is opening this weekend in Oklahoma: First Americans Museum.
https://famok.org/
Thank you, Kathleen. Please keep us posted as best you can
Will do, Lynell - though I am challenged just to keep up with emails - a more reliable source for updates would be The Lakota People’s Law Project :
https://action.lakotalaw.org/
... you might want to get on theor mailing list - it keeps me informed ....
Since my spouse has Lakota ancestry, we receive lots of info from this organization and also from his many relatives. Now Noem (the Gnome) is trying to influence what is taught in social studies classes in SD.....another attempt to hide the loathsome history of the nation's interaction with indigenous people. I am happy to read here the response to the post above with membership and donations.
In another story from Oregon, last weekend members of the party of death were at the state capitol building protesting the two things that actually help with the virus. Three young people were there trying to film. First, some female called them commies and then the intimidation brigade appeared and forced them into traffic on the street that runs by the building. Oh yeah, very fine people/s.
I just became a member and will be making a monthly donation. Very nice website.
Wonderful, Cathy - I know our concern and support is appreciated!!
ok, will do, thanks!
Thanks for the link, Kathleen, I have signed up for the emails, too.
... their mailing list ...
Kathleen, thank you so very much for informing us about this.
Mitakuye Oyasin.
Thank you Kathleen, I have long had a strong sense of destiny. I think you may have just told me what it has to be. Are you Lakota? My destiny is somehow linked with the Oglala Lakota. Although I am not Native American, my family history is linked to the Oglala. I will definitely go study this!
Thank you too Cathy - I am sure your commitment will be welcomed ... no, I am not of the Lakota lineage ... born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I descend from the invasive Anglo-Saxon species ... still, feel native to the region ... so full of love for these forests and fields, rivers and streams, majestic mountains and ever changing wild skies of the Salish Sea ... and so utterly appalled by the massive devastating footprint of what we call "progress" ... I am great-full for the leadership of first nations people to address these problems by civilized means - a guiding light, and stark difference from the methods of dominance and control characteristic of the murderous, rapist, self-serving ways of "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE" ....
I feel very much the same way,Kathleen, and would like to do more.
Here Stuart, in case you don't see this at the end of the post below:
More information:
* Could we set aside half the Earth for nature? (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/jun/15/could-we-set-aside-half-the-earth-for-nature
* Nature needs half
https://natureneedshalf.org/
* UN Secretary-General calls for bold action to end biodiversity crisis (UN)
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1098772
* Nature crisis: Humans 'threaten 1m species with extinction' (BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783
Thank you Stuart ... I feel the least we can do is keep informed, spread the word, pressure our congressional reps and contribute whatever we can to support those on the front lines of these challenges - the real American People ... and, by the way ... STOP LINE 3:
https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/stop-line-3
... and ..., this webinar is happening today, Sep 21, 2021 11:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada):
The Urgent Need for an Amazon Exclusion Policy // La necesidad urgente de una política de exclusión en la Amazonia
The Amazon is critical to global climate regulation. The continued financing of industrial oil and gas activity in the region from major European and American banks is pushing the rainforest over the brink. Indigenous leaders and environmental activists are now calling on banks to immediately adopt an Amazon Exclusion policy: a commitment to end financing for any oil and gas activity in the Amazon biome, in line with the need for a global shift out of fossil fuels.
Join them to learn about how they are securing urgent adoption of an Amazon Exclusion policy from the world’s leading financial institutions.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rr8gilrFSiOzPFCZnqsD9w
On the call, we’ll be joined by leaders of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, investigative researchers, and climate campaigners. Together, we’ll discuss the need for financial institutions to commit to ending financing for any oil and gas extraction in the Amazon ― and we’ll share what you can do to help.
The Amazon is home to thousands of Indigenous communities, provides habitat for around 10% of the world’s known species and is absolutely critical to global climate regulation. Yet, continued financing of oil and gas extraction in the Amazon, by megabanks like Chase and CitiBank, is causing massive deforestation and pushing the Amazon toward the brink.
... I posted this last week - might have gotten lost on the shuffle of other concerns ... pretty sure it refers to the above mentioned issue:
9/8/2021
I’m writing to you as the leader of more than 500 Indigenous nations across the Amazon to ask for your support.
Days ago, I left my home, my family, and my mother, the Amazon rainforest, to attend the world’s biggest conservation summit and deliver an urgent call to protect at least half the planet, including 80% of the Amazon.
We MUST protect the forests, rivers, and oceans that sustain us all, from the Amazon to Africa and Indonesia. Our survival depends on it.
But too many of our leaders are still blinded by short-term political compromises -- refusing to stop our forests from burning, our rivers from dying, and thousands and thousands of species going extinct.
So we’re taking a stand. We’re only a handful of indigenous leaders here, but if millions across the world back us, we can wake them up!
So join me now, and I will use my speech to governments to deliver our voices in the heart of the negotiations, urging them to protect our homelands and at least half the Earth -- before it's too late:
My people have defended the Amazon for generations. But it's not just the Amazon -- Indigenous communities are responsible for protecting 80% of the world's biodiversity. Without our wisdom, our customary practices and our dedication to Mother nature, life on Earth is at greater risk -- day and night, we are risking our lives to defend what's left of nature.
That's why I refuse to go back to my home with empty promises from our governments.
This is a chance for us to create a beautiful, new relationship with nature, honouring the great web of life, on which we are all entirely dependent. Humanity is driving the next mass extinction, which means we can stop it -- if we all act together.
This is the first time we, Indigenous people, have a voice and a vote at the IUCN Congress -- and I will fight tooth and nail to ensure our leaders hear the people and the planet speaking through them.
Add you name now, and help us reach 3 million people backing the call to save nature, while we still can:
We, the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, have a long history with Avaaz. This community has been instrumental in our fight to protect the world's biggest rainforest, home to more than 500 Indigenous nations. We are stronger together, hand in hand, and now we have a unique chance to deliver a joint message in the corridors of power. Join now.
With hope and determination,
Gregorio Mirabal, General Coordinator of the COICA (Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin), together with Avaaz
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_half_our_planet_2021_loc/?tHtYZnb&v=501936572&cl=18584748153&_checksum=c562172ba653984596a039b67a38db4256ed6170a0966e3d67ff6b7ea3d2742f
More information:
* Could we set aside half the Earth for nature? (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/jun/15/could-we-set-aside-half-the-earth-for-nature
* Nature needs half
https://natureneedshalf.org/
* UN Secretary-General calls for bold action to end biodiversity crisis (UN)
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1098772
* Nature crisis: Humans 'threaten 1m species with extinction' (BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783
Stop Line 3! Thank God for Native people’s dedication. And thank you Kathleen, for highlighting the Lakota People’s Law Project. Great organization doing seriously important work. Mni Waconi. Water is Life.
Here's a follow up on yesterday's webinar:
We're sorry that you were not able to attend The Urgent Need for an Amazon Exclusion Policy // La necesidad urgente de una política de exclusión en la Amazonia.
Please submit your questions or comments to:
ada@amazonwatch.org.
“The banks that finance this destruction are complicit in what is a genocidal threat for us, and an existential threat for all of humanity and our planet.”– Marlon Vargas, president of CONFENIAE.
It's time for a mass exit from Amazon oil and gas. Each bank that finances or invests in oil and gas from the rainforest plays a vital role in ending its destruction, and its impacts on Indigenous communities. These are the key elements of the Amazon Exclusion Policy and Exit Strategy:
-An immediate commitment (by the end of 2021 at the latest) to not finance or invest in the expansion of any oil or gas activities in the Amazon Biome.
-A commitment to end, by 2025, financing and investment for any and all companies currently engaged in oil or gas activities, for the purpose of facilitating the responsible wind-down of operations.
-A commitment to exit all loans, letters of credit, and revolving credit facilities for all traders actively trading oil or gas originating in the Amazon Biome by the end of 2022.
Learn more about we're going to end amazon crude here:
https://exitamazonoilandgas.org/
I too live in the PNW and I never cease to be amazed by how, in a relatively short period of time, white people have managed to destroy nearly everything all over the nation. To me the earth is sacred and as a gardener of nearly 50 years on our nearly half acre lot, I try to keep that in mind. We don't spray and don't have a lot of grass, but there are many Mr. Chemicals around in the neighborhood and in a drought keeping that grass green.
We have serious water problems here even in the Willamette Valley (thankful for the inch and three quarters we had this weekend). And in other parts of Oregon, it is even worse. Now we find out that illegal marijuana farms are quite literally stealing water as well. I foresee a food shortage.
Me too Michele ... and if the Maggot Hat crowd prevails ..., unless we're kissing/sucking up to THE BIG BOSS, and associated money mania, anticipate dysrupted technologies/communications, critical lack of food as well as grounded community relations - a zombie apocalypse driven by appetites out of bounds ... truly a time of testing who we are ....
I have always considered high tech very frail. Talking with the man who sells heritage pork done right at the Saturday Market, his creek is dry, his spring is dry, and they are using house water to keep things going. Many of the areas that produce food here on the west coast are experiencing drought. After this weekend's one and three quarter inches we got.8 in a surprise this am. But all over the news and even from our insurance company we are hearing about continued wild fires. In an aside, I let a couple of the Lakota cousins know what people are posting here in terms of sites and groups and the enthusiastic response that I have seen on this thread. Best thing I saw all day yesterday.
Wishing you well on your path, Cathy
Thank you Cathy. Cathy, Kathleen and Cathy... I'm getting goosebumps.
Thanks for posting this Kathleen. The Lakota People’s Law Project does excellent work on several issues lots of us here care about but this issue is really frightening to me. (A friend of mine was arrested at Standing Rock protesting the pipeline; that’s how I found them because they helped provide an attorney to defend her.) can highly recommend them.
Thanks for this important news and the opportunity to take action.
I've signed up and would like to know more.
Kathleen thank you for this information. I just signed up for the emails and will be making monthly donations towards this worthy cause.
Thank you for sharing this. Signed, donated & following.
Just signed up. Thanks for bringing this important case to our attention.
The Brackeen family who adopted an indigenous child against the wishes of his tribe and then tried to adopt his sister argued In state court that they had more money than the child's Navajo relations, and would therefore be better for the child. Such horribly skewed values, but not uncommon in our Uber-capitalist society.
Thank you for sharing this! How many things go by like this that we don’t hear about?
Thank you, Kathleen.
I've signed up for the emails and will donate when I have an income again.
Thanks for the links…signed the petition!
Hi Kathleen, I have signed and contributed, but on your second sink here: https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/donate5, I received the following message 3x: 404 Page Not Found. Thank you.
Hi Fern, I got that too ... sorry, just go to the homepage:
https://action.lakotalaw.org/
Agree. But since I was in high school (over 50 years ago), the media doesn’t give a sh*t about anything other than what sells newspapers or entices tuning in to THEIR network. It is a sad commentary on our world/country. But it is not about right or wrong, it is about what sells and they pander to that.
... so-called, 'The American Way' ... is it possible to redefine ...?
Yes! Why even try to get information from the Media?
Only misinformation there.
Yes, Cathy, and also obscenely clear was the absence of stories about climate, urban and rural gun violence, tax policy, long-haul Covid-19, the employment picture, struggle over the spending bill...for an addition to a missing young woman. Much of the public love such dramas, and they are so much easier to cover.
The NYT had a piece about the missing, now known dead, young woman. It was interesting in the way it highlighted the role of social media in connecting strangers and provided clues to the police about the mystery of her disappearance. Personally I find this both creepy and awesome. It's hard to find too much fault with it as it is similar to the way the murder of George Floyd was brought to light in a way that made it much harder for police and investigators to ignore as they no doubt would otherwise have done. The media picks up what the general public seem to be interested in and disappeared woman of color is sadly not it. How do we change that????
edit: '...for an addiction to...'
Yes!!! Facing the fact of this is hard. Why, indeed? Another moment or, rather many moments, when the racism that permeates this nation has been exposed. ❤️🤍💙
I completely agree. Thanks for pointing this out.
Agree.
ratings, in a word.
Last Friday morning, I was awakened around 3:00am by a most dreaded sound: that of a freight train about to run over me. Native Midwesterner that I am, I grabbed my dog and old cat and headed to the basement. About a minute after I got there, I heard a very loud boom and felt the ground under my feet shudder.
An EF 0 tornado had popped out of the clouds right above my back yard and twisted off the tops of three mature oak trees and dumped them on the ground. My neighbors lost a poplar and a giant cottonwood; another neighbor had a huge spruce laid flat on his house. 20 minutes later, the storm had passed.
Reading this LFAA this morning felt like having another tornado pop out and lay me out flat like my beautiful trees. So much effort out there to shred democracy and subvert the peaceful transfer of power. And they are still at it.
Took me a while but I now have crashed through to the fact that these duly elected bastards really do want to destroy this country. Gobsmacked yes. Go down in their ship? Never.
Like many here, I often feel helpless in the face of such greed and hubris. But I also know that one person can make a difference- even if only for themselves and their immediate community.
I have a ton of work to do to clean up my backyard literally as well as politically. I’m on it. Chop wood, carry water. Write letters to my representatives, postcards to voters, phone calls to potential voters, checks to good candidates. Sucks but I just will not give up without a fight. Glad you all are here.
In five short paragraphs, featuring a woman, her dog and old cat, Sheila, you have told a true story of America. At first, it read like a 1950's classic short story. Details of the storms, their physical and political forces, both substantial, with the dangers expounded upon, and it is 2021. It is the story of a brave woman, ploughing through and knowing that she is not alone. While cleaning up the backyard hit by a tornado, chopping wood and writing letters to her representatives, this is a woman of true grit; her smiling, although, sometimes, weary heart, nods in recognition that LFAA's Forum stands behind her.
Brava to Sheila, the strong American woman persists.
Thanks for this Fern. True grit? Maybe. Weary heart? Definitely. So grateful every time I read these letters and the comments. As for persisting? I’m half Irish and journalist trained. Too mean to just fade away (fellow PBS alum too :-)
Glad you have a basement, Sheila. Too many nice-looking houses in America built by the First and the Second Little Piggy. It scares me...
"Too many nice-looking houses in America built by the First and the Second Little Piggy."
That's a great line. It could well describe and summarize U.S. financial markets in the past few decades. The exclusive aim for quick profits: get in and get out. Not inquiring into the real structure and viability of a business. No concern for your neighbors or the future of the U.S. itself. It's "take the money and run." Seems to me that the U.S. doesn't have a basement.
Plainly I was thinking only of houses as such when I wrote of the Two Little Piggies, but I’m most grateful for your insight into the deeper implications of my own expression and the realities that underlie it.
Your last sentence says it all.
I’m reminded of what my Japanese friend said in Manhattan to a group consisting mainly of Americans nearly a quarter of a century ago.
His words:
“In this society, everything is on the surface, there’s nothing behind it. With such a severe imbalance, the only possible outcome is sickness”.
The Europeans had no difficulty making sense of this. The only Americans who understood were people who’d lived abroad. For the others, he might as well have been speaking Japanese…
A year after 9/11, this same friend asked me what I made of that terrible event.
I said “You already answered that question when we were in New York in 1997.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said ‘With such a severe imbalance, sickness is inevitable.’ And… if it doesn’t strike within, it must come from outside.”
A long silence followed. Then my friend said:
“I felt terrible when this happened. But then I thought about it, and in the end I said to myself ‘This was only Nature at work’.”
It would be instructive to know what readers in this thoughtful and deeply committed community make of the foregoing. It must still be gobbledygook to most Americans. That is plain from all that has happened since 2001 and from all that is happening (or not happening) in America at this very moment.
Still sleepwalking towards the edge of the abyss…
Maybe we should publish this exchange again if and when the right opening arises. Few will read it at this hour…
:’-(
Amen.
Indeed! We can build back better, can we not?!
How did know that we have few things in common? Sheila, I was stilled by your description of so much coming down on you. I stopped reading and tried to live with your experience. Thank you, sister friend.
As one who has also hauled ass to the basement carrying pets & important paperwork to take shelter from tornadoes I am very glad that you and your dog and cat are okay. How scary to face one out of a sound sleep and so very close by. I am sorry about your trees. I too am quite fond of all my growing things - except the bindweed.
I applaud your carry-on & keep fighting attitude and your words give me strength. Thank you & I'm wishing you well.
Kasumii, many thanks for using the phrase, “hauled ass to the basement carrying…” I knew immediately that you understood what that experience is like but more importantly, just cracked me up. Glad you can find strength in my words. Thank YOU for the giggles.
😺
I am glad that your "native Midwesterner" was able to recognize the danger signal from the depths of sleep and respond accordingly, saving you and your animals. It is sad to lose those old friends in your yard. I'm glad you and the animals are safe.
Anyone who has ever lived through a tornado knows exactly what I felt- you don’t think, you just move. Instinct is a great thing. I miss my tree canopy but that’s a first world problem, lol
Yes. The sound is the most frightening I've ever heard. Your tree canopy is gone but you can plant new life and watch it grow. 🌷🌻🌷
So glad you are safe. Your trees served you well until their end. Will you be replanting more?
I know you are a fighter as I am. I’d like to suggest TCinLA’s (as he is known in this forum) Substack column, That’s a Fine Mess. Currently a series is starting for subscribers and authors to think about and converse about strategies that will go far to secure the 2022 elections so that Pres Biden’s agenda will continue. A bigger majority in House and Senate are needed and that’s that. All else is hand wringing until then as we wait for courts to move at their speed. There are things we can do! HCR’s Letters and TC’s column are a 1-2 bam bam punch of action for me. Here’s the link.
https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/what-to-do-part-1?r=l2aa7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy
There are some on this forum that have subscribed. Now is the time. The conversation is heating up and I like where it’s going.
Thinking about you as you get things cleaned up and move ahead.
Cheers!
Another link:
https://tcinla757.substack.com/
TC is definitely well worth reading. Victory in 2024 is by no means guaranteed.
Thank you. I just subscribed.
Thanks, Christine. Just subscribed. We need all the collaboration we can get!
That sounds just scary as hell. Talk about being knocked down by a "metaphor." Good luck, sure and glad the kitty got grabbed (they're always the one likely to run and hide where you can't get them immediately in such situations). And very glad you are all safe.
You understand cats well, TC. My younger cat skittered away when I tried to grab him. When I came up from the basement, he was sitting on his cat tree looking out into the back yard through sliding glass doors - you know, the kind that shatter when slammed by 85 mph winds. Like winds whipped up in an EF0 tornado. Sigh. Cats!
The Thundering Feline Herd of Encino are good teachers - we just live in their house. :-)
As it should be, TC!!!! (according to the cats)
Animals, in general, are amazing. We lived in Jupiter, FL, about 2 blocks off the Loxahatchee River when Hurricane Andrew hit. Initial reports were that Jupiter would receive a direct hit. We had several horses, including a mare and a 2 week old foal. Conventional practice is to turn the horses out, which we did. I have never been so anxious in my life. Jupiter did not get a direct hit and when things settled down Coca and Maggie, the foal, were just fine – nonplussed by the whole affair. Amazing.
Phew!!! 🐎
Back when I lived in San Francisco, the flat I was sharing came with my room-mate's very eccentric calico cat, Miss Dolly. In the living room there was one particular table with a cloth over it that she would always dive under just before an earthquake. If you saw Miss Dolly "hauling ass" (see above) to get under that table it meant,"HANG ON!!" Animals' sense of stuff like that is nothing short of amazing.
Been through my share of tornadoes too...back in April, 2012 I was conducting our college's chorale in a Spring concert. During the concert the sirens began wailing, just as the men were singing their number, "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" (from "Life of Brian")! Perfect piece for the situation! We managed to finish and everybody, audience included, "hauled ass" (it's what one does in a tornado) to the basement. No tornadoes touched down, thankfully...but this was the same onslaught of tornadoes that did so much damage in Tuscaloosa, AL.
Animals’ instincts are amazing-Miss Dolly sounds like a great companion for anyone willing to live in an earthquake zone. Though my sympathies to you for having to live with a calico!
And yes. Hauling ass is the perfect phrase for what one should do when a tornado approaches. Forever grateful to Kasumii for that laughter.
What I experienced last week in Minnesota was nothing compared to what hit Tuscaloosa. Bejeebus, that must having been terrifying to even be close! Thanks for the lyric laughs!
>^..^<
Sheila, so glad that you were able to find shelter with your pets in the basement and that the damage was not worse. You are an inspiration to all of us with your activism and resolve.
Great comment! Sometimes the perfect analogy just falls into your back yard . . .
Lol, yup!
Thankfully, Sheila, you're safe.
Thanks Daria. Me too😎
Thank you Sheila E. I feel the terror of the siege and needed to read what you wrote. My condolences on your - and our - losses.
May you and we build back better. May our enemies never amass what they covet and kill for, and may the gnashing of their teeth be in their immediate future. 🙏🏻
I laughed when I saw this Jean-Pierre. I’m Sheila B. I think you are a musician though so called me Sheila E, (Prince’s sidekick.) Don’t I wish I had that much talent!
🪘🎵🤣
I am so thankful that you and your pets are safe, Sheila! What a story you've written!
Sheila - glad you are OK but sorry for the mess you have to clean up at home.( And sorry for the mess we need to clean up in this country!!) It's a perfect analogy.
I'm glad you are OK. Your comparison of that tornado to what is going on is spot on.
You wrote: "Took me a while but I now have crashed through to the fact that these duly elected bastards really do want to destroy this country. Gobsmacked yes. Go down in their ship? Never." I had not read this, but I just posted a comment on FB that mirrors your thoughts.
Brava! Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, you've stood up, dusted yourself off, and are recommitting to the good fight...perhaps absorbing the energy and force of that tornado to spark and fuel your rejuvenated commitment.
(P.S. I live in the tornado-prone Midwest as well. If we had a very close strike here, I would grab my wife and 'old Solo' to head for the basement.)
Sheila, so sorry about the loss of your beautiful trees and impressed by your gumption.
Glad you are safe. How very scary! Sorry about the trees. 😢
That helpless feeling is awful; good to do something.
Helpless is the worst. Turns out yard work helps with rage attacks as well as helpless. Hopefully we can prune away some of these so-called politicians next year.
"Trump is under criminal investigation in Georgia for his previous attempts to overturn the state’s election results."
He's been under investigation in NY, on a number of issues, by NY state and federal SDNY attorneys. When are we going to hear from any or all of these investigations?
All I want for Christmas, 2021 please, not '22 or '23, are some indictments!
The Trump Organization and it's CFO are now under indictment. And other members of that "crime family" are talking. I believe that ultimately, there will be Trump Organization figures that will spill the beans to save their skins. I know, I know...from my lips to....
I have to believe that this whole process is taking so long because prosecutors want to build as powerful and leak proof case as possible. But isn't the waiting agony?
"...there will be Trump Organization figures that will spill the beans to save their skins."
Crime Syndicate behavior is different. There is a greater from the syndicate for "spill[ing] the beans" than just "doing the time".
Nobody talks, rarely at least.
"But isn't the waiting agony?"
Indeed! Thanks for the update.
AGONY!!!! But I have to agree and pray that it is taking so long for the exact reasons you have expressed.
But so long that Republicans retake power and throw it all out with the bath water?
Yes, they are getting plenty of time to amp up their already crazy coup d'etat against our democracy.
Exactly Penelope. The longer they are allowed to foment hate and chaos, the more damage they will do.
If they do win, we are done.
But Weisselberg’s likely trial is a year away. If the little fish lead to the big fish, we have A LONG time to wait. However, Jill Wine-Banks says she thinks Vance will indict trump before he leaves office at year’s end. 😦😦😦
Sounds so far away, "end of the year." Actually, it is only about three months...so I will take it!!
It’ll never happen. It’s all a show. And we are the audience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki
White collar crime has a long history of never coming to justice. Trump has proved this over his entire life. This may be our nation's greatest Achilles heal.
I am reading "First Principles" about our Founding Fathers' struggle to design a government that ably dealt with "self interest" as they came to recognize during the years of operating poorly under the Articles of Confederation, that "virtue" (self sacrifice for the common good promoted by Greek and Roman philosophers) only goes so far. States were refusing to pay the Continental Congress to cover the recent war and national expenses. What they did not discuss was the ease with which individual white collar crime could compromise and infect our governments. They did not seem to discuss how private and corporate interests might buy off the government from the outside. They worried more about how self interest would set states against each other and the national government. And how self interest would affect elected representatives on doing their duty within the government. They had a more positive view of how competing interests of citizens and states would offset each other and bring compromise and cooperation. They must have been somewhat giddy with having started a new nation with the belief that they could do everything better than thousands of years of human history, an American concept that often leads to trouble.
"They had a more positive view of how competing interests of citizens and states would offset each other and bring compromise and cooperation."
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
I just started “Captured” by Sheldon Whitehouse. In the introduction and the first few chapters, I think he speaks to the fears in the early days that forces would try to advantage themselves.
Also in the “Great Courses” , “Books That Matter: The Federalist Papers” the worries and compromises made to gain union are clearly discussed. The Constitution was definitely a compromise position and the cause of great angst.
There was a hearing in the Weiselberg case yesterday and his attorney said they expect more indictments. It was a curious turn of phrase. But that's what he said.
Thanks for the update. Would that I had read about it on the front page of the NY Times. It says something about HCR and her readers.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-20/trump-cfo-s-lawyer-says-more-indictments-expected-in-n-y-case
By Shayna Jacobs
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-organization-weisselberg-indictments/2021/09/20/ff58ca20-1a1e-11ec-8380-5fbadbc43ef8_story.html
My favorite part of the Bloomberg report was this: "Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan"
This is who he is:
Investigations Division, New York County District Attorney's Office, 1998 -1999
Trial Division, New York County District Attorney's Office, 1994 to 1998
He came up the hard way and has DA & Investigatory chops.
Thank you for providing links. Very helpful.
My favorite part of the WP article was this:
"In arguing for extra time to file, Skarlatos suggested even more evidence may be coming that his team will have to review..."
yea, it's tough to look over the 2 sets of books that Weisselberg kept.
I also read about that. A couple of people are already talking. The author of the piece noted that the Trump organization is small and who is left last names start with T. i hope he is right.
Investigators still have to get to Matthew Calamari, the company’s chief operating officer.
An apt Surname for another slimy creature who does dopey don’s dirty work!
Matthew Calamari worked as Trump’s bodyguard and rose over four decades to become the Trump Organization’s chief operating officer.
Interesting read:
Trump Organization Trial Is Scheduled for Next Summer, Judge Says
A Manhattan judge set a trial schedule for Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization on Monday that could coincide with the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/nyregion/allen-weisselberg-trump-organization.html
If I am remembering correctly, they are talking to him and maybe he is talking to them. Don't quote me on this one.
You can and should be quoted, because you are correct.
“We remain in discussions with the district attorney’s office relating to Matthew Calamari Sr.,” said Nicholas Gravante, a lawyer for Calamari
*and his son, also a Trump employee *.
Prosecutors continue to investigate whether Matthew Calamari, the company’s chief operating officer, who received untaxed perks, similarly benefited, people familiar with the case have said.
He used the argument that more defendants were expected to play for time. He's saying that the addition of more defendants will require him to modify his defense to include the additional evidence which will be presented.
Me, too!
Yes, yes, yes!
Dear Prof. HCR,
Methinks you need more than one early night per week. This news is nightmarish!
What 45 and the GOP have plotted -- and continue to connive -- is beyond horrific! I dare Stephen King to write a more destructive horror story! That monster and his lackeys have no right to be free while so many innocent human beings are behind bars.
As a nation, in order to retain a small modicum of normalcy, we must vow to vote the GOP out at every turn!
But what are you going to do when they overthrow an election?
Make sure they don't!
Bam!
Good morning Rowshan!
TCinLA offering some ideas on his Substack as to how to do that and subscribers weighing in. It feels like a positive force doing something!
https://tcinla757.substack.com/
Thank you so much, Christine! Will definitely go there as soon as classes are done for the day.
I hope you have the time and means to add this important “extra” class.
But, of course!!!!
I listened to Alex Jones in the days leading up to the January 6th insurrection. He had a few guests on his show like John Eastman laying out ' legitimate ' paths forward for Trump to reclaim the 2020 election. One major component was that the count in the House be interrupted. Of course this would be the job of the 'Trump following, public demonstrators '. This is awesome how you have parsed this out HCR. I guess reading Woodward and Costa's book would explain what you've said here in excruciating detail. This is serious business because this is another example of these 'determined people' throwing stuff up against the wall in order to see what will stick ... Democracy hanging in the balance.
Bill, I admire that you spend some time listening to Alex Jones. I too spend a good amount of time (but always a small fraction of my day) in "Discussions" on right wing-sites. I often engage in vigorous debate which results in "teasing-out" THE REAL VALUES being debated.
Eye-opening stuff.
My friends can't understand why I would listen Alex Jones, Mike Savage, The Daily Shoa and others. I don't understand why they wouldn't want to know the logic behind these folks behaviors !
It was a blessing to having been exposed to Heather Cox Richardson. After absorbing a lot of paradigm shifting attempts at normalcy that don't mean Democratic folks any good ... she is an intelligent breath of fresh air !
You need to inform your friends that you only listen to understand how to deal with this.
We MUST deal with this!
There is no SHIFTING TO NORMALCY!
especially approaching the problem with Infrastructure Spending Legislation.
Once again, America is at a point where the right decision would be to charge the former president with either insurrection or treason, and with plenty of evidence, it won’t be done.
In this country, we chase commies out of fear, but let fascism bloom; Americans believe the boogie-man stories about Democrats but don’t address real violence against women and children; Americans believe justice comes in the courtroom when it sees an injustice, but can’t tell a real crime from a false charge made to politically smear someone. And Americans believe falsely that millions of non-Americans are voting th create invalid election results, when in reality, other countries around the world are making themselves stakeholders in our election process that they are influencing our democracy.
There are people today who claim Pres Biden is a criminal running our country, so every act he takes is unlawful and invalid. THIS MUST STOP, and the former president continues to tell the world that he won’t stop until he is forced to stop. He has plenty of fans and enables in government who also see their own demise in the new For The People Act provisions.
Jane- Each time I read about yet another plot to destroy the election results I am overwhelmed with panic and fury! If Bob Woodward has obtained this information- you’d think that an investigative arm of the government would also have this information and be able to act on it.
I’m sick of the lies, the hate, the vitriol. I’m sick of the politicization of this pandemic, in which the Rs are sacrificing their own constituents to regain political power. Most of all I sick of all the sound bytes that raise to the top of the news feed and drown out the real issues that need to be addressed.
How much longer do we have to swim through this sea of sh!@? Where are this countries leaders? I’m exhausted and it’s only 6:30AM.
Through all this, though I’d be remiss not to thank Dr Richardson for he together these letters each and every day. And thanks to all who contribute in the comments. As bad as it is, it’d be worse without this forum to try and sort things out. How are you all holding up?
I live in PA, and right now, I am INFURIATED! Not only does our state government, (one of the highest paid, least effective state legislatures in the country) think they can hand over our personal information to an outside company, they are sitting on a 10 BILLION DOLLAR SURPLUS, which they claim they are going to hold for a Rainy Day Fund! They’re going to use it as their personal slush fund, sending out dollars to companies who donate to them! If there’s one thing true about PA government, the power of the purse goes to the guy who writes the budget.
Please call your state reps & senators & gov. Encourage friends & neighbors to do so too. Go to the politician's media pages & post there too. Let everyone in your state know that this is not permissible.
Sharon, you have totally expressed how I feel these days. Just fed up with the hatred and lies.
Thank you for writing this. I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said.
... about the same ... Peace in one breath ... one breath at a time ...
Sharon, thanks for your part in this daily touchstone. I live in perpetual cognitive dissonance. Grateful for the gifts of my own personal life while feeling growing anguish about our country and planet. Actions, however small, keep despair at bay.
Frightened, too. Sending you calming thoughts and a hammer if you need to defend yourself. Small smile.
"How are you all holding up?"
Sharon, that was very nice of you to ask. It is your concern, and the decency OF EVERYONE I KNOW that keeps me progressing. I like to make progress and see improvement (however small) result. This is how I generally feel.
But in the last few days there has been a ripple set in motion in my neighborhood. We're a very diverse, somewhat community oriented neighborhood (for NYC that is; everything's relative). An incident occurred nearby that brought the fight that was only going on "out there" (beyond NYC) home.
It was an ugly incident and a strain on all of our peace-of-mind.
Now I don't know if that was an isolated incident, or of the problems of "out there" are starting to arrive.
Sorry to hear of the incident in your neighborhood, Daniel. I hope it was an anomaly and that your neighborhood stays strong.
It has gone on since Thursday and getting worse. There's national coverage. Just google news "Carmine's BLM". The media have spun it every which way, and folks have broken off into camps. I actually know the facts on the ground, as I live 1/4 mile away. It'll get worse before it gets better. Then it'll fester.
Just did, haven't been watching news that covered that. How in the name of ..... does BLM think this egregious overreaction will do anything to help their cause?! They're claiming racial bias but do they have evidence that only African-Americans are being denied entry if they don't have a valid vax card? A couple of articles say that the vax cards were considered to be fake; how was that determined, if it was? When I searched, btw, the majority of article hits were from publications biased to the right including far right, I read only a few just to see what different detail might be in them, only 2 left leaning one of which was almost at the far end of Left on the MediaBias/FactCheck page (checked bcz I wasn't sure what their bias might be, the others were the usual suspects).
Reporting in the media has been horrible (I notice this every time reporting of an event I am intimately involved in appears).
Here's the local news reporting. I warn you in advance that it suffers from extreme "bothsideism":
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/09/20/carmines-brawl-texas-women-arrested-covid-19-vaccination-mandate-nyc-restaurants/
I have the facts, because I live nearby and walk past Carmine's regularly.
I mentioned that ours is a diverse neighborhood. Half of the diners at Carmines are Black. Black neighbors are outraged at these 3 women, their lawyer, and the BLM response.
The attacked hostess is a 24 year-old Asian. Very decent person.
Instead, here's a quote from the lawyer for these 3 Texan beaters:
Moore, who represents Dr. Kaeita Rankin, said the hostess used a racial slur during their exchange...“Now they said that this woman was Asian-American, but we know there has been a long legacy of Asian hatred towards Black people in this country,” Moore said.
The people from the restaurant that stopped the beating of the Asian hostess were all Black. They felt these 3
women were trash.
P.S. Demonstrators at the BLM demonstration also slurred gay people. Seems they are all-inclusive haters in this one.
So now, in my neighborhood, the Black, White, Asian, Brown community were all involved in the incident.
And ALL ARE UNITED TOGETHER against these 3 attackers.
Did I mention that we are a very divers, and yet still pretty community-minded here?
We all don't like Troublemakers coming into our neighborhood.
Mary Trump has said Donald will continue with his “let’s you and him fight” as long he knows HE is physically safe, which I guess he will always be with SS protection.
One would hope that Republican voters would wake up and acknowledge that Trump is a liar, cheater and a psychopath and will not vote for another sh*t show in 2024, but if he runs, they'll put the MAGA hats back on. One would hope that as Trump's chickens come home to roost--charges of tax evasion, potential indictments out of Georgia for trying to sway the 2020 election, rape charges, enormous personal debt defaults--would dim his star, but they won't. And now, in the face of voter suppression laws, Democrats are scrambling to eek out a win in 2022. The odds are definitely stacked against them.
Good doesn't always prevail. The recent Russian elections in which Putin opposition candidates were purged from the ballots demonstrates this. As Leonard Cohen sings, "Everybody knows the dice are loaded, everybody knows the good guys lost." Republicans are loading the dice and Americans must fight back.
That Cohen song has been my anthem for some time now. Sadly, I also feel evil will prevail unless a real fight for justice happens - protestors in the streets, etc. Hitler redux it appears. But I for one will be ready to hit the streets. They can jail or shoot me; at 66 I've had a great life. I hope this is crazy talk.
Not ready to give up on this country, but if we don’t change the Supreme Court, we are sadly screwed. I thought that there was hope in the beginning but that did not last long.
Same age and same "crazy" sentiment here. History has taught us exactly what is happening here. I have had a great life, too...but I will not stand silently by.
Leonhard Cohen, prophet poet and the "Lord of Song." His lyrics reveal humanity in our darkness and in our pining for Light.
Republican voters know that “Trump is a liar, cheater and a psychopath.” They regard those attributes as advantages in their pursuit of continued dominance of the US government by white men.
I think most may relate to these values and practices.
Morning Randy! With your insights, I suggest TC’s Substack.
https://tcinla757.substack.com/
Combined with HCR’s Letters, it’s a 1-2 punch.
Thanks, Christine.
Lyrics: Everybody Knows
https://www.google.com/search?q=every+bbody+knows+lyrics&oq=every+bbody+knows+lyrics&aqs=edge..69i57j0i13l8.25248j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lin-a2lTelg
"Democrats sued Friday to stop the release of the voter information, and two Democratic representatives to Congress have asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether the subpoenas could violate federal laws by leading to voter intimidation."
... uh, d'ya think ...?!
Are we going to be nothing but one mammoth court case or a country before we fall? Geeeze... Brain. Hurts.
Penelope - Indeed! I am sick to deal of court case after court case. The energy and expense that is going into this continuous litigation. But - what other choice is there when this kind of crap keep happening? And what else is happening while we're all focused on these court cases? Sometimes I think it's all a smoke screen for some other more nefarious going on.
“The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.” Some days it seems the wheels turn not at all.
Or go backwards.
Regarding Trump's effort to get Pence to refuse to verify the Electoral College ballot count on 6 January, we see how Trump gets others to perform acts of commission that would provide him cover of plausible deniability of intent to commit an illegal act in his own name. He used others the same way: Michael Cohen, Allan Weiselberg (sic), President Zelinsky of Ukraine (unsuccessful), the white supremacist groups of January 6 at the Capitol fame, to name a few I can recall. He's using the tactics of a mob-boss, one with a sick mind. I'd love to know the name of the person, or persons, who create such incredible game-theory schemes for Trump; I detect he learned a few things working at his daddy's elbow. I don't believe Trump himself has enough of an attention span, or powers of imagination, to put such barely believable Lego machines together.
He was coached by the criminal Roy Cohn for years.
watched a documentary on HBO about Q-Anon and its role in the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection. Between the election and Jan 6, Q sent out a flurry of “intel” on election machines and possible scenarios of their hacking. The admin of 4chan, believed also to be Q, parroted some of the claims, stating that the machines were produced in Venezuela and couldn’t be trusted.
But the big Q-Anon news in the weekend leading up to the insurrection was that Q had released a 4000 page report describing Mike Pence’s treasonous acts against Trump and America. And though I bet nobody actually read the report, they took it at face value from Q that it was real. On January 6, Q signed off for the last time, a see-you-later too fearful to be found.
I bring this up because Q’s acts dovetail neatly into the narrative that Trump looked for any means necessary to change the results of the election.
Teflon Don. After a life of crime, he’s still free to terrorize us. A painful lesson for the USA. We need laws and timely justice to prevent bullies from taking over our country while we watch.
We have never held people accountable for the damage done to our country-Confederate leaders and politicians and secessionists, those like
Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz who sent people into war based on lies. Now TFG who is the worst of the bunch.
You can not make this stuff up. I’m ready for this sorry show to end.
"without opening itself to Republican attacks that it is 'soft' on immigration"
"the administration kept the public health guidelines established during the pandemic under former president Trump [...] But right-wing media is, once again, insisting that Biden is allowing a flood of immigrants to overrun the U.S"
These realities stand in such stark contrast to each other.
There is no longer any such thing as behaving in such a way that one doesn't open oneself up to attacks my Republicans. They've learned they can make up a narrative out of whole cloth at any time they choose, about anyone, and it's become one of their only tools. They declared him illegitimate from before the beginning - of course he has already been declared unacceptably soft on immigration, and even if he were to out-Trump Trump in cruelty, that would be the narrative simply because he stands in the former President's way of power.
This is post-reality. We've moved well past a point where it was possible to earn respect or bipartisanship through any means. Being too soft will doom us far less quickly than trying too hard to avoid the ire of a group of people among whom esteem is only earned, temporarily, through corruption and predation.
I agree - it seems as if the Democrats (Congress) are so fearful of "appearing" or being "too soft" - ENOUGH! Just do your jobs & do what the people (we) want you to do. Ignore this rabble rousing bunch. They have no legitimacy just, as Heather said - corruption!
This is exhausting and demoralizing, which is exactly the objective. The endless barrage of lies, lawsuits, and gaslighting is pure Trump.
By creating mistrust, chaos and fear he keeps his opponents off balance, reactive and confused. It’s how he ran his business and now the Republican Party. The US is his ultimate mark.
So true.
I have nothing profound to say about all of this. Sometimes I'm whelmed by the fact that our country is FUBAR. Constant, outrageous Republican behavior. TFG's perpetual, evil manipulating. Sedition and treason arguably (?) the foundation of the radical right. By the time I finished reading, my heart was pounding and tears were trying to out themselves. One might reasonably conclude that I could use a sedative and/or a good therapist. One might be right. But I maintain that knowing instead of guessing is the far better thing. That's why I come here. But damn!! It's really hard.
When you find a sedative that works, please share it! My question is where the hell are the laws and safeguards that should put these rogue politicians and lawyers, and tfg in jail? Are our laws only for the “little guy”? The everyday American? How can we not have laws that prevent FOX and the other trump fake news organizations from having a platform that makes Hitlers brainwashing look like child’s play? I just don’t get it. Where is the outrage from Lindsey Graham, Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Merkowski and the rest of the so called Senators who love America? The frustration that I feel is debilitating…I can’t even imagine how HCR is coping. We are watching our democracy burn down in real time and the firefighters have dry hoses!
I don’t think any of the people you mentioned actually love America. They love power and themselves. That’s it.
My deep hope is that all our cracks are being deeply revealed so that when we take the reigns of our democracy back, we know all the loopholes to fill in and the changes that need to be made so democracy will thrive. But big money and corporations are in cahoots on a global scale. The current administration needs to demand justice much faster. I guess we need to help. Oct. 2, take to the streets.
YES! I couldn’t find any one to march with me in DC. Being 71 I’m not too keen on heading there by myself so I’ll be marching in Richmond, VA where I have friends …and it’s closer to home.
Good! We will all be United that day, from all points. Powerful!
You’re not alone, Barbara, if that helps at all. And that’s why most of us come here—to learn and support one another.
"But I maintain that knowing instead of guessing is the far better thing. That's why I come here. But damn!! It's really hard."
Find out everything you can, who is behind it, where the money goes, who meets who, what's planned. Best chance to get your head around it all. That will get you going. And that will stop your heart from pounding and tears.
As an aside, when you wrote that "But I maintain that knowing instead of guessing is the far better thing. That's why I come here." You need get and know more, to be prepared.
Yes, to all of that. I'm not new here. I've been an activist and a political info sponge much of my adult life. (I'm older than primordial ooze.) I bused to D.C. for the Women's March in 2017. I've marched in Minneapolis. I've attended many vigils. I write OpEds and LTEs. The thing is, the more we know, the more we realize there is neither a blueprint nor rules/regs that seem applicable to this unholy mess. When that hits home, there is a definite twinge of hopelessness. But given our individual and collective resiliency, we bounce back--at least some of the way--and keep on keeping on. That's especially hard when the weight of it all is excessive. I remind myself from time to time that despair is what the rat bastards are counting on. That's a powerful incentive to rise and, if not to shine, at least to sparkle.
"The thing is, the more we know, the more we realize there is neither a blueprint nor rules/regs that seem applicable to this unholy mess. When that hits home, there is a definite twinge of hopelessness."
No need to fight their battle. We fight ours.
There are plenty of blueprints for fighting Fascism.
I think we should be sharing the following and making sure people understand that it's President Biden taking care of our children.
Open SmartNews and read "When Joe Biden said his COVID relief package would ‘cut child poverty in half’ he wasn’t joking" here: https://share.smartnews.com/dJJXv
To read it on the web, tap here: https://share.smartnews.com/czLm8
Thank you Beth. Was just thinking about this report as I read people drowning in grief on the forum today.
Let me put in caps: EVERYONE!!! READ WHAT BETH HAS POSTED. IMPORTANT THAT WE SEE THE FORCES OF GOOD WORKING!
UNITAD ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
Thanks! Drowning feels prevalent every other day. LET'S hold one another up!! Sinking down will not get us anywhere! Focus on the positive!! Thank you Beth and Christine!! Breathe slowly and deeply to calm the anxiety and bring your blood pressure down, folks. This ride is a long...we need to pace ourselves on days like this.
My daughter is a recipient of those funds in rural KY. I suggested she make sure her neighbors know the DEM President was responsible as McConnell said directly he didn’t vote for it. She said it would make no difference to them.
Sadly, you are right.