[L to R: Jeff Bezos/Washington Post owner, Sam Altman/AI CEO, Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook & Meta founder and CEO, Patrick Soon-Shiong/LA Times publisher, and the Walt Disney Company/ABC News.]
Here’s Dave Chappelle’s plea at the end of his Saturday Night Live monologue:
A nice sentiment, but likely to fall on deaf ears. And Dave needs to save some “good luck” wishes for the American people who will be harmed by t-Rump’s policies, decrees, and whims.
OK, I’ve had my say. You know where I stand. As best as I can over the next four years, I’m going to try to not give any more oxygen to the dumpster fire. Lil’ Donny the broken boy needs a steady stream of attention, and I don’t want to contribute. I’d rather focus my attention on things that I can change.
Notice the dateline: January 5th. Two months after the election, when reporting like this two months before the election might’ve made a difference. And almost four years to the date of the insurrection, the biggest challenge yet to our democracy.
Grandpa Joe inherited a total cluster, and managed to right the ship.
Now the most aggrieved man-child in history takes the reins, full of bluster and b.s., hellbent on revenge, caring for no one other than himself, looking to turn the U.S. government into shills, lackeys and toadies, and making bullying, corruption and extortion great again.
January 6th, 2021 WAS the biggest challenge yet to our democracy. Until today at noon.
“Donald Trump and the cynics want us to believe that he is all-powerful, and that if you fight back you will lose. he wants you to believe that if you fight back you may face danger. and he wants you to believe that it won’t matter, because he is in control of everything — and it is not true. it is time for us to build not a resistance but an opposition — something that is durable, something that will last for four years, and beyond. and we need to build that opposition now, and we need to all gird ourselves for the long run.”
Elizabeth Willing Powel’s question to Ben Franklin at the end of the Constitutional Convention in September of 1787: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
Ben Franklin: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
It’s our country. It’s up to us to keep it. It’s not gonna happen in Washington, but it can happen at home.
A week ago, a winter storm dumped about 10 inches of snow on our fair city. Friday we got a couple more inches. Much to the delight of an early 90s one-hit-wonder Canadian reggae musician.
And much to my dismay.
I’m not a winter person. Never have been. Maybe it was growing up in Arkansas, which is warmer most of the time… combined with the fact when it DID get cold in the foothills of the Ozarks, our home’s only heat sources were three small propane heaters (one in the living room, one in the back bedroom, one in the bathroom). We couldn’t leave them on all night (for both safety and economic reasons) so when we got up in the morning, we had to strike a match, turn on the gas flow, light that sucker up and huddle around it.
Oh, and the bathroom only had a tub, not a shower. My dad paid a buddy to put one in, but it was installed in a different, uninsulated room at the very back of the house. Sometimes the water coming out of the shower head would turn to icicles (exaggerating a bit, but it sure felt chilly back there).
Never learned to ski. My few attempts were always on Midwestern hills with man-made snow, which turned to ice, which made falling a real treat. And I fell a lot!
But there’s a special place in hell reserved for those folks who say “If it’s already cold, it may as well snow. I like snow. It looks so pretty!”
Yes, it looks pretty for about an hour. Then you realize it’s all over your driveway. And the sidewalks. And the roads. And then turns into a gray, ugly mess that sticks around way too long. (BTW, “gray, ugly mess that sticks around way too long” is what Mrs. Dubbatrubba calls me.)
Yeah, snow in the winter is a real treat. The shoveling. The chance of busting your butt on a patch of ice with every step you take. With dogs, it’s even “prettier” when their pee turns half of your backyard yellow… and their poops are magically preserved in the snow. You never see that on anyone’s Instagram feed.
Oh, and you “just bundle up” people? You can join the “I wish it would snow” people in hell. Yes, layers help you stay warm. But it takes 20 minutes to gear up, and you wind up looking like the little brother in A Christmas Story.
I’ll take shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops any day of the year. (Yes, I know, I live in the wrong city.)
But the top reason I hate snow is this:
That’s my friend Vinnie’s wife’s car. Or it was her car. She’s OK. They live in Maryland, on a country road. Without snow, it’s two lanes wide. But when snow falls, it turns into single track… and when you turn a corner and there’s a FedEx truck barreling down the 20 m.p.h. lane going 40, there’s not a whole lot you can do.
People don’t wreck nearly as much in plain old “cold.” Snow creates all sorts of extra traffic issues.
I know I shouldn’t complain. Most winters, Cincinnati is pretty unscathed by heavy snowfall. That said, if you’re one of those snow lovers, you’re welcome to come to our house and take as much as you’d like from our driveway and yard. We’ll even throw in the doggie “presents” free of charge!
If you need me, I’ll be hibernating until I can play pickleball again.
“Nobody can embargo sunlight. No cartel controls the sun. Its energy will not run out. It will not pollute the air. It will not poison our waters. It’s free from stench and smog. The sun’s power needs only to be collected, stored, and used.”
— President Jimmy Carter, May 3, 1978
L.A. is burning up.
Southern California has been experiencing a protracted dry spell. the rainy season, which generally starts in November, has yet to arrive — since May, just 0.16 inches of rain has fallen in Downtown Los Angeles. Additionally, LA experienced an unusually hot summer.
Droughts, hurricanes, and floods are more extreme.
“Drill, baby, drill” will only make it worse.
We squandered 46 years… we may not have another 46 to spare.
The funeral events for former President Jimmy Carter — who died Dec. 29th at the age of 100 — start today.
The “celebration of life” should continue for generations.
Because while his one-term presidency is largely regarded as ineffective, those four years don’t define him.
What should resonate is the way he lived his other 96 years, especially the 44 that followed his Presidential term. He helped cure diseases, helped make elections work, got on roofs and hammered and nailed, lived a 77-year marriage with Rosalynn that ended with her death in 2023 and taught a Sunday school class in Plains, Ga.
Three and a half million Africans were affected, hospitalized or killed by the Guinea worm in 1987. By 2023 there were 15 cases, total. Carter called it the most rewarding accomplishment of his life, and so was his work to minimize river blindness. He always found affairs of the soil more rewarding than pavement.
from the same post as above
Now let’s talk about those roofs, hammers, and nails.
The Carters demonstrated their commitment to social justice and basic human rights over and over again during their time in the White House. Their resolve only persisted since moving on, most notably through the Carter Center in Atlanta. They also worked on numerous Habitat builds both in the United States and around the world alongside passionate volunteers just like you.
Here is what Carter predicted at the dedication ceremony: “In the year 2000 this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy…. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”
Would that we had listened to Jimmy. We’d be a lot better off today.
The Carter administration set a goal of deriving 20 percent of U.S. energy needs from such renewable sources by the turn of the century…
By 1986, the Reagan administration had gutted the research and development budgets for renewable energy at the then-fledgling U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) and eliminated tax breaks for the deployment of wind turbines and solar technologies—recommitting the nation to reliance on cheap but polluting fossil fuels, often from foreign suppliers.
Yep, Ronald Reagan, the guy who trounced Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election. He’s the former President who has a D.C. airport named after him, as well as countless schools, highways and streets.
Reagan’s policies also widened the racial wealth gap.
The history is clear: so-long as the basic architecture of Reagan’s economic vision — lower taxes on the wealthy, less regulation, less unionization — remains in place, closing the racial wealth gap will be hard.
BTW, ol’ Ronnie also had the solar panels taken down in 1986, even though they were working fine.
Curing disease. Providing a pathway to homeownership. Being an advocate for fair elections across the globe. Encouraging the use of renewable energy. Being a devoted husband for 77 years. Teaching Sunday school.
Or, helping the rich get richer at the expense of a social safety net.
Reagan’s tax changes had significant effects, increasing economic inequality across all metrics. These effects have continued to the present day, because Reagan’s tax changes have not come close to being counteracted.
blueandgolddreamer on Vive la Différence!: “Apathy is the worst. It says it all” Mar 25, 04:14
Thomas G Kuhl on (Basket)ball of Confusion: “So many thoughts. I agree that it should be about life lessons. Okay. I will go away quietly screaming” Mar 19, 02:57
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