It’s astonishing how far corporations will go to shape public opinion about their harmful products. Consider the plastics industry.
Have you ever heard the Saga of Sweet Medicine? Have you ever heard of the Cheyenne’s four sacred arrows? Do you know the story of how a Cheyenne medicine man named Bull lost the sacred arrows during an 1830 battle with the Pawnee?
The Republicans of Bucks County, Pennsylvania just took a shellacking in a special election. They were just crushed.
Opinion about Gaza among my Jewish friends is varied, but it really does trend heavily against the approach pursued by Netanyahu. Of course, none of my Jewish friends are Israelis or right-wingers.
I still don’t know what Alejandro Mayorkas did to get impeached, but at the least the New York Times tried to explain. The Washington Post never even made an attempt. The answer, of course, is that Mayorkas did nothing, but why is it so hard to articulate what he’s accused of having done? The Lewinsky scandal was a lot easier to understand.
I’ve been thinking about writing an explainer on the discharge petition which might be used to force the U.S. House of Representatives to vote on a foreign/military aid bill for Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel. But it’s possible that a different trick will be used. Punchbowl News has a scenario where supporters of the bill can wrest control of the House floor by defeating a motion on “moving the previous question.” Either way, something must be done because Speaker Johnson isn’t going to bring the bill to a vote on his own.
It’s kind of a downer to have Valentines Day on Ash Wednesday, don’t you think? I’ll focus instead on it being my fathers 91st birthday. He tells me he’s always disliked having a Feb. 14 birthday, which makes me sad. But then one of my closest friends was born on January 6, and that’s been ruined.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think the Progress Pondcast sounds better on Apple than on Spotify. Can you tell the difference?
Vibes seem to be down again but regardless, Dems just keep on winning. There’s a decoupling happening between the media world and on the ground reality. Based on the data, I choose optimism 🙂
A very interesting story about the Cheyenne’s four sacred arrows. Been reading a lot recently about Native American history and this ending to the story just really hits home.
“I have seen in my mind that some time after I am dead…and may the time be long…light-skinned bearded men will arrive with sticks spitting fire. They will conquer the land and drive you before them. They will kill the animals who give you their flesh that you may live, and they will bring strange animals for you to ride and eat. They will introduce war and evil, strange sickness and death. They will try and make you forget Maheo, the Creator, and the things I have taught you, and will impose their own alien, evil ways. They will take your land little by little, until there is nothing left for you. I do not like to tell you this, but you must know. You must be strong when that bad time comes, you men, and particularly you women, because much depends on you, because you are the perpetuators of life and if you weaken, the Cheyenne will cease to be. Now I have said all there is to say.
Then Sweet Medicine went into his hut to die.
Our history is one of destroying a whole lot of what we touch.
Well, the Democrat only won by 35 percentage points, so the NYT will most certainly find a way that this is really bad news for Democrats and especially for President Biden.
The Mayorkas story and the discharge petition issue just reinforce how hard it is to convey to low information voters that this congressional dysfunction and complete inability to govern is not a “both sides” issue. All of this is because the GOP is no longer a governing party, it is a rump caucus of chaos agents, whose only goal is to bring the functions of government to a complete halt. But it is near impossible find a way to relate this to the wide swath of people who pay little to no attention to the reality of what is happening and depend on their limited circle of trusted sources in their social media bubble, talk radio, and the Fox News chyrons that scroll across the screens in their local pizza joints while they wolf down their stuffed crust cholesterol bombs.
Wishing your dad a very happy birthday!! 91 years old, WOW!! I have a cousin and an aunt who have birthdays today, so tell him to not be bummed about it, he’s got some good company on this special day.
I’ll have to give a listen to the podcast on Apple. I’ve only used Spotify, since I’m not an Apple guy. I haven’t noticed any sound quality issues on Spotify, but maybe I’m unwittingly missing out on a stellar audio experience courtesy of Apple.
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If I may be permitted to mix metaphors whilst staying within the animal kingdom, the Republicans have jumped the shark and now the chickens are coming home to roost, electorilly.
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