36 thoughts on “It’s Summertime!”

  2. from The Guardian speaking of things heating up

    Canada is on fire, and big oil is the arsonist
    Tzeporah Berman

    ‘Fossil fuel companies and their executives don’t need our money. In fact, they use it against us.’

    Governments need to represent us, not fossil-fuel profiteers. We need plans to phase out fossil fuel production and emissions

    Canada is on fire from coast to coast to coast. Thousands have been evacuated, millions exposed to air pollution, New York a doom orange and even the titans of Wall Street choking.

    Catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, back-to-back cyclones in the Pacific islands and droughts in Africa haven’t been enough to create a tipping point for action. Now that climate impacts have hit the economic capital of western power, will it spur governments in the global north to get serious?

    A lack of scientific knowledge about climate change is not the barrier. Nor is a lack of cleaner, safer, cheaper energy alternatives. The IPCC said as much last year – the barrier is vested fossil fuel interests putting their profit above our safety.
    We know exactly which fossil fuel companies are robbing us of clean air and a secure future. We can now measure which oil companies are responsible for wildfires (13 operate in Canada), but oil executives are still calling the shots.
    Internationally, big oil has been flooding the climate talks for decades. The result? The Paris agreement doesn’t even include the words fossil fuels, oil, gas or coal. And today we are on track to produce 110% more oil, gas and coal by 2030 than the world can ever burn, or it will burn us. If we are going to manage the decline of fossil-fuel production in an equitable and fair way we need our governments to stand up to big oil and start negotiating a new international agreement on fossil fuels to complement the Paris agreement.
    [continues]

  3. The Dark Ages of Anti-Science

    Attribution: The Dark Ages of Anti-Science by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com

  4. WAPO editors made a good point in their oped Opinion | Why Hunter Biden’s plea deal is justified – The Washington Post concluding remarks even though the matter had little to do with the subject of their headline.  too bad they didn’t make it the main point:

    […]
    For all the recent GOP insistence that law enforcement is being “weaponized,” with the indictment of Mr. Trump as Exhibit A in Republicans’ claims, more sober assessments have produced a growing body of evidence that the Justice Department exercises care and restraint when pursuing politically sensitive cases regardless of whether the target is a Democrat or Republican. The Post’s Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis reported this week on initial resistance and hesitation from leaders at the FBI and Justice Department when their subordinates sought to probe Mr. Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
    It made sense for prosecutors to work from the bottom up, which is standard when pursuing organized crime. Later, Mr. Garland authorized the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago to seize classified material that the former president falsely claimed he’d turned over. Mr. Garland also appointed special counsel Jack Smith to oversee the probes into the documents and Jan. 6. Clearly, he can be tough when it’s called for.
    What Ms. Leonnig and Mr. Davis describe is the opposite of a witch hunt. Their report shows the caution with which Mr. Garland proceeded; indeed, in the view of some department investigators and prosecutors, he was cautious to a fault. But that’s different than weakness or meekness. His prudence and deliberation should maximize public confidence in the rule of law.

  8. Texas called for energy conservation Tuesday as extreme heat spiked electricity demand

    Pray for Hood County.  There are “scheduled” power outages today; maintenance.  Timing is everything.
     

    ERCOT also sent out “voluntary” conservation notices to consumers.    They want us to be especially aware of consumption from 4-8pm.  You know, during the hottest part of the day.
     

    Another day with an expected heat index 110-120.  The H/I is already 95 here.  
     

    So far, the grid is holding. 
     
    Mexico and Central America have it worse, and India, and…

  9. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/20/texas-voting-mail-ballot-disabilities-abbott-veto/

    “Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded vote-by-mail access for people with disabilities — specifically people who are blind or paralyzed and need assistance marking their ballot.”

    So, folks who are like Greg?

    “In a resolution explaining his veto Saturday, Abbott called the intent of the bill “laudable” but said the bill does not limit the use of an electronic and accessible ballot by mail only to voters with disabilities. He says the bill would allow “any voter who qualifies to vote by mail to receive a ballot electronically.”

    OK, Boomer.

  10. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/20/ken-paxton-kenny-hansmire-partner-on-opioid-program/

    “Last fall, Kenny Hansmire was tapped by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton to be part of a coalition to combat opioid abuse that Paxton declared would “be the largest drug prevention, education, abatement and disposal campaign in U.S. history.”

    “The initiative would distribute 3.5 million packets at high school football games that contain a powder capable of destroying opioids when mixed with water.”

    “Paxton didn’t provide a price tag for the effort or explain Hansmire’s exact role, but he said a partnership with the businessman’s National Child Identification Program would be important to the program’s success.”

    “While launching a statewide program to distribute packets to dissolve opioids, Attorney General Ken Paxton worked to connect Kenny Hansmire with the state’s comptroller, who oversees the distribution of millions of dollars in opioid settlement money.”

    Grifters

    Paxton has been a key ally for Hansmire. In 2020, he signed a letter to then-President Donald Trump urging him to get behind ultimately unsuccessful legislation that would approve the use of federal money to pay for the child identification kits.

  12. https://newrepublic.com/article/173808/media-cares-titanic-sub-drowned-migrants

    “On June 14, what was likely the second-deadliest refugee and migrant shipwreck on record occurred when a boat carrying as many as 800 migrants sank off the Greek coast. Greek authorities had tracked the vessel and early signs suggest the country’s coast guard was slow to act despite numerous warning signs. This is a huge news story, one that hits at both Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis and the callousness with which many European nations treat migrants who are desperately trying to reach their shores.”

    “U.S. media has largely ignored a shipwreck with hundreds of migrant deaths but has focused intently on a missing submersible full of rich people.”

    “The passengers are rich tourists, including a British explorer and a Pakistani businessman, who had paid $250,000 to visit the remnants of the Titanic…”

    “The submersible is itself an object of curiosity. Concerns about its durability were raised in a 2018 lawsuit that alleged it could not safely travel the ocean’s depths. It is, despite the exorbitant cost of what was supposed to be a short trip, almost comically shoddy, bolted together with parts intended for RVs and piloted with a video game controller.”

  14. “U.S. media has largely ignored a shipwreck with hundreds of migrant deaths“
     
    With that in mind, realize their motivations behind covering politics.  Eyeballs and ads.  Migrant deaths don’t sell product

  15. That said, Brett Baier laughing in the face of indicted guy might mark the end of one long national nightmare
     
    ok happy summer ✌️

  16. Night moves. Lord I remember.  
    All my night moves now mostly consist of rolling over in bed.

  25. https://geographical.co.uk/climate-change/white-cliffs-of-dover-warming-stripes

    “Climate warming stripes light up the White Cliffs of Dover”

    “The White Cliffs of Dover have been illuminated in blue and red stripes that represent the change in UK temperatures over the last 100 years.”

    “Other landmarks around the world, including the Tate Modern chimney in London, Toronto’s CN Tower in Canada and Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Bridge in the USA, will also display the climate warming stripes today, 21 June, to mark Show Your Stripes Day.”

    https://showyourstripes.info/s/northamerica/all

    Interactive climate display

  26. Summer time and the livin’ is easy …. Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high.  Always loved those lines.  Ol’ George could write a song alright.

  28. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/21/politics/kevin-mccarthy-reaction-biden-impeachment/index.html

    “A number of House Republicans have filed articles of impeachment against Biden since the party took the House majority, but Boebert made a specific procedural move on Tuesday that would force the chamber to vote on the impeachment of Biden this week.”

    “McCarthy also raised that it would look hypocritical for the House GOP conference to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California for abusing his position in Congress and then use that same reasoning to justify impeaching Biden the next day, according to sources.”

    “But, several hardline Republicans plan to vote for the impeachment resolution, even though she has faced some criticism from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called her a “copycat” for offering an impeachment resolution similar to the one she proposed.”

    “What we need to do is we really need to have this argument here in our conference and get to the same place that our base is, where our Republican voters are and they’ve had enough. They’ve absolutely had enough. She also said that Boebert “copied” her impeachment resolution against Biden.”

    Oh, am mtg v Bobblehead slap-fight.

    How do they “get to the same place our base is” ? They are time traveling between Nazi Germany and the antebellum South.

  29. Bro-bert and Trailer-Park Greene slapping each other is way too much fun but actually they both just the same brand of Asty Nassholes.

  30. Loves me some Doobies.  One thing I never saw on 5 Mile Creek was catfish jumpin’ – never got that line in that song.

  31. Well, a cool, wet, dark day is coming to the evening.  The two trees removed does not make much difference from my deck.
     
    I am enjoying a couple of little things coming out of the Congress. Rep Adam Schriff is still my guy for prez.  The two women from the left hand side of the bell curve of IQ had a spat, on the floor of the House.  Next week the next step – girl fight.  Yeah, I give that one to BoBo, she has a lot of experience working the street.
     
    Are we watching the collapse of the repubs and greedy old perverts?  Perhaps.  Tomorrow we find out who is backing “George Santos” (if that is his real name) for his bond.  There could be a nothing there, but I expect a few people are scrambling to be replaced on that bond.  I think the Virginia elections will be harbingers of 2024.  The state is one the verge of Dem, but had a few districts go bad for the last election. That will be something to watch.

  32. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/21/politics/adam-schiff-censure-vote-house/index.html

    “The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, a key lawmaker in Democrats’ congressional investigations into former President Donald Trump during his presidency.”

    “As part of the censure procedure, Schiff stood in the well of the House floor, while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy repeatedly tried to read a brief rule about censure. Schiff was joined by his Democratic colleagues on the House floor who loudly cheered him on and repeatedly interrupted McCarthy.”

    “The resolution accuses Schiff of misleading the American people while pursuing the congressional investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign as the then-chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and for actions Schiff took leading up to the former president’s first impeachment. Schiff has dismissed the allegations as “false and defamatory.”

    tRUMPsky is a Russian asset. He’s still a security risk.

  33. They can change names on a bond? That doesn’t seem right, and if it is accepted, it seems traceable. 

  34. 62 degrees, rainy and windy ain’t my idea of summer. But it’s what I’ve got in East Bumfuck on summer’s first day. 

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