The U.S. advanced in the World Cup tournament today with a win against Iran, China’s government used Twitter bots to suppress information about protests against Covid lockdowns, and Britain’s royals are prepping a trip across the pond.
The US Senate has passed the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation to protect same-sex unions that Democrats are hurrying to get to Joe Biden to be signed into law before Republicans take over the House next year.
The House must now pass the bill, a step the majority leader, Steny Hoyer, said could come as soon as Tuesday 6 December. Nearly 50 House Republicans supported the measure earlier this year. In the Senate, support from 12 Republicans was enough to override the filibuster and advance the bill to Tuesday’s majority vote, which ended 61-36.
Although the Respect for Marriage Act would not codify Obergefell v Hodges, the 2015 supreme court decision which made same-sex marriage legal nationwide, it would require states to recognise all marriages that were legal when performed, including in other states. Interracial marriages would also be protected, with states required to recognise legal marriage regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin”.
Same-sex marriage has been thought under threat since June, when the conservative-dominated supreme court struck down the right to abortion. Then, the hardline justice Clarence Thomas wrote that other privacy-based rights, including same-sex marriage, could be reconsidered next.
Public support for same-sex marriage is at an all-time high of around 70% but according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, if the supreme court did overturn the right, at least 29 states would be able to enforce bans.
Before the vote on Tuesday, the US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, wrote on Twitter: “Strange feeling, to see something as basic and as personal as the durability of your marriage come up for debate on the Senate floor.
“But I am hopeful that they will act to protect millions of families, including ours, and appreciate all that has gone into preparing this important legislation to move forward.”
[continues]
Only lame ducks and underdogs go out in the mid-day sun…..
sturge, let’s not jump the gun with that “emeritus” stuff
she’s still wielding that gavel as Ms Speaker and in power for the next few weeks.
On Jan. 3 Nancy will be free to mock Kevin McCarty (assuming he can find 218 votes to nominate him as speaker) mercilessly.Â
I’m sure this admission of guilt freaked out his lawyers.Â
Olbermann says:
Kevin McCarthy says: “Stop Picking On Elon Musk!” FINALLY, because two of the worst Republican politicians shot off their big bazoos, we get a clue as to what Musk is doing to Twitter. He’s running the same play on it that John Malone ran on CNN: (4:02) see the platform that permits criticism of fascists, buy the platform, claim you only want to make it again into “sensible and centrist” media, shift the Overton Window as far right as you can, and turn it into radical right propaganda.(7:46) After Musk’s self-martyring battle with Apple, his next fight may come from Google. Axios reports Google is “monitoring developments” on the lack of content moderation at Twitter and could remove the App from its Google Play Store (11:25) What specific political rewards Musk should be expecting is still unclear but to hear Kevin McCarthy and Ron DeSantis whine about it, you’d think Musk had been kidnapped by pirates. DeSantis went so far as to suggest that if Apple removes Twitter from its App Store, Congress should “respond.”
The British are coming! (And, reportedly, they’re flying commercial.)
“Prince William and the Princess of Wales will be looking to focus attention on their Earthshot Prize for environmental innovators when they make their first visit to the United States in eight years this week…”
“Earthshot offers 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) in prize money to the winners of five separate categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change.”
OM should like these.
“Among the finalists is a startup from Kenya that aims to provide cleaner-burning stoves to make cooking safer and reduce indoor air pollution. When her daughter was severely burned by a charcoal-fired stove in 2012, she developed a stove that uses a safer fuel made from a combination of charcoal, wood and sugarcane. The stoves cut costs for users, reduce toxic emissions and lower the risk of burns…”
“Other finalists include Fleather, a project in India that creates an alternative to leather out of floral waste; Hutan, an effort to protect orangutans in Malaysia; and SeaForester, which seeks to restore kelp forests that capture carbon and promote biodiversity.”
“The global commercial seaweed market is valued at around $15 billion and is projected to reach $25 billion by 2028.”
“In 2019, Troge, an attorney who has represented the Shinnecock Nation in federal land rights cases, was looking for a way to create jobs and clean up Shinnecock Bay. That’s when GreenWave, a nonprofit that promotes regenerative ocean farming, approached the community about starting a kelp hatchery.”
“An explosion occurred at Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid, injuring one employee who was handling a letter, the Spanish Interior Ministry said Wednesday.”
“Spain, a NATO country, has sent military equipment to Ukraine to help its armed forces fight Russia’s invasion.”
“After six months, most of the 33 companies and 903 workers trialing the schedule, with no reduction in pay, are unlikely ever to go back to a standard working week, according to the organizers of the global pilot program.”
“The 4-day week has been transformative for our business and our people. Staff are more focused, more engaged and more dedicated, helping us hit our goals better than before…”
Does that mean they don’t have a lighter workload at some companies? That could account for the small percentage who don’t like it.
Update of post COVID life – doc says to expect at least a month of being tired and fatigued. Rest and be sure to eat. I never told her about my appetite dropping to nil, but she already had a heads up as it is a symptom. I at least am alive and can recover, yay for science.
The money collected will not be going to help fix the grid that’s power generation capacity froze and left much of Texas in the cold and dark 21 months ago.
“They did not provide service and they lost billions,” said Hirs. “You know, in most places–they go bankrupt, they go bankrupt in California, but not in Texas, the legislature and the Governor bailed them out with our money.”
Hirs says, money is what motivates the industry, and in Texas, in addition to a lack of planning and foresight, there’s not enough energy investment to support the growing economy.
“The key problem in the ERCOT grid, is the generators don’t get paid unless they’re actually turning electricity into the grid, and if you’ve got an old plant, you really don’t keep it up,” said Hirs. “For more than 20 years, we’ve had this awful electricity market, and it’s led to a lot of generation companies pulling their units off the grid, in fact the state has grown from $1.25 trillion in 2010 to $1.99 trillion GDP in 2021, and the fleet of natural gas and coal fired generators has actually become smaller, units have left. and the reason for this is the generators can’t earn a return on capital, so Wall Street is not going to back building new generators.
Bronc …………. Keep on buckin’.Â
The Oath Creepers trial –
Off to the Super Max !
Watch the plea bargains come flooding in.Â
BB
Get plenty of rest. And keep on truckin’.
Nothing happens for the holidays so unless a lame duck gets a crutch nothing will happen in congress either.
BB – Glad you are on the mend.
OM – Patch’s attorney was “disappointed” by the guilty verdict on seditious conspiracy..so there will be an appeal.
Still can’t believe Greg beat Beto.  His cronies are on the ERCOT board, so of course they haven’t fixed the grid despite being handed piles of taxpayer money.
OM – it is good to know the power grid of Texas is almost as good as Ukraine.
“But thousands like Wasi, 26, who had helped U.S. forces — but were not paid by the U.S. government — were left behind with few options to escape. With a Taliban target on their backs, many went into hiding as reports of revenge killings grew.
When it was clear Wasi could not get a visa, he went into hiding with his parents and eight other siblings before setting out on a harrowing journey halfway around the world that led to a jail cell more than 12,000 miles from his home.
He said Panamanian police came to the migrant’s camp during the journey, stripped him naked in front of everyone, threw insect-repellent powder from his pack onto his open wounds and repeatedly called him a terrorist.
They crossed the shallow Rio Grande slowly on Sept. 30, trying to keep their remaining belongings out of the water. After Wasi crossed, he said he went back to help young children and women who were struggling in the deeper parts of the river.
When Wasi spotted U.S. Border Patrol agents, he said he approached them and asked for asylum.
Currently, the only countries whose citizens Mexico has agreed to accept under Title 42 are Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Afghanistan isn’t on the list.
If a person can’t be expelled under Title 42, prosecutors can charge them for illegal entry and immigration officials can deport them. During this process, the person can usually request asylum.
Two days later, after an interrogation by federal agents, Wasi was sent to the Val Verde Correctional Facility and charged with a federal misdemeanor for failing to present himself at a port of entry with paperwork proving he was allowed to be in the U.S.
In October, he was denied bond, to the shock of his brother, who had offered to shelter Wasi while his case was pending. The following month, he was transferred to an immigration detention center in Eden, just over 40 miles east of San Angelo.
“I think my brother is the first in my whole tribe to be in chains, ever,” Sami said after attending his brother’s detention hearing. “It was very difficult to see him like that. He’s not a criminal. Why are they treating him like he has done something wrong?”
it’s likely that after his criminal charges are sorted out, Wasi will be able to receive an asylum hearing. But it’s possible that he could also be deported back to Afghanistan or kept in immigration detention indefinitely.
If he doesn’t plead guilty, his trial date is set for Dec. 20 in Del Rio.”
“Beto O’Rourke returned a $1 million donation from embattled cryptocurrency leader Sam Bankman-Fried four days before Election Day…”
“O’Rourke’s campaign said they gave the money back before the company’s scandals became widely public, because they were taken aback by such a large unsolicited donation.”
“O’Rourke’s team said they returned the million-dollar donation a week before FTX filed for bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried stepped down as its chief executive, but that the decision was made prior to Nov. 4 and took time to execute.”
“…his quiet return of the donation means O’Rourke has dodged the ethical headache bearing down on other candidates nationwide and in Texas who took money from the tech billionaire and his associates.”
“…Bankman-Fried, 30, was seen as a cryptocurrency wunderkind and a positive influence on the industry who was anxious to shape its regulation. He and others tied to FTX were prolific political donors to both Democratic and Republican candidates.”
“In total, Bankman-Fried donated $40 million to Democrats, according to Open Secrets, while another FTX executive, Ryan Salame, donated $23 million to Republicans.”
“ U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn both voted against federal protection for gay and interracial marriage Tuesday, though the full Senate passed the bill with bipartisan support.”
“The bill is largely a safeguard against potential action by the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which made the Defense of Marriage Act unenforceable and enshrined the right to same-sex marriages across the country.”
“But the bill does not go as far as codifying the landmark Supreme Court decision, which mandated states to perform same-sex marriages.”
“Texas had a ban on same-sex marriage before the Obergefell decision, and if the bill passed, the state Legislature could still refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses if Obergefell gets overturned. But it would have to recognize marriages from other states.”
So, SCOTUS could still make a mess of things. This doesn’t fix it, the way I thought it would.
“Iran’s World Cup defeat to the United States was met by cheers and celebrations in Tehran and other Iranian cities on Tuesday evening, as protesters hailed the country’s exit from the tournament as a blow to the ruling regime.”
“I am happy, this is the government losing to the people,” one witness to celebrations in a city in the Kurdish region…”
“…following the refusal of Iranian players to sing Iran’s national anthem in their opening match against England on November 21, a source involved in the security of the games told CNN that the players were called to a meeting with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
“The source said that they were told that their families would face “violence and torture” if they did not sing the national anthem or if they joined any political protest against the Tehran regime.”
Record-players are popular with teens, now, for some reason, and upon discovering a small display of vinyl-albums in a gift store recently, i decided to pick out a single album for a such a teen in my life, and of course, i had to pick out the BEST album of a limited, yet well-curated supply.
Day ole’ corn bread ………Â
Slice open a wedge , toast under the broiler , shmear with peanut butter.Â
YumÂ
Kiln House ………….. Tell Me All the Things You Do
Her first lead song with the Mac.Â
Damn. It never occurred to me that Christine McVie was that old – not that 79 looks all that old to me anymore.
Stevie Nicks tribute to McVie on news of her death
The resurgence of vinyl is a bit of a mystery to me. I loved the music and got into trying to baby the discs, but I was one happy man when CDs came out and were available for the records I loved listening to. And I never missed the pops from the dust in the grooves or the annoying scratch that drove me nuts on a few of the records that were subjected to a little too much abuse and carelessness. LP has just started buying vinyl. That’s a kid with probably 3000 songs on his phone. I have a wonderful Kenwood direct drive turntable that’s about 47 years old now and looks like it’s close to new. If only it still turned…
Pogo – I have been happy watching the revival of the platters. I never left vinyl, or acetate if I find some 78’s. Looking at the obvious pluses for records, tactile, being able to create scratches and glitches naturally. Muscle building by carrying around a dozen 33 1/3 albums. Being able to read the covers and labels. Solid selections, no chance of making a irratic playlist by slipping in a crummy single song. Keeping warm on winter nights huddled around the turntable and amplifier from all the heat. Demonstrate mouth-lip control by blowing dust of needle without soaking it. Wow your friends by paying five dollars a song on a ten song album. Create calm atmosphere in the room by yelling “NO JUMPING”.
Then there are why I like them. Even though my hearing is nothing like it was fifty or sixty years ago, I can still hear enough of the sound spectrum to enjoy listening without clipping or fuzzy rebuild of compressed codecs. I could not stand listening to the early CD’s, I had spent many years listening to very subtle noises with headphones on and the crappy CD’s drove me nuts. Now they are much better, but the only time I listen to a CD is when I am driving, usually opera’s and the road noise helps some of those.
I enjoy the physical act of climbing over sleeping critters to the record cases, selecting a couple of albums, climbing back over the animals, to the turntable, start the album (making sure I did not leave the 78 head in) and sitting back listening to the sounds coming from my 1960’s Sansui speakers. Life is good.
I got drunk in the Jerome Hotel Bar in Aspen , with Hunter Thompson’s “grounds keeper” once . He had a real “hippy van”. I mean shag carpet, captain’s chairs, porthole windows , paint job, and a bitchin’ sound system. So we drove out to Woody Creek to smoke some hash .
He plugged in “Kiln House” on the way . Hunter wasn’t home , but I met his Doberman’s , nice dogs.Â
The hash was very good. God do I miss smokin’ hash.Â
I had a Sears with detachable speakers and that jute covering over the speakers.
I’d place them next to my ears in bed and play , “2120 South Michigan Ave.”Â
Holding the thing in your hands , reading every word that came with it . The Art work , the photos . Opening a double album to see inside . Slicing the cellophane with your thumbnail.Â
Who the fuck is Andrew Log Oldham ?
Well downloads killed all that .Â
Along with the hunt at the record bins.Â
The son of militia leader Stewart Rhodes spent years plotting to help his family escape from his father’s control. Now that the elder Rhodes faces decades in prison, the rest of the family is rebuilding their lives.
Yo
Who’s whoo
The RR workers need to bite the bullet , their boat is still afloat . Sick pay ?Â
They got a 24 % raise . The middle aged woman at the drive thur selling them fries ain’t getting more sick days either .Â
And Bernie is right as well , the RR’s are rolling in cash.Â
This Rich/Poor divide is a boiling pot . Â
Hey all you royal watchers… the Prince and Princess of Wales are attending the Boston Celtics game.
Go Celtics!
This fiction that unlimited wealth in the hands of a few is a good thing is not working out so well . 800 people should not control 800,000,000,000 people.Â
RR –
All that wealth they sit on rests on the backs of millions of nameless black tears. And raping Ireland .
I know English history as well as any layman , they run the biggest bullshit show in human history .
Only the kings on the Nile come close .
NEW THREAD
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The U.S. advanced in the World Cup tournament today with a win against Iran, China’s government used Twitter bots to suppress information about protests against Covid lockdowns, and Britain’s royals are prepping a trip across the pond.
US Senate passes bill protecting same-sex marriage | Same-sex marriage (US) | The Guardian
Only lame ducks and underdogs go out in the mid-day sun…..
Nancy is now “Speaker Emeritus”. Â
Previewing the Lame Duck Session of the 117th Congress | C-SPAN.org
sturge, let’s not jump the gun with that “emeritus” stuff
she’s still wielding that gavel as Ms Speaker and in power for the next few weeks.
On Jan. 3 Nancy will be free to mock Kevin McCarty (assuming he can find 218 votes to nominate him as speaker) mercilessly.Â
I’m sure this admission of guilt freaked out his lawyers.Â
Olbermann says:
Kevin McCarthy says: “Stop Picking On Elon Musk!” FINALLY, because two of the worst Republican politicians shot off their big bazoos, we get a clue as to what Musk is doing to Twitter. He’s running the same play on it that John Malone ran on CNN: (4:02) see the platform that permits criticism of fascists, buy the platform, claim you only want to make it again into “sensible and centrist” media, shift the Overton Window as far right as you can, and turn it into radical right propaganda.(7:46) After Musk’s self-martyring battle with Apple, his next fight may come from Google. Axios reports Google is “monitoring developments” on the lack of content moderation at Twitter and could remove the App from its Google Play Store (11:25) What specific political rewards Musk should be expecting is still unclear but to hear Kevin McCarthy and Ron DeSantis whine about it, you’d think Musk had been kidnapped by pirates. DeSantis went so far as to suggest that if Apple removes Twitter from its App Store, Congress should “respond.”
Continues
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-countdown-with-keith-olbe-99705496/
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/prince-william-and-kates-royal-visit-to-boston-heres-everything-we-know/2905997/
The British are coming! (And, reportedly, they’re flying commercial.)
“Prince William and the Princess of Wales will be looking to focus attention on their Earthshot Prize for environmental innovators when they make their first visit to the United States in eight years this week…”
“Earthshot offers 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) in prize money to the winners of five separate categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change.”
OM should like these.
“Among the finalists is a startup from Kenya that aims to provide cleaner-burning stoves to make cooking safer and reduce indoor air pollution. When her daughter was severely burned by a charcoal-fired stove in 2012, she developed a stove that uses a safer fuel made from a combination of charcoal, wood and sugarcane. The stoves cut costs for users, reduce toxic emissions and lower the risk of burns…”
“Other finalists include Fleather, a project in India that creates an alternative to leather out of floral waste; Hutan, an effort to protect orangutans in Malaysia; and SeaForester, which seeks to restore kelp forests that capture carbon and promote biodiversity.”
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/regenerative-kelp-farming-new-york/
“The global commercial seaweed market is valued at around $15 billion and is projected to reach $25 billion by 2028.”
“In 2019, Troge, an attorney who has represented the Shinnecock Nation in federal land rights cases, was looking for a way to create jobs and clean up Shinnecock Bay. That’s when GreenWave, a nonprofit that promotes regenerative ocean farming, approached the community about starting a kelp hatchery.”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/europe/madrid-ukraine-embassy-explosion-intl/index.html
“An explosion occurred at Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid, injuring one employee who was handling a letter, the Spanish Interior Ministry said Wednesday.”
“Spain, a NATO country, has sent military equipment to Ukraine to help its armed forces fight Russia’s invasion.”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/business/4-day-work-week-results/index.html
“After six months, most of the 33 companies and 903 workers trialing the schedule, with no reduction in pay, are unlikely ever to go back to a standard working week, according to the organizers of the global pilot program.”
“The 4-day week has been transformative for our business and our people. Staff are more focused, more engaged and more dedicated, helping us hit our goals better than before…”
Does that mean they don’t have a lighter workload at some companies? That could account for the small percentage who don’t like it.
Update of post COVID life – doc says to expect at least a month of being tired and fatigued. Rest and be sure to eat. I never told her about my appetite dropping to nil, but she already had a heads up as it is a symptom. I at least am alive and can recover, yay for science.
Private profits , public costs ………….
https://www.kwtx.com/2022/11/29/energy-bills-going-up-texans-this-winter-more-than-usage/
The money collected will not be going to help fix the grid that’s power generation capacity froze and left much of Texas in the cold and dark 21 months ago.
“They did not provide service and they lost billions,” said Hirs. “You know, in most places–they go bankrupt, they go bankrupt in California, but not in Texas, the legislature and the Governor bailed them out with our money.”
Hirs says, money is what motivates the industry, and in Texas, in addition to a lack of planning and foresight, there’s not enough energy investment to support the growing economy.
“The key problem in the ERCOT grid, is the generators don’t get paid unless they’re actually turning electricity into the grid, and if you’ve got an old plant, you really don’t keep it up,” said Hirs. “For more than 20 years, we’ve had this awful electricity market, and it’s led to a lot of generation companies pulling their units off the grid, in fact the state has grown from $1.25 trillion in 2010 to $1.99 trillion GDP in 2021, and the fleet of natural gas and coal fired generators has actually become smaller, units have left. and the reason for this is the generators can’t earn a return on capital, so Wall Street is not going to back building new generators.
Bronc …………. Keep on buckin’.Â
The Oath Creepers trial –
Off to the Super Max !
Watch the plea bargains come flooding in.Â
BB
Get plenty of rest. And keep on truckin’.
Nothing happens for the holidays so unless a lame duck gets a crutch nothing will happen in congress either.
BB – Glad you are on the mend.
OM – Patch’s attorney was “disappointed” by the guilty verdict on seditious conspiracy..so there will be an appeal.
Still can’t believe Greg beat Beto.  His cronies are on the ERCOT board, so of course they haven’t fixed the grid despite being handed piles of taxpayer money.
OM – it is good to know the power grid of Texas is almost as good as Ukraine.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/30/afghan-soldier-asylum-texas-jail-taliban-border/
“But thousands like Wasi, 26, who had helped U.S. forces — but were not paid by the U.S. government — were left behind with few options to escape. With a Taliban target on their backs, many went into hiding as reports of revenge killings grew.
When it was clear Wasi could not get a visa, he went into hiding with his parents and eight other siblings before setting out on a harrowing journey halfway around the world that led to a jail cell more than 12,000 miles from his home.
Over the next year, he would cross two continents by plane, bus, car and taxi and walk countless miles, including a seven-day trek through Panama’s treacherous Darién Gap with a group of other migrants to reach the U.S.-Mexico border two months ago. Then he crossed the Rio Grande and was quickly charged with a federal crime for illegally entering the country.
He said Panamanian police came to the migrant’s camp during the journey, stripped him naked in front of everyone, threw insect-repellent powder from his pack onto his open wounds and repeatedly called him a terrorist.
They crossed the shallow Rio Grande slowly on Sept. 30, trying to keep their remaining belongings out of the water. After Wasi crossed, he said he went back to help young children and women who were struggling in the deeper parts of the river.
When Wasi spotted U.S. Border Patrol agents, he said he approached them and asked for asylum.
Currently, the only countries whose citizens Mexico has agreed to accept under Title 42 are Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Afghanistan isn’t on the list.
If a person can’t be expelled under Title 42, prosecutors can charge them for illegal entry and immigration officials can deport them. During this process, the person can usually request asylum.
Two days later, after an interrogation by federal agents, Wasi was sent to the Val Verde Correctional Facility and charged with a federal misdemeanor for failing to present himself at a port of entry with paperwork proving he was allowed to be in the U.S.
In October, he was denied bond, to the shock of his brother, who had offered to shelter Wasi while his case was pending. The following month, he was transferred to an immigration detention center in Eden, just over 40 miles east of San Angelo.
“I think my brother is the first in my whole tribe to be in chains, ever,” Sami said after attending his brother’s detention hearing. “It was very difficult to see him like that. He’s not a criminal. Why are they treating him like he has done something wrong?”
it’s likely that after his criminal charges are sorted out, Wasi will be able to receive an asylum hearing. But it’s possible that he could also be deported back to Afghanistan or kept in immigration detention indefinitely.
If he doesn’t plead guilty, his trial date is set for Dec. 20 in Del Rio.”
This poor guy.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/29/beto-orourke-sam-bankman-fried-ftx/
“Beto O’Rourke returned a $1 million donation from embattled cryptocurrency leader Sam Bankman-Fried four days before Election Day…”
“O’Rourke’s campaign said they gave the money back before the company’s scandals became widely public, because they were taken aback by such a large unsolicited donation.”
“O’Rourke’s team said they returned the million-dollar donation a week before FTX filed for bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried stepped down as its chief executive, but that the decision was made prior to Nov. 4 and took time to execute.”
“…his quiet return of the donation means O’Rourke has dodged the ethical headache bearing down on other candidates nationwide and in Texas who took money from the tech billionaire and his associates.”
“…Bankman-Fried, 30, was seen as a cryptocurrency wunderkind and a positive influence on the industry who was anxious to shape its regulation. He and others tied to FTX were prolific political donors to both Democratic and Republican candidates.”
“In total, Bankman-Fried donated $40 million to Democrats, according to Open Secrets, while another FTX executive, Ryan Salame, donated $23 million to Republicans.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/29/ted-cruz-john-cornyn-same-sex-marriage-bill-senate/
“ U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn both voted against federal protection for gay and interracial marriage Tuesday, though the full Senate passed the bill with bipartisan support.”
“The bill is largely a safeguard against potential action by the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which made the Defense of Marriage Act unenforceable and enshrined the right to same-sex marriages across the country.”
“But the bill does not go as far as codifying the landmark Supreme Court decision, which mandated states to perform same-sex marriages.”
“Texas had a ban on same-sex marriage before the Obergefell decision, and if the bill passed, the state Legislature could still refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses if Obergefell gets overturned. But it would have to recognize marriages from other states.”
So, SCOTUS could still make a mess of things. This doesn’t fix it, the way I thought it would.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/middleeast/iran-protests-world-cup-defeat-celebrations-intl/index.html
“Iran’s World Cup defeat to the United States was met by cheers and celebrations in Tehran and other Iranian cities on Tuesday evening, as protesters hailed the country’s exit from the tournament as a blow to the ruling regime.”
“I am happy, this is the government losing to the people,” one witness to celebrations in a city in the Kurdish region…”
“…following the refusal of Iranian players to sing Iran’s national anthem in their opening match against England on November 21, a source involved in the security of the games told CNN that the players were called to a meeting with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
“The source said that they were told that their families would face “violence and torture” if they did not sing the national anthem or if they joined any political protest against the Tehran regime.”
Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac dies at 79
RATS !
Last day of Hurricane Season .
Record-players are popular with teens, now, for some reason, and upon discovering a small display of vinyl-albums in a gift store recently, i decided to pick out a single album for a such a teen in my life, and of course, i had to pick out the BEST album of a limited, yet well-curated supply.
i picked “Rumours”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/entertainment/christine-mcvie-obit/index.html
RIP
Day ole’ corn bread ………Â
Slice open a wedge , toast under the broiler , shmear with peanut butter.Â
YumÂ
Kiln House ………….. Tell Me All the Things You Do
Her first lead song with the Mac.Â
Damn. It never occurred to me that Christine McVie was that old – not that 79 looks all that old to me anymore.
Stevie Nicks tribute to McVie on news of her death
The resurgence of vinyl is a bit of a mystery to me. I loved the music and got into trying to baby the discs, but I was one happy man when CDs came out and were available for the records I loved listening to. And I never missed the pops from the dust in the grooves or the annoying scratch that drove me nuts on a few of the records that were subjected to a little too much abuse and carelessness. LP has just started buying vinyl. That’s a kid with probably 3000 songs on his phone. I have a wonderful Kenwood direct drive turntable that’s about 47 years old now and looks like it’s close to new. If only it still turned…
Pogo – I have been happy watching the revival of the platters. I never left vinyl, or acetate if I find some 78’s. Looking at the obvious pluses for records, tactile, being able to create scratches and glitches naturally. Muscle building by carrying around a dozen 33 1/3 albums. Being able to read the covers and labels. Solid selections, no chance of making a irratic playlist by slipping in a crummy single song. Keeping warm on winter nights huddled around the turntable and amplifier from all the heat. Demonstrate mouth-lip control by blowing dust of needle without soaking it. Wow your friends by paying five dollars a song on a ten song album. Create calm atmosphere in the room by yelling “NO JUMPING”.
Then there are why I like them. Even though my hearing is nothing like it was fifty or sixty years ago, I can still hear enough of the sound spectrum to enjoy listening without clipping or fuzzy rebuild of compressed codecs. I could not stand listening to the early CD’s, I had spent many years listening to very subtle noises with headphones on and the crappy CD’s drove me nuts. Now they are much better, but the only time I listen to a CD is when I am driving, usually opera’s and the road noise helps some of those.
I enjoy the physical act of climbing over sleeping critters to the record cases, selecting a couple of albums, climbing back over the animals, to the turntable, start the album (making sure I did not leave the 78 head in) and sitting back listening to the sounds coming from my 1960’s Sansui speakers. Life is good.
I got drunk in the Jerome Hotel Bar in Aspen , with Hunter Thompson’s “grounds keeper” once . He had a real “hippy van”. I mean shag carpet, captain’s chairs, porthole windows , paint job, and a bitchin’ sound system. So we drove out to Woody Creek to smoke some hash .
He plugged in “Kiln House” on the way . Hunter wasn’t home , but I met his Doberman’s , nice dogs.Â
The hash was very good. God do I miss smokin’ hash.Â
I had a Sears with detachable speakers and that jute covering over the speakers.
I’d place them next to my ears in bed and play , “2120 South Michigan Ave.”Â
Holding the thing in your hands , reading every word that came with it . The Art work , the photos . Opening a double album to see inside . Slicing the cellophane with your thumbnail.Â
Who the fuck is Andrew Log Oldham ?
Well downloads killed all that .Â
Along with the hunt at the record bins.Â
Stewart Rhodes’ son: “How I Escaped My father’s Militia”Â
Yo
Who’s whoo
The RR workers need to bite the bullet , their boat is still afloat . Sick pay ?Â
They got a 24 % raise . The middle aged woman at the drive thur selling them fries ain’t getting more sick days either .Â
And Bernie is right as well , the RR’s are rolling in cash.Â
This Rich/Poor divide is a boiling pot . Â
Hey all you royal watchers… the Prince and Princess of Wales are attending the Boston Celtics game.
Go Celtics!
This fiction that unlimited wealth in the hands of a few is a good thing is not working out so well . 800 people should not control 800,000,000,000 people.Â
RR –
All that wealth they sit on rests on the backs of millions of nameless black tears. And raping Ireland .
I know English history as well as any layman , they run the biggest bullshit show in human history .
Only the kings on the Nile come close .
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