Biden Administration Will Sue Georgia Over Voting Law

June 25, 2021 at 10:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 88 Comments

"In its first major action to combat GOP voter suppression laws, the Biden Justice Department will announce on Friday that it is suing the state of Georgia over its new voting restrictions," Mother Jones reports.

"The lawsuit is being overseen by Kristen Clarke, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and Vanita Gupta, the associate attorney general--two longtime civil rights lawyers with extensive records litigating against new restrictions on voting."

They're just incredulous that Democrats could consider their support for directing federal funds to local police departments -- and Republican opposition to those efforts -- relevant to the question of defunding the police. They aren't claiming that the money didn't actually go to the police; they just seem to consider `defunding the police' a sort of metaphysical position that has nothing to do with actual police-department budgets."

Professor Greer worries that President Biden and his team are not giving her chances to get some wins and more experience on her ledger. Rather, it is the hardest of hard stuff assigned to her, such as addressing the root causes of migration who, she notes, has no deep expertise with Latin American issues; provide leadership on the administration's voting-rights efforts, which the filibuster has assigned to limbo; address vaccine hesitancy; and work toward policing reform.

Professor Greer fears that her work as No. 2 could end up being baggage more than a boon. All of which may make her political future uncertain. And, the White House even felt it necessary to compliment her on the trip to the southern border, characterizing it as a "success."

Of course, the "hard stuff" is part of the job. Particularly, the gaining of experience in it, being the first in presidential succession. And, the experience might actually be an asset to any future political aspirations.  Looks like the Biden team would not be able to win on this one for losing.  If Vice President Harris' assignments were primarily attending funerals of departed world leaders, the criticism would be that of putting her on the shelf.

Vice President Harris is doing just fine. She has a great mentor in the president. Being as smart as she is, she can sup at the institutional and political knowledge his almost 50 years in Washington brings. And, acquire the experience of being part of governing in among the most challenging times in US history.

No pay wall

A six-month Times investigation has synchronized and mapped out thousands of videos and police radio communications from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, providing the most complete picture to date of what happened -- and why

--

We filed motions to unseal police body-camera footage, scoured law enforcement radio communications, and synchronized and mapped the visual evidence."

"What we have come up with is a 40-minute panoramic take on Jan. 6, the most complete visual depiction of the Capitol riot to date. In putting it together, we gained critical insights into the character and motivation of rioters by experiencing the events of the day often through their own words and video recordings. We found evidence of members of extremist groups inciting others to riot and assault police officers. And we learned how Donald Trump's own words resonated with the mob in real time as they staged the attack."

"Pemex said the gas leak occurred at 5:15am local time in the submarine pipeline near Ku-Maloob-Zaap's Ku-C satellite platform in the Campeche Sound causing a fire 150 meters from the platform,

"By 10:45am local time normal operating conditions were restored, and no injuries or evacuations were reported, it said."

Burgers and dogs on the grill tomorrow with a neighbor.  Speaking of dogs I got downers for them yesterday.  They will mostly sleep through it.

I am very lucky that my front deck is pointed directly at the location of the annual town fireworks.  It's the dam for the biggest lake which is about a half a mile as the crow flies.  There is a very big tree sort of blocking the low stuff but if you go on my roof which is really easy and does not require a ladder you can see everything.

I kind of doubt we will hit the roof but it has been done.

That systematic approach should pay dividends, Furman said. He explained that a series of small and medium measures can add up to big changes.

For example, he said, hearing aids -- an expensive market dominated by a few players -- is one area ripe for competition. The Obama administration tried to make it possible to buy more types of hearing aids at pharmacies, just like reading glasses, rather than treating them like expensive medical devices.

"That won't transform our economy," Furman said, "but for a lot of people, that'll save them thousands of dollars. And that's the type of action you want to do over and over again."

How New Biden Rules Could Make It Easier To Buy Hearing Aids

BBC

I just finished an audio book that has some ideas about this.  Sort of.  
Oblivion. (Longer name)

It was my first library audio book.  Chosen because nothing else looked interesting.  But it has some very interesting ideas.  Very big ideas.  
One being something I have long thought.  That considering humans went from preindustrial to the moon in about a century it seems not only possible but almost certain that in the millions of years on this planet humans have probably achieved technology before.  Perhaps many times.  And destroyed themselves.

I would have preferred less Christian dogma but it kept my attention.  It has a sequel I now want to find.  Oblivion (different longer name)

I never heard of the author.  Jordan Ferrell.  He seems to have another slightly more well known book All Things, Great and Small.
Not to be confused with all creatures great and small.
It also sounds interesting.  About a man ravaged by fever who experiences life from the viewpoint of many different creatures.

The author is very good at the kind of borderline pretentious prose needed for that.  I think.

PELOSI'S JAN. 6 COMMITTEE CURVEBALL -- Speaker NANCY PELOSI surprised Washington when her office announced Monday that she was open to appointing a Republican to fill one of her party's spots on the select committee to investigate Jan. 6. So instead of eight Democrats and five Republicans on the 13-member panel, it would be a 7-6 breakdown.

The move shows Pelosi has learned a thing or two after two-plus years of investigating DONALD TRUMP.

For one, a Pelosi-appointed Republican would make it harder for GOP leaders to attack the panel's investigation as a partisan witch hunt. If Democrats decide to subpoena House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY, for instance, they'll be able to portray the move as bipartisan -- assuming, as we do, that the GOP appointee would side with Democrats on such moves.

Having a Republican signing off on the final report could also bolster the findings in the eyes of some GOP voters (though we're under no illusion that many of those voters exist anymore).

Two names were being circulated in Democratic leadership circles Monday:

-- Rep. LIZ CHENEY (Wyo.). The former House Republican Conference chair is the most obvious choice, after she lost her leadership post for refusing to keep quiet about Trump. Democrats for that reason view her as trustworthy on this matter. She also has a conservative track record that protects her from charges of being a "RINO."

Drawbacks: Cheney, with her famous last name and willingness to buck her own party, might outshine whomever Pelosi chooses as chair, perhaps even being seen as the panel's de facto leader. (Again, Pelosi likes to control things.) It's also not clear she wants the job.

What she said: Cheney dodged questions about this Monday. "It's up to the speaker," she said.

-- Rep. JOHN KATKO. The New York Republican was another top choice, particularly after he worked with House Homeland Security Chair BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.) to try to establish a bipartisan commission to study Jan. 6. Ultimately, that proposal failed when McCarthy rallied members against it. But Katko, who also voted to impeach Trump, managed to persuade a few dozen GOP lawmakers to break with McCarthy to support an outside investigation.

Democrats like one more thing about him: He's a skilled former trial lawyer and assistant U.S. attorney for the Justice Department. In that regard, he's got a legal track record that others don't.

"Relatively few people are talking about it right now, but Thursday (and perhaps the days to come) could be one of the most pivotal moments in recent Supreme Court history," the Washington Post reports.

"Yes, that pertains to the key decisions that are set to be handed down on Thursday, the final day of the court's current term. The long-awaited cases include key rulings on the Arizona GOP's election laws and the role of so-called `dark money' in politics."

"But history suggests it's also quite possibly the time when we get some clarity about the future makeup of the court -- and particularly the all-important question about whether Justice Stephen Breyer will retire."

Arkansas braces for 3rd COVID-19 surge as vaccination rate slows
There were 686 new cases Wednesday, the largest one-day jump in four months.

Dr. Steppe Mette, CEO of UAMS Medical Center, told ABC News that the hospital has seen a "300 to 400% increase in the number of patients with COVID just over the last three to four weeks."

"So," he added, "we're back to hospitalization numbers that we haven't seen since February or March. And that's happening around the state."

Clearly it has.  DeSantis ask Trump to NOT come to FL right now.

USA Today: "Donald Trump's campaign-style rally in Florida Saturday comes at a fraught time for the former president: While the organization bearing his name in New York was indicted this week, he is also facing a potential rivalry with Florida governor and protege Ron DeSantis."

"Trump revisits Florida, a state he won twice, with some Republicans already talking about the 2024 presidential race - and expressing support for DeSantis for the GOP nomination over the ex-president. DeSantis has scored well in early straw polls conducted at high-profile meetings, the Conservative Political Action Conference and the Western Conservative Summit."

"Florida's top Republican, however, will not be at Saturday's rally."

`One Nation Under God'

July 6, 2021 at 4:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 107 Comments

Hobby Lobby took out a full page ad in several newspapers over the holiday weekend suggesting that the United States should be led only by Christians.

Snopes notes that company also tweeted about the ad and posted it on the company's Facebook page.

One lazy summer day in 1972 a friend and I heard on the excellent FM station there was going to be a movie premier not far from our apt.  I had never heard of the movie or the director.

It was for Greasers Palace.  The cast and crew was there along with me and my friend and maybe 20 other people in a theater that would hold a couple f hundred.

It changed my life.  Not hyperbole.

I think they underestimate how much these 600 people will dislike serving their own food or cleaning their own toilets.