1.
I know you are all dying to know about accordion repair. I saw this article in the New York Times a week or so ago and I had several people reach out to me wondering if I had read it. Thanks, folks! You, too, can read about Francisco Luis Ramírez, who for fifty years has been repairing these complex instruments in Mexico City. Thanks, Francisco!
2.
Next up, for you Tucson residents, my sista-from-anudder-mudder Mitzi Cowell, with whom I’ve played music off and on for thirty years, is running for the appointment to fill Stephanie Stahl Hamilton's seat in the State House representing Legislative District 10. (Stephanie has stepped down to fill Kirsten Engle's State Senate seat, as Kirsten begins her campaign for Congress) As you can see from the picture below, she will bend over backwards to make a point!
Mitzi has always had a deep political bone and now’s her chance to step up to the plate. She was voted in by the LD10 Democratic Party leadership as one of the three nominees to be sent on to the Pima County Board of Supervisors to vote on THIS COMING TUESDAY, December 7th.
In Mitzi’s own words: There are some serious equity issues that my appointment would address – the State Legislature stands at 42% female, and the LGBTQ Caucus is currently all gay male. Both of the other nominees are straight white men, with all due respect. I've built relationships naturally over the years with the local and state Democratic Party as a volunteer, Precinct Captain, Pima Executive Committee and State Committee member, not out of ambition, but because I sincerely believe that participation is the way to keep our democratic republic alive, and we all know the stakes right now. And y'all know I love this stuff. The Party leaders who have worked closely with me are all supportive of my candidacy. I'm also running as someone who has taught in the public schools and will be a fierce advocate for public education. There's a fiscal cliff coming up this session that could devastate the arts in education, so we need our very best minds up in Phoenix this Spring.
What’s needed is a letter of support to the County Supervisors from you! If you don’t know who your rep is, click here.
Rex Scott: district1@pima.gov
Matt Heinz: district2@pima.gov
Chair Sharon Bronson: district3@pima.gov
Steve Christy: district4@pima.gov
Vice-Chair Adelita Grijalva: district5@pima.gov
Here’s a template that may help you to pen out your own. Short and sweet will be fine.
To The Honorable Sharon Bronson,
I am a resident living in District 3 and this is a letter in support for the appointment of Mitzi Cowell to fill Stephanie Stahl Hamilton's seat in the State House representing Legislative District 10.
She believes in and participates actively in our local and state politics, working with the Democratic Party as a volunteer, Precinct Captain, Pima Executive Committee and State Committee member. And, she is also someone who knows how to cross barriers from her love and passion as a stellar musician.
Thank you for your consideration,
—————
As of this morning I have received kind replies from both Sharon Bronson’s office and from Rex Scott in District 1. You may ask, why is it important to take five minutes out of my day to email a letter to these people? For one, we need people like Mitzi in politics, and secondly, read on…
3.
While most Democrats in the House and Senate are trying to get things accomplished for the American people, Republicans are doing everything in their power to ensure nothing gets done. The strategy, of course, is to block all attempts by the Biden administration to govern the country so that when elections roll around next year, they can say, “See, they got nothing done!” McConnell did this quite successfully with Obama and it’s happening again.
And because the nasty orange man actually made it into the big chair in 2016, we have a fucked up Supreme Court that will most likely overturn Roe v Wade next year. Not to mention the 54 judges for the United States courts of appeals, 174 judges for the United States district courts, and three judges for the United States Court of International Trade.
And with the GOP’s plan in place now of gerrymandering districts to their advantage and the refusal to even consider the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, it is most likely that the folks who want to take you back to the 1950s will once again be holding the reins. As Lee Papa put it in yesterday’s post, “The clock will turn back for women in this country, and it won't be that way for women of means like Amy Coney Barrett. The fallout from overturning Roe will be bloody and brutal and played out on the bodies of women and girls, with conservatives toasting each other for their protection of fetuses while they stand on the corpses. Then they'll move on to banning it altogether because fuck all of us.”
Heather Cox Richardson also remarked on Wednesday, Make no mistake: it is not just reproductive rights that are under siege. If the Supreme Court returns power to the states to legislate as they wish, any right currently protected by the federal government is at risk. Justice Sonya Sotomayor made the connection to the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom today when she was questioning a lawyer during the oral arguments: “The issue of when life begins… it’s still debated in religions. So when you say this is the only right that takes away a life, that’s a religious view, isn’t it?”
And who would’ve thought any of us lefties would be cheering for a Cheney? Liz Cheney (R-WY) is actually trying to hold the orange man’s people accountable for the many crimes they have committed. Even the orange man might be called to the hot seat. She said, “Trump has recently suggested that he wants to debate members of this committee. The committee’s investigation is not a game. Any communications Mr. Trump has with this committee will be under oath and if he persists in lying then, he will be accountable under the laws of this great nation, and subject to criminal penalties for every false word he speaks.”
Jeebuz, you go, girl.
Here’s a list to donate directly to local reproductive aid organizations. Copy and paste these to pass on, please.
The Pink House Fund is a Mississippi-based abortion access organization that has been on the ground providing reproductive services to the people of Mississippi.
The Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund provides funding for abortion, Plan B, transportation, lodging, child care and travel for all residents of Mississippi, regardless of where they seek abortion care, and anyone who has an abortion in Mississippi.
Holler Health Justice (HHJ) is a group of young reproductive health, rights, and justice activists looking to meet the substantial need of funding and practical support for West Virginians seeking abortion care.
The Lilith Fund provides financial assistance and emotional support while building community spaces for people who need abortions in Texas.
Indigenous Women Rising is committed to honoring Native & Indigenous People’s inherent right to equitable and culturally safe health options through accessible health education, resources, and advocacy.
The mission of the Clinic Vest Project is to provide free clinic escort vests to groups that service facilities that support the full range of reproductive health options including safe and legal abortion, and offer free training materials to groups that need them.
The Yellowhammer Fund is a 501(c)3 abortion fund and reproductive justice organization serving Alabama and the Deep South.
Jane’s Due Process helps young people in Texas navigate parental consent laws and confidentially access abortion and birth control. Janes Due Process provides free legal support, 1-on-1 case management, and stigma-free information on sexual and reproductive health.
The Abortion Fund of Arizona works to ensure abortion access for Arizonans & help to offset the cost of a safe and legal abortion for those who cannot afford one.
4.
And about the Democrats, Biden is boring. Sooo uncharismatic. And I’m THRILLED! After all, a president is supposed to create, communicate, and implement the vision, mission, and overall direction of the country. Unfortunately, too many people in this country watch reality TeeVee with the content barrage of yelling and insanity happening every nanosecond. Do ya think that might be why all the Duck Dynasty crowd just loves the orange man? He’s a yeller, that feller.
Back to Biden, some say that there’s a messaging problem. Paul Waldman of the Washington Post disagrees. He says, Biden isn’t getting credit for passing legislation because presidents almost never get credit for passing legislation. It just doesn’t register with the average person, whose understanding of Congress seldom goes beyond “Folks are fussing and fighting up there.”
The Build Back Better Act, Biden's $1.7 trillion social spending plan is all about helping the average American. Republicans, even though they voted against it, will naturally take credit for it when their constituents start receiving the benefits.
This is good stuff:
$380 billion for child care and education.
$555 billion for climate change and clean energy investment.
$200 billion to extend the child tax credits first outlined in this year’s American Rescue Plan, the Covid-19 relief package, through 2022.
$205 billion to provide all workers with four weeks of paid family and medical leave.
$100 billion to give roughly 7 million undocumented immigrants temporarily protection from deportation.
$170 billion for the construction or improvement of affordable housing units across the country.
This what Democrats do. This is why we vote.
5.
The Mitch McConnell fish, er, uhh…this rare abyssal predator, who normally lives deep at 1000 meters below the surface, has washed ashore a couple times this year on the beach at Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach California. Commonly known as the footballfish, they form a family, Himantolophidae, of globose, deep-sea anglerfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean. Beachcombers, watch your step…
6.
Well, hooray for Tucson for making the international news. Yes, if you’re in a wheelchair and trying to make a quick getaway after a toolbox heist from Walmart, you’ll be in deep doo-doo in our wild west of a town. Officer Ryan Remington, no longer an officer as he was duly fired, will most likely face charges after shooting the runaway wheelcharian nine times IN THE BACK. Jeebuz on a stick. Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus was "deeply disturbed and troubled" by the shooting…well, duh.
7.
And finally, R.I.P. Dave Hickey.
“People kept telling us how country songs had to be simple and true to be great. Fred and I knew that was bullshit. We knew that had to clear and perfect. Because, if they were, they’d be the only clear and perfect thing in the stinking ditch most of us live in. Let me take an example, She's my Eskimo baby, she's My Eskimo pie. Now, that's George Jones, and that's simple. And that, God help us, is probably true. But it's also bullshit. Today I passed you on the street and my heart fell at your feet. That's not simple and that's not true. But it will never come undone. Because it is clear and perfect about the feelings, which, unfortunately, your average Southern boy would no more admit to having then he would admit to having the clap.” – Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy
And now…