The condition of all who are preoccupied is wretched, but most wretched is the condition of those who labour at preoccupations that are not even their own, who regulate their sleep by that of another, their walk by the pace of another, who are under orders in case of the freest things in the world—loving and hating. If these wish to know how short their life is, let them reflect how small a part of it is their own.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger
1.
Who would have thought I’d ever agree with former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer about anything? In an interview in the New York Times she said, Kari Lake has lost the race in my opinion. There’s no way for her to have a pathway. If I was in that position, I probably would concede. Our democracy is so important to what our country and state stands for. We vote people in and we vote people out.
Even as Republicans Gov. Doug Ducey, Attorney General Brnovich, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Brutinel signed the statewide certification earlier this week, and the orange-faced baboon was still digesting his rubber chicken while surrounded by his Nazi buddies, Lake is quacking like a mother duck who’s ducklings just got gobbled up.
In response to a lawsuit from Lake and Finchem against the Secretary of State and Maricopa County that sought to ban the use of electronic vote tabulators and force a hand count of ballots, federal judge John Tuchi found their attorneys “acted recklessly or in bad faith” as their clients “made false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions,” including asserting that Arizona elections did not already use paper ballots.
And the usual suspects are weighing in to denounce the election process, even though they won their elections by the very same process they are publicly denouncing. Behold the Greene knob…
With the wins for Democrats in Arizona this midterm possibly mean that the orange one’s influence is waning? The guilty verdict for his company’s 13-year criminal tax fraud scheme throws some gas on the fire. Of course, the nasty man vowed an appeal and claimed the verdict by 12 jurors was “a continuation of the Greatest Political Witch Hunt in the History of our Country.”
WITCH HUNT! The Orange one’s favorite trigger phrase. Interesting that a privileged ‘white’ man uses a term that historically, according to Vox.com, estimates that about 80 percent of those accused of witchcraft in the European witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries were women. Writer Erin Cassese goes on to say that the vile man, while in the Oval Office, tweeted some variant of the phrase “WITCH HUNT!” more than 120 times in response to the Mueller investigation and critics including the “Fake News,” congressional Democrats, Hillary Clinton, various intelligence agencies, former President Obama, and “leakers” within the administration itself.
2.
And in the department of Democratic wins for 2022, let us not hang our heads in misery that so many were conned into voting for an ex-football star in Georgia, but celebrate that the fact that Georgia hasn’t had two Democratic senators since 2003. As Rebecca Solnit so succinctly put it, It really does confound me that so many people are posting to focus on the fact that lots of people voted for Walker. Biden narrowly won Georgia two years ago, meaning lots of people voted for the thug. We know this. That Republicans get votes is not news. Is this response just the habit of dwelling in the safety of gloom? Because this morning it looks like seeking out something to be gloomy about when there are other options, and ones I believe serve us better in doing the work we must do.
It's glorious and gorgeous in a "when hope and history rhyme" way that this particular Black man, heir to MLK, also won the whole damn senate for the Democrats--that he is the one who's why Democrats will now be the majority on all senate committees, that there's a true majority, not 50 + the v.p. For judicial appointments and so much more, this is a great thing, and Georgia now has its first full-term Black senator, along with its first Jewish senator. Ever. So much we face is indeed hard and grim that we should celebrate whenever there's occasion, and this is definitely one.
3.
Leave it to Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to change her party affiliation to independent just as the Democrats gained a Senate majority, saying "I've never fit neatly into any party box. I've never really tried. I don't want to. Removing myself from the partisan structure — not only is it true to who I am and how I operate, I also think it'll provide a place of belonging for many folks across the state and the country, who also are tired of the partisanship. My approach is rare in Washington and has upset partisans in both parties. It is also an approach that has delivered lasting results for Arizona." Really? Is that why Independents swept the polls in Arizona in November? Oh, wait. They didn’t. Democrats did. And now, if she runs as an independent in 2024, she could split the votes with a Democratic candidate and give an opening to the GOP to flip the seat red.
4.
On the issue of voting, the case of Moore v. Harper before the Supreme Court will decide whether the North Carolina Supreme Court has the power to strike down the legislature’s illegally gerrymandered congressional map for violating the North Carolina Constitution, according the the Brennan Center. In short, last February the North Carolina Supreme Court agreed with the voters and struck down the map, describing it as an “egregious and intentional partisan gerrymander designed to enhance Republican performance, and thereby give a greater voice to those voters than to any others.” Unwilling to accept this outcome, two Republican legislators asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and reinstate their gerrymandered map. Heather Cox Richardson jumped in yesterday writing conservative judge J. Michael Luttig, who sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in October called Moore v. Harper “the most important case for American democracy in the almost two and a half centuries since America’s founding.” Luttig published an article in the Atlantic in October titled “There Is Absolutely Nothing to Support the ‘Independent State Legislature’ Theory.” The subtitle explained: “Such a doctrine would be antithetical to the Framers’ intent, and to the text, fundamental design, and architecture of the Constitution.” Stay tuned, y’all.
5.
As the United States gets a barely passing grade in basic infrastructure, the vulnerability of the electrical grid system (that has been known for years) is back in the spotlight after the shoot-em-up in North Carolina. However, the American Security Project lists the three biggest threats to our energy security as extreme weather, cybersecurity, and wildlife.
I was amused by the tongue-in-cheek website titled Cyber Squirrel 1 that posts a map and chart of the “Total Successful Cyber War Ops as of 2019.01.21.” There’s a ‘real’ quote from John C. Inglis, Former Deputy Director, National Security Agency, who said in 2015, I don't think paralysis of the electrical grid is more likely by cyberattack than by natural disaster. And frankly the number-one threat experienced to date by the US electrical grid is squirrels.
But back to the shoot-em-up. Power delivery in the U.S. relies on an aging patchwork of hundreds of thousands of miles of high-voltage transmission lines that carry electricity to local distribution networks. More than half of the power supply is managed by independent regional organizations. And even the simplest of solutions to protect stations against gunfire, such as metal or concrete walls, are not being built by power companies as there is no national mandate. Most are ‘protected’ only by chain-link fence and gates that are not built to withstand a truck driving through and over it.
For a more comprehensive read on the system, the vulnerabilities, and other concerns, read the WSJ article from last February titled America’s Power Grid Is Increasingly Unreliable. And, if you believe the government should be accountable, check out the much shorter article from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that suggests ways various agencies should work together to come up with solutions to the multiple risks to the system.
6.
U.S. Gas Prices Are Now Lower Than a Year Ago. Way to go, Brandon!
7.
No comment needed…
8.
And for something completely different, as I’m rummaging through my earthly belongings in an attempt to jettison the clutter, I ran across this unusual scrapbook that was originally in my Great-Grandmother Sophie’s attic. It’s a wall paper sample book with magazine images from what looks like the period from 1900-1920. It’s lovely and strange as in, why and who would put this together? Was it my Grandmother’s scrapbook from her childhood?
And now…
My mom made a similar scrapbook (wallpaper samples) of my early accomplishments,etc. Unwieldy but fun to peruse! Our friend CK would love this.
Sophie's attic scrapbook is a wonder! Are you able to read the writing on page you photographed?