Friday Five (don’t believe murderers edition)
It’s hard to believe that it’s already the third Friday in March!
The weather was warming for several days, and no the rain came back. And hay fever was virtually non-existent until the first rainy day.
Meanwhile, we have the Friday Five. This week I bring you: one story that made me laugh, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about restoring the nation, five stories about the pandemic, five stories about latest mass shooting, five stories about the pandemic, and five videos (plus things I wrote and some notable obituaries).
This Week’s Story That Made Me Laugh:
Texas museum removes wax Trump figure after visitors kept punching it.
Stories of the Week:
Aplets & Cotlets candy maker to close after 100 years. Oh, no!
Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit.
Washington state, Canada team up to eradicate Asian giant hornets. The fight continues!
Girl who spotted Irish walrus has ideas for names – depending on if it’s a boy or a girl.
Rachel Maddow Wins Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.
This Week in News for Queers and Allies:
Many major news outlets highlighted anti-trans voices in coverage of the Equality Act.
Winners and losers in LGBTQ sports one year into the pandemic.
I am not 50% gay and 50% straight. I am 100% bisexual.
Ireland’s Incredible Transformation Into an LGBTQ+ Haven.
This Week in the Repairing Democracy:
Deb Haaland Confirmed As 1st Native American Interior Secretary.
Senate narrowly confirms Becerra as health secretary.
Judge: Arizona GOP must pay $18K in groundless election suit.
Biden’s new Interior Secretary Deb Haaland strikes fear into the heart of the GOP — here’s why.
Hate Crime of the Week:
The Atlanta shootings can be both an anti-Asian hate crime and a sexist one.
Fetishized, sexualized and marginalized, Asian women are uniquely vulnerable to violence.
The truth about the Atlanta shooter’s supposed excuses.
A trip to the spa that ended in death. These are some of the victims of the Atlanta-area shootings.
This Week in the Pandemic:
Is It OK To Drink Between Vaccine Doses? What Does ‘Vaccine Efficacy’ Mean? :.
CDC identifies public-health guidance from the Trump administration that downplayed pandemic severity – The analysis was done to promote public trust and ensure that the agency’s coronavirus guidance ‘is evidence-based and free of politics,’ a memo says. The Trump administration lied? Shocked! Shocked! (not)
In Memoriam:
RIP Yaphet Koto: ‘Alien’ Star Dies At Age 81 .
Yaphet Kotto, Bond Villain and ‘Alien’ Star, Dies at 81.
Remembering Yaphet Kotto, and the screen career Hollywood didn’t accommodate.
Things I wrote:
Sunday Update: Closing so many open tabs.
Socially acceptable chemical dependence in the morning.
Videos!
Fox News Demands Biden Give Trump Credit for the COVID Vaccines: A Closer Look – Seth Meyers Just Invited Everyone To Tucker’s House July 4:
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Jimmy Kimmel Says Don Jr. Really Shouldn’t Use That Word – Don Jr. Angry at Biden and Tucker Carlson Attacks Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion:
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Stephen Colbert – The Answer Is Simple Yet Strangely Difficult: Don’t Hate Each Other:
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Tucker Carlson: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):
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Why We Should’ve Seen the Atlanta Shootings Coming | The Daily Social Distancing Show:
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day
“I send this lad and shamrock gay, With wishes for St. Patrick’s Day.”
There are several blog posts I should be finishing. Instead you’re going to get a silly post. Because goodness knows we could all use a bit of silliness.
I’m trying not to be worried about the likelihood—thanks to so many people throwing off their masks and/or going out the bars and restaurants—that COVID cases are going to surge again in coming weeks.
I’m not going out partying. We’re cooking a beef brisket and staying home. Yes, I’m wearing new silly shiny green shamrock earrings. And my husband and I each have a silly shamrock-adorned mask to wear today. But I’m staying home all day, and he’s doing his usual workday then coming home.
Here is hoping that come this time next year, we’re all playing at being leprechauns and/or chasing after the end of the rainbow.
Socially acceptable chemical dependence in the morning
“I just love the smell of socially acceptable chemical dependence in the morning.”
One thing that is different this year is that I have adopted the habit of placing the coffee carafe and all other machine-washable bits of the coffee maker into the dishwasher on Sunday. Then make a couple of pots of tea for my caffeine intake that day. Also, Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) fell close to the last day of Thanksgiving that it can, so I had one less week than I do most years to get through the bulk of the holiday blend coffee. Therefore, I shouldn’t be surprised that it took several extra weeks to use up the holiday coffee this year.
But that isn’t my only coffee problem.
I have so, so many bags of non-holiday coffee beans. Partway through the holiday season I finally realized that there were at least three times as many bags of the non-holiday blends hiding on the shelf behind the holiday blends than I thought. And it really confused me for a moment. Then I realized what happened.
My favorite coffee, bar none, is Wings of the Morning Kona Coffee from Ka `Io Farms. Which is usually carried by Central Market (and which I originally discovered at Ballard Market back when we lived only four blocks away from that store). But the availability is kind of seasonal. It seems every year (but not at the same time of year), the bags of Wings of the Morning vanish from the store shelf for about three or four months. And the last time I found some on the shelf was in either late August or early September.
It’s a more expensive coffee than most of those I drink, so I save it as kind of a special treat. I have also often stretched the Wings of the Morning supply by mixing the beans with Lowry’s Dark Hawaiian Blend, which still tastes really good, but makes me feel less guilty about the cost per cup of the coffee.
Anyway, the reason I have so much extra coffee in the pantry is that every time I went to Central Market hoping to find Wings of the Morning, but found that spot empty, I would buy one or two bags of some of the other coffees they sell there. Of the stores I regularly shop at, Central Market has the widest selection of coffees from different roasting companies. And once in that some period Ballinger Thriftway had the Lowry’s coffees on sale really discounted, so I bought two bags that week.
Which all adds up to a whole lot of coffee beans in my pantry.
When I noticed, mid-December, just how much more coffee there was in the pantry than I thought, I added a new item to the Shopping List on my phone: “DO NOT BUY COFFEE.” So, unless, by chance, Wings of the Morning suddenly appears in the store in the next few months, I’m not going to be buying any new coffee. Because it will clearly take that long to make a significant dent in the coffee in the pantry.
And before anyone suggests that I used that as an excuse to drink extra: I drink, on average, one and a half pots of coffee per day all by myself. I really don’t think I need to increase my intake.
Otherwise, I might vibrate myself into another dimension.
Sunday Update: Closing so many open tabs
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Dr. Seuss is not canceled — but six of his books are being shelved over racist images.
No, Dr Seuss and Mr Potato Head haven’t been ‘cancelled’. Here’s the difference.
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No Republicans back $1.9T COVID-19 relief bill.
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker brags about stimulus package he voted agains.
President Biden Just Signed a $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill Into Law. Here’s What’s In It.
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For the People Act Is Needed to Stop New GOP Voter Suppression Bills.
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Republicans’ new strategy? Pointless obstruction.
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The American Rescue Plan Act Will Help Restore the Restaurant Industry and Save Jobs.
American Rescue Plan’s big winner: Families with children.
‘Played’ by GOP in the Obama era, wary Democrats and Biden go big on their own.
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Florida Governor DeSantis prioritizes vaccine rollout for wealthier communities.
A Pattern Emerges In Florida: Vaccine Sites Appear To Benefit DeSantis Donors.
Commentary: Skipping the vaccine line is not only unethical – it may undermine trust in the rollout.
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Bill Press: Today’s Republican Party cult: Destroy America.
Dr. Seuss Books Are Pulled, and a ‘Cancel Culture’ Controversy Erupts.
Last year, more than 338,000 copies of “Green Eggs and Ham” were sold across the United States, according to NPD BookScan, which tracks the sale of physical books at most retailers. “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” sold more than 311,000 copies, and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” — always popular as a high school graduation gift — sold more than 513,000 copies.
However:
“And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” one of the six books pulled by the estate, sold about 5,000 copies last year, according to BookScan. “McElligot’s Pool” and “The Cat’s Quizzer” haven’t sold in years through the retailers BookScan tracks.
Fox News Defends Piers Morgan and Pepe Le Pew as COVID Bill Passes: A Closer Look:
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Friday Five (gotta keep vaccinating edition)
And here we are at the second Friday in March!
I mentioned last week how my hay fever was kicking up. This week it got much worse. There was one day that the sinus headache was so bad I had to take a break in the middle of the work day to lie in a dark room for a couple of hours.
Meanwhile, we have the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about restoring the nation, five stories about the pandemic, five stories about haters and other deplorables, and five videas (plus things I wrote and some notable obituaries).
Stories of the Week:
Kentucky judge dismisses charges against Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker III.
A quick guide to the birds you’re hearing now in Seattle area.
Man Arrested After Police Find 400-Pound Playground Slide In WA Mobile Home.
This Week in News for Queers and Allies:
College athletes demand NCAA cancel tournaments in states that ban trans athletes.
Biden issues executive order against gender discrimination in education including LGBTQ people.
Some Faith Leaders Call Equality Act Devastating; For Others, It’s God’s Will.
Amazon, Nissan among businesses speaking out against Tennessee bills targeting LGBTQ communities.
This Week in the Repairing Democracy:
White House fires Trump EEOC official after she refuses to step down.
Labor Department moves to reverse Trump rules that narrow worker protections.
This Week in the Pandemic:
Fauci: CDC will release new guidance for vaccinated Americans ‘very soon’.
Pres. Biden addresses nation on first anniversary of Covid shutdown.
Study: Higher pollen counts could increase COVID-19 infection rates.
This Week in Haters, Seditionists, and Other Deplorable People:
Trump’s own Defense secretary says Trump was responsible for Capitol riot.
Capitol riot suspect pictured at Pelosi’s desk screams ‘It’s not fair’ in courtroom tantrum.
In Memoriam:
Robert Ashby, One of Three Last Surviving Tuskegee Airmen in Arizona, Dies at 95.
Dutch inventor of the audio cassette tape dies aged 94.
Joan Weldon Dies: Actress Terrorized By Giant Ants In ‘Them!’ Was 90.
Things I wrote:
WandaVisions Wraps Things Up in the Awesome “The Series Finale”.
The State of the State of the Union Address.
Videos!
Meteor Over Northern Vermont Seen By People Around New England:
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Brooke Eden – Sunroof (Music Video):
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MR. BIDEN (Bring My Vaccine) – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody:
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And here’s the original – The Chordettes – Mr Sandman (Live 1958):
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NSFWL Rebecca Black – Friday (Remix) ft Dorian Electra, Big Freedia & 3OH!3 [Official Video]:
(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)
The State of the State of the Union Address
“When Joe Biden gives his first address to Congress, it will be the first time in US history that both seats directly behind the president will be filled by women.”
Let’s begin with what the Constitution says on the topic. It’s nice and short: “The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” That’s it. There is no other mention of the term State of the Union in the Constitution. There are several things to note about this. First, it doesn’t specify any date, merely that he will do this “from time to time.” So the President can deliver the State of the Union as often or as seldom as he or she chooses. There is no requirement that it must take place before February 20 or any other date.
Second, the Constitution does not call it either a speech or an address, just that the President shall give Congress information about the State of the Union and recommend measures that the President thinks ought to be enacted. George Washington, our first President, started the tradition of delivering a speech to a joint session of Congress. John Adams, who had been Washington’s V.P. and became our second President also delivered the State of the Union as speeches. But Thomas Jefferson, our third President, thought that the spectacle of the President arriving at Congress and so forth was too kingly. So he chose to deliver it in writing. For the next 112 years, every President followed Jefferson’s model of sending a written report on the State of the Union and recommending laws that Congress should consider enacting.
In 1913 Woodrow Wilson became the first President since Adams to deliver the State of the Union as a speech before a joint session of Congress rather than as a written report. Calvin Coolidge’s address in 1923 was the first that was broadcast on radio (prior to that, the public had to read about the message to Congress in newspapers).
Another fun fact: even though that phrase “State of the Union” is right there in the Constitution, the message wasn’t called by that name until after President Franklin Roosevelt became the first President to include the phrase in the speech itself. Before then it was called either “The President’s Message to Congress” or “The Annual Message.” And that latter name continued to be the official name used in the Joint Resolution that Congress passed inviting the President to address Congress. The 1947 Joint Resolution was the first time that the event was officially referred to as the State of the Union Address. President Harry Truman’s 1947 State of the Union Address was also the first one to be broadcast on television.
One other important detail: the President is never invited to deliver the State of the Union Address in the first year of his or her term. They usually are invited to address a Joint Session in February shortly after being inaugurated, but that speech is not officially called a State of the Union Address.
And, because of the doctrine of the Separation of Powers (and the Founder’s notion that it is Congress that runs the government—not the President), the invitation to make the address must come from Congress, and it is Congress who determines the date of the address. On the other hand, the President can choose to simply send his or her message in writing, instead.
The fact that it didn’t happen by a particular date in February has absolutely no legal meaning, at all. I don’t know what plans, if any, are being discussed about a possible speech, but it seems to me unlikely we would have a typical Presidential Address to a Joint Session before next year. Because even though a whole lot of government officials have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine, it just does not seem like a good idea to cram the entire House, Senate, Supreme Court, most of the Cabinet, and a host of the usual family and dignitaries into a single room while we’re still in the middle of a deadly pandemic.
WandaVisions Wraps Things Up in the Awesome “The Series Finale”
© Disney+
Having now seen the entire series1, I can sum up my feelings quite succinctly: It’s f-ing awesome2!
It did not end the way I thought it would. Thank goodness it didn’t end the many weird ways that some fans, fancasts, and so-called leakers were predicting. The show ended much, much better than any of those predictions.
The last episode took the meta of all the earlier episode titles all the way to 11: “The Series Finale.” It was fun, it didn’t have plotholes, it didn’t introduce wild twists (but it had more than one surprise3). Most importantly: it is a complete story. It did not feel as if it was just setting us up for the next show4.
It also is exactly the kind of story I, for one, needed right now. But I can’t explain why without spoilers. But before I warn you not to click through or otherwise read further, may I remind you that the Disney corporation is still refusing to pay Alan Dean Foster and other authors money they are owed for media tie-in novels.
Anyway…
Spoliers ahead!
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Seriously, every single sentence below is full of spoilers…
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Seriously, turn back now!!!
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I warned you!!!
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Seriously, spoilers ahead!
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Friday Five (cancelled doesn’t mean that edition)
Welcome to the first Friday in March! It’s March! That means that I have been in quarantine for one year and 12 days!
Truly it is spring! My hay fever is worse, we’ve had a few days of sunny weather but still cold nights, and then it went back to buckets of rain. Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain. It’s just that the switching back and forth as quickly as it did a few times this weeks makes it difficult to plan anything.
Meanwhile, we have the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about the pandemic, five stories about haters and other deplorables, and five videas (plus things I wrote and some notable obituaries).
Stories of the Week:
The real reason for the Dr. Seuss freakout.
Universal basic income experiment results in more full-time jobs.
Opinion | The worst-kept secret: Conservatism has no value(s).
Human origins: ‘Little Foot’ fossil’s big journey out of Africa.
Predatory octopuses were drilling into clamshells at least 75 million years ago.
This Week in News for Queers and Allies:
Jen Psaki masterfully shuts down reporter’s dumb question about trans people.
Gay Blogger Andy Towle Exits Towleroad.
Major Christian adoption agency in U.S. to start working with LGBTQ people.
The Equality Act is important but it won’t solve workplace discrimination.
This Week in the Pandemic:
COVID-19 vaccine confidence grows as side effect worries fade.
Why kids are hitting the pandemic wall.
Texas Gov. Abbott stalled federal offer to test migrants then blamed them for spreading Covid.
h4>This Week in Haters, Seditionists, and Other Deplorable People:
CPAC Engaged in Bitter Behind-the-Scenes Feud With Company That Built Its Controversial Stage.
In Memoriam:
Vernon Jordan, activist and former Clinton advisor, dies at 85.
Things I wrote:
WandaVision gives us some answers and fills in Wanda’s backstory.
Tuesday Tidbits 3/2/2021: Stop being doormats.
Hey, it’s March Fourth! So, let’s March Forth.
Videos!
Republicans Unleash A Tidal Wave Of Anti-Voting Legislation:
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Trump, Cruz and Noem Repeat Their Insane Lies at CPAC: A Closer Look:
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Biden’s Vaccine Announcement, Texas Ditches Masks | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon:
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Dr. Seuss Is Not Cancelled, It’s Just Time To Retire Books With Racist Imagery:
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Spoiler Alert: AGATHA ALL ALONG REMIX – AFROBOIYT:
(If embedding doesn’t work, click https://youtu.be/Wb1nQuIMS7Y.)
Hey, it’s March Fourth! So, let’s March Forth
“We don’t know them all but we owe them all.”
I hesitated to post this, because the QAnon fuckwits think that today is a magical day when the former Traitor in Chief will be sworn in as president because original constitutional inauguration date and a mythical law in 1871 and blah blah blah.
But I can’t let fuckwits make my life decisions for me. So I’m going to continue to observe my personal March Forth tradition. I urge you all on this March Forth, to go please donate to The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
You can also go to this page on the NCHV website, click on the name of your state, and find a list of organizations helping the homeless in general and homeless veterans in particular in your community. Donate or volunteer.
March forth, and spread the word.
Tuesday Tidbits 3/2/2021: Stop being doormats
The loud insurrection vs the quiet insurrection… © Rob Rogers-Andrews McMeel CounterPoint.com
Republicans roll out “tidal wave of voter suppression”: 253 restrictive bills in 43 states.
“The next person who tells you the insurrection wasn’t planned… THEY. HAD. SHIRTS. MADE. ”
How Pro-Trump Forces Pushed a Lie About Antifa at the Capitol Riot. “On social media, on cable networks and even in the halls of Congress, supporters of Donald J. Trump tried to rewrite history in real time, pushing the fiction that left-wing agitators were to blame for the violence on Jan. 6.”
Trump supporters who breached the Capitol: ‘It was not Antifa’.
“’It wouldn’t be fair to (insert policy that would help millions of everyday people).’ – Literally the Exact Same MFs Who Bailed Out Wall St.”
Biden’s Covid relief bill is extremely popular. So why do D.C. Republicans oppose it? Because they don’t serve the American people, they serve the tiny community of billionaires.
Progressives push to squash Senate filibuster after minimum wage defeat – The left is channeling its frustration after a setback in their push for a $15 hourly wage.
“The Republican Party does not want unity. If they did they wouldn’t still defend the man who orchestrated the coup & refuse to punish those persons involved. Democrats need to ram every bill through the next 2 years. Stop being polite. Being polite got us the insurrection.”
New minimum wage bill has maximum potential.
“Republican argument in a nutshell: Sure, Marjorie Taylor Greene called for Nancy Pelosi to be executed, harassed a school shooting survivor, claimed no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, and insisted Jewish lasers start wildfires, but, by comparison, Ilhan Omar is a brown woman.”
AOC smacks down QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene over LGBTQ Equality Act.
The Senate filibuster has a racist past and present. End it so America can move forward.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘Loathsome and Dangerous Lies’ Disavowed by Her Favorite Gy.
