December 31, 2021

Betty and Johnny Carson as Tarzan and Jane

Totally hilarious and my favorite role of hers:

Best line: "Ubangi?" "You betcha."

November 14, 2021

Leonard Peltier Is America's Longest-Serving Political Prisoner and Biden May Be His Last Hope

Anyone who has followed his case knows that Peltier didn't commit the crime. It's a crime that he is ailing in prison while all kinds of slimeballs have been pardoned over the years.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/leonard-peltier-prison-clemency-biden_n_618049f3e4b059d0bfc19e5c

Other helpful sites:
https://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/

https://www.amazon.com/Incident-Oglala-Leonard-Peltier-Story/dp/B0001FVDI2

October 28, 2021

Scientists skeptical about a physical cause of "Havana syndrome"

snip

Dr. Sergio Della Sala, a professor of human cognitive neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh, told Salon that he has serious doubts any kind of "syndrome" actually exists, at least based on the 2018 paper published in JAMA.

"Those data do not support the existence of a new syndrome, as the cluster of the reported symptoms are not consistent and as anyone assessed using the criteria used in the JAMA papers would result pathological," Della Sala pointed out. "It is a statistical fact."

He emphasized that this does not mean people are being untruthful when they claim to be sick. It merely indicates that the naming of a syndrome should be based on thorough scientific evidence.
"This does not undermine the fact that several people felt unwell," Della Sala explained. "However, before postulating questionable new syndromes, it may prove fruitful to analyze the data for what they tell us, exempt from political prejudices and pressure."

snip

Dr. Robert Baloh, a professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said the idea that a sonic weapon caused selective brain or inner ear damage "is not physically possible." Though the microwave weapon theory is speculative, "8 of the 21 initial 'victims' in Cuba actually recorded the sounds as they were occurring and expert analysis of the sound concluded that they were crickets. The simple fact that they were able to record the sounds rules out microwaves as the source," Baloh says.



https://www.salon.com/2021/10/21/scientists-are-skeptical-that-havana-syndrome-is-anything-more-than-a-psychogenic-illness/

August 10, 2021

When was the line redrawn about touching a co-worker's breast?

Cuomo said he wasn't aware about lines being redrawn. I'm older than he is and I don't remember it ever being ok to touch a woman's breast (including over the bra) without permission. It especially isn't ok to do it to a co-worker and one who is a junior to you.

I didn't hear one single thing that was an apology for the behavior toward women that was documented in the report.

June 1, 2021

Tulsa wasn't alone. There were dozens of massacres

After the Civil War, and especially after WWI, in states from New York to California. 1919 was especially bloody when it came to white mob violence, so much so that it was known as Red 1919. Here is an interactive map of some of the bloodshed.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/05/us/whitewashing-of-america-racism/

May 27, 2021

Amazon workers are rising up around the world to say: Enough

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/26/amazon-workers-are-rising-up-around-the-world-to-say-enough


snip

"Amazon, the world’s most powerful corporation, is an iceberg. Users and consumers see its top: the shops, the streaming service, the packages. But below the surface lies an enormous infrastructure, stretching across continents, linking production, distribution and delivery. A complex transnational system, populated by workers around the world whose labor drives Amazon’s profits.

Its chief executive and founder, Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, tries to conceal this system with the comfort and entertainment his services offer. The reason is equally clear and outrageous. From the factories where the products it sells are made, to the doorsteps where they are delivered, Amazon’s global infrastructure is held together by the exploitation of those who operate it.

Throughout Amazon’s supply chain, Bezos’s behemoth violates workers’ safety, dignity and privacy, putting them to work in worksites designed to squeeze as much labor out of them for as little money as possible."

snip

A well-researched article that doesn't rely just on anecdotal information. The movement for workers rights at Amazon is something that everyone who supports basic human rights can get behind.

April 13, 2021

How Amazon Crushed the Union Effort in Alabama

snip:

as one warehouse worker told me near the end of the election, “Everything came too late.”

Like others in this story, she spoke on condition of anonymity, fearful of retaliation from Amazon. While she was happy to see the public backing, she didn’t think it would make much of a difference when workers were already deep into a seven-week mail-in election. Amazon had been holding anti-union meetings and urging workers to vote as quickly as possible. Many voters had already cast their ballots.

This particular worker didn’t have her first in-depth conversation with a union organizer until after she’d been forced to sit through several of the anti-union meetings Amazon’s consultants ran.

“You just can’t escape it anywhere,” she said. “Amazon just bulldozed.”


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amazon-crushed-union-threat-alabama_n_60746e5ce4b01e304234929d

February 19, 2021

Keilar dissects Ted's bogus journey

A totally awesome roasting of Flyin' Ted. Her most hilarious one in my mind (lots of funny cultural references):
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/02/19/roll-the-tape-ted-cruz-cancun-trip-keilar-vpx.cnn

February 1, 2021

John Dean recommends Rule XI impeachment committee

On CNN just now. He said it would be a good way to go to educate the public. I won't pretend to know the rules of the Senate but here is what I found on a search.

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/3_1986SenatesImpeachmentRules.pdf

January 21, 2021

Anderson Cooper to Amanda Gorman: wow you're awesome

The pundits are going crazy about her now. She just gives you hope. What an amazing young lady.