Today in WT?

I think tihs peaks for itelf. Via Joe.My.God.:

Raw Story reports:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Monday accused Democrats of stealing elections by using completely legal methods of registering and convincing potential Democratic voters to support them. Writing on Twitter, Paul linked to an article published by the conservative Washington Examiner that detailed how Democrats flipped Wisconsin back to their side in the 2020 presidential election after narrowly losing it to former President Donald Trump in 2016

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I really am speechless. Click through to Joe's post -- there are some wonderful reactions.

What's New at Green Man Review

I remembered! The headline is very brief, so I'm just going to give yu the link and invite you to browse. Enjoy!

Speaking of Power-Hungry Hypocrites

Another bleated Christmas post, this one via Joe.My.God: T

he Christian Post reports:

The Satanic Temple of Illinois displayed a sculpture of an infant version of Baphomet in the state Capitol rotunda in Springfield Tuesday, which can be seen as “just another very sad attempt” by the devil to destroy Christmas, Graham told Fox News today.

As Joe points out in his post, the Satanic Temple is satire, generated by a group of atheists. Their website says specificially that Satan does not exist. According to Joe, Graham knows this -- but you can bet he's not going to let his followersin on the secret.

Belated Merry Christmas

Best Nativity scene ever. ourtesy o commenterPicky Pecker at Joe.My.God.

On Morality

I ranacross this post by Hemant Mehta at Friendly Atheist and thought it was worth commenting on. For some reason, I can't copy and paste a quote, so I suggest you follow the link and read the post, or at least the first part of it, before reading my comments.

I've thought about the issue of morality a lot recently, and come to the conclusion hat our core moral value is a product of our existence as social primates: we take care of each other, because that benefits out group, and what beneits our group benefits the individuals in the group.

This core moral imperative is one that's shared by all religions, at least, all that I've run across. It's when you have priesthoods trying to control behaviors that it starts to get murky. (Think Leviticus, which in my opinion has nothing to do with any sort of real morality -- it's a tool for controlling the community.)

So the enext time yoou hear some preacher fulminating on the imoorality of such ahd such (send money), ask them if they are devoting resources to feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, comforting the afflicated.

What's POssible

Whenn we dn't have idiots acting out all ovr the place. From NASA:

For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere – the corona – and sampled particles and magnetic fields there.

The new milestone marks one major step for Parker Solar Probe and one giant leap for solar science. Just as landing on the Moon allowed scientists to understand how it was formed, touching the very stuff the Sun is made of will help scientists uncover critical information about our closest star and its influence on the solar system.

"Parker Solar Probe “touching the Sun” is a monumental moment for solar science and a truly remarkable feat," said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Not only does this milestone provide us with deeper insights into our Sun's evolution and it's impacts on our solar system, but everything we learn about our own star also teaches us more about stars in the rest of the universe.”

As it circles closer to the solar surface, Parker is making new discoveries that other spacecraft were too far away to see, including from within the solar wind – the flow of particles from the Sun that can influence us at Earth. In 2019, Parker discovered that magnetic zig-zag structures in the solar wind, called switchbacks, are plentiful close to the Sun. But how and where they form remained a mystery. Halving the distance to the Sun since then, Parker Solar Probe has now passed close enough to identify one place where they originate: the solar surface.

There's a lot more information at the NASA link.

Via Joe.My.God.

Catching Up With Green Man Review

Did it again. Here's the latest from Green Man Review:

Mari Boine Persen live, Spidery things, Gwyneth on chestnuts and other late Autumn Matters

So click on over and enjoy.

Today in Crazy

In case you somehow manage to miss all the insanity coiming from the fringe right wing (which seems to e the only right wing that remains), here's a sample: Alex Jones, via Joe.My. God.:

So, they just think you’re stupid and they don’t want you knowing they are doing all of this, and they’ve got carbon systems they are putting in, that big, huge geoengineering systems, terraforming systems that are sucking carbon dioxide out of the air when it’s a trace gas that we need, and was hundreds of times higher millions of years ago than it is now.

That’s why plants and animals were so much bigger and healthier. But we’ve adapted to live in less air. This is insane, ladies and gentlemen. OK, so the question is did [Joe] Biden last February, this year, order the power turned off in Texas. T

hey did officially; they wouldn’t let them up the power. Now, we know that. So the question is did they use weather weapons to cause the tornadoes? That’s a legitimate question to ask.

What's depressing is that Jones actually has an augience, and they believe every word. "Weather machines"? Really?

This Time at Green Man Review

Ye, it's that time again, and there's a new edition of Green Man Review ready for you:

Books about books, murder, witches, games and more; Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library; chocolate good and meh; indie rock, Americana, jazz, Latvian, and more music including a world bagpipe omnibus

And it's all waiting for you rigt over here.

Rittenhouse Walks

Which, if you've been following reports on the trial, was pretty much predictable. There's a lot of commentary, but I suggest you check out digy's post at Hullabaloo. It's lengthy, but I found this paragraph telling:

This sort of vigilantism is routinely celebrated on the right these days. From the Trayvon Martin killing in Florida to the trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s killers now unfolding in Georgia, they have lined up in support for citizens who take the law into their own hands — as long as the targets are left-wing protesters and Black people.

Ir's being pushed by the right, but I can't quite shake the feelilng that they are willing accomplices of an overeas influence.

At any rate, check out digby's piece.

The Sparrows Are Back!

There's a flock of sparrows that roosts in a towering mulberry tree in the side yard. In the winter they move to a fairly tall juniper bush next to it -- tallenough to make them feel secure, and with very dense foliage, wihch must make it easier to stay warm.

Over the summer they disappeared. I suspect it was because of the cicadas -- we had cicadas in all the trees on my street, at least one to every tree, and the racket, starting in the afternoon and lasting throught he night, was increcible. I'm convinced that the sparrows left because they couldn't get any sleep.

At any rate, they've started coming back over the past few weeks -- I can hear them twittering their "Good night, sleep tight" chirps in the vening, and their wake-up chatter in the morning, and they've started appearing in the parkway, hopping around looking for something to eat.

It's sort of reassuring to have them back.

The Quiet Part Out Loud

This story is from yeseterdaay, soI'm playing a little bit of catch-up. Via Joe.My.God.:

In his latest journey to the edge of extreme, Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser and felon Michael Flynn called on Saturday for a single religion in America.

“If we are going to have one nation under God — which we must — we have to have one religion,” Flynn said in San Antonio at a stop for the far-right “ReAwaken America” tour. “One nation under God, and one religion under God,” he added.

Such a vision is completely contrary to the Constitution’s guarantee of Freedom of Religion, and the separation of church and state

This, of course,is what the "religious" right has been aiming for since Reagan, and they've been very clever about it -- goig after local and sstate governments, stcking the courts and then puysing their "religious liberty" arguments as far as they could. (Consider the assault on local school boards and schools in light of stories such as this one and this one.

And lest yoou have any doubts, it's not just Christianity, it's their own nasty brand of "Christianity".

What's New at Green Man Reiew

I remembered this time, so here it is:

Mystery novels, mystery films, music of an autumnal nature, Chinese folk music, Buffy graphic novels, and lots of licorice

If your weather's anything like ours, it's a perfect day to dig in and scout out some winter readig.

We Should Have Expected This

Im sort of surprized it took this long. Via Joe.My.God.:

The Spotsylvania County School Board has directed staff to begin removing books that contain “sexually explicit” material from library shelves and report on the number of books that have been removed at a special called meeting next week. The directive came after a parent raised concerns at the School Board’s meeting Monday about books available through the Riverbend High School’s digital library app.

The board voted 6–0 to order the removal. Two board members, Courtland representative Rabih Abuismail and Livingston representative Kirk Twigg, said they would like to see the removed books burned. “I think we should throw those books in a fire,” Abuismail said, and Twigg said he wants to “see the books before we burn them so we can identify within our community that we are eradicating this bad stuff.”

The full article is here. You know who else liked to burn books? Let me refresh your memory:

On May 10, 1933, university students burn upwards of 25,000 “un-German” books in Berlin’s Opera Square. Some 40,000 people gather to hear Joseph Goebbels deliver a fiery address: “No to decadence and moral corruption!”

As part of an effort to align German arts and culture with Nazi ideas (Gleichschaltung), university students in college towns across Germany burned thousands of books they considered to be “un-German,” heralding an era of state censorship and cultural control. Students threw books pillaged mostly from public and university libraries onto bonfires with great ceremony, band-playing, and so-called “fire oaths.” The students sought to purify German literature of “foreign,” especially Jewish, and other immoral influences. Among the authors whose works were burned was Helen Keller, an American whose belief in social justice encouraged her to champion disabled persons, pacifism, improved conditions for industrial workers, and women's voting rights.

Do I really need to say more?

A Note on Blogging

Yeah, I know, it's been nonexistent for months, save for the GMR updates. Partly it's because the news is boring, but mostly it's because of my vision problems, which make it hard to work at the computer. However, I've decided that I have to give it a go, so expect peroidic posts on the news or whatever else captures my attention. Wish me luck.

There Is No Bottom

Eevery tieme you think the right can sink no lower, they find a way. Here's Dennis Preger, via Jo.My.God.

Anywhere that you have people who are governed by fear of global warming – the idiotic, irrational, sick fear of extinction of the biosphere – I mean, you understand the nonsense that we live with?

If we survive this as a free country, historians will just ask, ‘How did this happen? How did people get governed by irrational fears’?

Whether it is of the non-vaccinated, who are the pariahs of America as I have not seen in my lifetime any pariah group like this. “During the AIDS crisis, can you imagine if gay men and intravenous drug users, if had they been pariahs the way the non-vaccinated are?

The nonsense about climate cange is bad enough -- it's hardly an irratinal fear; it's a legitimate concern, especally for those who live in coastal aras, which includes most of the world's major cities. The the comments about how gay men were treated during the AIDS crisis ar simply beyond belief. Prager's left reaity in a dumpster on this one.

All this, of coure, is directed toward making heroes out of a bunch of petulant itiots with their heads full of QAnon bullshit.

The Republicsans hasve lost their freaking minds.

What's New at Green Man Review

As you might imagine, it's all about Hallowen, so click on over and immerse yourself in the holiday.

Catching Up With Green Man Review

Did it again -- missed the last edition. At any rate, here's the dope:

A Plethora of Neal Stephenson novels, Several Things of a Jethro Tull Nature, Elizabeth Bear on all things culinary, an ex-Beatle and an ex-Monkee and a bunch of Wicked Tinkers

So click on over and dig in.

This Time at Green Man Review

I actually remembered yesterday, then forgot, then remembered, and forgot againand finally left msyself a note late last night so I'd remember this morning. At any rate, here's the latest edition of Green Man Review:

Bothy Band’s “Old Hag” tune, CBGB Punxs, Hot Chocolate, Russell T Davies back as Who Showrunner and It’s Autumn!

If, like us, you're suffering through a spell of gloomy weather, it's a perfect time to click on over and ejoy.

What's New at Green Man Review

This biweekly schedule is really throwing me off, but here's the latest edition of Green Man Review:

Red Molly cover Richard Thompson’s “Vincent Black Lightning”, All Things Neverwhere, live rock and roll from New Zealand, lots and lots of Kit Kats, and much more

If your weathr's anything like mine, it's a good evening to click on over and browse,.

What's New at Green Man Review

Holiday weekends always throw me off -- meant to do this yesteray and lost track of what day it was. At any rate, it's the new edition of Green Man Review:

All things whisky; Child ballads and Welsh mythology; demon barbers and swamp things; Rick Danko, singers from Queens and Florida; a rat in a tin can, and much more

As you can see, something for everyone, so click on over and enjoy.

What's New at Green Man Review

I meant to post thos yesterday, but my rain went AWOL. At any rate, it's anoteher edition of GMR chock full of googies:

some Grateful Dead, Lady Astronauts, Swedish and American jazz, a Tenth Doctor tale, and much more

There's lots more, as always, so fid a nice col spot and dig in.

what's New at Green Man Review

Yesterday's eition is up, and chock full of googidies:

Many things Boiled in Lead, several things Ian MacDonald, Elizabeth Bear on chocolate, Peter Gabriel in concert, Danger Girls, Wobblies, and SF-inspired folk music

We're due for some really hot wather, so you may want to find a nic cool place to kick back and enjoy.

Sociopath of the Month

This story's a couple of days old. but I keep coming back to it:

Venture capitalist and Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance spoke on Friday about the “cultural wars” being waged by the left and took aim at politicians without children who “don’t have a personal indirect stake” in improving the country. “And why is this just a normal fact of American life, that the leaders of our country should be people who don’t have a personal indirect stake in it via their own offspring, via their own children and grandchildren,” Vance asked, noting that he was not referring to people who are unable to have children.

There's a certain lack of bASIC humanity in evuidebe here -- it is, after all, ,perfectly normal, and actually considrered virtuous, to care about people whether they're relatives or not.

And I can't help thinking there's something very biblical about this --Old Testament biblical, considering how concerned the ancient Hebrews were with inheritance and bloolines.

At any rate, the man's a jerk.

Vias Joe.My.God.

What's New at Green Man Review

It's that time again, with another knockout edition of Green Man Review:

Jerky; Alice’s Restaurant on film; Roger Zelazny and Stephen Brust; all things Looking Glass Wars; Norwegian death metal, Palestinian oud, early country rock, modern jazz, and much more

So scoot on over for some nice summer reading.

Catching Up: What's New at Green Man Review

I was all set to post the first of these on the publication date -- and had no internet. For over a week. So, here we go, csatching up: Fort, GMR for June 27:

B-52s live, Beowulf, Fables, Beer, Banks’ Culture series and Its Summer!

Followd by today's offering:

A Pig Roast, Grateful Dead Beer?, Kage Baker on Terry Gilliam, live music from Penguin Cafe Orchestra, another look at Chicago’s Field Museum and Other Summer Matters

Enjoy!

Ber Late Than Never

This biweekly publication schedule at Green Man Reveview has got me completely screweed up. It's late, but here itis: What's New at Green Man Review for June 13:

Oysterband Gone Trad, Constantine Isn’t That Hair Colour, Music to Tickle Your Fancy, Yet More Chocolate, Anthony Bourdain, Gaiman’s Sandman and Other Matters

You know the drill. Enjoy.

What's nNew at Green Man Review

Yes, its been two weeks, but it was worth the . Just looke:

Simon R. Green and Elizabeth Bear, Naomi Kritzer’s and Everina Maxwell’s full-length debuts; faux-Italian SF and revived pulp fiction; Brian Wilson tribute and food and footie on film; fantasy jazz, lo-fi country, Väsen from the archves; lots of chocolate, and more;

And of course, there's more, so chceck it out.

Vax Wars

I'm trying to figure out how something that used to be a routine heath care measure b,ecame a political football. The anti-vaxxers are making a lot of noise, and to what purpose? The governor of Florida is threatenting fo fine cruise lines that ask passenges for proof of vaccination, and now the anti-vaxxers have started their ownn dating site. And that's just a couple of stories from last evening. I guessit goes back to Trup's stellar reaction when the pandemic first hit -- "It's a hoax!" -- and the fact that his followers will not only believe what they's told, but take it as holy writ. Thans. Trump!

Oops!

My brain has been on hiatus lately, so this is a cach-up for all you Green Man Review fans: S

pace opera from Elizabeth Bear, Kage Baker’s last Company novel; lots of dark and milk chocolate, music from South Africa, Mali, China and Canada; Two Fat Ladies on DVD, and more

As usual, it's chock full of goodies, so scoot on over and enjoy.

what's Nwe at Green Man Review

A day late, but better late than never, right?

A Fat Music Review Section, Four British film mysteries, Live music from from Tatiana Hargreaves and Allison De Groot, Jennifer wallows in two historical fictions with delightfully authentic voices, Evil Kit Kat Bars, Willingham’s Fables series, Bordertown fiction and Other Cool Matters

So hop on over and enjooy.

The Latest from Green Man Review

My brain shut off yesterday and I forgot to post the latestl isue of Green Man Review. Well, here it is, better late than never:

Chicago’s Field Museum’s Cyrus Tang Hall of China, Live Music from Midnight Oil, A Potpourri of Music Reviews, Some Mars Fiction, Lots of Chocolate and Other Cool Stuff

So dive in and enjoy.

The Creationists Were Right!

There were dinasausrs on the Ark. We know them as "birds".

wha's New at Green Man Review

It's that time again:

Lots of Doctor Who stuff, Jennifer has a warming soup for these cold days, and music from Hawaii, Turkey, Russia, Finland, and elsewhere

Have at it, and enjoy.

Catching Up With green Man Review

I seem to have missed an editionin February, so here it is:

What’s New for the 21st of February: Charles Stross’ The Halting State, Matt Wagner’s Grendel Archives, The Talons of Weng Chiang, La bruja te prende fuego, Pappy Van Winkle, Steeleye Span and Other Matters

And here's this wee's edition:

What’s New for the 7th of March: Equal Exchange Chocolates, A Bevy of Mysteries, Wagner’s Grendel, Jesco White on Film, Ursula Le Guin Reading for You and Other Stuff to Warm You Up

hHave fun catching up. A note: I'm suffering from glauoma and my eyeseight is impaired. Working on the computer is especially difficult, which is why I haven't been posting -- I can't read the news, andit's very difficult to post. I don't know if it will get bette -- there's damage to my optic nerves, which don't repair themselves. We'l see.

In spite of the bitter cold, we have outr usual misx of goodies:

ome trad music for your listening pleasure, Spiegelman’s Maus considered, lots of dark chocolate, two looks at Garner’s Owl Service and Other Creature Comforts

So find a nice cozy corner and enjoy.

One of the Things

I love about eing a grown-up, is that if you decide you want pizza for breakfast, you can have pizza for breakfast.

Sparrows

One of the ubiquitous parts of city life is sparrows. By "sparrows", od course, I mean the English sparrows that somehow made their way from Europe in the distant past and made themselves at home.(There are native sparrows, but unless you've got a keen eye and a good bird book, they tend to vanish in the crowd.)

What brings this to mind is the juniper bush outside my front door -- at least, it started life as a bush. It's grown intoa bushy tree, about 20 feet high, with very dense foliage -- a perfect place for sparrows to roost at nigh -- sheldter from the elements, high enough to discourage wandering cats and rats.

However, the racket from a flock of sparrows waking up in the morning has to be heard to be believed -- everyone wishing everyone a good morning, taking roll call, who knows?

If

This is about as blatant as it gets"

The Republican chair of Arizona's state House Ways and Means Committee introduced a bill Wednesday that would give the Legislature authority to override the secretary of state’s certification of its electoral votes.

GOP Rep. Shawnna Bolick introduced the bill, which rewrites parts of the state's election law, such as sections on election observers and securing and auditing ballots, among other measures.

One section grants the Legislature, which is currently under GOP control, the ability to revoke the secretary of state's certification "by majority vote at any time before the presidential inauguration."

The Arizona legislature is, of course, controlled by the GOP -- and I'm sure they intend to keep it that way.Another reason to abolish the electoral college. Via Joe.My>God.

It's Green Man Review Time

And here we are again with our usual mix of goodies:

Live music from Lúnasa in Australia, Taco Tapes’ Trad is Rad, Robert’s Visit to the Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, Alastair Reynolds’ The Prefect audiobook, Tom Baker’s Birthday, Jennifer Stevenson’s Lasagna and Other Neat Stuff

So dive in and enjoy.

What's New at Green Man Review

Through lock-downs, insurrections, and all the rest, Gren Man Review has a slate full of goodies for you:

On Hobbits in print and on film, An unusual Inn, Jabberwock puppets, Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate, Classical Music and Other Winter Comforts

So hunker down with a nice warm drink and ignore the news for a while.

Backlash

Trump's little exercise in armed insurrection didn't work out quite the way he planned, to the extent that he had to issue a statement that is nothing more than dodging responsibility:

After encouraging his supporters to march to the Capitol on Wednesday, triggering an insurrection inside the halls of Congress as he sought to overturn the election result, the president turned to social media after being suspended from his accounts.

“Like all Americans I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem,” he said in a brief video message, days before the end of his one-term presidency as lawmakers prepare to remove him from office.

He said that the rioters “who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy."

Meanwhile, there are calls from all sides of the political spectrum for his immediate removal from office. Twelve more days. Wonder what he'll try next, or whether his staff will be able to resdtrain him.

Culture Break: Ravel: Bolero: Two Versions

I don't know if I've ever posted this particular flash mob before, but it's a fairly appeapling:

And of course, who could forget this one?

A Note on Posting

Or lack thereof. Actually, a couple of notes.

1. Politics at thi point (whih is mostly what I comment on) has turned into kabuki: lots of posturing, not much subtance. Let it suffice to say that the REepublicans, after working toward this point for the last forty years or so, are openly trying to destroy American democracy.

2. The last month has been difficult because of a couple of health-related issues. Fortunately, they are under control, for the mot part, except that my vision has deterioritaed due to glaucoma and complications from the other issues. It's especially hard to work at the computer -- a matter of most web pages being low contrast (something you don't notice until it hits you in the face, so to speak), which is the most difficult condition for my eyes to deal with. This had to happen, of course, right after I got new readng glasses. We'll see if stronger lenses can help.

So that's why I've been silent for so much of the past month or so. I am recovering, so we'll see if I can get back up to speed soon.

Random Note

I have more Philip Glass in my music files than Mozart and Beethoven combined. This is from a collaboration with a number of South American composers, Aguas de Amazonas.

Happy New Year?

I keep thinnking I should post somethig philosophical about the year past, and the prospects for the year ahead, but all I aI can think of is "It can't possiblky be worse. Make the most of it."