Author Archive
Lazy and long weekend~Memorial Day
Posted on: May 23, 2020
- In: Holidays | pandemic | Trumplandia
- 42 Comments
Happy long weekend Widdershins
So Memorial Day is officially on the 25th, Monday. In many parts of the country it was also previously known as Decoration Day and is a day to honor and mourn those who were in the military and lost their lives while serving in the armed forces. You can kind of see that in the image above.
I’m sure there will be many among us who will indeed go to lay wreaths or flowers at the graves of those they have known who died while “serving”. Of course since the day officially falls on Monday there will be plenty of time on Friday and Saturday to get in their barbecues and other normal celebrations for the weekend. Exactly how those celebrations occur remains to be seen but if tRump had his way it would be full speed ahead and damn the virus.
However this year let’s think of some other dead we could say died because of their country. Let’s go ahead, round up, and say the one hundred thousand who have died from or due to complications of covid-19. We should honor these souls because it is all too possible that we could have had fewer deaths from the virus if our incompetent President* been able or willing to get his shit together instead of blaming everyone else. And when I refer to those souls I mean the patients, first responders, and all of the health care workers who lost their lives among many others.. Sorry tRump there will be something else to add to that asterisk after your name in the history books: impeached and failed the country.
Charles Ives: Decoration Day
Open thread and be safe.
Tail end of the weekend~some toons
Posted on: May 10, 2020
Good Evening Widdershins
I’m as full as a tick from ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob, and pasta salad. My contribution was one of those giant cookie cakes and ice cream. I am really in need of a nap right now to let all of that settle, however I thought we’d take a look at some of the political cartoons of the past week.
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And last:
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Okay, that’s it for me. I definitely feel that nap coming on. Take the conversation wherever you wish.
- In: 2020 Election | Biden | elections | Open Thread | Politics | Trump
- 92 Comments
Good day Widdershins
There’s some good news concerning the November 2020 election. A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll shows Biden leading tRump by six points. That includes there being a third party candidate running also. (I have to wonder what Suffolk knows that we don’t know about a 3rd candidate). With no third party candidate it’ a 10 point lead. Without a doubt Trump’s handling of the Covid pandemic played a big part in that.
The findings underscore the challenge the deadly pandemic is posing to the president’s political standing, which has proved durable through investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a Senate impeachment trial over his dealings with Ukraine and other controversies.
Now Trump’s standing may be threatened in the face of questions about the response he and his administration have made to a disease that has cost more than 55,000 lives in the United States and imperiled the nation’s economy.
Opinions of those polled were varied of course: From this:
“I had to give up watching the White House briefings,” said Democrat Eric Haenfler, 67, a retired music teacher and band director from Gilbert, Arizona, who was called in the poll. “I couldn’t stand to watch him say ignorant things. They were just campaign rallies and gave no information – and what information he was giving was false and sometimes dangerous.”
To this:
But Mercedes Nazarian, 29, a political independent and bartender from Savannah, Georgia, said her support for Trump hadn’t been shaken. “I think he’s doing the best to his ability,” she said in a follow-up interview. “I believe it’s out of his control at this point. I mean, nobody can control a virus.”
Note to Mercedes: It would have been more controllable had tRump paid any attention to the Presidential Daily Briefs back in January and February.
Also interesting was that tRump lost support among men. “While men still back Trump over Biden 46% to 35%, that’s a narrower advantage than in December, when it was 56% to 30%.”. Women support Biden 53% to 30% according to the poll.
However it’s not all good news for Biden according to the poll. His support has gotten a bit softer among A.A. voters:
His support among black voters has dropped in a hypothetical three-way race with Trump and a third-party candidate. Although the sample size is small, making precise comparisons unreliable, about two-thirds of African American voters support Biden now; nearly eight in 10 had backed him in December. Those voters didn’t move to Trump, supported by just 8%. But one in four black voters now say they are undecided or would vote for a third-party candidate.
That’s fixable depending on who Biden selects as a veep candidate. He’s already committed to selecting a woman and it could go a long way if he selects the right woman. And if there is no third party candidate (go away Jill Stein and Tulsi) I think his numbers among A.A. voters will be fine.
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One other thing not Biden/Trump related. This was a good read on “covid phobia”, i.e. people who need to get to an E.R. for, among other things, cardiac related issues. They are afraid of going to the E.R.
Covid phobia is keeping people with serious heart symptoms away from ERs
Okie doke Widdershins that’s your (not so) Activist post. mb has discussed the possibility of doing a Zoom talk-a-thon this weekend so we’ll see how that goes.
Open thread of course.
Cabin Fever Weekend
Posted on: April 18, 2020
- In: alcohol | Donald Trump | end of the world | Music | Open Thread | pandemic | You Tube
- 48 Comments
Happy (?) weekend Widdershins
So as you can see from the top, we’ll call this one cabin fever weekend. It really was one today because with several rounds of severe thunderstorms I really couldn’t even get out to do a bit of walking. Bubba would not even come when it was dinner time and I had a nice Popeyes chicken breast that I tore apart for him. So it’s back in the fridge and I’ll try later today (since it’s now Sunday).
For the scientifically inclined Widdershins, thinking of you Luna and Quixote, I saw this site mentioned on Maddow’s show. It’s called the Covid-19 compiler. When you go to the first page you see a map of the entire U.S. It allows you to hover over a particular county in each state to get info on the number of cases. You can also look at demographic data and that allows you to drill down a bit further. Further, if you click on “Insights” it will give you a host of topics they have researched. I looked it over a couple of times but honestly I just did not want to get even more depressed over this mess.
On to some music.
The following are just a couple of things I heard on the all music classical dealio on cable. They sounded nice at the time so I jotted down the info for the pieces.
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You may recognize this from Amadeus
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Okay shinners that’s all I got but just remember:
Take the discussion wherever you wish.
- In: Lazy Weekend | Music | Open Thread
- 62 Comments
Amadeus
Hello Widdershins
So it’s a weekend. Has anything changed other than the daily sick and dead counts? Eh, not much I don’t guess.
Since DYB did a musical post a few weeks back on the Beethoven I thought I would do one on Herr Mozart. But first a little update from the Southern coast.
- Checking my wx underground page for the local weather I see that in my parish the number of covid 19 cases has gone from 176 to 239 with 8 deceased. That is an increase of 63 from yesterday and 1 additional death. Those numbers are small except when you realize the population is a tad over 30,000. The pop dropped after Katrina and recovered somewhat.
- According to a presser by the Mayor of New Orleans, the coroner’s office is full along with area funeral homes so the city may have to bring in reefer units to put the bodies, much like New York.
- This man right here, needed much more than a $2,500 bail.
But enough, let’s move on to the music.
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1st mvmt
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4th mvmt
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I know this was a brief one but here’s one more thing. Go check to see how your area is doing with social distancing here. I really didn’t need to check it to see that my parish got a D-. And I’m not surprised considering the woman on the other side of the duplex had a gathering last weekend with four cars in the drive and on the street. Saturday she had someone else over. And that’s why I made a sign to go on the front door in a sheet protector that says unless you are a delivery person, utility employee or someone otherwise known to me who is practicing social distancing I’m not opening the door.
Talk and discuss as you wish.
Weekend post~more dis n dat
Posted on: March 21, 2020
Stay 6 feet apart
Good weekend Widdershins
So, here we are with a leaderless, rudderless, federal government that consists of a man who is the purported President*, who just reels off untruths and lies at a daily “briefing”, and then attacks a reporter for giving him a softball question. I believe I agree with Rachel. Don’t broadcast this bullshit live. Tape those and show later if you must show them.
Currently we have seventy million Americans who have been told to stay home. Illinois was the latest to do so but it surely won’t be the last one. I expect Louisiana’s governor to do the same soon since we have one of the highest rates of infection on a per capita basis.
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Because why not a saxophone group called Nuclear Whales?
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Take the discussion wherever you wish to go with it.
Lazy Weekend Music~Erin Go Bragh
Posted on: March 14, 2020
Good Weekend Widdershins
So is it a good weekend so far? For me, dunno yet. I’m doing my best to ignore the pandemic at least for the weekend. I’ve put the tv on one of the music channels tuned to “light classical”. I just don’t want to hear anything more about Covid 19 or the blatherings of El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago nor his butt-kissing Surgeon General. So let’s just enjoy some toe-tapping St. Paddy’s Day or other Irish songs.
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