Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
I had earlier included Speaker Mike Johnson when posting about Putin’s pals. But now it seems he has grown into his job as a leader in a divided country by moving the Ukraine fund bill and others through the House I probably disagree with him on most issues but here he has done the right thing and I thank him for it.
A exceptional biography of someone I had thought I never heard of. I had read of an event in which he was a unwilling participant in. I had read something of the U.S. Senator who was badly beaten on the floor of the Senate but I did not remember his name, if I ever knew it.
Continue reading “The Great Abolitionist”
1864 was good for some people in Arizona. If you did not have family or friends who were killed or wounded in the Civil War or have some other tragedy, life was good. In 1844 it seems that only white men could vote. So maybe it was good for them but not quite as good for others. The state of medicine was not very good for anybody. There have certainly been a good number of advances since then in medicine, equality of the sexes and races, and many areas.
Why talk about his now? The Arizona Supreme Court reinstated a law dating to 1864. The law reads:
Continue reading “1864, it was a very good year”
Donald Trump is known for his lies. Now that he has finally made up his mind about his stance on abortion, he has chosen to suport it with another lie.
See the FACT CHECK on his wildly inaccurate claim:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/08/politics/fact-check-trump-abortion-roe-overturned-legal-scholars/index.html
Kate Schapira opened the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth in Providence, RI. Inspired by Lucy of Peanuts comics fame, her sign read “Climate Anxiety Counseling 5 cents: The Doctor Is In.” This led to many conversations with people about climate change and related fears and anxieties as well as anxiety generated by other issues.
Continue reading “Climate Anxiety”
I’ve been writing about some Republican actions I find disturbing:
Putin’s Pals screw Ukraine and the border with a single move
The Appeasement Caucus
I thought I should update this blog on the status of some of Putin’s Pals. Since Mike Johnson has refused to let the House of Representatives vote on aid to Ukraine, we don’t know the views of all House members. But Speaker Johnson seems to be one of Putin’s Pals.
Continue reading “Putin’s pals – useful idiots or willing co-conspirators”
Speaking of Republicans worried about immigrants or even people who may not look like them, we have this:
There are problems with our immigration system but Republicans do not want to fix them. Republicans seem to want this as a campaign issue. They will continue to tell lies and attack immigrants whether is seems reasonable or not,
The latest example is blaming the Baltimore bridge disaster on immigration and diversity
I have written a bit about climate change and its many threats to our future (https://www.jackreidy.com/blog/tag/climate-change/) but have not written on it in a few years. Since last year was the hottest on record (https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/2023-was-warmest-year-modern-temperature-record) it seems to be a good time to write more about the climate crisis.
There has been recent news on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voting to require companies to disclose their climate harming emissions (https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/03/06/sec-climate-disclosure-rule/ ) which contribute greatly to climate change (aka global warming).
Since overwhelming evidence indicates that climate change is a great threat to the financial prospects of companies, the economy as a whole, and human health, I hope this effort succeeds.
The book “White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy” by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman brings together a huge amount of information to discuss rural areas, their problems, and potential solutions as well as the current political situation which contributes to these problems and presents a threat to American democracy. I think that may be the longest and most complicated sentence I’ve written lately, so let me explain.
Last week I was watching the circus where lawyers for Donald Trump and various co-defendants are trying to disqualify the District Attorney (DA) in Georgia from the RICO case related to the conspiracy to steal the 2020 election for President. By watching I mean that I watched some of the hearing on TV but mostly have been following it on the news.
My main interest is in the potential trial but a bit enhanced because I lived in Georgia for 30 years.
Continue reading “Disqualifying the District Attorney (DA) in Georgia from the RICO case”
Both my parents grew up in New York City while Fiorello La Guardia was mayor. I can remember them talking about Mayor La Guardia when I was growing up. He seemed interesting but I never got around to learning much more about him. This book fixed that problem.
The book is “I Never Did Like Politics: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America’s Mayor, and Why He Still Matters” by Terry Golway.
Continue reading “I Never Did Like Politics”
I was just reading about the criminal charges for the Brazil insurrection in 2022 and was wondering if the 2021 insurrection in the US was at least a partial inspiration. The article was Bolsonaro and Allies Planned a Coup, Brazil Police Say and it starts like this:
Continue reading “Was January 6 insurrection an inspiration for the Brazil insurrection?”
It appears that quite a few Republicans want to eliminate US aid to Ukraine. I previously called this group The Appeasement Caucus. Just appease Putin and let him take Ukraine. You would have thought they would have learned from history that appeasement is not a good strategy. See Hitler and World War 2 for a good example.
Continue reading “Putin’s Pals screw Ukraine and the border with a single move”
House Speaker Mike Johnson tied aid to Ukraine to immigration reform. On his visit to the border, he repeated his demand Now a bipartisan agreement has been reached in the Senate on Immigration reform has been reached and President Biden is agreeable. All depends on Mike Johnson and his majority in the House.
Continue reading “Speaker Mike Johnson and the failure to govern”