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Tuesday’s Forum
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18 responses to “Tuesday’s Forum”
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More government secrecy. More Presidential power. More opportunities for corruption. More power for the oligarchs.
From Punchbowl News, the political gossip rag emailed each morning (no link)
Breaking news. A new Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo released Monday says the president can assert executive privilege over communications with “private advisers … so long as they relate to official presidential decisionmaking, involve or reflect communications with the President or his direct advisers, and are confidential.”
The OLC opinion extends that shield to the president’s direct advisers’ communications with private citizens, too.
That would let any president — including President Donald Trump — wall off a broad swath of communication from congressional scrutiny. It lands as Democrats look increasingly likely to win back the House – and subpoena power.
Here’s the link to the actual OLC memo.
https://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1457271/dl
Slow accretion of executive power.
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Brave, brave Sir Cassidy.
Cassidy blasts vaccine order, saying Trump has no ‘expertise to make these changes’
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) blasted an executive order President Trump signed Monday that splits the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot across three separate visits.
“I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism,” Cassidy wrote on social platform X shortly after the order was signed.
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So NOW Cassidy finds the courage to stand up to Trump? All it took was having to listen to him reading aloud, like a 3rd grader, an RFK Jr. approved anti-vax screed disguised as medical science.
ETA – Cassidy exclaimed, “I’m a doctor” to bolster his point on vaccines. Laughably, he tried to explain his Blanche approval by saying he is not a lawyer, but John Cornyn was the Attorney General of Texas, so he relied on Cornyn’s assessment to green light the demonstrably corrupt Blanche as AG.
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“I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism,” Cassidy wrote on social platform X shortly after the order was signed.
‘On the other hand, I’m a doctor, who inexplicably, wait make that, ‘predictably,’ caved in to Trump and voted to confirm RFKjr as Secretary of HHS.’
As Camus, Foucault, Heidigger (or Sartre) once said, ‘fiction is dead’
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Anyone set to watch the total solar eclipse in Europe tomorrow?
If you miss it, there’ll be another one next year on August 2nd. I’m trying to save up money for that one.
I’d recommend flying to Malaga, then taking the train or bus or renting a car to get to Gibraltar for the big event for a longer period of totality. IMO, totality is the part really worth experiencing.
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I’ll be following Iceland’s handling of the event. They are trying but some areas will get overwhelmed. The cloud cover in the southwest (Reykjavi’k) will not be optimal so many will head to the rather remote West Fjorður on basic mountain roads. Prices are jacked up. 31 cruise ships in area too. Add in the new Shengen Area visa delays that started a few weeks ago. Þetta reddast? (It’ll work out (Don’t plan too much as Iceland will throw a curve ball, like weather)). At least it is summer with little chance of a blizzard. Here is the forecast with eclipse path shown
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Weather is the eclipse killer. You still feel the temperature drop and the low light levels through thick cloud cover, but you miss the corona, the reversed constellations, and seeing planets in the daytime.
The idea place to see a total eclipse would be a supersonic airplane with a transparent top. You could chase totality for several minutes. A Concorde was use for this in the 70s, with some instruments placed on top of the fuselage. It kept under totality for over 70 minutes.
Unfortunately, there are no supersonic passenger planes, not any planes with a transparent top. Nor are eclipses common enough to justify the price of one.
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I never thought that a plane or ship was an appealing platform for watching a total eclipse. My ideal place is on the ground, where I can set up a little device to project an image of the sun and watch it become an increasingly thinner crescent as totality approaches (appropriate warnings apply to prevent eye injury to companions and aggressively curious passersby). It’s fine to be among other members of the public, but preferably in a setting that is somewhat natural and/or has an expansive vista. I’d avoid parking lots, as car lights can unexpectedly turn on when totality hits, and people may be tempted to honk their horns. I’ve been fortunate to have experienced the last 3 total eclipses in the continental US, going back to 1979, due to happening to live nearby at the time or choosing the right vacation dates for a place we would’ve been going anyway. Two of those had perfect weather and the last one was cloudy — although the air was clear under the cloud deck and the effect was fairly interesting.
No plans to travel overseas to see an eclipse, but I might check out some of the live cams tomorrow for the areas that will be in totality. Looking out across the terrain and the reaction of wildlife when totality hits can be interesting, and maybe some cams will capture just a bit of that.
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A plane is a terrible place for an eclipse. The windows are tiny and you can’t even crowd people around them easily. Ships, though, might be ok if there’s a large enough deck pace, and in particular if they can move somewhere with a lower chance of cloudiness.
I’ve seen one total eclipse. It was on the street in front of the office, July 1991. We got lucky there were plenty of breaks in the clouds. it had rained earlier in the day (and you could see the moon move over the sun reflected in puddles on the streets). July is smack in the middle of the rain season all over central Mexico.
I’ve very vivid memories of those moments. That’s why I want to see another one.
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I have seen a partial eclipse in Iceland (Great European Eclipse) in 99/2000 where it was overcast (duh, Iceland – totally different country than when I lived there 25+ year ago and knew half the Cabinet – as did most every other expat, population 300k – I remember the Finance Minister talking about learning Ensk (English) from the bootleg Bonanza episodes). I saw a full eclipse in Salem Oregon 2017. Camped in a friend’s front yard. Colander to make half moons as it approached, then cold. Then traffic hell. I’m rusty but I still read Icelandic (earth kitchen = volcano – I was one of the early translators for Mt Eyja) and I know it will work out (Icelandic Þetta Reddast!), but be a cluster. I hope to hell none of the 31+ cruise ships collide (but the Nordics have practiced that scenario – I was there).
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Trump endorses Mike Lindell for governor of Minnesota.
I almost hope he wins.
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Seems “the front fell off”. The images at about 4:50 show it.
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