September 4, 2022

Today in Indy--Patriot Front march

Fewer than 50 people marching. Still totally creepy.
https://www.wishtv.com/news/local-news/videos-capture-neo-nazis-march-streets-in-downtown-indianapolis/

June 26, 2022

Yay Marion County prosecutor!

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-decision-2022-indiana-democrats-abortion-rights-legislation/7722523001/

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Friday his office will not prosecute abortion-related cases if Republicans in the state legislature seek to criminalize the procedure following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that overturns abortion rights.

The pushback from Indianapolis Democrats like Mears and the Indiana Democratic Party represents yet another schism between Democrat-dominated Marion County and the Statehouse, where Republicans are in the supermajority.

With the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade case, Indiana Republicans are expected to restrict abortion access in a special legislative session next month.

Republican lawmakers have not offered specifics about what type of restrictions they might place on abortion. But just hours after the ruling, some states — such as Louisiana — were poised to pursue criminal charges against anyone who helped to terminate a pregnancy, though pregnant people themselves are exempt from prosecution.

The impending legislation sparked reaction from state and local Democrats, who are virtually powerless in the Statehouse.

Mears stressed that prosecutor and law enforcement resources should not go toward abortion-related cases.

"It should not be a priority for the prosecutor's office or law enforcement to second-guess the decision and choices made by health care professionals," Mears said. "Everybody here realizes that we have a number of challenges in Marion County. One of those challenges is not incarcerating doctors and nurses."

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears listens as Marion County Clerk, Ali Brown speaks out for women's rights during a press conference to address the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to legal and safe abortions on Friday, June 24, 2022, at the Indiana Democratic Party offices in Indianapolis. Brown shared the story of her near death birth experience and medical condition which could lead to death in the case of pregnancy.
With a supermajority of Republicans in the state legislature, however, Indianapolis Democrats are limited in what they can do in support of those seeking an abortion.

Indianapolis city officials, too, must constantly maintain a balance between supporting more progressive ideals and avoiding the ire of the state legislature — which has historically crafted pre-emptive state laws forbidding cities from taking certain actions.

The Market Street divide: Indianapolis Democrats, Statehouse Republicans clash

Indianapolis Senate Republicans have frequently tried to put a stop to Mears' decision not to prosecute simple marijuana possession, for example. Theyintroduced bills in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to appoint a special prosecutor in cases where the local prosecutor refused to prosecute certain crimes.

So far the bills have not passed. Mears said such bills are on shaky ground with the state constitution.

May 6, 2022

Le Tombeau de Couperin, Ravel

This is one of my favorite pieces of music. I remembered it this week and have been listening to it every morning. It is about a very sad thing while being among the most uplifting things I've ever heard. Profound and beautiful.

April 6, 2022

Eric Boehlert Dies: Media Critic For Media Matters & Salon, Founder Of Press Run Newsletter Killed..

Source: Deadline

Eric Boehlert, a media critic devoted to calling out right-wing misinformation through his writing at Media Matters for America, Salon, Daily Kos and most recently as the founder of the Press Run website, died Monday in a bike accident. He was 57.

His death was announced on Twitter today by journalist and friend Soledad O’Brien, who called Boehlert “a fierce and fearless defender of the truth.” The U.S. Sun is reporting that Boehlert was struck by a train while biking in Montclair, New Jersey; Montclair police reported yesterday that a man riding a bicycle was struck and killed by a New Jersey Transit train in Montclair on Monday evening.

“A terrible loss,” O’Brien writes. “We’ve lost an awesome human being, handsome/cool/witty dude who kicked ass on our behalf. Crazy devotion to facts, context and good reporting. Enemy of BS, fake news.” O’Brien described Boehlert as “an amazing friend,” adding, “Brutal to bad media on twitter, sweetest guy in real life.”

Read more: https://deadline.com/2022/04/eric-boehlert-dead-obituary-media-matters-salon-bike-accident-at-57-1234995804/

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RIP.
(Only finding this news on less-than-major outlets, but reliable individual sources in Twitter feed.)

March 16, 2022

My Maps app doesn't always talk to me

I really need the voice on the Maps app--sometimes he speaks, sometimes he doesn't. I have looked at all the settings and have everything that I think may apply to sound turned on. Sometimes he just gets me out of the driveway, speaking, then stops for the rest of the trip! Has anyone else experienced this?

February 5, 2022

Technical question: firestick + xfinity flex

We moved to an area with Comcast/xfinity, which sent us a free Flex box for streaming. It's okay, but it doesn't access Apple TV+ or Kanopy, two of our favorite places. I tried unplugging the Flex box and plugging our firestick in for the first time in three months. Firestick just sat there forever saying, "Updating," with no apparent movement for, oh, 20 minutes.

Does anyone know if the Flex somehow incapacitates the TV to accept Firestick? Or do I just need to be more patient?

September 19, 2021

Can you help? Quicktime player suddenly misbehaving

I have a wildlife camera with an SD card. Normally the videos display in Finder with the first shot of the video. Then when I click on them to play, Quicktime opens and plays them.

Midday yesterday, the videos started showing in Finder with the Quicktime icon. When I click to play, I get the swirling beachball, endlessly.

Any clues out there? I need to see if our neighborhood mangey fox ate a meatball so I can give him some ivermectin!

Thanks, folks.

September 6, 2021

I feel so ripped off--newspapers.com

I have had a membership to ancestry off and on for years. I have to get our family tree ready to pass on to my niece, who will be carrying the info into the future after I'm gone (mentally or physically). I have to clean up a mess I made when I first started about 10 years ago and didn't know that if you accept all the hints you end up with things like, "Lady Godiva had 50 children. She actually died before she was born," in the life stories.

So I resubscribed for six months and decided to include newspapers.com. It's so frustrating when I can't open an article.

As I went along, it seemed that everything I wanted to read was part of some "premier" subscription that cost another $50/year. I was able to open some papers in various cities, but never the major paper.

I have 10 days left to cancel the upgrade. I saw someone say that you can get newspapers.com through some libraries and am wondering if that access is to all papers or just the non-premiers. I'll check on that.

There seem to be a lot of people who know what they're doing on this thread. It's great to read the posts!

August 19, 2021

How Joe is being handled by the press--by Eric Boehlert

I have been following Eric Boehlert on Twitter for a while. I found this helpful, as I peruse the headlines (and comments sections) that do nothing but criticize the administration's handling of the situation in Afghanistan.

https://pressrun.media/p/the-medias-summer-of-discontent-waging?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDc5NTUxOCwicG9zdF9pZCI6NDAxODIyMTAsIl8iOiJza3gyOSIsImlhdCI6MTYyOTQwMDA3MywiZXhwIjoxNjI5NDAzNjczLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMzMxOCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.x95OUWydlP2g-ozehsByjNETic7ffSzUNbzuci0ktPU

August 18, 2021

Recommendation: Charlie Wilson's War

My husband and I kept remembering this movie over the last few weeks and we finally watched it tonight. (Available for rental on Prime)

It was a good refresher about some of the seeds that were planted in the 1980s in Afghanistan that we continue to watch develop. Very moving to watch, and great cast.

(Since it's a Hollywood movie based on a nonfiction book, there is debate about parts that are not 100% historically accurate. The overall point remains valid.)