DAGR Weekly Reader W1-JAN
“I have some good news and some bad news.” ~ Herman Koerner, 1898
How Democrats Lost the Working Class
Ed’s note: Having lived through most of the eras discussed in this op-ed, we have to say, “THIS is spot on!” It’s not one of those whiny rags about what the Dems did wrong. It’s a clear-eyed assessment of the choices chosen, some of which proved a bad bet because the deciders didn’t have 20-20 future vision. Now we’ve seen the result. And the country (world?) is about to feel it. Can we arm-wrestle our next move? Can we balance our need for mega-$$ to run campaigns vs our policy to win campaigns? Can we talk?
Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, Gift Link, Jan 4, 2025
2025 Electoral College Count Certified
The closing announcement by Vice President Kamala Harris, president of the Senate, certifying that Donald Trump and J.D.Vance won 312 Electoral votes vs Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, 288. Nota Bene: This was carried out in an orderly and peaceful transition of power. Thank you, Democrats!
C-Span video, Jan 6, 2025
Actual Count - scroll ahead 56 mins after opening formalities
C-span video, Jan 6, 2025
Lest We Forget: The Other Way Some Like to Grab Power
Heather Cox Richardson explores the current violent ‘expressions’ and those going back to Timothy McVeigh, which lead up to January 6, 2021, in context of this year’s re-election of the apple of the insurrectionists’ eye.
Substack, Jan 5, 2025
On Chief Justice Roberts’ 2024 Year-End Report
“Challenging critics & invoking heroic civil rights-era judges to insulate an imperial court,” Howard University law professor, Sherrilyn Ifill, weighs in. Ifill notes overall agreement with what is said, plus deep concern about what the Chief does not address. Again.
Sherrilyn’s Newsletter, Substack - Jan 02, 2025
Musk, Ramaswamy Proposal to Slash Spending Could Include VA Medical Services
A recap of early Musk-Ramaswamy claims to be able to block ‘unauthorized’ spending and the likely push back from members of Congress. The VA is providing services better than ever.
Military.com - Nov 21, 2024 as referenced by Robert Hubbell, Substack
Data Centres in Space: A Brilliant Idea, but a Herculean Challenge
Permitting, energy demand, cooling and some natural disasters would be solved. Putting up, maintaining, and shielding from space-based threats (flying junk, asteroids, solar flares) would be the flip side of the coin. But the move is on, seriously!
The Conversation UK, Jan 3, 2025 3.39pm GMT
What Would It Take to Bring Renewable, Reliable Power to Puerto Rico?
The island is struggling to build a more stable electrical grid. What’s taking so long? Read on down to the last ⅓ to see the answer. Even Biden’s DOE $$ seem earmarked for corporate solutions instead of the distributed generation and micro-grids local groups are already working on. An eye-opener re optimistic-looking policies and, maybe, a partial answer to “What do we need to do to win back our base?”
Sierra Club, Aug 15, 2024 REPRINT for the new year Jan 6, 2025