Week beginning 24 February 2021

New Book Reviews: Bernard Jan, Cruel Summer. This is a review of a novel that gave me an insight into the world of Young Adult Fiction, skateboarding, and a new author. Reviewed for Goodreads.

Sue Wilkes, Jane Austen’s England. This is an excellent combination of contemporary information, allusions to Jane Austen’s novels and life and accessible writing, while providing the reader with a good index and impressive bibliography. Reviewed for Net Galley.

The following statement from Seed and Sprout is a great example of transparency. I love their shampoo bars – no plastic – and shall continue ordering them when Seed and Sprout sort out the problem. In the meantime read below to see what they are doing to rectify the problems already caused by a mistake beyond their ability to readily identify earlier. Some other companies might well be suffering from the same mistake.

‘We effed up.

We effed up. We’re sorry.

On Friday, February 5th we were made aware that some of our products may contain traces of Palm Oil. 

Like many others, we believed that the ingredients used in our products were Palm Oil free and sourced from coconut oil – including derivatives. After consulting with independent experts, we have discovered that this is not always the case. 

We had put our faith in trusted Australian specialists in our supply chain. However, this recent discovery has uncovered the difficult truth –  that unknowingly, the coconut derived ingredients which we were led to believe to be palm free, do in fact contain Palm Oil.  This has made us feel that we have not been fully transparent with you, our valued customers and community. 

As a team, we are completely devastated that we weren’t aware of that hard truth, and many tears have been shed. We feel angry, betrayed, frustrated and sad.

We are acutely aware that Palm Oil has been, and continues to be, a major driver of deforestation of some of the world’s most biodiverse forests along the equator belt, and in turn, responsible for the pending extinction of the critically endangered species who rely on these forests for survival. We are fully committed to further educating ourselves on this problem, and to demanding more action to tackle this global issue. 

We are also learning that Palm Oil derived ingredients are mixed with an uncertified supply and cannot be traced back to plantation, making it impossible to know where the Palm Oil is coming from and if it is contributing to deforestation.  

Everyday we show up wanting and working to do the right thing – always, and in all ways. Through this turmoil, at no point did any one of us think that we shouldn’t share what we are going through. Doing the right thing is hard, but we welcome this difficult time with open arms as we walk together through this new reality. After all, we must do what is right, not what is easy. 

When we launched our Bar range, it was all centered around our tagline of “Raise The Bar”. It’s with this exact sentiment that we’re holding ourselves accountable. We are raising the bar on ourselves, and also urging others to follow suit. We hope that by using our platform (and profits) as an agent of change, we can make significant strides towards a better future for all people & the planet. 

What specific products this affects

  • Shampoo Bar – Rose Geranium
  • Shampoo Bar – Citrus & Mint 
  • Conditioner Bar
  • Body Bar
  • Face Bar
  • Exfoliate Bar
  • Hand Sanitiser Bar
  • Pet Bar
  • Sunscreen – Un-tinted
  • Sunscreen – Tinted

So, what now? 

It’s been 10 days since we found all of this out, here is what we are doing:

We have made a $50,000 donation to the Orangutan Alliance.

We will continue to sell the affected products so as to not make unnecessary waste.  

Effective immediately, we will be donating 10% of all profits to International Animal Rescue Indonesia (IAR), who support land protection and restoration, and promote better land use planning practices.

We are working closely with Palm Oil Investigations to support us on our journey and to deepen our understanding of this issue. 

We are currently conducting a company wide health check on all our manufacturers and partners.

We believe that we are nothing without transparency, a core pillar within Seed & Sprout. We will continue to update our community as we learn more, as this is all happening in real time. We are committed to always being open and honest with you, to have the hard conversations, to leave no stone unturned, and to continue to educate ourselves and others whilst we ignite change on what is an issue of global concern.

It’s never too late to do the right thing. 

Statement from Palm Oil Investigations (POI) regarding our recent discovery

“Unfortunately this issue which has occurred with Seed & Sprout is not uncommon and other brands need to take note and step up. 

POI estimates that at least 80% of brands making palm free claims on their hair care and cleaning product ranges, are in fact using Palm Oil derived ingredients. Coconut derived does not necessarily mean Palm Oil free. 

Brands should never place blind faith in what they are being told regarding ingredients used. Palm Oil free claims should never be placed on products, marketing material and communication with consumers until they have fully traced ingredients right back to the source, being the actual manufacturer of the ingredient (not the formulating chemist, ingredient distributor or product manufacturer). Manufacturers, formulators and ingredient distributors need to be held accountable for misleading information supplied to brands. Always obtain Palm Oil free guaranteed documentation in writing. We thank Seed & Sprout for their honesty and transparency”.‘

To continue the conversation, please feel free to email us at: forum@seedandsprout.com.

The roll out of the Coronavirus Vaccines began in Australia on Sunday 21 February 2021. It seems pertinent to provide one of the debates around the vaccines.

The article below originally appeared in The Conversation, February 19th 2021. Thank you to The Conversation for its generous policy on republishing articles.

Ben Bramble, Lecturer Philosophy, ANU
Disclosure statement
Ben Bramble does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Partners

Some of my vegan friends are reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

These vaccines do not contain animal products. Yet animals were used to develop and test them. For instance, early trials involved giving the vaccines to mice and macaque monkeys. So my friends say they feel uncomfortable having a product that uses animals in these ways.

I am very sympathetic to their concerns. Animals are treated appallingly in the production of many goods and in many areas of life.

Nonetheless, I believe vegans can get the COVID-19 vaccine in good conscience. Let me explain why.

Getting the vaccine prevents harming others

A key feature of COVID-19 is you can catch it and pass it on without even knowing you have it, despite your best efforts to avoid this.

This means we each pose a potentially deadly risk to others. Getting the vaccine yourself greatly reduces the chance of you having serious disease. And evidence is emerging that vaccines reduce the chance of you passing on the virus to others.

This means there is an important difference between avoiding products like shampoos and cosmetics tested on animals and not getting the vaccine. Doing the former doesn’t put anyone else at risk. But doing the latter does.

Read more: Infected with the coronavirus but not showing symptoms? A physician answers 5 questions about asymptomatic COVID-19

Let’s start with fruit and vegetables versus cosmetics

Vegans acknowledge it is virtually impossible to avoid contributing to animal harm entirely. Even most fruit and vegetables are grown in a way that kills or displaces wild animals, uses fish meal and blood and bone to fertilise plants, or requires killing “pests” like mice to protect crops and grain stores.

Many vegans therefore distinguish between animals harmed in this sort of food production, and animals harmed more directly by the meat and dairy industries, as well as in the production of consumer products such as cosmetics.

What is the right basis of this distinction? One possibility is the latter group of animals are killed or harmed directly, as a means to an end, whereas the former group suffers harm as a mere by-product or side-effect of other processes.

But this cannot be the right basis. Killing animals for use in fertiliser or as pests is direct killing.

Person wearing vegan t-shirt holding out vegan sandwich
Vegans can get the COVID-19 vaccine in good conscience. Roam in Colour/Unsplash

A more plausible basis for the distinction is unavoidably killing animals in the production of things that are necessary or clearly worth it. We need to grow large amounts of fruit and vegetables. And we cannot — at least, given current technologies — do so without killing some animals along the way.

But we do not need to consume meat or dairy, or wear animal-based clothing or cosmetics tested on animals. There are plenty of excellent alternatives.

So, in ethical terms, which of these products is a COVID-19 vaccine most comparable to: fruit and vegetables, or cosmetics tested on animals?

I think they are more like fruit and vegetables. COVID-19 vaccines are necessary — there is no other credible way out of this devastating pandemic. And the animal harm involved in developing and testing these vaccines was unavoidable.

There was no reasonable alternative available, at least not without making big sacrifices in terms of how long we have to wait for vaccines to arrive.

For this reason, I think even though the vaccines used animals directly, their use under the circumstances was permissible, and so vegans can get these vaccines in good conscience.

Why can’t we test on humans?

Some might argue there is an alternative to using animals to develop and test these vaccines — using humans instead, in “human challenge trials”, where volunteers are exposed to the virus in lab-controlled conditions. In fact, the United Kingdom has just given the green light for this type of trial to go ahead for later stages of the testing process.

If we allowed humans to volunteer to be involved at earlier stages of the development and testing process as well, some might put up their hands for this, too. While human challenge trials face serious moral issues, it might be ethically preferable to use consenting humans rather than unconsenting animals.

But involvement at these earlier stages may be so dangerous too few people would volunteer, or we should not allow them to take part. Still, this is a proposal worth considering further.

But I still feel too awful

Some vegans might accept my reasoning but find they just cannot bear to use a vaccine tested on animals.

To these people, I would say: it is perfectly understandable and reasonable to feel uncomfortable about getting the vaccine for this reason. It doesn’t follow, though, that you shouldn’t get it. If the only way to save the planet or your fellow humans is to kill an animal, you should do so even if it is incredibly emotionally hard to do so.

Even so, if as a vegan you simply cannot bring yourself to get the vaccine, this won’t make me grumpy in the same way it makes me grumpy when I hear others — for example, anti-vaxxers motivated by conspiracy theories — say they won’t get vaccinated.

Your reluctance to get the vaccine is rooted in a legitimate grievance about human mistreatment of animals more broadly.

By contrast, people who refuse to get vaccinated because they think Bill Gates is hoping to microchip humanity have no such legitimate grievance behind their aversion.

Humanity caused the pandemic

Experts widely predicted a pandemic would happen sooner or later. Many believe it was a direct result of human activity — indeed, mistreating animals.

Moreover, the fact there aren’t good alternatives to using animals in development and testing is due largely to society’s failure to properly explore and fund such alternatives earlier.

Nevertheless, under current circumstances, our need to use animals to develop and test these vaccines is real.

So, the correct path is not to reject COVID-19 vaccines. It’s to reluctantly accept them and lobby hard for better treatment of animals.

More on dealing with former President Trump

14th Amendment Section 3   Former GOP lawmakers , Jack Stanforth and  Tom Coleman suggest the the 14th Amendment Section 3 should be used to prevent Trump being eligible to take office again. Another 57 officials who were at the Capitol insurrection may also be impacted by this amendment. There is no technicality that can encroach on the efficacy of this amendment, according to the discussion on its merits on The Last Word. It can therefore apply even when Trump is out of office. This seems to be a worthwhile matter to keep up with.

The New York Times reports that the Supreme Court has rejected former resident Trump’s ‘Final Bid to Block Release of Tax Returns’.

Statement by Anthony Albanese
No ifs. No buts. Women must be safe at work. – Anthony Albanese | Facebook facebook.com
Every workplace – yes; every instance – yes; every time – yes.

Brittany Higgins will be sick and tired of seeing her name in the headlines. But will she, and others in her situation, wish that instead of working at Parliament House, they worked elsewhere? Would she have been safer from rape if she were a teacher?  Worked in an office in a private or public organisation? Been a tour guide? Joined a voluntary organisation? Worked part time instead of full time? Was a casual, thus limiting the hours she was in contact with the men in the workplace?

The answer is, of course, no. This is not to say that the people at Parliament House responsible for the rape and the way in which it was handled are not accountable. As they should be in all the other workplaces in which women are raped. The culture at Parliament House must be examined, as indeed the culture in any workplace should be examined for its contribution to rape and sexual harassment.

Salacious reporting of the rape cannot help Ms Higgins. That the story has been a matter of salacious reporting largely because the rape occurred at Parliament House is a high possibility. The idea that Parliament House has a special culture in which rape is likely to occur and be swept under the carpet is a serious dereliction of the duty of reporting such stories. The sexist culture in which many women work is the key to any story of rape and the treatment of the perpetrator and victim.

Women such as Brittany Higgins should be afforded the respect that their experience should be given.  That is, regardless of the workplace in which they have suffered, will continue to suffer, and are likely to remain traumatised into the foreseeable future, their personal story is important. Brittany Higgins, not Parliament House, is the important focus of the story. It is her story that should be given just due. It should not be forced aside while others make their own stories (unless they are also victims of rape) the focus. So, do the work that needs to be done in the political parties and the place in which the rapist and victim happened to work. But do not let this become the story – there are few workplaces in which the culture is likely to be one in which women are treated equally, do not have to wonder if their complaint about rape will impact on their career, or even on just keeping the job. Few indeed, in which they will never be the victims of some sort of sexual harassment, or even rape. 

A week before this story broke I was astounded at the comments made by the Principal of Cheltenham Girls High School, reported in the article below:

Sydney school principal warns girls ‘skimpy’ clothes could ‘compromise the employment’ of male teachers at Cheltenham, Riley Stuart, Saturday 13 February, 2021.

The NSW Department of Education says a Sydney Upper North Shore principal, who warned female students not to wear “skimpy” clothes because it could “compromise” the employment of male teachers, will apologise.

Key points:

  • Cheltenham Girls High School principal Suellen Lawrence lectured pupils about the dress code
  • Pupils told the ABC they believed the principal’s lecture was “misogynistic”
  • When confronted by pupils, Ms Lawrence said she wasn’t attacking individuals or anyone with “gender-identity” issues

In a video address seen by the ABC, Cheltenham Girls High School (CGHS) principal Suellen Lawrence told pupils not to wear “stringy, skimpy or revealing” clothes at casual dress days.

It is understood the lecture was prompted by dress standards at a recent swimming carnival.

“Please remember, girls there are men teachers in this school and they don’t want to be looking at that either,” she said in the video, which was shown to students at the girls-only school on Friday.

“Don’t compromise their employment.”

Cathy Brennan, the executive director of the school performance metropolitan north, said Ms Lawrence’s comments were “unfortunate” and “inappropriate”.

“We’re really proud of the fact that our girls there were empowered to raise concerns when it did occur,” Ms Brennan said.

“Certainly the comments that were made were not appropriate. We’ve taken that seriously … she’s absolutely ready to apologise [and] recognise those were not the comments that were aligned with our view of how we give confidence to our students.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

recognised the need for a memorial for the Americans dead from Covid 19 the night before their inauguration. The White House candles, Cathedral bells and flags at half mast again recognise the enormity of the deaths and need to honour the families of those suffering from the losses.

American families have lost more than 500,000 sons and daughters, mothers and fathers to COVID-19. Today and every day, we’re remembering them and fighting for them. Vice President Kamala Harris
We often hear people described as ordinary Americans. There’s no such thing. There’s nothing ordinary about them. The people we’ve lost to COVID-19 were extraordinary. President Joe Biden
It’s not Democrats and Republicans who are dying from the virus. It’s our fellow Americans. It’s our neighbors, our friends, our mothers, our fathers, our sons, our daughters, husbands, wives. We have to fight this together, as one people, as the United States. President Joe Biden

Week Beginning 17 February 2021

Book Reviews – new review, Kristin Contino, A House Full of Windsor. The following have been moved to Book Reviews: Archives – Part 2, Sections on women in the 1930s novels and class in the novels: Racism, Sexism and Classism in Agatha Christie’s novels.

Covid Notes

A reduction in mixed messages one of the factors in the reduction of Covid Numbers – Chris Hayes, MSNBC, interviewing Dr Jaime Slaughter-Acey, School of public Health, University of Minnesota.

10am brunch, 1pm Kmart: when the media pokes fun at someone’s lifestyle, it’s harder for the next person to get COVID tested was published in The Conversation, February 15, 2021 3.12pm AEDT. Quotes from the article are in bold and italic.

The main point of the article is that contact tracing is an essential element of dealing with Covid 19, and that the media has at times played a negative role in ensuring the success of contact tracing.

But it’s important to distinguish between informing and shaming when it comes to sharing details of where people who have tested positive have been.

The article notes that the daily itineraries of positive cases are listed publicly – after all, we all need to know if we have been in a location of possible contact. Indeed, I had been to two coffee shops and the local IGA, before receiving the message from ACT Health that I must self isolate, and that the only time I could leave my home was to be tested for Covid. Probably these places are innocuous enough not to excite much attention or glee. But what if I’d been off to a fast food place for a ‘private’ binge? To a fashion store that is on the Oxfam ‘shame’ list? Spent hours drinking and eating? Could record no exercise over a couple of days?

Recent studies on people who had COVID-19 have found many felt stigmatised, and particularly felt shame at the prospect of infecting others with the virus.

When people infected with COVID are ridiculed or made an example of in the media and on social media, everyone suffers. People may be reluctant to get tested and subsequently to cooperate with contact tracers if they think their every movement is going to be subject to scrutiny and ridicule.

It’s important to note that many people identified in these news articles are frontline workers — such as hotel quarantine staff — with bills to pay and who have little choice but to put themselves at risk. The entire quarantine system relies on these workers, and this public shaming only makes an already tough job much harder.

People queueing up in Melbourne to have a COVID test.
If people are afraid of having their movements publicised, they may be less likely to come forward for testing. Luis Ascui/AAP

The article contends that the risk to everyone through public shaming is dangerous. It suggests that the following will improve the situation for those affected (and consequently all of us):

focusing on venues and key information rather than describing the person

being careful about judgemental language. Even if it seems neutral, remember emotions are running high

emphasising a call to action: what do people need to do to protect themselves and to comply with public health advice? For example, media coverage could remind people where and when a face mask is required.

Interesting comment on Angela Merkel’s lifestyle in office.

Facebook comment from Pauline McKenna, posted by the Perth Labor Women (Labor WA)

Germany bid farewell to Merkel with six minutes of warm applause. The Germans elected her to lead them, and she led 80 million Germans for 18 years with competence, skill, dedication and sincerity.

During these eighteen years of her leadership of the authority in her country, no transgressions were recorded against her .. She did not assign any of her relatives to a government post .. She did not claim that she was the maker of glories .. She did not get millions in payment, nor did anyone cheer her performance, she did not receive charters and pledges, she did not fight those who preceded her and did not dissolve her. She did not utter nonsense .. She did not appear in the alleys of Berlin to be photographed. It is (Angelica Merkel) the woman who was dubbed “The Lady of the World” and who was described as the equivalent of six million men.

Yesterday, Merkel left the party leadership position and handed it over to those after her, and Germany and its German people are in the best condition ever. The reaction of the Germans was unprecedented in the history of the country …The entire population went out to their balconies of their houses and clapped for her spontaneously for 6 continuous minutes. A standing ovation nationwide. Germany stood as one body bidding farewell to their leader, a chemical physicist who was not tempted by the fashion or the lights and did not buy real estate, cars, yachts and private planes, knowing that she is from former East Germany …She left her post after leaving Germany at the top … She left and her relatives did not claim advantage… Eighteen years and she never changed her wardrobe…God be upon this silent leader.

At a press conference, a female journalist asked Merkel: We notice that you’re wearing the same suit, don’t you have any other? She replied: “I am a government employee and not a model.” At another press conference, they asked her: Do you have housemaids who clean your house, prepare your meals and so on? Her answer was: “No, I do not have servants and I do not need them. My husband and I do this work at home every day.” Then another journalist asked: Who is washing the clothes, you or your husband? Her answer: “I arrange the clothes, and my husband is the one who operates the washing machine, and it is usually at night, because electricity is available and there is no pressure on it, and the most important thing is to take into the account the possible inconvenience for the neighbours, thankfully the wall separating our apartment from the neighbours is thick.

She said to them, “I expected you to ask me about the successes and failures in our work in the government??”Mrs. Merkel lives in a normal apartment like any other citizen … She lived in this apartment before being elected Prime Minister of Germany. She did not leave it and does not own a villa, servants, swimming pools or gardens…Merkel, the now former Prime Minister of Germany, the largest economy in Europe !!

A lighthearted moment in the midst of the distress attendant upon the vote in the Senate – a White House scrunchie becomes a fashion statement as Dr Jill Biden shops. I couldn’t find mine, hoard as much as I do (although no Windsor for me, see my review of House Full of Windsor in Book Reviews), so found these:

Late news: I understand that a scrunchie was sighted in the University of Canberra carpark, so the statement is here. I’ll have to search further.

And now for the Senate vote, with a variety of opinions on the result.

This last statement, I think, needs to be placed firmly in our minds as the remainder of the fall out is discussed.

Nancy Pelosi has announced that an independent commission, similar to that investigated 9/11 will be established. Richard Haass (President of the Council on Foreign Relations) and Katty Kay (British journalist, author and broadcaster), regular contributors to Morning Joe, agreed with the value of such a commission. Richard Haass has suggested that a commission would ‘highlight ongoing threat & needed political, law enforcement responses, plus we need to tell the story so that this & future generations to come to understand that our democracy cannot be taken for granted (twitter, 13 hours ago at 11.50 Australian east coast time 17/2/2021).’

Huffpost.com: ‘At least 57 state and local Republican officials attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington that turned into a deadly insurrection’ .

Interesting discussion on The Reid Out about Mitch McConnel’s Senate vote and his later speech: Joy Reid, Senator Al Franken (D) Minnesota and Jason Johnson (academic, political analyst and writer ). Mitch McConnell and Money – the speech was for the donors who left the Republican Party after January 6th. With the return of such donors Former President Trump will no longer be the single source of funds. This was a wonderful segment of serious information, but laughter as well. A good program, Australian time MNSBC 17/2/2021.

Heather Cox Richardson’s posts to Facebook are a continuing source of clear, thoughtful responses to American political events. heathercoxrichardson@heathercoxrichardson.author is really worth following for further stories.

February 15, 2021 (Monday)Monday federal holidays generally mean that not much gets done. Today was a bit of an exception, since we are dealing with the fallout from the Senate’s refusal to convict former president Trump for the January 6 insurrection. For the Republicans, that acquittal simply makes the split in the party worse. First of all, it puts the Republicans at odds with the majority of Americans. According to a new ABC/Ipsos poll, 58% of us think Trump should have been convicted, and more than three-quarters of us—77%– think the senators’ votes reflected partisanship rather than the facts. But Republicans disagree. Trump packed state Republican positions with his supporters because he was afraid he would face primary challengers in 2020, and those loyalists are now defending him.

State Republican parties have censured a number of the House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump; of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict, Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) have already been censured, and a censure effort is underway against Susan Collins (R-ME), Ben Sasse (R-NE), and Pat Toomey (R-PA). According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 75% of Republicans want Trump to continue to lead the party. But 21% don’t, and between 24% and 28% blame him for the January 6 riot. That split means the Republican Party, which was already losing members over the insurrection, stands to lose even more of its members if it continues to defer to the former president. Already, the Democratic National Committee has prepared a video advertisement to circulate on digital platforms, highlighting Republicans leaving their party. It includes a clip from former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele saying that “when you’re losing Republican members and you’re left with QAnon and Proud Boys, you’ve got to reassess whether or not you are even close to being a viable party.” The video ends with Biden urging Americans to come together and to “help us unite America and build back better.”

For Democrats, the Senate trial put on display for the American public an impressive group. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) gave the lead impeachment manager from Trump’s first Senate trial, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) a run for his money as a model for brains and morals. But Raskin was not alone. Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-US Virgin Islands) and Representative Joseph Neguse (D-CO), relatively unknown outside of their home districts, got significant positive national attention during the trial, suddenly becoming household names. The entire Democratic team shone and indicated that the young Democrats have quite a deep bench of talent, especially in contrast to the younger Republicans, who seem to excel in media appearances more than in policy. Democrats recognize that the Senate acquittal means there is considerable interest in an actual accounting of what happened in the insurrection. Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she will urge the House to establish an independent commission, like the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks, to study what led to the storming of the Capitol on January 6. Members of both parties have asked for such a commission. The Senate trial also gave powerful proof of just how undemocratic the Senate has become. Voting rights journalist Ari Berman noted that the “57 senators who voted to convict Trump represent 76.7 MILLION more Americans than 43 senators who voted to acquit.” Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne noted that the adherence of all but seven senators to Trump “should end the absurd talk that there is a burden on President Biden to achieve a bipartisan nirvana in Washington. If most Republicans can’t even admit that what Trump did is worthy of impeachment, how can anyone imagine that they would be willing and trustworthy governing partners?” Dionne added that the acquittal made an overwhelming case for getting rid of the filibuster, which in its current incarnation effectively means that no legislation can pass without support from 60 senators.

Thanks to the 50-50 split in the Senate, getting to 60 means getting 10 Republican votes. This is impossible, Dionne says, because clearly “There are not 10 Republican Senate votes to be had on anything that really matters.” Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is simply working around Republican lawmakers, starting with the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Republicans in Congress overwhelmingly stand against the bill, in part because it calls for $350 billion to provide aid to states and cities. But Republican governors and mayors are desperate for the assistance. Republican voters like it, too. Last Friday, Biden invited governors and mayors from both parties to the White House to ask them what they needed most. The Republican mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, told reporters that he had had more contact with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the first weeks of their administration “than I had spoken to the prior administration in the entirety.”

Biden is about to hit the road to try to convince Senate Republicans to support the relief package, going directly to the people to sell his ideas. The Democrats also have another trick to lay on the table to get Republican support. Today, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced they would back the return of a new version of so-called “earmarks,” more formally known as “member-directed spending,” in legislation. These “Community-Focused Grants,” as the new lingo calls them, are funds that individual congress members can direct toward their districts. In the past, earmarks were made by lawmakers and were occasionally havens for corruption—which is what people remember—but even at their worst, they made up less than 1.1% of federal spending and tended to actually produce things that districts needed. Democrats cleaned the system up before then-House Speaker John Boehner declared a moratorium on it in 2011. After the ban, the government still targeted federal money to get votes, but the power to make those calls shifted to the executive branch rather than Congress. For much federal spending, Congress appropriates the amounts but the executive branch decides where to spend it. A 2020 congressional study established that presidents use that money “to influence policy and support their preferred projects without receiving approval from Congress.” To that, we can add that a president targeted federal money to try to buy reelection. In the past, congressional earmarks were a key feature in bipartisanship: they gave reluctant lawmakers a reason to support legislation they might otherwise hesitate about. The new rules will likely be different than the old ones in that they apparently will be targeted to public entities that ask for a grant. They will provide a challenge for Republicans—who actually like these grants, normally—because they will undercut Republicans’ stance against appropriation bills. They might also swing some Republicans behind the coronavirus bill. Biden demonstrated national unity yesterday when he issued a Federal Emergency Declaration for Texas in response to a request from Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Such a declaration frees up the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and federal funds to provide help to the region, which is suffering from bitter cold temperatures that have shut down power and left residents without electricity in unheated homes—a dangerous and potentially deadly situation.

Biden’s quick response recalls the way presidents have traditionally responded to state crises, and the governor of the state in which Trump supporters tried to run Biden’s campaign bus off the road acknowledged Biden’s response. “I thank President Biden for quickly issuing a Federal Emergency Declaration for Texas as we continue to respond to severe winter weather conditions throughout the state,” Abbott’s press release stated.

Thank you, Jocelynne Scutt who posted the following to Facebook just before I pressed ‘publish’ :

Mother Jones From Politico: On the heels of the Senate’s acquittal of Donald Trump, the NAACP, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson and civil rights law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll filed a lawsuit against the former president, Rudy Giuliani and two white supremacist groups, citing their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday morning in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Trump and Giuliani, in collaboration with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, conspired to incite the riots to keep Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. It claims they did so in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era statute designed to protect both formerly enslaved African Americans and lawmakers in Congress from white supremacist violence. Seeing as how Trump, now a private citizen, isn’t exactly in the best financial shape, I can’t imagine he’s taking his mounting legal bills in stride. That’s not a consolation prize for acquittal. But with Trump also reportedly fearing potential criminal charges, it’s certainly something to keep in mind as the de facto leader of the feckless Republican Party squirms away in Mar-a-Lago.—Inae Oh

Week beginning 10 February 2021

Book Reviews: I have added a review of Wartime with the Tram Girls, sent to me by Net Galley. Lynn Johnson has written an accessible novel of historical research related to the domestic front and women’s changing roles during WW1, with some romance as well.

The following has been moved to Book Reviews Archives: My first review of The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Covid – end of isolation

Leah in isolation; Leah hopeful at the door; Leah – ‘let me down those stairs’; ‘I’m out, oh joy, a tree’.

We just celebrated at Tilley’s.

Self isolation was relatively easy – after all, what can be nicer than having to read a book or watch television?* Although it was hard for Leah, whose only exercise was playing with the treat ball, our sympathy was somewhat diminished on the second day we were able to walk. Again, she was desperate to get out, running down the stairs, out the back door, then …white feet planted, turned tail, and desperate to get inside: it was raining.

My first day out, despite the rain, included taking the tram into Civic. Great Covid care observed:

*Relatively easy for those of us with a freezer, fridge and pantry with supplies; no other responsibilities; and no worries about the wages we are losing. On the latter, we were offered certificates to show we were in isolation. Good for people with a sympathetic employer, but what of those people relying on casual employment?

It is easy to see how, with the best of intentions, the virus spreads. We had been home from Western Australia a day and a half before being advised about isolation. We had followed the story in the news, and initially it appeared that the infected person’s activity took place two days after we left. We had collected Leah, shopped, had coffee at two venues in the meantime. After all, we’d been no where near the areas where the infected person had been (two days after we had even been in Perth, according to the news reports). We also take precautions, however safe a location is deemed to be.

We had no warning that we would be unable to do anything other than go for our test after the text message telling us we needed to self isolate. Sensible precaution, and easy for us to accomplish. I have been critical of the warnings about lock downs about to occur, but how fortunate I was to have food and enough medications to stay the course. What of those caught with nothing? What of those put at risk as others deal with these matters in the period between warning and lockdown?

Social distancing, hand washing and sanitizing, and masks on the personal level, and community / government action publicly, however safe a state seems to be appears to be essential.

As observed above, and in previous posts, this is happening in many of the places I’ve visited in Australia since the beginning of the pandemic.

However, there are neglectful governments and irresponsible individuals.

Axios reports that action is being taken against the latter in relation to misinformation about vaccination. Thank you Axios for this report from your AM Newsletter:

1 big thing: Facebook targets anti-vaxxers
Featured image

Photo illustration: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Facebook is about to use its election disinformation playbook against vaccine misinformation, Axios’ Margaret Harding McGill and Sara Fischer report.

  • Why it matters: It’s a partial reversal for Mark Zuckerberg, who said in September that the company wouldn’t target anti-vaccination posts the same way it has aggressively cracked down on COVID misinformation.

Now the company is doing four things to crack down on COVID/vaccine posts:

  1. Removing misleading posts and pages: Posts of debunked claims about the vaccines face removal, as do groups, pages and accounts on Facebook and Instagram that repeatedly share debunked claims.
  2. Returning validated vaccine info when users search on debunked claims.
  3. Adding resources on how to get vaccinated.
  4. Giving $120 million in ad credits to help health agencies, nonprofits and UN agencies reach billions of people.

Between the lines: Facebook provided a lengthy list of false claims that can get posts or pages removed, including:

  • “[T]he COVID vaccine will kill you” … “the COVID vaccine contains a microchip” … “the COVID vaccine provides no immunity” … “the COVID vaccine causes autism!”

Good news for President Joe Biden

As the fight for control of the Republican Party continues; the Impeachment Trial of Former President Trump takes place (with excellent coverage by MSNBC this morning Australian time); and Congress debates the Covid 1.9 Trillion package, the following was great news:

Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist- great coverage from the three of them, and other guests on Morning Joe.

Week beginning 3rd February 2021

Book reviews – a section on classism in Agatha Christie novels has been added to the Agatha Christie Indulgence.

Television comments – a couple of observations about The West Wing have been added.

Local responses to Covid – personal and business

Personal– day 1
South Perth from the city side of the beautiful Swan River. I now realise that the 25th was significant. On the day before, ensuring that we left on that date, we had a wonderful meal at MIster Walker with a good friend – no, I’m happy at the price I’m now paying.

Well, now I have experienced Covid testing, and am part way through self isolation, while waiting the test results. My visit to Western Australia, the state of amazing freedom from Covid, where people actually hug and enjoy celebrations, has resulted in my having to take stock of travelling anywhere.

Disposable masks are dispensed, to be worn when we enter the building in which the tests will take place.
Covid check point where the initial assessment takes place – were we suffering symptoms? were we there because of travel? Are we happy with the waiting time; if not there are two additional locations .

Having returned from the Ghan trip in time to avoid any Covid consequences, I am now experiencing not having done so on my second trip. Taking precautions without being told to, as I did after the Ghan trip is rather different from being under a ruling to do so. The difference – self satisfaction at ‘doing the right thing’. Now I’m certainly doing the right thing – but it’s hard to give up the smugness.

No photos could betaken inside the building. However, suffice to say , the information gathering was efficient and easy; the tests (cheek and nasal) were simple and , if anything, only slightly uncomfortable. And we were on our way – with a 24 to 48 hour wait for the results.

So, today the health warning came – go and be tested, and self isolate. We did so immediately, and found the experience extremely easy: the staff were lovely, as well as being very efficient, and the tests were not the horror I had contemplated. But that was the least of it. The practicalities of not being able to walk Leah loom large, and do we really have to live with an unemptied bin for a week? Why did I let the stores run down? Fortunately we have the Who Gives a Crap box of numerous rolls of toilet paper. On the other hand, a box of chocolates from a lovely person commiserating with us, a week of two extra hours because we are not walking Leah, and I’m sure many other benefits will be come apparent.

Personal – day 2
Despairing Leah

After having the test on day 1 at 5.00pm I received an amazing testing response – ping went my phone at 4.48am: my test was clear. Comforting, but I still face isolation. This is far from onerous – sleeping in, coffee on the balcony, playing with Leah instead of taking her for a walk, watching Rachel Maddow, and now Lawrence O’Donnell. A very pleasant morning indeed. This afternoon, tea in the sun on the balcony, Leah running after a treat filled ball, throwing another for her, and ignoring her look of despondency as she faces the front door. And her despair as she realises that looking out the window is a second order pleasure.

Personal – day 3

This is fine for me – lovely breakfast on the balcony in the sunshine, registering with Net Galley, writing, adding comments to Good Reads (Victorians! and Reading the Detectives – more of which will appear in Book Reviews) and some domestic chores. But poor Leah is even more despondent and is uninclined to follow her treats ball.

Western Australia has no more cases so it is likely that they will cease lockdown on Friday at 6.00pm, as we expected. We’ll be able to walk Leah at 9.00pm that night.

Business

A small business which now has returned to being one of our favourite coffee stops changed ownership early in the Covid 19 pandemic. Surely this was a risk? However, to all appearances it is thriving, always being busy during the various the times that we arrive. At times we have to wait for a table to empty or forgo our pleasant stop. After observing the same business through several iterations, one very good, the others less so, I wonder if it is the ability to know what people would like and serve it efficiently and with friendliness that is one key (although obviously not the only one) to small business survival during the pandemic? It was noticeable that tables were empty a lot of the time during previous ownerships, pre-Covid. But now, people have begun flocking to it again, often commenting that, after a period of unfriendly ownership and staff, they are glad to return. We are now greeted pleasantly, there is a fun vibe, once again the dogs are welcome at outside seating and the Covid protocols are observed.

Another favourite venue continued to provide takeaway coffee and food while lock down was in progress. Clay was fastidious in its implementation of Covid restrictions, with adherence to the 2 person rule and social distancing. No ‘keep cups’ either, alas. The day we were able to sit at tables again was terrific – particularly as the rules were maintained, with immediate sanitising of tables after people left. This venue also seems to be thriving. Thank goodness as it’s a great morning walk with the dog.

Vaccination in America

People wait to see if there is additional vaccine after the planned vaccinations take place. A great response, particularly as it is now being said that all five vaccines in use have led to declining deaths and hospitalisations.

Ingenuity at work – a vaccination team response.

Vaccinations in the UK

The NHS is rolling out what seems to be a streamlined approach to vaccinating as many people as possible as quickly as possible. I received my invitation over a week ago (I lived in the UK but having returned to Australia had to decline – great someone else will receive it), and friends even earlier. When Australia receives its vaccines the service is likely to be at least as streamlined because of the benefits of Medicare.

Thank you, Gough Whitlam and Bill Hayden. As I listened to Bill talking about the new health scheme in the early 1970s while sitting in my car at the University of Western Australia I knew that we had something special. Indeed we do.

Self Testing in the US
Thank you to the ABC website for this graphic.

An Australian laboratory, Ellume, in Queensland is to supply America with home tests for Covid.

US Voting rights activist Stacey Abrams has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Thank you, ABC for this photograph of Stacey Abrams.
Perhaps some results next week?

American political stories that loom large are the 1.9 trillion Covid package, and the Senate trial of former President Trump. But speculation by Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Kasey Hunt, Morning Joe, Lawrence O’Donnell, Brian Williams and Chris Cuomo is far more useful to watch than my comments. Next week there might be some results – or perhaps more erudite speculation by the above.

Week beginning 27th January 2021

Interview between Rachel Maddow and Chuck Schumer

Last week I saw Kamala Harris interviewed on CNN.

This week I was able to follow up that interesting insight into Harris with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow’s interview of Chuck Schumer. Schumer spoke strongly about what he would, and would not, let Mitch McConnell control in the Senate in which Chuck Schumer is Majority Leader. During the airing of the interview, breaking news reported that McConnell had submitted to Schumer’s leadership, at least for the moment. Maddow was very positive about the outcome, although commentators on Brian William’s The 11th Hour were less so. On the latter program, how wonderful to hear Williams say ‘Day 6 of Joe Biden’s Presidency’. The old refrain about …who was it? … has been replaced, with it seems, quiet enthusiasm by Williams.

Senate : scene changes from the 6th to the present

The interview between Schumer and Maddow took place in a Senate Committee Room – part of the horrific scenes of January 6th. The setting sent a strong message, as indeed did the Senate sitting to resume their work on the very day of the attempted insurrection.

An unfortunate title but the date tells the story

Twenty fifth of January 2021 – the House Managers delivering the Article of Impeachment

Bernie Comes to Canberra

With its connection to Canberra I was thrilled to see Bernie Sanders speaking on CNN about his mitten fame. Unfortunately I did not see the marvellous Canberra examples portrayed as part of the charity effort, but they are irresistible so I expect their time will come.

Bernie at one of Canberra’s unique bus stops. He clearly alighted in Civic, determined to arrive at a very popular destination – PJ O’Reilly’s.

The Budget Reconciliation Process in the Senate

Lawrence O’Donnell The Last Word, MSNBC, is taking viewers through the Senate processes that will influence the way in which the Democrats will be enabled or thwarted in having their legislation passed. He has speculated that the Budget Reconciliation Process might be adapted to enable the success of some financial legislation that is not a normal part of the Budget Reconciliation Process. This will be fascinating to watch, as well as being an educative process to those of us accustomed only to the Australian parliamentary system. Thank you, Lawrence.

Biden and Putin

And, my last word: O’Donnell also gave an excellent oversight of the phone call between President Biden and President Putin – for the first time in four years there is a White House ‘read out’ of the conversation. It is clear and detailed – the Russian read out is more vague, but does not dispute that of the White House.

Week beginning 20th January

Spending a week in Perth was a pleasant reminder of the tremendous effort that Australians, in the main, are putting into keeping Australia as Covid 19 free as possible. Masks are now mandatory in the Canberra and Perth airports, and on Qantas flights, unless eating or drinking.

An interesting observation in the city of Perth was the pedestrian ‘bump’ to change the traffic lights.

Interview : Kamala Harris

Watched Kamala Harris ‘Making History’, a CNN Special Report, 17th January 2021. I’ll be writing a review of The Truths We hold: An American Journey, which also looks at Harris’ life.

However, accustomed to my daily serve of MSNBC, which this week would have had the newest stories on the first days of the Biden Presidency, I felt rather deprived of political news. Fortunately politics and literature mix, as I found when I met with West Australian author, Gordon d’Venables to talk about his recently published novel.

Chat with Gordon d’Venables

All was not lost while I was away from American politics. Feminist politics, funding questionable activity through business enterprises with acceptable names, and the good old hero with a cause were on the agenda when I spent a delightful afternoon talking with West Australian author, Gordon d’ Venables. His balcony, complete with exotic foliage, provided an excellent environment talking about his new novel, with its settings and references to a range of different locations, including Thailand, Singapore, Russia, and Australia.

D’Venables has just published The Medusa Image (Vanguard Press, 2020) and I was keen to hear about the background to the novel. During the conversation it became clear that a new novel is in progress, and of course I was also curious about that as well. Would Curtis, the six foot four (in old terms as d’Venables says) hero of The Medusa Image resurface? Will the theme that d’Venables adopted so ably in The Media’s Image, his concern with the issue of domestic violence continue to be forefront of the adventures of Curtis? I was thwarted by his reticence about divulging any information on his new venture. So, I have no answer to the longevity of Curtis in d’Venables’ imagination. But, what we have is certainly intriguing. Curtis has a background in the army, his superior skills drawing him into the intelligence service, and in that capacity being the recipient of direction from Frenchy whose scepticism becomes a gritty reminder of the difficulties Curtis has in performing his commitment to ensuring prominent women’s safety against organised misogyny.

It was fun to discuss d’Venable’s enthusiasm for detailing the amazing meals his characters are served. Food was a fascinating and recurring topic, in our conversations and in the novel. ‘West Australian crayfish tails, banana prawns from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Moreton Bay bugs, Kimberly scampi, Shark Bay scallops and Coffin Bay oysters’ are devoured by the elusive businessman, Wallace of Green Solutions Limited with his secret control over numerous hidden business entities. Thai food vendors selling ‘deep-fried crickets, roaches, grasshoppers, bamboo worms, mole crickets’ are observed by Curtis while pondering the activities of the elusive Nelson, and crab rice is served to him and his informant, Rat, when arranging their plans and investigations into the funding of attacks against prominent women.

Research, as for so many writers, has been one of d’Venables’ loves in writing his novel. Food fascinated me, but there is so much more, with the historical research associated with the title, the financial and intelligence operations and all the work that has gone into making the horror of domestic violence a resonating theme. Seeing ‘behind the novel’ was truly a mixture of feelings.

Gordon d’Venables

One last question was whether he had he thought about a film? Evidently I am not alone in that query – something d’ Venables was happy to divulge! The Medusa Image would indeed make a great film.

The ‘Mighty Collie River’, which featured strongly in d’Venables’ conversation, can be glimpsed beyond the bridge. I wondered whether the glimpse of ‘might’ could be symbolic of Curtis and his crusade to pursue a worthy political agenda. Whether it is Curtis or another fighter for a social cause I’ll be keen to read the next novel.

A short visit to the Western Australian Art Gallery

Week beginning 14 January 2021

‘No-one is above the law’ ‘Donald Trump is a clear and present danger’ ‘…sadly, and with my heart broken having to take this action…’ Nancy Pelosi.

Excellent coverage, sadness, anger, and clarity from MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace’s own commentary, and her interaction with guests.

It is six days ago that the coverage was of rioting, smashing windows, shooting, a variety of flags including confederate and Trump flags being flown and staffs being used as weapons, staff and members of Congress crouching in the gallery, being moved from the floor, and huddled together in a committee room. The language used over the intervening period has changed so that now ‘sedition’, ‘lies’ ‘insurrection’ and ‘domestic terrorism’ have now replaced the cautious language in the early coverage.

Note that the ABC (Australia) as reported in The Guardian, Australia, has changed its language in relation to the insurrection, and also in relation to Covid misinformation. See ABC reverses editorial decisions on Capitol breach and Craig Kelly Covid posts, Ben Butler, The Guardian.

Ten House Republicans voted with the Democrats, parting with the lies that were reiterated by those House Republicans who voted against impeachment. The most bipartisan impeachment ever.

Claire McCaskill, former Democrat Senator from Missouri, talks about timing of the impeachment trial in the Senate, outlining the various options, and her experience in impeaching a Judge by Committee. This, she says is not appropriate in this case. Joy Reid: ‘Is there a political incentive for even the most cynical of the Senators?’ Indeed, is there?

Brief notes from MSNBC coverage now: The impeachment vote is won. Ari Melber, The Beat, refers to the Capitol as a ‘crime scene’. Trump releases a video condemning violence and railing against social media bans. One hundred thousand of pieces of evidence collected so far. First impeachment of a president for a crime against his country. Republicans continue the lie that the election result was wrong; Chris Krebs, former US Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has in the past reassured Americans that the election was fair. On election night the commentators explained repetitiously how the vote is counted, with late counting of postal votes. Steve Schmit, The Lincoln Project: ‘there must be accountability, we will run a campaign’ against Josh Hawley and other Republican Members of Congress who ‘have desecrated their oath’ . ‘Was there assistance from inside the Capitol?’ Joy Reid. ‘Incitement, or even assistance?’ Rachel Maddow.

Indigenous art at the National Gallery of Australia

In between the riot at the Capitol, with its strong elements of white supremacists and the impeachment I was happy to return to the National Gallery of Australia. There is a link, perhaps tenuous and too optimistic about our race relations, but there is a tiny light exhibited in the range of Indigenous art I saw. From recall the permanent collection in the past has heavily featured the familiar dot painting – devised to hide the meaning from non-indigenous people. Now the collection has broadened so Indigenous art includes the range that is deserved.

This poignant video must be watched to its bitter end. It is part of the exhibition I’ll revisit each time I go to the gallery in the foreseeable future.

There is also an excellent exhibition of women’s art. One example below – the remainder for the next post after I again visit the NGA.

Week beginning 6th January 2021

Television Comments: The Good Fight ; The Crown, The Queen’s Gambit.

Stacey Abrams on The Rachel Maddow Show commenting on the voter suppression in the Georgia Senate runoffs – this is where she is putting her time and strength , not playing to Trump’s enthusiasm for keeping the spotlight

‘Well, Mr President, the challenge that you have, is that the data you have is just wrong’ Brad Raffensberger to Trump.

This week’s American top election story, the attempt to change the vote cast in Georgia, seems to be the height of President Trump’s efforts to undermine American democracy. There are 16 days to go to the Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, with the threats by House and Senate Republicans to contest the electoral college votes and the Senate runoffs in Georgia.

It seems that any strong woman is fearsome to Trump, and he expects others to be ‘petrified’ too.

‘We are going to be inaugurated, period’. Kamala Harris to reporter asking about the possibility that the proposed actions of the House and Senate Republicans could be described as a coup.

The latter firm rejection of the Trump and supporters’ insistence that the take centre stage rather than the President and Vice -President Elect is exactly what is needed.

Katty Kay, weekly commentator on Morning Joe, MNSBC, made an observation that would also serve other professional and social commentators well. Those around Trump say that he knew he had lost the election until suggestions that it could be otherwise. The commentators on CNN and MNSBC on election night were scrupulous in explaining that early votes could not tell the whole story – that votes cast before election day would, in most cases, be counted last. They reiterated this information tirelessly, no-one could be under any misapprehension that all the mail in votes, those counted after those cast on the day, had to be counted before an assessment of the winner could be made.

Was the constant and early discussion of whether a smooth transition could be made after a Trump loss a contributor to the current state of disarray?

Kamala Harris is a strong voice for the case that the transition will take place. Others should follow her example. She and President Elect, Joe Biden, are the story. A good story.

What a fantastic day of watching MSNBC, with Steve Kornacki at the ‘big board’ as they refer to the board on which the results are recorded. Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, Nicole Wallace, Brian Williams and Lawrence O’Donnell commentating – so thoughtfully and informatively. No-one could be under any misapprehension about how the votes are counted, and the apparent discrepancies demonstrated to be none at all. Groups of votes come in from early voters, on the day voters, postal voters; from Republican oriented states and Democrat oriented states; from a range of voters with a range of voting the way they have. Again, the coverage gives any thinking person all the information they need to understand that there will be early results that do not mean this will be the final result.

James Carvill on MSNBC: I don’t know anyone with an IQ above room temperature who doesn’t think the Democrats are going to win both Senate seats.

So, here we have a projected winner in Rev. Raphael Warnock

And Jonathon Ossoff leading David Perdue – by 13000 votes as I write.

As I promised a dear American friend: the math looks great.

Week beginning 30 December, 2020

American Elections

Twenty three days before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris become President and Vice President. Important dates before this momentous occasion are the Georgia runoffs on January 5th and on January 6th the House and Senate meet to count the Electoral College Votes. It seems a long time ago that the electoral college votes crept towards 270 for Joe Biden, and his win was accomplished with an excess – 306 Electoral College Votes (Thank you Bob McMullan for your coverage pre-election day.) .

Dachshunds – comical relief

But all that pales into insignificance in comparison with Christmas gifts such as dachshund coasters and tea towels.

Thank you, Carol and Ingrid.

Working in the Trump Justice Department , Erica Newland

A devastating and powerful story from a former lawyer at the Justice Department, published in NYTimes. com.

Opinion, I’m Haunted By What I Did as a Lawyer In The Trump Justice Department.

Copied from post by Clarke Horn I Watch Rachel Maddow.

Opinion”•”No matter our intentions, lawyers like me were complicit.”•”We owe the country our honesty about what we saw — and should do in the future.”KEY POINT(s)—SOURCE:[text]nytimes.com

OPINION: “By Erica Newland”“Ms. Newland worked in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department from 2016-18.”“Dec. 20, 2020”SOURCE:[text link(s)/text]nytimes.com IMAGE:” Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times”

“I was an attorney at the Justice Department when Donald Trump was elected president. I worked in the Office of Legal Counsel, which is where presidents turn for permission slips that say their executive orders and other contemplated actions are lawful. I joined the department during the Obama administration, as a career attorney whose work was supposed to be independent of politics.”

“I never harbored delusions about a Trump presidency. Mr. Trump readily volunteered that his agenda was to disassemble our democracy, but I made a choice to stay at the Justice Department — home to some of the country’s finest lawyers — for as long as I could bear it. I believed that I could better serve our country by pushing back from within than by keeping my hands clean. But I have come to reconsider that decision.” “My job was to tailor the administration’s executive actions to make them lawful — in narrowing them, I could also make them less destructive. I remained committed to trying to uphold my oath even as the president refused to uphold his.” “But there was a trade-off: We attorneys diminished the immediate harmful impacts of President Trump’s executive orders — but we also made them more palatable to the courts.” “This burst into public view early in the Trump administration in the litigation over the executive order banning travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, which my office approved. The first Muslim ban was rushed out the door. It was sweeping and sloppy; the courts quickly put a halt to it. The successive discriminatory bans benefited from more time and attention from the department’s lawyers, who narrowed them but also made them more technocratic and therefore harder for the courts to block.”•{https://www.newyorker.com/…/why-sally-yates-stood-up-to…}•{https://protectdemocracy.org/…/foia-responses-omb-olc…/}“After the Supreme Court’s June 2018 decision upholding the third Muslim ban, I reviewed my own portfolio — which included matters targeting noncitizens, dismantling the Civil Service and camouflaging the president’s corruption — overcome with fear that I was doing more harm than good.

By Thanksgiving of that year, I had left my job.”{https://www.nytimes.com/…/supreme-court-trump-travel…}“Still, I felt I was abandoning the ship. I continued to believe that a critical mass of responsible attorneys staying in government might provide a last line of defense against the administration’s worst instincts. Even after I left, I advised others that they could do good by staying. News reports about meaningful pushback by Justice Department attorneys seemed to confirm this thinking.”•{https://www.courant.com/…/hc-news-john-durham-dannehy…}•{https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/223eb074-2b8f-11eb…}•{https://www.nytimes.com/…/justice-department-voter…}“I was wrong.” “Watching the Trump campaign’s attacks on the election results, I now see what might have happened if, rather than nip and tuck the Trump agenda, responsible Justice Department attorneys had collectively — ethically, lawfully — refused to participate in President Trump’s systematic attacks on our democracy from the beginning. The attacks would have failed.” “Unlike the Trump Justice Department, the Trump campaign has relied on second-rate lawyers who lack the skills to maintain the president’s charade. After a recent oral argument from Rudy Giuliani, Judge Matthew Brann (a Republican) wrote that the campaign had offered “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence.” Even judges appointed by Mr. Trump have refused to throw their lots in with lawyers who can’t master the basic mechanics of lawyering.”•{https://www.nytimes.com/…/jones-day-trump-election…}•{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_-Rvu8jTjk…} •{https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/…/pat-toomey-statement…/}•{https://www.courtlistener.com/…/gov.uscourts.pamd…}•https://apnews.com/…/joe-biden-donald-trump-lawsuits…•{https://www.politico.com/…/sidney-powell-trump-election…}

“After four years of bulldozing through one institution after another on the backs of skilled lawyers, the Trump agenda hit a brick wall.”“The story of the Trump campaign’s attack on our elections could have been the story of the Trump administration’s four-year-long attack on our institutions. If, early on, the Justice Department lawyers charged with selling the administration’s lies had emptied the ranks — withholding our talents and reputations and demanding the same of our professional peers — the work of defending President Trump’s policies would have been left to the types of attorneys now representing his campaign. Lawyers like Mr. Giuliani would have had to defend the Muslim ban in court.” “Had that happened, judges would have likely dismantled the Trump façade from the beginning, stopping the momentum of his ugliest and most destructive efforts and bringing much-needed accountability early in his presidency.”

“Before the 2020 election, I was haunted by what I didn’t do. By all the ways I failed to push back enough. Now, after the 2020 election, I’m haunted by what I did. The trade-off wasn’t worth it.” “In giving voice to those trying to destroy the rule of law and dignifying their efforts with our talents and even our basic competence, we enabled that destruction. Were we doing enough good elsewhere to counterbalance the harm we facilitated, the way a public health official might accommodate the president on the margins to push forward on vaccine development? No.” “No matter our intentions, we were complicit. We collectively perpetuated an anti-democratic leader by conforming to his assault on reality. We may have been victims of the system, but we were also its instruments. No matter how much any one of us pushed back from within, we did so as members of a professional class of government lawyers who enabled an assault on our democracy — an assault that nearly ended it.”{https://hac.bard.edu/…/the-power-of-the-powerless…}

“We owe the country our honesty about that and about what we saw. We owe apologies. I offer mine here.” “And we owe our best efforts to restore our democracy and to share what we learned to help mobilize and enact reforms — to remind future government lawyers that when asked to undermine our democracy, the right course is to refuse and hold your peers to the same standard.”“To lead by example, and do everything in our power to ensure this never happens again. If we don’t, it will.”

“Erica Newland, counsel at Protect Democracy, worked in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department from 2016-18.”“The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.”“Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.”NYTIMES.COMOpinion | I’m Haunted by What I Did as a Lawyer in the Trump Justice DepartmentNo matter our intentions, lawyers like me were complicit. We owe the country our honesty about what we saw — and should do in the future.

After that, the dachshunds are opting out

Week beginning 23rd December, 2020

Reforms discussed on Chris Hayes All In on MSNBC

Chris Hayes’ program on MSNBC discussing reforming the American electoral system and additional parts of the system so as to avoid the horror of the past four years is informative. A major part of the discussion centred on electoral reform – mainly the Electoral College. Some commentators want to dispense with the system altogether – but is that a real possibilty? Would Republicans support change when it favours them? They have won Presidential Elections with its state by state votes, which in many cases have not reflected the majority vote which has been won by the Democrats.

On the other hand, 2000 was the first for 112 years in which the winning candidate lost the popular vote. Similarly in 2016.

The National Popular Vote Compact was one option canvassed. It raises the possibility that the Electoral college remain, but the way in which state representatives vote in the College is changed. A proposal that has been supported by a vote (over 52%) in Colorado (Proposition 113 on the ballot for President 2020) is that delegates should cast their votes in favour of the person who receives the popular vote.

Would it be easier to focus on reforming gerrymanders that give populous states only the same representation in the Electoral College as less populous states? In Australia this was done – after a great deal of hard work and support from both parties. The changes have not ensured Labor wins, so perhaps the Republicans might be able to encourage democracy in their states without too much fear? A little bit of democracy after the past four years might not go astray in encouraging Americans to believe in their system again. Of course, some of that disbelief is confected so the impact of attempts to restore belief in democracy will be limited however effective campaigns appear.

Another source of debate was the Supreme Court, and speculation that the numbers should be increased – but that terms, instead of being for life should be fixed. The suggestion was 18 years, based on the Senate electoral cycle. The perfidy of the Republican dominated Senate in deferring an Obama nominee in his last year in office, but endorsing Trump’s two last nominees, one with obviously unseemly haste, was argued as a reason for Democrat action on this front.

And then, the most dramatic proposal of all – a Biden Blitz on Day 1. Not in his character? The impressive range of talented and experienced people he has mustered to serve his administration means that a blitz is unnecessary? Mitch McConnell proves less recalcitrant than expected? Democrats win the two Senate seat in the Georgia runoffs?

Let’s wait and see. But, I suggest that Biden and Harris are equal to the challenges and what they decide will be worthy of support.

The ReidOut

Joy Reid Interviews with Rachel Maddow and Joe Scarborough were also interesting Christmas Day watching – Love Actually didn’t seem to be on – with Maddow talking about her book and podcast, Bagman and Scarborough, his book about Harry Truman. Bagman is about Spiro Agnew – some familiar behaviour here.

Christmas in Australia with Covid 19

Christmas in Australia has the Sydney Northern beaches outbreak of Covid 19 looming over festivities, with borders being closed to people from there and the Greater Sydney area. Western Australia, in particular, has taken safety measures against their impressive record at stemming outbreaks by closing the border to New South Wales entirely.

Does one year of a quiet Christmas really matter? Phone calls, zoom and Skype, keeping in touch throughout the year are all options. One wonderful young woman remarked to us as she served us our coffee last week ‘ I love my family, but I don’t want to isolate for two weeks to have Christmas with them this year’. Would that everyone could be as smart and thoughtful for others.

Television comments this week refer to Belgravia and The Queen’s Gambit.

There are no new book reviews, but at the moment I am reading Belgravia by Julian Fellowes; The Medusa Image by Gordon D’ Venables; Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan; and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie. Belgravia is the novel on which the television series is based, and is worth reading, as indeed is the television show worth seeing. The Medusa Image is a first novel, well written, a thriller set in Thailand and Australia. Cruel Summer is an ebook which I am reviewing for Amazon, a vivid story of teenagers, with the intricacies of skateboarding a feature which takes me into new realms. Agatha Christie’s novel is one of her most class based works, and will be used in my discussions of Racism, Sexism and Classism in Agatha Christie.