Rick Kinnaird

Thurday January 6th, 2021

It was one year ago today.

The most telling thing I saw about it today was a montage of what was going on at the Capital and what Trump was saying. As the fighting was going on he was talking about all the love he saw. Really? That’s his idea of love?

Okay, so what to do? Well, it’s taken The Justice Department a year to get 150 or so to court. These are the easy cases, the low hanging fruit. Most have gotten off with little or no jail time. But there are a total of 700 that they are pursuing of the over 2500 that were there. At this rate it will take four to six years to just get these bozos. But the real higher ups, the ones who organized this insurrection would not have been charged until, what?, after the 2024 election?

Some say, “Oh it’s just political.”

Well, yeah, it’s political. Lemme break it down for you. When you attempt to overthrow a government, it’s political.

I understand that the standard sentence for this is twenty years. I’m cool with that. So let’s do it. Those who stormed the Capital – 20 years.

Those who organized it – 20 years.

Those who condoned it – 20 years.

Those who financed it – 20 years.

That would include Trump and his inner circle who were in on it – 20 years.

Those who wrote the plans and memos outlining what was going to happen – 20 years.

Those at the Willard Hotel who were orchestrating it – 20 years.

Those in Congress, both House and Senate, who voted not to certify the election – 20 years.

Those who gave speeches at the rally before the march to the Capital – 20 years,

It seems there were 40 to 100 who were in on the planning and financing.

There were 160 in Congress who voted not to certify the election.

There were 40 or 50 in the Senate who did the same.

So what are we talking in temrs of numbers? 300? 400? who weren’t at the Capital smashing windows but were in on it? Hey. We got room for them in prision. Treason. 

It’s too bad we don’t have executions any more. But I’m a sympathetic guy. I’d say let each on room with a hardened criminal doing time for other crimes, like murder, assault, . Maybe some can learn a new trade – like makeshift tattoo artist?

Sunday December 26, 2021

Happy St Stephen’s Day!

In oral arguments about the Mississippi law designed to skirt Federal law and to allow vigilantes to hunt down women who are pregnant seeking an abortion and anyone helping them Brett Kavanaugh asked, why should we The Supreme Court get involved?

This was, I guess, some sort of fig leaf to say they weren’t involved. I mean this was the whole reason he and that nutty religious woman and several others were put on the Court – to overturn Roe. Now, he’s trying to act like if they do nothing the Court remains neutral.

This is as disingenuous as the questioning during the oral arguments. But the woman defending Roe answer olde Brett. By saying basically the question is – do women have a right to their bodies or not? It’s a pretty simple yes or no question. Get rid of all the rhetoric and postulating and beliefs and that’s the question.

When Roe was decided the opinion of the court was around that question and a woman’s right to privacy.

If the court let’s the Mississippi law stand, and it looks like they will then states are free to draft similar laws which skirt federal authority. Gavin Newsome in California says he will do this around guns. He’ll let people sue someone who has a gun be sued. 

The unfortunate thing is that we used to be a nation that was based on laws. Laws that were based on the Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the idea that judges and politicians, especially U.S. Senators were people acting in good faith. Today’s Republican Party has swept all that aside, as has the Supreme Court.

It’s so bad the Mitch McConnell admits that they, The Republican Party aren’t running on anything in the next election, I.e. they don’t stand for anything. They have no ideas, no policies there isn’t even the gloss that they want to help anyone. They are bought and paid for by special interests. Our democracy hangs in the balance.

We know who the enemy is. We have been looking in the mirror for decades. 

It’s way past time to do something. 

My friend, Catherine, asked me to get some photos of the dance platform in the center of The Cross Group in Palenque, Mexico, which I did. What follows are some thoughts and comments about dance platforms.

First off, I don’t think we know that these square low platforms were in fact dance platforms. Maybe, I’ve missed the documentation and thinking on this topic. I know Mary Miller had done some work in this regard, but I think her work centered around a higher Venus Platform in Tikal, which had painting or drawings on pots of people parading on the steps of that platform. 

Various stelae show kings dancing. This is signaled by them having lifted the heel of one foot. So what do we mean by dancing? In Chichicastenango, Guatemala they have a festival each year celebrated by having people dressed in highly feathered costumes and wearing a porcelain looking mask. These dressed figures dance. The kind of dancing they do, I am told and was shown, resembles what I would call “a Mexican Hat Dance.” That is a dance where a couple hold each others hands at arm’s length and alternately shoot a leg out straight at about thirty degrees. (Ie Each person puts out their right leg – heel first, and then switches to the left.)

Additionally a pole is erected outside the church for a Voladore ceremony. That is where five participants climb the pole to a large square rig. One person sits atop the pole and the other four each take a side of the rig where they attach themselves by an ankle to the rig. Music is played and the four hang upside don from the rig as it unwinds and the “dancers” descend as the ropes unspool.

David Stuart had a theory that such a ceremony Wass a rite of passage for a young man in Palenque who was or would become king. There is a drawing of the king as a young man or boy dressed in feathered plumage and the commentary associated says something about him doing some sort of dance or bird dance.

This is all I know about these platforms but I think we can indulge in some speculation.

First off these platforms appear in open areas. Either they are centered in a plaza, such as The Cross Group, or they are off to one side of the plaza. Such a platform exists in Palenque in front of the temple known as The Temple of the Count, because Jean Waldeck stayed in the building when he was at Palenque, and he claimed to be a count.

That platform is off to one side of the plaza.

Pomona has a similar set up with one platform in the center of the plaza and another off to one side. What would be the purpose of each? I could argue that the one in the center of the plaza could be used for a voladore ceremony while the one to one side would make more sense to be for a person to stand that was directing a ceremony or dancing in a costume. 

There is evidence that the Mayan kings wore elaborate head dresses and even back racks. Such paraphernalia would certainly limit one’s ability to move. About the only dancing one could do would be to stick out one’s foot or lift a heel. 

Friday December 24, 2021

I wasn’t going to write about this kind of sh*t anymore, but…but…

OMG.

Trump’s lawyers are trying to stop his stuff going to the Jan 6th committee, claiming executive privilege.

Apparently, the filing is going to the Supreme Court and is so badly done that none of the news shows would even attempt to read parts of it on air. The Jan 6th Committee’s comment that went to the Court was read in part, I guess because they used whole sentences that formed a cogent narrative. DJT’s lawyers filed on the last day they could. This to lawyers means the case isn’t serious and is just an attempt to delay, which they will get until Jan 14th. Then it will likely get tossed with a two word Latin phrase saying, “We ain’t gonna listen to it.” The Supreme Court gets between 6-8,000 requests per session and they take 65. 

So odds aren’t good, especially when it’s BS.

On to the virus, well the data is clear, if you are unvaccinated you are in trouble. Next.

Remember the big shortage problem that was being touted in the fall? What happened? Well, it never really came. Why? Turns out the Labor Secretary and the Transportation Secretary and others worked on it. They reduced paperwork time for truckers from two months to two days. They opened the ports 24/7 instead of 8/5. Goods started to flow, and the finger pointing stopped. Turns out that there is a lot turnover in some parts of the trucking biz. Turns out that there isn’t a lot of turn over with union truckers. Seems that if you pay people a decent amount they don’t quit. Who could have guessed that?

And now it turns out that out VP is actually doing a really good job. This despite various press outlets saying she’s not. One thing she has done is to rally businesses to up their commitment to Central America, and to restart programs in that area that the previous administration stopped. Turns out that people want to stay put if they can, but corruption, gangs, and no jobs forces folks to leave their homes. This seems to be a better plan than putting a racist in charge of immigration, and making photo-ops at the southern border. Who knew? Yeah, apparently the problem isn’t at the southern border but in the countries where people are fleeing for their lives. Who knew? I’ll tell you who – Henry Kissinger back when he worked for Tricky Dick. Imagine if we had followed his suggestions back then instead of doing the Republican “let’s ignore the situation” strategy? 

Now we got voting rights to work on.

As to Build Back Better, AOC nailed it. Joe Manchin can’t be trusted and the second the Progressive Caucus gave in and decoupled the two two bills one passed and the other didn’t. Just like the Progressive Caucus said would happen. Let’s keep in mind that this isn’t a progressive agenda thing, but the middle of the road President’s thing. I have to also wonder why Republicans are in office? The only thing they do when they have power is load the judgeships up with religious nuts and cut taxes on the wealthy. As to helping common people? Nah. Hey, they could help by getting on board with the President. Or they could suggest something else. Oh that’s right Susan Collins suggested that Biden do less. Why? She liked it better. Any reason? No. Same with Manchin, he likes a smaller number, why? Doesn’t matter. He likes it better. 

As to the folks hurting in Kentucky, if I were the President I’d have hauled McConnell and Paul into the Oval Office and asked them why he, the President, should give Kentucky any money to rebuild. I’d quote some to the lame BS Rand Paul had said when he voted against other states, when they needed money. I’d say to them. “You know what, I’ll do it, but you have to vote for Build Back Better at $3.54T” When they balk I’d say,”Gee, too bad. But hey Mitch you claimed Kentucky ‘punched above its weight’ when it came to Federal monies. Start punching.”

I’d then tour Kentucky and say to the people, “yeah, we want to help but your Senators don’t.”

But that’s just me.

Oh but the real thing I wanted to talk about and forgot is that Trump has aligned himself with a Chinese group that pumps out shell companies and tries to get folks to invest. I like the company that made cupcakes one year and the next year was making touch-screens. All with no employees.

Okay so it’s “Chiner” and it’s fraud – somehow they found Donald. Because it’s him they’ve raked in over $300M and may go as high as $1.2B. They’ve been in trouble with the SEC several times before and are again. Who knew? They are so bad the FINRA is involved and you got to be right on the cusp of being overtly illegal to get those folks stirred up, but this group in China has done it multiple times! Go team.