Category Archives: News

Best Quotes of the Week – May 29, 2021

“The bills, which seek to abolish critical race theory, were more important than expanding Medicaid; maintaining federal unemployment benefits; enlisting more Texans to get COVID-19 vaccinations; or overhauling the state’s electric power grid.  The bills are also part of a backlash against growing efforts to bring more accuracy and inclusion to historical texts and a wider movement to whitewash U.S. history.  Old, racist approaches to education are new again.”

Elaine Ayala, columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, on the Texas Legislature’s ill-timed ban of discussions of racism in Texas classrooms

“Some people have no shame.”

President Joe Biden, criticizing Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and other Republicans who opposed his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, but are now taking credit for it

“I think the perception is on the part of the public that the January 6 Commission just trying to get to the truth of what happened, and that Republicans would be seen as not wanting to let the truth come out.  I don’t believe that’s what’s the motivation, but I think that’s the perception.”

Sen. Mitt Romney, about the reluctance of his fellow Republicans to support a bipartisan commission to study the actual causes of the January 6 Capital Hill riots

“What are you afraid of?”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan commission intended to study the actual causes of the January 6 Capital Hill riots

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Word of the Week – May 22, 2021

Redivivus

Adjective

Origin: Latin, late 16th century

Come back to life; reborn.

Example: After an hour of exercise, writing in my journal, and a night of solid sleep, I felt a redivivus of my soul.

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Tweets of the Week – May 22, 2021

Rep. Liz Cheney

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

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Political Cartoon of the Week – May 22, 2021

Khalil Bendib

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Photos of the Week – May 22, 2021

It’s gone. The famed Darwin’s Arch (Arco de Darwin), a key feature of the Galàpagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, finally gave way to natural erosion processes and collapsed into the ocean on May 17.  At 43 m (141 ft.) high, 70 m (230 ft.) long, and 23 m (75 ft.) wide, the arch was a phenomenal sight and had been named for explorer and scientist Charles Darwin who had formed his theory of evolution after visiting the Galàpagos.

The entire region has been a popular tourist site for decades, but has been stressed in recent years due to warming ocean temperatures.

“The collapse of the arch is a reminder of how fragile our world is,” said Jen Jones of the Galàpagos Conservation Trust.  “While there is little that we as humans can do to stop geological processes such as erosion, we can endeavour to protect the islands’ precious marine life.  Galápagos Conservation Trust is working with partners to protect these sharks both within the Galápagos marine reserve and on their migrations outside in the wider eastern tropical Pacific.”

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Most Shocking Quote of the Week – May 22, 2021

“With this news, Donald Trump, those around him, and the country as a whole inch closer to the prospect that a former president could face criminal charges, and possibly even prison time. The country has not been through anything like this before.”

Kimberly Wehle, in an editorial on the possibility that former President Trump could be criminally prosecuted

New York State Attorney General Leticia James announced recently that her office is investigating the Trump Organization in a “criminal capacity”.  The endeavor began in 2019 after former Trump cohort Michael Cohen revealed that the Trump Organization had lied about its asset value in order to obtain loans and insurance and limit its tax liability.  If Trump actually is prosecuted, it will be the first time for a former President in U.S. history.

A former assistant U.S. attorney who teaches law at the University of Baltimore, Wehle also is known for her articles for the conservative website “The Bulwark”.

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Worst Quotes of the Week – May 22, 2021

“Just warms your heart to see.”

Harry Khachatrian, a contributing editor for “Daily Wire”, about the January 6 Capitol Hill riots

“Let’s stop pretending that the media is not a participant and that it is somehow entitled to not be treated like every other active enemy.”

Kurt Schlichter, senior columnist at the right-wing site “Townhall”, about the January 6 Capitol Hill riots

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Best Quotes of the Week – May 22, 2021

“Holy crap.  Perhaps a U.S. Senator shouldn’t suggest that the Russian military is better than the American military that protected him from an insurrection he helped foment?”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, responding to a Tweet by Sen. Ted Cruz criticizing the U.S. military’s diversity endeavors

“We can’t even imagine the thinking behind Gov. Abbott’s callous decision to strip the remaining federal unemployment insurance benefits out of the pockets of Texas working families.  If he took the time or had any interest in understanding the challenges working people face, Gov. Abbott would see clearly that folks across Texas desperately need these funds as they try to navigate their way through the economic carnage of the pandemic.”

Rick Levy, president of the Texas AFL-CIO, reacting to Gov. Abbott’s decision to opt out of federal unemployment benefits extensions

“The Big Pharma fairy tale is one of groundbreaking R&D that justifies astronomical prices.  But the pharma reality is that you spend most of your company’s money making money for yourself and your shareholders.”

Rep. Katie Porter, to Richard Gonzalez, CEO of pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, about increasingly high costs for prescription drugs

During the U.S. House Oversight Committee hearing, Porter also declared, “You lie to patients when you charge them twice as much for an unimproved drug, and then you lie to policymakers when you tell us that R&D justifies those price increases.”

Gonzalez’s 2020 total compensation topped USD 24 million.

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Word of the Week – May 15, 2021

Synecdoche

Noun

Late Middle English, 1350s

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.

Example: My full name is Jorge Lazaro Alejandro De La Garza, but I often go by the synecdoche of “Chief Writing Wolf”.

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Podcast of the Week – May 15, 2021

Recently the State of Texas passed a bill that was disguised as a voting integrity measure, but in reality, puts more restrictions on the voting process.  In a podcast interview with Jon Favreau, former U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke (who challenged Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018) discussed the Texas bill and its adverse effects on voting.

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