Let Them Eat Debt

Republicans continue their efforts to dissolve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They apparently see it as a Socialist/Communist institution. I assume because the bureau, which is under the self-funded Federal Reserve, was originally proposed by Elizabeth Warren.

Republican attorneys have attempted to dismantle the CFPB from the moment Congress created it in response to the 2008 financial crash. The agency protects consumers against exploitative fraud and deceit in home mortgages, credit cards, consumer loans, and retail banking.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/trumpiest-federal-appeals-court-kills-cfpb-fifth-circuit.html

A Life Defined by Wars, Real and Imagined

I’m not fond of FRONTLINE’s use of ominous background music. The subject of this program is scary enough without enhancements.

Michael Flynn… declaring America is a Christian nation… saying he is waging war against Democrats… who are the enemy… because they are evil.

Flynn talks about being a no-compromise tough guy, but he crumbles when challenged on a “battlefield” not of his choosing. He pleaded the Fifth under questioning from Liz Cheney, and he resorted to walking out of an interview with Michelle Smith from the Associated Press.

A Berry Good Show

Andrew Sandoval recommended watching this, so I am. Chuck Berry, age 46, at the BBC Theatre in 1972. Berry always traveled alone and played with pickup bands. Here he was backed by a band called Rocking Horse.

Note: Chuck Berry’s recording career began when he was 29, the age John Lennon was when the Beatles broke up.

Conteo de Glóbulos (Blood Count)

On the Criterion Channel I’m watching Dracula, from 1931, but not the familiar American film with Bela Lugosi. It’s the Spanish version, filmed on the same Universal studio sets at the same time but, appropriately, at night. NPR has the story on this unique production.

I remember agonizing over spending $80-$100 for single Criterion releases on LaserDisc thirty years ago, and those prices were 20% off. An annual subscription to the Criterion Channel is $90, so when it was announced, of course I signed up immediately.

Defying a Disease That Defies a Cure

As stated in reply to a comment from tastewar, I am giving a listen to Dark Was the Night: A Red Hot Compilation. The album was produced in 2009 to raise money to fight AIDS.

In 1991, Prue’s friend Cynthia O’Neal founded Friends in Deed* with Mike Nichols to provide direct support for AIDS patients. The story of Friends in Deed is told in Cynthia’s memoir, Talk Softly, dedicated to her sons Max and Fitz. Prue says that Max has since passed away.

* The organization is now part of The Big Groups.

Cynthia and Patrick O’Neal