I’m writing for tomorrow later in the day that usual. I completed the manual/self-test portion of my prison volunteer certification training, ordered groceries, and did some emergency volunteer work on behalf of a prisoner about to transition. I planned to make this the only article, until I came across a Republican desperately in need of a parade. I have a morning appointment tomorrow, and grocery delivery in the afternoon so I may post only a Personal Update on Thursday.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:47 (average 5:33). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Right Wing Watch: Pat Buchanan devoted his column last week to adding his own racist spin to the issue of population decline in Europe, which he laments is turning "European Man" into "an endangered species."
Europe’s population woes, Buchanan writes, [World Nut Daily delinked] mean that “European Man is an endangered species” as since World War I “all the great European empires—British, French, German, Russian, Italian—have vanished” and “are being invaded and repopulated by African, Asian and Middle Eastern peoples they once ruled.”
He’s also upset about the growing non-white population in America, warning that by 2050, “most Americans will… trace their ancestry to Asia, Africa and Latin America.” In a column last year, he wistfully called this “the demographic winter of white America.”
Buchanan is an equal-opportunity Republican racist. He’s just as happy to export his hatred to Europe, as he is to try to impose it here in the US.
From Daily Kos: Forget the space race. The new arms race is over high-speed trains. China is in negotiations to build a high-speed rail network to India and Europe that would make a trip from London to Beijing last just two days.
This is what becoming a third-world country looks like.
From Raw Story: A man who argued with two other movie goers about the ending of a film was struck outside the cinema by a truck driven by his adversaries and killed, the Harris County [Texas, of course] Sheriff’s Office said on Monday.
The men’s discussion of the film grew more heated as the three left the theater and went to the parking lot after the late Sunday evening film. Two of the men then got into a pickup truck.
“The driver of the truck put the vehicle in reverse striking the victim and knocking him to the ground,” it said. The truck then sped away.
Behold the effects of InsaniTEA on our culture.
Cartoon:
This was the day pork became ham.
18 Responses to “Open Thread–3/19/2014”
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3:53 Am I a budding whiz?
3:53 Sorry Patty but you have to share the whizdom today!
4:10 Guess I am the closed bud behind two flowers.
Monster and Bigfoot sitting in a tree
J-I-G-G-I-N-G!
But no love will come to pass.
Kitty, Kitty Klobberered all our ass!
Right Wing Watch ~ This is nothing more than the rantings of another senile old white bigot. It's really too bad that so many out there listen to his drivel. How old is he anyway?
Daily Kos ~ I, for one, wish the RepublicanTs would wake up to the benefits of high speed rail in certain areas of the country. Not all areas could handle the high speeds. The major corridors are ripe for it though. They aren't thinking of the savings, not only time, but money too in the long run.
Raw Story ~ I watched the news video posted on a link. Those 2 guys definitely drank too much InsaniTea. You can understand their mentality when you hear ha=ow they started making fun of the young man's withered arm. They had no reason other than hate to run him over the way they did. I certtainly hope they are caught and brought to trial.
Cartoon ~ Yes, indeed!
Here is a wonderful suggestion made by FDR in 1944. The man had vision and it looks like we have no hope until we get rid of the obstructionists and plutocrats. Enjoy the read ~ https://www.7thstep.org/blog/2014/03/19/open-thread3192014/comment-page-1/#comment-82768
Oops! Patty, wrong link.
Here it is ~~
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/17/1285432/-FDR-s-Economic-Bill-of-Rights-could-be-our-Democratic-Platform-every-American-needs-to-hear-again
"This was the day pork became ham" – LOL – unfortunately, ever so true!
The train pics do indeed make it obvious we are no longer first rate (in much of anything) ~ why is it so many refuse to see it or worse, do anything about it?
I did see a lady on Jon Stewart who said the upcoming generation is much more liberal and WILL change things – take that you, grumpy old white men!
4:50 Interesting. What kind of flower opens via a wardrobe malfuncton?
RWW – I don't want to sound even more racist than Mr. Buchanan, so let me stress that I am thinking in terms of some partial analogies here that do not by any means follow completely. That said, parents are supposed to bring up their children so that they will be independent and successful people in their own right. Some do not. Some want to maintain a parental superiority position forever. To move away from this, all of us are supposed to assist other people to be the best they can be. That is everyone's job. If people of color decide that they want to live like white people, and learn to do so, and do as well at it or better, then WHITE PEOPLE ARE DOING THEIR JOB. Except of course for racists and Mr. Buchanan, who seem to think they are parents and want to maintain lifelong parental superiority. This is NOT to imply that whites stand as parents to children of color all the time across the board – althought that might be how Mr. Buchanan sees it. I know there are people who could say this better than I can. But I wanted to try to state how small-minded I think it is to deplore successes which are actually cause for rejoicing.
Daily Kos – There is also a difference in attitude. For Asia and Europe, trains are transportation. For Americans, they are entertainment.
Raw Story – And I can hear the NRA now screaming "See! See! If someone wants to kill someone, they don't need a gun! Leave ourg guns alone!" I leave it to the imagination of sane people how many might have been injured or killed had the pickup driver had and used a gun instead.
Cartoon – Pork barrel politics got a bad name after the Civil War. The original connotation was that a barrel of salt pork "was a common larder item in 19th century households, and could be used as a measure of the family's financial well being." James Fenimore Cooper in 1845: "I hold a family to be in a desperate way, when the mother can see the bottom of the pork barrel." So it was originally a metaphor for a politician keeping in mind his constituents' well being – if you will, for keeping safety nets in place. Now, of course, it implies Corporate Welfare insted of the general welfare, and I suppose it's way too late for it ever to be redeemed to the original meaning. (quotes from Wikipedia)
A Republican Fly Trap?
Politicians commonlyly expropriate well meaning terms for corrupt practices.
Well done on completing your manual/self test portion of your new assignment – how do you do it all TC? Can I have any spare energy?(!).
Reading what Pat Buchanan wrote did remind me of the theory that all the people who want to go out and conquer other countries and smash things down are compensating for their own inadequacies, particularly Freudian ones!
Spare energy? What's that?
PS I realize it was yesterday that the Robin Hood tax was featured but here is another action I just got an email on. It refers to a bill actually in Congress, and gets creative by letting you select an e-postcard (all 3 are great): http://npa-us.org/robinhood?postcard=npa&src=npa
Time: 2:57 – I'm getting good at this.
Gee, one might get the notion that Pat Buchanan is a wee bit racist, or maybe that's an over reaction to man that is more concerned about the endangered white European. The world is changing Pat old boy, and in time there will be no race distinction. Just human beings without color or heritage concerns. I wonder if Buchanan is aware the most beautiful humans on the planet, Brazilians are so physically beautiful because they are the result of so much inter mixing of races. Nah, we probably should not share that with him.
Why is it that a country that was first in so many things is now last in everything? We not only should have high speed rails, we need high speed rails. Soon these trains will be generating their own power systems or some will use solar power. Making them clean, efficient and fast. That will cut down on the need for dirty jets, but is that really so bad?
I often kill people that disagree with me, but I am a Texan so it must be okie dokie. I thought we were supposed to be shooting each other, what is this business of abusing our trucks. Sorry, folks but there still is no fixing stupid, and maybe that also applies to mean. I often read these stories and wonder what people are thinking to take a life over a disagreement. I don't expect to have an answer to that.
Thanks TC have great evening.
They must put InsaniTEA in the water, down there. 😉
Right Wing Watch: Buchanan has been out of touch with reality for a long time.
Daily Kos: We are lagging behind in every thing these days . All our infrastructure needs work. I miss being able to ride a train, they were still running passenger trains in this area in the sixties. It was my favorite way to travel.
Raw Story: So sad for this young man and his family. There seems to be a lot of violence among people his age. It seems to me that it is far worse than it was thirty, or even twenty years ago.
Cartoon: Your quote is exactly right. If they know a camera is nearby, they are hamming it up.
Puzzle — 3:53 Sorry Patty but you have to share the whizdom today!
Right Wing Watch — Buchanan is a twit!
"… he laments is turning "European Man" into "an endangered species.""
The only "endangered species" is the Republicanus/Teabagger angry, white male! . . . or it should be!
Daily Kos — North America has become too dependant on the family car, losing touch with rapid transit and alternate transit. China, which is spreading its economic wings, is looking to grow in the 21st century, while North America had its growth in the 19th and 20th centuries. Sitting on laurels? Maybe.
Raw Story — "Stand Your Ground" Texas style! It seems that violence is becoming more common as a means to settle disputes or disagreements. Seems to mean that anger management needs to be a compulsory course in school!
Cartoon — Do House Representatives have to be members of SAG (Screen Actors Guild)?
They should have to be, but the Republicans would bust even Saint Ronnie Ray Gun's union. 😈