I thoroughly enjoyed a cup of tea and reading my book after my hair cut. The rain had stopped so it was at least dryer, but the wind . . . there were trees down everywhere and power was out to some 110,000 homes here during a very powerful wind storm.. Fortunately I was not affected so you get this Open Thread. There were some 384 outages in Metro Vancouver alone. Those affected will be without power for 24 – 36 hours. I think the McDonald's drive through will be busy tomorrow for breakfast!
Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:24 (average 6:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes
Huffington Post — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) ended his presidential campaign on Tuesday.
"I've come to the realization that this is not my time, so I've come here to announce that I am suspending my campaign for president of the United States," he told Fox News' Bret Baier.
Jindal, who entered the presidential race in June, has remained near the back of the Republican pack since then. In recent months, his persistently low polling numbers relegated him to the smaller televised events that preceded each of the main GOP debates.
This is the interview with Bret Baier of Faux:
Another one bites the dust! What a waste of money for someone who wasn't going to win the nomination in the first place. I wonder how many more will pull the plug before Iowa and New Hampshire?
Financial Post — Executives in the Canadian oilpatch are dismayed the federal government is poised to ban crude oil tanker traffic on the North Coast of B.C., which would hurt the Northern Gateway pipeline’s chances of being built.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed through on one of his election promises when he asked Transportation Minister Marc Garneau to “formalize a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s North Coast” in a mandate letter published Friday.
Click through for the rest of the article. Of course the anti-pipeline and anti-tanker people are happy, but oil industry people are not. Nobody is going to walk away from this quietly. Another article in the Financial Post notes,
[Vancouver-based energy lawyer with Watson Goepel LLP Warren] Brazier said the way the mandate letter is worded, there could still be exports of refined crude oil from the north coast — such as B.C. newspaper executive David Black has proposed with his $19-billion Kitimat Clean refinery project, which would be built in Kitimat.
So it's not over yet.
Huffington Post — The U.S. can either lead by example or turn its back on human suffering, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in an impassioned 12-minute address on the Senate floor Tuesday.
Speaking in response to the calls to turn Syrian refugees away from the U.S. following the bombings and attacks last week that left a combined 172 people dead in Beirut and Paris, Warren argued that the country now faces a stark moral choice.
Click through for the rest. Go Lizzie!
Think Progress — A Texas state legislator wants the U.S. to stop allowing Syrian refugees into the country. His reasoning: They might be able to buy guns in his state.
Rep. Tony Dale (R) made this argument in a television interview on Monday and in letters to Texas’ U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz (R) and U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul and John Carter (R).
“While the Paris attackers used suicide vests and grenades,” Dale wrote, “it is clear that firearms also killed a large number of innocent victims. Can you imagine a scenario were [sic] a refugees [sic] is admitted to the United States, is provided with federal cash payments and other assistance, obtains a drivers license and purchases a weapon and executes an attack?” He urged the lawmakers to “do whatever you can to stop the [Syrian refugee] program.”
Click through to the rest of this absurdity! I am still shaking my head over this. In my mind, this is thinly disguised discrimination.
My Universe — Have you ever wondered what the name is of Simon's cat? Perhaps today's video will give you some ideas.
14 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 18/11/2015”
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It must have been windy all over the world, because we had a very nasty storm here too during the night, Lynn. It didn't do as much damage as your's though, we're only a tiny country and all our power cables, except for the mains, are underground, and no main's tower has ever been blown over (yet). But it sure made the night very unrestful.
Huffington Post: I can be short about that: Bobby Jindal should never have entered the race. Besides a waste of money he was another assault on our intelligence and patience we could have done without.
Financial Post: Good to see Trudeau is keeping his word and mandating a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on BC’s North Coast, but he should not allow loopholes to be build in a priori. Half a promise is a half broken promise.
Huffington Post: What's left to say after a speech like that? Elizabeth says it all: let the Syrians refugees who have risked their lives and crossed the seas in, but screen them properly. That's not an easy task, but it can be done and must be done. The same holds for Europe where right wing politicians want to send the refugees back too. Lizzys compassion inspires all of us.
Think Progress: See if I get this straight: Tony Dale thinks it perfectly OK when firearms are sold in Texas to people without a background check who then have every opportunity to go and slaughter some kid in a school or movie theater or shopping mall, but he doesn't want to allow any Syrian refugees into Texas after comprehensive and serious federal screening because they could go buying guns (because there's no background check, of course) to use in a terrorist attack? Oh, and don't forget they do that with federal cash payments and other assistance! I suppose you must be born and bred Texan to understand his reasoning, all I can see from here is bigotry.
My Universe: Simon draws his cat's antics with so much detail and great understanding of cat behavior, I was sure he'd be a cat lover and was owned by more than one cat. I can quite understand he's owned by four, as am I, but I've a few semi-ferals around the house to keep me occupied too.
HP1: Jindal out, 14 to go.
HP2: I admire Ms. Warren for her words of solidarity, and compassion for these refugees. Meanwhile, in Texas….
TP: Governor Greg Abbot's interview with the press is hateful towards any refugee(s). His comments will serve no useful purpose but will stoke fear and bigotry toward refugees and prejudice. Most Repug states have said that they will deny entry into their states for the Syrian refugees, and hiding their 'Welcome Mats' to them. Ugh!! Please review this link:
http://www.newsweek.com/where-every-state-stands-accepting-or-refusing-syrian-refugees-395050
My Universe: Great explanation of his cat. While mine sits there meowing at the screen, and hopping up on my lap, I think she is fascinated by it all.
We had an alful storm with high winds yesterday when I went to school. Today is much cooler, and I'm out the door now, but with a sweater. Enjoy your day, and Thanks, Lynn.
Trudeau has folloewed through on an election promise?? OMG! In what universe does this man live? Can you take me there?
Elizabeth Warren must be in that same place!
Well, Tony Dale, maybe you gun toting Texans, and more, John Wayne wanna-be's ought to consider which universe you want to inhabit! It's certainly not mine! The NRA has been pulling your strings so long, you forgot that the universe is bigger than Texass, Florida, and so on. Then, of course, there is the Law of Unintended Consequences to consider.
P.S.: Jindal needs to just get lost in one of those famous Louisiana bayous.
6:25 (6:05) Stenocarpus doesn't souns like a tree; it sounds like a condition. A condition that would affect administrative professionals.
HuffPo – Yes. How nice. Meanwhile, Daily Kos says the race to replace him has become "the worst think in American politics." http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/18/1451330/-Morning-Digest-The-Louisiana-governor-s-race-is-the-worst-thing-in-American-politics And they make a good case. "Republican Sen. David Vitter decided to find the foulest gutter he could dive into and guzzle like a thirsty camel," and "(d)epressingly, there isn't much daylight on this issue between Vitter and Edwards." Before you click through, you may want to look into whether barf bags can be composted (now there's a startup idea).
FinPo – No, it's never over that easily. Andif we learned anything fromt he sixties and seventies, it's that it's never really over – it takes continued effort to keeo any gains. They can be lost while one is not looking.
HuffPoII – Yes, it is a stark moral choice. It is also a choice between doing some real damage to Da'esh by taking the refugees and undercutting their recruiting, or feeding the moster with more unkindness. Neither argument islikely to make much headway with RWNJs, alas.
Think Progress – Do these people even listen to themselves? Besides the fact he has far more crazy people with guns now that the entire number of refugees the country has agreed to take, he is saying that karma has already caught up with his state. His doomsday scenario depends totally on no background checks. Which I'll bet my paycheck (if I had one) he supported!
Universe – I personally think a name would be TMI.
HuffPo: Glad that Bobby Jindal has dropped out of the race. ""I've come to the realization that this is not my time…" It will never be his "time" in any future presidential race. Jindal is despised by the people in Louisiana.
Financial Post: A stalemate at the moment.
HuffPo 2: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is correct in her impassioned speech. Have a listen to her speech.
27 states say they won't take Syrian refugees
States protesting the admission of refugees range from Alabama and Georgia, to Texas and Arizona, to Michigan and Illinois, to Maine and New Hampshire. Among these 27 states, all but one have Republican governors.
http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/after-paris-attacks-syrian-refugees-shunned/36470318
In another article, there are many governors expressing their "concerns" as to why they do not want Syrian refugees in their state. Videos, tweets, letters and statements:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/here-is-the-growing-list-of-states-that-have-vowed-not-to-take-syrian-refugees/
States that do not want any refugees:
–Alabama
— Arizona
— Arkansas
— Georgia
— Florida
— Idaho
— Illinois
— Indiana
— Iowa
— Kansas
— Louisiana
— Maine
— Massachusetts
— Michigan
— Mississippi
— Nebraska
— Nevada
— New Hampshire
— New Jersey
— New Mexico
— North Carolina
— Ohio
— Oklahoma
— South Carolina
— Tennessee
— Texas
— Wisconsin
States whose governors say they will accept refugees:
— Connecticut
— Delaware
— Hawaii
— Pennsylvania
— Vermont
— Washington
Think Progress: Rep. Tony Dale (R-Texas) has, most definitely, faulty logic. lol.
Universe: How it is done and history of Simon's "Silly Cat".
Hickenlooper weighed in with "Yes, we will" after this was published, I guess, and so did Kate Brown.
4:39 Stuck on the cactus again. I can't even get close to Lynn any more. She's too fast for me.
Who said irony was dead?
Rep. Tony Dale (R) proves it's alive and kicking – at least in Texas.
Elizabeth Warren was FANTASTIC!!! I watched the whole video and was so MOVED!!! She would make a GREAT president, but we need her where she is, for now!! WOW that was a very, VERY good speech and the governors of the state's that want to deny Syrians a safer life need to hear it!!! The rotten chicken- shits are doing EXACTLY what Da'esh wants us to do! Succumb to fear and hatred!
And if the me if the people that come here can buy a gun, it is the fault of the gun manufacturers!!!
Bobby Jindal is FINALLY giving up the ghost of his "presidential" campaign!! Geez! Does that take it down to 20 yet??
WOW! So Gov. Piyush Jindal has ended his forlorn campaign!
Now that's a bombshell I did NOT see coming.
</snark>
To be honest, I forgot he was even running. Maybe he'll resurrect himself and run as a FAILED governor in 2020.
Hey … speaking of FAILED governors, how about a Jindal/Brownback ticket in 2020?
Really enjoyed and appreciated the backstory on Simon's Cat!
We are having high winds and heavy rains here in Kentucky, too. Unfortunately, I was on the road much of the day instead of ensconced in my favorite chair with a book and a cat.
Huff Post: Glad to see that Jindal has dropped out of the race. Hopefully, he will not run for governor of Louisiana again, either. Those flokes deserve better.
Think Progress: I think it is all out in the open discrimination. Since Texas is all about open carry, they shouldn't mind a Syrian or two with guns, should they?
My Universe: I really enjoyed this one. I have four cats, too, and they provide constant entertainment, although I am sure they would be offended if they knew that.
Huffpost: flokes is not a real word, is it? I meant those FOLKS deserve better.