It has been a busy day, first with physio and then teaching. All was going well, although I was very tired, until we received a call from from my student's 10 year old son. His middle school was in lock down because there was one, maybe two men with guns near the school. That put everybody on edge until it was over and I could get over to the school to pick him up. That stretched out my day and my planned cat nap had to wait. But all is well that ends well. Men with guns, other than police constables, is not something we are used to, thankfully.
Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:12 (average 5:01). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fantasy Football
| Points | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | Status | W-L-T | Pct | Stk | Waiver | For | Against |
| 1 |
009 |
7-3-0 | .700 | L1 | 7 | 1,002.34 | 748.84 | |
| 2 |
018 |
7-3-0 | .700 | W4 | 9 | 950.96 | 793.22 | |
| 3 |
027 |
6-4-0 | .600 | W2 | 8 | 1,016.66 | 906.92 | |
| 4+1 |
018 |
6-4-0 | .600 | W1 | 6 | 948.50 | 844.04 | |
| 5-1 |
018 |
6-4-0 | .600 | W1 | 5 | 926.22 | 796.88 | |
| 6+2 |
018 |
5-5-0 | .500 | W3 | 4 | 948.16 | 970.96 | |
| 7-1 |
018 |
5-5-0 | .500 | L1 | 3 | 851.08 | 851.16 | |
| 8-1 |
036 |
4-6-0 | .400 | L3 | 2 | 824.80 | 953.40 | |
| 9 |
009 |
3-7-0 | .300 | L3 | 10 | 884.98 | 1,059.66 | |
| 10 |
009 |
1-9-0 | .100 | L9 | 1 | 633.20 | 1,061.82 | |
* Rank change shown is from week 9 – 10
Short Takes
Truth in Media — h/t Lona Goudswaard — In this episode of Truth in Media, Ben Swann explores the origin of ISIS that has already been long forgotten by American media. Swann takes on the central issue of whether or not ISIS was created by "inaction" by the United States government or by "direct" action.
Although this video is 8 months old, it bears watching again and again until we get it straight and can hold politicians, no matter the party, accountable.
Alternet — “The Pfizer-Allergan merger would be a disaster for American consumers who already pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Sanders said, in a statement issued by his U.S. Senate office. It also would "allow another major American corporation to hide its profits overseas.”
Click through for the rest of the story. I kept hearing about this proposed sale on the radio as I went about my business. What makes this deal different from most so far (I'm sure that others will follow) is that Allergan, the Irish company, is making the purchase thereby getting around US laws regarding "inversions". Bernie is right to call on Obama to squash this.
Think Progress — The mayor of Dallas is pushing back against politicians who say Americans should be skeptical ofSyrian refugees, saying he is “more fearful” of armed white men than people fleeing civil war in the Middle East.
Speaking to MSNBC on Saturday morning, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings was asked to discuss the growing anxiety over Syrian refugees entering the United States, purportedly over concerns they could be potential agents for militant groups such as ISIS. Rawlings staunchly rejected the assertion that Syrians are somehow uniquely prone to violence, saying he is more concerned with the rise of white supremacy and the recent flurry of mass shootings committed by white men.
Click through for the rest and a video from the Rachel Maddow Show.
My Universe — h/t to John Gray, Care2
10 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 24/11/2015”
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TP1: Great educational video to show how this all started and feeding the war machine. We are being held hostage, is that anything new? Another proposed 30 year war?? Noooooo!!!!!
AlterNet: The cost of medications is outrageous, and some folks can't afford the cost, due to price gouging. Big companies do this all the time, moving overseas to avoid paying taxes. They should pay, this is corporate greed at it's worst.!!, and should not be allowed.
TP2: Mayor Rawlings is on the same page, as I fear the violence within. I am appalled and saddened by Abbott's comments, and ordering faith based nonprofits to stop working to resettle refugees.
My Universe: Protecting his buddy!
Glad that your student's son and school is okay, it makes for a stressful day, when the school is on lockdown. I remember those well, but all staff is trained for crisis intervention, but the students are scared, nevertheless. Got up very early, and now I need a nap. lol. Hope the rest of your day goes well, Thanks, Lynn.
It sounds like you had one of those day's Lynn. On top of a very busy day you get this scare of a school lockdown because of "men with guns" about. Glad everything turned out OK. Was it a overcautious reaction triggered by recent events in Paris, or were there really people about with guns?
Truth in Media: Thanks for posting this video, Lynn. Of course it popped up in the aftermath of the Paris attacks and the knee-jerk reaction of Hollande and many leaders with him. It was an eye-opener for me to see that little had been learned in the 8 months since it first came out and that our leaders were about to repeat the mistakes that made Da'esh as powerful and well-armed as it is today. It also made it clear to me why Turkey had taken the opportunity to attack the PKK instead of Da'esh. The problem of the threat of Da'esh to Turkey is small considered to the advantage of taking the Kurds out and buying all the oil they need for next to nothing from Da'esh.
Alternet: The Pfizer-Allergan merger is a merger of two already giant pharmaceutical companies and the largest merger of its sort ever. It's not only a disaster for the American taxpayer who is fleeced once again, but for all people depending on drugs, because they can dictate the market and the prices with a merger like that. Soon there will be only a few gigantic global pharmaceutical companies which have bought up all smaller companies to eliminate the competition and who can dictate the market without interference from countries or watchdogs. Obama must forbid this merger for the sake of ALL of us.
Think Progress: Now there's a very pleasant surprise indeed: Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. He wants Dallas to take in Syrian refugees and for ALL the right reasons. He had really done his homework and slashed all the Republican fear mongering reasons to reject these refugees, and all Muslims while they're at it. That prompted me to try and find out if Rawlings was a Democrat, but I haven't found any mention of a party allegiance, so I suppose he's independent. And Dallas is doing very well since he's been there, so Kudos to you, Mike Rawlings.
My Universe: There's snipers lurking about in your universe, Lynn! That save was just in time!
4:04 Makes me think about feeding the feline.
Truth in Media/AlterNet – So the US doesn't need to be "standing up to" other countries so much, but it does need to be standing up to multi-national corporations, wherever they are "headquartered." Not just banks and oil companies, although those were certainly mentioned, but all multi-national corporations. Gee. What a surprise. Thanks, Supreme Court. Thanks, neo-liberals.
Think Progress – Mike Rawlings is a Democrat. I didn't research this, but Dallas probably has what are called "non-partisan" elections for city and maybe county offices which are elective. In "non-partisan" elections, although of course you still get Republicans and Democrats running, they aren't supposed to trumpet their party or run on their party platform, but on their own platform and record. Local people usually know very well, but it makes it harder for anyone who is not local to identify a party.
Universe – Glad there are people to interpret this for me. My first impression was that when Tuxie jumped on Tiger, it startled Tiger so that he passed gas strong enough to – well, you get it.
3:36 I think I crashed on the rocks.
4:07 Hey! I'm number 4 today. I never did like fishing.
Whoops. Make that number 5. Thanks TomCat!
First time I've seen a blue laser light. Thouhgt they were all red or green.
Looks green to me, dude!
Really?
I knew from those Ishihara color blindness test charts I had some colorblindness – don’t remember it being that pronounced.
Well, it’s still a pretty color.
Sorry you had a scary day.
3:14 … almost!
I agree. The Daesh is a gift from the Republican Party.
Phizer really has a hard-on for ripping us off!