Arrggghhh!!!!! The foot is still swollen and the redness is turning to bruising. I RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) it as much as possible and I use ultrasound on it while at physio. But I still need to get around. One thing is for certain, the manipulation that my physiotherapist has done really helps.Tomorrow is laundry day and I have a few loads to do. I'll also be starting the monthly report tomorrow so I'll be busy. To answer your question Lona about Lucia taking a class while her kids are not about, we did discuss it and I encouraged her to pursue it. I want her to do the work so I encouraged her but she actually found a class that met her needs.
Short Takes
Huffington Post — John Oliver is finally taking on Donald Trump — and the “Last Week Tonight” host is not mincing words.
“At this point, Donald Trump is America’s back mole,” Oliver said on Sunday’s episode. “It may have seemed harmless a year ago, but now that it’s become frighteningly bigger, it’s no longer wise to ignore it.”
Oliver, who has largely avoided discussing Trump on his show, was unequivocal in his criticism of the Republican frontrunner.
I haven't laughed this hard and long in a long time! John Oliver has out done himself! I'll say nothing more except ENJOY!
Robert Reich — An Open Letter to the Republican Establishment
You are the captains of American industry, the titans of Wall Street, and the billionaires who for decades have been the backbone of the Republican Party.
You’ve invested your millions in the GOP in order to get lower taxes, wider tax loopholes, bigger subsidies, more generous bailouts, less regulation, lengthier patents and copyrights and stronger market power allowing you to raise prices, weaker unions and bigger trade deals allowing you outsource abroad to reduce wages, easier bankruptcy for you but harder bankruptcy for homeowners and student debtors, and judges who will let you to engage in insider trading and who won’t prosecute you for white-collar crimes.
All of which have made you enormously wealthy. Congratulations.
Click through for the rest of this open letter. There are some billionaires, like Nick Hanauer, who agree with Reich. But they are precious few. The rest are too myopic to see what is happening. As usual, the Reich on the left is right.
Mother Jones — Earlier this month, Esther Calhoun stood before the US Commission on Civil Rights in Washington, DC, describing some of the unlikely ailments that have been plaguing her and her neighbors these past few years. "I am only 51 years old and I have neuropathy," she said. "The neurologist said that it may be caused by lead, and it is not going to get better."
This is not a story about contaminated water in Flint, Michigan. Calhoun, who lives in Uniontown, Alabama, was talking about coal ash—a toxic byproduct of burning coal that has quietly become one of America's worst environmental justice problems. The ashes are typically laden with arsenic, lead, mercury, and other toxins, and multiple studies have found that the waste tends to be stored in low-income, minority communities. In Uniontown, where 90 percent of residents are black and about half live below the poverty line, an uncovered coal ash landfill sits "directly across the street from peoples' homes, and from yards in which their kids play," says Marianne Engelman-Lado, an attorney with the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice.
Environmental justice indeed! I would love to see the reactions of the wealthy who make their homes around golf courses, to the water hasards being coal ash slurry ponds. The poisoning of the poor and working class people is inexcusable. Spend the money to dispose of the ash properly. Or better still, don't burn coal . . . leave it in the ground.
My Universe —
6 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 29/02/2016”
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HP: What a great show!! Oliver is saying what we've been saying all along, DUMP Trump!! Or better yet… #makeDonaldJDrumpfagain!!
Robert Reich: What a great letter, which I've sent out to friends by email to read also.
MJ: For once, I'd love to see a lawsuit that is reflective to the poor people who must live and tolerate these living conditions. And…that they win against these companies.
My Universe: Uh, oh!! 🙂
Maybe a foot boot would help you? A couple years ago, I tripped over my dog in the back yard and fell. (thankfully, it was on pine needles)..but I broke my toe, and twisted my ankle. I went in to get it checked, and got a foot boot put on, which helped a lot with the pain. Icy Hot also works well for the aches and pain too. While it's cumbersome, the boot also aids in getting around for mobility. Just an idea. p.s. My dog was fine, after all was said and done. Enjoy your day, take care, and Thanks, Lynn.
Personally, I’m hoping that Donald Trump will be the Rethuglican nominee … and then we make that party OWN their hate-mongering bigotry, mendacity and stupidity!
It increases the odds that we will continue a “D” in the White House AND take back the Senate AND make inroads into the House AND also state legislatures, where Rethuglicans have excelled. (You don’t get to gerrymander like they have without owning state legislatures.)
Plus if by some Satanic fluke Trump was elected, it’d be clear to me that I’m no longer an American, if that’s who a majority think should run our nation.
I’d move to Canada in a heartbeat! After all, I speak fluent Canadese – and although I’m not fond of Poutine, I do like Back-Bacon and Whale’s Tail.
And even though I can’t hear “O Canada” anymore – I can remember it well enough from when I did have good hearing.
Oh, yeah – your "My Universe" reminds me of that old joke:
When having an illicit affair, the three most dreaded words any spouse can ever hear are …
“Honey, I’m home!”
Ouch, your foot sounds really nasty, Lynn. Do go to your PT as often as you can if that helps. Good luck with the dreaded task.
HuPo: Fantastic show, best I've seen of John Oliver. His dislike of Trump is almost palpable. And his campaign to make Donald Drumpf again is just splendid. I went to http://www.donaldjdrumpf.com to get the extension which changes all Trumps in Drumpfs, byt sadly it is for Chrome which I don't use. So I'll have to remind myself to type Drumpf from now on.
Robert Reich: Letters like this give me energy again after days on end of negativity heaped on us by Drumpf and the rest of the GOP. Reich is right on every point he makes but I don't think his target group will ever read his letter,and even if one orc two did, they wouldn't be convinced. I think these people can only learn to think differently if they go some Scrooge-like experience.
MoJo: " multiple studies have found that the waste ["typically laden with arsenic, lead, mercury, and other toxin"] tends to be stored in low-income, minority communities. "You have a lot of people hurt, and a lot of environmental damage for pennies on the dollar." Start connecting the dots, will ya, America!
My Universe: LOL
May your foot see continued improvement up until the day when it no longer need to improve!
HuffPo – Just saw this in the Daily Kos. Wonderful. I note that Oliver has enough sense to tie up the appropriate domanin names – which contrasts sharply with, oh, say ted cruz dot com or jeb bush dot com.
Robert Reich – I would observe that brain cell poisoning doesn't spare ayone, no matter how rich they are, nor how powerful in their own conporations. (It hasn't spared me, either, but that is all you are getting out of me today LOL.)
MoJo – No, this is a story about environmental justice. Or injustice would be a better description. May I suggest that all those people who are so tied up in their shorts over "racial superiority" consider, that if it is necessary for white people to pump this much poison into people of color (and some poor whites, but that's just collateral damage) in orde to protest that people of color are "not as smart" or "not as successful," just how smart and successful would people of color be with clean air, clean water, and good education? Answer: they would be able easily to wipi the floor with white people. In my experience, they would have too much class to do it, but of course white people who have used and abused them are going to be fearful of potential retaliation, because they know they are guilty. What a tragedy for every single human being.
Universe – Hmmmmm.
Ouch!! I sure3 hope you feel better, Lynn!!