This week is very busy again. I have at least one event every day, but usually more. I am trying to ready myself for the Alzheimer's Walk for Memories and raising money for research and programmes. As in the US, it is tax preparation time so that is on my list to do. And of course there is spring cleaning . . . always spring cleaning no matter what season it is!
Short Takes
Politico — Dispirited over a Republican Party primary that has devolved into an ugly, damaging fight, some of the GOP’s biggest financiers are reevaluating whether to invest in the 2016 presidential contest at all.
Among those on the sidelines: Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who hosted the Republican Jewish Coalition’s spring meeting at his Venetian hotel this weekend. His apparent ambivalence about 2016 was shared by many RJC members here. With grave doubts about the viability of the few remaining Republican contenders, many of these Republican donors have decided to sit out the rest of the primary entirely. And while some are reluctantly getting behind a remaining candidate, others are shifting their attention to congressional contests. …
The jewish community and @RJC honoring the great prime minister of Canada Stephen Harper – great friend of Israel
Photo from Huffington Post
While the RJC spring meeting is traditionally a celebration of Adelson, with politicians of all stripes venturing to the Venetian to pay homage, this year’s was different.
On Thursday evening, Adelson hosted some of the organization’s top officials at his palatial mansion. While former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed how fractured parties can unite, Adelson listened but said little, according to three people who were present. And on Friday, rather than preside over the deliberations, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, departed for a wedding.
The lack of interest is partly rooted in exhaustion. After watching many of the party’s establishment prospects — from Scott Walker to Marco Rubio — go up in flames, many top donors say they’ve simply grown tired of opening their wallets. Some here have given to multiple candidates, only to watch them suffer defeat.
And you thought Canada was nasty refusing to take Cruz back! Now Adelson is importing Canada's Republican demagogue, Stephen Harper.
Think Progress — Nearly a week after pipeline operator TransCanada shut down a section of its Keystone line over an oil leak, the company reported Thursday thousands of gallons of oil were spilled, not less than 200 as it first said. …
After the spill was reported earlier this week, environmental groups said Keystone’s spill proves the threat that the Keystone XL expansion would have posed. They also noted that the Keystone pipeline, approved by President George W. Bush in 2008, leaked oil 12 times in its first year of operation. “TransCanada’s Keystone I disaster is a stark reminder that it’s not a question if a pipeline will malfunction, but rather a question of when. This is one of the reasons President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline and it’s why he should reject all dangerous fossil fuel pipeline proposals,” Sierra Club’s Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement.
Oil transportation largely relies on trains and pipelines. Out of those two, pipelines spill more often than trains, yet train accidents can be deadlier as trains are more likely to explode. U.S. pipelines spilled three times as much crude oil as trains over the period of 2004 to 2012, …
And Trans Canada thinks it is their right to pollute with impunity? I hope its lawsuit in federal court and their NAFTA challenge fail miserably.
Raw Story — Bill O’Reilly questioned Donald Trump’s ability to provide jobs in African-American communities during an interview on Monday by painting black Americans as being ill-equipped for the labor force.
“How are you going to get jobs for them?” O’Reilly asked. “Many of them are ill-educated and have tattoos on their foreheads, and I hate to be generalized about it but it’s true. If you look at all the educational statistics, how are you going to give jobs to people who aren’t qualified for jobs?”
Barf Bag Alert! Barf Bag Alert! Barf Bag Alert! Barf Bag Alert! Barf Bag Alert! Barf Bag Alert!
Openly racist comments . . . but that is to be expected from a pair of Republicans!
My Universe — Chilling with some friends!
4 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 09/04/2016”
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Sounds like thos fdeet wont have time to stop moving!!
That they are spending money on Republicans at any level is bad news.
Let the TRUSed Uranus carry the pipeline back to Canada.
O'Lielly = Racist'R'Us!!
How shameful!! Eat the fish and chickens, Kitty!!
Happy walking!
Politico – Probably picked Harper because Rob Ford was – um – not available ("We wouldn't want to dig him up just for that.") I would like to call attention to the fact that at least some are "shifting their attention to congressionsl candidates." Do watch out for that, and call it out!
Think Progress. So they are now saying thousands of gallons, as opposed to under 200. I'll bet it's more like hundreds of thousands.
Raw Story Republicans think minorities are unqualified for jobs because they have done their very best to make it so. Water pollution (such as lead), air pollution, sabotaging schools, running a school-to-prison pipeline – when you think about it, it is a real triumph of the human spirit that so many minority people are qualified, and very highly qualified, thank you, to hold jobs with much more responsibility than Drumpf or O'Lielly could handle.
Universe – Timo is a sweetie.
Can't believe those koi have survived with Timo the Cat around! Other than that, his demeanor reminds me of my critter.
And what kind of cat is Timo the Cat?
Your idea of Spring cleaning is a lot like mine, Lynn. You do whatever you can at any convenient time in the year.
Politico: I guess the RJC members didn't open up their purses for Dominionist Cruz and Trump may be a bit too over the top for them: his Islamophobia must be appealing to them, but his suggestion that all Muslims should be registered and wear some kind of identification may have been a but off-putting to most. So what are they to do without a good Republican to support? They get good old, trustworthy and demagogic Stephen Harper from the refuse tip the Canadians have dumped him on. Republicans in the North Americas are having a hard time lately.
TP: You could wait for another Keystone oil leak to happen. So typical of these big companies to minimize the amount spilled until the size is evident to all. Americans should thank all the people who have so valiantly fought to keep the extension from happening, saving the country from a major environmental disaster. Each new leak or spill will weaken their lawsuits and NAFTA challenge even more, but the environment is the one to pay each time.
RS: It's amazing. America has gone from covert to blatantly open racism on a major TV network in a matter of months. One Drumpf made all the difference. He took the lid of the Republican cesspool and they're not even trying to put it back on. Imagine what would happen if this man made it to the White House!
My Universe: Timo is my kind of cat. He looks exactly like the ragdoll who owned my mother some years back. A gentle, laid back giant.