Squatch’s Open Thread 14 February 2017

 Posted by at 3:08 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Feb 142017
 

It has been quite a while since I last posted any articles, so long that it feels foreign to me.  I was very busy going back and forth to my mother's care home.  I would sit with her for hours every day.  But that came to an end with my mother's passing, age 88, on 04 February 2017 from bronchial  pneumonia.  I have a lot to do now with her estate.  But most of what I need to do is not urgent.  I wanted to get back to posting but I have been just too tired this past month.  I did however save a few links that I thought were interesting, and some humourous.

Short Takes

Huffington Post — Despite Donald Trump’s transition from developer to reality star to president of the United States, his wardrobe and temperament haven’t changed a bit. 

Though no one seems to be able to do anything about his disposition, GQ decided to step in and give Trump a YUGE presidential makeover in a hilarious new video. The men’s magazine trolls the president BIGLY with advice on how to solve his slouchy suits, Scotch-taped ties and wrinkled pants. They even offer tailoring tips to make his hands look bigger.

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I cracked up when I saw this.  Alas though, nobody can fix the personality . . . not even GQ.  Enjoy!

YouTube — John Oliver is back and explores Drumpfenfarten's acquaintance with truth.

Washington Post — To celebrate the 62nd anniversary of a school in northern Taiwan, students were invited to choose historical figures and “cosplay” them at a parade Friday.

Liu Hsi-cheng, a history teacher at Hsinchu Kuang Fu High School, suggested to his homeroom class that they go with famous people from Arabic culture, he told the Taipei Times.

But Liu's students had another idea: a theme based on Adolf Hitler.

Liu warned his students that such a theme would be “very controversial,” the paper reported — but ultimately “chose to respect the students' decision and did not veto it” after the class voted on it twice.

On Friday, students from the school in Hsinchu, about 55 miles southwest of Taipei, showed up to the festivities wearing Nazi uniforms and brandishing signs, arm bands and long red banners with swastikas on them.

I was flabbergasted when I saw this piece.  The teacher, IMO, missed an excellent opportunity to educate the students about history and ethics.  Is it any wonder why Drumpfenfarten would like speaking with the head of state of Taiwan against the "One China" policy that Obama and others had maintained?  Click through for the rest of the story.

MSN.com — If you thought the yellow brick road was cool, then you are going to love one road France just paved. 

I can't embed the video but I thought this was really cool, and so proactive, something we won't see in the US with the current administration, and not likely in Canada either.  Click on MSN.com.

CBC — Australian researchers have observed two specimens of a rare sea dragon that's never before been seen alive.

Sea dragons aren't very common, found in the waters off the coast of southern Australia. For some time, only two types were known: the leafy sea dragon and the common sea dragon (sometimes also called the weedy sea dragon).

Then, in 2015, PhD student Josefin Stiller discovered that four samples collected over the years — the first in 1919 — had been misclassified as a common sea dragon. Instead, it was its own species, named the ruby sea dragon.

One more reason why we need to protect the oceans as habitats and as life affirming bodies.  Click through for more of this fascinating creature.

My Universe

 . . . and not to leave out the canines . . . 

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Open Thread – 2/14/2017

 Posted by at 12:29 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 142017
 

Stumpy is being more cooperative today, and barely squeezed into George this morning, after spending most of yesterday elevated above chest height.  I think he was retaining fluids, because I am mildly dehydrated from spending so much time at my desk and out and about that I paid too little attention hydrating myself.  Some guzzle water naturally, but I have to force myself.  I have my urologist appointment rescheduled for next month.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:22 (average 4:55).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Michael Flynn Must Now Be Arrested | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

 

Last Night Michael Flynn resigned to downplay and try to evade prosecution for his treason and to protect his equally guilty Fuhrer. Both Flynn and Trump must be investigated, indicted, tried, convicted and incarcerated! RESIST!!

From The Rachel Maddow Show: Spousal abuse testimony on Oprah a factor in Puzder confirmation

Rachel Maddow reports that video of a 1990 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show in which the ex-wife of Donald Trump labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder talks about being the victim of his abuse has been submitted to Senators considering his confirmation.

The Dems, with one exception, put up as good a fight as possible against Beauregard and Know Nothing. It would be nice to block Putzser.  That exception is Joe Manchin [DINO-WV].  He actually voted FOR both Sessions and DeVos!!  Why don’t you give him a call? – WV 304-342-5855 or DC 202-224-3954.  Tell him he’s a waste of skin and a good for nothing DINO turd!  If you wish, be even less complimentary.  RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: An exuberant Betsy DeVos said on Monday that Donald J. Trump’s forty-per-cent approval rating is a “clear indication” that more than half the country agrees with the job he is doing.

“I was so excited to see the President’s approval rating hit forty,” DeVos, the Secretary of Education, told reporters. “Just knowing that well more than half the country is with him gives us a great sense of confidence moving forward.”

She also criticized the media for failing to report “our powerful forty-per-cent mandate.”

“If you believed news reports, you would think that the people supporting the President are in the minority, when in fact they’re forty per cent,” she said.

Dang Andy! Is it any wonder that I just labeled her Know Nothing? RESIST!!

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Everyday Erinyes – Special Delusion Edition

 Posted by at 12:07 pm  Politics
Feb 132017
 

With polls telling us things like "51% of Trump supporters believe his executive orders should override the Federal Courts" and "43% of VOTERS approve of Trump and his policies," you may be wondering why so many people have such aberrant opinions.  While 51% of Trump voters is less than a quarter of all Americans, that is still a scary number.  Well, Right Wing Watch, a project of People for the American Way, may have some answers for us – that is, for you, me, and the Furies.  As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

I read PFAW's RWW newsletter whenever it hits my inbox, but this week I was struck – it almost felt like being slapped – by the consistency of message which was being reported.  Firstly, there was a story on Rick Wiles.

Rick is a conspiracy theorist and End Times radio host whose program is called "Trunews."  (Does this imply he thinks that "alternative facts" are "tru," as opposed to "true"?)  He's been overshadowed by Alex Jones and others, but maybe he shouldn't be.  Maybe we need to be aware where the wingnuts are getting their "information."  And what "information" it is!  Here is a sampling of Rick's Ravings:

We are witnessing a full-blown Marxist/communist resistance movement, a revolution in America….  The chief banker funding the Purple Revolution is billionaire George Soros and the chief community organizer directing the insurrection in the streets is none other than Barack Hussein Obama … My gut feeling says Barack Obama is on the phone day and night and he is directing the protests, he is organizing, he is giving clear instructions to the people what to do and how to carry it out.

This is outright sedition … and we have laws in the United States against sedition….  What the Democrats are doing, and the news media and the Obamanista bureaucrats inside the government agencies, what they are doing is, these are acts of sedition….  You wanna get God worked up? You know what sedition reminds Him of?… Lucifer. It all goes back to Lucifer because what Lucifer did in heaven was commit sedition … So all acts of sedition are inspired by Lucifer.

If you haven't already filled a barf bag or two, you can listen to the whole program if you click through.  There are also links to some previous articles featuring him.  One of the articles even references genital mutilation.  Incidentally, the dictionary says "wile" means "a trick, artifice, or stratagem meant to fool, trap, or entice."  How – um – transparent.

The next article concerns a probably more familiar name – Jim Bakker.  Remember him?  He used to be a felon.  Well.  He had fellow "evangelist" Billye Brim on his show (would she be the inventor and chief distributor of "Brimstone®"?  But I digress.)

Bakker told evangelist Billye Brim that he encountered “four rotten little girls” demonstrating against Trump during the president’s inauguration, asserting: “It was a possession, it’s the demons.”

“What’s happening is we’ve had leaders who have opened our country to demon powers,” he said. “They have worked for the dark side, the other side. We have millions of demon-possessed people in this country now.”

Brim agreed that demons were behind such anti-Trump protests such as the Women’s March on Washington and urged viewers to pray for confusion in their ranks.

Personally, I think what happened to Jim Bakker is that he got possessed, had an exorcism, failed to pay the exorcist's bill for services rendered, and was repossessed.  Which might also explain Dr. Brim (I have no idea where the degree is from, but she claims it.)  Clicking through here will give you a video to watch – if you have the stomach for it.

No Delusion Edition could possibly be complete without Alex Jones, and, sure enough, RWW has a current Jones story.  And video (Yeeccch).

Hours before Lady Gaga’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, far-right radio host Alex Jones warned that the concert was going to be nothing but a Satanic ritual.

After linking her to “Pizzagate”—the conspiracy theory pushed by Jones and other conservatives that a Washington, D.C. restaurant hosts a devil-worshiping child sex ring connected to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats—Jones predicted that Lady Gaga would present herself as “the goddess of Satan” and “a twisted pile of crap” who wants Americans to bow to her demonic presence.

Jones encouraged people to boycott Lady Gaga and the Super Bowl and instead put their energy into helping him and Donald Trump, one of Jones’ fans and past guests, smash the satanic system that he says runs America.

Unbelieveable.

I can understand thinking Lady Gaga is a goddess, especially since "goddess" is exactly what "diva" means.  But Jones has his mythlogies mixed when he calls her a "satanic goddess," i.e., a goddess who works for Satan.  Satan, formerly Lucifer, is at best a (fallen) archangel.  Goddesses don't work for angels.  It's the other way around.  If you are going to peddle mythology, it seems to me, you should at least get it RIGHT.  Perhaps that comes from hanging out with Furies.  Oh, well.

Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone, I don't know whether even you, with your powers, have the ability to do anything with the people who listen to these nutcases, let alone the nutcases in chief.  And I wouldn't know how to assign you.  But if there is anything you can do, I hope you will.

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4036603

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Respect for the Office of the President

 Posted by at 12:06 pm  Politics
Feb 122017
 

Putin’s Butt Boy, the Tangerine Traitor, and his lackeys have been doing a lot of whining lately.  They think that everyone who does not follow them, goose-stepping in lock-step into a fascist Republican Reich has no respect for the office of the President.  I have more to say about that later, but first, the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, has demonstrated that the Reich on the right is wrong.

RobertReich

Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway charges that media coverage of Donald Trump lacks “respect for and recognition of the dignity for the office of the president.”

No, Kellyanne, it’s Donald Trump who lacks respect for and recognition of the dignity of the office of the president.

A small sampling of Trump’s words and actions from recent days:

1. After being told of a Texas state senator who wants to require convictions before the state can forfeit property, Trump asks for the senator’s name and says “we’ll destroy his career.”

2. In response to criticism by Senator John McCain that his Yemen operation wasn’t successful, Trump says McCain “only emboldens the enemy! He’s been losing so long he doesn’t know how to win anymore.”

3. After Senator Richard Blumenthal relates that his Supreme Court nominee finds Trump’s criticisms of the courts “demoralizing,” Trump blasts Blumenthal “who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had (major lie), now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him.”

4. Trump tells the press that “daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom,” after Nordstrom dropped her line due to declining sales… [emphasis added]

From <Robert Reich>

I’ve only included four examples that show how Trumps abuse of power proves lack of respect for the presidency.  Robert gave nine more.  Please click through for them.

I admit that I have no respect for the Office of the President.  Why?  I see no point in respecting an empty office.  This usurper is a resident, and NOT a President.  If the US is ever fortunate enough to have a President again, I’ll reexamine the issue.

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Open Thread – 2/12/2017

 Posted by at 12:06 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 122017
 

Wendy just left and I'm just beginning my writing for the day.  Please expect no more than a Personal Update from me tomorrow, because I have a routine appointment with my Urologist.  I feel sorry for Fuhrer Tiny Hands.  His Urologist is no longer available, having died laughing.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 5:27 (average 7:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: When Republicans in Kentucky seized total control of the state government last year, Damon Thayer, the majority leader in the State Senate, began asking around for advice from counterparts in other capitals where the party already dominated both the legislative and executive branches.

How should we handle all this power? he wanted to know.

One answer impressed him, Mr. Thayer said, from a senior Republican lawmaker in Wisconsin: “Move quickly.”

Kentucky Republicans have done just that, swiftly passing laws to roll back the powers of labor unions and restrict access to abortion. But they are only getting started, Mr. Thayer said in an interview: They also plan to make sweeping changes to the education and public pension systems this year.

And they have plenty of company.

While Republicans in Washington appear flummoxed by the complexities of one-party rule, struggling with issues from repealing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, to paying for President Trump’s promised wall on the Mexican border, rising party leaders in the states seem far more at ease and assertive. Republicans have top-to-bottom control in 25 states now, holding both the governorship and the entire legislature, and Republican lawmakers are acting with lightning speed to enact longstanding conservative priorities.

Democratic leaders, to their shame, have ignored building our state and local parties. That must change.

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Sean Spicer Press Conference Cold Open

 

She's good! In the real world, I like Baby Spice, Posh Spice, and even Scary Spice better than Shitty Spice.

From Think Progress: The Trump administration has elected not to contest a Texas federal judge’s injunction barring the federal government from implementing Obama administration guidelines that protect transgender kids in schools.

Oral arguments for the Obama Justice Department’s appeal of the judge’s decision were scheduled for Tuesday. The DOJ cancelled them in a legal brief submitted Friday.

“Defendants-appellants hereby withdraw their pending November 23, 2016 motion for partial stay pending appeal,” the brief says. “The parties jointly move to remove from the Court’s calendar the February 14, 2017 oral argument currently scheduled for that motion. The parties are currently considering how best to proceed.”

That brief was filed the day after Jeff Sessions was sworn in as Attorney General.

As ThinkProgress reported last August, the Obama administration’s guidance “stated that Title IX’s nondiscrimination protections on the basis of ‘sex’ protect transgender students in accordance with their gender identity, such that they must be allowed to use the bathrooms and play on sports teams that match their gender.” But the brief filed Friday signals that the Trump administration no longer wants to implement that guidance.

It took Beauregard only a day to translate GOP hate into disobeying the law to empower discrimination.

Cartoon:

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Bill Wasn’t as Funny

 Posted by at 12:20 pm  Politics
Feb 112017
 

Maher3

We can almost always count on Bill Maher to remind us of highly necessary truths at the same time that he provokes the kind of laughter that is a balm to a Trump-weary soul.  Bill wasn’t as funny last night as he normally is.  Of course there were ma few good laughs.  After all, he IS Bill Maher, but this may be the most serious I’ve seen him, especially during his New Rules.  Here are three clips for your elucidation and enjoyment.

Is Trump Tired of Losing?

 

That’s a good analysis of Loony Toons from the Fuhrer and the Fascists: whiney little bitches!!

The Al Franken Millennium

 

Al is the person who invented the Republican character, "Supply Side Jesus." If you thought I did, I stole it from him, and do respect him. However, I think he’s being too collegial in some of the things he says.

New Rule: Make America Learn Again

 

When I was young, I got to learn how to think and how to learn, Today, with Republicans controlling most school boards, text books and curricula, students are learning what to think, what to memorize, and not to learn instead. Would that we could change that! School Board Member is far too important a job to give to a Republican!

RESIST!!

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