It’s another day with lots of pain, but enough sleep. There has been a small demonstration, marching under my window. Some chanted "What do we want? Educated science! When do we want it? After peer review!" Others chanted, "Science says, ‘Dump Trump!’" A small group of Republican hecklers marched and chanted, "Science trumps niggers! Trump trumps niggers!" I apologize for using that hateful word, but I consider accurately condemning Republican racism more important political correctness. Please expect no more than a personal update tomorrow. It’s a Wendy day, and there is much to do.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:53 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. Hpw did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): Happy Earth Day from MoveOn.org!
What Republicans are doing to the earth is unBEARable. RESIST!!
From Sen. Jeff Merkley: Keep It in the Ground
Climate change is already wreaking havoc on our farming, fishing and forests—and without dramatic action in the near future, it will get much worse. Our society is still dependent on fossil fuels, but affordable and reliable technology exists to gradually transition to clean energy and clean transportation. Making that transition happen smoothly should be a central priority of the federal government.
A key starting point is to stop the expansion of fossil fuel production on our public lands and waters. Rather than serving coal, oil, and gas companies, our public lands should serve the public and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and towards a cleaner energy future.
Learn more about Keep It in the Ground
The Keep It in the Ground Act is one step we can take to slow the pace of climate change and prevent some of its most serious consequences. Click here to learn more about Keep It in the Ground and click here to download a short summary of the bill.
To see the full text of the bill, click here.
To download a copy of our Keep It in the Ground PDF pamphlet, click here.
Sign Up for Jeff’s Climate Updates
To sign up for Jeff’s climate change updates and the latest Keep It in the Ground Act news, sign up here.
Please Support Jeff’s Keep It in the Ground Bill, It won’t pass during a Republican Reich, but it shows voters that Democrats are superior stewards of our world. I could not be more proud of Jeff. Oregon leads the way! RESIST!!
From Daily Kos: Donald Trump wants nothing more in the world than to build that "big, beautiful" nativist status symbol he promised at every campaign stop from the moment he announced his candidacy. Yes, indeedy, that border wall is emerging as so very important to the popular vote loser that his minions are willing to risk it all.
Despite the fact that Republicans have no path to securing enough GOP votes alone to pass Trump’s budget priorities—funding the wall, increased defense spending, and adding more border agents—the White House is preparing to wage what amounts to a game of chicken with Democrats in advance of the April 28 deadline, writes Politico:
With almost uniform Democratic opposition to nearly all of the Trump administration’s spending proposals, the fight could lead to a government shutdown next Friday — the day government spending expires, and right before the 100th day of Donald Trump’s presidency. Officials could also strike a one-week compromise, giving them more time for a broader agreement.
I warned that this was coming. As painful as it might be, Democrats cannot bow to Republican blackmail using the American people as hostages. There is only one response. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
A dark day!
10 Responses to “Open Thread – 4/22/2017”
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4:22 My, what a long snout you have!
Accurately condemning Republican racism IS politically correct. Those who use asterisks are not doing to to be politically correct, but to avoid triggering someone sensitive, which is reasonable also.
Science March contributions from critters:
Merkley/Schiff 2020! (just my opinion)
DKos – Resist indeed.
Cartoon – while it brought horrible things to television, bringing them to light probably had the effect of educating enough people to finally stop them, although it took far too long. But democracy dies in darkness.
(TC, you have created a monster.
)
Cool!
McCarthy had "…no decency," and at the time decency mattered. McCarthy's brand of "Fake news" wound up hurting him, today it is virtually celebrated by 62 million bozos! Sadly, it no longer does. In recent years The GOP brought out Palin, Bachman, Ryan, McConnell, and these have no decency. There was a time when one's characer had a bearing on one's chances for becoming a candidate for president, now we have asses like Christie, Dr. Ben, and, finally Rumpthing right out there!
YT: How sad, not only for the bears, but for all of us. Humans & Wildlife, and Mother Earth
DK: Ugh!!! RESIST!!! Read somewhere, that a few Texas ranchers are not happy with the idea of the building of 'the wall' going through their land for their cattle. And that's big business here, y'all.
Cartoon: The hearings were opened to the public, and the ABC and DuMont networks began their 36-day coverage. It was the first ever nationally televised congressional inquiry. On television, McCarthy came across as bullying, ill-mannered and deceitful. Unfortunately, dt would have loved him!!!
Glad you are getting enough sleep, even with you in pain. Hope you have a good evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
Somehow I am not surprised that a few science-hating counterdemonstrators would drag their knuckles out of their caves and protest the March for Science. In Atlanta we didn't have any backlash at all, but one hell of a turnout.
RESIST AND PERSIST! The March for Science was just the beginning.
Puzzle — 3:30 When I think of camels I think of The Unicorn by the Irish Rovers.
YouTube — There are/were a lot of Earth Day activities around the city like this one:
Volunteers with the Stanley Park Ecology Society play a game of absurdist volleyball, using a net and ball woven from English ivy, at Earth Day festivities at the park in Vancouver on Saturday.
Here in BC, the provincial government wants to expand LNG (liquified natural gas) extraction and has built the revenues into its budgets. But there is a lot of opposition. Of course there are the oil sands in Alberta as well. With both, there is opposition to pipelines. I personally would like to see more solar and wind energy on both sides of the border. I think the wind turbines are graceful looking, not offensive as some think. But I do think of the birds that get caught and wonder about a "netting" that would protect the birds — not unlike a screen on a window.
Daily Kos — According to another Daily Kos article, Mick Mulvaney, Drumpf's budget director told Bloomberg Live
Oh the Republicans want their wall and think that Democrats will sell out the people to avoid a government shut down — a smattering of projection perhaps. Democrats have to hold the line and not give in. Let Republicans take responsibility for their mess — they own it!
A tweet from Chuck Schumer's spokesperson:
Cartoon — Dark days indeed! And Drumpf thinks that the fictitious wire tapping was McCarthism! As usual, he doesn't know shit!
Resist and Persist!!!
On the plus side, you're getting sleep so that should help in the healing. The noise, that is another problem. Take care — rest and hydrate! Although not near me, today was the Vaisakhi celebration in the Sikh and Hindu community. Apparently the celebration held in Surrey (part of Metro Vancouver) is the largest celebration outside of India and was expecting 400,000 people. Of course the BC premier and the leader of the opposition attended — we have a provincial election on 09 May 2017.
I love that song too. The chorus is an example of the catalog – a literary form which I for one was very slow to appreciate – but I see the light now.
?
Hope you vcan enjoy the rest of the weekend with less pain and more sleep, Tomcat. The stupidity of the racist remarks made against marchers for Science is mind bogling. They probably didn't have any signs because those idiots can't read or write.
MoveOn org: Great video. Not only bears feel better in their natural environment, we'd all be much happier if there was more pristine nature left for us all to enjoy.
Jeff Merkley: Jeff is right that the time to act is now and keep 80% of fossil fuels in the ground , and you are right, TomCat, that acting on federal level isn't going to happen while the fossil fuel driven GOP and its henchmen in Drumpf's administration are doing their utmost to get it all out of the ground. So progressive states need to take the lead and RESIST and keep global warming and its consequences in the eye of the American public, no matter how much the federal government is trying to bury it and make matters even worse. Kudos to Merkley!
DK: Well, someone's going to get hurt with a government shutdown next Friday. Last time the Republicans held the American people hostage, the civil servants like park rangers went without pay, and some of the national parks had to close down. But this time these same civil servants are already RESISTING as their jobs are already threatened by cuts in the same budget, so I think they'll just join in and keep resisting.
Dutch March for Science
Science is taking action against 'post-truth'
April 22, 2017
Scientists meet in 518 cities around the world to emphasize the importance of their work. With this 'march for science' in the Netherlands in Maastricht and Amsterdam, science wants to act against the tendency to discard facts as an easy-to-be-rejected opinion. The motto of March: 'No science, no evidence, no truth, no democracy.'
Pearl Dykstra, professor of empirical sociology at Erasmus University and one of the speakers at the Museum Square, heard about the action shortly after the start of Donald Trump as president of the United States. "I thought immediately, yes, this is important." Trump had just issued a presidential decree against immigration from seven predominantly Islamic countries. "For science, free movement across borders is crucial," says Dykstra. "Einstein was a refugee. Steve Jobs's biological father was a Syrian refugee. "Dykstra mainly mentions the importance of social sciences at the Museumplein. "We are the ones who produce the facts and figures on which governments base their policies. How old people become, how the crime develops, how big the income differences are. "
Rianne Letschert, rector magnificus of Maastricht University, does not only go to oppose a post-truth politics on Saturday but also to emphasize the importance of the freedom of scientists. "All over the world, freedom is restricted, and not only in America. In Hungary, a university has been closed where we have collaborated on a regular basis. In Turkey, scientific appointments are often no longer regulated by scientists themselves. "
Sheesh, Lona. It's true, and it needs to be said, but it sure hurts to have America be used as the number one example of a place where freedom is restricted.
Thanks all! Hugs!!