It the last cool day here at the CatBox. I slept twelve hours of the last 24, and I’m ready for more. But then, living in a Republican Reich, one cannot help but feel perpetually punch drunk.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:45 (average 4:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Inequality Media Channel): Three Things You Didn’t Know About Money in Politics
I knew all three. Did you? How many people do you know that don’t know? Change that! RESIST!!
From NY Times: South Korea — For years, Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, has been cracking down on USB flash drives that activists smuggle into his isolated country to poison his people’s minds with outside influences, like South Korean K-pop music.
But last month, when he met with the South’s president, Moon Jae-in, Mr. Moon handed him a USB drive that contained quite a different message.
In charts and video clips, Mr. Moon’s memory stick laid out a “new economic map for the Korean Peninsula,” including new railways and power plants for the impoverished North, should Mr. Kim abandon his nuclear weapons, according to South Korean officials.
Mr. Moon based his sales pitch on the belief that Mr. Kim wants to become the North Korean equivalent of Deng Xiaoping, who oversaw the economic liberalization of China. In this view, Mr. Kim may be willing to transform his pariah state by trading in his nuclear arsenal for diplomatic and economic incentives he needs to achieve prosperity.
If Kim and Trump reach make a deal, it will be Moon’s deal. Trump MUST NOT BE ALLOWED to steal the credit for it. RESIST!!
From Alternet: Vice President Dick Cheney threw his full support behind Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump’s embattled nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency, claiming the veteran spy would "be a great director" while also calling for a continuation of the torture programs she once oversaw.
"If it were my call, I would not discontinue those programs," Cheney said of the George W. Bush administration’s controversial use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks during an appearance on the Fox Business network on Thursday. "I would have them active – and ready to go."
If ChickenHawk Cheney, aka Dead-eye Dick, supports Haspel, could there be a better reason to oppose her? RESIST!!
Cartoon:
28 Responses to “Open Thread – 5/11/2018”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
5:21 Lobelia … but not Sackville-Baggins.
Announcement: There will be no Everyday Erinyes this week due to the illness of the Erynator. I am fighting it as best I can (including sleeping a lot.)
Now THIS is lovely. I wonder how much coverage it will get outside of niche journalism.
Money – Heather McGhee knows whereof she speaks. That was brilliant to even LOOK at the exact amount of dollars tied to each Supreme Court decision, and durned difficult to track. Kudos!
NYT – I don’t mind, and it’s fairly clear that Moon doesn’t mind, if Kim steals some credit, as long as it gets the job done. But there’s ZERO need for Trump to get any undeserved credit. Moon is an example for every politician in the world on how to put country before party.
AlterNet – Cheney supports torture, pure and simple. He claims that is because it works. It doesn’t. And, at least on some level, he knows it doesn’t. The abysmal military failures of the Bush administration alone should demonstrate that any information gained from torture is, AT BEST, unreliable. In fact, Cheney likes torture because he is a sadist. So is Trump, of course.
Cartoon – How high would he be hanging if this happened today?
Hope you start feeling better….Joanne.
Take care!
Ooooh i do like the paw print version! ???
Take care of yourself – and don’t be a hero! Seek help if it gets to be more than you can handle by yourself.!
Take good care of yourself , Joanne, and give yourself time to get better. That may include taking a short holiday from PP too, no matter how disagreeable that sounds. And listen to Nameless; doctor knows best.
Thanks!
Please perform no further Erination , until you’re rested up and feeling better. As prime as your articles are, you are more important.
Thank you. That means a lot.
YVW!
IMC: Those who don’t know this, may not want to now this, and like it that way.
NYT: The congresspeople who signed a letter nominating tDump for the Peace Prize, like Steve King, are a large part of what’s wrong with this country.
Alternet: This clown again!
‘Toon: Ellsberg, and his father rock!
IMC: Well said! Collins of NY: ” His Donors not Constituents” Exactly!!
NYT: Trump doesn’t deserve Kudos for this (or anything, quite frankly), in bringing the Koreas together, rather it’s Mr. Moon, and what he’s been doing behind doors.
AN: I can’t stand Cheney, what a sneaky snake….
Cartoon: A hero in our midst. ‘Ellsberg was acquitted of all charges after two years, largely because it became known that White House operatives had broken into his psychoanalyst’s office to obtain blackmailing material. It was the same kind of operation that led to the Watergate scandal that forced Nixon to resign the presidency in 1974.’ *who2
*Joanne, hope you feel better!! & get your rest. I’ll wait. lol
Hope that you have a relaxing evening, take good care, and Thanks, Tom.
I thought Cheney was dead …
.
Only from his neck up.
No, as long as he stays out of direct sunlight and always gets back to his coffin before dawn, he’ll always be around.
Please be advised that your blood is being boycotted by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Vampires.
?
TY ? TC
YT: I’ve known the first two for some time. That is why I am a tireless activist, constantly posting articles and petitions to Care2. The systems in Seattle and Connecticut are hopeful signs – if we can make this the law throughout the land, then we can truly “drain the swamp” and get rid of most corruption, if not all. Any elected official or candidate who refuses to support publicly-funded elections deserves to have his/her arse kicked!
NYT: The Orange Ogre is like the manager who sits around and does nothing but bark while underlings do all the work, then takes credit for everything.
RESIST, PERSIST, INSIST!!!
MM: If I knew the two first things, I’d imagine many more Americans should know about (all three of them) too. So thanks to TomCat for getting this message out there; now it’s up to others to pass the baton on and educate others. There are many solutions to the problems 1 and 2, those given here are just examples of what will work, starting with states. If people learn of solutions that work, they will come up with more of their own and demand change.
NYT: If anyone had some influence on Kim it was Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom Kim met just a couple of days ago in northern China. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Xi convinced Kim of releasing the three hostages Pompeo had asked for as a goodwill gesture. Drumpf and Pompeo have little or nothing to do with it; Chin calls the shots: On U.S.-North Korea Talks, China May Hold the Cards (NYT). But, please let Drumpf think he’s in charge, it may be the safest route with the best outcome for all of us.
Alternet: The implications from Dick Cheney’s remark are that he wants the CIA to go back to the Middle Ages and start torturing AND that he wants Gina Haspel to be head of the CIA again because he believes she’ll allow it, if not actively support it. Another reason to oppose Haspel’s nomination.
Puzzle — 3:15 I don’t know if this would make a good salad for Puddy Tat or not, but it does attract hummingbirds. When I lived up north (way north), I had trailing sapphire lobelia in my garden boxes.
Inequality Media — And many white males think they are a dying breed and thus engage in all manner of BS including white nationalism? We The People are the ones being scammed! This should be required viewing in all high school civics classes!
NY Times — I am quite sure that Drumpf will try to take credit for any accord reached, but the only thing he is responsible for is inflaming the situation with his taunts and rhetoric. Now if there were a “War Prize”, he and Putin could jointly accept it.
AlterNet — Yup, that ditch!!! (only a different source) More’s the pity that that new heart obviously didn’t affect (as in improve) his thinking. It should have gone to someone who would actually do some good.
Cartoon — Ditto to what JD said!
Well my busy week finally caught up to me and I kept falling asleep at my keyboard unable to even read. Feeling much better now. I received a telephone call yesterday afternoon from the Alzheimer’s Society with some very good news — I won a 3 night get away at the Château Fairmont Whistler for 2 people. This is the provincial prize and there is only one! I am quite excited! Now I have to find someone to go with me . . . my 3 kids are not allowed! (sigh) If I am forced to go alone, I will. It would not be the first time I travelled alone.
??Congrats on your prize, Lynn. Get yourself pampered at that Château, you really deserve it. It would be nice to share it with a good friend, perhaps even one you haven’t seen in a long time, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself just as much alone.
Are you coming to BC any time soon? Fresh mountain air, forests, close drive to the ocean . . . we could get to know each other better.
Wish I could, Lynn. I loved BC when travelling through a lot of it, so thanks for the invitation. But I’m moving in the opposite direction in two month’s time. Getting to know each other better will have to wait.
Congrats! In BC, aren’t their any eligible male Sasquatches that would like to carry on with a lovely Squatch like you?
If there are, I never meet them. I seem to only meet the ineligible ones, and I won’t play in that swimming hole! Maybe I need to go for long walks in the mountain woods!
Well, I looked like a Sasquatch yesterday, but not today
Better travel alone than take a – do Aussies still talk about “wowzers”? People whose attitude ruins everything?
I have done it before and for much longer! I went from Dawson Creek, BC to Edmonton, through Calgary, down to Kalispell, Montana, across to Spokane, WA and then Everett. From there I took the Blackball ferry to Victoria and then back to northern BC via Vancouver. I had strange looks from border agents because I had winter gear with me in the car. The trip was at the end of August and first week or so of September so there was a good chance I’d see snow back in northern BC. In 1984, the first snowfall was the last week of August. Although it did not stay, we were under snow for the winter by mid September. Last snowfall was mid May so it was a very long winter. When travelling, one really must be prepared.
Thanks all. Heat Wave Hugs!
?️