Between tech issues and a bunch of work for my volunteer organization, I’ve been busier today that a long-tail TomCat in a rocking chair factory. I hope you’re enjoying a peaceful, weekend.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:17 (average 5:17). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Donald Trump Toys With Abuse Of Office In Beef Against Washington Post (22 min.)
The comparison between Nixon’s and Trump’s abuse of power is fascinating. Trump’s use of government agencies to harm enemies financially is an impeachable offense. RESIST!!
From YouTube (Oregonian Channel): Texas lt. governor says fewer doors could prevent school shootings
What a vile Republican idiot! It’s the guns, Stupid! As a former volunteer firefighter, my first thought is that single entrances to and from high schools would soon lead to crispy kids. Also, such a choke point would make it harder for kids to get away from a shooter. RESIST!!
From UPI: European Union members meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, prepared a united front against U.S. decisions to exit the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and impose steel and aluminum tariffs.
The European Commission, the EU executive branch, announced Friday it "launched the formal process to activate the Blocking Statute by updating the list of U.S. sanctions on Iran falling within its scope."
The blocking statute, created in 1996 to evade the U.S. embargo of goods to Cuba, will be remodeled to reflect Iran-related sanctions that were reinstated after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the accord on May 8. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javas Zarif met with his British, French and German counterparts in Brussels earlier this week.
"What we demand is no conditions and no limits and to go back to the situation before," French President Emmanuel Macron said at the summit meeting Thursday. "The condition for all talks is to lift all threats and tariffs, without mention of a time limit."
Even Russia is getting in on this deal, as a signer od the Iran pact. It took a Republican Reich to force the EU into siding with Iran and Russia against the US. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
17 Responses to “Open Thread – 5/19/2018”
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7:05 Cute thing. Maybe Lynn can save him.
Petition 1
Petition 2
Sorry for multiple petitions, but this one is personal.
Oooh, my, the New York Times has a new scoop.
MSNBC – Well, of course, that’s what happened to all Republicans who were not only honest, but also naive enough to believe upper echelon Republicans might possibly be honest too. They evaporated in poofs of smoke. Sigh. THIS IS WHAT REPUBLICANS DO. Including eating their own. Incidentally, the main toady agency today is ICE.
Texas – As so many have said … why shoot ’em when you can just burn ’em alive? It hit you as a volunteer firefighter. It hit me as a property insurance underwriter. But I would hope one wouldn’t have to be either to get the point. Just smarter than Texas’s Lieutenant Governor.
UPI – Yes. Quite an accomplishment.
Cartoon – Well, it’s a nice thought.
Signed all petitions, also ‘personal’ one. #3988.
Thx, Joanne.
Signed!
Signed and shared all 3 petitions Joanne.
Welcome Nita! ?
Amen!
Thanks all.
MSNBC: Comes back to haunt us….truth be told. Excellent piece.
OC: Ditto to your comment, Tom.
UPI: What. an. ID !!! (dt)
Hope you get your chores done, and you get a chance to relax. Enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
*btw….J.J. Watt offers to pay for funerals of all Santa Fe High School shooting victims, such a loving gesture!
http://www.fox26houston.com/sports/jj-watt-offers-to-pay-for-funerals-of-all-santa-fe-high-school-shooting-victims
Petitions signed!
They’ll say any stupid ridiculous thing that pops into their head, rather than mention gun control!!!
Do republicans take lessons on how to be this EFFING stupid?
Or is it just an innate skill?
Even if one’s logic is flawless (and, no, I’m not saying that theirs is), flawed/false premises will produce flawed/false results.
If they ever had to defend the Second Amendment logically, based on premises like the general welfare and the equality of all, they couldn’t do it. But they will never try. The Second Amendment – and not even the real one, but the one they have hallucinated – is the major premise of all their gun logic. Of course the stupid will burn.
Guns don’t kill people – doors kill people? Republican idiocy knows no bounds.
The 27th Amendment is a great idea, but maybe there are too many loopholes.
Rachel Maddow: Thanks for another lesson on American political history. The Watergate scandal was well before my time and I never picked up on it, so it’s only today I learned about Nixon’s abuse of power against his enemies besides the Watergate break-in and his obstruction of justice after that came to light. But apparently I’m not the only one lacking in historical knowledge, which is strange, at the very least, for an American 10 years older than I am and now currently sitting behind the same desk Nixon sat behind. The stupid arrogance of Drumpf really knows no bounds. Nixon had John Dean singing like a canary after the fact, Drumpf has a whole aviary full of songbirds who have been singing from the day they came into the White House. But I suppose he can be careless and cocky about it, with the GOP in Congress protecting his, and their back no matter what.
Vote them out of House and Senate and get the impeachment procedure on it’s way.
Oregonian: Thank you, Texas’ Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for being such an incredibly stupid, NRA-sponsored, ass. Trying to find something else to blame for 10 more innocent deaths at the hands of a gunman at a school, besides the most blatant obvious: lack of serious gun control, is very hard to do when Republicans have covered that ridiculous list extensively. So thank you for your inane suggestion, Lt. Gov. Patrick; you’ve made it perfectly clear the GOP/NRA will never tolerate even the slightest move towards a solution.
UPI: The EU is learning to stand on its own feet really fast and to it’s own surprise it feels good to stand up to a bully’s threats and honour a past agreement. They are not siding with Iran: “Everybody in the EU shares the opinion that the Iran agreement is not perfect, but that we should still remain in this agreement and that we should do further negotiations with Iran on the basis of this agreement.” Nor is the EU siding with the Russians, who like the Chinese, have signed the agreement in 2015, exactly as ALL members of the UN Security Council, including the US signed it then. But greedy “businessman” Drumpf would never understand the significance of this agreement with Iran having been signed by all members of the UN SC in a step towards security in the ME.
Puzzle — 4:01 Sorry JD, but I hear a giant BURP! from a certain Puddy Tat. That cute pup is history now.
MSNBC — I knew of Watergate of course, but I did not know about the use of “the available federal machinery” against Nixon’s and the Republican Party’s enemies. What I knew about Nixon should have been enough to sink his ship, but this extra bit is definitely very interesting and telling. Fast forward to 2018 and this whole scenario is playing out again with another Republican, pResident Drumpf. Nixon hates the press and so went after Chandler and the LA Times. Drumpf hates the press, particularly Bezos and the Washington Post. Both Nixon and Drumpf were/are crooks guilty of using “the available federal machinery” for their own ends. Nixon’s tactics worked well for We The People by ending Nixon’s presidency. May it also mean the end of Drumpf’s residency! This is an excellent piece by Rachel . . . riveting even!
Oregonian — Further proof that Republicans have devolved!!! “Stupid idiot” is far to nice a thing to say about this Republican. The death toll would have been far, far higher!!! To parody a saying from my youth, what do you get when you put all Republicans in a school with only one door and there is a fire? . . . crispy critters!
UPI — Drumpf is a short-sighted little Napoleon with no redeeming qualities! My hat is off to the EU for standing up to this tin pot fascist, Drumpf. If one measures the success of a US presidency by its number of enemies, the Drumpf presidency is very successful. In 1945, Europe was devastated by almost 6 years of war. It looked to the US for help in rebuilding, and that help was given. However that help came with a price, whether Europe knew it at the time or not. It is good to see the EU using its head and taking back its future w/o a spoiled brat US.
Cartoon — Too bad one could not decrease the salaries for non performance!
Oops! I’ll be late for church. Later!
“Too bad one could not decrease the salaries for non performance!” I’m afraid that would not be as good an idea as it sounds – because of the way the average American sees “performance” (which they call “getting things done.”) To the average American, passing the catastrophic Trump Tax Act looks like “getting something done.” Whereas all our efforts to prevent the courts from being hijacked and the Three Stooges from being confirmed to the Cabinet are “not getting anything done.”
Just in time!
Thanks all. Pooped Hugs. ?