I’m still well short of recovering from my volunteer day, so today’s articles come with limited research. In other words, there may well be better stories that I have not even heard about yet. Today is a minor Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. It’s preseason Week 1. I’m amazed that the Broncos service will not be televised, because they are playing the damn Seachickens. If I had a nickel for every Broncos game I’ve missed, because the networks think Portland a a suburb of Seattle, I could be a progressive version of the Koch Brothers, except that I would not own politicians I supported. I’m sure very few starters will get much playing time, so there’s little need for fantasy players to pay too much attention to their players’ performance yet. May the blessed Orb shine its holy light on your team, unless it’s the damn Seachickens. 
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:54 (average 4:37). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: In an effort to boost his foreign-policy credentials, the billionaire Donald Trump on Tuesday said that, if he were elected President, he would defeat ISIS with “brutal and relentless” attacks on Twitter.
“Under President Obama, ISIS has been able to maraud and rampage with impunity,” Trump told Fox News. “When I’m in the White House, the leaders of ISIS are going to bear the brunt of the most vicious tweets the world has ever known.”
The real-estate mogul said that, as President, he would set aside a portion of the time that he currently allots to excoriating journalists, politicians, and assorted other perceived enemies on Twitter to focus his fury on the leaders of ISIS.
Dang!! Is Hairball revealing his strategy to Andy on the sly?
From PRWatch: The Koch brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held their annual summits in California this year. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was a featured speaker at both, capturing enthusiastic applause as he won the Koch summit straw poll last night reports Politico.
As the Koch network of funders gets ready to unleash an unimaginable $900 million on the 2016 campaign, they are busily trying to remake their public image and spin undisclosed dark money as a plus in political campaigns.
Charles Koch told the billionaires and millionaires attending his Freedom Partners summit that they needed to recast their multi-million dollar effort to sway elections in the mold of "freedom movements," such as the American civil rights movement. In a similar vein, attendees of the ALEC conference were busy recasting the notion of undisclosed "dark money" in political campaigns as "anonymous free speech" similar to that engaged in by Lewis Carroll or George Orwell when they relied on pseudonyms to publish various novels.
Get ready for a trip down the rabbit hole.
Am I the only one who is not surprised that the Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan is the number one sucker of … nevermind?
From Daily Kos: Harry Reid isn’t running for re-election and is feeling just a little bit unleashed. A lot unleashed. So he’s taken to the opinion page of The New York Times to point out that his successor in Senate leadership, Mitch McConnell, has pretty much sucked so far.
The situation started when Republicans took over the House in 2011, but it has picked up rapidly since they took control of the Senate earlier this year. The conclusion is unavoidable: Republican control of Congress means constant crisis.
In the seven months that Republicans have controlled the Senate, we’ve suffered from the expiration of critical national security tools, come within hours of partially shutting down the Department of Homeland Security and witnessed a complete shutdown of the Export-Import Bank, a previously uncontroversial agency that supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Routine business like confirming nominees is ignored.
While Republicans have kept virtually none of their promises about how they would run Congress, one promise they have kept is their vow to use essential appropriations bills to manufacture even more crises. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican Senate leader, laid out this strategy last year, saying that President Obama “needs to be challenged, and the best way to do that is through the funding process.”
Reid’s larger point is to highlight the fact that—despite all of McConnell’s insistence that there will not be a government shutdown on his watch—we’re headed toward a government shutdown. That’s happening because of McConnell’s instigating his fellow Republicans to use the funding process to "challenge" President Obama. Or repeal Obamacare, or defund women’s health, or whatever the extremist cause du jour happens to be.
You know that the problem is critical when the Nevada Leg Hound, Harry Reid, stops humping GOP legs, whining for favors, rolling over, and playing dead long enough to blow the whistle. That said, Chuck Schumer would be so bad that I’d miss the Leg Hound!
Cartoon:
44 Responses to “Open Thread–8/13/2015”
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3:55 Poor thing must be a Republican – and the scary part is, the voice in her head is actually visible – even when she's not looking directly at it!
I just had to share this signature line from the Daily Kos: "The GOP loves the unborn because it's the only group that doesn't yet hate them." (credit: here4tehbeer)
Praying for Jimmy Carter.
New Yorker – He doesn't have to be President to do that. Maybe he should start right away, before he has the Secret Service.
PR Watch – Oh, yeah. Because they can control him. He'll do exactly what they want, in seventeen different positions. They don't like Trump because he's such a loose cannon. It's betwen Walker, who is so slick even Americans are beginning to notice, and Strike 3, who is coming across as too mushy right now.
Daily Kos – Alas, there appears little chance of getting someone bettter. I hope and pray the picture changes between now and then.
Cartoon – You are sure? If you have had this for a while, they may have destroyed while your back was turned.
Point well taken. It's four years old and I have no idea where it used to be.
Loved piece in the New Yorker by Andy! I had my husband so wrapped up, he had to pause his old westerns that he faithfully watches every day!
Harry Reid is busy talking, Now that he doesn’t have to worry about re-election! What a CROCK!
Black Lives Matter disrupted Jeb I read.
Many other places with the same risk as your picture I fear.
I agree with Reid.
I think they got confused and are modeling off of The Jefferson Airplane (Starship) Alice instead of the political allegory…
He not only tweets but is a twit.
It was so nice to breathe fresh air at Tahoe for awhile yesterday–tough to return to what is still here albeit better than before.
I also read that the leader of the group that disrupted Berniie in Seattle is a Tea Party Republican and an associate of Sarah Palin.
Real leader or claimed to be leader? Hilary got advance word and changed the event they were targeting to closed-door private session…
Well, she is the one that did the talking and held the mike.
I'm not surprised that Hillary did that.
4:13 Creepy statue and face in the wall. Don't break any teeth trying to eat them.
3:03 At least I won't break any of my teeth.
3:03 A rather chalky texture to that repast Puddy Tat! Don't choke on its dryness.
And don't listen to the voices LOL.
It may be cheese, but if it is, it's too mouldy for this Puddy Tat!!
Jimmy Carter said he is devoting the rest of his life to fighting for women. God bless him. I pray for his recovery although it doesn't look good right now. Miracles do happen though.
New Yorker ~ Too funny! He hasn't laid out anything he is going to do so this is as good a guess as any.
PR Watch ~ It looks as though the biggest Koch-sucker won.
Daily Kos ~ He should talk. When he was in charge he was busy humping Greedy Olde Pharts' legs.
Cartoon ~ Quick! Hide it from them!
I'm almost a full day ahead in time, so with a busy day ahead I don't have the time to comment right now, and it may be too late when I'm back on the internet tonight, so this may be all for today, TomCat. I'm sorry you didn't get to see the football you liked, it would have helped you to overcome your exhaustion faster, I think, but your time will undoubtedly come.
Sooner than I thought!
Jimmy Carter:
Jimmy Carter is 90 years old. Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. A global activist and a decent man. I remember seeing and hearing him on a recent TED show. "Why I believe the mistreatment of women is the number one human rights abuse"
“The number one abuse of human rights on earth is the mistreatment of women and girls.” (Jimmy Carter)
Petitions included.
VIDEO: 16 minutes. Worth listening.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_carter_why_i_believe_the_mistreatment_of_women_is_the_number_one_human_rights_abuse?language=en#t-25229
New Yorker: ISIS can always "block" Trump. lol.
PR Watch: We're already slidin' down the rabbit hole with the recent GOP/TP/Koch clown debate. The debate was simply awful. Not worth seeing at all unless one was forced or as a masochist. If Fartfuhrer is nominated for the GOP ticket, he will not carry Wisconsin. Strike 3 had his recent town hall disrupted by the Black Lives Matter Group. As Strike 3 was leaving the floor, he was bad mouthing them. Yep, I'll give him a new moniker "mushy-mouthed extremist backtracker" somewhat akin to Gohmert.
Daily Kos: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican Senate leader = A major flop and disaster.
Cartoon: a bit of serene and tranquility..
I have always liked and respected Jimmy Carter. He got a bad deal from the press while he was in office, I think mainly because he was a Christian and a southerner. That does not mean I agreed with all his decisions, but then, I don't agree with all decisions by any politician.
Huff Post has an article and at the bottom is a short slide show http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-raushenbush/prayers-for-president-jimmy-carter_b_7983828.html
Slides 9 and 10 are admissions from some in the media that Carter was mistreated by the media.
Thanks Jim for the Carter TED talk. I especially liked his final point: men, in general, don't give a damn! Of course there are men who DO give a damn, but they are far to few compared to the overall population.
If the daily antics of the "GOP Clown Car" characters hasn't filled your quota of chuckles & chortles, this post about someone taking to Facebook PRETENDING to be the Target Help Desk after Target abandoned their gender-specific marketing should. I had NO idea that Wingnuts were so obsessed w/ making certain that girls do "girly" things and boys never EVER even consider cooking, cleaning or changing diapers.
Guaranteed for at least an ear-to-ear grin!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/13/1411797/-Facebook-user-pretends-to-be-Target-help-desk-and-trolls-incensed-conservatives
Thanks for posting this, I am still grinning. Doesn't it amaze you to read such ignorance?
I wonder if Target is going to sue the fellow? It is funny though to see the reactions of people!
Oh this is glorious – thanks Nameless! I hope he/she can hide their identity forever or the lawyer trolls will be after him – mind you they should be after the dim witted twits who believed this glorious spoof. My favourite was the outrage from the parent of 'two "boys" ' and 'one "girl" ' – does that lamentable lackwit not realise what he made them sound like?!
Love it! Target should reward the spoofer.
They kind of did – they put up a salute to trolls ("only at Target stores!" and the troll's response (in his real name, Mike Melgaard) of "Target. Seriously. You are AWESOME." got almost 2500 likes (probably well over 2500 now). http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/target-loved-guy-who-trolled-its-haters-judging-genius-facebook-post-166408
I hope you feel better soon!
The New Yorker: Laughed out loud at this one. It may be more truth than satire. What worries me is the polls showing how many like the Donald. No accounting for fools, is there?
Daily Kos: I wish Harry would have talked that way sooner. One of the biggest problems we have is the Dems running for cover from the GOP. We seriously need a backbone in our party. Same goes for the Prez. He is only now, at the end of his term, acting like the man we thought we were electing.
Cartoon: That looks like Jenny Wiley State Park which is near my home. Yes they haven't destroyed it yet, but they will if they can find any sort of mineral in it.
Update on Cousin Phillip: Thanks to all of you for your prayers. Phillip is fully conscious now. He is still in ICU and cannot talk because he has a tube in his throat. He mouths words and lets you know what he wants by facial expressions. He will remain in ICU until he can breathe on his own without oxygen for two days, so far he has only made it six hours. The hand surgeon saw him today and said the hands were not as bad as originally thought, but he will still require surgery. He promised Phillip he would be able to play golf again. The man lives for golf. His wife, Becky is exhausted, mentally and physically. She has been at the hospital with him for three weeks now. She needs your prayers, too. Thanks to all of you.
Good news indeed! Prayers continue for the whole family!
Thanks, Lynn.
Hallelujah! Thanks for the update Edie – you must all be so exhausted caring and praying so hard for Philip, I hope that you all can get a bit of rest now and recuperate a bit.
In one of the first posts you made about Phillip, you said the surgeon said the complications had been caused by the medication he was on – I sincerely hope that you and everyone near him do a lot of research and get him on a good diet with lots of organic food and good healthy organic fats (many things in our bodies, including our brains [mostly fat] need good quality fat to repair things with – low fat diets have been making people desperately ill for decades, as have a lot of medicines) – also low carbs and NO SUGAR!!!
PR Watch – $900million?!!! God help America.
How did that end up there? I must have pressed something after I went to write a comment after Lynn's – drat these exhausting headaches!
There is a very good book called 'Brain Maker' by Dr Saul Perlmutter which gives incredible details about modern research on foods and the human body – and how the right probiotics can even (as they control the immune system) reverse the course of many diseases (as well as stop us craving carbohydrates and sugars which can cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer and Alzheimers).
Pat, they have backed off that it was his meds that caused it. He is diabetic and his wife makes sure he eats what he is supposed to have. We go on vacation together every year, Phillip and I always have ONE margarita on the trip. Becky tells him, just one, and only if you have been good today. I think the sponge left in his chest caused all the problems.
Thanks for the update. Praners continuing for him, her and you.
Thanks, TC
Ditto, ditto.
Thanks, Joanne.
Thanks for the update–does she have access to any caregiver support services through a church or anywhere?
He will be going into a rehab facility when he leaves the hospital. That is as far as we have thought. I will ask her tomorrow, thanks for the suggestion.
Excellent Idea!
Puzzle — 3:03 A rather chalky texture to that repast Puddy Tat! Don't choke on its dryness.
The New Yorker — Thank goodness Trump won't get a chance to legitimately be POTUS in this world or Andy's. He is a legend in his own mind only! BTW, saw today that Trump was dumped from the Apprentice by NBC. Trump, you're fired!
PR Watch — The Kochs are users, addicts! Their drug of choice is power and the money that will bring them more power. That's it. Walker is just another tool, a willing tool, but a tool nonetheless! When a tool ceases to function the way the owner wants, it is repaired if possible, or more likely, thrown in the rubbish.
Daily Kos — Now where was Harry earlier? I guess it is true . . . there's nothing to lose when you're not seeking re-election.
Cartoon — Isn't that the picture from a US history text printed in 1915? I wonder what it looks like now.
PR Watch – $900million?!!! God help America. (right place this time!)
Thanks and hugs to all. Prayers for Jummy C.