Please pardon my brevity. I’m just all the way tired out. I heard from Julie yesterday. She hit the road here in Portland on late Tuesday morning and drove all the way across the country to WV in just three days. I can only surmise that she must have let Killer Dawg drive.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:19 (average 4:22). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Raw Story: Michael Strickland, the right-wing agitator and Trump supporter seen in this video brandishing a gun at a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally, has been charged with two class A felonies after being arrested and initially released Friday morning on his own recognizance without bail.
At his arraignment today at the Multnomah County Courthouse in downtown Portland Strickland was hit with two felony counts of “unlawful use of a weapon,” as well as misdemeanor charges of menacing and disorderly conduct.
The hearing took place on the same block where Strickland pulled a Glock 27, swept the gun at the crowd while yelling “Get the hell back!” He subsequently outfitted the gun with a large capacity magazine.
At the scene, Strickland said he was only armed in self-defense. But the Multnomah County District Attorney revealed in court that Strickland had six magazines of ammunition on him… [emphasis added]
Sadly, there are even Republicans like this Trump Humper here in Portland. I think that releasing him OR was a very stupid move by authorities. Kudos to the peaceful protestors who kept the situation from escalating, while waiting for police to intervene.
From Politico: Sen. Bernie Sanders has claimed victory in the fight for $15.
The Democrats’ platform committee late Friday approved an amendment that formalizes the party’s commitment to a $15 minimum wage, with indexing for inflation.
The language of the position reads: “We should raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over time and index it, give all Americans the ability to join a union regardless of where they work, and create new ways for workers to have power in the economy so every worker can earn at least $15 an hour.”
Thank you Bernie for helping to change the Democratic Party the ONLY way it can be changed: one issue at a time from within.
From Alternet: The mainstream media in the U.S. and abroad badly botched the reporting of the Dallas police shooting that killed five officers Thursday, egged on by speculation by police sources that a team of snipers was bent on avenging the killing of two black men in Minnesota and Louisiana by white cops the day before.
Even after the Dallas Morning News changed its headline Friday afternoon to read, “Dallas sniper was loner, Army vet with stash of arms, bomb parts at home,” the article’s second paragraph said, “Four Dallas police officers and a DART officer were shot and killed in a coordinated sniper attack that followed a Thursday night protest."
The incorrect sniper meme was repeated internationally, such as this headline from the British Mirror, “Dallas police shooting: ‘Black Power group’ claims responsibility for police killings and warns of more assassinations to come.”
Yesterday, I repeated the false report that there were a team of snipers working together. I was wrong not to assume that Dallas Police Chief Brown was playing fast and loose with the facts, as I should have expected from a Republican appointee. Apologies!! When I’m wrong, I say so.
Cartoon:
20 Responses to “Open Thread – 7/9/2016”
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4:25 TC, I bet you are salivating over this one.
Raw Story – OR is definitely a mistake. He ought to be treated exactly as a black man would be treated in the same circumstances, short of being murdered. On the other hand, would law enforcement even know what to do with a black man if they didn't murder him?
Politico – Amen.
AlterNet – I also apologize, I did the same thing here and elsewhere. Of course, I was trying to emphasize how small the counter violence was compared to the many murders that led up to it, so this corrected information only strengthens my point. And, I might add, we did not have any good information and were trying to do the best we could with what we did have.
Cartoon – Why even bother to repeal it when the Republicans are managing to keep it in effect "de facto" if not "de jure"?
P/S/ off topic –
Something amusing for a change – this email from the Teachout campaign may not be the best email I have ever received from a candidate – but it may be the funniest fund-raising email from a candidate I have ever received (and I get them from Al Franken, so there is competition):
LMAO!!
LOL Makes me want to spend a few bucks too, just to see Jim get's a burrito.
I think that Michael Strickland can be thankful he suffers from SMD – “Severe Melanin Deficiency” – because otherwise if he had a “surfeit” of melanin, he might well be dead brandishing a gun like that. (Just another of many “White Privileges”)
Maybe it’s been mentioned, but if so it bears repeating. I would encourage those who have a smartphone and live in a select 17 states or DC to download the ACLU app “Mobile Justice”.
If you see ANY activity that is questionable and decide to video it, it will directly – and in REAL TIME – send it to the ACLU. So in case the authorities confiscate your phone and happen to “accidentally” erase something, the ACLU will still have it safe and sound.
Mobile Justice
I’m giving Chief Brown a little leeway and the benefit of the doubt. It was obviously a very fluid and stressful situation they were working under. I have strong doubts there were any ulterior motive to mislead.
WRT Chief Brown, apparently the shooter was using a military strategy – nicknamed "shoot and scoot" – moving from cover to cover – which does give the enemy the impression of more than one shooter. So I will join you in giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Chief Brown said he had other shooter in custody.
That Mobile Justice seems like a great idea, unless you activate it by accident on the throne, or worse.
RS: Like the commentator said, "That was some intense S&&T !!! Very scary!! Thankfully,he was returned to custody in the Multnomah County jail.
Politico: Great news, Thank you, Bernie!
AN: A tragedy, nonetheless.
Cartoon: They would love that, wouldn't they? How sad.
Glad to read that Julie made it safely to her destination. Love WV, gorgeous state. I wish her and Killer Dawg the best in their new phase of their lives. Enjoy your evening, and relax. It's very muggy & hot here, ugh.
Thanks, Tom.
I talked to her on the phone last night, and she loves it!!
Cross-checking of supposed facts and investigative reporting has all but disappeared with even much of the so-called alternative media being owned/controlled by persons who support neocon policies, usually GOP, and the consequences like what happened to James Risen:
The Empire Files: NYT's James Risen on Fighting Censorship & War
Having just ended a seven-year legal battle, where he bravely faced jail time to protect his inside sources, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Risen joins Abby Martin to talk about his case and the stories he wrote that were such a threat to the US war machine and its national security state.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16709
And this also explains the role the media played in Bernie vs. Clinton and their continuing support of her.
You were doing fime until you conflated Risen's investigation into the activities in the Bush Reich with your own opinion about the current campaign.
I'm sorry you don't understand that there are facts available to show that Clinton had to be restrained by Obama from pushing for even more military intervention than we've seen from his administration. Maybe you missed all that coverage last fall?
Julie must have only taken bathroom breaks! I don't know how she managed that trip in such a short time.
Raw Story: I agree with you, a very stupid move to release him on OR. He will most likely do this again.
Politico: At least that is one victory. Left alone, the DNC act like Dinos.
Alternet: The press always tries to get the story out first, and truth is not always there. Sadly, Dallas was under a warning again today, they received threats that more shootings would happen.
Cartoon: They would if they could.
Puzzle — 2:58 I couldn't save the birdie from that rapacious Puddy Tat! Sorry little birdie. I'm just too tired.
Raw Story — Truly, a nut case. Why in tarnation would the courts let somebody out on OR with felony weapons charges? I can very safely say that had that fellow come up infront of my mother when she was sitting bail hearings, he would have been remanded in custody until he came up with a substantial bail. You didn't mess with mother!
Politico — The only part I disagree with are the words "over time" as they are too vague. That could mean 1 year or 10 years. But at least Bernie managed to get it on the platform!
Alternet — Why use the facts when speculation works — if it bleeds it leads and there's no time for facts. I can also see why police might have thought there were multiple shooters initially (shoot and scoot) but once the situation is known, the media should not not be perpetuating false info.
Cartoon — Haters (Republicans) gotta hate. It's in their DNA.
BURP!!
Catnap on the way. Good to hear about Julie's, and Killer Dawg's, safe arrival in West Virginia.
RS: Sad that Portland has it's share of Drumpf shills and incompetent authorities. I mean, Strickland started agitating against a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration (apparently he's well known for that), and when some of its protesters in the front walk up to him, pulls a gun on them. When he then clams he did this because he felt threatened by the crowd, the authorities let him go OR and without bail? Strickland the agitator was frightened because he knew exactly what he was doing, i.e. provoking people into reacting. He'd probably hoped some demonstrators would lose their cool and then he'd had "the right" to shoot them in "self defense". Now who has been promoting behavior like that, even offering to pay for their defense lawyers, hmmm?
Politico: Three cheers for Bernie and his ongoing fight to make the Democratic party head for a more progressive, dare I say more socialistic, future. Congrats on your victory, Bernie. May many more follow!
Alternet: I'm so glad I'm still able to get my news from media that are not owned and dictated by Murdoch yet. Our national news is fiercely independent (as is Australia's by the way) and it struck me that neither national radio or TV news bulletins or my newspaper ever mentioned the color of the sniper and were very careful about how they phrased possible involvement of others. They only gave the bare facts of arrests being made of people that could possibly be involved, immediately mentioning that one armed man had been released again as he had nothing to do with it, and no one ever mentioned a coordinated, triangulating sniper attack. I think our media have learned their lessons in the past and are very weary of overheated news items coming their way from the States. And above all, they are allowed to be weary and do not have the push to keep their ratings up. But even the commercial stations are far more subdued in their news gathering than their American counter parts. And we do not have Faux News of course.
Kudos to you for owning up to your mistake as you always do, even if it wasn't really necessary because it was minor, TomCat, and for rectifying it as soon as possible. I wish that could also be said of those mainstream media.
Thanks Lona. Maintaining credibility is important to me.
I'll vouch for Julie making her trip to WVA from Portland, OR in 3 days. I did a similar trip a few years ago from southeastern Florida to Sonoma, CA in 3 days. The only difference was that I did not have Killer Dawg driving for me. lol. Amazing what the super highways can do for you courtesy of Ike Eisenhower. Freedom of mobility.
Raw Story: Michael Strickland, the right-wing agitator and Trump supporter, should have had his ass thrown in jail for what he did! Just imagine what would have happened if a "colored" person had done the same thing – pulled a gun on a crowd
and the police shooting that person down like a mad & rabid dog.
Politico: Bernie: one issue at a time, victory and part of DNC platform, for progressives. Kudos. Love that video where the bird sat on his podium with smiles all-around.
Alternet: Yes, bad reporting all around, not only in USA but internationally as well. Shoot & Scoot – interesting tactic and it worked, leading to mass confusion.
Cartoon: "The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868, and granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed." The GOP/TP would love to repeal this one but the problem for them would be if their ancestors were not granted this 14th Amendment, none of them would be citizens. lol.
Thanks all!! Hugs!!