It has been quite a while since I last posted any articles, so long that it feels foreign to me. I was very busy going back and forth to my mother's care home. I would sit with her for hours every day. But that came to an end with my mother's passing, age 88, on 04 February 2017 from bronchial pneumonia. I have a lot to do now with her estate. But most of what I need to do is not urgent. I wanted to get back to posting but I have been just too tired this past month. I did however save a few links that I thought were interesting, and some humourous.
Short Takes
Huffington Post — Despite Donald Trump’s transition from developer to reality star to president of the United States, his wardrobe and temperament haven’t changed a bit.
Though no one seems to be able to do anything about his disposition, GQ decided to step in and give Trump a YUGE presidential makeover in a hilarious new video. The men’s magazine trolls the president BIGLY with advice on how to solve his slouchy suits, Scotch-taped ties and wrinkled pants. They even offer tailoring tips to make his hands look bigger.
I cracked up when I saw this. Alas though, nobody can fix the personality . . . not even GQ. Enjoy!
YouTube — John Oliver is back and explores Drumpfenfarten's acquaintance with truth.
Washington Post — To celebrate the 62nd anniversary of a school in northern Taiwan, students were invited to choose historical figures and “cosplay” them at a parade Friday.
Liu Hsi-cheng, a history teacher at Hsinchu Kuang Fu High School, suggested to his homeroom class that they go with famous people from Arabic culture, he told the Taipei Times.
But Liu's students had another idea: a theme based on Adolf Hitler.
Liu warned his students that such a theme would be “very controversial,” the paper reported — but ultimately “chose to respect the students' decision and did not veto it” after the class voted on it twice.
On Friday, students from the school in Hsinchu, about 55 miles southwest of Taipei, showed up to the festivities wearing Nazi uniforms and brandishing signs, arm bands and long red banners with swastikas on them.
I was flabbergasted when I saw this piece. The teacher, IMO, missed an excellent opportunity to educate the students about history and ethics. Is it any wonder why Drumpfenfarten would like speaking with the head of state of Taiwan against the "One China" policy that Obama and others had maintained? Click through for the rest of the story.
MSN.com — If you thought the yellow brick road was cool, then you are going to love one road France just paved.
I can't embed the video but I thought this was really cool, and so proactive, something we won't see in the US with the current administration, and not likely in Canada either. Click on MSN.com.
CBC — Australian researchers have observed two specimens of a rare sea dragon that's never before been seen alive.
Sea dragons aren't very common, found in the waters off the coast of southern Australia. For some time, only two types were known: the leafy sea dragon and the common sea dragon (sometimes also called the weedy sea dragon).
Then, in 2015, PhD student Josefin Stiller discovered that four samples collected over the years — the first in 1919 — had been misclassified as a common sea dragon. Instead, it was its own species, named the ruby sea dragon.
One more reason why we need to protect the oceans as habitats and as life affirming bodies. Click through for more of this fascinating creature.
My Universe
. . . and not to leave out the canines . . .
16 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 14 February 2017”
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HP: How can one fix this guy? You can't, he's too vain! Come to think of it, other adjectives come to mind, but I can't type them here. lol.
YT: Very good video. Haven't seen John for awhile, and this one is great!! Lamar Smith, ID of TX., is an embarrassment! The ads were 'spot on' too. And..that's the truth!
WP: WOW! The Holocaust should be spoken with respect and with reverence, for the millions of lives lost, and the survivors of this tragedy. Have they not learned ANYthing from this part of our history?? Did those students ever read "Night", by Elie Wiesel, or "Diary of Ann Frank" by A. Frank? Or study the history of what and how this happened? Unbelievable!
MSN: This is awesome, hope they do this here in the US (at some point).
CBC: What a fascinating article! Bookmarked it to read again, and pass on to my Science Teacher friends too.
My Universe: Aren't cats amazing? I can't imagine not having one (or two) in my life.
Aren't dog amazing? I can't imagine not having one or two, in my life. Both vids adorable! 😉
Lynn, so glad that you're back posting..Wonderful, with good reads, and covering different subjects.
Thank you for your post.
If we forget or don't learn about history, we are bound to repeat our mistakes. I hope we never allow Hitler to resurface.
Caught your post on my way to bed, so will be brief.
Good to see you "back in the saddle" so to speak. But rest assured we all hold you in our thoughts, prayers, meditations, etc. And hope you know we're thinking of you, and to take your time.
May all the fond and loving memories of your Mom be a balm in your time of sorrow.
Thanks Nameless! I not only know, but I feel your support too.
Oh, and thanks for the great chuckle-inducing videos (although I am NOT a dog-person).
But one thing I hate nowadays is that triptych formatting w/ the two side-panels made blurry. They do that on newscasts almost ALL the time and it really irritates me. Why would they want to CUT BACK on the amount of viewing?
I'm not a dog person either, but thought I'd try to be a little egalitarian . Cats rule!
So glad to see you back posting. We understand why, and don't begrudge you, but it's been missed.
GQ – Well, if anyone could do him a makeover, it would be GQ. But I have to say that his made-over hairstyle looks like ever other Republican male in Congress. "People" are wondering, "How do they do that?"
YT – Cowboy commercials! Great idea! In a more serious vein, VoteVets has been running a commercial in shows he is known to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3qG5u1A_98
WaPo – And we wonder how the Orange Overlord got elected.
MSN – I've been reading about this for a while. Nice that it's a reality somewhere.
CBC – This one is adorable. The leafy one is really strange. Not as versatile, perhaps, but as impressive as the mimic octopus.
Videos – Very cute.
The haircut that amused me the most was the pouffy one. Made him look like Kim Jong-un.
Welcome back! Yes, we have missed you, but you just choose trhe pace that meets your needs.
Nothing could improve that face!
Great minds almost fell in the same ditch. I went with Rachel's DCCC clip instead. Thanks for it.
Disgusting! Did the Fuhrer attend?
Cool, on a warm day. 😉
No chance now.
CAT is where it's AT
Thanks!
John Oliver certainly is a treasure.
Indeed!
Welcome back to posting your news.
Sorry to hear of your Mother passing…
Hugzzz…
.
Thanks Jim!
Welcome back, Lynn. So glad you're feeling up to posting again. Grieving is a unpredictable process, so let it go where it takes you in its own time. We understand.
HP: Isn't it weird that a billionaire is so badly dressed? But then, this is Drumpf we're speaking about. Just imagine being his stylist and giving him advice he doesn't like: you'll never work another day. Drumpf probably has to buy his suits from the rack too, because there isn't a tailor left who dares to take his measurements and tell him what they are – not bigly in the right places – and all the others who ever worked for him are still waiting on their payment of course.
John Oliver: You have to give John credit bigly for trying to educate Drumpf (and his voters) on facts, and it's also very amusing, but it's an impossible task. And the stations that Drumpf watches will drop those wonderful ads as soon as he's finished his tweet about them. If they air them in the first place, that is.
WP: There's something wrong with the educational system when student have little true understanding of the subject, Adolf Hitler, they choose for a parade, when their teacher doesn't/can explain to them why this is very wrong and especially when these students know how to find all the information they need to dress up their parade on the internet, but completely fail to see/ignore the information that also must have been there about what Hitler and the Nazis were about. The article does not question how these students came to their choice and why they wanted to go with the Hitler theme despite their teachers opposition, but I suspect there's more to it than meets the eye.
MSN: Great initiative, let's hope the tests work out under all circumstances such as rain and snow.
CBC: Isn't it gorgeous? I just hope this isn't another example of 'now you see it, now you don't – because extinct'.
My Universe: Thanks for the smiles – for both videos – Lynn.
Educating Drumpf? John will likely go blue in the face trying!
Thanks all! Colour me out of here!