Well yesterday was a busy day for me and although I did get an OT started, I could not finish it for you. We have had word from TC which you may have seen here on the site, but I will repeat just in case. Tom had a successful surgery to remove his gallbladder but in the process, the doctor found a spot on his liver which they biopsied. Those results will not be known for a few hours at least. The prancreatitis has improved marginally but TC will know more later. According to Wendy he has recovered enough to start bossing Wendy around rather than the nurses. TC says Wendy is the BOMB! So continued prayers or good healing thoughts or both are very much appreciated for TC. We need our Puddy Tat back to help get us through this reign of terror lead by Drumpfenfarten and the Republicans.
Update: TC posted at 1810 hours — the liver spots are benign!
Jigsaw Puzzle
Today’s took me 3:45 (average 5:14). To do it, click here. How did you do? That's no neigh-gative experience!
Short Takes
CBC — Russian hackers attacked at least one U.S. voting software supplier days before last year's presidential election, according to a government intelligence report leaked Monday that suggests election-related hacking penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than previously known.
The classified National Security Agency report, which was published online by The Intercept, does not say whether the hacking had any effect on election results. But it says Russian military intelligence attacked a U.S. voting software company and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials at the end of October or beginning of November.
There is no doubt that the infaltration of the US by Russia has been going on longer than believed. It did not just start with the DNC hack, and it would be myopic to think that there are no more hacks. I find myself wondering what the next revelation will be.
YouTube — Did Trump Himself Meet With the Russian Ambassador? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann | GQ
With Drump's record of lying continuously, it is nearly impossible to think that he did not meet with the Russian ambassador and was not involved with the case of collusion. I listened to some of the Comey testimony today. Afterwards, Drumpf's lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, said Mr Trump felt vindicated because Comey was seen as a liar. And The Telegraphreported "…Sarah Huckabee Sanders stating during an off-camera briefing at the White House: “I can definitively say the president is not a liar." I would certainly disagree with that.
The Guardian — Theresa May has declared she is prepared to rip up human rights laws to impose new restrictions on terror suspects, as she sought to gain control over the security agenda just 36 hours before the polls open.
The prime minister said she was looking at how to make it easier to deport foreign terror suspects and how to increase controls on extremists where it is thought they present a threat but there is not enough evidence to prosecute them. …
She said: “But I can tell you a few of the things I mean by that: I mean longer prison sentences for people convicted of terrorist offences. I mean making it easier for the authorities to deport foreign terror suspects to their own countries.
“And I mean doing more to restrict the freedom and the movements of terrorist suspects when we have enough evidence to know they present a threat, but not enough evidence to prosecute them in full in court.
“And if human rights laws stop us from doing it, we will change those laws so we can do it.”
May is on a very slippery slope and now that it is likely that May has a minority government as a result of today's election, she may not get the chance to implement this. For those who are not familiar with the Westminster system of Parliament, the party that has the most votes but not enough for a clear majority, forms a minority government. This government can be struck down by a non confidence vote at which time the Parliament is dissolved and a new election called. As of writing, the UK Conservative Party is in a minority position. Here are the early results:
636/650 seats declared · Last updated 2017-06-09 1:10 AM EST–
I have a meeting to go to shortly. I am a member of the Family Council and a liaison to the Board of the care centre where my mum lived and the board is meeting tonight. The Family Council meets next week. Tomorrow is physio and teaching so there will likely be no Open Thread for tomorrow. We have had no additional word from TC yet, but when we know, we will pass it on. In the mean time, please keep TC in your thoughts and prayers.
Jig Zone Puzzle
Today’s took me 3:39 (average 5:52). To do it, click here. How did you do? Try not to get all wet with this one!
Short Takes
YouTube — If He Were Doing Any Other Job, Donald Trump Would Have Been Fired by Now | The Resistance | GQ
I should think that Trump would understand this phrase: "You're fired!" Or perhaps this one: "Go straight to jail. Do not pass Go."
Resist and Persist!!!
The New Yorker — In a dramatic announcement from the White House Rose Garden on Thursday, Donald J. Trump pronounced the planet Earth a “loser” and vowed to make a better deal with a new planet.
“Earth is a terrible, very bad planet,” he told the White House press corps. “It’s maybe the worst planet in the solar system, and it’s far from the biggest.” …
When asked which planet he would make a new deal with, Trump offered few specifics, saying only, “The solar system has millions of terrific planets, and they’re all better than Earth, which is a sick, failing loser.”
Trump’s remarks drew a strong response from one of the United States’ NATO allies, Germany’s Angela Merkel. “I strongly support Donald Trump leaving the planet Earth,” she said.
I'm with Angela Merkel!
Resist and Persist!!!
Think Progress — …Sen. John Wiles (R) knew that if he could lift Georgia’s law that banned outside groups from purchasing anonymous mailers, he could transform the way his party conducts campaigns. He declared at the time that he would “not support any effort to regulate anonymous political speech.”
Wiles was able to get his colleagues on board, and they quietly passed legislation removing the ban. But the move earned him critics, including the top Republican in the state tasked with running elections.
Karen Handel, then Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, said she was “adamantly” opposed to Wiles’ political maneuver—she had recently launched a “transparency in government” program. …
…Handel is relying heavily on the same kind of spending she so recently fought against.
Outside groups have spent roughly $9 million supporting Handel’s campaign during the primary and leading up to the June 20 runoff. More than $250,000 of that total has been spent on anonymous direct mail. …
“Karen Handel was for a ban on secret political spending, but now that it’s clear she can’t compete with Jon Ossoff and his small-dollar, grassroots donors, her campaign is almost completely reliant on special interest money from groups that refuse to disclose their donors.”
So much for being "adamantly opposed" to dark money. I did not like Karen Handel and her shenanigans when she was with Susan G Komen and I am disappointed to see her back in the limelight with her Republican talking points and lack of ethics. The special election in Georgia's 6th district is set for 20 June 2017. May it turn blue with Jon Ossoff who garnered 48.1% of the vote in the jungle primary.
It is Monday afternoon and I have word about TC. After feeling so crappy by 4 June 2017, TC was taken to the hospital presumably by his friend Wendy and diagnosed with prancreatitis. Additionally, he will be having surgery to remove his gallbladder. We don't know the timing of all this but will try to keep you all apprised. As I did a year and a half ago, I will publish OT's as often as possible, and I know that you will also see articles from JD (Joanne), Nameless and Lona. Speaking for myself, I can't give you the expert coverage of the American political scene like TC does, but you won't go hungry either. For now, prayers or good vibes for TC are appreciated. And many, many thanks to Wendy for her care of TC. She is most definitely a keeper!
Jig Zone Puzzle
Today’s took me 5:24 (average 10:02). To do it, click here. How did you do? I will not mask my feelings for this one — it's a real barn burner!
Short Takes
Quartz — US president Donald Trump just announced he will withdraw the country from the international Paris agreement on climate change. He says he wants a better “deal” for the US, and that the country will begin renegotiating the terms of the agreement immediately after exiting it.
“We will see if we can make a deal that’s fair. And if we can, that’s great. If we can’t, that’s fair,” Trump said at a press conference today (June 1).
The statement is a stark example of the president’s zero-sum thinking, and it’s wholly inaccurate. The reality is the US did not have to withdraw from the Paris agreement to renegotiate how it will participate. In fact, once it with withdraws, it legally cannot renegotiate the terms of its participation. It also cannot withdraw immediately.
The Paris Climate deal was the most comprehensive international accord to fight climate change yet. It was signed by all but two countries (Syria and Nicaragua), and hailed as an historic effort to save our planet.
So of course, President Trump decided the United States would withdraw. This would mean the United States ditches crucial environmental regulations that can make all the difference in saving our planet.
By exiting from the Paris agreement, Trump ignored advice from the Pope, foreign leaders and even business leaders like Exxon. He is even rebuffing pleas from his own daughter, and from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
All to spite President Obama, who worked hard to craft the Paris climate agreement.
Sign if you are outraged the United States pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, and that we must do everything we can to fight this.
It can easily be said that Drumpf has "just shot himself in the foot" with his own ignorance about the Paris climate agreement. So is there anything new in that? Not really. He displays his ignorance on a wide range of things daily.
Resist and Persist!!!
Daily Kos — The journalistic fraud that is Fox News is well known. It's a network that was contrived as a right-wing spin factory, but dishonestly marketed as being "fair and balanced." They have a revolving cast of scripted characters who alternately play politicians and pundits. Often the same person in both roles. Their commitment to partisan deceit is rooted deeply in the foul culture nurtured by its founders Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes.
However, a new investigation proves that ideological fraud is not the only unethical practice employed by Fox News. Following the scandal-driven departures of Ailes and Bill O'Reilly, a new cretin was crowned as the top Foxie. Tucker Carlson was awarded O'Reilly's prized time slot that anchors the network's primetime lineup. …
The Center for Media and Democracy conducted an exhaustive investigation into the stewardship of his website, The Daily Caller (TDC). Carlson launched the site six years ago and it quickly became a staple of wingnut propaganda. The Washington Post published CMD's findings with this summary of the scam:
"Most of the roughly 50 journalists who produce content for the Daily Caller actually work for the Daily Caller News Foundation, a tax-exempt organization with 501(c)(3) status that is ostensibly separate from DailyCaller.com. The two entities share the same floor of the same Washington office, however, and virtually everything produced by the foundation — which accepted $3 million in donations in 2015, according to an IRS filing — appears on the for-profit website, which sells advertising on the articles.
In short, TDC takes in tax-free donations to finance their for-profit newsroom. Then they use the articles written by foundation authors to populate a commercial website that receives advertising revenue. The Post cites legal experts that describe this an obvious tax dodge:
"'It's a huge rip-off for taxpayers if the Daily Caller News Foundation is receiving revenue that it doesn't pay taxes on, to produce stories that are used by the for-profit enterprise, which then makes money on the stories through ads,' said Lisa Graves, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration who now serves as executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy."
Read the rest of the article . . . there is more. We already know that much of the right wing news media is anything but "fair and balanced", but add onto that being a factory for alternative facts and extreme partisanship. I knew that the Daily Caller was a right wing "rag", but what I did not know was that it was started and is still run by Tucker Carlson. He received help from conservative multi-millionaire Foster Friess. You may remember him from the 2012 presidential campaign when he said "…they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly." With his oh so pseudo Christian values, Carlson is committing fraud by registering TDC as a charity. In essence, it means that all taxpayers are subsidising right wing propaganda which needs to be stopped.
Resist and Persist!!!
Alternet — It doesn’t make rational sense for Trump to pull out of the Paris accord. Even Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has argued against withdrawal, as has Tillerson’s former company, Exxon Mobil. The traditional reasons for conservative opposition to cleaner energy — protecting energy profits — don’t hold up as well as they used to. So why is Trump doing this?
The likely answer is, I’m afraid, a disheartening one: Trump’s anti-environmentalism is ultimately not about the gross but rational pursuit of profit, so much as it’s the result of a nihilistic anti-conservationist ideology that has been fomented for years on the far right. It’s an ideology concerned more with hating liberalism and undermining former President Barack Obama’s legacy [emphasis added] than with petty matters like peace or prosperity. …
… But a lot of what motivates him [Utah Rep Rob Bishop] appears to be a deeply rooted unwillingness to have his state be home to anything that could be considered an Obama accomplishment.…
Weiss pointed out that a similar fight, fueled by blind hatred of Obama, is going on in Maine. The founder of Burt’s Bees donated 87,500 acres to the federal government, and Obama designated it the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. But the Trumpian governor of Maine, Republican Paul LePage, is so angry about the monument’s existence that he has refused to let the state post road signs telling people where it is. The Katahdin Woods monument is also included in Trump’s executive order to review such designations. …
Weiss pointed out that a similar fight, fueled by blind hatred of Obama, is going on in Maine. The founder of Burt’s Bees donated 87,500 acres to the federal government, and Obama designated it the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. But the Trumpian governor of Maine, Republican Paul LePage, is so angry about the monument’s existence that he has refused to let the state post road signs telling people where it is. The Katahdin Woods monument is also included in Trump’s executive order to review such designations.
This abject hatred of all things Obama is no doubt brought on by the fact that Obama dared to be Black while president. Republicans are so predictable in their hatred.
Resist and Persist!!!
CBC — Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced a plan to increase the provincial minimum wage to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2019.
The increase would be phased in over the next 18 months, rising to $14 an hour on Jan. 1, 2018, and then to $15 the following January.
After that, it will rise annually with inflation. …
Among the proposed changes are the requirement that after five years with the same employer, the minimum vacation entitlement for workers would rise to three weeks per year.
All workers would also be given 10 personal emergency leave days a year, and a minimum of two of those days must be paid. (Currently, only employees of large companies are entitled to this.)
Employers would not be allowed to request a sick note from an employee taking personal emergency leave.
Many of the changes address shift work in particular. The proposed legislation says employers would be required to pay three hours of wages to an employee whose shift is cancelled with less than 48 hours notice, and that employees would be able to refuse shifts without repercussion if given less than four days notice.
The proposed legislation also says:
Equal pay would be mandated for part-time workers doing the same job as a full-time workers.
Employers would be prohibited from misclassifying employees as "independent contractors."
Rules for creating a union would be modernized, including the extension of card-based certification to temporary workers, building services workers and community care workers.
The act also lays out a plan to hire 175 more employment standards officers, and launch an education program for employees and business owners to help them learn about their rights and responsibilities.
Read the rest of the article for a few more details of the legislation. This is only in Ontario which has the largest workforce in Canada. Alberta was the first province to put legislation in place. I am hopeful that British Columbia will tackle this issue next now that the election is over. Here the ruling Liberal party (not the same as the federal Liberal party) did not win the election, 43 seats, nobody really did. However, the New Democrats (41 seats) and the Green Party (3 seats) have formed a coalition and presented their agreement to the Lieutenant Governor for approval. Minimum wage is a topic for both the NDP and Greens.
It has been no secret that Trump is a climate change denier, and that was fully borne out by his announcement that he was withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement.
President Trump announced Thursday that he is withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, signed by nearly 200 nations to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
In his exit, Trump has likely put the accord into jeopardy, as the U.S. is the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world next to China. Per capita, the U.S. is the seventh biggest emitter, after major oil- and coal-burning nations like Qatar and Australia. But cumulatively speaking, the U.S. is the country that has pumped the most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere over the decades.
These facts, environmentalists argue, mean that the U.S. should shoulder the biggest responsibility for mitigating the effects of climate change. But Trump has shirked that responsibility, a move that could weaken other nations' commitment: If the world leader in carbon emissions won't curb its own, why should other countries, which emit far less? …
The response from supporters of the agreement was harsh and swift.
"President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord is a stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet’s future," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). "In walking away from this agreement, the president is denying scientific truths, removing safeguards that protect our health and our environment, protecting polluters and their dirty energy agenda, and threatening our national and global security."
"By abandoning the Paris Agreement, Trump continues on a reckless path of pretending that the dire threat posed by climate change is no more lasting than a tweet," said Sachs. "It’s one thing to campaign on a know-nothing platform on climate change that denies scientific reality, and another altogether to govern that way. If ever there was a moment for Donald Trump to listen to the consensus of scientists and 195 parties to the Paris Agreement, this was it, and he failed."
Here from Daily Kosis Trump's announcement from the Rose Garden.
Barack Obama has accused Donald Trump of “rejecting the future” by pulling out of the Paris climate deal.
The former U.S. President said those nations that remained signed up to the accord would “reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.”
But he added: “This Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future.”
Mr. Obama’s administration played a key role in negotiating the deal.
Speaking after Mr. Trump announced America was withdrawing from the agreement, the former President argued the U.S. “should be at the front of the pack” when it came to lowering emissions and developing green technology.
"We are deeply disappointed that the United States federal government has decided to withdraw from the Paris agreement," Trudeau said in the statement. "Canada is unwavering in our commitment to fight climate change and support clean economic growth. Canadians know we need to take decisive and collective action to tackle the many harsh realities of our changing climate." …
"This is about an ambitious and unshakable desire to leave a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet for our kids and for generations to come," Trudeau said. …
"The clean-growth economy is where the world is going and Canada is going to be part of it," McKenna said on Parliament Hill following Thursday's White House news conference.
"Canada wants to create good jobs, and wants to grow our economy and create opportunities for business. We want to be there, we want to be providing solutions for the world. We know where we're going."
I can hardly wait to see what the other European nations have to say, especially after dealing with Drumpf at the G7 and NATO summits last week. I remember reading quite some time ago that many countries in Europe had made significant strides in clean energy. Below is a map showing the relative percentage of green energy as part of the total energy consumption as noted in Wikipedia. As you can see, the Scandanavian countries are out front with Iceland and Norway having over 60% of total energy consumption in green renewables.
So if Europe can make significant changes, why can't other countries like the US and Canada? Canada is trying. With Trump's climate change denier status, and a Republican Congress that follows suit, the country is turning back the clock and putting its citizens in danger as well as the rest of the world. With Trump and Republicans it's profits first and only. Let's hope that this decision of Trump's has a severe political price for Trump and the Republicans.
I have not posted in a while as I deal with my mother's passing and preparing her estate. There is still much to do and it will get done eventually. This week is very busy with numerous meetings all crammed into 4 days because yesterday was Victoria Day, a statutory holiday in most of Canada (Québec calls it Patriot's Day). Today's big adventure is taking my 3 furbabes to the vet's for their annual checkup and shots. They love their vet (he's their godfather) and he loves them. By the time I get them home, the car and me will be covered in cat fur, literally!
Short Takes
CBC— A jawbone discovered by German troops in Athens during the Second World War could be evidence that apes and humans diverged 200,000 years earlier than the current theory says.
Chimpanzees and bonobos are the nearest known relatives to humans, sharing 99 per cent of our DNA. It's believed that we split between five and seven million years ago.
However, researchers analyzing two fossils — a jawbone from a German museum and an upper premolar from a collection in Bulgaria — concluded their ages to be roughly 7.2 million years, and belonging to a pre-human.
But there's another significant finding: that human split occurred in the eastern Mediterranean and not Africa, as it is believed.
Well doesn't this just bite if you're an evangelical creationist who believes the earth was created only 6,000 years ago and that God created humans, and humans did not evolve from apes! While the 7.2-million-year-old pre-human fossils might challenge current evolutionary theory, it certainly slams creationists. Let's hear it for science!
Business Insider UK— For most in the hospitality industry, the odd bad review is part and parcel of the trade, but one venue appears to be determined to silence its critics.
According to The Mirror, Sarah Gardner, a 44-year-old mother and part-time nurse, has been threatened with legal action after posting a negative review on TripAdvisor of the Tunbridge Wells-based High Rocks restaurant and wedding reception venue.
The review posted on March 22 has since been taken down, but according to a screenshot obtained by the Daily Mail, it said: “Visited here with my family, been coming here for years. I have found the staff more and more rude each time."
“They have an arrogance that should not exist in a service industry, particularly the management. It’s as if they are doing you a favour, I found dealing with them frustrating and perplexing."
Click through for the rest. Don't let Drumpf see this or he'll try to sue everyone and anyone who speaks negatively about him whether it comes under freedom or speech or not!
Washington Post— President Trump asked two of the nation’s top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government, according to current and former officials.
Trump made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election.
Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate, according to two current and two former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private communications with the president.
Trump sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20 that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”
How many ways are there to say "obstruction of justice"? Drumpf keeps digging a bigger and bigger hole with no end in sight until he is actually impeached or he resigns. I agree with those that say Drumpf thinks he is untouchable. If he resigns the presidency as Richard Nixon did back in 1974 before he could be impeached, I understand that he could still face criminal charges. I guess things are going to get worse before they get better.
YouTube — Last Week Tonight with John Oliver 5/21/17 : Stupid Watergate
John always has something to say and he does it with humour. With the state of US politics right now, if we don't laugh on occasion, we might cry excessively!
US News and World Report — Like most things in politics, impeachment is not as simple as one might think.
The U.S. Constitution lays out impeachment powers for Congress, allowing the governing body to put certain government officials on trial and remove them from power. When an official is impeached, he or she isn't necessarily removed from office – that's a separate step in the procedure.
The process takes on the form of a trial, but the trial takes place in the House of Representatives and the Senate, not the courts.
The result is a blend of law and partisan politics in an often months-long process.
1. Who can be impeached?
According to the Constitution, at the federal level "the president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States" can be removed from office. There have been 19 formal impeachment proceedings at the federal level in the U.S., which ended in seven acquittals, eight convictions, three dismissals and one resignation.
State legislatures can impeach state officials, including governors.
This is a very simple look at the impeachment process. It is not as simple as "kick the bumb out!" no matter how we wish it to be. Some of us remember the Richard Nixon resignation in 1974 when he thought he would be impeached.
Need I comment further? The Drumpf administration is the worst administration I can think of. Nixon was bad, but Drumpf has him beat.
YouTube — The Young Turks — BREAKING: Eric Trump Is Staggeringly Stupid
I have always felt that Eric Trump was on the clueless side. From confirming his like of nepotism to his comments on Russian money in the family real estate business, he might actually be a prosecutor's best friend. And Drumpf wanted a security clearance for this rube?
My Universe— In the video, which was posted to Youtube by Vancouver’s Michael Fujiwara, the sea lion surfaces near the dock, and swims about looking harmless. No doubt it was drawn by the fish — this is an area, after all, that was once nicknamed Salmonopolis.
But after surveying the area and discovering no fish, the sea lion surprises everyone by approaching a young girl, then suddenly, biting down on her dress and dragging her backwards into the water. …
“The sea lion actually attracted a lot of attention from the visitors there, including the young girl,” he said. “She and her family, I guess, they came, they started feeding the animal bread crumbs or whatever it was, and then I guess the animal got a little too comfortable.”
Fortunately, the young girl was pulled from the water immediately by a family member. The young girl was unharmed, albeit a little soggy, and with a newfound, healthy fear of sea lions.
This happened at the Steveston Wharf which is where many fish boats are docked, so it would be quite normal for seals and sea lions to be around the wharf area. People need to respect wild creatures for the potential harm they can inflict. Seals and their bigger cousins, sea lions, can be dangerous. Nobody should be feeding any wild animal. Here is an additional CBCarticle about the incident with a little more detail. Fortunately, this story has a happy ending.
Well tomorrow is the 9th birthday of my two boys — Primo and Winnie. We will have fresh roast chicken breast — their favourite —for dinner. Of course they'll share the chicken with their sister and me, but only because I am the one who controls the chicken. Here in Metro Vancouver, spring has really sprung — the fruit trees are all blooming, the daffodils, narcissus and forsythia are all out along with the tulip trees. Tulip flowers are not quite out in bloom yet. This year our spring is very late as our winter was colder, longer and much snowier than usual.
Short Takes
Evening Standard — Donald Trump has demanded he is transported in the Queen’s gold carriage on his state visit to the UK – leaving security chiefs with a ‘monster’ operation to plan.
The White House has made it clear that the President expects the traditional state welcome of a carriage procession down the Mall with Her Majesty.
But security officials in London have warned that it would prove difficult to secure the area and will require an operation far greater than any other recent state visit.
According to a report in The Times, President Trump is adamant that he want the procession to be a part of his State visit – due to take place in October – despite his predecessor opting for a less traditional vehicle. …
Thousands protested against the President’s state visit when it was announced in January and 1.8 million people signed a petition calling for the invitation to be retracted.
I have to admit that I was really piqued at Drumpf's audacity to "demand" the gold carriage and a parade down the Mall in London during his visit to Great Britain next October. I am not a monarchist as such, but Drumpf on a state visit to Britain is, in my mind, out of the question. If he wants to visit Theresa May and the government, that's up to them. But The Narciccist-in-Chief has no business visiting the Queen. If he does visit her, there will be some sort of gaff . . . after all, look what happened with Shinzo Abe during his vrecent isit to the US.
Now the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will likely pull off one of the smallest White House Easter Egg Rolls in decades as it continues to be beset with staffing shortages, reports of infighting and general tumult.
The free event drew 37,000 Egg Roll lottery winners last year and regularly attracts at least 30,000 to the South Lawn of the presidential home in Washington, D.C.
This year, an aspirational turnout of 20,000 is projected to attend Monday, according to the New York Times. …
"If the Egg Roll is not organized, if it's not welcoming, that will send a message about the White House itself." …
Cecilia Glembocki, executive director of the Virginia Egg Council, poses between two egg ladies at a White House Easter Egg Roll. (Courtesy Cecilia Glembocki)
"People are always especially fascinated by the first one of a new administration because it reflects the style, interests, tastes, the vision of the first lady," Bates says. "Will Mrs. Trump have a big, gaudy, circus-like event?"
White House press secretary Sean Spicer played the part in 2008 during the last Easter Egg Roll for then-president George W. Bush.
Yet another SNAFU for the Drumpf administration. If Sean Spicer plays the Easter Bunny, it will be a promotion for him — from blithering, incompetent idiot to Easter Bunny! Easter at the White House — another great mess from the Drumpf administration.
RobertReich.org — What’s the “Trump Doctrine” of foreign policy? At first glance, foreign policy under Trump seems inconsistent, arbitrary, and devoid of principle.
A few weeks ago, even before the airstrike on Syria, Trump communications director Mike Dubke told Trump’s assembled aides that international affairs presented a messaging challenge because the Trump administration lacks a coherent foreign policy. “There is no Trump doctrine,” Dubke declared.
I think Dubke is being grossly unfair. Of course there’s a Trump Doctrine. You just have to know where to look for it.
The Trump Doctrine began to emerge when Trump issued his travel bans (both the first and second) on predominantly Muslim countries.
But he notably excluded predominately Muslim countries where Trump has business interests.
So under what might be called the First Principle of the Trump Doctrine, people living in a predominantly Muslim country have a chance of entering the United States only if their country contains an edifice with Trump’s name on it.
Click through for the other 3 principles that Robert Reich lays out. From my armchair, it is clear that Drumpf has no idea what he is doing in foreign policy . . . nowhere else either. I remember during the 2012 election, Romney campaigned on being a successful businessman and he knew how to run the government like a business. But government is NOT business and demands a lot of skills that don't necessarily get a work out in business, especially not business as practised by the likes of Romney and Drumpf. Planning and organisation seems to be anathema to the Drumpf administration, and Drumpf's flip-flops rival Romney's in numbers. Drumpf's only guiding principle seems to be GREED.
Just to show that Andy Borowitz isn't the only one with a sense of humour, here is a post from Crooks and Liars. However, writer Travis Gettys wrote in Raw Story that an aide to Drumpfenfarten told him that Reince Priebus and Bannon may feel the sting of "You're Fired!" in the near future. I guess we'll just have to wait to see how things unfold. But to be sure, if Reince Priebus and Scott Walker were to go to Broadway, it will be a real gong show!
I have been busy working on my mother's estate and getting ready to file her income taxes for last year. Add teaching and physio and a few other things, life has been busy. Now I have to arrange a visit to the dentist because I broke a tooth on Friday. On the other hand, it is always a joy to come home to my three furbabes.
Short Takes
NY Times — Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate on Friday to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court, capping a political brawl that lasted for more than a year and tested constitutional norms inside the Capitol’s fraying upper chamber.
The moment was a triumph for President Trump, whose campaign appeal to reluctant Republicans last year rested in large part on his pledge to appoint another committed conservative to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. However rocky the first months of his administration may have been, Mr. Trump now has a lasting legacy: Judge Gorsuch, 49, could serve on the court for 30 years or more.
“As a deep believer in the rule of law, Judge Gorsuch will serve the American people with distinction as he continues to faithfully and vigorously defend our Constitution,” the president said.
The final tally was 54-45 in favor of confirmation.
The confirmation was also a vindication of the bare-knuckled strategy of Senate Republicans, who refused even to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Merrick B. Garland, saying the choice of the next justice should belong to the next president.
Click through for the rest of the article. Well, I think we all knew that Gorsuch would be confirmed if McConnell used the nuclear option and changed the Senate tradition of 60 votes for confirmation to SCOTUS to a simple majority. McConnell did, and Gorsuch was. When the appointment is for life, in this case for at least 30 years, there should be a requirement for 60 votes to confirm.
Otherwords.org— Well in keeping with the above article, here is Khalil Bendib's take.
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Strange fruit on the tree of liberty.
There will interesting times ahead with Gorsuch on the bench.
Otherwords.org— If you didn't guess already, I am a fan of Khalil Bendib's work. A picture is worth a thousand words, or maybe more. With the failure of Drumpf's healthcare bill recently, he is beginning to tally up quite a list of failures. Stay tuned for more!
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Our "deal-maker" president isn't nearly as good as getting things done as he proclaimed.
And of course, before the healthcare failure, there was not one, but two attempts at banning Muslims from specific countries. The first ban was quashed by Washington state US District Judge James Robart. Of course, not to be outdone by a judge whom Drumpf castigated, Drumpf brought forward a second ban and it was shot down in spectacular fashion by Hawaii's US District Judge Derrick Watson. Drumpf just tweaked the original ban and it was sent to the trash heap. One can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig!
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You know what they say about putting lipstick on a pig.
