Lynn Squance

Squatch’s Open Thread 26/12/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 3:13 am Open Thread, Politics

Dec 272015

I have had a very relaxing, nay, lazy day today. It is supposed to snow tonight but we'll see. Snow and Vancouver drivers don't generally mix well. Some of us have a lot of experience driving in snow (like me), while others don't change their wild driving habits for anything! I have church in the morning and then I may try to go see the new Star Wars movie. Just to let you know that since TC has taken back the puzzle, I will probably scale back my postings in January sometime.

Puzzle — You,ve been finding the puzzle here for over 3 months, but starting today, TC has taken back the puzzle. Maybe I should try something like Suduko if I can find one on the web that is embedable so we're all doing the same one.

Short Takes

Alternet — … the question to ask is whether this film can spark a political revolution just in time for the 2016 election. …

“Where to Invade Next” begins with the observation that the United States has not won a war since World War II. It then comically imagines the Department of Defense calling on Moore to step in and save our nation. His plan? Invade nations not to take them over, but to take their good ideas. We then see a hilariously ironic shot of Moore on a ship draped in the American flag and heading out on his quest.

Moore then embarks on a tour of a series of European nations and one in Africa where he finds society getting it right. From debt-free education to paid leave, women’s rights, prison reform and delicious school lunches, Moore offers viewers a world where people simply live better than we do here.

This is a short trailer for the movie.

Michael Moore is interviewed by Stephen Colbert.

I have not seen the movie and probably won't for some time even though it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015. I can't find any distribution information for Canada but it is rolling out in the US in the lead up to the New Hampshire primaries. All of us need to think of our national issues in new creative ways. BTW, MM weighs in about "where he got his international outlook growing up in northern Michigan (“I blame Canada”)". Now I, as a Canadian, can accept that notariety! Michael Moore in “Where to Invade Next” : "The American dream seems to be alive and well everywhere except America."

Mother Jones — At least 96 children died at Dozier between 1914 and 1973, according to school records, and while state officials say there’s no proof, former students insist that some of the deaths were the result of foul play. Boys of all races were routinely, brutally, and even fatally beaten by staff, they allege; some were raped, and “runners” were fired upon—at least seven kids were reported dead after trying to escape.

Tens of thousands of boys passed through Dozier’s gates between its founding in 1900 and 2011, when Florida officials shut it down (citing budgetary reasons) amid a Justice Department investigation that found ongoing “systemic, egregious, and dangerous practices” at the school.

I stumbled upon this 2014 article and found the level of violence unimaginable, yet evidence as noted in a Tampa Bay Times follow up article bears witness to the stories of former residents. Was this a stop on the school to prison pipeline?

CBC — Siham Abu Sitta, a social worker, and her two daughters fled Syria for Lebanon in February 2013 after her husband was killed by a sniper.

She is Palestinian, but grew up in Syria in Yarmouk, a permanent Palestinian refugee camp close to Damascus that has been the scene of vicious fighting between anti-government rebels, Syrian forces and, more recently, ISIS.

A long siege of Yarmouk has led to several hundred deaths from starvation.

While a refugee in Lebanon, Siham met a Canadian-Lebanese filmmaker Carol Mansour who made a short film about her and four other refugee women as they struggled to get by.

The film, Not Who We Are, won two international awards and, earlier this year, caught the attention of Fairlawn Avenue United Church in Toronto, whose congregation reached out to sponsor Siham and her daughters.

With the prospect of moving to Canada, Siham and her twin girls, Joudy and Jana, have been working hard to become fluent in English.

Syrian refugee crisis

This picture taken on Jan. 31, 2014, and released by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, shows residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, queuing to receive food supplies, in Damascus. (UNRWA via AP, File)

Click through to read Siham's story about her husband's death and her life in Lebanon with her very young twin daughters. So why are refugees like Sirham still rejected by the US? Sirham and her daughters have now arrived in Canada.

My Universe — Cats can be sooooooooo melodramatic!

Squatch’s Open Thread 25/12/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 5:09 am Open Thread, Politics

Dec 262015

I am sure that today has been hectic for most . . . family, children running about, Christmas dinner or other festivities. I had Christmas dinner Thursday night with friends, and I contributed yams baked in olive oil and honey with generous amounts of ginger and a bit of garlic but absolutely no salt. Today, I had a slow start but then in the afternoon headed out to see my mother. Staff were having a potluck dinner and I was invited to share the bounty. It was good to share a delicious meal with the people that look after my mother so well. I hope your day was equally enjoyable.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:51 (average 4:54). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes

Alternet — Outsourcing to these 1099 workers has become the preferred method for America’s business leaders to cut costs and maximize profits. This is only the beginning; we have yet to see how these trends will affect the labor force over the next decade or so. But already we can see that the so-called “new” economy looks an awful lot like the old, pre-New Deal economy. “Jobs” amount to a series of low-paid piece work – they’re called micro-gigs today—offering little empowerment for average workers, families or communities. We’re losing decades of progress, apparently for no other reason than because these on-demand companies conduct their business over the Internet and apps, somehow that makes them “special.” Technology has been granted a privileged and indulged place where the usual rules, laws and policies often are not applied.

The work requirements were changing at the end of my career, and not necessarily for the better, moving towards this new idea. Will this "sharing" economy continue? I don't know but I do think it will kill the idea of the American dream which of course Republicans will continue to tout as achievable if one works hard. The new way almost sounds like indentured servitude.

Mother Jones — Climate change will have some pretty terrifying consequences. Experts have predicted everything from deadly heat waves and devastating floods to falling crop production and even increased political instability and violence. But according to some of the world's biggest companies, these future disasters could also present lucrative business opportunities.

In a remarkable series of documents submitted to a London-based nonprofit called CDP, big-name corporations describe global warming as a chance to sell more weapons systems to the military, more air conditioners to sweltering civilians, and more medications to people afflicted by tropical diseases. CDP, which stands for "Carbon Disclosure Project," asks companies all over the world to disclose information about their greenhouse gas emissions and how the changing climate will impact their operations. Each year, thousands of companies send in responses. Below, we've compiled a list of some of the most striking—and, in some cases, disturbing—scenarios laid out by those businesses.

In my mind, climate change and global warming are huge challenges to the world as we know it. The human need for survival is paramount. If that survival is in doubt anywhere, people will rise up. With economies the way they are, who will be able to afford these "fixes"? Click through for the rest of the details.

Think Progress — A National Rifle Association lawsuit seeking to immunize gun dealers from a recently enacted tax was rejected by a state trial court on Tuesday. If Judge Palmer Robinson’s decision is ultimately upheld on appeal, the tax will fund gun safety research as well as programs seeking to prevent gun violence.

Last August, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D) signed an ordinance providing for a $25 tax on each gun and a 2 to 5 cent tax on each round of ammunition sold within the city. The NRA, along with several other pro-gun groups and individuals, sued, claiming that the law violates a Washington State law preventing municipal governments from enacting any “regulation” of guns. As Judge Robinson explains in his opinion, however, the power to tax is separate from the power to regulate. Among other things, he notes, the ordinance does not “place any burden or restriction” on gun dealers beyond the obligation to pay the tax.

Personally, I hope that Judge Palmer Robinson’s decision is upheld. It is a start.

My Universe —

The Right’s Pathetic Paranoia: The 8 Worst ‘War-on-Christmas’ Stories This Year

Posted by Lynn Squance at 2:02 pm Politics, Religion

Dec 242015

The War on Christmas is a right wing conspiracy being played out for political reasons, in my opinion.

Every holiday season, the right-wing outrage machine fires up the masses by feeding them misleading, anecdotal stories about a "war on Christmas." The typical war on Christmas story follows a simple pattern: a small town or an obscure group of people make a tiny, harmless gesture toward secularism; local media gets a hold of it; and an echo chamber of outrage, from The Blaze to AM radio to Fox News escalates the situation to a fever pitch, making villains of the secular scrooges and heroes of the persecuted Christians.

3. O’Reilly flunkie Jesse Watters harrases mayor in grocery story parking lot over alleged Christmas crimes.

Every year in the town of Plantation, Florida, Mark and Kathy Hyatt string 200,000 lights in their front yard and install a 20-foot ferris wheel as part of the “Hyatt Extreme Christmas” that draws thousands of spectators. This year, the town's mayor, Diane Veltri Bendekovic, sued the Hyatts to recoup the added cost to the city for hiring policemen and traffic cops to manage the spectacle, and lo and behold, the dogs of Christmas war were unleashed.

Noted stalker and Long Island fratboy Jesse Watters quickly descended on Plantation, hunting down the demure mayor in a grocery store parking lot where he berated her with his patented line of loaded and bad faith questions. Watch watch the shameful episode below if you can stomach it.

Click through on Alternet for the other 7 Worst 'War-on-Christmas' Stories. Yes, Christmas is a Christian observance, but many people of many faiths also celebrate Christmas, not as a religious observance, but as a time of compassion, love, unity and hope. To celebrate these qualities requires the actions of good people, nothing more.

Squatch’s Open Thread 24/12/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 2:02 pm Open Thread, Politics

Dec 242015

It is Christmas Eve and I am having Christmas dinner tonight with friends. Tomorrow I will be seeing my mother so it is a relaxed Christmas for me. Tomorrow, the furbabes and I will have a chicken dinner before I leave.

Merry Christmas all!!!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:09 (average 5:08). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes

Huffington Post — Amid a spike in anti-Muslim assaults, vandalism and death threats around the country since the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino and growing sentiment against the resettlement of Muslim refugees, congregations of all faiths have scrambled to think of ways to curb the violence and call for peace.

In Washington, D.C., on Sunday, the Washington National Cathedral played host to an interfaith pilgrimage of Christians, Jews and Muslims who walked with each other from congregation to congregation, calling for the faithful choose "unity over extremism." …

Along the way, they held signs quoting the Quran on unity and condemning extremism.

"O humankind, indeed we have created you male and female and made you peoples and tribes, that you may know each other," said one (Quran 49:13). "American Muslims condemn ISIS and terrorism," read another. …

“Embedded in all three Abrahamic faiths is the understanding that we are all pilgrims," added the Rev. Gina Gilland Campbell, the canon precentor at the National Cathedral. "A pilgrimage is a spiritual activity, done in community. It’s a journey toward something, and this pilgrimage brings us closer to God, and to each other.”

What so many people do not understand, or choose not to understand, is that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have a common point of intersection . . . Abraham or Ibrahim in Arabic. In Islam, Jesus is known as a minor prophet. In Judaism, Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah is not reconised. We all have more in common than we know, including our humanity. And that humanity includes Atheists, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus etc.

Mother Jones — In the early 1900s, Lewis Hine left his job as a schoolteacher to work as a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, investigating and documenting child labor in the United States. As a sociologist, Hine was an early believer in the power of photography to document work conditions and help bring about change. He traveled the country, going to fields, factories, and mines—sometimes working undercover—to take pictures of kids as young as four years old being put to work.

Shorpy Higginbotham was a greaser at Bessie Mine in Alabama, working for the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company. Hine said the boy told him that he was 14 years old, but Hine suspected the boy wasn't telling the truth. At work, Shorpy carried two heavy pails of grease and was often in danger of being run over by the coal cars.

Partly as a result of Hine's work (as well as that of Mary Harris Jones, whoMother Jones is named after), Congress passed the Keating-Owens Child Labor Act in 1916. It established child labor standards, including a a minimum age (14 years old for factories, and 16 years old for mines) and an eight-hour workday. It also barred kids under the age of 16 from working overnight. However, the Keating-Owens Act was later ruled unconstitutional, and lasting reform to federal child labor laws didn't come until the New Deal.

Things have changed in the US when it comes to child labour laws. But in other countries, child labour is still accepted, partly because families need the income. In some areas, children are treated as slaves. Click through this pictorial essay.

Think Progress — Last week, a cafeteria worker at an Idaho middle school was fired for giving a free lunch to a hungry 12-year-old student. On Wednesday, after significant backlash against the school, she was offered her job back.

The Idaho State Journal reported on Wednesday night that the worker, Darlene Bowden, would “have to think about” whether to re-accept the position.

A petition on Care2, Don't Fire a Kind Lunch Lady: Children Shouldn't Go Hungry!, keeps beating its target. The newest target is 90,000 signatures with 88,472 actual signature. I can appreciate the need to think about returning, but I hope the lunch lady does. People are watching this Republican school board.

My Universe —

… no wrapping required!

"I ain't no Rudolph!"

Squatch’s Open Thread 23/12/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 11:47 pm Open Thread, Politics

Dec 232015

The eyes are good today and no longer subject to the drops used in the eye exam, so I am good for another year! It has rained most of the day, and it is particularly hard right now . . . I can hear it on the roof. I sure hope Santa has swim trunks because he is likely to need them! My post may be very brief tomorrow as I have Christmas dinner with friends and I am incharge of the roast yams in honey.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes

Huffington Post — When government officials came to collect children from Jean Marie River for residential school, residents of the remote village in the Northwest Territories said they'd keep their kids at home, thanks very much.

In what may have been unique among Canadian First Nations, they decided to build their own school. And now, as Canadians grapple with the legacy of residential schools, Jean Marie River is trying to commemorate the fact it doesn't have to. …

Shingle Point Residential School & Home For Boys, Mackenzie District, N.W.T. in 1930

The Alert Bay Mission School in British Columbia in 1885

The school only taught the first six grades, but that was enough to ground kids before they went to Fort Simpson.

"It gave us a good, solid base as compared to people that went to residential schools that didn't have a nurturing mother, that didn't have a model of how to become a caring mother," Gladys Norwegian said.

"I think it helped me to become comfortable with who I am. I didn't really need to explain to anybody what being an aboriginal person means. I was comfortable in my skin."

For the people of Jean Marie River, saying no to the residential school system made for a stronger community, confident and proud. I will make no apologies for strongly disliking former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative harlots. Only with a new government lead by Justin Trudeau has there been a commitment to Canadian Aboriginal peoples, a commitment to work in partnership and respect. Here is Trudeau's commitment, a renewal of the relationship between the government and Aboriginal peoples.

Politico — But there is a far bigger problem with Cruz: Donald Trump is not the most self-absorbed Republican running for president—Cruz is. Whether you like Trump or not (and I don’t), at least Trump makes no effort to hide his narcissism. In that sense, Trump is oddly genuine.

Cruz, on the other hand, takes great pains to be whatever he thinks you want him to be. And the troubling thing is he’s really good at it.

I sure am glad that this Republican is all yours! And if this conservative's view is not completely convincing of Cruz's narcissism, have a look at a Cruz campaign rally that turned into a prayer revival.

Global News — An Idaho lunch lady has been fired after she gave a hungry student a free meal.

Dalene Bowden, a former server at Irving Middle School in Pocatello, Idaho, was terminated from her position on Dec. 15 for “theft” when she gave a 12-year-old student free lunch because the young girl couldn’t afford the meal.

“I handed her the food and said ‘here we’ll take care of it in a minute,’” told Bowden to KPVI News.

How Republican of the school district and the supervisor.

Politico — As Iran prepares to announce it has dismantled its nuclear program and thus should have its sanctions lifted on what will be known as “Implementation Day,” probably in January, sniping is growing on all sides. Opponents of the nuclear deal in Congress are urging President Barack Obama not to go easy on Iran for its recent ballistic missile tests and other non-nuclear activities just to try to save the agreement. Iranian officials, meanwhile, are pointing to recent changes in U.S. visa laws as a potential violation of the deal, saying the new rules will damage Iran's economy by penalizing legitimate business travelers and innocent Iranian dual nationals.

If Implementation Day comes and goes without a problem, it will bolster Obama's theory that diplomacy is worth trying even with a longstanding U.S. nemesis. If it is delayed significantly or scuttled completely, it will damage a major piece of the president's foreign policy legacy. …

As part of the nuclear deal, the U.S. committed to refrain from policies that are “specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran.” But Iranian officials view the new visa laws as damaging to their economy because they could scare off investors. Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif has called the new restrictions "absurd." Some European officials also have warned that the changes could violate the nuclear deal. …

But Iranian leaders haven't been mollified. Some suggested Monday that lobbying by Israel — a staunch foe of Iran and the nuclear deal — prompted the new visa rules. Many Iranians aren't buying that their country isn't being singled out, asking why Congress targeted Iran but not Saudi Arabia or Pakistan in a law ostensibly aimed at stopping terrorism.

It would seem that the Republican dominated Congress is just itching to go to war with Iran. Personally, I think Iran has a point about the US targetting Iran. The halls of power are too often filled with political intrigue to which we are never made privy.

My Universe —

“I like to refer to it as aging gracefully, but whatever.”

"Did you just fart?"

Via Giphy

“You’re getting sleepy. Very sleepy….”

Squatch’s Personal Update 22/12/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 11:09 pm Open Thread, Politics

Dec 222015

Well I had a full eye exam today, an annual event since I am diabetic. The good news . . . my baby blues are in excellent shape! The bad news . . . my eyes are tired and the light is bothering them, likely just a result of all the drops. Tomorrow will be fine. We had what I call thick rain today . . . snow mixed with rain and cold.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:43 (average 5:11). To do it, click here. How did you do?

GoodNewsNetwork — If you ever wonder whether you can make a difference in someone’s life, look at this 1988 picture from Children’s Nurse magazine.

The nurse on the left is Lynn Bartos, who spent years helping treat the little girl, Nichole Frye, who had been born with a serious birth defect.

The little girl called the nurse “Sweet Lynnie” and the nurse called little Nichole, “Ninni.”

Child cares for nurse Fair Use Children's Nurse Magazine

After almost 25 years, the two met again by chance, and Lynn learned just how much she did make a difference in her patients’ lives, when the roles were reversed.

This time, she was the patient–in a hospital being treated for rheumatoid arthritis, when a young nurse came in to adjust her medicine.

Lynn felt something familiar about her and read the name on her name tag.

“Ninni?” she asked.

Sure enough, little Nichole, now 30, had followed in the footsteps of “Sweet Lynnie,” the nurse who inspired her as a little girl and nursed her through years of surgery and treatment.

Too often, we never get to know how we influence others. In my 20s, 30s and 40s, I was a Sunday School teacher and a youth group leader for junior and senior highs. The kids were somewhat rebellious with their parents, but things were different with me. There was always 2 way respect. But then my work sent me far north and those days of youth work were done. About 10 years later I got a call asking me to a wedding. One of my "babies" was getting married. Then, about 2 years after that, I received a call from this young man. I thought he would tell me that they were pregnant. He said his older brother was getting married and would I come? Of course I would be there. And then he said that they were pregnant. This little girl was named after her 2 grandmothers and me. Too rarely do we know how we influence others and it is a great privilege when such is revealed.

My Universe —

Squatch’s Open Thread 21/12/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 12:04 pm Open Thread, Politics

Dec 222015

Sorry I am late once again. I was almost finished when I did a face plant on my keyboard last night. Busy day yesterday with physio and teaching. Today I have my annual eye exam which is no big deal and then a very quick grocery shop. I was invited for Christmas dinner on Thursday night so I must prepare my yams and apple casserole.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:11 (average 5:12). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes

Think Progress — This morning on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough asked Rick Santorum a simple question: What can we do to show the millions of peaceful Muslim Americans that they are valued and respected members of society?

Santorum rejected the question and said that onus was on every Muslim American to confront “the cancer within Islam.” Santorum said that “most Muslims” in America were shirking their duties to confront radicalism.

Co-host Mika Brzezinski had enough. “I’ll turn the argument around on you. Why aren’t you working on white men with guns?,” she asked.

Another Republican non answer! Santorum has no idea of what he tries to speak

NY Times — Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina suspended his presidential campaign on Monday, saying he had concluded that “this is not my time,” while arguing that his mix of hawkishness on foreign policy and pragmatism on immigration and the economy had made a difference in the race.

The withdrawal came on the last day that Mr. Graham could remove his name from the South Carolina primary ballot, sparing him possible embarrassment in his home state given his paltry standing in the polls.

“The centerpiece of my campaign has been securing our nation,” Mr. Graham said in a YouTube video announcing his decision.

IMO, there should be a lot more Republican presendentials following Graham out the door.

Think Progress — Just a few hours after congressional candidate John Oceguera announced he was terminating his lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association, the angry comments began flooding his inbox and Facebook page, calling him, among other slurs, a “pussy traitor,” “kool aid-drinking zombie,” and “libtard.” …

“The NRA does a lot of good things, like with hunting safety, but they’ve just become so stringent and won’t compromise on any issue,” he said. “It’s like you can’t say anything about commonsense gun reform without people screaming, ‘You’re taking our guns!’ or ‘You’re an idiot’ or a lot worse than that. When I made this announcement, I became enemy number one. But do I really want to belong to an organization where I can’t have an opinion that’s just slightly different?”

Of the several stories I read about John Oceguera, this is the most comprehensive. He certainly makes clear that common sense gun laws are required but that the NRA is not about to support such that bar mentally ill people and those on watchlists. Personally, I hope that he is able to influence the national discussion on gun control.

CBC — The photo shows local resident Markus Siivola throwing hot tea into the air as he bends backwards. In the –40 C [-40 F] weather, the tea freezes as soon as it's tossed.

Photographer Michael H. Davies took this photo on the tundra outside Pangnirtung, Nunavut, a community of about 1,400 just a few kilometres south of the Arctic circle.

Check out the story for more fabulous pictures of the Arctic. Having lived in an area of BC where the average winter temperature is -40 C, I can certainly relate and appreciate the beauty.

My Universe —

giphy (25) (1)

"Hug me tighter human!"

5 Demented Right-Wing Moments This Week

Posted by Lynn Squance at 11:48 pm Politics

Dec 202015

Almost every week, Republicans join a competition to see who can say the most outlandish things, and in the process, they push the envelope on just how nauseating InsaniTEA can become. I trust that you will believe it, when I tell you that last week was no exception.

Bill O’Reilly is not about to listen to some guest on his show who disagrees with him.

Bill O’Reilly simply cannot be rational about the group Black Lives Matter. He invites the group’s advocates on his show so he can yell at them and threaten them and imagines that maybe his hectoring will make them go away. But it keeps not working.

"You would think if you have an organized group in America saying we want dead cops that all decent people would reject that group. You would think, correct?" O'Reilly said, completely falsely and without basis on Thursday."But the Democratic Party is actively embracing Black Lives Matter."

Seriously Papa Bill. You need to calm down. He was referring to the fact that the DNC had the audacity to invite members of the movement to organize and host a presidential town hall forum on racial justice.

Racial justice! Where do those Democrats get off?

Keith Boykin, who was an aide to President Bill Clinton, had been invited on to comment, but when he disagreed with O’Reilly, O’Reilly threatened to cut his microphone. Strange way to treat a guest on a talk show, but never mind.

O’Reilly frothed some more. "All right. So you believe that the Democratic Party is correct in embracing a radical group, a group that calls for police officers to be killed. I'm talking about—look, would you be comfortable with the Republican Party bringing in the storm front, the Nazi people and saying we would like our candidates to talk to you guys?"

It was a rhetorical question, because Boykin’s microphone really had been cut. It’s that hospitality thing.

"They are an extreme group, the Nazi Party. The Black Lives Matter is also an extreme group, as you have heard," O'Reilly added.

Boykin was granted the power of sound for a brief moment, just long enough to say he was outraged by the comparison, which of course, fell on deaf ears.

This is the third of five demented right wing moments. Of course we can always count on O'Reilly to be bombastic. Click through the Alternet article for the other four.

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