Politics Plus

It has been a fairly relaxing day, although most of it has been spent at the computer working on Friday's and Saturday's articles.  That means tonnes of reading and other research.  Tomorrow I have physio, closely followed by teaching ESL so time is short.  Thanks to Lona for the supply of cat naps to which I avail myself from time to time.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:24 (average 5:23). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Upworthy — h/t JL — Cats. We love them, but do they love us? We may never know. But there's one thing we know … cats hate patriarchy.

If you've ever tried to make a cat live up to your expectations of cat behavior, you probably already know this. They despise ALL systems of unequal power and expectations. Cats are over patriarchy.

Of course cats are so over patriarchy!  Check it out.  They are fully into catriarchy!

The New Yorker — After the stunning ISIS blitz in June, 2014, that captured tremendous territory in Syria and Iraq, Washington employed a so-called “Iraq First” strategy. The U.S.-led coalition committed to using air power to contain ISIS in Syria but gave preference to restoring Iraqi sovereignty. Priorities are now shifting, as Syria’s war spreads across continents. The United States would like to replicate the success of the Iran nuclear deal to press for coöperation among China, Russia, Iran, and the European powers, while also enlisting Turkey and the Arab countries that are heavily invested in Syria’s future. At the U.N., on Wednesday, Kerry warned Russia against striking targets beyond ISIS or Al Qaeda’s local affiliate. But, Kerry told the Security Council, “The United States supports any genuine effort to fight ISIL and Al Qaeda affiliated groups, especially Al Nusra.” If Russia has a “genuine commitment” to defeat ISIS, he said, “we welcome that effort” and will work to “deconflict” the respective American and Russian air campaigns in Syria. The bigger question is whether Iran’s interest in coöperation was maxed out with the nuclear deal—or whether old enemies could become unlikely partners in determining Syria’s future.

As said in The Nation "Similarly, each of Kissinger’s Middle East initiatives has been disastrous in the long run. Just think about them from the vantage point of 2015: … emboldening Pakistan’s intelligence service, nurturing Islamic fundamentalism, playing Iran and the Kurds off against Iraq, and then Iraq and Iran off against the Kurds, and committing Washington to defending Israel’s occupation of Arab lands."

Will Iran coöperate on Syria?  It is hard to say.  Russia is backing Assad and bombing Syrian rebel forces which also include ISIS fighters.  As well, Russia has supplied weapons and materiel to Iran. But the US has nurtured Islamic fundamentalism which it now wants to defeat.  It seems that the various countries are doing what is right for them while ignoring the people of Syria.

Huffington Post — Ray Halbritter, representative of the Oneida Indian Nation and an occasional Huffington Post blogger, says that instead, Snyder and other supporters of these names and mascots are denying Native Americans a simple request to be seen as equals in the eyes of their non-Native peers.

"They're so desensitized, they think Indian people are not real people; our children and our concerns are not real to them," Halbritter told HuffPost last year. "They don't think [the debate] is even real, they don't even think it's even worth bringing up or talking about. We're not human beings, we're not even part of humanity. And that's the problem. They think of us as just something to entertain them, or mascots — relics out of a museum."

Jeb: “But again, I don’t think politicians ought to be having any say about that, to be honest with you. I don’t find it offensive. Native American tribes generally don’t find it offensive.”

Ah, rich white privilege at it's finest with a rich white male Republican at the helm!  Bush is reprehensible (I wanted to use some other nouns and adjectives but thought better of it since this is TC's blog) as is Snyder.  I wonder where Jeb obtained his information about what Native American tribes find offensive, or not?

My Universe — I could not resist sharing this video with you.  I don't know if it's just flip-flops that engenders this reaction or more.  My cats like to use my shoes for sleeping on when they're not on the bed.  Enjoy!

Well today is my momma's birthday — 87 years old.  I will going up to her care centre for a visit in the afternoon and take some brightly coloured balloons to bobble about and catch her attention.  I remember thinking as a child that my parents were really old at the age of about 40, and that I would never make it that far.  I knew my grandparents, even great grandparents, but that their ages were greater than my parents didn't seem to register the same way.  Now I am in my mid 60s, a mother to three cats, an honourary grandmother to 7 little humans (one named after me), and my mind still says I can do anything, but the body sometimes protests.  

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:29 (average 4:35). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes

Daily Kos — By now we all know GOP Presidential wannabee Carly Fiorina has been telling everyone that she saw a video of an aborted fetus "with arms and legs kicking while Planned Parenthood people dissected the baby looking for its brain."

Her story is bullshit of the highest order — HOWEVER — there is a tiny element of truth in the story.

Click on Here is the mom who gave birth to the premature baby. to see what the truth is . . . and it is not what Fiorina is spreading!  See the Lexi Oliver Fretz story here in Crooks and Liars.

And now the House wants to set up an investigation of Planned Parenthood after 3 states and the FBI have finished investigations and found no wrong doing.  Those fiscal conservatives really do like to throw good money after bad!

Raw Story — Global financial regulators pledged to draft rules by November that will prevent taxpayers from having to bail out struggling financial institutions, according to reports. The announcement of the upcoming rules, which seek to combat banks and other institutions being “too big to fail,” followed a Friday meeting of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), a group of global financial regulators, in London.

Welcome news indeed.  My career was spent in banking management doing, among other things, Operational Risk Management and auditing. Of course, the largest banks like JP Morgan Chase and Citibank are opposing the move.  They would be required to carry higher capital requirements to offset risks.  For banks, that is considered to be "dead" money . . . money not making money so to speak.  Check out the rest of the story at Raw Story and additional info at Meeting of the Financial Stability Board. There will be a lot of lobbying going on in Washington.

Alternet — Earlier this week, GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that he didn’t want “stupid” people — i.e. people who won’t vote for him — to vote at all. Then a Republican state representative in Florida was caught suggesting that the party beat Rep. Corrine Brown by redrawing her African-American-majority district to include a large population of prisoners, who are not allowed to vote in Florida.

These are just two of the instances of Republican lawmakers admitting that their electoral strategy hinges not just on winning votes, but on suppressing the votes of people who they think will oppose them.

Read about the others.  It could not get much more blatant than that!  I often wonder when the DOJ, or another government agency, is going to put the screws to the GOP for its flagrant voter suppression!

My Universe — Just sticking my head in to say hello!