Last night I slept poorly and felt so tired this morning, that I was dozing off, while doing my research, so after I finished, I uncorked a much needed Lona nap. That’s why I’m running late today. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my kitty cousin Scanner. Sadly he’s quite aloof, and every time I go in for my annual Cat Scan, he refuses to come out and play. In any case, I may have no more that a Personal Update.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos (classic 9/2011): Why would anyone vote Republican? Well, here are 10 reasons.
1. You are a bigot
It’s true that not all Republicans are bigots. But if you ARE a bigot, the Republican party will be much more your group than the Democratic party. Remember that there are lots of ways to be a bigot: You could be a racist, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, or lots of other things.
2. You like eating, drinking and breathing poison.
Many Republicans are calling for or voting for shrinking or eliminating agencies that protect us against poison. They seem to think that the corporations will do the right thing, without any pressure from the government. Uh huh. Read The Jungle. Look at the way Monsanto is hiding facts about Round Up. Look at food safety and outbreaks of E. Coli.
Corporations exist to make money. They will do so any way they can. The government needs to stop them from doing so in ways that hurt people.
3. You think the rich don’t have enough money
The idea that giving more money to rich people (via tax breaks) will help poor people is nonsensical and has been shown wrong time and again in history. Huge tax breaks for the rich (a la George Bush) don’t work.
4. You don’t support our veterans
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran’s Association (IAVA) rates every member of congress on how well they support our veterans. In the Senate, 9 people got A or A+: All were Democrats. 30 got D or F: 29 Republicans and one Democrat. More on this
How little they have changed!! I shared the first four. Click through for the other six.
From NY Times: The wall of Republican opposition to the nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland to the Supreme Court has been shored up by two Republican senators revoking their support for holding confirmation hearings.
Their moves highlight the immense pressure that Republican leaders are placing on senators as they try to build unified opposition to President Obama’s choice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.
As the White House heralds the growing number of Republicans agreeing to meet with Judge Garland, Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have reversed themselves and say they now back the decision made by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, not to hold hearings.
The Republicans who agreed to meet with him were trying to appear responsible, but were really, as I predicted, just stalling for time.
From Raw Story: SNL took on one of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters who frequently pops up on cable broadcasts to defend the actions and words of the consistently offensive candidate.
I hope you enjoyed the laugh. Sadly the blonde on the right caricatured a voter even smarter than Fecal Dump Trump’s actual supporters.
Cartoon:
The previous summer, while planning events for Vietnam Summer, he said the government would not allow him to live much longer. Watch this excerpt.
Less than 24 hours later, he was dead. Isn’t it clear that he knew they were closing in?
8 Responses to “Open Thread–4/3/2016”
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The good die young…especially if they inconvience powerful people…or so the song inferred (Abraham, Martin and John)
Laughing is better than pulling your hair out.
Just read a GOP analyst say that the GOP is going to split into two parties after the election…will the line mean all who were tolerable will be in one party?
DK: Absolutely. Correct!!
RS: They have wonderful actors on the show, don't they? Loved this, it's hilarious!!! Dump Drumpf!!
Cartoon: I remember hearing this on the radio, I was still in HS, and feeling horrified and sick at the same time. Dr. King was a Husband, Pastor, Father, and a Civil Rights Leader, who received his Doctorate at the age of 26. A Nobel Peace Laureate. He was a prolific orator who spoke the truth. The world lost a great man this day, and to me, he's a Legend.
Good luck w/your Cat scan tomorrow. Hope you get some rest beforehand, enjoy your evening, and take care, and Thanks, Tom.
3:17 For a change, I didn't get all tied up and I am not sitting on the fence.
Good luck with the CAT scan tomorrow. I'm off to my mother's now.
Puzzle — 3:17 For a change, I didn't get all tied up and I am not sitting on the fence.
Daily Kos — That ditch again and the article is from 2011!
NY Times — IMO, the Republicans are obstructionists all and should be charged with sedition. They are not doing their jobs and are going against the constitution. A bunch of seditious boneheads!
Raw Story — I didn't know SNL did actual reporting! LOL!
Cartoon — It seems the truly good ones (not the same as perfect as we are all human) die young! I agree with you, MLK Jr's words are prophetic.
I remember the summer that MLK got killed. It was NOT a good summer! Sad, sad season!
Four thirty something, it's on the other computer, but not competitive – and there's nothing tasty anyway.
DKos – Yes, it was good then, it's good now. I have it in my bookmarks. Sigh.
NY Times – It made a good April Fool joke though. You know, I honestly hardly care what they do on this, as long as they lose a lot of elections on account of it. But, damn, they all seem to be made of Teflon.
Raw Story – Just. Plain. Scary.
Cartoon – So depressing. It's almost enough to make one think that there really is an "Illuminati," and it is made up of the Koch brothers, Jamie Dimon, Sheldon Adelson, the late J Edgar Hoover, the Bush family, Dick Cheney, and the like. But they don't care a flying f*** for any imaginary "New World Order." They basically want to pit everyone but themselves against each other because, as C.S. Lewis said, "A man with an obsession is a man with no sales resistance." They really just want to get, be, and stay rich. Of course death, including wars, are great tools toward that end.
BTW, I just saw (not for the first time) "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch. It was, however the first time that it struck me how much the third panel resembles what earth might look like when climate change is complete and irreversible.
I caught whatever virus my Mom has had, so I took a lot of Lona naps today. Good luck tomorrow!
Daily Kos: All these reasons don't explain why so many poor people remain Republicans. They are voting against their own best interests.
NY Times: Their decision to "not" participate after initially saying they would indicates they have either been threatened or bribed by their fellow Senators. I would not put anything past McConnell.
Raw Story: I watched this last night, too funny!
Cartoon: He had to have known it, there were too many threats against his life from the beginning. Then Bobby Kennedy shortly after, it was a sad, scary time.
Sorry you slept badly, bud I'm glad one of my catnaps alleviate the problem somewhat, TomCat. It must have been a good vintage if you slept long. Say Hi to your friend Cat Scan; he must like you because he's purring really loud when he sees you, I understand. Try not to head-but him to hard, though. He's very sensitive.
DK: Nothing much changed since 2011, has it? Just got a little bit worse, that's all.
Perhaps one could add: "You think there is no world beyond the seas"…?
NYT: Pressure from the GOP leadership to show a united front? from the Tea Party leaders, you mean. There's no GOP leadership left.
RS: At least on group is thanking Drumpf for all he does and says: comedians. There is no end to the material Drumpf comes up with for them. I hope they do not get addicted to having it soooo easy, they may end up voting for him themselves because they like four more easy years.
CArtoon: Oh, yes, MLK knew what was in store for him. He knew not when or where, but he felt it wouldn't be long before he went the way of other black activists, but he also knew the movement had gathered such momentum that his death would only carry them further. He had seen the promised land.