Oct 152016
 

I had several extra chores to get done this morning, including renegotiating my cable/internet package.  While I’ll never be a big fan of Xfinity, it’s my only option, because my building does not allow dish service.  I did manage to more than double my Internet speed, without raising the cost.  I’m feeling more tired than I should, and think it’s the Lyrica.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My faith has already been shattered for the week, but may the Holy Orb shine its blessed light on your team.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:30 (average 4:24).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: We knew this was coming. It came in his speech tonight.

Donald Trump lashed out at global elites who undermine American sovereignty through “international banks” — and many observers couldn’t help but notice the underlying anti-Semitic message.

* * *

Throughout the speech, Trump used harsh language that evoked old and ugly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about international bankers who supposedly infiltrate national governments and control the global agenda. Citing recent Clinton campaign emails published by WikiLeaks, Trump told the crowd that "Clinton meets in secret with international banks in order to plot the destruction of US sovereignty." Echoing the rhetoric of Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists, Trump repeatedly referred to "globalists" as the true enemy and Clinton as their handmaiden.

The “international bankers” trope is nearly as old as Anti-Semitism itself and needs little explanation. But for those who are unfamiliar, there is Wikipedia.

As other Republicans distance themselves (without withdrawing their endorsements), Rump Dump is lining up all the more with the Alt-Right Nazi Republicans.

From The New Yorker: Hillary Clinton is “plotting to rig the election by getting more votes than I do,” Donald J. Trump warned his supporters on Friday.

Speaking at a rally, Trump detailed what he called Clinton’s “vast conspiracy” to accrue more votes than he does on Election Day.

“The media won’t tell you this, but Crooked Hillary is going around the country every single day, trying to get more votes than I do,” he said. “That’s how she’s going to rig it, folks.”

He called the current sexual-assault allegations against him “a plot by the Clintons to draw attention away from Hillary’s evil plot to get votes.”

But Andy, all Republicans go bananas when Democrats use this strategy!!

From Common Dreams: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Friday called on President Barack Obama to remove one of his top hand-picked financial regulators, saying the current chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had driven the agency off its course.

In a 12-page letter (pdf) to Obama, Warren took aim at SEC chief Mary Jo White, a Republican-leaning Independent who has refused to work on a rule that would enforce transparency in corporate political donations. The Massachusetts senator wrote that White has consistently engaged in "extraordinary, ongoing efforts to undermine the agency’s central mission" since her appointment in 2013, and urged Obama to use unilateral authority to oust her and tap a more qualified SEC member.

"I do not make this request lightly," Warren wrote. "I have tried both publicly and privately to persuade Chair White to direct the agency’s resources toward pressing matters of compelling interest to investors and the public, and toward completing those rules that Congress has required it to implement. But after years of fruitless efforts, it is clear that Chair White is set on her course. The only way to return the SEC to its intended purpose is to change its leadership."

I fully agree with Liz, White is acting like a Republican, and should be ousted.

Cartoon:

1015Cartoon

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  18 Responses to “Open Thread – 10/15/2016”

  1. 4:17  Well, sunflower seeds are tasty.

    DKos – Yes, we knew this was coming.  Of course people who want to get along are the true enemy.  People who want to bomb the rest of the world into oblivion are the only ones who can be trusted.  Right.  /s  You know, when you think like that, Jewishness is almost irrelevant.  Everyone with a soul and a conscience is vulnerable.  Not that we don't need to protect each other!

    New Yorker – Andy is so good at translating Drumpfspeak into English (and even keeping the flavor of the original!) that it is scary.

    Common Dreams – Of course Elizabeth is right.  I have signed some of those petitions myself (to Mary Jo White, to DO HER JOB.)

    Cartoon – Heck, I could put together an old white male court that Republicans would hate just as much as they hate the competent members of the current one.  I grant you it isn't that one, though!

  2. That republican chair needs to be removed NOW! She needs to removed before the next president is elected!

    Dang, Andy! Wouldn't it just be TOO BAD if Hillary was to win the votes AND the electoral college? Maybe he needs to wake up and see what he is doing to the US just by running his terribly WRONG campaign? He has brought out the very WORST in humanity by running this devisive campaign against the fundamental principles of just being civil to each other!! That his license to degrade, defame and put down women has brought out the worst in EVERYBODY!!!

  3. DK: "First he came for the Hispanics, then the Blacks, then he came for the Muslims, then the disabled, then POW’s, then the women…..And now, the Jews." Hmmmm….sound familiar?? It sure does, and it's frightening!

    NYer: Straight up reporting, Andy. He's gonna be a sling fest!

    CD: You go, Ms. Warren!! Thank you for looking out for us!!

    Hope that you get some rest, and can relax this evening. My guys play IN, which conflicts with my PBS time/schedule in the evening, so it'll be a busy night. Take good care, and Thanks, Tom.

  4. DK: See my posting, at C2, yesterday, about this lunacy: http://www.care2.com/news/member/565542931/4015810I watched about 10 minutes of his speech, in Florida, Thursday night, until I could handle no more.  He is all about rabble rousing, making accusations, THERE IS NO SUBSTANCE, he has learned his lessons from Hitler's playbok well!

    New Yorker:  Well, of all her damned nerve!

    Common Dreams: Come on Pres. Obama, do it.

  5. Just so I'm on the record: I LOATHE Comcast/Xfinity (what the HELL do those names even mean?) – not so much for their service (not good, but tolerable … barely).  But I HATE Comcast right-wing politics … for years!

    Look what they've done to NBC Universal (witness, Dave Gregory, Chuck Todd, Andrea (nee Mitchell) Greenspan, Matt Lauer

    Years ago (when I had OK hearing) I actually talked to the CEO's (who surprisingly is a decent Democrat – so must be the Board) secretary to voice my complaint. 

    PS – I'd be curious if you notice any difference WRT Internet speed w/ your new package.  I only have Internet cable (never been much of a TV watcher), so I probably don't have as much leverage.

    • Comcast is available here, but I don't need cable, and do need landline, so I am with CenturyLink.  About a year ago I negotiated an increase in speed at an introductory rate and my payment didn't go up.  It's up now, but less than I expected.  But I digress – I was just giving this background to address your question about noticing a difference in speed.  The answer for me is yes and no.  I did notice a big difference on speed in downloads, and I do a fair number of large ones.  But I really didn't notice any difference at all in pages on the Internet loading.  That continues to frustrate me.  Of course my situation is with a different provider completely, but if you are asking questions, that might give you a question to ask.

      • I appreciate it – thanks.

        With Comcast cable, my speeds really are pretty good.  Being in KCMO we're on of the trial areas for Google's fiber optics.  But being out in the 'burbs it'll be a couple of years before it gets this far – if at all.

        The other issue is that it's hard to get a "deal" when you only have internet cable.  They always want to sell you a bundled package – for which I have absolutely NO interest.  As I said, I just don't "watch" (which really means read the CC)  much TV.

    • I was on ComCast 50 MhZ and they moved me to 250.  That increased my download Speed test from 18 to 88.  It really makes a difference in streaming video.  A couple streaming services that used to choke my Roku player, causing a system reset, now work smoothly.  I can't have Centurylink TV in this building because it's DirectTV (dish).  The fastest broadband they offer here is 40MhZ.

      • Thanks!  Given that I don't take use those services, sounds like a good idea to stick w/ what I have.

        … BUT an additional question:

        My brother stream stuff from Netflix.  Way back when, when I looked into it none of the streaming services had CC capabilities.  Obviously a non-starter for me.

        I haven't revisited the issue, but do you know if any of your streaming options provide CC capabilities?

  6. Puzzle — 3:00  Don't leave sunflower shells on the floor!

    Daily Kos — I listened to Drumpf's speech, well 49 minutes anyway, before the barf bags had to come out.  The venom he spewed, the hate, the lies, the conspiracies . . . in my opinion, Drumpf is completely and totally unhinged. 

    The New Yorker — Drumpf should be made to wear a sign "Does not play well with others!"  Andy is doing straight reporting again.  He has so convinced himself that he is a winner, there is no room in his life for anything less.  Of course we all know he's a big loser!

    Common Dreams — Go Lizzie!

    Cartoon — A bunch of old angry white men!  Racial discrimination is the purview of little minds.

     

  7. You must have some really good negotiating skills to get double the internet speed with company that seems to have a monopoly on the services in your building, TomCat. Is there a way you can check the speed you're actually getting? Because all providers here promise us the moon, but usually deliver a Gouda cheese instead because most customers can't check or can't be bothered to check the actual speeds. Enjoy the holy day even though your Broncos aren't playing.

    DK: I've already commented on the DK article when Mitch posted it and put a link to it in his comments on PP an2 Care2 yesterday, so I'll just quote myself if you don't mind:
    "Well, it was in the cards that Drumpf would go after the Jews, there weren't many more groups to belittle, insult and alienate left. But I doubt that it'll make much difference to the American Jewish community, they've already seen all the signs as the picture to the DK article clearly shows. That wasn't taken after this particular speech but long before it, when any sensible listener could pick up the parallels with Nazi Germany's fascist speeches. Yes, they've seen it before, and so have we all, including the GOP and Drumpf's followers. But they either choose to ignore it or like what they're hearing. Drumpf will probably not win this election and wreak further havoc, but the damage he, and the GOP, have already done to American society, the polarization they've caused, will take a long time to repair."

    TNY: You may be onto something here, Andy. Drumpf's advisers may finally have figured out how Clinton is rigging the election to go in her favor. They've told Drumpf that she's actually campaigning to get more votes than he does. How dare she! First she prepared for the debates, and now she wont stop campaigning, what a cheat. And he was told – or everybody said – say she was pumped up on drugs during the debates and wants a drug test done before a debate, I heard. Clinton couldn't possibly be such a big cheat that she'd take him up on that and make Drumpf forego whatever gave him the sniffles during the debates, could she?

    CD: That's a serious accusation Elizabeth Warren is bringing against SEC chief Mary Jo White and the request  to remove her from leadership is even more serious, but knowing Warren, we can be sure this request is warranted. I don't think Obama will do as she asks, but you never know, the past year he's shoed more than once that he's got nothing to lose now and will do as he pleases. The main question for him will be if this will hurt the Democratic party too. Because, lets be honest, it isn't as squeaky clean as we would like it to be.

    Cartoon: American – and world – history seems to be full of repeats.

  8. Andy, Andy….you are so funny! 

    The only people Trump hasn't turned his hatred on are the old rich white guys like him…

    Friend who really knows computers says the Wikileaks "leaked" emails have a lot of fakes in them – he can tell by the routing, etc.

    Nothing in Hillary's emails compares to Trump's lack of humanity or decency.

  9. Thanks all!  Very tired hugs!!

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