I just returned from my doctor’s appointment and ate lunch. The report was a good. I’m recovering on or ahead of schedule, anf I have no need to go back, unless I have trouble. The only down side, is that I’m extremely tired. I understand that Putin’s pervert and Putin agreed to cooperate in cyber security. Isn’t that what they’ve been doing all along? I’m too pooped to research it now, but I shall cover the meeting tomorrow, as I expect to be back in the saddle then.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:45 (average 4:44). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Funny or Die Channel): The Miracles of Jesus Under Trumpcare
Dang! Bought Bitch Mitch is Republican Supply-side Jesus?!!? RESIST!!
From The New Yorker: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is being dispatched to Pyongyang in what the White House is calling a high-stakes mission to reverse North Korea’s years of progress in math and science.
DeVos, who is expected to arrive in Pyongyang later this week, plans to throw a monkey wrench in North Korea’s swiftly advancing nuclear program by replacing its current system of training scientists with a dizzying array of vouchers, sources said.
According to the White House, it is hoped that, after a few weeks in North Korea, DeVos will succeed in returning that nation’s nuclear program to pre-1970 levels.
At a press briefing announcing the mission, the White House deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, called DeVos “our nation’s best bet to stop North Korea.”
Dang Andy! Sarah Upchuckabee is right!! RESIST!!
From Daily Kos: Kelly Macias wrote a sobering piece, Politics in Texas provide insight into how the rest of the nation can go and it’s downright scary, that prompted a question in my mind. What do Republicans run on versus what they are doing when in office? Further, I asked, what are Democrats running to do if they were to win?
With those questions in mind, I did some digging, checking out every representative’s campaign web page and identifying the 3 top issues each candidate raises. I looked at all 150 seats and discovered some interesting and sobering things. Before I share my findings, let’s take a quick look at the makeup of the Texas House of Representatives.
A quick disclaimer; I am not a Texan, which, for purposes of this exercise, I think will prove useful since I have no preconceived notion of any of the players involved. This allowed me to remain somewhat neutral as I reviewed their campaign information.
THE TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OVERVIEW
- Number of Representatives = 150
- Republican-held seats = 95 (63%)
- Democratic-held seats = 55 (37%)
- Seats not contested by Democrats in the last cycle = 60 (40%)
- Seats Republicans needed to win to secure majority = 16 (11%)
- Constituents per House District = 167,637
- Constituents represented by Democrats = 9,220,035
- Constituents Democrats DID NOT SEEK to represent = 10,058,220
Now that’s what I call pathetic! If you don’t compete, you can’t win! RESIST!!
Cartoon:
15 Responses to “Open Thread – 7/7/2017”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Funny or Die: Excellent! Pseudo-Christian bozos!
New Yorker: Charter schools and intelligent design will send them back to the abacus! Well done, Betsy!
DK: I’m not from Texas, and it does not surprise me. at all. I recently posted a piece on de Vos being sued by 18 states, and someone wondered about other states possibly going in, such s Texas…don’t hold your breath!
TC, I’m glad for the personal glad tidings!
Funny or Die: Poor Jesus.
NYer: Maybe she could stay there? Learn a new language, and ‘help’ those people over there? After all, she is doing nothing for our schools, teachers or kids here. LOL.
DK: I read this article this morning. Depressing. We need to rally the masses! Loved Ann Richards, here’s her quote: “I LIKE CANDIDATES THAT TELL ME SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO ME !! So true, Ann. So true!!
Glad to read of your report. Get some rest, enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
*Note: My son was involved in a vehicular accident going to work this morning, (one block away from his house), from a vehicle hitting his car, from a side street. Speed limit is 30 mph here in neighborhood. My son is okay,he was medically treated on site, but the car is totaled. Thank the Lord for Air Bags!!
I guess what I’m trying to say here is, like that old song, “Love the one you’re with”. Please! xo
Glad to hear your son is OK – sorry to hear about the car.
I got hit head-on once by a “headless” driver (she was reaching down to pick something from the floorboard and crossed over lanes; I drove up on the lawn to try to avoid her – but she still got me). Like you, thank heaven for airbags!
What I remember most was the awful, acrid smell from the explosion cartridge that releases the airbag. And its powder & odor stays on you until you shower.
That must have been quite a scare you got there, Pat. Good to hear that your son came away with a scare and some treatable minor injuries. Yes, it does make you realize what’s important in life, doesn’t it.
Ditto Nameless and the Napster.
I’m so sorry to learn of your son’s accident, and hope and pray there was nothing more serious.
3:51 I’m sure Squatch can do better (and have a better quip.)
I learned a new (to me) German word this morning froma Hambutg protest sign – Schwachkopf.
FoD – I’m afraid Bought Bitvh Mitch existed before this legislation, so theres nothing I can do about it.
TNY – This is SUCH a good idea, and solves TWO problems at once, they the Trump regime will never think of it. Why do you build me up, Andycup, just to let me down?
DKos – These are excellent statistics which probably also apply, adjusted, to the Texans seated in Congress. But – you know – you couldn’t bribe ME to run in Texas for anything if I lived there (you couldn’t bribe me to run in Colorado Springs, either.) The missing statistic is, how many of those 60 seats did Democrats attempt to find a candidate for and fail?
Cartoon – Some people have sense.
Schwachkopf
Those German protesters are ever so polite.
I just couldn’t resist to put this pickture in from the G20 protests:
You couldn’t bribe me to BE in Texas!!
Possibly just to go to the Houston Grand Opera – no, wait! They tour! OK, me neither.
Puzzle — 3:39 I think I’ll have pisa for dinner tonight.
YouTube — “Bought Bitch Mitch is Republican Supply-side Jesus?!!?” — Well, let’s see:
1 – likes to think he is above everyone else.
2 – Likes to think he has all the answers.
3 – Likes to keep medical assistance from just about everyone except those that have ka ching!
4 – If one is already sick, they’re screwed.
5 – He’s about big tax cuts if one has the income to qualify.
6 – He’s certifiably not a Christian but thinks he is.
7 – He’s crazier than a dodo bird.
Great video!
The New Yorker — Huckabee Sanders has a point. When is DeVos leaving?
Daily Kos — As you say TC, you can’t win if you’re not in the game. The other thing that is apparent, without focus, even in the game, you will not win . . . unless you have horseshoes up your ass!
Cartoon — C’est vrai! Dans tous le pays, on doit avoir la representation en anglais ou en français. C’est la choix du person. C’est bon, ca! Vivez les deux langues!
Resist and Persist!!!
Good news on the medical front. It is long over due!
In Canada the “deux langues” seem to work so much better than in Belgium, where the language remains a divisive and cultural barrier, a real problem for a country that small. But as most of us are relatively small countries here, we have to learn our languages, so I had no trouble understanding your message, even with the little that’s left of my school french, Lynn.
FDC: Spot-on. Now only the rich are eligible for miracles; funny how they think tax breaks are miracles, eh? Miracles brought on by their very own Republican Supply-side Jesus, Mitch McConnell
. Makes you wonder what role Mitch’s endorser and name giver to this healthcare plan would have gotten in this video.
TNY: Glad to see you have your sense of satire back, Andy. If DeVos can return American education back to the Dark Ages, after it had been brought to a halt by Republicans in the red states, she surely can bring North Korea’s education to a grinding halt. Bring it back all the way to the Dark Ages might be a bit much to ask, you need a solid base of Republican Supply-side Pseudo-Christians to build on first.
DK: It’s shocking to learn that over Democrats didn’t even seek to represent 10 million of their constituents, a number greater than those they now represent in the Texas House of Representatives (9 million). Of course you can’t win if you don’t compete. One of the reasons for not even putting up a candidate for 60 of the 150 seats in the last election cycle is that there are simply no good available candidates in Texas, but the underlying reason may well be found here:
Democrats in Texas have to rely too much on “every man for himself, and god for us all”, and elsewhere too, I’m sorry to note. Democrats need to unite and stand for the a clear, cohesive and progressive platform. Eight months after their decisive loss in November Democrats are still looking for that. Any gain in popularity has all to do with Drumpf and his minions’ appalling performance but little with any new found Democratic elan.
So glad you’re recovering so well, TomCat. Now try to get some of that strength back and go and rest.
Thanks all! Hugs!