Squatch’s Open Thread 14 December 2018

 Posted by at 1:55 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Dec 142018
 

It is Thursday evening and I am getting a start on the OT because I am getting a haircut Friday morning.  It will be great to be able to see the computer screen and keyboard again!  Well Winnie did very well at the vet’s today.   His spot glucose reading was 6.4 perfect for a cat’s range, and his fructosamine results won’t likely be available until late Friday.  At this point, there are no more vet appointments until his annual checkup in May.  He is diet controlled, and hopefully, he’ll lose a little more weight which will help things immensely.  Oh how I hate that last word — Trump uses it to such excess!  Friday noon: Winnie’s results were wonderful and he is officially classed as “in remission”.  The haircut did not happen (no hairdresser) so I’ll have resort to ponytails pretty soon.  That should be fun.  I’ll look like these little girls, babies really, who have 3 cm (9~1 in) ponytails all over their heads!  Have a good weekend and stay safe!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:37 (average 8:07). To do it, click here. How did you do?

TC’s took me 4:32 (average 5:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes

AlterNet — “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.” That’s freshly minted GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan talking — statements he would eventually recant — at a party celebrating what would have been the prolific author’s 100th birthday,

Rand’s books are a big driver in the long-term right-wing campaign to delude millions of people into believing that there’s no such thing as society — that everyone must look out only for themselves.

1. How Ayn Rand Seduced Generations of Young Men and Helped Make the U.S. Into a Selfish, Greedy Nation

“When I was a kid,” AlterNet contribuer Bruce Levine writes, “my reading included comic books and Rand’s The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. There wasn’t much difference between the comic books and Rand’s novels in terms of the simplicity of the heroes. What was different was that unlike Superman or Batman, Rand made selfishness heroic, and she made caring about others weakness.”

Bruce Levine’s explanation of how Rand has captured the minds of so many is a must-read. “While Harriet Beecher Stowe shamed Americans about the United State’s dehumanization of African Americans and slavery, Ayn Rand removed Americans’ guilt for being selfish and uncaring about anyone except themselves. Not only did Rand make it ‘moral’ for the wealthy not to pay their fair share of taxes, she ‘liberated’ millions of other Americans from caring about the suffering of others, even the suffering of their own children.”

5. Billionaires and Corporations Use Rand’s Writings To Brainwash College Students
Pam Martens reported that Charles Koch, who pushes “millions of dollars through his foundation into economic programs at public universities and mandating approval of faculty and curriculum in some instances,” partnered with the “southern banking giant BB&T … mandating that Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged is taught and distributed to students.”

Click through for the other 8 influences of Ayn Rand.  I have always seen American capitalism as almost cruel and exploitative.  Unfortunately, Republicans display this same exploitative trait showing total disregard for the working, poor and middle classes.

The Atlantic — Opposition is building against a Trump-administration plan to allow certain groups of protected Vietnamese immigrants to be deported, a day after The Atlantic reported that the U.S. is reinterpreting an agreement with Vietnam that shielded some of them from being moved out of the country.

In the latest sign of growing worry over the efforts, a group of at least 22 members of Congress have signed a letter addressed to the White House, as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, to express “deep concern” over attempts to rework the 2008 accord between the U.S. and Vietnam. John Kerry, a former secretary of state and Vietnam War veteran, echoed those concerns, calling the shift “despicable.” That deal protected Vietnamese nationals who came to the United States before July 12, 1995, and committed crimes during their time in the U.S., from the threat of deportation. That specific date, which was when Washington and Hanoi established diplomatic relations, covered those fleeing the Vietnam War. In essence, the Trump administration has now said it believes that the agreement allows for a wider number of Vietnamese migrants to be deported.
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In their letter, the 22 lawmakers—all Democratic members of the House of Representatives— acknowledged that many young Vietnamese refugees, upon arrival in the United States, “were resettled in struggling neighborhoods without support or resources to cope with significant trauma from the [Vietnam] war.”  …
They added that the “refugees have completed their time and are now positively contributing to their communities.” Deporting them, the lawmakers said, would return the immigrants to a country they are not familiar with. They urged the Trump administration “to honor the humanitarian spirit and intention embodied in the current agreement.”
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Click through for more.  WTH!!!  The last US troops pulled out of Vietnam in March 1973 and Direct U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the Case–Church Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress.  It was not until April 1975 that Saigon was taken by the communist North Vietnamese.  There had been some South Vietnamese airlifted out of Vietnam — those who had worked with the Americans — when US personnel were airlifted out.  But most were caught in Vietnam.  That is when North America saw a big influx of “boat people” — Vietnamese who paid snakeheads thousands of dollars to get them out of Vietnam.  Many of the boats were not fit for travel across the Pacific but people were desperate.  I was on a committee at my church trying to help resettle these migrants from war and communism.  That was more than 40 years ago!  So why has bone spur Donnie decided it is time to involve himself in the Vietnam war?  Some reporters have posited that Stephen Miller is behind this.  Many of the approximate 5,000 people targeted have paid their debt and are members of the community.  So why drag up old history?  Racism!  They are not white!  Bone spur Donnie must be stopped.
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The Daily Beast — The New Jersey attorney general’s office is looking into claims of “harassment and immigration fraud” at President Trump’s Bedminster golf course, a lawyer for undocumented current and former employees told the New York Daily News. Anibal Romero, lawyer for housekeeper Victorina Morales, told the newspaper the attorney general’s office “reached out to him” regarding claims that five of his clients were “threatened and called racial slurs” while working at Bedminster. His clients also allege that fraudulent documents, like work permits, were provided by the Bedminster staff, and that staff “threatened to report them to federal authorities if they spoke out.”
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And this surprises who exactly?  This is not the first time.  Trump thinks he is above the law, but he is not!

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My Universe

Les Folies Bergère?

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  7 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 14 December 2018”

  1. Lynn Squance says:
    December 14, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    Posted to Care2 HERE

     

    Please note that all my links were set to open in new pages but they do not. There seems to be a bug in recent WordPress updates that have infuriated me yesterday and today. Please right click on all links until we sort this out. Thanks

  2. P Bowen says:
    December 14, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    AN: Now I see why Ryan is the way he is, (GOP), and how they think. He’s a fan of Ayn Rand. I’ve not read any of her books, nor do I intend to. Screw the poor, enable the rich!

    Atlantic: Gawd, this is horrible. I feel so bad for these folks, (and also those at the border wanting to come here for a good life, a job, and to put food on their table). What in the hell is he thinking? If there’s a petition floating around about this, holler. I’ll sign it.

    DB: I hope that these women win their case, and lawyers seek justice for these women. I’d check Mar-A-Lago too, if I were one of the lawyers…..for their safety too.

    MU: Sweet picture. If animals large and small can get along, why can’t we?

    Great news about your Winnie. (aren’t they just like our kids, and part of a family?) Supposed to get cold this evening, and by the wind coming in, it will, at 38 tonight. brrrr……How is TC doing?

    Thanks for your post, Lynn. You’re doing a great job, as are Joanne, Nameless and Lona. Big Thanks to y’all.

    *This just in: “The owner of National Enquirer plans to testify against DT. The ultimate irony: DT might be taken down by Fake News!! lol ~ Sandy P. ~

  3. Joanne Dixon says:
    December 14, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    Truly Striking Beauty 4:39 [8:07]
    Jawbreakers 5:12 [5:26]

    Crooks and Liars considers this pertinent to what Orange Judas knew and when did he know it. I just think it’s suggestive (and worth hearing).

    When my hair gets to that point (which it is fast approaching) I go for headbands before ponytails. (Of course I guess it helps that I can knit my own, so they fit, and can use the most feel-good yarns to do it.) Kudos to Winnie!

    AlterNet – I generally figure my issues with Russia are with the government, not with the Russian people – but Ayn Rand is definitely one Russian People I could have done without.

    Atlantic – Not NEARLY enough Vietnamese who worked with us were airlifted out of Vietnam, though they had been promised they would be. And now he wants to screw them again. I have no words. Just a low, animal growl.

    Daily Beast – It only surprised me that Ms. Morales and others still had the spunk to come forward, after being so abused.

    Universe – Just ducky!

  4. Lona Goudswaard says:
    December 14, 2018 at 8:27 pm

    3:34 (average 8:07) What a beautiful cat!
    3:15 (average 5:26) Which reminds me of the dentist appointment on Tuesday.

    AN: It’s too easy to blame Ayn Rand for everything, from seducing all these generations of innocent young men to turning America into this selfish, greedy nation. I thing it was, and still is, rather the other way around: she gave these selfish young men the eloquent excuses they were looking for, their greed inherently being their own, like most everywhere else. Lazy and greedy businessmen and right-wing politicians have exploited Rand to the fullest; why think of something new when Rand had done all their thinking and writing for them.

    TA: You’re absolutely correct in your analysis, Lynn. Of course these new White House immigration, excuse me, deportation plans have nothing to do with new policies on immigration. It’s all about racism towards non-white minorities.Vietnamese aren’t white and therefore bad people. See…some of them have been convicted of crimes, so they’re all criminals and bad people and need to be deported even if they’ve paid their debt to society decades ago. As most immigration tactics fail him, Drumpf an his minions will look towards smaller communities to harass and appear to be doing something to his base.

    TDB: Lets hope this is one of those businesses that Drumpf has not rescinded from so that as its owner he’ll have to bear full responsibility for these claims of “harassment and immigration fraud”. If he’s handed it over to one of his children to run, that’ll do nicely as well.

    MU: All true friends are great!

    Glad to hear Winnie is in remission, Lynn, and I’d love to see you with those little pigtails. I imagine you’d look something  like this, but to protect your privacy, I’ve pixelated your face:

  5. Freya says:
    December 15, 2018 at 7:00 am

    There are two books that a lot of people read as teens. One is “The Lord of the Rings,” the other is “Atlas Shrugged.”

    One can seriously warp a developing mind’s perception of reality and leave damage that will last a lifetime.

    The other mentions elves.

  6. TomCat says:
    December 15, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Were she not an asshole, Rand Paul would not be named after her.

    Staff, thank you all for such a great job, especially Squatch! 35

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