It’s 28° F here in the CatBox, and I’m waiting for WWWendy to come thaw the stinky TomCat and help with a pants load of chores. This is today’s only article.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:06 (average 5:03). To do it, click here. How did you do? (I could hide in the bushes and eat the dawgs that use it. Yum!
Short Takes:
From YouTube (NBC News Channel): Elizabeth Warren makes an announcement in Lawrence, Mass.
It was a great speech. You decide. RESIST!!
From YouTube (SNL Channel): Meet The Press Cold Open
If you really want to know, order a dick pic from Amazon.com. Your Amazon package is on the way. Shitaker was circumcised just below the cranium. RESIST!!
From Raw Story:
Europeans tend to see a lot of American ideals and behaviors as bizarre. In particular, they aren’t wild about our politics and our food (though they love our television and our movies). And when it comes to sex? Well, Europeans tend to view us as the land of the free, home of the batshit crazy. Below are some of the biggest sexual WTFs Europeans have about America….
…3. Our fear of hugs. Research has shown that non-sexual physical contact has a profound impact on people’s emotional and physical well-being. Despite this knowledge, and our hyper-sexualized tendencies, America is one of the most touch-phobic countries in the world. A global study on touch rated the United States among “the lowest touch countries studied.” In contrast, the high-touch countries include Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. Some researchers think our fear of platonic touching actually leads to violence, particularly in young males. In one study, American adolescents were shown to touch each other far less and be more aggressive toward their peers compared with French adolescents.
While there are many reasons why Europe has a much lower violent crime rate than the U.S, could a lack of healthy physical connection add to this trend? In 2012, research conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that the U.S. had a “homicide rate of 4.8 per 100,000 people compared to only 0.3 per 100,000 in Iceland, 0.7 per 100,000 in Sweden, 0.8 per 100,000 in Denmark and Spain, 0.9 per 100,000 in Italy, Austria and the Netherlands, 1.0 per 100,000 in France, and 1.2 per 100,000 in Portugal and the Republic of Ireland.”’
I shared the third out of five. Click through for the other four. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
13 Responses to “Open Thread – 2/10/2019”
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NBC: I thought Elizabeth was on fire.
SNL: Funny.
Raw Story: Great article. I agree with the Europeans.
Stay warm and tell WWWendy hi. Thank you TomCat.
NBC: Thank YOU, Ms. Warren for being up front & truthful, and for being so down to earth. She’s knows and has lived the economic hardships that many of us have had. I like her, and she sends a good message. Persist!!
SNL: ‘Wilbur’ and ‘Whitaker’ skits, lol.
RS: Interesting article, and Europe’s perspectives on this subject.
Cartoon: Depressingly sad !!!
Hi, WWWendy! Hope that you get everything done, and get to enjoy your evening. Take good care, and Thanks, Tom.
5:07 Nothing to eat.
Ho-hum. Just another day in Trumpville.
Liz – has she ever given a speech that wasn’t great?
SNL – Such a hoot! Yet, alas, all too accurate. SNL was on fire – The salute to women in Congress and the conference among Democrats in Virginia were also priceless – and I haven’t even seen all the political segments.
RS – Yeah. Well, it isn’t all of us. It’s a minority (a large minority, but a minority) of crazies who are paranoid. That, and the fact the sane among us have concluded (maybe rightly) that there are more important things to fight over – like voting right, income inequality, and climate change (not necessarily in that order.)
Cartoon – So true.
I liked Sen. Warren’s terrific trolling taunt today in Cedar Rapids, IA even better:
Great minds fall in the same ditch!
3:59 Fresh coat of paint couldnt hide dog smell.
NBC: Parts of this made the Australian BC news both morning and evening as a positive item. However, as the ABC is always set upon by the Right Wing government to be “balanced”, i.e. the left made to look bad (too), they also mentioned Liz’s dabbling in Native American heritage and being called Pocahontas by Drumpf.
SNL: No view
RS: I can’t relate to this specific point at all as a European. Yes, we do touch more perhaps, but that is in terms of hand on arm or endless handshakes (France) or ruffling of hair, or kisses on the checks, varying from one to three, but we do not hug. Not that almost full contact embrace of either gender, and certainly not group-hugs. Our touches are “sharing” and innocent, not “embraces” which have a sexual connotation to us. Of course things are changing rapidly – in this age of #me-too any touching could be misconstrued – while the hug has become, at least in word usage, quite common.
Cartoon: Correct, but it will have pictures instead of text as most amosexual Republicans can’t read.
Isn’t hugging more common in southern Europe than in northern Europe?
Not sure if we can be classified as ‘huggers’ in Oz but i’ll think you’ll find our crime rate is even lower than European nations!
More likely due to our strong gun laws… which didn’t take away any of our freedoms as many on the right will insist!
At the link below, the US is listed as # 6 for “Intentional homicides” & Australia is at # 46. Also of interest is crime rates have decreased in Australia & increased in the US over the 16 years surveyed!
https://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Crime-Statistics/Homicides/Homicides
https://www.care2.com/news/member/618576554/4137128
NBC: Great speech. Love what Elizabeth is saying. I really like what she was commenting that he probably won’t last till 2020. I pray that she is right. He’s done so much illegal acts he shouldn’t even be still there.
SNL: Was a good one.
RS: Great story. The European’s seem to understand us very well.
Cartoon: So true.
Hope the weather gets warmer for you soon. We have a cold front here, nothing like yours. that is suppose to be around for the next two weeks.
Puzzle — 4:17 It is so cold that dogs won’t near the hydrant for fear their doggie dingles freeze to the hydrant!
NBC — WOW!!! Did Warren ever energise everybody! The asshole in the WH should be very scared!
SNL — Not available in Canada!
Raw Story — I wonder if the US’s avoidance of physical contact has anything to do with this Faux Noise alum, as noted in AlterNet. Pete Hegseth said that he doesn’t wash his hands because “germs are not a real thing.” I don’t need to be reminded not to shake hands with him. I wonder if that means he hasn’t showered too? Nor will I ever shake hands with that supposed germaphobe Trump, but then, that is based on his political and human sliminess, not his hygiene.
I must admit to being curious about Canada’s metrics vis-a-vis the US since in some things we are perceived to be the same or very close. For example, on the teen pregnancy front, according to The Journal of Adolescent Health, the US in 2010 shows 57 teen pregnancies/1000 female teens, 15 abortions and 34 live births giving a 26% abortion rate in the US in 2010. In Canada in 2011 there were 28 teen pregnancies/ 1000 female teens, 12 abortions and 13 live births for a 42% abortion rate. I think we are more accepting in general of abortion but that wasn’t always the case. Dr Henry Morgentaler lead the fight. This from Wikipedia:
As to anti abortion violence we have had some as noted in Wikipedia:
I remember these incidents. These were the actions of so called right wing Christians who in my opinion are not Christian at all.
Cartoon — Sounds about right.
Just for fun . . . let the bastard pout and cry like the tantruming, traitorous toddler he is!!!
So, maybe if people in the US hugged more, we’d be less violent? OK – let’s spread the gospel of more hugging!
As usual, TomCat’s cartoon is spot on – and sadly so.
Hugs!
Thanks and OGIM Hugs!