Mar 142019
 

WordPress installed an update from 5.1 to 5.1.1 and, in the process, screwed up compatibility with the ARK Comment Editor Plugin that we use.  There is no trouble replying to articles.  But here’s how we need to reply to comments, until they fix it.  The comment form at the bottom for a reply to the article works.  Make your reply to a reply there, but do not click the Submit Comment button.  Then click the Reply link under the comment to which you are replying.  When the fractured,. empty comment form opens, click its Submit Comment button and your comment will be posted in the right place.  I’m sorry for the inconvenience and am getting pissed off at the WordPress folks.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:17 (average 6:23).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (NY Times Channel): Who Is Beto O’Rourke?

 

I listened to him this morning in Iowa. He knew his material. He related to people where they are. He answered questions with progressive solutions. I wish he had more seasoning, but he’s totally constipated. (He has his shit together :-)). RESIST!!

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Liberal Redneck – Rich Kids, Poor Parents, and the Least Surprising Scandal Ever

 

Stealing education was the next logical step for behavior typical of the Republican Reich. RESIST!!

From NY Times: After days of mounting pressure, the United States grounded Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft on Wednesday, reversing an earlier decision in which American regulators said the planes could keep flying after a deadly crash in Ethiopia.

The decision, announced by President Trump, followed determinations by safety regulators in some 42 countries to ban flights by the jets, which are now grounded worldwide. Pilots, flight attendants, consumers and politicians from both major parties had been agitating for the planes to be grounded in the United States. Despite the clamor, the Federal Aviation Administration had been resolute, saying on Tuesday that it had seen “no systemic performance issues” that would prompt it to halt flights of the jet.

That changed Wednesday when, in relatively quick succession, Canadian and American aviation authorities said they were grounding the planes after newly available satellite-tracking data suggested similarities between Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia and one involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 in Indonesia in October.

Finally!  Normally this announcement would come from the FAA, which has the authority to ground those planes, but Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten claimed credit for it. He lied that they were grounded only because he had declared a so-called “national emergency” to do so.  On the other hand, it’s more of a national emergency than his freaking wall.  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

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  20 Responses to “Open Thread – 3/14/2019”

  1. 5:33 Somehow it doesn’t look the sort of place where someone would feed a starving kitty.

    I have one link to a petition on behalf of the Waorani indegenous people in Ecuador, and another link to the background.

    WaPo headline: “N.Y. court allows Summer Zervos defamation suit against Trump to proceed, citing case involving Paula Jones and President Clinton”
    That’s gonna leave a mark.

    Beto – Strange as it sounds, getting into the Presidential debates may be the best way for many of the wonderful progressives we have to get some national attention. If we can keep our debates civil (and this is just the group that can do that), we can elevate our extremely deep bench and prove we work TOGETHER.

    Trae – Once there was a joke that a very powerful man wrote a letter of recommendation for a recent college graduate that looked something like: “John Doe is an exemplary person. His father was a Vanderbilt. His mother was a Carnegie. His uncles and ants include scions ot (this family) and (that family) etc.etc.” One corporation sent a replay that said something like this: “Thank you for your kind letter. However, we were not planning to use this young man for breeding purposes.” If we could only get that message across!

    NYT – You can always count on this administration to do the right thing when they are so pressured that they can no longer avoid it. Unfortunately, there are some important issues on which more pressure is needed, and we thought we had already turned it up as high as it would go. It isn’t. We need more.

    Cartoon :

    • YT: Tryin’ to hold back, and fanning myself! He’s as good as the other candidates, and I love this guy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQqwG_rQx7A

      TCC: Word. I feel his pain, and am with him on his comments!

      NYT: What does it take for this id to do something re: this incident? Shows no emotions, with no mention of the grieving families, and lives lost….geezzz…..

      Cartoon: Math teachers love this day!! Love your pic, Joanne! Signed petition. thx.

      Hope that you get it all straightened out, it’s all Greek to me. lol. Hope that you have a good day, take good care, and Thanks, Tom.

    • JD, I take it that your graphic is a reference to Pi day which is today.  It is difficult to see for me but I see a pi at the top.  So Happy Pi day!!!

      • Sorry!  I must have used just the wrong colors.  Yes, it says “RESIST ΠERSIST”spelled with a Π instead of a P, but hopefully pronounced the same way.

  2. IMHO O’Rourke is trying for too much too fast. He needs to win a seat in Congress and hold it. Maybe later he can be a viable candidate for POTUS. However, you have to admire his audacity.

    ‘Tis a shame when people cheat in order to get their kids in the best colleges. Says a lot about our whole (alleged) education system.

    Well, of course the Mango Menace is going to take credit for anything good that happens during his laughable excuse for an administration. He’d probably take credit for the return of spring if he thought he could get away with it.

  3. Beto: I like him, but think, also, that he is unseasoned.  I like him as a VP candidate.
    Trae: Could he have put his tongue any deeper into his cheek?  But, the scandal does show where the values of the wealthy lie…in lying.
    NYT: Drumph can not pass up an opportunity to lie…or cheat, or scam, but I digress!  So, the planes are grounded.  Oh, his national emergency/wall project?  Twelve GOP senators helped defeat the emergency.  He apparently blathered something about a veto, but, I don’t think that applies here.
    ‘Toon: Happy Pi Day!

  4. Thanx TC

  5. Beto:  I love him but I’m biased since I’m from TX.  I still need to watch the candidates  in the debates and interviews before I vote in the primary.  I will vote for whomever wins the nomination.

    Trae:  Spot on.

    NYT: Of course he takes credit for grounding the planes.  I’m glad The planes are grounded though.

    I signed and shared the petition Joanne.

    Thank you TomCat.

  6. 3:05 Pussy cats are not allowed in there, so I thought I’d take it down.

    NYT: Beto O’Rourke is overly ambitious, burning too early and too fast without a track record to speak of. A waste of real talent. I honestly hope he makes a great come-back in 8 years time with some political meat on his bones.

    LR: I haven’t seen much satire from Trae before, but this is excellent. “I thought they’d always do things right, those white rich kids.” 🤣🤣🤣

    NYT: When my husband picked up on the news that Drumpf had put out an executive order (another national emergency?) to ground all Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft in the US, I didn’t believe him. Drumpf had finally done something right? Turns out it was only half the truth. No surprise there.
    And while we’re on national emergencies: With a dozen Republicans on board, the Senate rejected Trump’s border emergency declaration, but Drumpf has already vetoed it. But as Robert B, a  federal appellate attorney commented in the NYT:

    Here, 41 Senate Republicans have done everything to both protect and support Trump in his most blatant and unconstitutional attempt to date to destroy our republic. If this proves anything, it is that Mitch McConnell and Congressional Republicans, not Trump, are the greatest threat to American democracy.

    Cartoon: No pi(e) day for me, I’m trying to lose some weight.

  7. Tonite Ayanna Pressly  Mass. questioned Ross he wiggled around answering, Very glad the Boeing’s were  grounded, Mitch’s McDonnell’s Wife Elaine Chaos, Helped with this too, since she is Transportation Secretary
    Trumpy had a big day today! His dreams were not filled!

  8. Beto:: Nice surprise hearing that Beto is going to run. It’s going to get really interesting now. Lots of excitement.
    TCC: Hear what he’s saying. Really is a shame what the rich will do for their brats. Shameful.
    NYT: Just like I mentioned yesterday, I was shocked that tRump actually did something for the people for the first time. Must of been because of the other countries were doing it and he can’t stand when others do things ahead of him.
    Cartoon: Happy Pi Day.

  9. Puzzle — 4:21  Love the bold colours!

    NY Times — I tend to agree with Lona on this one.  Beto has some real promise and shows passion about a number of progressive issues.  But he lacks sufficient legislative experience at this time.  Even with his lack of experience, he could do a lot better than the POS currently resident in the WH.  Speaking of Trump, with his usual abundance of snark, he commented on Beto by saying: Doesn’t he have to win first?

    Trae Crowder — I am very glad that I read a few comments before writing mine.  I totally missed the ‘tongue in cheek’, the satire . . . shame on me!  Trae did not sound like he has in the past, but I still did not register the satire.  And then his upbeat wink at the end, I knew I fell for it.  If being smart and innovative were conditions of the wealthy, Trump really missed the boat because he is neither!

    NY Times — The only reason that Trump signed the executive order is because so many other countries had already grounded the plane.  He did not want to look like an idiot.  He does anyway!  Canada grounded it as well but Marc Garneau (was an astronaut), responsible for the grounding knew what he was doing in reading the reports. 

    I read earlier that the flight data recorder and the black box have been recovered and are being analysed, but at this point, it appears that a little gizmo outside the pilot’s window malfunctioned.  That malfunction sent the plane into a nosedive.  The pilots should be able to retake control but that didn’t happen partially because there was a software issue.  Further Boeing did not tell airlines about this little gizmo nor how to retake control.  Apparently, the procedures are not in the “owner’s manual” either.

    Cartoon — Pi — defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter — no wonder pies are round!

  10. The colour of the print was good . . . I was trying to read the letters made of dough.

  11. This was done in response to JD’s reply to my comment about Pi. For some reason it posted here.

  12. OK, comments 10 and 11 were done in accordance with the instructions but posted as separate comments instead of replies.  I did a previous reply to JD’s post using the instructions and it worked really well.  This my last attempt and I’ll try to reply to #11.

  13. Thanks, Hugs and pooped Amen to all. 19

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