Politics Plus

I slept very poorly last night.  I had a lot on my mind.  I scheduled my visit with Casey Eye Institute on 5/9.  Dr. Skalet is an Ocular Oncologist, and she deals exclusively with eye cancer.  Megan’s office called.  they want me to get an MRI on my hands and see a Rheumatoid Arthritis Specialist.  One might think I already had enough on my plate.  Then, just as I was about to go to bed, my ISP went down.  I don’t know why, but every time I dozed off, I woke up again and felt compelled to see, if I was reconnected.  That went on until my Internet came  back early this morning.  Tomorrow I have PT with Courtney.  Rain is forecast, so I have to take the lift bus.  I may have no more than a Personal Update.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:54).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Chris Sevier is suing the Harris County, Texas district clerk, Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton for not allowing him the right to marry his Mac laptop. He’s going to have to get in line for Mr. Paxton, who is busy trying to dodge fraud charges. Why would you want to marry your laptop?

He is trying to prove that, essentially, marriage between a same-sex couple can be equated to marriage between a man and a machine. He is trying to prove that, under Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage, people are now allowed to do morally disgusting things like marry whomever they are attracted to, whether that be inanimate objects or the same gender. Essentially, he is trying to give courts an ultimatum: Agree that this is what they have done and allow him to make vows to a piece of expensive chrome, or, realize that this is morally wrong and undo Obergefell.

It’s interesting that the only people every trying to marry things that are not human—the slippery slope so often referred to by conservatives everywhere—are conservatives themselves.

Dang!! Only a total pervert would want to marry his Mac!   Any real red-blooded straight American would only marry a laptop running Windows!!

From NY Times: Curt Schilling, a former All-Star pitcher and one of the highest-profile baseball analysts on ESPN, was fired from the network Wednesday, a day after he drew intense criticism for promoting offensive commentary on social media.

Schilling, who had worked for the network since 2010 and most recently offered analysis on “Monday Night Baseball,” was dismissed after sharing a Facebook post this week that appeared to respond to the North Carolina law that bars transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not correspond with their birth genders.

The post showed an overweight man wearing a wig and women’s clothing with parts of the T-shirt cut out to expose his breasts. It says: “LET HIM IN! to the restroom with your daughter or else you’re a narrow-minded, judgmental, unloving racist bigot who needs to die.”

To that, Schilling added: “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

Kudos to ESPN!!

From Alternet: Wednesday night, Stephen Colbert opened a segment on the New York primary with these words: "Speaking of things money can buy, the 2016 election."

He thrashed the TRUSed Uranus quite well!

Cartoon:

Julie just left. and I am a pleased and pristine puddy tat.  She also gets a lot more done than  Lu used to, so I’m thrilled with her.  I have a grocery delivery coping this afternoon, so I’ll get to put everything away.  It’s another hot muggy day, not at all normal for April in Oregon, where April showers bring May rain.

Cartoon:

Today’s took me 3:06 (average 4:58),  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Real Clear Politics:

In New York, Hollary posted an impressive 15 point spread. To win, Bernie needs 1193 more delegates. Hillary needs 452. To have the majority of pledged delegates, Bernie needs 875 more. Hillary needs 598 more.

From Daily Kos: Fox and other right-wing outlets have always used certain “go-to" logical fallacies in their ideological arguments: ad hominem, straw man, and non sequitur. (Actually, if you listen to any one of Trump’s speeches, you can usually hear examples of all three in the same speech.) Although the right wing still uses these the most, lately I have noticed the increased use of several uncommon fallacies that are becoming more and more common in conservative circles. Although there are literally hundreds of logical fallacies, I’m just going to focus on these few. Let’s begin …

1. ONUS IMPROBATIONIS (“Burden of disproof”)

This is a type of Ad ignorantiam, which is to claim something is true because it cannot be proven false. What this subcategory refers to is putting the burden on you to disprove their belief. The problem is that this is impossible. Decades ago, my statistics teacher gave me an example that I still remember: the Loch Ness Monster. Even if you somehow managed to drain the entire loch, and had teams of people scouring the ground, would that satisfy the believers? Of course not. They’d argue that the mythical beast just went into hiding, or was transported, or some other such nonsense.

I always think about this fallacy when I hear the Birthers. They are a PERFECT example. No amount of evidence will ever satisfy them: experts, analysis of the document, records, birth announcements in newspapers—nothing. I recalled seeing the segment below years ago and specifically searched for this because I really want you to hear what birther Alan Keyes says immediately after  the host read through ALL of the evidence of Obama’s birth in Hawaii. It starts at the 1:10 mark. He says two words that blew my mind—and prove my point.

I promise it’s worth it:

TEAbuggery most foul!! This is the first of several logical fallacies (also called criminal thinking errors in my volunteer work in prison, or InsaniTEA in politics). Click through for the rest.

From The New Yorker: America’s racists, who have long viewed New York with a mixture of hostility, contempt, and fear, are suddenly feeling much more positive about the Empire State a cross-section of racists confirmed on Tuesday night.

In interviews conducted shortly after 9 P.M., racists from coast to coast echoed the opinion of Fresno, California, bigot Harland Dorrinson, who remarked, “You know, maybe New York isn’t such a bad place after all.”

“I always thought that New York seemed like a hellhole to be avoided at all costs,” Dorrinson said. “Now I’m thinking I might want to take the family there on vacation. Maybe even take in a few Broadway shows.”

Andy, most folks don’t realize that less then 10% of New York State residents are registered Republicans. This racist idiot fringe has been getting extra attention, because of the primary,

Cartoon:

The birthday of the first modern Republican.