It’s still pretty chilly at the CatBox and I’m going to work through this morning, breaking for lunch of course, until I finally complete the Monthly Report. I don’t want to wait on that, as we have a major heat wave coming. UGH!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:29 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Politico: First lady Melania Trump attended the Ford’s Theatre annual gala on Sunday evening, paying tribute to President Abraham Lincoln’s legacy. It was one of her first public appearances since surgery last month.
"Tonight reminds all of us about the power the arts have in cultivating the American voice," the first lady, who served as the honorary chairman, said in a statement. "Thank you to Ford’s Theatre Society for tonight, and your continued dedication to education and leadership in the arts — the impact they have on society is invaluable and something we will continue to cherish throughout time.”
I can’t help but wonder, if the significance of Ford’s Theatre is wishful thinking on her part. If so, who could blame her. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
From Huffington Post: A future without net neutrality is here. Well, almost.
The Federal Communications Commission will take away the rights of internet users on Monday. Officially, the repeal of the 2015 net neutrality protections ― a repeal that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Trump pick, had pushed for ― will take effect.
That means that internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon will be able to block, throttle and otherwise interfere with online content without any real legal consequences.
Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, bucked the law, ignored public opinion and twisted the facts to make his ill-advised case for handing control of the internet to the anti-competitive cabal of giant phone and cable companies that control broadband access in the United States. In a moment of Orwellian arrogance, Pai said he did it to “restore internet freedom.”
The reality is quite the opposite: Pai is attempting to usher in an online regime that would resemble the internet in China. In that country, a powerful alliance between the central government and national telecom companies has created a digital dystopia, where websites and online services that fall out of favor load so slowly as to render them unusable. Others appear in a flash, thanks to cozy ties to the powers that be….
…You can be sure that Pai and his cronies in the phone and cable lobby will declare victory on Monday, but the expiration of the 2015 rules will be only a temporary hiccup. The fight is far from over in Congress, in the courts and across the country.
We must all refuse to give up the fight for Net Neutrality and inform others to do the same. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
From Daily Kos: …we can be extraordinarily confident that no substantive progress will be made towards the theoretical Actual Damn Point of the Trump-Kim summit, the suspension of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for, presumably, an easing of the international sanctions against them. This is because nobody on Trump’s staff has any concept of how to draft such a deal, what the specifics ought to be, and most importantly what measures are sufficient or insufficient for ensuring long-term verification of that deal. Trump nixed the disarmament treaty with Iran because he listened to longtime conservative hawks who simply wanted it gone, regardless of expert conclusions that the deal was working; he cannot hope to draft one on his own, at least one not written in the diplomatic equivalent of crayon, for the same reasons. And this, even without hardline neanderthals like John Bolton looking to sabotage the talks at every opportunity.
This is not to say the Donald Trump team will not be eager to broadcast some supposed “deal” in order to make our nation’s most successful traitor momentarily look good. Trump is under enormous pressure, at the moment, to accomplish even the most minor of diplomatic tasks without falling over his own feet. But don’t be surprised if didn’t fall over his own feet is treated, by his team, as a herculean accomplishment unmatched by any modern president, real or fictional, since Bill Pullman fended off interstellar invasion in his fighty-shooty jet.
The actual disarmament part? That would require an expertise nobody in this White House has—or can even put up with.
You can also be sure that Trump will demand a Nobel Peace prize, if he and Kim just share the golden glow of the same Russian hooker. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
Cartoon:
