Politics Plus

We’re moving into a couple days of hot weather.  It’s cool now, but the sun just hit the wall, so I’ll have to button up and go to AC before long.  I like fresh air so much better.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:03 (average 7:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

For our secretive Canadian friends:

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): The greatest, growing threat to America

China had no trouble getting around the Republican Reich. All it took was an investment in a Trump business for Trump to switch to ‘Make China Great Again." RESIST!!

From Media Matters: Today, senators voted on a resolution to undo a 2017 move by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to end net neutrality regulations, but major television and print media outlets have devoted little more than a few mentions to the issue.

This dearth of coverage may stem in part from the distraction of President Donald Trump, as since his election, media outlets have been laser-focused on his statements and actions. Several significant Trump–relatedstories did break today, but it’s nonetheless obvious that media outlets have done little to address their Trump obsession and prioritize the many other issues that matter to Americans.

Net neutrality requires internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon to give their users equal access to all internet content. Upending these rules means that, for a fee, ISPs can prioritize certain websites, allowing them to load more quickly on their users’ devices, and slow down or even block other sites. As Wired’s Klint Finley explained, “Well-established services from deep-pocketed companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft will likely remain widely available. But net-neutrality advocates argue that smaller companies that don’t have the money to pay for fast lanes could suffer. In other words, protecting net neutrality isn’t about saving Netflix but about saving the next Netflix.”

The FCC, led by Trump-nominated Ajit Pai, decided last year to end net neutrality rules in a move that voters across the political spectrum largely opposed. Leading up to the FCC’s vote, though, many media outlets were shockingly silent on the repercussions of upending consumer protections on internet access.

As Democratic senators made a last-ditch effort to salvage net neutrality rules — which passed in the Senate — coverage by many media outlets is still nowhere to be found.

I did not know the bill had passed. I hope that enough Republicans will side with Democrats in the house to pass it, but I doubt it. RESIST!!

From Alternet: Before the theocratic government of today’s Iran, there was the brutal Shah. Before the Shah, the CIA overthrew a pro-Western government that had been democratically elected. Mohammad Mossadegh was the prime minister and his US-backed downfall in 1953 was the spark that set in motion the conflict with Iran today. In this interview, Medea Benjamin sheds light on this seminal incident with Iran. She also explores the nation’s history and politics.

Click through for a fascinating read. We need to remember that much of the third world opposition we face today stems directly from right-wing imperialism, RESIST!!

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Between tech issues and a bunch of work for my volunteer organization, I’ve been busier today that a long-tail TomCat in a rocking chair factory.  I hope you’re enjoying a peaceful, weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:17 (average 5:17).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Donald Trump Toys With Abuse Of Office In Beef Against Washington Post (22 min.)

The comparison between Nixon’s and Trump’s abuse of power is fascinating. Trump’s use of government agencies to harm enemies financially is an impeachable offense. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Oregonian Channel): Texas lt. governor says fewer doors could prevent school shootings

What a vile Republican idiot! It’s the guns, Stupid! As a former volunteer firefighter, my first thought is that single entrances to and from high schools would soon lead to crispy kids. Also, such a choke point would make it harder for kids to get away from a shooter. RESIST!!

From UPI: European Union members meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, prepared a united front against U.S. decisions to exit the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and impose steel and aluminum tariffs.

The European Commission, the EU executive branch, announced Friday it "launched the formal process to activate the Blocking Statute by updating the list of U.S. sanctions on Iran falling within its scope."

The blocking statute, created in 1996 to evade the U.S. embargo of goods to Cuba, will be remodeled to reflect Iran-related sanctions that were reinstated after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the accord on May 8. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javas Zarif met with his British, French and German counterparts in Brussels earlier this week.

"What we demand is no conditions and no limits and to go back to the situation before," French President Emmanuel Macron said at the summit meeting Thursday. "The condition for all talks is to lift all threats and tariffs, without mention of a time limit."

Even Russia is getting in on this deal, as a signer od the Iran pact. It took a Republican Reich to force the EU into siding with Iran and Russia against the US. RESIST!!

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It’s another comfortable day here in the CatBox, and I completed all my tasks yesterday.  Unfortunately, my brain was still racing, when I went to bed, and it took hours to relax enough to get to sleep.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:06 (average 4:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Four FBI Vets Discuss One Year Of Robert Mueller’s Russia Investigation

Had the FBI been as circumspect about Hillary Clinton as they were about Donald Trump, we would likely have a President. Mueller, from everything I can tell, has Donnie Do-wrong by the short hairs. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Donald J. Trump has ordered a replica of the Nobel Peace Prize and is displaying it prominently on his desk in the Oval Office, the White House confirmed on Wednesday.

The replica of the Nobel medallion is mounted on what the White House described as a “tasteful black-velvet background” with an engraved plaque reading, “Donald J. Trump, 2018 Winner.”

At the daily White House briefing, the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that Trump “took the initiative” to award himself the Peace Prize rather than “waiting around” for the Nobel committee, in Oslo, to bestow it on him.

“What with his successes in Syria, Iran, North Korea, and whatnot, the President already knows he’s a lock for the Nobel,” she said. “It’s just a formality at this point."

Great minds fall in the same ditch, Andy. I said this week that the Fuhrer would demand the Nobel Peace Prize for moving the Doomsday Clock closer to Midnight. RESIST!!

From Alternet: President Donald Trump engaged in deeply disturbing rhetoric about immigrants on Wednesday at a Cabinet meeting on immigration, echoing some of the worst and most dangerous language he used on the campaign trail.

"We’re taking people out of the country, you wouldn’t believe how bad these people are," he said. "These aren’t people, they’re animals."

Denying the humanity of certain groups — as well as wildly exaggerating their rates of committing crimes, as the president frequently does — is a rhetorical technique often used to promote racist and bigoted ideas.

The Fuhrer does not set the tone for Republican racism. He merely reflects it. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

It’s cooler today, but the building is still hot, and I am still worn out.  Tomorrow should be better.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:53 (average 4:43).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Trump only does TV interviews with his friends

Barf Bag Alert!!

These aren’t just sycophants. They are suckophants! RESIST!!

From Rolling Stone: Though the Trump administration is celebrating Monday’s official opening of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, the move does not appear to have brought about any semblance of peace. An estimated 35,000 Palestinians lined the fence separating the Gaza Strip and Israel in protest, and at least 58 have been killed by Israeli Defense Forces. At least 2,700 have been injured, according to Palestinian officials and the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Protests along the border have raged since March 30th, and follow a call to action by Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abu Artema, who in January posted to Facebook an invitation for a peaceful demonstration, along with the hashtag #GreatMarchOfReturn, a reference to the desire for Israel to allow the return of Palestinian families who were removed from Israel when the state as founded in 1948. Organizers have said that it was Trump’s announcement in December that he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem that inspired the protests. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, over 100 people have died and around 11,500 have been injured since the protests began.

This blood stains the hands of the entire Republican Reich! RESIST!!

From NY Times:

Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas needed a favor: Before retiring, he wanted to anoint a local activist as his successor. Mr. Hensarling, a veteran conservative, reached out to President Trump for help, but the White House hesitated to intervene, according to a person familiar with the overture.

Instead, Mr. Hensarling found a willing ally at Mr. Trump’s right hand: Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Pence backed the congressman’s favorite, Bunni Pounds, last month in a tweet [sphincter delinked] that blindsided key White House aides…

…Republican officials now see Mr. Pence as seeking to exercise expansive control over a political party ostensibly helmed by Mr. Trump, tending to his own allies and interests even when the president’s instincts lean in another direction. Even as he laces his public remarks with praise for the president, Mr. Pence and his influential chief of staff, Nick Ayers, are unsettling a group of Mr. Trump’s fierce loyalists who fear they are forging a separate power base.

In addition to addressing dozens of party events in recent months, Mr. Pence has effectively made himself the frontman for America First Policies, an outside group set up to back Mr. Trump’s agenda. He has keynoted more than a dozen of its events this year, traveling under its banner to states including Iowa and New Hampshire. And Mr. Pence has worked insistently to shape Mr. Trump’s endorsements, prodding him in the contests for governor of Florida and speaker of the House, among others.

Word of the internal tensions is getting out beyond the walls of the White House: one prominent lawmaker said the complaints of high-ranking Trump officials were starting to circulate on Capitol Hill.

That pseudo-Christian fascist may seem inoffensive and soft-spoken, but he’s bright enough to see that the Fuhrer is on the way out, so he’s trying to seize the reins of the Reich. His policies are probably worse that Trump’s, but he’s sneaky and keeps the most extreme secret. RESIST!!

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