Well, hear I sit with a free afternoon. My 2nd student called and is sick so I have more time. Tomorrow is busy with physio and a haircut — good thing I don't get charged by the kilo of hair that is removed! We Sasquatches have a lot of hair! It has been very hot here with Sunday at an unbearable 35 C (95 F) and yesterday 31 C (88 F) . . . and it isn't even summer yet! Today is 25 C (78 F) so a lot cooler, but still hot! I like 21 C (70 F) with sunshine and a gentle breeze. We are scheduled for rain later this week, and based on May's total rainfall (12% of normal), we need a deluge. From what I have read, Paris has been getting our rain as well as their own.
Short Takes
Texas Tribune — U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela took a poison pen to the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, in an open letter Monday morning.
"Mr. Trump, you’re a racist and you can take your border wall and shove it up your ass," the Brownsville Democrat wrote in a lengthy missive to the real estate magnate.
Later Monday, Vela elaborated on his remarks in an MSNBC interview.
"Well, I would have liked to have spoken in a much more diplomatic fashion, but I felt like I had to speak to Donald Trump in language he understands," he said.
Vela notes in the letter that he agreed with Trump on some policies, like improving veterans' care, addressing Mexican drug cartels and deporting criminal felons who are in the country illegally. But he also savages Trump for his rhetoric on those of Mexican descent and his promise to build a wall on the southern U.S. border.
Kudos to Vela for speaking in words that Drumpf would understand, although if Drumpf comments on this, he likely to accsuse Vela of being rude, or worse.
Crooks and Liars — Glenn Beck was suspended for a week by Sirius XM for not reining in his guest, fiction author Brad Thor, who hinted that maybe President Donald Trump should be "removed from office" by a "patriot" because the "feckless Congress" won't do it.
Talking Points Memo:
“With the feckless, spineless Congress we have, who will stand in the way of Donald Trump overstepping his constitutional authority as President?” Thor said. “If Congress won’t remove him from office, what patriot will step up and do that if he oversteps his mandate as President, his constitutional-granted authority, I should say, as President.”
Too bad they couldn't make the ban permanent!
Politicususa — Donald Trump’s appearances on CNN’s State Of The Union and CBS’s Face The Nation were total disasters for the presumptive Republican nominee after both networks used the interviews to call out his lies.
The trouble began for Trump after he repeated his claim that he always opposed the Iraq war.
Lying is a lot like juggling. The more one lies, the harder it is to keep all the lies straight and in play, or in the world of a juggler, in the air. And such is the juggling act called Trump. Of course, like many liars, Trump claims to be misunderstood, or claims outright that he didn't say certain things. Is this the demeanor of a head of state? Trump is a pathological liar which is partly why The Huffington Post puts the following Editor's Note after articles about Trump:
Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar,rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
CBC — Canada's immigrant communities are not breeding grounds for terrorists, as some would argue, but should be enlisted to reduce any violent radicalization in their midst, says a newly released report.
The research, ordered by the Harper government in 2014, appears to repudiate Conservative measures that alienated Muslim communities in the months before last year's election.
The authors examined four diaspora communities in Canada — Afghan, Somali, Syrian and Tamil — and found them to be willing allies for rooting out extremism among their often young and isolated members.
"More resilient diaspora communities represent the best line of defence against violent extremism," says the March 30 report, obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act.
The issue of radicalisation is complex. There is no "one size fits all" as conservatives would have us believe. And it is not an "Islamic thing" solely. As societies, we must work with all groups, all disporas, to make inclusive societies where all are welcome and safe. I find it particularly interesting that it was the Harper government that ordered the study, the very government that alienated Muslim communities.
Huffington Post — To defend real estate mogul Donald Trump‘s claim that a federal judge is biased against him because of his “Mexican heritage,” his campaign spokeswoman argued on Monday that it also would be acceptable to accuse a female judge of bias on the basis of gender.
“Well, it would depend on her past and decisions she made as a judge,” Trump’s national spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said.
I wonder what Drumpf would say if Antonin Scalia were to hear a Trump case and rule against him. Scalia was a very conservative Justice of the Supreme Court, and one that one would think would rule in his favour. Undoubtedly, Drumpf would likely say Scalia should recuse himself because he is the son of an Italian immigrant and a 1st generation American of Italian descent. Or what about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, admittedly a progressive, but very learned and respected. Would Drumpf insist that she recuse herself because she is a woman? Drumpf has a BIG problem with anyone who does not agree with him! It is great seeing part of the MSM calling him out.
My Universe — Is there anything cuter than purring, fuzzy kittens? Not to me! Look at all this lovin'!
I was completely exhausted and spent the morning using up my supply from Lona the Napster.
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