Yesterday’s activities must have really tired me out, because despite oversleeping this morning, I still needed to snag a Lona nap, even before finishing my research. Tomorrow I have a bi-annual appointment with my Pulmonologist, so please expect no more than a Personal Update.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:27 (average 4:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos (classic 11/2015): The resident Republican blowhard on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough, has staked out his post as the network’s voice of rightist disinformation. He commands his three hour block of airtime like a junta leader, ordering the topics of discussion and interrupting his guests incessantly.
This morning Scarborough appeared to have a severe cognitive collapse during a segment about the Republican Party’s debate-o-phobia (video below). Like most of his ideological allies, he is suffering from the delusion that the American media, owned by a handful of megalithic, multinational corporations, is dominated by liberals. Scarborough set off on a rant about the absence of conservatives on nightly news programs, Sunday shows, and in the executive suites. He badgered his guests to come up with examples of Republicans in those roles, and insisted that they could not do it.
Barf Bag Alert!!
Morning Jerk’s central proof was absurd. We cannot name an anchor or a Sunday morning talk show host, who has voted in a Republican primary, because none announce their voting habits.
From NY Times: Last week an openly gay man, Eric Fanning, became secretary of the Army. Read that sentence again and contemplate what it reveals about how much and how quickly American society has changed. Only five years ago, openly gay people were barred from serving in its armed forces.
Under Obama, we have made some major advances toward LGBT equality, except in locations in thrall to the Republican Reich.
From Crooks and Liars: The old foes commiserate on the campaign, drink a few beers, and have a waltz together.
Kudos to SNL! There comes a time when the opposing sides need to stop fighting long enough to laugh.
Well I still have sinusitis, albeit the end stages I hope. I am at least able to, for the most part, wear my glasses and read. Tonight is my last anti-biotic but I am still without a lot of energy. I have been resting a lot and drinking a lot . . . the hard stuff . . . H2O. I had physio on Wednesday which, despite being at a reduced intensity, tuckered me out. Thursday, I took my mother for her annual eye exam and then later in the evening attended my course (next week is the completion). Friday was more physio and then teaching. I was really tired by the end of yesterday but had a good night's sleep. So this long weekend is very low key, a gift I give to myself to hopefully build up some reserves. This Canadian long weekend celebrates Queen Victoria's birthday and is unofficially the start of the summer season, although summer does not really start until about 21 June. This is often the "first" camping weekend of the season, and, in many areas of Canada, flowers and vegetable gardens are not planted until after 24/05 because it is generally considered too cold. When I lived in northern BC, the last snowfall was usually around the end of May. Here in greater Vancouver, this is not the case as we have a more temperate climate. Hope you are having a relaxing weekend.
National Law Journal— In the alternate universe of John Banzhaf ("When the Rabble-Rousing Turns Criminal, There's A Civil Solution," The National Law Journal, March 28), protesters have taken over the streets and hijacked the political process. Police step back and do nothing. They "yield the streets," sometimes because they are "afraid to make arrests," sometimes because "there is sympathy with their cause." If arrests take place, protesters end up in court and "face only a token fine."
The real world of street protest bears no relation to what Banzhaf describes. In fact, the post-9/11 trend, of which his anti-protester screed is symptomatic, is of increasing hostility to street protest. In the crackdown on peaceful protesters, police show no "sympathy with their cause" and are entirely "[un]afraid to make arrests." As a consequence of the amped-up focus on security since 9/11, the "war on terror" has also become a war on dissent.
In my last post, I brought you a piece by law professor John Banzhaf. In it, Banzhaf argues that protesters who prevent others from hearing a speaker, specifically Trump in that case, are guilty of obstructing freedom of speech and assembly for those attending a Trump rally. He goes on to say that protesters face few penalties and that police are afraid to arrest protesters etc. I think you and I would for the most part disagree with Banzhaf on his police point having witnessed police actions in Ferguson, Missouri and other locales. Author Alan Levine, himself a practising civil rights and constitutional lawyer in NY, sees the current police attitude in general, as impinging upon the freedom of assembly and the freedom of speech. Have a look.
MSN — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking from the floor of an institution that once enacted racist policies against large-scale immigration from Asia until the 1960s, apologized Wednesday for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident.
“Mr. Speaker, today I rise in this House to offer an apology on behalf of the government of Canada for our role in the Komagata Maru incident,” he said, triggering a standing ovation with MPs of all major parties applauding.
“More than a century ago a great injustice took place.”
Trudeau spoke in a chamber filled with MPs and Indo-Canadians from across the country, including a delegation of more than 100 from B.C. who were led by Premier Christy Clark.
Trudeau said Canada would have been richer if the 376 passengers – mostly Sikh along with a handful of Muslims and Hindus – had been allowed to disembark from that Japanese ship.
Many people, including many Canadians, are not aware of the Komagata Maru incident of 1914 in Vancouver. It is not a proud moment in Canadian history, but I am sure that it is something that Herr Drumpf in the US would endorse. This from Wikipedia:
The Komagata Maru incident involved a Japanese steamship, Komagata Maru, that sailed from Hong Kong, then a holding of the British Empire, through Shanghai, China, then on to Yokohama, Japan, and then finally to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, British India. Of them 24 were admitted to Canada, but the other 352 passengers were not allowed to land in Canada, and the ship was forced to return to India.[1] The passengers comprised 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus, all British subjects. This was one of several incidents in the history of early 20th century involving exclusion laws in both Canada and the United States designed to keep out immigrants of only Asian origin.
In the park where I walk, there is a memorial to the people of the Komagata Maru. I'd like to think that we have come a long way since 1914, and maybe we have, but there is still a long way to go before we become a totally inclusive society.
The Economist— He was for far too long underestimated. The same must not be said of the threat his egomania and pernicious nativism represents to America and the world. …
Yet if Mr Trump’s supporters like his message, many are also motivated by disdain for the party bosses who so haplessly opposed him. Exit polls in Indiana suggested half of Republican voters felt “betrayed” by their party. This is a harvest the party sowed in two ways. First, though it is a caricature to suggest, as Mr Trump and others have, that the Republicans have long made fools of distressed working-class whites by offering them God, the flag and tax cuts to the rich, it is a caricature with some truth to it. None of Mr Trump’s 16 rivals spoke convincingly to the concerns of wage-distressed workers; none had a thoughtful answer to them.
Second, years of partisan grandstanding in Congress have discredited America’s entire political process, and the Republicans—especially those of them thrust to power by the party’s previous populist insurgency, the Tea Party—are mainly responsible. The several recent crises Republican congressmen have engineered over the passage of the federal budget, which they sought to hold hostage to their unrealistic and unconstitutional demands of Mr Obama, have earned the voters’ disdain. In that sense, the Trumpian revolt is not a continuation of the false promise raised by the anti-government Tea Party, but its successor. With Mr Trump’s nomination almost assured, its fires, too, must now rage and burn out.
Fear trumps hope! There is no doubt in my mind that Republicans are finding themselves in a pickle. But Trump, as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is not backing down. In this article and another, Trump's articulated platform will lay waste to just about everything. To me, it seems that Trump is playing the "American exceptionalism" card. Has he forgotten that negotiation is not the same as dictating the terms?
Actor-comedian Alan Young, who played the amiable straight man to a talking horse in the 1960s sitcom Mister Ed, has died, a spokeswoman for the Motion Picture and Television Home said Friday. He was 96.
The English-born, Canadian-educated Young died Thursday, according to Jaime Larkin, spokeswoman for the retirement community where Young had lived for four years. His children were with him when he died peacefully of natural causes, she said.
Young was already a well-known radio and TV comedian, having starred in his own Emmy-winning variety show, when Mister Ed was being readied at comedian George Burns' production company. Burns is said to have told his staff: "Get Alan Young. He looks like the kind of guy a horse would talk to."
I am sure that many of you will remember Mr Ed, the talking horse. I used to delight in watching the programme and wondered how the horse learned and said his lines. I was young and naive . . . what can I say! Anyway, Alan Young, who played the "straightman" to the horse, passed away 19/05/2016. Bamboo Harvester, the original Mr Ed, died in 1970. Here is an episode of "Mr Ed" to take you back down memory lane.
I'm waiting for Julie to arrive. She's now almost two hours late, and since she lost her phone, I cannot contact her. I'm very worried. Phew, she made it 2 1/4 hours late. We made me a polished puddy tat, did the dreaded task, cleaned the apartment, made a 4 – 5 day supply of γέεννα chili, and talked. Now it's late and I'm pooped, but that's OK.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today;s took me 5:03 (average 7:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: While washing her hands in a Connecticut Walmart bathroom, a woman named Aimee Toms, 22, was harassed by another customer who said:
“You’re disgusting!”
"You don’t belong here!”
We can put her argument against Republican bigots another way. "Thou shalt not commit TEAbuggery!!"
From KP Daily Funnies: The Liberal Redneck tells conservatives how it is in language they can understand
Even Bubba Bagger could understand that!
From Daily Kos: Louisiana state Rep. Kenneth Havard from Jackson proposed an amendment to a bill yesterday, then pulled it, which would limit the age and weight of exotic dancers. The Louisiana House was discussing bill No. 468, that would raise the minimum age of exotic dancers from 18 to 21. But that wasn’t what the amendment was about.
AMENDMENT NO. 1
On page 1, line 14, after "shall be" delete the remainder of the line and insert the following:
"between twenty-one and twenty-eight years of age and shall be no more that one hundred sixty pounds in weight."
In my younger days, I knew a stripper, who went by "U.C. Moore". She weighed over 250, had a humongous chest, and was far a far better comedienne than this Republican asshole is a Representative.
Cartoon:
Given the chance, Rump Dump Trump will guarantee that more will be exploded.
I'm about to leave for PT with Courtney. Windows 10 does not seem nearly so bad as the horror stories I've heard, and much easier oi use then Windows 8, which I have hated trying to navigate on friends machines. I think I'll keep it, but I still feel angry over installing it without notifying me. In addition, the timing could have not been worse. Also, I get an upgrade to Office 365 with a terabyte of cloud storage for documents for only $35. I'm very tired, because I was up late getting it to work the way I want, so when I get home from PT, I'll have lunch, finish this, and take the rest of the day off. I'm back. Courtney was pleased with my progress, and liked the way George's new ankle is working.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today's took me 3:28 (average 4:29). To do it, click here. How did you do?
I’m getting ready to leave for my MRI. I have a problem. When I woke up this morning, without the slightest provocation from me, my computer said "Welcome to Windows 10."
AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:27 (average 5:13). Ti do it, click here. How did you do?
Yesterday was a zoo. I planned my fast so I would hit the ten hour mark when I arrived at 9:00 AM. By the time they got the doctor’s order straight, and I got done, my blood sugar was down to 60, and I was feeling light headed. Fortunately I had the foresight to pack a PB&J to as as soon as I was done. T took the regular bus both ways, because the weather was nice. On the way home, I stopped at my bank’s ATM in the mall near where I live. Both machines were Reduplicated, so I had to power chair to the branch a quarter mile away. It was my longest trip in the chair do date, but without money to pay Julie, I’d soon start to stink as bad as a Republican budget. Today Julie came a bit late, because, she lost her phone. I’m fluffed and buffed. Safeway is delivering groceries, between now and 2:00, and I’ll need to put them away. Tomorrow I have to go for an MRI on my hand, and Friday I have PT, so I may have nothing more that a Personal Update each day. Later: Groceries’R’Stowed. I’R’Pooped!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:23 (average 5:20). To do it. click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: President Obama handed the Republican Party a gift for the general election by making a series of offensive pro-knowledge remarks at Rutgers University over the weekend, a leading Republican official said on Monday.
According to Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, the President’s inflammatory comments, in which he offered full-throated praise for such controversial fields of knowledge as math and science, are sure to come back to haunt the Democrats in November.
“If President Obama was trying to alienate millions of Americans in one speech, mission accomplished,” Priebus told Fox News. “When I watched him speak, I said to myself, ‘Well, Christmas came early this year.’ ”
While many Republicans expected Obama to walk back his ill-advised praise of knowledge, facts, and evidence, the White House as of Monday morning had refused to do so.
Dang Andy! Barack had better be careful!! They might Republicate on him!!
From Daily Kos: One of the most talented and outspoken young actors in Hollywood today, Jennifer Lawrence, did not hold back when talking about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on The Graham Norton Show this past week. When asked if she had met “the Trump,” Lawrence said no, but the 25-year-old Oscar-winner admitted to trying to get up close and personal with Trump at a concert.
There’s a gal who knows how to deal with Rump Dump!
From PRWatch: Recent articles in the national media, such as yesterday’s piece in the National Review, suggest that Charles and David Koch are less interested and less involved in national politics in the 2016 election cycle than in previous years.
This latest PR effort comes despite the fact that $400 million of the $889 pledge by the Kochs through their "Freedom Partners" network has already been invested in the outcome of the 2016 elections, with more money to be spent.
A close examination of recent campaign finance disclosures and other data reveals that Team Koch has already identified some of their candidates for 2016 and in many cases has already started spending big on behalf of candidates in races for the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, state Governorships and state Attorney General races–as the presidential tickets remain unsettled and controversial.
Click through for a list of dozens of certified Koch suckers.
The weekend was not kind to me. Instead of feeling better each day, I was totally wiped out by Sunday afternoon. Monday I stayed down and did not go to physio. Apparently, there is a bug about which may be the cause of my malaise. But it could also be cottonwood allergies that caused the sinusitis. Either way, wearing glasses adds additional pressure to my nose and does not help the headaches. No glasses, no reading. My three beautiful furbabes have been wonderful companions.
Short Takes
National Law Journal— Although the right to peacefully protest is enshrined in the Constitution, there is no constitutional or other legal right to commit criminal acts to make a point. Earlier this month, criminal disrupters in Arizona prevented many people from hearing Donald Trump by blocking a major highway leading to his rally and creating a 10-mile backup. The threat of arrests — only three reportedly occurred — and fines weren't much of a deterrent. What happened in Arizona was only the latest example of major disruptions of presidential rallies, with even larger ones now being openly planned.
The criminal justice system can't handle the problem alone.
Now spreading to political campaigns is what we have unfortunately all too often tolerated on college campuses — protesters who interrupt speakers to prevent others from hearing them, who physically block attendees' access, and who threaten violence to squelch speech. Unless we do something about it, the problem will persist — and could get worse.
I do not agree with all the points made by the author. Based on various newscasts, police pay plenty of attention to disruptors.
"Disrupters who violate criminal laws know that their chances of actually being arrested are small, as more police forces yield the streets to their blockades, their "die-ins," and their tactics of chaining themselves to things. Police often are afraid to make arrests. There's also the attitude of allowing them to "let off steam," and, at times, there is sympathy with their cause."
But what the author seems to forget is the incitement of violence by politicians like Drumpf and that little has come legally against this incitement. I also seem to recall that anti OWS protesters interfered with the peaceful OWS protesters with little backlash.
Alternet— Charles Koch is known for being CEO of industrial giant Koch Industries and a chief financier of the massive conservative political operation he runs with his brother David. In recent years, student activists and investigative journalists have exposed another of Koch’s hats: mega-donor to hundreds of colleges and universities, often funding free-market-focused academic centers housed at public and private schools alike. One Koch-funded program is advocating cutthroat economics to grade school students, even sacrificing lives for profits.
Anti-tax industrialist billionaires like Charles and David Koch stand to gain a lot by financing higher education programs tailored to their ideologies. Richard Fink, the Kochs’ right-hand man for decades, laid out their “Structure of Social Change,” the plan they devised in the late 1970s to shape society with their libertarian ideals. The plan begins with funding academic programs that favor laissez-faire economics, resulting in academic papers promoting the free market and chastising regulation and taxation. Next, think tanks they fund repackage the academic work into more easily digestible policy proposals that “citizen activists” (actually Koch-funded “social welfare” groups like Americans for Prosperity) use to pressure lawmakers.
"Common sense economics" . . . what a misnomer! The Kochs have learned too well that "wars" are fought on many fronts. On this front, they are fighting for the future of their way, the Koch way, by indoctrinating future generations. That is long term planning.
HuffingtonPost— Legislation to extend human-rights protections to transgender Canadians will be tabled in the Commons on Tuesday, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. …
"We must continue to demand true equality," Trudeau said. "We must carry on the legacy of those who fought for justice by being bold and ambitious in our actions and we must work diligently to close the gap between our principles and our reality."
This is a good start to enshrining legal and human rights protection to transgender people across Canada. This from a CBC article today:
"I'm proud to say that moments ago, I introduced legislation, Bill C-16 … that would ensure that Canadians will be free to identify themselves and to express their gender as they wish while being protected against discrimination and hate," said Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould adding that, "because as Canadians, we should feel free and safe to be ourselves."
Now, to work on changing the attitudes of the people who will oppose such legislation. Kudos to Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice, and the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. Trudeau's father, PM Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and his Liberal government were responsible for the Canadian Human Rights Act in 1977.
