Politics Plus

In addition to teaching English to Lucia whom I have mentioned before, I also do some advocacy work for her.  That is how I started my day today. Then it was off to buy a bouquet of balloons . . . bright coloured mylars . . . and off to my mother's.  She gave me a big smile when she saw the balloons.  I passed on your greetings.  After feeding her lunch, we sat listening to some music.  She was the bell of the ball as people admired her balloons and wished her Happy Birthday, staff and residents alike.  As I left, she had fallen asleep.  I imagine she will sleep well tonight.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:19 (average 4:44). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Raw Story — In  a badgering and bullying performance that would have made House of Un-American activities interrogator Roy Cohn proud, a Republican congressman from Ohio interrupted the head of Planned Parenthood 19 times in five short minutes in a hearing on Tuesday.

Appearing at the GOP-led witchhunt — coordinated between virulent anti-abortion extremists and hard right conservatives — Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards repeatedly came under attack from the Republican-dominated committee.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R) is, in my opinion, an arrogant bully, a pugilistic SOB that should never have been elected to Congress.  Cecile Richards was composed despite Jordan's antics.  He reminds me of Darrel Issa, yet another Republican SOB.

Upworthy —  While you were probably wondering if you'd pass the driver's test at 15 years old, Nicole Ticea was working to revolutionize HIV testing.

How? By trying to make HIV tests as easy as pregnancy tests.

Brilliant!  This additional information from CTV News: 

Another Vancouver teen, Nicole Ticea, won the Intel Foundation Young Scientist award and received a prize of US$50,000 for her disposable and electricity-free HIV testing device.

The easy-to-use tool provides results in an hour and should cost less than US$5 to produce. Ticea has already founded her own company, which recently received a US$100,000 grant to continue developing the technology.

The 16-year-old York House student said she created the device to help combat the high rate of undiagnosed HIV in low-income communities.

"Over time, I really realized there was a story to be told with this entire HIV epidemic that not only involved how we create better testing, but: 'How do we make testing more accessible? How do we get individuals to actually submit and want to be tested?"' she said. "It's very interesting and very complex."

Alternet — With the debate over Planned Parenthood heating up, liberal Catholics are on the defensive again, scrambling to protect Planned Parenthood and its vital services from the GOP outrage machine. Leading the charge is a group of 60 Catholic State leaders from over 25 states, "Catholics for Choice", which is taking out a full-page ad in The Washington Post today to make the social justice case for Planned Parenthood. Not only, do they note, is the latest attack on Planned Parenthood an attack on women, it's an attack on the poor and vulnerable . . . 

This is a Republican attack on the poor, on women, and on the vulnerable, the very people that Republicans despise and wish to disenfranchise by any means possible.

My Universe — 

OK, it has been a very long day.  I started by doing some research for the blog and then I went to get some things like 18 kg (40 lbs) of cat food out of my car when my 2 boys dashed out the door for a frolic.  Fortunately, they stay very close to the front door.  Unfortunately, they are not want to come in the house when called.  So I waited outside with them until they finally came in.  That however made me 15 minutes late picking up my student, Lucia.  We went to Costco for her very big shop. Fortunately, that is now done and I am at home with my leg up for a bit and back to working on the blog.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:26 (average 5:14). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes

PoliticusUSA — Lawmakers had agreed not to reach out for handshakes from Pope Francis as he entered the House chamber, so it was a pointed and deliberate move when the Pope saved his only handshake for Secretary of State John Kerry.

Read the rest of this very short article using the link above.

Huffington Post — With the bang of a gavel, international leaders approved an ambitious 15-year plan Friday to tackle the world's biggest problems, from eradicating poverty to preserving the planet to reducing inequality. Now comes the tough part: Drumming up support and money to achieve the goals and transform the world.

Pope Francis gave his backing to the new development agenda in an address to the U.N. General Assembly before the summit to adopt the 17-point plan opened, calling it "an important sign of hope'' at a very troubled time in the Middle East and Africa. …

The document, titled "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,'' not only outlines 17 broad goals but sets 169 specific targets.

The non-binding goals succeed the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted by world leaders 15 years ago. Only one of those has been achieved: halving the number of people living in extreme poverty, due primarily to economic growth in China. At least one other is close – cutting in half the proportion of people without access to clean water – and there are still three months until the goals expire.

In my opinion, the primary goal must be the cessation of ALL hostilities in the world.  That does not mean that we wait until that happens, otherwise nothing will be done.  But there needs to be respect . . . respect for people and culture; respect for religions or atheism; respect for the planet; and respect for the fruits of the planet.

Raw Story — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested over the weekend that the Republican presidential candidates were so “laughable” that “the people of Iran look at them as a form of entertainment.”

“Sometimes when I would have time some of [the Republican presidential debates were] broadcast live and I would watch it,” Rouhani told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “Some of it was quite laughable. It was very strange, the things that they spoke of.”

“Some of them wouldn’t even know where Tehran was in relation to Iran,” the president said with a smile. “Some of them wouldn’t know where Iran was geographically, not distinguishing that one is the capital of the other. What they spoke of was quite far away from the truth.”

Read the rest.  I think we would agree that the Republcan presidential candidates are quite laughable if the prospects of a Republican POTUS weren't so dire.

The New Yorker — As Pope Francis makes his historic first visit to the United States, millions of Americans are turning out to thank the Pontiff for temporarily displacing Donald Trump from the news.

As the Pope visits Washington, New York, and Philadelphia, people from every walk of life are expressing profound gratitude that the news media is offering non-stop coverage of Francis’s every move instead of Trump’s, if only for five days.

I swear, Andy is straight reporting yet again!

My Universe — "How undignified!  Put me down this second you brute . . . there are people watching!"

Today has been a very busy day for me.  After 2.5 hours of physio therapy which includes weights, bicycling, ultra sound etc, I was off to teach ESL. My student was upset from a meeting last Monday and a letter she received, so I spent some time advocating for her with a provincial government office. Once that was done, she was calmer and better able to concentrate on the lesson.  I finally came home about 4 pm, did some prep work for TC's blog, and then indulged in one of Lona's cat naps. Thank goodness she sends those by the gross!  So here we are.  My oldest boy just came into the den and is lying on the floor beside me.  If the chair were empty, he'd be in the chair!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:26 (average 4:57).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?  For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes 

RSN — You are going to be hearing a lot about “Bernie Sanders, the Radical Socialist” in the coming months. So before that bandwagon rolls off down the great American highway let’s pin a little truth to its tail. …

“This country has socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor.”
– The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“A basic principle of modern state capitalism is that costs and risks are socialized to the extent possible, while profit is privatized.”
– Noam Chomsky

Socialism for working people, maybe not so radical. Want to really make America great again? Do it the way FDR did it in the 1930s. That is where Sanders is leading the 99%.

Socialism in the US is a very misunderstood term, but it exists and possibly in places you never thought of before.  Read the rest of this short piece to learn more. The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr had it right!

Raw Story — Prior to being fired herself, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina used tax incentives from the federal government, intended to increase research and development and employee hiring, to buy back stock before firing thousands of HP workers.

According to The Daily Beast, Fiorina — whose troubled tenure at HP has come under more scrutiny as she moves up in the polls for the GOP presidential nomination — was not the only high-ranking executive to take advantage of a corporate “tax holiday” and work it to her own advantage.

Is Fiorina the kind of leadership that the Republicans want in the White House?  She has failed in spectacular fashion in business; she allowed her company to commit fraud against the federal government all the while laying off tens of thousands of workers while shareholders were enriched (including herself); she managed to get one hell of a golden parachute despite tanking her company; she has lied about "Planned Parenthood" videos; and she thinks that she's done nothing wrong. 

Alternet — In addressing a question about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Chomsky assessed the political landscape: "Today’s Democrats are what used to be called moderate Republicans. The Republicans have just drifted off the spectrum. They’re so committed to extreme wealth and power that they cannot get votes … So what has happened is that they’ve mobilized sectors of the population that have been around for a long time. … Trump may be comic relief, but it’s not that different from the mainstream, which I think is more important."

…[Republican Party] It’s a radical insurgency; it’s not a political party.

I am a Chomsky fan and have been for a number years.  This 4 minute video is worth the time to listen.  The audience certainly gets into Chomsky's humour.

My Universe — h/t Dandelion — It's Saturday and time to partay!

Thank you Lona for the supply of cat naps that arrived yesterday, although I not sure that Canada Post quite knew what to do with them.  I indulged myself late this afternoon and it was refreshing after spending 2 hours at physiotherapy.  My therapist was happy with my progress such that we are going to switch from 3 days per week down to two.  Oh heavenly days!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:51 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?  For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes

Upworthy — In April 2013, Diana Kim spotted her father for the first time in decades.

He was living on the street, disheveled and unkempt, and didn't have a clue who she was. …

Kim grew up in Hawaii, which is trying to curb unrelenting increases in homelessness — including a 24% increase in chronic homelessness just last year. Kim's turbulent family life left her battling what she considers "transitional homelessness" as a teen. Kim, who chose not to talk about her relationship with her mother, had slept in parks, lived out of a car, and relied on the kindness of friends to put a roof over her head some nights.

In large part because of her personal experiences, Kim began using photography to bring more visibility to homelessness back in 2003. "When you grow up at an early age and you experience struggle, that shapes the way you see the world."

Read the rest of this story of transformation.

Huffington Post — Six-time NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sat down with HuffPost Live on Monday and blasted Ben Carson's anti-Muslim comments, in which the 2016 GOP candidate questioned both Islamic values and the ability of Muslims to lead the United States in an interview with "Meet The Press."

Abdul-Jabbar, who converted to Islam when he was 24, explained why we shouldn't condemn the entire religion for the actions of  a few: …

Watch a short video and read the rest of the short article.  It seems that almost daily, we see people vilified for something they have not done.  I hear the rhetoric "Muslims are terrorists" and other such claims from uneducated or bigoted minds.  It is time to truly think about this and change our ways to that of inclusion, not exclusion.

Mother Jones — Even as the Federal Election Commission remains paralyzed when it comes to addressing the rising tide of dark money flowing into elections, California regulators took another step last week to crack down on secretive money in state elections. And for that, we have the Koch brothers to thank.

Politically active nonprofits have become a preferred way for deep-pocketed donors to influence elections without revealing their identities. As nonprofits, these groups are under no obligation to disclose where their money comes from. But as the amount of dark money entering elections has soared, federal regulators have largely taken a pass on adding new disclosure requirements. California regulators, on the other hand, have gone straight at the issue, and in the wake of a 2012 scandal involving several groups from the network of political organizations run by the Koch brothers, they have aggressively fought to keep dark money groups out of state elections.

On Thursday, state regulators added another layer of security, closing a loophole that might have allowed out-of-state groups and donors to secretly buy influence in California elections. If there was any wiggle room for dark money groups to operate in California, it's likely gone now.

Read the rest of this important article.  Now, if only the same could be done in every state and federally, perhaps Lincoln's statement — "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." — could come true.   Add to that the defeat of Citizens United and the US might have a chance of reclaiming representative democracy.

My Universe —