Open Thread – 7/3/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:17 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 032017

Sometime during the next hour and a half, Safeway.com will be delivering groceries. Unlike Store to Door, closed for the 4th, Safeway does not unpack my groceries for me or help me put them away, so I’ll have to break to do that myself. I hope you are having a better holiday weekend than the US.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:39). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: …As pr*sident, Donald Trump’s narcissistic tendencies first expressed themselves from the White House briefing podium when Press Secretary Sean Spicer argued against all evidence that the attendance at Trump’s inauguration exceeded that at President Obama’s. It seems almost quaint now—partly because the clear pictorial evidence made it so laughable—but that was an inaugural glimpse of where we were headed, pardon the pun.

It’s no secret by now that Trump is out of his depth, unable to comprehend the vast federal bureaucracy he’s supposed to command, incapable of absorbing the knowledge necessary to inform critical decisions about commanding it, and frankly, uninterested in anything that isn’t directly related to whichever immediate concern has hijacked his limited attention span at any given hour of the day.

But now we are seeing how that psyche is choking off the entire White House from the world, not just so Trump can maintain control over the government, but so no inconvenient truths can infiltrate his fortress and encroach on his reality…

Click through for the entire article. It’s worth it. I agree with the author, that it’s only a matter of time before the Fuhrer screws the pooch. RESIST!!

From NY Times: …Some policy subjects, on the other hand, really are complicated. One of these subjects is international trade. And the great danger here isn’t simply that Trump doesn’t understand the issues. Worse, he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

According to the news site Axios, Trump, supported by his inner circle of America Firsters, is “hell-bent” on imposing punitive tariffs on imports of steel and possibly other products, despite opposition from most of his cabinet. After all, claims that other countries are taking advantage of America were a central theme of his campaign.

And Axios reports that the White House believes that Trump’s base “likes the idea” of a trade war, and “will love the fight.”…

Click through for the rest of Paul Krugman’s fine editorial. For one thing a tariff on imported steel, will price all the goods made by US workers with that more costly steel out of competition with foreign products. Bye Bye jobs! How do you spell stupid? R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N! RESIST!!

From Raw Story: A man has been charged with plotting to assassinate President Emmanuel Macron at France’s Bastille Day military parade which the French leader is set to attend with US President Donald Trump, a judicial source said Monday.

The 23-year-old is a suspected far-right extremist who told investigators he wanted to kill Macron at the July 14 national day parade in Paris, a source close to the investigation said.

He said he also wanted to attack “Muslims, Jews, blacks, homosexuals,” the source added.

Police arrested the man at his home on Wednesday in the northwest Paris suburb of Argenteuil after being alerted by users of an internet chatroom where the suspect allegedly said he wanted to buy a firearm.

No doubt Trump is in mourning over the capture of a French Republican terrorist, who was plotting to give Trump a reason to cheer at the parade. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

No wonder Republicans hate the French!

40 Strangers 50 Questions

Posted by TomCat at 1:24 pm Politics

Jul 022017

I’m going to break from my regular routine of resisting Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten and the Republican Reich that he personifies. Instead, I have a piece designed to demonstrate how much we all share in common, regardless of race, religion, or locale.

“Kumbaya” is not really in our vocabulary at Brave New Films. We are believers, not conciliators, not deal makers. There is justice and there is injustice, and we fight for one and abhor the other. We do not believe that sacred ground lies in the middle. So we are pretty much the last studio you would expect to embark on a project like “40 Strangers, 50 Questions.” But we love a challenge. So, when a friend dared us to try to find something positive in these terrifying times, we decided to give it a shot. We did not expect to be so deeply moved, even changed by the experience. You might be too. Take a look.

The piece is inspired by a Danish advertisement meant to address the very real issues of racism and fanaticism that country is experiencing. The premise is quite simple. We put an ad in Craigslist asking people to meet in a warehouse in Los Angeles, and promised them lunch and an interesting experience. When they came, we separated them, physically, into groups based on what they most obviously had in common—race. The groups stood in boxes delineated by masking tape on the floor. And then they moved.

They moved—physically actually moved—according to their answers to questions ranging from playful to deeply personal: “Did you have overprotective parents?” “Have you ever bullied anyone?” “Are you in love, right now? I mean, right now?” “Do you have a tattoo?” “Have you had sex in the past week?” “Were you ever teased for your race or the way you look?” “Do you distrust police officers?” Finally: “Do you feel we are stronger united than divided?”

For each answer, the yeses walked to one box, then stood together for a group photo; the nos to another, for their picture. That was it. No judgment. No dialogue. Just this slow, beautiful dance, this coming together, splitting apart, joining and rejoining…

From <The Nation>

Before you click through, remember that non subscribers only get six reads a month. I have been a subscriber for years, so I don’t have that problem.

Because I am not on Facebook, I found and am embedding the YouTube version instead.

I found it eye-opening. Now of course, we still need to…

RESIST!!

…but as we do, let’s look for bridges to build too.

Open Thread – 7/2/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:23 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 022017

Last night I collected all the data and made all the graphics I will need to prepare the Monthly Report for June, but I’m waiting until tomorrow to write it, because today, starting in about 40 minutes, is a Wendy day. After de-stinking the humidity encrusted TomCat, we have the dreaded task, making chicken croquets, and light housework on tap. I have a busy week. Monday, I have a grocery delivery from Safeway.com, because Store to Door is closed for the 4th. Tuesday is the 4th, and that means little sleep Tuesday night. Thursday I have an annual Board of Directors meeting with my Prison Volunteer group. Friday I have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon that removed my gall bladder. So I’ll be scarce at the end of the week. LATER: We got everything done but the dreaded task. Wendy arrived late, as she had a headache. I gave her a backrub.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:14 (average 5:08). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (PBS Channel): In Atlantic City, residents feel injustice of climate change

It saddens me to see the place, where I grew up, facing such oppression. I find it appalling that flood control efforts are all directed toward protecting the rich. Fight climate change! Unemploy a Republican politician! RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: Republicans have not been shy in recent years about wanting to cut the safety net to ribbons, slashing programs like food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Medicaid and Medicare and heating assistance and unemployment and basically everything else that keeps struggling families afloat. But now even that eagerness to hurt poor people may not be enough. The far-far-right House Freedom Caucus is taking its own party’s budget hostage to demand more and deeper cuts. They have a long list of ways to keep people from getting the help they need, like making work requirements harder to fulfill—currently an able-bodied adult without dependents has to work about 20 hours a week to be eligible for SNAP and the Freedom Caucus would increase that—among other ways of cutting the safety net out from under people. They have a trade-off in mind: less assistance for poor people in the form of food, more assistance for rich people in the form of giant tax breaks.

This has nothing to do with the Fuhrer. It is how the Republican Party is and has been for a long time. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): Let America Be America Again

How very touching! AMEN!! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Bill Maher from 6/30

Posted by TomCat at 1:16 pm Politics

Jul 012017

It’s that time of week again, and I’m happy to share four excellent video clips from Bill’s show last night. Enjoy!!

The Real Housewife of Pennsylvania Avenue

I disagree on one point. Trump is orange trash, not white trash.

Dan Savage Interview

It’s nice to see Bill interviewing a LGBT activist. Recently, he has been too nice to too many Republicans. While we are the party of urban Americans, Savage referring to rural folks as "knuckle drag America" does not help. If anything, it energizes hatred against Democrats. If we all need to stand together, and we do, that includes rural Americans.

Richard A. Clarke: Warnings

Chilling!! Clarke could not be more spot-on.

New Rule: Make Summer Great Again

He sure brought back memories of summer sand in my butt during my teenage years in Atlantic City. Smile with tongue out

Now it’s time to…

RESIST!!

Poll Results – 7/1/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:16 pm Blog News, Politics

Jul 012017

Here are the results of our “2018 Democratic Strategy” poll. Politics Plus Polls are not scientific, because those who respond are not balanced according to demographic categories. Therefore, we do not accurately reflect the makeup of the US population. Nevertheless, our polls are usually factually accurate, and more often than not, they reflect thinking of the majority of those who actually do think.

0701Poll

Since our polling site no longer enables us to copy and paste your poll comments, you may read them here.

I voted both. Opposing Trump and the Republican Reich is imperative, and so is presenting a strong progressive agenda. While we must all stand together on its core elements, candidates need to emphasize those elements that resonate with their own constituents.

The New Poll is up and kudos to Nameless for the idea. It’s guaranteed to challenge you all to the limits of your intellectual capacity and political knowledge.

After you vote…

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 7/1/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:15 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 012017

It’s a busy day and not as hot as yesterday After today, the temperatures will be in the mid-80°s and above for the next ten days. The horrible part is that for that whole time, the humidity will never drop below 45%. I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend (US).

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:02 (average 5:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Trump Will Not Be Cleared

Was Trump an unwitting accomplice? Possibly. A dimwitted one? Indubitably! RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: From Vanity Fair:

But a few days shy of her six-month mark on air, Van Susteren’s business is finished on MSNBC, according to people familiar with the situation. The anchor, whose show struggled to gain traction even as the rest of her colleagues were buoyed by anti-Trump hysteria, has parted ways with the network. She will not appear on the show on Thursday evening. She will be permanently replaced by Ari Melber, the network’s chief legal correspondent and host of the The Point on weekends. He will continue to appear across NBC and MSNBC shows as he takes over the 6 p.m. slot next month. (MSNBC and NBC News declined to comment. Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Van Susteren had no comment.)

I never published one of her clips, I gave her the benefit of the (very small) doubt, if any, and watched several when going to MSNBC for material from Chris, Rachel, and Lawrence. It was more like watching the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise. Good riddance to bad rubbish. RESIST!!

From NY Times: With Senate Republicans already bogged down over how to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, President Trump on Friday tossed in a new complication with an old idea: The Senate could repeal the health law now, then replace it later.

Mr. Trump gave his blessing [tweeting twit delinked] in a Twitter post after a Republican dissatisfied with the current repeal bill, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, floated the two-stage approach as a backup plan. Mr. Sasse sent a letter to the president [Fascist delinked] and made a pitch on Fox News [Faux Noise delinked] on Friday as an agreement on a new version of the Senate’s repeal bill remained elusive.

Other conservatives quickly picked up the idea — including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, backed by Charles G. and David H. Koch — presenting a new headache to Senate leaders who are trying to focus their conservative and moderate troops on finding a compromise.

It isn’t enough for the Fuhrer and his Koch sucking Republican cronies to take health care away from only 24 million Americans. This will do it to 36 million. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

I made this cartoon five years ago today. It still applies.

Everyday Erinyes #81

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 9:21 am Politics

Jul 012017

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. Even though there are many more which I can’t include. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”

Kris Kobach is not a name new to Politics Plus readers. Probably his major claim to fame is the invention of “Crosscheck” – which is now suspeced of having disenfranchised more voters in several red states than Trump’s margin of “victory” in those states. It should come as a surprise to no one that such an achievement brought him to the attention of Trump, and resulted in an appointment to Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

He has now sent letters to all fifty states “requesting”

all publicly available voter roll data, including the full names of all registered voters along with their addresses, dates of birth, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, voting history and other personal information.

There are, thankfully, SOME states whose elected officials have a clue about Democratic government, truth, and falsehood. Connecticut reported the letter it received to news agencies, resulting in my source article in the Kansas City Star. However, that appears to be the extent of it for Connecticut – or else, they have quite a sense of humor. Maybe both.

Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that her office plans to share “publicly-available information with the Kobach commission while ensuring that the privacy of voters is honored by withholding protected data.”

“In the same spirit of transparency, we will request that the commission share any memos, meeting minutes or additional information as state officials have not been told precisely what the commission is looking for,” she said. “This lack of openness is all the more concerning, considering that the vice chair of the commission, Kris Kobach, has a lengthy record of illegally disenfranchising eligible voters in Kansas.”

Missouri is going right along with the plan, and “looks forward” to working with Kobach.

California has the Secretary of State I would like to have (and, I’m sure, don’t.) Alex Padilla

said in a statement that he will “not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that has already inaccurately passed judgment that millions of Californians voted illegally.”

“California’s participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the President, the Vice President, and Mr. Kobach. The President’s Commission is a waste of taxpayer money and a distraction from the real threats to the integrity of our elections today: aging voting systems and documented Russian interference in our elections.”

It might be a good idea for everyone in the US to contact his or her State Secretary of State and find out where he or she stands on this – “request.” [Afterwards you can try saying “State Secretary of State” five times fast.] Let us know. Megaera and Tisiphone will be standing by.

Moving briefly to Right Wing Watch, a service of People for the American Way, Rick Wiles was recently picked up praising Russia for banning “cults,” such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Who is Rick Wiles, you may (if you are lucky) wonder. Well, Rick Wiles, founder and host of the TruNews [sic] radio program and trunews dot com, as well as a frequent guest on the Jum Bakker Show (yes, that Jim Bakker), can in my opinion probably be well described as Alex Jones on Prozac. He is every bit as crazy as Jones. But he keeps a lower profile, and, unlike Jones, keeps his personal life out of the news. He does, however, say crazy things (Pokemon are from Satan, Democrats are Satanic, Barack Obama is a devil from hell – gee, I am starting to see a pattern here) on a regular basis, and I only bring him up today as an example for Separation of Church and State 101.

Praising Russia for banning “cults,” such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Praising Ireland for banning “cults,” such as the Southern Baptists.
Praising South Afric for banning “cults,” such as the Unitarian Universalists.
Praising India for banning “cults,” such as the Catholic Chirch.

See how that works?

If you accept the first one, you are stuck with, not only the other three, but many others I can’t even imagine. And, pretty soon, some one, some country is going to get around to banning YOU. Because there is no religion or religious group, including atheism and agnosticism, that isn’t perceived as a cult by SOMEONE.

Alecto, I doubt if even the Erinyes can get any sense into what Wiles calls his head. But for sure, if you can’t, no one can. good luck.

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4059982

NRA Ad Goes Overboard

Posted by TomCat at 1:11 pm Politics

Jun 302017

Lest Republicans accuse me of being anti-gun, let me start by setting the record straight. Although I own no guns now, I have for most of my life. In my youth I hunted for food. I was even a member of the NRA, and I earned my Sharpshooter ranking with nine bars. This was back when the NRA was a fine public service organization dedicated to gun safety, education and training, and if they were to return to what they were then, I would happily support them again. I oppose them now because they have become a lobbyist for gun manufacturers and a spokesman for GOP Ammosexuals, political violence, and racial hatred.

Take a look at the ad below and ask whether the National Rifle Association can go any lower. Ponder this flagrant call for violence, this insidious advocacy of hate delivered with a sneer, this threat of civil war, this despicable use of propaganda to arouse rebellion against the rule of law and the ideals of democracy.

On the surface this is a recruitment video for the National Rifle Association. But what you are really about to see is a call for white supremacy and armed insurrection, each word and image deliberately chosen to stir the feral instincts of troubled souls who lash out in anger and fear:

Disgusting. Dishonorable. Dangerous. But also deliberate. Everything deplored by the NRA in the ad is committed by “they” — a classic manipulation turning anyone who disagrees with your point of view into “The Other” — something alien, evil, foreign…

From <Alternet>

Barf Bag Alert!!

Need I say More?

RESIST!!

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