Friday Faux Fun

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:56 pm Politics

Mar 182016

SoINeedAName is fine but frustrated, having every possible computer issue all at the same time. So he's unable to post a Friday Fun today. So I thought I would share with you one of my favorite places to get lost.

(No, no – I'm not saying you should "GET LOST"! Would I do that to you? Never!)

This site, Castle Arcana, has no purpose whatsoever, as far as I can see. It just lets you wander through the rooms and grounds of the castle – more Victorian mansion than castle, really. You arrive at the Castle Approach – pretty much anything you do on this page will take you to the front porch (with a reminder not to forget to visit the Gift Shop).

Part of the fun is that there are no guidelines, no directional arrows, no idea where you are going to go. You just mouse over the pictures until your cursor turns to a hand – and at that point you can click and move. Somewhere. I will tell you that from the front porch you can go to the gift shop or to the front door. The former click is at or near the sign. The latter is on the left, not all the way, but towards the house.

Oh dear. They must have forgotten to take down the Christmas decorations. Tsk, tsk. What IS this world coming to? Well, let's knock and enter. And now you are on your own to explore what there is to be seen.

Can you find the Maze? Can you get through? There's one route if you first go left and another if you first go right. And both have (different) dead ends. But the dead ends mostly have something educational (or at least cute) to look at. One has an article on the history of labyrinths, for instance. If you see a picture in a dead end, try clicking on it. If you are taken to a bunch of information, at the bottom of the page you can "ask to be rescued." But, if you do get all the way through, there is another surprise.

Can you find the garage? (Excuse me, Carriage House!) If you can, you can get in the car and take a ride to the summerhouse. And back.

Can you find the armchair that will drop a purple spider if you click it? If so, you can cast a spell of protection for yourself.

Can you find the window that looks out on this view? (That's all, just the view. You can't ALWAYS go someplace.)

Can you find this stained glass window? If you do, you can click on it and read the history of the saint it celebrates.

If you find the Advent Calendar, you may be able to click on each day and read the factoid for it. Or, you may only be able to mouse over it and turn the numbers into little color pictures. (Or the factoid may open but be behind the page – showing up only if you minimize.)

I don't want to spoil it by giving away everything. But I can't promise you won't get into another dimension. Oh well – any time you can't get out – you can always start over.

Have fun!

6 Unhinged Right Wing Moments This Week

Posted by Lynn Squance at 10:28 am Politics

Mar 182016

The end of another week and it is time to cast the nets for "unhinged right wing moments" from the past week. Of course there are more than 6, but there is only so much room.

2. Insane Trump apologist #2 speaks out on violent protests.

Jeffrey Lord, a member of Trump's insane clown posse who has been hired by CNN as an “analyst” but whose actual title should be insane Trump apologist, was at it again this week, bizarrely blaming liberals for the problem du jour, which is, of course, violence at Trump rallies. You’ll remember that last week Lord attempted to whitesplain to Van Jones that the KKK was and continues to be the armed wing of the Democratic Party, a leftist organization and therefore not something Trump needs to disavow.

So that should give you some idea of the level of reality we’re operating on.

This week Lord continued his peculiar brand of insanity when he blamed liberals for the new curse that is spreading through the land, the fact that Trump’s thugs and acolytes are getting violent with protesters who attend the Republican frontrunner’s rallies.

Specifically, Lord was referring to the videotaped incident in which a 78-year-old white man suckerpunched a black protester in the head at a rally, an assault for which the white man was charged.

When asked if he thought it might be important for Trump to denounce this sort of violence, Lord expressed the view that the incident was the black protester’s fault as well as the left’s.

“The American left has a long and detailed history of doing exactly this,” Lord said. “What do you think the 1968 Democratic Convention was all about? It’s history!”

He continued to unfurl his wild illogic. Trump did not have a responsibility to denounce the violence because liberals had been using the same tactics for “decades.”

Scratching your head for examples? Yeah, us too.

Instead, Lord denounced the protesters for showing up, not being down with the Trump worship program, and not raising their hands to salute the great and powerful leader.

From Alternet

Click through for the other 5 moments. Clearly, Lord has been over indulging in the Republican insaniTEA! Will he ever get his facts straight?

5 of the Most Appalling Acts of Incitement From Israel This Week

Posted by Lynn Squance at 10:28 am Politics

Mar 182016

On 23/02/2016, I posted 5 of the Most Appalling Acts of Incitement From Israel This Week by David Sheen, part of the Grayzone Project.

"…AlterNet's Grayzone Project, a journalistic initiative that aims to confront Islamophobia and expose the role that Western military interventions and pro-Israel forces have played in inspiring this growing plague. You'll find a mix of investigative reports, breaking news stories, essays, first-person accounts, exclusive videos and documentaries, and a wide mix of coverage from our friends and partners."

As I said in February, there is no doubt that the Jewish people suffered grievously at the hands of Hitler and the Nazis during WWII. Throughout history, the Jews have suffered through pogroms and wars. But it seems to me that they, at the hands of Netanyahu and his cronies, have become the oppressor. No group of people is all bad, nor all good. People are people. But when one group openly calls for the annihilation of another, genocide, it is time to take action.

From Alternet — Our latest edition of Israel Incitement Watch focuses not only on the racist statements of Israel's political and religious leaders, but on the first-ever Pew poll of Israeli Jews, which found that racist sentiments were not confined to a fringe, but are embraced by a large segment of the population.

3. Chief rabbi calls for killing attackers and cutting off contact with seculars.

Wading into an ongoing national debate over how Palestinians who attack Jews should be treated, one of the country's two chief rabbis declared that it is incumbent upon Jews to kill them on the spot. “If someone comes to kill you, you kill him first," Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said on March 12, telling Israeli soldiers to ignore legal and moral obligations to apprehend attackers with the minimum force necessary, whether these instructions come from "the High Court of Justice, or that some chief of staff" of the Israel Defense Forces.

In the same speech, Yosef renewed a biblical call to commit genocide of all "Amalekites." The Torah records the existence of a people called the Amalekites, though they have no known living descendants in the modern era. Nevertheless, this designation is routinely trotted out by right-wing rabbis to call for massacres of Israel's enemies du jour.

"If some terrorist comes to me now, and I know he's a terrorist, and we caught him. He doesn't have a knife in his hand, he doesn't have anything. And I know, Elijah the Prophet will come to me and tell me that he's from Amalek. Is it permitted to kill him on Shabbat? No. But Elijah the Prophet says that it's Amalek. Put him in prison, after Shabbat say a blessing and kill him," said Yosef.

Later in the week, Yosef called on religious Jews to prevent their children from socializing with children of secular families, even blood relatives.

This is the third example. Click through for the other four. So why is the US contributing so much foreign aid to Israel and its genocidal agenda?

Squatch’s Open Thread 18/03/2016

Posted by Lynn Squance at 10:27 am Open Thread, Politics

Mar 182016

Well I have been absent from posting for much of this week. It has been busy. I have started teaching English to another student which has gone very well. She is at a grade 11 level, so our session was much different than the one I have with Lucia. Her daughter is in French immersion so I am also spending some time with her, reading both French and English. Good review of French for me too as I don't use it often enough. My right foot is coming along but I still need some physio. Fortunately it rarely hurts when I walk. And my big news this week, I bought a laptop computer so that I can still work when I am forced to keep my legs up. Also, I am almost finished a programme in pastoral care which really is much like the hospice training I took 17 years ago.

Short Takes

Robert Reich — The Constitution of the United States is clear: Article II Section 2 says the President “shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint … judges to the Supreme Court.” …

In refusing to vote or even hold a hearing on the President’s nominee to the Supreme Court, the GOP is abdicating its constitutional responsibility. It’s not doing its job.

Alternet — If you were to ask Donald Trump’s supporters what they most admire about the GOP front-runner, chances are they would cite his so-called authenticity, his willingness to “tell it like it is” and, perhaps more than anything else, his rejection of that great bugaboo of the Obama Age: political correctness.

Such qualities ought to mean that whatever else Trump may be—a blowhard, a demagogue, a bigot, a reality TV huckster, a malignant narcissist, an unparalleled deal maker—he’s an ardent believer in press protections, free speech and the First Amendment. Indeed, in a Feb. 27 appearance on the Fox News channel, Trump seemed—at first—to be saying so, declaring, “I love free press. I think it’s great.”

But like much of what is taken as a given in the crazy-town vortex that is the Trump presidential campaign, the image of the candidate as a champion of free speech is a mirage. The bullying billionaire can sling mud and demean his real and imagined enemies with the best of them. The problem, however, is that he can’t take it when others fire back.

And who or what is to protect "We the people" from the fallacious statements of Drumpf, his lies, deceptions, and misleading statements, numerous as they all are? And of course there are still the incitements to violence.

Raw Story — Republican elected officials admitted they promised to help a convicted felon run for elected office if he agreed to stop paying his mandated grazing fees.

A newly released recording reveals how GOP lawmakers and local officials were deeply involved with the occupation of an Oregon federal wildlife reserve earlier this year by armed militants, according to an in-depth report by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Many of the officials are members of the Coalition of Western States, which shares the militants’ stated goal of rolling back federal ownership of public lands for private use.

Is there any doubt that the Republican Party is the party of right wing extremism?

Daily Beast — For seven hours on Thursday, a few dozen conservative leaders gathered in an upstairs room of the Army Navy Club off K Street in downtown Washington, D.C. to rack their collective brains—but reached no conclusion on how to thwart the billionaire’s rise.

Quin Hillyer, a National Review contributing editor, fielded questions afterwards from print reporters and a Chinese camera crew, explaining that the group hoped all the 2016 presidential candidates who haven’t endorsed Trump will coalesce behind a unity ticket. He added that there wasn’t a consensus that conservatives should unite behind Cruz.

“That was not the consensus,” he said, when asked about support for a Cruz-helmed unity ticket. “The consensus was that we need a unity ticket of some sort and we’ll let the candidates work out who the unity ticket is.”

Republicans, like a lot of people, thought that the Drumpf campaign would crater early on. When it was apparent that it would not, Republicans did nothing to curtail his candidacy. Now, as Drumpf's campaign has gained and sustained speed and delegates, the chickens are coming home to roost. IMO, Drumpf is dividing the Republican party and the people. There may be hell to pay come July.

My Universe — h/t Carol B and Ted W

The Cool Cats Are Wearing Green

Posted by TomCat at 8:06 am Holiday, Politics

Mar 172016

StCATricksDay

Open Thread–3/17/2016

Posted by TomCat at 8:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 172016

Lu arrived a day late, yesterday. She had lost her wallet, and with it, her bus pass. I became a sweet smelling Puddy Tat. Today I am about go to to my PCP appointment with Ellie, Megan’s PA. Color me hurried.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:22 (average 4:27). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In an indication of shifting global attitudes toward the United States, the nation has become the laughingstock of the world for something other than its gun laws, a new survey of foreigners indicates.

According to the survey, which was conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, America’s gun laws, which used to inspire the most derision toward the country from people around the world, now place a distant second.

In another startling result, the U.S. Congress’s position on climate change, which in the past had been a leading candidate for making the U.S. the world’s favorite punch line, also finished far out of the money.

Davis Logsdon, who supervised the poll for the University of Minnesota, said he was struck by the unanimity of foreign respondents when they were asked to name what, in their opinion, currently made the United States the laughingstock of the world.

“In all the years we’ve done this survey, we have never had ninety-four per cent of respondents give an identical answer,” he said.

Andy has the US pegged. Pathetic, huh?

From NY Times: Of all the ways Donald Trump has shocked the political system, one of the most significant is how he wins primary after primary with one of the smallest campaign budgets.

He still doesn’t have a super PAC. He skimped on ground organization and field offices. Most important, he spent less on television advertising — typically the single biggest expenditure for a campaign — than any other major candidate, according to an analysis by SMG Delta, a firm that tracks television advertising.

0317Earned-Bought

When Networks give Trump free air time, we should be calling the sponsors that advertise in these segments and threaten to withhold patronage.

From NY Times: With more than half the states having now held their nominating contests, Donald J. Trump and Senator Ted Cruz are quietly directing their attention to a second, shadow election campaign — one that is out of sight, little understood but absolutely critical if Republicans arrive at their national convention with Mr. Trump short of a majority of delegates.

This parallel campaign is to select the individual delegates who will go to Cleveland in July for what could be the first contested convention in American politics in more than 60 years. Chosen through a byzantine process in each state, most of the delegates will become free agents if no one wins a majority on the first ballot.

The mere prospect that delegates could deny Mr. Trump the nomination led him to predict Wednesday that violence could erupt in such a situation.

Click through for a good explanation about how the Criminal Convention could be contested. It’s so like Hateful Hairball, alias Fecal Dump, to threaten violence.

Cartoon:

0317Cartoon

SCOTUS Nominee

Posted by TomCat at 1:28 pm Politics

Mar 162016

President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland to take the place of deceased and descended Antonin “Sturmbannführer” Scalia. I’ll need more time to research, before I can offer an opinion oh his choice, but I can tell you this: Garland would be an improvement over Scalia, because it would be virtually impossible to be as bad. I can also tell you that he deserves a fair vote, whether I like him or not. Needless to say Republicans are apoplectic.

President Obama on Wednesday nominated Merrick Garland to serve on the Supreme Court, setting up a protracted political fight with Republicans who have vowed to block any candidate picked by Obama in his final year in office.

Garland, 63, is a longtime Washington lawyer and jurist who is chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Considered a moderate, Garland is widely respected in the D.C. legal community and was also a finalist for the first two Supreme Court vacancies Obama filled.

In announcing his choice in the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he followed “a rigorous and comprehensive process” and that he reached out to members of both parties, legal associations and advocacy groups to gauge opinions from “across the spectrum.”

He said Garland “is widely recognized not only as one of America’s sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence.” …

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Here’s a clip of the announcement.

Bought Bitch Mitch (R-KY) has reaffirmed that Garland will not get a vote. Snake in the Grassley (R-IA) has reaffirmed that Garland will not get a Judiciary Committee hearing. All of the sitting Republicans who previously voted for Garland, when he was confirmed to the DC Circuit now oppose giving him a vote. Here are some of the statements Republicans made about Garland then, in 1992.

…

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

“Merrick B. Garland is highly qualified to sit on the D.C. circuit. His intelligence and his scholarship cannot be questioned… His legal experience is equally impressive… Accordingly, I believe Mr. Garland is a fine nominee. I know him personally, I know of his integrity, I know of his legal ability, I know of his honesty, I know of his acumen, and he belongs on the court. I believe he is not only a fine nominee, but is as good as Republicans can expect from this administration. In fact, I would place him at the top of the list.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

“I have nothing against the nominee. Mr. Garland seems to be well qualified and would probably make a good judge — in some other court.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

“He has a high position with the Department of Justice and, by all accounts, does a good job there. There will be a number of judgeship vacancies in the D.C. trial judges. He has been a trial lawyer. He would be a good person to fill one of those. I would feel comfortable supporting him for another judgeship.”

Then-Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

“I believe Mr. Garland is well qualified for the court of appeals. He earned degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and clerked for Judge Friendly on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Justice Brennan on the Supreme Court and, since 1993, he has worked for the Department of Justice. So there is no question, he is qualified to serve on the court.”

Then-Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC)

“I have no reservations about Mr. Garland’s qualifications or character to serve in this capacity. He had an excellent academic record at both Harvard College and Harvard Law School before serving as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, he has served in distinguished positions in private law practice and with the Department of Justice. Moreover, I have no doubt that Mr. Garland is a man of character and integrity.”

Then-Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)

“[T]he nominee has the character and is highly qualified for the position.”

…

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Whether or not Garland is qualified has nothing to do with this seditious attempt by Republicans to block his nomination. They are hoping they can find a way to steal the Presidency and make the appointment themselves. Now, I have to admit that a Republican President’s appointment could not be much worse than Scalia, even an appointment by Trump or Cruz. However consider this. The next President will appoint the replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I consider it highly unlikely that Garland will be confirmed. Republicans may try to save face by going through some of the motions, but they will only be stalling for time. Therefore, it is imperative that the next occupant of the White House be a Democrat. I know that many of you aren't very keen on Hillary, but if she is nominated, it is imperative to work as hard for her as we would for Bernie. Do you question that?

Do you want Trump to replace Ginsburg?

Open Thread–3/16/2016

Posted by TomCat at 1:27 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 162016

It’s my week for getting stood up, first by my LIFT bus Monday, and then Lu didn’t show up yesterday, leaving me unshowered. Her phone is out of order, so she has had one of her emergencies and has no way to let me know. Unless she shows up this afternoon, I’ll have to give myself a whore’s bath in the sink tonight to prepare for my medical appointment tomorrow. Please expect no more than a Personal Update tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:41 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Real Clear Politics: The latest delegate count.

State	Date	Delegates	Clinton	Sanders	Delegate Allocation	Open/ Closed
(2,382 Needed to Win)	–	4763	1599	844	–	–
Delegates Won	–	4051	1112	806
Superdelegates	–	(712)	467	26
Iowa	February 1	44 (8)	23	21	Caucus	Semi-open
New Hampshire	February 9	24 (8)	9	15	Primary	Semi-closed
Nevada	February 20	35 (8)	19	15	Caucus	Closed
South Carolina	February 27	53 (6)	39	14	Primary	Open
Alabama	March 1	53 (7)	44	9	Primary	Open
American Samoa	March 1	6 (4)			Caucus	Closed
Arkansas	March 1	32 (5)	22	10	Primary	Open
Colorado	March 1	66 (13)	28	38	Caucus	Closed
Democrats Abroad	March 1-8	13 (4)			Primary	Closed
Georgia	March 1	102 (14)	72	28	Primary	Open
Massachusetts	March 1	91 (25)	46	45	Primary	Semi-closed
Minnesota	March 1	77 (16)	29	46	Caucus	Open
Oklahoma	March 1	38 (4)	17	21	Primary	Semi-closed
Tennessee	March 1	67 (9)	42	22	Primary	Open
Texas	March 1	222 (30)	145	74	Primary	Open
Vermont	March 1	16 (10)	0	16	Primary	Open
Virginia	March 1	95 (15)	61	33	Primary	Open
Louisiana	March 5	51 (8)	35	12	Primary	Closed
Nebraska	March 5	25 (5)	10	14	Caucus	Closed
Kansas	March 5	33 (4)	10	23	Caucus	Closed
Maine	March 6	25 (5)	7	15	Caucus	Closed
Mississippi	March 8	36 (5)	30	4	Primary	Open
Michigan	March 8	130 (17)	60	67	Primary	Open
Northern Marianas	March 12	6 (5)			N/A	N/A
Florida	March 15	214 (32)	130	63	Primary	Closed
Illinois	March 15	156 (26)	68	67	Primary	Open
Missouri	March 15	71 (13)	31	32	Primary	Open
North Carolina	March 15	107 (14)	59	45	Primary	Semi-closed
Ohio	March 15	143 (16)	76	57	Primary	Semi-open

I’m most pleased that Bernie is staying in the race, even though Hillary’s lead appears insurmountable. The longer he stays in, the more likely the ideals of his vision of Democratic Socialism will be adopted.

From Daily Kos: Samantha Bee’s new show Full Frontal is off to a hilariously good start. The late night host gathered a group of hardcore Donald Trump fans and tried to understand their logic behind their unwavering support for the xenophobic and racist Republican frontrunner.

When Samantha talks about Trump’s "roid" rage, I think she means hemorrhoid, because he’s such a defective total asshole.

From The New Yorker: In 1980, the third-party Presidential candidate John Anderson succinctly summed up Ronald Reagan’s promise to simultaneously cut taxes, increase defense spending, keep government services intact, and balance the budget: “Reagan’s budget is constructed with mirrors.” Sure enough, Reagan presided over eight years of deficits that tripled the national debt. Yet the Republican faith that you can tax-cut your way to deficit reduction has never dimmed. This year’s Republican race is dominated by candidates whose budgetary plans make Reagan’s look downright reasonable.

Not surprisingly, the most extreme plan is Donald Trump’s. He would slash taxes across the board, reducing revenues by nine and a half trillion dollars over the next decade, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Yet he has also promised to balance the budget, protect Social Security and Medicare, and not cut services. How? Well, he says he’ll get rid of “waste and fraud and abuse,” and abolish the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. And he thinks that the tax cuts would spur an economic boom, so that revenues will actually increase.

This is pure fantasy. Those spending cuts would save just a tiny fraction of what he claims, and the revenue projections have no basis in reality. Yet, unrealistic as Trump’s ideas are, they differ from those of his chief opponents only in degree, not in kind. Marco Rubio wants to couple a $6.8-trillion tax cut with significant increases in defense spending, while Ted Cruz has proposed an $8.6-trillion tax cut with—guess what?—significant increases in defense spending. Naturally, Rubio and Cruz have been vague about where they’d find the necessary trillions in cuts, and about how what the government does would be affected. This is par for the course. Paul Ryan’s infamous budget of 2012 would have effectively eliminated nearly all the federal government’s non-defense discretionary spending, even as he insisted that he wanted to “strengthen” the social safety net and keep the government investing in infrastructure.

The bottom line here is, when you strip away the window dressing, all the occupants of the Criminal Clown Car are just Republicans, armed with the same economic policies that Saint Ronnie Ray Gun proved were based only on lies. I call it Republican Tinkle Down Economics. Note, however, that the Clown Car just barfed-up Border Booter Bot. His campaign is no more.

Cartoon:

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