I’m going right back to bed now, to save my energy. I have to be up this afternoon to receive and put away a grocery delivery. Hugs!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:14 (average 5:27), To do it click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Feb 242016
Feb 232016
Is This the End of Parking?
“This could revolutionize the way we drive.”
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/01/future-parking-self-driving-cars
Artist creates exquisite, hand-crafted coral to send a message about climate change
http://grist.org/living/artist-creates-exquisite-hand-crafted-coral-to-send-a-message-about-climate-change/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=weekly-static
Did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Enable the Coup in Honduras?
“On June 28, 2009, when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, democratically elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown by a military coup. The United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization of American States condemned the coup, and on July 5, Honduras was suspended from the OAS.
Under longstanding and clear-cut U.S. law, all U.S. aid to Honduras except democracy assistance, including all military aid, should have been immediately suspended following the coup.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/secretary-of-state-hillar_b_9273712.html 
Sanders' Wall Street Tax Could Raise $300 Billion A Year (text and video)
“Robert Pollin, who authored the Inclusive Prosperity Act, says transaction taxes are common in many capitalist countries”
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15699
Carnage in Syria a Product of US Empowerment of Saudi Arabia
“Vijay Prashad and Paul Jay discuss the demands Americans can make of the US government to create a cessation of hostilities”
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15697
Syria's Assad says he is ready for truce if 'terrorists' do not exploit it
“The US and Russia have reportedly reached agreement on the terms of a truce in Syria, according to reports. Military action against Nusra Front and Islamic State would be allowed under the deal, which would begin Saturday.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-assad-idUSKCN0VT0WP
Ever wonder how kids with autism see the world? That's all it may take to understand them.
http://www.upworthy.com/ever-wonder-how-kids-with-autism-see-the-world-thats-all-it-may-take-to-understand-them?c=upw1
A mini history lesson about the concentration camps on American soil.
http://www.upworthy.com/a-mini-history-lesson-about-the-concentration-camps-on-american-soil?c=upw1
Parts of America already in recession. Bloomberg:
“Four states — Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming — are in a recession, and three others are at risk of prolonged declines…”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-22/recession-already-reality-in-spots-from-west-virginia-to-wyoming
These 6 women got written out of tech history. They're finally being recognized.
“70 years ago, six Philadelphia women were recruited by the United States Army for a very special project.”
http://www.upworthy.com/these-6-women-got-written-out-of-tech-history-theyre-finally-being-recognized?c=upw1
Incredible glacier art pays homage to our disappearing ice
“Diane Burko has a penchant for glaciers. Her paintings and photographs of frozen landscapes evoke the sensation that you’re standing on ice that could soon melt away — as ice these days is wont to do.”
http://grist.org/living/incredible-glacier-art-pays-homage-to-our-disappearing-ice/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=weekly-static
Feb 232016
I’m still ill. My PCP’s office told me that, since I’m not running a fever, I should call Monday, if not better. I still feel crappy. This today’s only Article.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:39 (average 5:10). To do it. click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: In a sign of voters’ shifting perspectives about Presidential hopefuls, a new survey reveals that Americans are deeply nostalgic for a Republican candidate who only wanted to screw over forty-seven per cent of them.
In interviews conducted across the country, voters expressed wistfulness and even a deep longing for a man who was indifferent to the fates of nearly half the nation’s residents.
“When he was running, it seemed like a bad thing that he didn’t care whether forty-seven per cent of the country lived or died,” said Tracy Klugian, of Akron, Ohio. “Now I realize we were being too picky.”
“He threw thousands of people out of their jobs and onto the streets, but he let them stay in the country,” said Kent Bantwell, of Springfield, Missouri. “I’ve got to say, I miss him.”
I hate to admit it, Andy, but even Little Lord Willard looks better than the dregs that remain in the Clown Car.
Daily Kos: The young girl had it coming. After all, she was on a gun range.
Well, let me rephrase that: she was inside her own home in a quiet neighborhood.
But thanks to Rick Scott and the NRA-controlled legislature, the whole state is now an open gun range. The girl was reaching for her mom, who was foolishly looking out of her own sliding glass door at the gun nut, firing uncontrollably, on his makeshift gun range with houses all around.
A bullet sliced through the young girl’s hand. She is now in tremendous pain.
"It’s in a lot of pain right now, the pain doesn’t go away".
Well, go f— yourself, little girl. That is what you get for living in Florida. The shooter, Harold Lanham, has a lawyer that put it best:
"This was a tragic result, this young lady (getting) hurt,” said Mike Chionopolous, Lanham’s attorney. “But he wasn’t doing anything illegal.”
His lawyer made clear that his client was acting within Florida law. He’s right.
Thanks to Rick Scott and a teabag legislature that literally takes orders from the Florida NRA, there are no restrictions whatsoever on building makeshift gun ranges: any type of weapon or ammo that can be used, any time of day or night, without any regard to proximity of houses, schools, daycare centers, and playgrounds!…
Barf Bag Alert!!
Doug can be summed up in two words: Republican Ammosexual.
From NY Times: The Obama administration this week will begin the task of trying to persuade Congress to support its plan to shut down the prison in Guantánamo Bay before the president leaves office in January.
Whatever the plan is to close the GOP Gitmo Gulag, and no matter how good it is for the country, Republicans will seditiously sabotage it.
Cartoon:
Any expense incurred by a voter to obtain a Voter ID is an illegal poll tax.
Feb 232016
I am not a fan of Israel the country and government, not the people. There is no doubt that the Jewish people suffered grievously at the hands of Hitler and the Nazis duriing 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.
From Alternet: The worst cases of racism to emerge from Israel this week demonstrate how non-Jewish minority groups are maligned and demonized, and how hawkish forces in the country then use this incitement to manufacture consent for meting out harsh treatment against the same groups.
Murder-manual author convicted of sedition.
At the end of the week, an Israeli court convicted on charges of sedition the author of a how-to handbook directing Jewish supremacists to murder Palestinians. The book, Kingdom of Evil, details several assassination scenarios, including “setting a house on fire with the residents still inside,” Ha’aretz reports. In July 2015, Jewish supremacists put the book’s specific instructions into practice, torching a home in the West Bank village of Duma and burning to death the Dawabsha family, including their one-year-old baby, Ali.
The Israeli government has filed no charges, however, against the author of another popular publication, which does not explain how Jews should murder non-Jews, but rather why they should. Two months ago, Israel’s High Court of Justice backed the Attorney-General’s decision not to press charges against the authors of The King’s Torah, which uses religious arguments to justify the killing of even non-Jewish babies. The authors, rabbis living in a Jewish-only West Bank settlement, were paid state salaries when they penned the tract.
This is the first of five outrageous acts from Israel geared to incite violence. Click through for the remaining four. It seems that Israel has become that which she despised.
Feb 232016
Earlier in the Democratic campaigns, I remember Bernie dealing with questions from Black Lives Matter. His campaign seemed very "white bread" at the time, and he was heckled. He struggled with the questions being put to him, but he developed a plan and spoke out with his usual authenticity. Now Clinton is being confronted with similar concerns.
From The Nation: Black voters have been remarkably loyal to the Clintons for more than 25 years. It’s true that we eventually lined up behind Barack Obama in 2008, but it’s a measure of the Clinton allure that Hillary led Obama among black voters until he started winning caucuses and primaries. Now Hillary is running again. This time she’s facing a democratic socialist who promises a political revolution that will bring universal healthcare, a living wage, an end to rampant Wall Street greed, and the dismantling of the vast prison state—many of the same goals that Martin Luther King Jr. championed at the end of his life. Even so, black folks are sticking with the Clinton brand. …
But what about a larger agenda that would not just reverse some of the policies adopted during the Clinton era, but would rebuild the communities decimated by them? If you listen closely here, you’ll notice that Hillary Clinton is still singing the same old tune in a slightly different key. She is arguing that we ought not be seduced by Bernie’s rhetoric because we must be “pragmatic,” “face political realities,” and not get tempted to believe that we can fight for economic justice and win. When politicians start telling you that it is “unrealistic” to support candidates who want to build a movement for greater equality, fair wages, universal healthcare, and an end to corporate control of our political system, it’s probably best to leave the room. …
But recognizing that Bernie, like Hillary, has blurred vision when it comes to race is not the same thing as saying their views are equally problematic. Sanders opposed the 1996 welfare-reform law. He also opposed bank deregulation and the Iraq War, both of which Hillary supported, and both of which have proved disastrous. In short, there is such a thing as a lesser evil, and Hillary is not it.
Click through for the rest of this interesting article to determine if, in the eyes of the author, Hillary deserves the support of African American voters.
Feb 232016
I have bearly had any sleep for the past 2 nights so I am extraordinarily tired. Today I had physio and am told I fell asleep on the recumbent bicycle as I pedalled away. I prefer to think that I was in deep meditation as my legs kept going for 45 minutes. Then I was on the traction bed for about 30 minutes and I did fall asleep. After doing a few quick errands, I availed myself of one of Lona's catnaps. Thanks Lona! I plan to have a really good sleep tonight.
Short Takes
Think Progress — Despite a complete lack of evidence that Planned Parenthood is breaking any laws, Republican lawmakers are pressing ahead with their relentless crusade against the national women’s health organization.
A series of heavily edited videos accusing Planned Parenthood of selling aborted baby parts continues to influence the national debate, even though it’s become clear those claims aren’t based in fact. Last month, a Houston grand jury concluded that Planned Parenthood hasn’t done anything wrong. Every state-level investigation into the group has come up empty.
But that’s made no difference to the GOP politicians who are insistent on using this discredited information to attack Planned Parenthood. It’s working. In several states this week, Republican leaders successfully advanced their efforts to undermine the organization’s work.
As noted by NBC News, Gov John Kasich of Ohio signed a bill that effectively strips $1.3 million in funding from PP. The legislation targets ""any entity that performs or promotes nontherapeutic abortions"" and means no funds to "support screenings for breast cancer, STD testing, programs working to prevent violence against women, and more.". If this is what Kasich calls 'support for women's health', he needs a good dictionary! And Republicans say there is no war on women and no war on the poor? I say PROVE IT!
CBC — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] issued a notice Dec.14 last year warning private pilots that all foreign private planes now had to obtain diplomatic clearance from the secretary of state before entering U.S. airspace.
The situation persisted for a month and cost thousands of dollars in increased fuel as planes had to be diverted.
Bernard Gervais president of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association [COPA] worries the situation could reoccur.
"I don't want this to happen again," Gervais told CBC News. "It's a big issue for us. We need overfly there. There's no wall between our countries. It's always been that way."
Well the situation has been rectified for now, but my guess, this is in retaliation for sending Ted Cruz stateside and agreeing to his renunciation of his Canadian citizenship. LOL!!!
The New Yorker — Antonin Scalia, who died this month, after nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. Fortunately, he mostly failed. …
But it was in his jurisprudence that Scalia most self-consciously looked to the past. He pioneered “originalism,” a theory holding that the Constitution should be interpreted in line with the beliefs of the white men, many of them slave owners, who ratified it in the late eighteenth century.
To be a constitution originalist, one must surely believe that the earth is flat and there is no such thing as change. I believe neither, but Scalia must certainly believe it. As we gain knowledge and develop wisdom, our perceptions change. With that, the constitution takes on nuances of interpretation that did not previously exist. The framers could not know what lay 227 years in the future.
Huffington Post — Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, finished sixth in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary … But Carson offered some interesting spin to explain the result:
Carson statement for the ages!
he "received as many delegates in South Carolina as all other candidates but the winner"
I think it is past time that Carson pulled the plug on his campaign.
My Universe —
Feb 222016
Still ill. Returning to bed.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:35 (average 5:49). To di it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Feb 212016
In politics it is said, that when not fueled by hope there is a vacuum for fear to fill. Since artists turn to the muses, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope we are exploring what they can offer us for inspiration to have the hope fueling politics.
"Hope is outreaching desire with expectancy of good. It is a characteristic of all living beings." Edward S. Ame 
"If we expect change we must act on our hope every day until we have accomplished what we wanted." Christopher Goodman
Let us first turn to Polymnia (geometry):
Geometry Song + lyrics (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpI7Ox17_fM
Gives me a bit of hopeful energy, how about you?
Now to Clio (history):
Declaration of Independence Song (What Hurts the Most Parody) (brief video in honor of GW’s birthday)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnDRhOAAQ1g
History worth considering I think, how about you?
Erato (love)would claim these (hanky alert):
A surprise swoops in to help San Francisco nuns who feed the homeless and were facing eviction
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/15/1485591/-A-surprise-swoops-in-to-help-San-Francisco-nuns-who-feed-the-homeless-and-were-facing-eviction?detail=email
How 2 women and one lottery ticket changed this homeless man's life.
http://www.upworthy.com/how-2-women-and-one-lottery-ticket-changed-this-homeless-mans-life?c=upw1
A special kind of love I think, what about you?
And then to Thalia (video clip):
Watch Mary Poppins call it quits
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/25/1316699/-Watch-Mary-Poppins-call-it-quits?detail=emailclassic
I love humor how about you?
On to Terpsichore (dance) [short video]:
Amazing Kids Ballroom Dancing – Learn how to Ballroom dance in Utah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6evloY0AtE
Helps me find hope in younger people, how about you?
And finally who would claim this?:
Check out a human library, where you borrow people instead of books.
http://www.upworthy.com/check-out-a-human-library-where-you-borrow-people-instead-of-books?c=upw1
Thank you dear reader for joining me on this journey of discovery and quest for hope.