As Seen from Afar 05/07/2018

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 3:52 pm Politics

May 072018

THE IRAN NUCLEAR ACCORD; WILL TRUMP DENOUNCE IT TOMORROW?

US president Donald Trump today tweeted:

I will be announcing my decision on the Iran Deal tomorrow from the White House at 2:00pm.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018

Under the international deal, the Islamic Republic has agreed to limit its nuclear activities in return for reduced economic sanctions. Britain, France and Germany have been working behind the scenes for weeks in an effort to save the accord, which was closed during the Obama administration, and also signed by Russia and China. Trump, on the other hand, has made it clear right from the start of his campaign that he would pull out of the deal because it was mad, insane, the worst deal ever, horrible, laughable and disastrous among other things.

I could try to explain how and why Trump is trying to sell Americans his ideas on the deal and how terribly wrong it would be if the US pulled out of the agreement, but I’ll leave that to someone who can do that so much better, and far less boring, than I ever could: John Oliver:

In the past few weeks we’ve seen the head of states of the European dealmakers in this accord visit Washington to try and appease the American president and persuade him to stay on board by suggesting to iron out the flaws of the current deal and then negotiate a better deal with Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron had to admit defeat after his much-televised bromance with his American colleague. Macron afterwards said he believes US President Donald Trump will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal next month “for domestic reasons,” describing the US as “insane” for its constant global policy U-turns, according to a reports from the Guardian.

Next in line was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was not granted more than a sober working lunch with president Trump. Merkel’s rational approach failed too and she went home without that important success to her name.

She later had to defend the Iran nuclear deal again in an interview with an Israeli TV channel. Merkel told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vehemently criticized the internationally brokered accord for not doing enough to contain Iran’s nuclear ambition: “We believe it is better to have this agreement, even if it is not perfect, than to have no agreement. We will continue to discuss this, but Germany will watch very closely to ensure that this agreement will be fulfilled.”

Time is running out, so the UK sent forth British foreign secretary Boris Johnson who tried an altogether different approach. He wasn’t scheduled to meet with Trump on his short visit to Washington, so he appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday morning to court Trump on his favorite TV show:

Johnson said Mr Trump was “right to see the flaws in the deal”, though he argued they could be fixed. In typical British understatement, the foreign secretary said without the accord, “Plan B does not seem, to me, to be particularly well developed at this stage”. I think the remark may have been lost on both Trump and Fox & Friends hosts.
Johnson continued with: “If you do that you have to answer the question what next? What if the Iranians do rush for a nuclear weapon? …Are we seriously saying that we are going to bomb those facilities at Fordo and Natanz? …Is that really a realistic possibility? Or do we work round what we have got and push back on Iran together?”

He added: “There doesn’t seem to me at the moment to be a viable military solution.”

But like most leaders have learned by now, flattery is the best way to score with president Trump, and in a separate interview during the visit, Boris Johnson discussed the possibility of Mr Trump winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

“If he can fix North Korea and if he can fix the Iran nuclear deal then I don’t see why he is any less of a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize than Barack Obama, who got it before he even did anything,” he told Sky News.

Well, tomorrow at 2:00pm we’ll learn if this combined European effort has managed to change Trumps mind or not. Or the day after, or have his decision rescinded in an early morning Tweet. After all, Trump can do with all the diversion he can muster and he is known to have a change of heart now and again.

Cross-posted with Care2 here

Richard A Has a BIG Mouth! ;-)

Posted by TomCat at 1:11 pm Blog News, Politics

May 072018

98-RichardA

We know very little about Richard. He’s new and has left less than fifty comments here. He very rarely, if ever has talked about himself.

He is a denizen of Care2, and you’ll find his profile almost naked, but I was able to glean his favorite quotes from it.

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power,

the world will know peace.”

~ Jimi Hendrix ~

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

~ Martin Luther King Jr.~

"Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can

To all the people you can

As long as ever you can!"

~ John Wesley ~

“Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.”

~ Arthur Schopenhauer ~

He seems to be a very nice guy and I hope that, when he wins his next Big Mouth Award, we will know him better.

Please join me in loading him up with praise, because he does…

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!

Open Thread – 5/7/2018

Posted by TomCat at 1:10 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 072018

I’m feeling completely wiped out today. After a very busy day yesterday, a small kitchen fire on the 5th floor set off the alarms, waking me from a sound sleep at 1:30 AM. By the time anyone knew there was nothing to worry about, as always, I had dressed, gotten up, put on George, and prepared to be evacuated. I was back in bed by 2:30, but was wide-awake and could not get back to sleep.

Nameless Update:

As I commented last night, Nameless is in the hospital and requests your thoughts and prayers. He expects to be allowed to return home after his echo-cardiogram, so he may be on-site before I publish this.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:44 (average 4:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Inequality Media Channel): The Monopolization of America

I fully agree. There’s nothing in the presentation that I didn’t already know, but few do and all need to learn in order to RESIST!!

From CNN: National security officials and some Republicans are preparing contingency plans in case President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel, falters amid questions about her past role in the George W. Bush-era extreme interrogation program and destruction of videotapes of waterboarding, five sources familiar with the matter tell CNN….

…Haspel’s 33-year CIA career is controversial for several reasons. She oversaw a CIA black site in Thailand in 2002 where harsh interrogations were conducted, although she was not at the site when al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded at least 83 times. She was also chief of staff to the director of the National Clandestine Service, Jose Rodriguez, in 2005 when the CIA tapes of interrogations were destroyed. Rodriguez wrote in his memoir that he asked Haspel to prepare a cable granting permission to destroy the tapes, though he made the decision.

National security officials say they still believe she can survive a Senate confirmation hearing — but some say there contingency plans if she doesn’t.

At that time, the majority of Americans believed Republican lies that torture works, and it was legal. Most Americans did not know we hung Japanese officers for waterboarding GIs. Torture was "legal", so it is not reasonable to blame her for her oversight. However, she must not be confirmed because she participated in a cover-up by destroying tapes she was legally required to safeguard. Her apparent intent to obstruct the investigation that resulted in outlawing torture. RESIST!!

From NY Times: A group of student activists sat in the library at George Mason University this past week feeling both vindicated and violated.

The group, Transparent GMU, had sued the university and its fund-raising foundation last year after it was denied requests for documents that it suspected showed how deep-pocket donors were given undue influence over academic affairs. After a recent court hearing in the case, the university released those documents, some of which appeared to affirm the group’s suspicions.“It feels like transparency Christmas,” said Kailey Adkins, a sophomore at George Mason and a Transparent GMU member. But, she added, “I mostly feel deceived and disappointed. GMU breached my trust and sense of security in my education.”

The documents reveal in surprising detail that for years, as George Mason grew from a little-known commuter school to a major public university and a center of libertarian scholarship, millions of dollars in donations from conservative-leaning donors like the Charles Koch Foundation had come with strings attached.

As early as 1990, entities controlled by the billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch were given a seat on a committee to pick candidates for a professorship that they funded, the records show. Similar arrangements that continued through 2009 gave donors decision-making roles in selecting candidates for key economics appointments at the Mercatus Center, a Koch-funded think tank on campus that studies markets and regulation. The appointments, which also created faculty lines at George Mason, were steered to professors who, like the Kochs, embraced unconstrained free markets.

If Republican Billionaires want to control the agendas of colleges to teach their bullshit propaganda to turn students into Koch suckers, it is their right to do so, no matter how distasteful I consider it. However, it is NOT their right to do it secretly, hiding it from the students. Caveat discipulus! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Wise Beyond His Years!

Posted by TomCat at 12:58 pm Politics

May 062018

After the Mass Shooting by Republican Nikolas Cruz, photographed earlier in his MAGA Hat, his idol and Fuhrer sounded almost reasonable in his proposals for Gun Control, some of which actually made sense. It the time, I said he was just playing to what he thought the audience wanted to hear, but I have the advantage of seventy years on this planet, in which I have learned that’s what Republicans do. At the NRA’s Ammosexual-fest, Trump proved me right. He also proved Cameron Kasky wise beyond his years.

During his speech at the National Rifle Association’s annual conference in Dallas, Texas, President Donald Trump delighted the crowd by making reference to some of his greatest hits of campaign rhetoric, in which he made a bigoted attack on Mexican immigrants.

“These countries send up their worst,” Trump told the crowd. “Remember in my opening speech, I got criticized for it. Remember? Well, guess what. They’re not sending their finest. That I can tell you.”

But the mere fact that Trump made the decision to offer the NRA his unqualified support demonstrates that memory doesn’t always serve him.

In the immediate aftermath of the deadly school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the president assailed lawmakers for their failure to respond, ridiculing them for being “afraid” of the NRA. At the time, Trump offered to consider a range of policy responses, including a ban on bump stocks, and raising the minimum age to purchase assault weapons from 18 to 21.

That these commitments have fallen by the wayside did not escape the attention of Cameron Kasky, one of the Parkland survivors who has been publicly vocal about the need to enact some degree of common sense gun reform legislation. During a Saturday morning appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” Kasky laced into the president for being two-faced on the matter… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Here is his CNN interview.

Kudos to Cameron. At the risk of offending my anti-GMO friends, let’s clone him!

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!

Open Thread – 5/6/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:53 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 062018

I have a busy day, because WWWendy should arrive in about an hour to destink the sticky TomCat, and help with chores, including the dreaded task. Last night I celebrated Cinco de Meow with a double portion of my infamous chili, and have sent green greetings to the Squatch. WWWendy says Hi to all.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:41 (average 5:08). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Michael Cohen Wiretap Cold Open

It’s so close that it almost loses its humor. I agree with Stormy. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): DONNY BOY (Parody of Danny Boy)

His second parody video, released 9/15/2017. He really had the Fuhrer pegged! RESIST!!

From CNN: Former Vice President Joe Biden recently took a trip to Arizona to visit Sen. John McCain, who is battling brain cancer, and says McCain is "concerned about the state of the country," The New York Times reported Saturday.

Biden described the visit, which took place last Sunday, to the Times, saying, "John knows he’s in a very, very, very precarious situation, and yet he’s still concerned about the state of the country." Biden told the newspaper that he and McCain "talked about how our international reputation is being damaged and we talked about the need for people to stand up and speak out."

I agree with McCain, but to be fair, as McConJob, he opened the door for Trump when he chose Sarah Palin, aka Bloody Bullseye Barbie, aka Drill Baby Dingbat, as his running mate and brought the Republican extremist fringe into national prominence. Her sheeple became Trump’s deplorables. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

75 years when I made the cartoon, 81 years now.

Feliz Cinco de Meow!

Posted by TomCat at 1:38 pm Holiday, Politics

May 052018

0505Cinco

Photo credit: Tux the Dapper Gent

Bill Maher from 5/4

Posted by TomCat at 1:37 pm Politics

May 052018

It’s that time of week again, so here are four fine video clips from Bill’s show last night. Enjoy!

Monologue: Ok Stupid

I wonder if I’m too ugly to get in on a secret porn star payoff trust fund payoff.

Jon Meacham: Our Better Angels

Meacham is a conservative, but he appears to reject the Republican Reich, and he does make sense.

Mayor Michael Tubbs

I have liked the idea for a long time, because we have more people than family wage jobs. In fact, I suggested it in an Economics essay in 1966. For more info on UBI, click here.

New Rule: I Feel Petty