It’s that time of week again, and I’m happy to share four fine video clips from Bill’s show last night. Enjoy!!
Bill is right. One pervert is in the White House. One pervert is in the Supreme Court. One pervert will probably became a Senator.
"You cannot heal an open wound." That was precisely my point.
Sarah has a point about the ignorance of US voters. I hope her approach works for her.
New Rule: Checking In On Jared
Trump’s ego is a weapon of mass distraction.
I thought about spending the day in bed, but my Republiciosis was sufficiently, severe that I needed to stay up for the five trips to the throne room that it took to empty me (I hope). Now I won’t let all that research go to waste. Tomorrow is a holy day in the church of the Ellipsoid Orb. My Broncos worship in Foxboro Sunday evening. I have the Vaseline ready. It’s also a Wendy day.
Jig Zone Puzzle: Today’s took me 4:38 (average 6:11). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Daily Kos Channel): Fox News "Legal analyst" says sexual harassment "very few and far between"
Barf Bag Alert!!
The Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda would rather have a pervert than a Democrat in the Senate. RESIST!!
From The New Yorker: [T]he White House wants to get a tax bill passed, and on Thursday—just hours before Senate Republicans unveiled the outline of their tax proposal—Gary Cohn, Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, told CNBC’s John Harwood that the President had laid down “two really important principles” to guide the lawmakers and officials putting the legislation together. “Number one is we have to deliver middle-class tax cuts to the hardworking families in this country,” Cohn said. “Number two, our corporate tax system just is not competitive with the rest of the world. We have to create a corporate tax rate, and along with that a pass-through tax rate, that makes us competitive with the rest of the world so we can attract businesses back to the United States.”
Yet since last week, when Paul Ryan and the House Republicans released their tax plan, it’s been clear that Trump’s two principles have run into conflict with each other. Or, rather, these principles have run into the laws of arithmetic, and the fact that there isn’t enough money in the Republicans’ own budget, even using the fuzzy fiscal math the Party favors, to provide big giveaways for all businesses and all households. Something had to give, and between businesses and households, House Republicans went with the businesses.
From what we’ve seen of the Senate bill, so far, it does the same.
Click through for the rest of this superb article. Since the Republican tax plan cannot deliver the benefits promised to both giant corporations and households, bend over and grab your ankles. RESIST!!
From Washington Post: President Trump said Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin again denied his nation tampered in the U.S. presidential election last year.
The two men spoke during brief conversations on the sidelines of an international summit. Trump told reporters that he and Putin had more than one informal discussion after crossing paths at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Danang, Vietnam, before Trump flew to Hanoi for a bilateral meeting Sunday with Vietnamese leader.
The conversations mostly centered on the war in Syria, Trump said, but he added that he pressed Putin on Moscow’s role in attempting to tamper in the 2016 elections.
“He said he didn’t meddle,” Trump said, answering questions in the press cabin on the Air Force One. “I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. … He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.”
Do you think Trump was being honest, considering that his ass was fill of Putin’s dick? RESIST!!
Cartoon:
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.”
This was a week when my attention was drawn to two subjects – water, and eminent domain. Probably everyone here knows who Chase Iron Eyes is, but just in case there are any senior moments, let me say “Standing Rock.”
Well, Chase Iron Eyes is now awaiting trial for inciting a riot, the riot being all the protests at Standing Rock over months and involving hundreds of people. He has asked that this video be shared. It goes through many of the events leading up to this charge.
There has been one recent victory, and I will quote Chase’s email (emphasis mine):
A North Dakota judge has ruled that my legal team is entitled to substantially more evidence from the North Dakota State Prosecutor’s office than has been forthcoming in other water protector cases. We will be able to take sworn testimony and demand documents from Energy Transfer Partners and their private, militarized security firm, TigerSwan.
The timing on this ruling is important for all environmental protectors. 84 members of Congress—nearly all Republicans—recently sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions encouraging him to invoke the domestic terrorism statute to prosecute fossil fuel protesters. These attacks on our fundamental constitutional rights, spearheaded by Donald Trump and parroted by congressional shills of Big Oil, should deeply concern all citizens who value our right to speak freely and demonstrate.
The email provided the link to the petition to sign. Or you can text as described in the video to get the petition link.
Related, because fracking threatens people’s water (as well as the climate) is this case which Bold Alliance and landowners are fighting in Virginia, against the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines.
From the email, written by one of the landowners –
In an extraordinary move, more than 300 Virginia landowners have been sued in federal court by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, which is seeking authority for a “blanket taking” of all of these Virginia families’ land via eminet domain for this private company’s for-profit fracked gas pipeline.
And on Monday evening, it happened.
At my family’s farm, we were officially served with this lawsuit that seeks to take our land through eminent domain for the proposed Mountain Valley fracked gas pipeline.
The emotions are raw and real; jumping from anger to sadness to fear. Landowners across the region are wrestling with feelings of disempowerment.
We’re furious that a *private*, *for-profit* company has been handed over the power of eminent domain to drag our family to court seeking to seize a section of our land permanently for a risky, unnecessary pipeline that threatens our water and our climate — and later on, even sell that piece of our land to another private company!
I think everyone here knows what I think of eminent domain, so I see no need to stumble around looking for exotic insults and imprecations now.
Instead I’ll move on to another eminent domain case – this one in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Now, gentrification is not new to Atlanta. In fact, the point of this story is that the neighborhood now facing it is the last working class black neighborhood in the city.
The article in the Atlanta Black Star includes a roughly 15-minute documentary clarifying the history of black residential areas in Atlanta. I won’t embed it due to its length, but I’ll recommend it.
The Reader’s Digest version of the current situation is this:
The process the city is attempting to use to take ownership of the house is known as “eminent domain”— the power for governmental entities to take private property for public use. The city claims it needs the house, along with others on the same block in the Peoplestown neighborhood, in order to build a park and pond that will help with street flooding.
Meanwhile, community members suspect the flooding is being used as a pretext to facilitate private development in the neighborhood.
This process is replicated throughout the US. If successful, eminent domain could become the newest tool that local and state governments could use to accelerate the gentrification and displacement that is already impacting low-income Black and Brown communities. QQ
Doesn’t it all sound familiar?
A 20th century author of detective stories featuring running casts of detectives in three Southern California Police Departments had one of her characters say that all crime was rooted in one or both of two failings – stupidity and cupidity. These crimes (and they are crimes – the fact that they are being done using the courts does not change that) are clearly due to the latter. Dear Furies, the Greeks did not assign one or more of you to pursue criminals and crimes of greed, so you will need to divide up the assignments yourselves. I have confidence in you.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 HERE.
“At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.” — History.com
In Canada, Remembrance Day was originally know as Armistice Day but it was changed as the “war to end all wars” was not the last. . . . WWII, the Korean conflict (there was actually no declaration of war — North Korea invaded South Korea and then on 25 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the North’s invasion of the South, with United Nations Security Council Resolution 82 and the UN then provided support to South Korea in their civil war with the North), Afghanistan, peacekeeping in Cyprus, Rwanda, the Balkans, and other places. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) has said that Remembrance Day is now a day of “remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict, and peace.”
We ask our soldiers to do the most horrendous thing — kill another human being — but not just once, but over and over again. Yet when they return home, there isn’t enough support, whether it be medical, financial especially in this economy, or moral support in dealing with all the trauma and then trying to fit in a civilian life where rules are not always so clear cut.
Whether a veteran returns in a body bag, or walks off that troop carrier seemingly whole, we OWE all veterans a debt of gratitude and support.
I originally posted this in 2015.
Wild poppies grow on the verge of a Flanders field near Passchendaele as dawn breaks on the centenary of the Great War. Getty
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, Canadian physician
The setting sun creates long shadows at Sanctuary Wood Military Cemetery in Ypres. Getty
The morning sun falls on the fortified Advanced Dressing Station, near Essex Farm Cemetery in Ypres, where Canadian doctor Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae treated the wounded and is believed to have composed his famous poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ after burying his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, on 3 May 1915. Getty
A preserved WWI trench system is pictured in Sanctuary Wood in Ypres. Getty
Bomb craters scar the woodland floor in the preserved Sanctuary Wood. Getty
A surviving tree, damaged in the Great War, is covered in tributes. Getty
Ypres was the centre of five battles between German and Allied forces from 1914 to 1918. The deadliest of these was the Third Battle of Ypres or the Battle of Passchendaele, between July and November 1917.
Casualty numbers are disputed, but it is thought that around 325,000 Allied and 260,000 German troops lost their lives.
5 January 1917: Soldiers march past the ruins of St Martins Church and Cloth Hall in Ypres. Getty
5 October 1917: Australian troops march towards the front line to relieve their comrades, who had won Broodseinde Ridge the previous day, during the Battle of Passchendaele. Getty
11 November 1917: Soldiers pose for a photo near the ramparts at Ypres the day after British, Canadian, ANZAC, and French forces finally recaptured the Passchendaele Ridge east of Ypres. Getty
19 April 1918: Soldiers lie dead in the mud on a battlefield during the Lys Offensive, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres. Getty
With respect for those who fought & died in Two World Wars
For all the victims, and for the victims of all wars past & present
Remembering the human cost of war, not the financial or political cost of warfare.
Remembering every animal not given a choice, each one a tragic victim
of wars past and present
Lest we forget
A big thank you to Wendy Kelly, Coventry, UK, a Care2 member who sent me most of the pictures and captions
I’m still feeling like something I forgot to bury, so in the interest of healing, I’m going back to bed. RESIST!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:02 (average 4:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
It’s that time of week again, so here are three excellent video clips from Sam’s show last night. Enjoy!!
Thoughts and Prayers and Literally Anything
Thoughts and prayers, when offered to Republican Supply-side Jesus (the opposite of the real Jesus) are received by a Bankster or guy with cloven hooves and a pitchfork. Thoughts and prayers by authentic Christians empowers activism.
I think Russia planned to damage the election. When their puppet actually won, they became the dog that caught the speeding car.
Kudos to the progressive AGs fighting the Fuhrer.
I hope you enjoyed and learned from these.
I’m still feeling pretty wretched with coughing and congestion, and I’m trying to get back to bed ASAP!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:22 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): The Trump Voters Who’ve Had Enough
This is why I doubt that the Fuhrer will run for a second term. I’d rather we flip the House, and impeach Trump AND Pence. RESIST!!
From YouTube (Jeff Merkley Channel): Senator Merkley Speaks Out Against NLRB Nominee
Even though there is nothing we can do to prevent Senate Republicans unilaterally conforming Robb the Robber, Jeff’s message hits home. Oregon leads the way! RESIST!!
From Washington Post: Leigh Corfman says she was 14 years old when an older man approached her outside a courtroom in Etowah County, Ala. She was sitting on a wooden bench with her mother, they both recall, when the man introduced himself as Roy Moore…
…Alone with Corfman, Moore chatted with her and asked for her phone number, she says. Days later, she says, he picked her up around the corner from her house in Gadsden, drove her about 30 minutes to his home in the woods, told her how pretty she was and kissed her. On a second visit, she says, he took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear…
…Two of Corfman’s childhood friends say she told them at the time that she was seeing an older man, and one says Corfman identified the man as Moore. Wells says her daughter told her about the encounter more than a decade later, as Moore was becoming more prominent as a local judge.
Aside from Corfman, three other women interviewed by The Washington Post in recent weeks say Moore pursued them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s, episodes they say they found flattering at the time, but troubling as they got older.
Evidently Moore takes after his Fuhrer. RESIST!!!
Cartoon:
It’s been a long, long time since the last time Democrats had anything major to celebrate on election day. In NJ, the Reich that Pignocchio built is history. and in Virginia, Democrats won all the major offices. Also, they might still flip control op the House of Delegate in spite of the Republican Gerrymandering that the court is about to redistrict, before 2018.
THE BIG IDEA: Tuesday was the best day for Democrats politically since Barack Obama won reelection in 2012. Remember, conservatives scored significant victories in the November 2014, 2015 and 2016 elections. Democrats desperately needed some wins after they went all-in on a House special election in Georgia this spring and lost. Last night, they got them.
Voters came out in droves. They braved the rain and the cold to send a message to President Trump. The results across the country represent nothing less than a stinging repudiation of Trump on the first anniversary of his election.
— Democrat Ralph Northam was elected governor of Virginia Tuesday by an unexpectedly large margin of nine percentage points. He won more votes than any previous candidate for Virginia governor.
Republican Ed Gillespie could not escape Trump’s unpopularity, despite his best efforts to thread the needle. Four in 10 Virginia voters yesterday approved of the job that the president is doing, according to preliminary exit polls. Gillespie received over 9 in 10 votes from Trump approvers, but among the larger group of Trump disapprovers, Northam had nearly as large an advantage: 87 percent.
Trump’s impact on the race was also clear from other questions in the exit polling: 34 percent of voters said expressing opposition to Trump was a reason for their vote, with almost all of this group favoring Northam, per our in-house pollster Scott Clement. Half as many (17 percent) sought to express support for the president, while 47 percent said Trump was not a factor in their choice.
— Women made the difference. White women with college degrees — a group that split evenly in the 2013 Virginia governor’s election — favored Northam by 16 points over Gillespie in preliminary exit polling, 58 percent to 42 percent. Northam’s margin is more than twice as wide as the margin Hillary Clinton won those voters by last year, 50 percent to 44 percent.
Married women voted for Northam by 10 points according to preliminary exit polls, 54 percent to 44 percent. In the 2016 presidential election, Trump eked out a one-point lead with this group, 48 percent to 47 percent. Married women consisted of 30 percent of Virginia voters this year, about the same share as in 2016 and 2014. (Check out our interactive exit poll graphic here.)… [emphasis original]
Inserted from <Washington Post>
Click through for much much more info.
I was very pleased that a trans candidate put the pig that authored the infamous bathroom bill on the unemployment line.
Kudos to Danica Roem.
Finally, where do we go from here? That’s up to you.
