“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
–Warren Buffett
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Red sky in morning,
Trumpstink a’borning.
Red sky at night,
‘Tis Trumpstink all right.
Stay upwind, my friends.
WOTD
thrashing firehose of id
This is the last time I'll write the word Covfefe…. (mostly because you have to type it four times before auto-correct gives up)
Ladies and gentlemen, the people our Founding Fathers believed we needed to protect ourselves from via the Electoral College:
Trump Fans, Foiled by Google Translate, Believe ‘Covfefe’ Was a Secret Arabic Message
Not knowing Arabic, I just wonder how the Trump apologists could read the tweet, translate, and emerge with “Despite the constant negative press I will stand up” .
Google translate recognizes Covfe'fe in an Arabic to English as I'll've — which I assume would come out "I will have" … and that would make a more effective sentence fragment: “Despite the constant negative press I will have” While accurate, we would still need an explanation of the lack of follow-up to complete the sentence.
Josh Marshall's use of the Trump Razor (find the stupidest tenable explanation, it is probably right) can apply to this silly, careless, amateur-level tweet.
I'm confident our Librarian will be right along to lecture Pete on how he just needs to pay these Oily boys a small sum of money for their hurt feelings and then it will all go away. I'm curious if this is enough to stir Pear's outrage against the man?
Despite intimidation from an energy Goliath, this environmentalist David isn’t backing down
What a fraud! Bernie Sanders with his ranting and raving about millionaires and billionaires. His three homes and corruption scandal with his wife, but the millennials love the message. Free college healthcare and a Santa Claus government.
https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2017/06/04/walters-bernie-sanders-made-more-than-1-million-in-2016
Do you have an opinion on TwoScoops $25 million fraud settlement for his sham known as Trump University?
Most members of Congress are millionaires. Sanders just last year finally made the millionaire's club. In 2015, his net worth was about $430K, per the inside.gov sheet cited below. If you want to see what the different MoCs made in 2012, see the spreadsheet on personal net worth here.
It’s interesting that Cory Gardner, Doug Lamborn both showed negative net worth in 2012. Way to promote financial responsibility! Ken Buck wasn’t elected to Congress until 2015, but this inside.gov sheet shows net worth in 2015 as 1.2 million for Buck. http://members-of-congress.insidegov.com/
There was no corruption scandal with Jane Sanders, although the right wing media tried very hard to make up something out of nothing. She sits on the board of a group which oversees the disposal of Vermont's nuclear waste in a state of the art facility in Texas. For this privilege, she gets about $4,000 / year. Scandalous!
That pesky FBI. It must be another trumped up investigation by Jim Comey. Not exactly what you referenced.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/332313-fbi-investigating-jane-sanders-for-alleged-bank-fraud-report
More discrediting and distraction.
It does look as though Jane Sanders made some poor business decisions to expand Burlington College, leading to its ultimate failure. Have you noticed that Jane Sanders isn't running for office?
1. There is no evidence that she profited from the college expansion – therefore the accusation of a "corruption scandal" is on thin ice.
2. If she overstated some future donations in order to get bank loans for the college, again I'm not sure this rises to the level of criminality.
3. The dramatic headlines, trumpeting "bank fraud" and "corruption scandal" about a 2011 failure of a college that had always struggled financially seem overblown, and political. We know that Comey was pressured to release a letter on Hillary Clinton's emails, which also proved to be much ado about nothing.
4. Some of Burlington College's records were subpoenaed and gone through – but they have now mostly been returned and shredded – without any indictments or big announcements of criminality. Again, much ado about nothing.
4.So I would guess that this is more random poop-throwing, a twofer to discredit Comey and Sanders and to distract from the much more serious scandals relating to basically selling the Presidency to a foreign country. Even if Sanders doesn't run for the Presidency again, ( and I don't think that he should), he remains a powerful force in the Senate, advocating for single payer health care, against Medicare, Medicaid and VA cuts. So the headlines are to undercut Sanders via some questionable loans his wife floated 6 years ago. Yawn.
I thought you had to make at least $1 million a year before Republicans respected you, PP. Are you guys upping the ante to $1 billion?
Still trying to decipher your perspective on civility. What test do you apply?
Keep working on it and see what you come up with.
“Do you really think the only test of the civility standard is whether YOU have a problem?”
Actually I do. I was diagnosed with Parksinson's Disease three years ago and the ensuing problems I have faced has stripped me of social filters so I look at the world differently then you do when it comes to calling out petty bullshit but that's not my issue with not tolerating racist assholes. I have nephews who are from a mixed race marriage and I want them to live in a world where they won't be targets of physical or economic violence because of the color of their skin.
Maybe I offend your delicate sensibilities with my nastiness but I didn't start the insult on that thread. FYI – I was offended to have someone with ideological bigotry say that I am aligned against the American workingman which is meant to be the white rural worker when I support an increase in the minimum wage, the development of innovative new industries and the training required to transition our young people into new careers. I support teachers who will guide our youth towards new destinies. I support well run and fiscally responsible government that provides a safety net for the most vulnerable in our society. I am one of those people now.
I was personally offended that this prick who calls himself Pear would accuse me of betraying the American worker when he is doing everything he can to suck up to the rich and make sure the rich get every crumb that they can take from the workingman. I found his comment to be insulting and his linguistic and analytical skills along with his moral integrity wanting so I replied in a manner of my choosing. If you want civil than maybe you should ask him not to be a racist piece of shit in his writings and be civil to me and my feefees. As a person with an incurable disease I don't tolerate assholes who foster a culture of hatred towards my nephews so I really do not care whether you consider me uncivil.
Expressing vigorous dissent is one thing. But calling someone a racist because he disagrees with you is simply a cheap shot. I also call bullshit on your "I have Parkinson's so you can't criticize me" defense.
I've had diabetes for 45 years, 42 years longer than you've had Parkinsons, so I could play the victim too, But I decline to do so.
I haven't flinched from calling Carnholio a racist piece of shit because he often is, like when he kept calling president Obama "boy". But Pear just disagrees with you, me, and the civilized world. It's his privilege and doesn't make him a piece of shit.
As for you not caring whether I think you're uncivil, I have to ask why you post repeated and lengthly pleas on the issue.
You seem to care a great deal.
You and I disagree on what constitutes racist comments Voyageur.
I'm also going to call bullshit and raise you a bullshit for thinking that your disease has the exact same mental characteristics as mine.
Roger that, GG. I do think racist comments should have at least something to do with race. And save the who has the worst disease argument for Queen for a Day.
And I think it is germane in the extreme for Pear to weep for the lost white coal miner jobs but cheer gutting our social services to urban minorities. Racism takes many forms and this is one of them in my mind.
Well, some of those lost coal miner jobs were held by black folks and your implied claim that all urbL welfare recipients are blacks is also racist. The majority of welfare recipients are white.
You might consider stopping digging.
Parkinson's is a nasty disease. My father in law died from it and would say, this is a hell of a life. I don't have Parkinson's or cancer or other terrible terminal illness, yet. But it is inevitable I will get something and will die. You are a foolish man to let silly political arguments come between you and your family. I suspect your family is better off with you on the sideline when they get together. If your pitty party is better served with finding racism, hatred, and animus with every person who doesn't think as you do, it will be attended by many.
Wouldn't it be better for your nephews to think of their uncle as a man of courage in the face of life's greatest challenges, rather than a bitter old man who died alienated from his family? It's not how you die but how you have lived. And from your post, Parkinson's is not what has killed you.
So what was it that killed your soul?
If by soul you mean something immortal that entered your zygote at conception and will sit on a cloud with Jesus for all eternity playing checkers after you die, I'd afraid there is no such thing.
It's just as well. Checkers gets awfuly boring after 500 years or so.
Wouldn't be nice if you posted something even once that wasn't a piece of garbage filled with hatred towards people who don't share your political perspective?
You don't have any capacity for self-reflection do you? I would rather live in a broken down body than be mentally imprisoned in your dishonest ideology that thinks helping farmers collect royalties on wind turbines is a bad thing. You owe everyone who is concerned about the rising heat in our atmosphere an apology for slandering their motivations and accusing them of being against the best interests of our nation.
Weighing in here – I see both sides on the civility question.
I'm usually the first one to call out bullying online, even if it's everyone piling onto a rightie troll. Defending the underdog is a knee jerk response for me. I haven't jumped in to defend PP because:
1) I don't know if PP is a "racist" or not – I haven't seen any overtly racist comments of his. I do know that he himself stereotypes others frequently – millenials are all "lazy and entitled", teachers in unions are "ruining education", people who disagree with him politically are "unabombers", a persistent reporter is a "rude snowflake" who deserves an "ass whipping".
So if he can't take it, he really shouldn't be dishing it out.
2) for you yourself, GG, I've experienced your raging lashing out at me in comments, I think because I criticized Hillary Clinton or posted something pro- Sanders. Suddenly, I had crossed the line in your mind and was fair target for any insults you wanted to heap on me. I even remember V cautioning me not to respond in kind, as you were not quite in your right mind at the time. (I'm paraphrasing all of this, as I don't want to spend the time to find the conversation).
3)In general, I think it's better to attack the argument, rather than the person. What I do is "link" them to death. If nothing else, this helps me to become better informed. When I do respond with foul language and personal insults, it's shocking because I don't do it often. Using it sparingly is more impactful.
4) I understand the "troll-hunting" mentality – I've done it myself, though I'm not proud of it. In such a frustrating political environment, it's easy to vent on someone who advocates for the opinions you hate. I've also been banned from some sites because of my dissenting opinions.
5) I do agree with V that having a disabling condition is not an excuse for being abusive. Plenty of people have dreadful challenges in their lives, and yet somehow manage to treat others with compassion and civility.I lived with someone with "PTSD" for years, and took a lot of crap from him, most of which he excused because of his disability. Ultimately, that relationship ended, which was better for both of us.
If we took a confidential poll of Polsters, I'm pretty sure we'd find a spectrum of physical and mental disabilities, and personal histories which could "excuse" abusive comments to others. Yet most don't go there.
6) I also understand and respect your protectiveness of your mixed-race nephews – that's a reaction I have all the time on behalf of my friends and my students. It definitely brings out the mama grizz in me.
7) it would be helpful if you would limit your responses to actual racist comments – if you see something like that, go off all you want, and I'll back you up. I just haven't seen anything that specific.
8) I wish you well in dealing with your disease, generally enjoy your comments, and hope that you keep on contributing here.
You always were the reasonable one mama so thanks for bringing your cordial commentary to a public forum.
One other point to make here mama is that I have followed your writing and read your posts for a long time and generally been impressed with the quality and thought that you put into them. Last spring was an exception when day after day your posts were a constant litany of Mrs. Clinton's failings. It was some of your worst writing running down Mrs. Clinton on a daily basis. I had no problem with you supporting the candidate of your choice but you went over to the dark side trashing Mrs. Clinton everyday. You were not an innocent party in regards to our heated verbal exchanges. Mrs. Clinton for all her faults would have been infinitely better than what we ended up with.
Of course she would – that's why I voted for her. Let it go.
I notice that the party Dems on my Facebook feed are passing along the same memes about "Sanders is a millionaire – oh the horror of this hypocrisy", and "Tulsi Gabbard is a lobbyist!"
Our trolls have put these memes out on here, and they originate on right wing sites like Daily Caller, NewsMax, and Breitbart.
So Republicans are very happy to help Dems stay divided. We don't have to help them out.
Without my help you would think Democrats are loved and adored. But the truth is, the Democratic Party is a fring Party. Now Tulsi Gabbard is a Democrat I might pay attention too, main stream and not a KOOK and easy on the eyes. I hope she is the candidate in 2020.
What help is that?
In a fring party, does one have to bring one's one frings? (BYOF)
Fring squads don't come cheap these days, especially the good ones . . .
. . . it's either BYOF, or you can expect to have to pay the pper.
Well, some of those lost coal miner jobs were held by black folks and your implied claim that all urban welfare recipients are blacks is also racist. The majority of welfare recipients are white.
You might consider stopping digging.
Unfortunately, mj, medical fring is only legal in montana, Nevada and Nebraska. Kansas has an initiative on the blot to legalize recreational fring. So, bring your fring at your own risk.
Yes. A million dollars is not what it used to be.
In the news today, from Upper Thurstonia…
Republicans and Democrats Continue to Block Drug Reimportation – After Publicly Endorsing It
Paging Zappatero. There is a Michael Bennet reference in aisle 3.
Board of Postal Governors is now completely empty. Wonder if Bernie still has his useless hold on new appointments?
I don't think someone can have a hold in place if there are no nominees. This article makes it sound as though the new President hasn't yet put anyone up.
Article I read; from Linn's Stamp News; implied that Bernie still has a hold in place on any new nominees until he releases it.
This article? It doesn't say what you claim. It does start out with what I said:
Then, it does say that getting a board, once nominees are put forward, may depend on whether Sanders "will once again intervene." That states only that he has intervened in the past, and suggests that whatever led him to do that may again, not that he "still has a hold in place on any new nominees until he releases it."
Not sure how we ended up here off a post about drug re-importation. Then again, if Sanders (or anyone, really) does put a hold on someone, I'd like to know why, so I can make a judgment about how I feel about it.
Bernie blocked some nominees who wanted to privatize the postal service, end due process, and undermine the union. I'll post links if you want, but you can probably find them yourself.
We had this discussion previously. The philatelic press wasn't too impressed with Bernie.
Perhaps the philatelic press isn't impressed with Bernie, but the American Postal Workers Union endorsed him for President. Why?
C.H.B – I wrote this from the perspective of rural services that I've experienced over five decades. For all the crap the general public likes to give postal workers, I find them generally competent. I grew up in the 80735 and then in the 80758 for my adult life. The postal infrastructure has a lot of potential if we had the cajones to take on the banks and the private sector competitors. Few people realize USPS actually carries a lot of 'last mile' deliveries for UPS/FedEx.
Bernie has been a strong proponent of postal banking in particular; Obama missed a grand opportunity to reshape the board early in his tenure. If TwoScoops wanted to make a statement to his rural base, he could start here.
I appreciate your thoughts. Much of my perspective comes from a now retired postal manager who found it hard to get anything meaningful done due to union rules; was almost impossible to fire someone who was caught dealing drugs on company time.
I note good work that is done in my local post offices. However, I also recognize that many postal workers get skilled labor wages for doing semi-skilled work. This thought is from working with the US DOL Dictionary of Occupational Titles during my social service career.
Postal banking is an interesting concept, and not a new one as people could have postal savings accounts decades ago.
You know what is REALLY hard to do? Fire a CEO for a large corporation. They could be dealing drugs, shooting somebody on 5th avenue, ripping off consumers, polluting the air or water, skimming overtime out of the workers' pockets.
Michael, if they're missing the "last mile" with USPS, they're not paying attention. USPS has been running those TV ads with web company logos on USPS trucks for a couple of years now. Oh wait. Silly me. These are the same people who voted for the Yam.
Some good news for a change. Saw on morning news that the young man who caught Albert Pujols' 600th home run returned the ball to Albert for free. He said, in reference to Albert, "it's his moment and his ball."
What a class act. Too bad that the local trolls (PP, Andrew, Moderatus) can't rise up to that level.
The chain of habit that vexes me is the one where Republicans are reflexively against anything that Democrats are for. How did it come about that we argue about the value of renewable fuel when Eastern Plains farmers derive needed royalty income from windmills which unlike oil wells will never dry up? It has gotten to the point that if a 'Liberal Democrat' is for better education than Republicans will want less education. It looks like it is now to the point where Republicans have no capacity to work with members of other political persuasions. America was truly great when the political process involved cooperation and compromise rather the a scorched earth winner take all totalitarian experience that characterizes our politics today.
There is usually some good bipartisan stuff that comes out of the Colorado state legislature. I also noted last month that one of the few Obama pro-environment regulations not to get trashed by the Congressional Review Act was the BLM's methane gas flaring rule. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Susan Collins (R-ME), and John McCain (R-AZ) crossed over to save the rule. Unfortunately, the Scott Pruitt-led EPA then placed a 90 day hold on the rule.
I appreciate the anecdotes of cooperation CB but when I survey the political landscape it appears that these are aberrations rather than the rule. Today's quote was about habits and it is disturbing that too often conservatives oppose out of habit anything that liberals support. There was a rally in Portland over the weekend regarding racism and the slayings on the train and some Trump supporters showed up mock them in a counter demonstration. It happens so often that we rarely regard it as a habit but how else can you describe people hating renewable energy development because liberals support it. America has always led with innovation but now conservatives as a group are actively trying to suppress it. It is an unhealthy habit that is going to weaken our ability to be united in dealing with problems in the future.
In some ways your post CB is an example of this phenomenon.
I state that there is a problem and you counter with a narrative that it would indicate that it isn't a problem.
I have relatives that I can't see any longer because even if I try to avoid politics with them, they bring up lots of stupid and if I say it is white then they will always try to persuade me that it is black and it doesn't matter if their 'facts' are provably wrong. I can't ignore their crazy but it is futile trying to find some common pool of knowledge that we can both agree on. It isn't worth it to be around them but it weakens my family to have us estranged. In the past, it was dysfunctional but we all enjoyed see the kids grow up and share a drink after the Thanksgiving dinner. Now I can't stand the idea of being around them and listen to them spout off about how much they hate liberals and how perfect all their ideas are.
I feel the same way about our national family. We can't get along and things that mattered in the past like public education and a social safety net are being shredded because conservatives can't support them because liberals think they are important. It's a dark day for America when we can't agree to help the poor or heal the sick because we have to give tax breaks to the rich.
I think you need to re-read my post. I never said there isn't a problem.
Cool, CHB. Very cool.
This has nothing to do with politics other than its nexus with increased water vapor in the atmosphere causing more and more supercells. Four minutes to sit back, relax and marvel at the power of Mother Nature (who always bats last and bats 1.000)
FRACTAL – 4k StormLapse from Chad Cowan on Vimeo.
"Per year" . . .
https://newrepublic.com/minutes/143094/eliminating-coal-save-lives-per-year-entire-coal-industry-employs
Seems like an appropriate place for this rendition….
Pols, I'm proposing a new regular feature: Good News!
(News That Makes You Go Awww) or another title.
Examples:
CHB's post above about the Pujols fielder who returned Pujols 600th home run free.
This one, from the Coloradoan, via Twitter feed of Cassa Niedringhaus: Islamic Center of Fort Collins (ICFC) hosted a Ramadan awareness dinner this past weekend. Community (non-Islamic) members were invited to fast, then break their fast with the mosque. ICFC was vandalized by a hater on March 27.
In the flood of nonstop, mind-numbing news about officially sanctioned hatred and intolerance, corruption and disregard for the rule of law, it would be refreshing to read about random acts of kindness, tolerance, integrity, and upholding the law even when it is inconvenient.
Puppies and kittens optional.
I like it, MJ! And Our resident trolls would hate it. That's reason enough, right there.
If Pols doesn't try it, I may start running it as a regular diary during the summer, at least. I think it would be fun and refreshing.
Can I be the first with GOOD NEWS? "Hillary Clinton will not go away".
Here's your good news for yesterday, PP. The evidence? It be mountin'
This is happening just down the road from my aunt…
Muslim and Latino groups unite during Ramadan, breaking fast with tacos at mosques
Taco Trucks at Every Mosque! aka, Trump's Nightmare….Love it!
Since today's quote is about habits that start out easy to be ensnared in and are hard to break you have to bring up the "It's OK if our guy does it but if they do it then they are dirty dogs" habit that conservatives have of white washing their candidate's mistakes while howling with indignation and rage if their opponent would do something similar. This goes to the core of whether they have lost their moral integrity and discipline to call a sin a sin regardless of who does it. I would like to believe that they care about moral values because they wrap themselves up in it so often like their patriotism that demands standing rigid as a tin soldier for our national anthem but have nothing but contempt for the athlete who chooses to exercise their right to free speech in accordance with the guiding principles of our Bill of Rights.
Practice what you preach is what I grew up on. If it's bad when they do it then it is even worse when we do it because we should know better. It is a moral bad habit to overlook your own failings but spew non-stop vituperation when they do it.
If they were honest with themselves conservatives would wake up to their moral double dealing and humble themselves and seek reconciliation with those they are in conflict with.
" Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5
Since today's quote is about habits that start out easy to be ensnared in and are hard to break, I have to bring up the "It's OK if our guy does it but if they do it then they are dirty dogs" habit that conservatives have of white washing their candidate's mistakes while howling with indignation and rage if their opponent would do something similar. This goes to the core of whether they have lost their moral integrity and discipline to call a sin a sin regardless of who does it. I would like to believe that they care about moral values because they wrap themselves up in it so often like their patriotism that demands standing rigid as a tin soldier for our national anthem but have nothing but contempt for the athlete who chooses to exercise his/her right to free speech in accordance with the guiding principles of our Bill of Rights.
Practice what you preach is what I grew up on. If it's bad when they do it then it is even worse when we do it because we should know better. It is a moral bad habit to overlook your own failings but spew non-stop vituperation when they do it.
If they were honest with themselves conservatives would wake up to their moral double dealing and humble themselves and seek reconciliation with those they are in conflict with.
" Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5