Open Thread - Friday, October 9, 2015

I am enjoying the Republicans effort to select a new house leader.

Kevin McCarthy Suggests House Republicans Are Ungovernable, May Need To 'Hit Rock Bottom'

In the wake of Rep. Kevin McCarthy withdrawing his candidacy to replace Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), the California Republican speculated that the House could be ungovernable.

In a phone interview with the National Review’s Rich Lowry, McCarthy said that he would not have “enjoyed being speaker this way” and speculated the House may need to hit “rock bottom” before it can become governable.

Young guns rule!

The following is sarcasm, go ahead and chastise me in the comments.

Wow is God angry with South Carolina.

Maybe Franklin Graham could help.

New Billy Graham book echoes hard-line preacher of ’50s, not grandfatherly evangelist of love

One Graham scholar says ‘Where I Am’ reads like Franklin Graham wrote it

Grifters gotta grift.

It's October! My favorite month. Crisp fresh air and the leaves are about to change. And the Cubs are in the playoffs!

It's Columbus Day weekend. The weekend when my Pittsburgh riding buddies go on their West Virginia ride and camping. I'll miss the male bonding this year.

How's your world?

Have a great weekend.

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cybrestrike's picture

This is what happens when you let crazy people take over everything. Boehner might be forced to stay on for a while longer. He was the only one who could handle that freak show. And...barely at that. If they go the route of picking someone not serving in the house, they'd have to pick someone who could satisfy the Tea Party, and that's no one I can think of at the moment.

And honestly, this isn't good at all for the country as a whole. Days like this, I wish we had a parliamentary system.

Nothin' wrong with a little Steppenwolf on a Friday morning...

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gulfgal98's picture

Here is what (in that same regard) I posted on another thread here last night.

I am sure there will be a lot of cheering over this latest development, but this pinpoints a terrible problem for governance in the House. The majority caucus now has nihilists running it and we all know they want blood. They want to destroy the government and drown it in a bathtub. Along the way, they will be doing irreparable damage to the United States. I just hope the Dems do not bail them out this time. This is what we end up with when people who hate government are elected to govern.

There are so many times recently, I have expressed the same as you. Not just in this case, but for so many other reasons, like being able to have more than two corrupt parties.

And honestly, this isn't good at all for the country as a whole. Days like this, I wish we had a parliamentary system.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

LapsedLawyer's picture

I too loved the schadenfreude of the Republican meltdown:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q45x4EOEPI]

Ah, Columbus Day! A day to celebrate 500 years (or thereabouts) of oppression, genocide, and bantustans for Native Americans! What a wonderful country!

Aaaand this little tidbit I ran across from a link in my inbox about how the Dems are just as loved by the rich as the Repubs, for use the next time you're chastised for saying there's not dime's worth of difference 'tween the two parties. This article shows that it literally true!

Anyway, as I said, good morning all!

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyyDwOzJ9XI]

(Would've used "Good Day Sunshine" but it's overcast here right now so another time.)

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"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
-- John Lennon

inv less sales record high_0.jpg

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link

Urban Outfitters has asked salaried workers at the company’s home office to “volunteer” for extra weekend shifts at a new fulfillment center in the town of Gap, Pennsylvania.
In an email, the company asked for weekend workers to “pick, pack and prepare packages for shipment.” The three brands beneath the Urban umbrella are Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Free People.
Volunteers would work six-hour shifts in exchange for lunch and transportation, if required. The email advises participants to wear “sneakers and comfortable clothing” to prepare for this “team building activity.”

Team Building!

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these are highly paid "salaried workers."

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Only connect. - E.M. Forster

LapsedLawyer's picture

Typical capitalist bs.

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"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
-- John Lennon

enhydra lutris's picture

Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of imperialist colonizer and slaver day. More cities, states and, eventually, the nation, should follow suit.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

NCTim's picture

We would take Friday off and ride east and sout to:

After a stop for relief and outlook adjustment on to:

Ride mountain roads all day Saturday then camp here:

Off the mountain and sneak into the Seneca Rocks NFS campground for a shower:

Another day of riding Sunday, with a stop here:

Then over to the lodge at Snowshoe for a nice meal, hot tub and sleep in a bed.

Columbus day, ride back home where the feudal lord is waiting.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Consider these two articles from today.
link

A week into Russia's military intervention in Syria, some top White House advisers and National Security Council staffers are trying to persuade President Barack Obama to scale back U.S. engagement there, to focus on lessening the violence and, for now, to give up on toppling the Syrian regime....
Reuters reported this week that Putin was planning his Syria intervention for months with Iranian officials, while misleading the West. Now any hope that the U.S. and Russia could work together on stabilizing Syria has ended.
At the same time, Obama has ruled out engaging in a proxy war with Putin's military, leaving few good options. One path, however, would mean finding ways to tamp down the fighting by negotiating small, local ceasefires with the Assad regime.
“The White House somehow thinks we can de-escalate the conflict while keeping Assad in power,” one senior administration official told us.

No more regime change is BIG!
Combined that article with this one

The Obama administration is abandoning its failed attempt to build and train a rebel force in Syria to take on Islamic State and will focus on equipping selected leaders and providing air support to their units.
The revamped program will provide small arms and ammunition to Arab and Kurdish groups in Syria that are fighting the terrorist group, according to a U.S. official. Some of the leaders selected will be trained to pass information on potential targets for airstrikes to Joint Operating Centers run by the U.S. and allies, according to the official, who asked not to be named discussing details of the plan.

Putin has outmaneuvered Obama. Washington is trapped by its own rhetoric. In the end, I think Putin did us a favor.

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NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

LaFeminista had one of the greatest opening paragraphs on her rec'd diary I have ever seen.

The way I found my way to site was the resolute antiwar stance of many of its writers. Then again it appears most of that was due to a Republican being in the Oval office. The whole site seems to have decided that if Bernie or Hillary farts that the most important question of the day is "does it smell". The front page seems more preoccupied in finding out if the Republicans have started barbecuing each other.

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mimi's picture

Well I banned myself on the gos to get away from talking over there and on the one hand it's better this way, because at least I have to come here to talk and fewer people will see it, on the other hand, I can't come to the "rescue" of someone who might need it over there. Unfortunately I have a bad memory, but I could swear that a couple of "nick-names" I remember from years ago, many years go, and they were clearly playing their cards on the other side of the aisle. This is so toxic. And so cruel.

What does stand NR for?

I am still not capable of staying away from the site. I read it still. It's not good. Unbelievable how deep the dependency is.

Just an OT and a good night to you all.

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MarilynW's picture

a poster's rating privileges are taken away as a punishment for what has been judged to be bad ratings.
It's all so silly.

Have a good week-end. It's Thanksgiving week-end in Canada.

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To thine own self be true.

gulfgal98's picture

which organizes off site, swooped in and HR'd the following comment by praenomen in his own diary.
I was one of those who went south after college (6+ / 26-)

...in Mississippi to be precise, and yes, I did risk my life, and I was spit on and called names, and I was very afraid at times...but that just isn't good enough now...there are no black people posting diaries on the Dkos thanking whites for the sacrificies they made...all I see are hate filled diaries accusing all whites of being racists...I've paid my dues; and I am proud of the contributions I made.

I am having major computer problems today so I cannot link or block quote without it automatically deleting whatever I want to link or block quote.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

mimi's picture

post their personal pains they went through or their family or tribal affiliation and history to prove to some people, who themselves have to prove to the world that they are the real brave long-term do-gooders, that those people, ie they themselves, are as much of a do-gooder than the others, who claim those others are not, things are going to be really brownie and stinky. (That was a stinky sentence structure too, but I couldn't get it better for now).

What actions you are involved in can be seen as "the right thing" one day and years later as "the wrong thing". Who are we to judge so easily and shout it out to the world?

Praenomen had courage to voice his opinion in that environment, be it one you share and support or one you don't. So, praenomen can't rate anymore other people's comments? But other people can rate him down like as if there is no tomorrow? It's not allowed to say that there are black racists, but it is allowed put whites in the category of being racist almost by default? However subtle, tricky or indirectly they do it ?

It's so easy to accuse people of racism and sexism. It's pretty cheap too, imo. Poltical, institutional, constitutional racism and exploitation and discrimination based on race is a political issue of power and needs to be fought politically and not on a personal basis. I shouldn't lead to people using an anonymous world-wide platform to accuse single posters via the HR brigades with bazookas to indirectly say, "I know better who you are than you know yourself, and I am telling you now, who you really are". Arrogant. Basically nobody knows anybody here.

I missed, who had bashed John Lewis for his endorsement of Hillary Clinton. So, I couldn't quite understand what and who aroused Denise's rant. I also don't want to know anymore, after having spent so many emotions and thoughts into what had happened there.

Not an athmosphere I like to live in. It's affecting me more than I would like it to. I lived, breathed and inhaled racial thinking up close my whole life. I don't need more of it. I try to forget it. But it's hard for me to do that.

I am going to do my do-gooder thingy in an hour or so. At least what some people think is the right thing to do. Of course that doesn't make me a do-gooder in many people's minds.

Don't you think the times when people couldn't read other people's minds , the pre-interent blogging times, were almost more humane than what we have now?

Ok, be good people and have a wonderful day.

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lotlizard's picture

If the Hunger Games are set up such that non-whiteness makes a good "hammer," one way to win is to turn any discussion, whatever the topic, into a race "nail."

And speaking of the Hunger Games:

Say, who does that Katniss think she is, trying to pass herself off as on the same level as Rue? Rue lived and died for District 11! Oh, flowers, a salute, nice, big whoop — that makes District 12 White Privilege Girl the same as her? (As if on cue, mutant poison wasps, the crackHR-jackHRs, descend.)

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mimi's picture

may be I will watch it one day, but I doubt it... Thanks Lotlizard. I think I am a dedicated, principled dumbfuck, who avoids any fiction stuff in my life. I barely can deal with reality, how people can handle on top of that fiction is beyond me.

Whatever, I am on a downward spiral today and have to get out of it. So, no further thinking is allowed in my brain for today. Smile

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gulfgal98's picture

and it often gets very ugly over there. Praenomen just stated his own perspective and then they HR'd him into an NR rating adn they bragged about it later in the same thread. This is what angers me so much. Nothing praenomen wrote actually met the criteria for being HR'd and even if a certain FP'er was offended, the gang like behavior of that group is very offensive on its own and should not be tolerated by the site.

I really object to seeing a website being run by gangs, and in particular, a gang run by one front pager.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

gulfgal98's picture

So here is the link to praenomen's diary. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/08/1429580/-Bernie-Sanders-Civil-R...

And here is the link to the comment for which they HR'd him into a NR status. I think it is important to view the names who HR'd him because they are the same names that appear over and over when there are HR's en masse. This is what I find very offensive is the gang warfare in which they engage. They were already gunning for him early on in the diary before he made that comment. Then afterwards, they piled on and even gloated about HR'ing him.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

goes to an Error page. If your computer
is still working, perhaps you could fix? Wink

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Only connect. - E.M. Forster

gulfgal98's picture

I am on another , much older laptop that works, at least until the next time I try to destroy it. Wink

I think I know why you may not be able to view the second link. If you are not a trusted user at dkos, it has been hidden so you may not view it. But I have copied it for you to see. I guess what is so egregious is in the eye of the beholder. My issue is the gang mentality behind the way they HR'd it, in particular.

I was one of those who went south after college (6+ / 26-)

...in Mississippi to be precise, and yes, I did risk my life, and I was spit on and called names, and I was very afraid at times...but that just isn't good enough now...there are no black people posting diaries on the Dkos thanking whites for the sacrificies they made...all I see are hate filled diaries accusing all whites of being racists...I've paid my dues; and I am proud of the contributions I made.

by praenomen on Thu Oct 08, 2015 at 11:42:39 PM EDT

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/09/1429712/-Objection

The diary is not much, but the comments are really nasty.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

mimi's picture

so I can't read hidden comments anymore. Frankly I also really don't want to. I almost never read hidden comments before.

This is an example what rec-ing and HR-ing in a non anonymous fashion does to a so-called community. It brings out the worst instincts and gut's reactions from people. The fact that people can follow who rec'd and who HR'd what, is a very bad policy for an online blog site, where most of the long-term bloggers and activists may know each other not only by their handle but their real names, know what kind of functions they have in real life etc. It's bad for those who make a living from writing for that site and those who volunteer their diaries for free. It's bad for those who make a living of being activists and work in campaign related positions. It's imo also not easily to differentiate, who is providing their diaries as a by-product of their bread-and butter job outside of the gos and who is not. The whole issue of anonymity is corrupted and corrupting.

I am pretty glad this is not the case here. It's one of the reasons other than the EB why I come here. But somehow I feel this too will end one day. I can't imagine I heal without leaving.

The part hardest to "learn" or get a handle of for me is that "thoughts are free" but "posted thoughts, ie comments" are not, as well as diaries. There is no other technology and platform where your thought process and your posting process is so tightly related to each other. Only a couple of professionals can't handle thoughts and comments as different entities. And that is something the people, who make a living from writing and working for dailykos are in denial of.

Watch who comments about what and who rarely does, especially on issues that, one would expect, are the most important ones. The more important the issues, the less free discussion takes place and the more thought and language policing and/or bullying is going on. Seems to me the site shows some schizophrenic symptoms at times.

I am in need of something nice now. I am going out to a park and look in the sky. How about that? Smile

Have a good afternoon, gg.

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gulfgal98's picture

that you had GBCW over there. It was at the same time I had out of town company and I missed it.

I am sorry, but if it has made your life better, then I guess it was right for you. I am so sorry. Ijust figured you were still there since you knew about praenomen's NR. Sad

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

mimi's picture

you can log in, read and twitter a diary. You can't comment, can't read hidden comments, can read comments of others, and you can't read your own old draft diaries (which I used sometimes to store stuff).

My diary was the equivalent of an addict turning himself into a clinic for treatment and accepting to be in a "straight jacket" at the clinic.

I am definitely addicted to communicating with a couple of people online. As I boycott facebook, the gos was and the caucus now is my only outlet. Like mostly everybody I need to communicate. It's a basic human need. People who have no environment where they can communicate with people of their liking in real life are unfortunately pretty dependent on this kind of communication. It's easily self-destructive and easy to abuse. So, I decided to force myself off of it. I can't say I am successful with it. But may be one day I "skedaddle" from it. Wish me luck with it. Smile

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lotlizard's picture

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mimi's picture

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mimi's picture

moments again.

Now you made me think about when it's Thanksgiving Day in Germany. We kind of never made a whole lot out of it. Just if you really go to church (I believe the Lutheran Protestants in Germany). I guess you say thanks to mother earth for the good harvest you were able to get out of her generosity...so to speak. Smile

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