May 22, 2017 Open Thread; International Day for Biological Diversity

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 5:00am

May 22 is the 142nd day of the year. There are 223 days left.

Today's number is 22

22 is the product of two primes, 2 and 11
Being a product of 11 generates some fun we'll look at later
22 sevenths has been used as a rough approximation of pi for millenia
22 is titanium, a seriously kick-ass metal, but brittle in a pure state
A cricket pitch is 22 yards long
Catch 22 is a novel by Joseph Heller
A "Catch 22" is a type of gotcha or puzzle such as occur in that novel
.22 and .22LR (long rifle) are common small caliber weapons designations

"Fun" with "math"
1/11 = .090909 repeated forever
1/22 = 1/2 of 1/11 = 0.5 x .0909 = .04545454545 ad infinitum
Thus, a/22 = a x .045454545 etc
In doing mental arithmetic, multiplying by eleven is often easiest done by multiplying by 10 and then adding the original number. For example, 14 x 11 = 10 x 14 + 14 = 140 + 14 = 154
Similarly, multiplying by 22 is often easily done by multiplying by 2 and then multiplying the product by 11. Thus 14 x 22 = 28 x 11 = 280 + 28 = 308
Multiplying by 22 can also be made easier by first multiplying by 11 and then doubling the result. Thus 14 x 22 = (140+14) x 2 = 154 x 2 = 308
22 squared = 484, which just happens to be 4 x 11 squared. Hint: (2 x 11)(2 x 11) = (2 x 2)(11 x 11)

-
-

Title 22 of the US Code is FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE.
While I am nether a lawyer nor a politician, it seems to me that each subject merits its own title, but there it is.

22 BCE
was the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Arruntius
Gaius Petronius, Roman governor of Egypt, destroyed the Nubian capital

15 CE
was the Year of the Consulship of Agrippa and Galba
Roman law replaced Celtic law and customs in Gaul. The earth wept.
Valeria Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Claudius was born

On this day in:

0760 -- Halley's Comet sighting recorded in China
1762 -- The Trevi Fountain was completed. It is not known if coins were thrown into it.
1804 -- The Lewis and Clark Expedition left St. Charles
1819 -- The SS Savannah set sail to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic
1826 -- HMS Beagle set sail on her first voyage
1848 -- Slavery was abolished in Martinique.
1900 -- The Associated Press was formed
1906 -- The Wright brothers got a patent on their flying machine
1915 -- Mount Lassen erupted
1941 -- British troops took Fallujah.
1943 -- Stalin disbanded the Comintern.
1947 -- The Truman Doctrine went into effect
1964 -- LBJ launched the Great Society, which aimed at helping human beings
1968 -- The USS Scorpion sank
1972 -- Ceylon became Sri Lanka
1973 -- Nixon confessed his role in the Watergate cover-up
1990 -- North and South Yemen united to form the Republic of Yemen.
2015 -- The Republic of Ireland legalized same-sex marriage

The Great Society indeed

Born this day in:

1783 -- William Sturgeon, physicist and inventor, (electromagnet, electric motor)
1813 -- Richard Wagner, composer
1846 -- Rita Cetina Gutierrez, poet, educator, feminist, and activist
1859 -- Arthur Conan Doyle, writer, physician, spiritualist and justice activist
1905 -- Bodo von Borries, physicist, co-inventor of electron microscope
1914 -- Sun Ra, pianist, composer, bandleader, poet and, well, Sun Ra
1924 -- Charles Aznavour, singer, songwriter and actor
1927 -- Peter Matthiessen, writer, editor, spook and co-founder of The Paris Review
1930 -- Harvey Milk, politician
1934 -- Peter Nero, pianist and conductor
1942 -- Ted Kaczynski, critic
1950 -- Bernie Taupin, singer, songwriter and poet
1950 -- Bill Whelan, composer and musician
1959 -- Morrissey, singer and songwriter
1966 -- Johnny Gill, singer, songwriter and producer

Died this day in:

0337 -- Constantine the Great, early influential christofascist proponent of homophobia
1553 -- Giovanni Bernardi, sculptor and engraver
1885 -- Victor Hugo, author, poet & playwright
1932 -- Augusta, Lady Gregory, activist, author, and playwright, co-founder of the Abbey Theatre
1967 -- Langston Hughes, poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright
2010 -- Martin Gardner, mathematician, cryptographer, and author noted for his Scientific American column

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:
Harvey Milk Day (California)
International Day for Biological Diversity
Unity Day (Yemen)
World Goth Day

So, for music 
Haley's Comet
Trevi Fountain
Richard Wagner
Sun Ra
Charles Aznavour
Peter Nero
Bernie Taupin
Bill Whelan
Morrissey
Johnny Gill


 -

-
Haley's Comet

Trevi Fountain

Richard Wagner

Sun Ra

Charles Aznavour

Peter Nero

Bernie Taupin

Bill Whelan

Morrissey

Johnny Gill with bonus millenial whoop

OK, what's on your minds?

Bonus:

Today's daily horoscope for Monday 22 May 2017
The moon continues to wane through the house of Aries on the twenty-second of May. Aries is a very courageous sign, but tends to be so to a fault. While the natives of more timid signs should consider trying new things or persevering through hard times, the natives of more courageous signs should be careful that they don't take things too far, and the natives of all signs should remember to look before they leap.

More: http://www.gotohoroscope.com/2017-horoscope/22may.html

Mars is in syzygy and the earth is in heat ;-P

Well, so where were you in sixty-two?

Tags:

Open Thread

Halley's Comet

The Great Society

Vote

Comments

Submitted by riverlover on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 7:02am

Being of the House of Aries, I take note. EZ does it.

You noted a volcanic eruption. It jogged my mind (and I have an expert who may know): when is the first written documentation of an eruption in the continental US? AK and Hawaii as well, but they seem like separate zones. On the ring of fire.

I have a dream memory from childhood of a volcano building out of a flat field in front of me. There may have been reports on the news about an eruption in Mexico then. But nearly 60 years ago, I remember still.

I recommend last night's John Oliver. I could be paranoid or sensitive or something else, but I see propaganda in that report. Leading by the nosering that so many cannot even see. When late night TV entertainment tells us the "important facts" of the day/week, I look elsewhere for what is actually going on. Deep State is wresting power.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 9:22am

2 different subjects, or 3. Can't speak

@riverlover
to first recorded, but Mount Spur in the Aleutians went off in 1953, meeting your date range and US (Alaska) criteria. The "growing out of a flat field" thing however, sounds like Paricutin.

The Paricutin volcano suddenly grew out of a corn field in Michoacan, Mexico, in 1943. It erupted through 1952, wiped out a couple of towns and was in a Mexican film named Paricutin.

—

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 --

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:08am

I remember reading about the Mexican volcano rising

@enhydra lutris

out of a farmer's field in 5th grade (I think) during a testing session. I found it fascinating. I actually enjoyed testing because at least I got to read a variety of interesting things. It was a relief from classroom routine. This was back in the '60s.

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by lotlizard on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:49am

Have memories of touring an abandoned village on the Big Island

@Lily O Lady
while on a trip as a kid with my family — Kapoho?

Back yard of an empty house, with grass and banana trees — and, among the ruins, here and there smoking cones of clinker, like alien lifeforms sprouting from the ground.

Once back home in Honolulu, we borrowed all the kids’ library books on the subject of volcanoes we could get our hands on.

Yep, I remember reading about Parícutin too.

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:27pm

I've never been that close to a volcano. That's pretty cool!

@lotlizard

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by dkmich on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 7:46am

I dropped this is another

I dropped this is another essay, but I am also going to drop it and my comment here too. I found it interesting, and I think c99 will too.

I recently listen to this in depth and interesting discussion on US geopolitics and the military industrial complex. ( We better hope this regime never gets it act together.) The "right" was mention as a player several times. The left? ha, ha, ha.

—

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

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 9:23am

Thanks. I'll get to it some time today, I hope.

@dkmich

—

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 --

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:11am

Finally got to listen to it - great.

@dkmich

Thanks again.

—

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 --

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 10:46am

Coincidence: I posted an essay about the Great Society just

prior to reading this essay. https://caucus99percent.com/content/real-democrats-versus-new-democrats-...

I've never forgiven Gaius Petronius for destroying the Nubian capital and really see no reason to do so today.

Foreign Intercourse should probably come under Travel Overseas.

Changing mood:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXUc2CpioDA]

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:56pm

Harvey describing what if Feinstein-Ds take over in 1978

@HenryAWallace thanks for posting about Harvey Milk. Here he is describing what will happen to San Francisco and the rest of the country, Real Estate speculation versus real estate construction, which one creates wealth for the community? Duh. The D party I used to know, RIP.
Harvey Milk interview at Castro Camera, March 1978
I thought it was so great I transcribed most of it:

[...] Right, I as an individual am moving and my store is moving. We are not
individual cases we are part of a phenomenon. Some people look at it with favor
and some people look at it with disfavor, it depends on which side of the coin
you're at. Very frankly I think it's indicative of what's taking place or has
been taking place in this city for some time and the long range ramifications
are very serious, not only just for San Francisco but for the nation itself.

Let's just look in to a little background, the speculation that has taken place
in this city now is something that is offensive. It will destroy the backbone of
the city, not only small stores like myself will go out, the butcher store up
the street, all the little neighborhood type stores can not survive the
speculative market. But as far as the people who live here that's the tragedy,
the senior citizen who is on a fixed income, the young family who is just
rising, making it with two or three children. The person who is a working class
type person in a non-high economic situation, clerical work and so forth or some
gas station attendants. They are going to be driven out they cannot survive, and
the end result is you have a city like New York of extremes of haves and
have-nots, where government picks up the tab of people who are in poverty,
welfare so they can stay, and the very wealthy can stay.

That is a very destructive process and all you have to do is go to New York. In
case you can't go to New York what that does is, when you take out the economic
middle class in a city you've taken out the stepping stone that the lower
economic class desperately needs to get out. If the only thing you have in a
city is a person on welfare and a Swig or a Rockefeller, the person on welfare
knows they can never reach that upper level and so they give up. No hope. But if
there's a middle class they know they can step up with education or whatever. As
soon as you destroy the middle economic class and drive them out of the city,
you're driving out the incentive for education, the incentive to get ahead and
the city becomes awful.

Speculation also does one other thing that people don't realize, or at least not
enough people realize is that when you pay so much for your rent, or you own a
home and your mortgage payment is so high, you have a piece of the pie it takes
out of the economy the extra disposable income which you'd normally spend on
buying a tie, going out to eat dinner or a TV set or an iron, an ironing
board. You don't spend money on that and sooner or later that's going to crunch
the economy very badly because too much is going in to the basic need of
shelter. That will cycle home and as the sales of ties and ironing boards start
to drop you won't have that income anymore to support those mortgage payments or
rent, and it comes home.

So when you look at the speculation and the condominiums which is just another
avenue for the speculators to get in to, when you look at that it's going to
affect the national economy eventually. So we look at the... those of us who do
know it get upset. The average person gets upset at their current landlord, I
don't get upset at my current landlord he is just the tail end of the whole
process that has started in this city where instead of building new buildings
and housing stock in that South of Market area, the Western Addition, the city's
policy and the developers and the real estate industry policy is to play
monopoly. Play monopoly with the money, with the housing stock instead of
building new stocks. I think if we're going to put the blame, yes the current
greedy landlords, those who are greedy those who are in to it for the quick buck
those who are doing the quick turnovers they are guilty. But the city's policy
has been guilty, the real estate board has been guilty not discussing the
situation and those large developers and the names we do know they are super
guilty. [...]

'78 was a pretty tough year for me, my mom died so I had to quit the CCC, Jonestown happened, then George and Harvey got murdered by Dan White. I was driving a VW delivery van back through the tunnel coming out the Marin side when the radio tuned back in (yes that was a thing), it was devastating news.

All the crap that has rained upon me since was foretold by Harvey, and others. I see Feinstein and Pelosi, The Scream is my California background image, all the way through until now, right now. Rats.

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 3:15pm

Thanks, eyo. The essay that I linked above questions

@eyo

whether the Democratic Party was ever what we thought/assumed/perceived it was. It's the second part of a two part essay. Part One, which is the shorter part, discusses the New Deal and Part Two discusses the Great Society.

My own conclusion? The Democratic Party has not changed all that much. It was just scared enough in 1934 and during the tumultous Sixties to throw some money at us.

About Harvey Milk, my pleasure. There is a film about him on youtube, but it costs (only $2.99, though), so I didn't link to it.

#3 thanks for posting about Harvey Milk. Here he is describing what will happen to San Francisco and the rest of the country, Real Estate speculation versus real estate construction, which one creates wealth for the community? Duh. The D party I used to know, RIP. Harvey Milk interview at Castro Camera, March 1978 I thought it was so great I transcribed most of it: [...] Right, I as an individual am moving and my store is moving. We are not individual cases we are part of a phenomenon. Some people look at it with favor and some people look at it with disfavor, it depends on which side of the coin you're at. Very frankly I think it's indicative of what's taking place or has been taking place in this city for some time and the long range ramifications are very serious, not only just for San Francisco but for the nation itself. Let's just look in to a little background, the speculation that has taken place in this city now is something that is offensive. It will destroy the backbone of the city, not only small stores like myself will go out, the butcher store up the street, all the little neighborhood type stores can not survive the speculative market. But as far as the people who live here that's the tragedy, the senior citizen who is on a fixed income, the young family who is just rising, making it with two or three children. The person who is a working class type person in a non-high economic situation, clerical work and so forth or some gas station attendants. They are going to be driven out they cannot survive, and the end result is you have a city like New York of extremes of haves and have-nots, where government picks up the tab of people who are in poverty, welfare so they can stay, and the very wealthy can stay. That is a very destructive process and all you have to do is go to New York. In case you can't go to New York what that does is, when you take out the economic middle class in a city you've taken out the stepping stone that the lower economic class desperately needs to get out. If the only thing you have in a city is a person on welfare and a Swig or a Rockefeller, the person on welfare knows they can never reach that upper level and so they give up. No hope. But if there's a middle class they know they can step up with education or whatever. As soon as you destroy the middle economic class and drive them out of the city, you're driving out the incentive for education, the incentive to get ahead and the city becomes awful. Speculation also does one other thing that people don't realize, or at least not enough people realize is that when you pay so much for your rent, or you own a home and your mortgage payment is so high, you have a piece of the pie it takes out of the economy the extra disposable income which you'd normally spend on buying a tie, going out to eat dinner or a TV set or an iron, an ironing board. You don't spend money on that and sooner or later that's going to crunch the economy very badly because too much is going in to the basic need of shelter. That will cycle home and as the sales of ties and ironing boards start to drop you won't have that income anymore to support those mortgage payments or rent, and it comes home. So when you look at the speculation and the condominiums which is just another avenue for the speculators to get in to, when you look at that it's going to affect the national economy eventually. So we look at the... those of us who do know it get upset. The average person gets upset at their current landlord, I don't get upset at my current landlord he is just the tail end of the whole process that has started in this city where instead of building new buildings and housing stock in that South of Market area, the Western Addition, the city's policy and the developers and the real estate industry policy is to play monopoly. Play monopoly with the money, with the housing stock instead of building new stocks. I think if we're going to put the blame, yes the current greedy landlords, those who are greedy those who are in to it for the quick buck those who are doing the quick turnovers they are guilty. But the city's policy has been guilty, the real estate board has been guilty not discussing the situation and those large developers and the names we do know they are super guilty. [...] '78 was a pretty tough year for me, my mom died so I had to quit the CCC, Jonestown happened, then George and Harvey got murdered by Dan White. I was driving a VW delivery van back through the tunnel coming out the Marin side when the radio tuned back in (yes that was a thing), it was devastating news. All the crap that has rained upon me since was foretold by Harvey, and others. I see Feinstein and Pelosi, The Scream is my California background image, all the way through until now, right now. Rats.

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 3:31pm

I already saw the film, thanks

@HenryAWallace like I said, I lived through it, my brother was interviewed for KTVU Channel 2 news the night of the candlelight march, I was there, it was beautiful and traumatic.

I never met Harvey, but I met a lot of others through my brother, including Donna Brazile. He was a pretty well know AIDS activist, a Clinton delegate in the 90s before he died. In fact he was quite instrumental getting the Domestic Partners initiative passed in SF, 1990. I marched that year in the Pride Day parade, carrying the Harvey Milk Gay Democratic Club Banner with my brother and partner at the time, who I later stood up in public and married, with 39 other couples after the Santa Rosa Pride Day parade, '94. It's not like I haven't learned anything from the stuff I gripe about, it is a lifetime of experience.

Thanks

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 5:28pm

I don't mean the film with Sean Penn, but one with Milk.

@eyo

What a visionary!

I am glad you were able to marry. Boy, California was complicated on that issue, wasn't it?

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 5:43pm

"able to marry" well it was not legal then either

@HenryAWallace but thanks for the glad tidings. Gay people got "divorced" back in the day too, and the legal disentanglement was sometimes just as messy. Marriage is about ownership of property after all, same as it ever was.

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 05/23/2017 - 6:18am

Once, it was mostly about succession to thrones, treaties, etc.

@eyo

And religion, of course, which seems to have held hands with rulers, maybe forever.

Except for "gold diggers," I'm not sure most marriage is about property, but divorce nowadays often gets to be about property.

And creditors.

It was not until the US had a large middle class that division of property mean much. More likely, it was about who was going to be liable for whose debts when.

To be fair, if the relationship involves kids, marriage and divorce are a lot about them, too.

Initially, (supposedly) Mormons were ordered to marry more than one woman because men had died on the way West, leaving widows with no way to support themselves when there were few respectable jobs for women. Or to defend themselves.

As the movie title says, "It's Complicated."

I knew two couples who got married during the time after California recognized equal marriage, but before the repeal. It was crazy.

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 10:29am

just remember this my girl, when you look up in the sky

you can see the stars and still not see the light
that's right
California’s ‘iconic’ native fish facing extinction, with climate change a major cause

... More than 1.5 million juvenile coho have been planted in more than 20 Russian River tributaries since 2004 as part of a multi-agency effort to bring the salmon back from near extinction.

The gain so far has been modest, with fewer than 10 adults counted as recently as the winter of 2008-09 and from 200 to 500 in the last seven seasons. The National Marine Fisheries Services has set a recovery target of 10,100 spawning adults.

Ben White, a biologist who runs the fish hatchery, said the rebound to more than 450 adults last winter in the wake of a prolonged drought was a promising sign. The hatchery program is a “safety net” to prevent the coho from disappearing while other measures, including habitat enhancement, are pursued, White said.
...

You can follow the link and read about "illegal cannabis water diversions", in fact somehow that info gets sneaked in every single related article. Never ever ever have I once seen an article on the "illegal wine-grape water diversions" because they aren't even looked for, as far as I can tell. Not because the diversions don't occur, because the rules are rarely enforced especially on the good old boys. A lot of shitty practices are "grandfathered" in because ? I don't know why. Cannabis clampdown must come, there is simply not enough water to satiate the corporate greed, the venture capital. Never will there be, of that I am convinced. Not until everything has collapsed.

Born in Marin (SF hospital), moved to Sonoma, not far, in 1975 when the rolling hills did actually look like that "iconic windows xp wallpaper". Boy that was garbage news spewed forth for Microsoft when they ended support. That hillside was covered in Wine-grapes decades ago, yet the wallpaper never changed, bucolic eh? I kinda think I know what I'm talking about after raising quite a few fishes myself too. Trucking them around is futile, but go on. It is all they can think of doing, the Big thinkers, the dam planners. Extinction awaits.

so often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
and we never even know we have the key

fishes for peace

Submitted by riverlover on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:44pm

I collaborated with a fish lab in NY, published papers even!

@eyo Shortly after 9/11 they were transporting barrels of fingerlings of something and got stopped by police to be checked out. That story still makes me sigh. We were just losing our virginity then.

you can see the stars and still not see the light that's right California’s ‘iconic’ native fish facing extinction, with climate change a major cause ... More than 1.5 million juvenile coho have been planted in more than 20 Russian River tributaries since 2004 as part of a multi-agency effort to bring the salmon back from near extinction. The gain so far has been modest, with fewer than 10 adults counted as recently as the winter of 2008-09 and from 200 to 500 in the last seven seasons. The National Marine Fisheries Services has set a recovery target of 10,100 spawning adults. Ben White, a biologist who runs the fish hatchery, said the rebound to more than 450 adults last winter in the wake of a prolonged drought was a promising sign. The hatchery program is a “safety net” to prevent the coho from disappearing while other measures, including habitat enhancement, are pursued, White said. ... You can follow the link and read about "illegal cannabis water diversions", in fact somehow that info gets sneaked in every single related article. Never ever ever have I once seen an article on the "illegal wine-grape water diversions" because they aren't even looked for, as far as I can tell. Not because the diversions don't occur, because the rules are rarely enforced especially on the good old boys. A lot of shitty practices are "grandfathered" in because ? I don't know why. Cannabis clampdown must come, there is simply not enough water to satiate the corporate greed, the venture capital. Never will there be, of that I am convinced. Not until everything has collapsed. Born in Marin (SF hospital), moved to Sonoma, not far, in 1975 when the rolling hills did actually look like that "iconic windows xp wallpaper". Boy that was garbage news spewed forth for Microsoft when they ended support. That hillside was covered in Wine-grapes decades ago, yet the wallpaper never changed, bucolic eh? I kinda think I know what I'm talking about after raising quite a few fishes myself too. Trucking them around is futile, but go on. It is all they can think of doing, the Big thinkers, the dam planners. Extinction awaits. so often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key fishes for peace

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by lotlizard on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 10:58am

Angry Arab News blog is full of “Trump in Riyadh” snark today

The joke being told on Arab social media: the First Lady of the U.S. entered the royal palace in Saudi Arabia and saw 155 women. She asked them who they were? They answered: we are the First Lady of Saudi Arabia.

https://angryarab.blogspot.com/

Also:

You know the world is going crazy when . . .

Israelis are alarmed because Germans aren’t being nationalistic enough.

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:31am

Official mouthpiece "Two thumbs up, Mr. Trump"

@lotlizard arabnews.com, for balance ha ha.
Editorial: Two thumbs up, Mr. Trump

... Not only did last night’s speech silence most critics — in this region at least — but it made it very clear that Trump will do what he thinks is right, no matter how harshly he is made to look like he is contradicting himself back home.
What matters to this part of the world is that we feared a president who would seek to divide us, but got one who last night talked about unity and how standing together will ensure we do not fail. We feared a president we were led to believe hates our values and culture, but we got one who sipped our coffee, joined us in sword dancing and told us last night that the US is not here to impose its way of life, but to offer us a helping hand if we choose to take it.
We thought that when Trump said “America First,” he meant we would be neglected and left to our misery. But it is his predecessor Barack Obama who did that when he opted to lecture and profess instead of adhering to his own red line when Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against his own people
...

Unity, huh. Not much more to the editorial, I thought the one comment on it was sort of interesting. I wonder if any of those english speaking citizens would blog or comment here? That would would be cool. I like how WayOfTheBern invited TheDonald to talk on reddit, except trolls are disgusting. Takes a lot of life energy to slog through the idiocracy gigs that Correct The Record pays for. Yet another corrupt industry built by and for the Demcrats. mmph

Submitted by lotlizard on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:53am

Huge Wikileaks archive documenting Saudi control of Arab media

@eyo
Buying Silence:
How the Saudi Foreign Ministry controls Arab media

Submitted by GreatLakeSailor on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:19am

Just a perfectly predictable VSBDE response

I hadda ask several times if my Very Serious Beltway Democratic Elite (VSBDE) senator was going to grow a spine and co-sponsor or, hell, introduce!, Single Payer in the senate. What with Sanders folding and all, I expected nothing but went through with asking anyway. First her reply, then my response to her reply:

Dear GLS:

Thank you for contacting me about America’s health care system. As Congress continues to debate partisan proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Public Law 111-148), it is important for me to hear from constituents about their priorities for improving health care access and affordability.

I have long believed that health care should be a right for all and not a privilege reserved for the wealthy. While there is much more that we need to do to improve health care, the ACA was an important first step in strengthening the health security of families and businesses. Wisconsinites are benefitting from the law’s new insurance coverage benefits, including protections against discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, and a stronger Medicare program that includes free preventive care and lower out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs. However, I recognize that the ACA is not perfect, and we still have a lot of work to do to improve access and affordability. I appreciate knowing of your support for proposals that would create a public health insurance option or would establish a government operated health care system. I share your belief that all people should have access to affordable and quality health care and I am committed to working toward that goal.

In order to move our system forward, we must preserve the progress we have made to date under the ACA. That is why I am focused on holding the Trump Administration and those in Congress accountable for partisan attempts to undermine the ACA for political gain. Most recently, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (H.R.1628), which repeals critical components of the ACA. I strongly oppose this legislation because it will put millions of people at risk of losing health care coverage and force millions to pay more for less care. It will put insurance companies back in charge by allowing them to raise premiums and deductibles, targets older Americans by allowing insurers to charge them more for coverage, fails to adequately protect those with pre-existing conditions, and would lead to higher insurance costs for many people who live in rural Wisconsin. It also cuts Medicaid, putting support for special education, people with disabilities, and those struggling with opioid and other substance use disorders at risk.

The Senate is now working on its own version of the American Health Care Act. I remain troubled that Senate leaders are working on this legislation in a partisan manner behind closed doors, and I have repeatedly called on Senate leadership to commit to a bipartisan, open, and public process. I recognize that the ACA is not perfect, and I stand ready to work together on long-term solutions that improve health care access and coverage for all Americans and that move our health system forward. But, we cannot do this important work until the Trump Administration and congressional leaders abandon their partisan efforts to undermine our health care system and repeal current insurance protections.

Please know that I am committed to ensuring that Wisconsin families and businesses are able to access quality, affordable health care services that meet their needs. Your views help to inform my work on this issue in the United States Senate.

Once again, thank you for contacting my office. It is important for me to hear from the people of Wisconsin on the issues, thoughts and concerns that matter most to you. If I can be of further assistance, please visit my website at www.baldwin.senate.gov for information on how to contact my office.
Sincerely,

Tammy Baldwin
United States Senator

And my response:

Good Senator Baldwin,

Thank you for finally responding to my question about your intentions to cosponsor a Medicare-For-All/Single Payer bill in the senate. Sadly, but not surprisingly, it is a milquetoast, spineless, “We-Gotta-Play-Defense!!1!” response that is your and your fellow Very Serious Beltway Democratic Elite's hallmark. The Heritage Foundation's right wing “market-based solution” - aka RomneyCare, ObamaCare, the ACA - leaves 30 million Americans without access to health care and so many more with co-pays and deductibles so high they effectively can not use the insurance they are forced to pay for from for-profit health insurance companies.

You don't even have the backbone to answer truthfully – that your funders will not grant you permission to stand with a majority of the American People and fight for Single Payer. And that's assuming you even asked for permission to do right by your constituents and represent The People's interests.

So, how'd that “More-Of-The-Same” strategy workout in the last election? You Very Serious Beltway Democratic Elite couldn't even beat an orange carnival barker. Yeah, but, but, but Comey! The Rooskies! Racism! Sexism! Homophobia! At least the last three in that list are real things, but still not the cause of Dems being wiped out at every level of government nation wide. But I bet your funders are still happy...and still writing you checks.

GLS

—

Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.

Submitted by lotlizard on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 12:37pm

Did China roll up a CIA spy network? Spin varies with the source

A story about a CIA agent network in China sets off a spin and propaganda battle — is that like a rap battle? — between the New York Times and China’s Global Times.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/china-s-global-times-applauds-victory-...

The original article from the Global Times:
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1048015.shtml

(Yet another story called to my attention by an item at JackPine Radicals.)

Submitted by dervish on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 12:52pm

I found this article

about a hoax paper that recently got published in a peer reviewed social sciences journal, it's hilarious:

The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct

—

"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 3:32pm

Great reading, thanks for the link.

@dervish

—

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 --