What goes through my my mind when I read the news with my morning coffee. …Or for the Simon's Rockers in the group, this is my response journal.
LOS ANGELES — Earl Hamner Jr., the versatile and prolific writer who drew upon his Depression-era upbringing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to create one of television’s most beloved family shows, The Waltons, has died. He was 92.
The real life John-Boy, Earl Hamner Jr., who created ‘The Waltons,’ dies at age 92 | Tampa Bay Times
The law signed by Gov. Mike Pence holds doctors liable if a woman has an abortion because of objections to the fetus’s race, sex or a disability and restricts fetal tissue donation.
Indiana Governor Signs Abortion Bill With Added Restrictions – The New York Times
Sigh….
…the Sanders movement has a “contempt for compromise.”
Every time Sanders is challenged on how he plans to get his agenda through Congress and past the special interests, he responds that the “political revolution” that sweeps him into office will somehow be the magical instrument of the monumental changes he describes. This is a vague, deeply disingenuous idea that ignores the reality of modern America. With the narrow power base and limited political alliances that Sanders had built in his years as the democratic socialist senator from Vermont, how does he possibly have a chance of fighting such entrenched power?
I have been to the revolution before. It ain’t happening.
…Rolling Stone has championed the “youth vote” since 1972, when …Hunter S. Thompson wrote our first presidential-campaign coverage. We worked furiously for McGovern. We failed; Nixon was re-elected in a landslide. But those of us there learned a very clear lesson: America chooses its presidents from the middle, not from the ideological wings.
…When I consider what’s in their hearts, I think both Clinton and Sanders come out on the side of the angels; but when I compare their achievements in the past decades, the choice is clear. This is not the time in history for a “protest vote.”
On the question of experience, the ability to enact progressive change, and the issue of who can win the general election and the presidency, the clear and urgent choice is Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton for President | Rolling Stone
hmmm
Hillary rates out as the most honest of the bunch. Bernie Sanders is a close second. Donald Trump is dead last.
Fact checkers confirm Hillary Clinton is more honest than any of her 2016 opponents – Daily News Bin
hmmmmm
Obviously, Clinton carries with her more than 25 years in the white-hot public spotlight that Sanders doesn’t — despite his career in the Senate — and over that length of time people have been able to form opinions of her and they’re ones not likely to change at this point. What you know about Hillary is what you know about Hillary. There aren’t a lot of surprises. Maybe you figure this is bad for her, but in truth it can be argued that this is a positive rather than a negative because there’s nothing the Republicans can throw at her that we haven’t already been fed to death. And when you take a step back and look at Clinton objectively — which is admittedly difficult for many, even, or maybe particularly, on the left — that’s exactly the point. Hillary Clinton’s reputation is largely the result of a quarter century of visceral GOP hatred.
I’ve probably posted this already but it bears repeating.
After Emory University students awoke to messages written in chalk around campus in support of Trump, a group protested and met with the president to decry the “intimidation.”
I’m trying not to roll my eyes here. The students’ hearts are in the right place. They just need to take their heads out of their asses.
Suppressing dissent does not alleviate it.
Being confronted with something you disagree with shouldn’t affect whether or not you feel “safe.” It isn’t about entitlement, it is about what is right.
If something bothers you, don’t whine. Confront it!
Donald Trump has always been that guy: the one whose third wife is 26 years his junior. That guy whose side business was, for a long time, owning a beauty pageant, which allowed him inspect and smooch as many young beauties as he pleased. That guy who makes comments about being attracted to his daughter. Trump was always that guy who would tweet out an unflattering picture of some other dude’s wife next to a highly finished picture of his own, saying, “The images are worth a thousand words.”
Ted Cruz was also always that guy: the one who would look away as his allies circulated a naked picture of the wife of his enemy, and then suggest that “real men don’t attack women.” That guy who who stands silently by as his allies suggest that a man’s fitness for office can be measured in terms of the chastity of his wife—that her comparative purity, and his willingness to defend it, are tests of his manly authority. That guy who would suggest the only female Democratic presidential candidate in this race needs a spanking.
…The use of wives as proxies in the struggle between the two leading Republican contenders shows how much American conservatism has changed.
Photo of Melania Trump vs. Heidi Cruz: The Depressing Nature of American Politics – The Atlantic
I think this articles misses most of the change in conservatism over the past few decades. It barely scratches the surface of the changes and what they signify. Perhaps the author was blinded by sensationalism? All that aside though, it’s an interesting take.
It’s been almost two years since the St. Louis Rams selected defensive end Michael Sam
League Made Deal with Rams to Draft Sam – 590 The Fan
hmmmm
“Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
Nixon Aide Reportedly Admitted Drug War Was Meant To Target Black People
Sigh….
Dan Baum, writing in support of drug legalization at Harper’s, has unleashed a frank 1994 quote from former Nixon policy advisor John Ehrlichman, and as inadvertently salient an argument for legalizing drugs as any I’ve ever seen:
Nixon Policy Advisor Admits He Invented War On Drugs to Suppress ‘Anti-War Left and Black People’
Sigh….
Six-year-old Lexi was removed from the home of the family she has been living with for four years because of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.
Although I support the spirit of Indian Child Welfare Act this is absolutely horrid; a perfect example of what a miscarriage of justice is.
At a clinic in Massachusetts that specializes in treating Cambodians, much thought has gone into creating a facility that doesn’t evoke memories of torture or other negative experiences. #globalnation
hmmm
New law requires photo ID for voters; of the eleven states with record black voter turnout in 2008, seven have enacted stricter voter ID laws
N.C. voters heading to polls face strict new voter ID law – CBS News
Backwards Motherfuckers. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The American Secret Service says it regrets delays which meant Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams did not attend a St Patrick’s Day reception at the White House.
US Secret Service regrets delays to Gerry Adams’ visit to White House St Patrick’s event – BBC News
If those assholes can’t keep simple lists straight, how the fuck are they supposed to keep anyone safe? I sincerely hope anyone involved in vetting that list and the officers who actually denied entry to Adams have all been fired for incompetence, dereliction of duty (and bad, bad, bad, seriously fuck up shit that needed to run smoothly, piss poor diplomacy – which isn’t their job but it should sure as hell be there job not to fuck up!) by now.
The conflation of indentured servitude with chattel slavery in the ‘Irish slaves’ narrative whitewashes history in the service of Irish nationalist and white supremacist causes. Its resurgence in the wake of Ferguson reflects many Americans’ denial of the entrenched racism still prevalent in their society.
‘Irish slaves’: the convenient myth | openDemocracy
hmmmm
CHICAGO — Voters have ousted the Chicago area’s top prosecutor in a Democratic primary race focused on the office’s handling of the shooting death of a black teenager at the hands of a white police officer.
Kim Foxx ousts Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez in primary | WGN-TV
Yeah!!!! Go, girl!
<dancing>
When I was asked to be one of the coaches for an all-girls T-ball team in a league filled with boys, I didn’t know what to say.
“OK, sweetie,” I said. “Hold the bat like this.”
She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and uttered, “My name’s Edie.”
I’ll admit, it doesn’t really get any more adorable than watching a group of 4- and 5-year-old girls in matching uniforms on the baseball field. It’s just that these girls aren’t participating in a novelty act. They want to compete, and that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
I coached an all-girls T-ball team. They taught me more than I taught them.
nice.
Geometric patterns based on ancient Islamic designs allow metamaterials to move in ways that could be useful for medical devices and satellite technology
Material that can grow when stretched is inspired by Islamic art | New Scientist
cool
Can a new, professionalized generation of scandalmongers uncover more dirt on the Clintons—without triggering a backlash?
Among the Hillary Haters – The Atlantic
hmmm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is discouraging state court systems from jailing defendants who fail to pay fines or fees, warning against practices that it says run afoul of the Constitution and erode community trust.
Justice Dept.: States shouldn’t jail over fine nonpayment – US News
Yes! Debtors prisons belong on the trash-heap of history.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has come under fire for ‘shouting’ during her victory speech – attracting complaints of sexism and double standards from her supporters.
US elections 2016: Hillary Clinton sparks sexism ‘shouting’ row – BBC News
This is a bullshit double-standard. Bernie yells and it’s passion, she yells and she has done something wrong. Grrrrrrrrr.
Where is the real proof – archaeological evidence, state records and primary sources?
They came to different conclusions than the ones I came to when studying a similar topic but interesting none-the-less.
Not only is this infantilizing, it has the potential to actively turn potential Black voters away.
A-fucking-men.
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