The Commentariat -- Dec. 31, 2015
Internal links removed.
Griff Witte & Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the Washington Post: "Revelers in cities worldwide will ring in 2016 under extraordinary security with law enforcement agencies deploying extra police, shutting down popular venues and warning of an increased threat of terrorism following recent attacks in Paris and California."
Justin Gillis of the New York Times: "With tornado outbreaks in the South, Christmas temperatures that sent trees into bloom in Central Park, drought in parts of Africa and historic floods drowning the old industrial cities of England, 2015 is closing with a string of weather anomalies all over the world. The year [is] expected to be the hottest on record.... Rain in the central United States has been so heavy that major floods are likely along the lower Mississippi River in coming weeks. California may lurch from drought to flood by late winter. Most serious, millions of people could be threatened by a developing food shortage in southern Africa." ...
... Darryl Fears & Angela Fritz of the Washington Post: "From the top of the world to near the bottom, freakish and unprecedented weather has sent temperatures soaring across the Arctic, whipped the United Kingdom with hurricane-force winds and spawned massive flooding in South America."
Annals of Journalism. Cara Anna of the AP: "Sixty-nine journalists were killed around the world on the job in 2015. Twenty-eight of them were slain by Islamic militant groups, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The New York-based organization says Syria again was the deadliest place for journalists, though the number of deaths there in 2015 -- 13 -- was lower than in previous years of the conflict."
The Koch Party. Ken Vogel of Politico: Charles & David Koch "have quietly assembled, piece by piece, a privatized political and policy advocacy operation like no other in American history that today includes hundreds of donors and employs 1,200 full-time, year-round staffers in 107 offices nationwide. That's about 3½ times as many employees as the Republican National Committee and its congressional campaign arms had on their main payrolls last month, according to Politico's analysis of tax and campaign documents and interviews with sources familiar with the network. And the staggering sum the network plans to spend in the 2016 election run-up ― $889 million ― is more than double what the RNC spent in the previous presidential cycle."
Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic: "In America, we have decided that it is permissible, that it is wise, that it is moral for the police to de-escalate through killing.... A state that allows its agents to kill, to beat, to tase, without any real sanction, has ceased to govern and has commenced to simply rule."
Nick Corasaniti & Rachel Shorey of the New York Times: "First and last names. Recent addresses and phone numbers. Party affiliation. Voting history and demographics. A database containing this information from 191 million voter records was mysteriously published over the last week..., alarming privacy experts who say the information can be used for phishing attacks, identity theft and extortion. No one knows who built the database, or precisely where all the data came from, and whether its disclosure resulted from an inadvertent release or from hacks. The disclosure was discovered by an information technology specialist, Chris Vickery, who quickly alerted the authorities and published his findings on Databreaches.net." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Republican lawmakers criticized the Obama administration Wednesday after a report that U.S. eavesdropping on Israeli officials during the Iran nuclear negotiations had picked up communications with members of Congress and Jewish American organizations. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, announced that the panel will look into the findings of the Wall Street Journal report and whether all laws and rules were followed. The House Oversight Committee asked the National Security Agency for copies of its policies on screening intercepted communications from members of Congress. Several candidates for the GOP presidential nomination also expressed alarm about the report, although it was not immediately clear whether any had participated in the intercepted phone calls with Israeli officials." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "... so far, virtually all of the reaction involves two questions: (1) Should the U.S. be spying on our ally Israel?... And (2) should the Executive branch be spying, even incidentally, on the Legislative branch?... But there should be a third question raised as well: Should members of Congress be consorting with agents of a foreign government to thwart U.S. diplomacy?... It would be preferable if American politicians who want to signal to conservative Evangelicals or to Sheldon Adelson that Bibi's policies will be their own could find a way to do so without meeting with people who are under U.S. intelligence surveillance. Their hatred of Barack Obama is no excuse for disloyalty to the United States."
Sarah Wheaton & Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "President Barack Obama's bid to assert himself in his final year will begin with long-awaited executive actions on gun control which are expected to be released next week, shortly after he returns to Washington. The White House is putting finishing touches on several measures in an effort to make progress on curbing gun violence, an issue the president and close aides have found frustratingly intractable, before the race to replace him enters prime time."
"Thanks, Obama." Josh Barro of the New York Times: "Data released by the I.R.S. on Wednesday shows that tax rates on the income of America's 400 wealthiest taxpayers rose sharply to 22.9 percent in 2013, erasing a majority of the last two decades' decline in their effective tax rate. As described in an article in The New York Times on Wednesday, tax rates on America's 400 wealthiest taxpayers fell sharply from the late 1990s through 2012, when their average effective income tax rate fell to 16.7 percent from 26.4 percent.... The spike in the wealthiest people's tax rates was mostly achieved ... through initiatives of President Obama.... One was the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which extended the so-called Bush tax cuts for most taxpayers, but allowed certain breaks for people making over $500,000 to expire. The other was the Affordable Care Act, which imposed new taxes on high earners, applying to both regular income and income from capital gains The Relief Act also led to the restoration of rules, repealed under President George W. Bush, that limit the value of tax deductions (like those for mortgage interest and state income taxes paid) for people with high incomes."
Elise Labott of CNN: "The Treasury Department is preparing sanctions against a number of Iranian and other international companies and individuals for their alleged role in developing Iran's ballistic missile program, U.S. officials said Wednesday. Officials said the move was in response to Iran's test launching of two ballistic missiles in October and November."
... Chief White House photographer Pete Souza releases his "Year in Photographs." ...
... CW: I watched every minute of President Obama & Jerry Seinfeld chatting in "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."
Presidential Race
We take only the Muslims. We don't take the Christians. If you're Christian, it's almost impossible to get into this country. -- Donald Trump, on U.S. immigration practices
This, too, will be common knowledge in crackpot circles by next Tuesday. I'm not sure a presidential campaign has ever catered so successfully to America's Stupidest People. -- Hunter of Daily Kos ...
... Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "Donald Trump "is strongest among Republicans who are less affluent, less educated and less likely to turn out to vote. His very best voters are self-identified Republicans who nonetheless are registered as Democrats. It's a coalition that's concentrated in the South, Appalachia and the industrial North, according to data provided to The Upshot by Civis Analytics, a Democratic data firm. Mr. Trump's huge advantage among these groups poses a challenge for his campaign, because it may not have the turnout operation necessary to mobilize irregular voters." ...
... Rajeev Syal of the Guardian: "The [British] government has responded to a petition calling for Donald Trump to be banned from coming to Britain by pointing out that it has powers to exclude foreign nationals if their presence is 'non-conducive to the public good'.... After the petition gained more than 500,000 signatures, the government released a statement that did not go as far as to say that he would be stopped from entering the UK, but did say Theresa May found Trump's remarks in relation to Muslims 'divisive, unhelpful and wrong'." ...
... Yastreblyansky, covering for Steve M.: Trump's remarks in Iowa about Ted Cruz have "a distinct racist smell." Trump is counting on his ignorant audience not to know that Cruz is as whitey-white as they are. CW: Also, too, tho Yastreblyansky doesn't mention it, Cruz's loony father Rafael is an evangelical, & a preacher at that. So I'm not sure what Trump was talking about when he told the good white people, "In all fairness, to the best of my knowledge, not too many evangelicals come out of Cuba, OK?"
... Dexter Thomas of the Los Angeles Times: "Donald "Trump is ... a white-people problem. ... White people should ... feel ashamed -- as white people -- of Donald Trump. Whites need to stand up and say that they will not allow Trump to hijack their culture, or to conduct his racist politics in their name.... This year, a community has begun to organize around their whiteness and a desire to return to a (largely fictional) vision of what used to be, to 'make America great again.' The challenge now is for whites who care about social justice to create an alternative movement. They'll need to vow to work with their neighbors -- for many of whom America was never particularly 'great' -- to make America better."
Scott Higham & Manuel Roig-Franzia of the Washington Post: "When Marco Rubio was majority whip of the Florida House of Representatives, he used his official position to urge state regulators to grant a real estate license to his brother-in-law, a convicted cocaine trafficker who had been released from prison 20 months earlier.... In July 2002, Rubio sent a letter on his official statehouse stationery to the Florida Division of Real Estate, recommending [his brother-in-law] Orlando Cicilia 'for licensure without reservation.'... Rubio did not disclose in the letter that Cicilia was married to his sister, Barbara, or that the former cocaine dealer was living at the time in the same West Miami home as Rubio's parents. He wrote that he had known Cicilia 'for over 25 years,' without elaborating." ...
... CW: Some while back, when the Post published a story about Rubio's brother-in-law, who is ten years Rubio's senior, I argued that Rubio should not be held responsible for what his in-law did when Rubio was a boy. That's still true. But this story poses an entirely different matter. ...
... Charles Pierce: "Marco Rubio Has Gone Full Neocon. Invade here! Invade there! Invade everywhere! And don't forget the waterboard."
Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "... Jeb Bush is canceling reserved advertising time in Iowa and South Carolina, the latest reminder of his struggles to connect with voters -- and a sign of possible fundraising troubles. The decision will keep Bush from paying for roughly $3 million of reserved TV time in January -- a little more than $1 million in Iowa just under $2 million in South Carolina. Instead, Bush plans to redeploy roughly 50 staffers to the four states that hold the first contests next year."
Big Midwestern Cities (& Black Police Shooting Victims) Look All Alike. Margaret Hartmann: Jeb! confuses Cleveland with Chicago, reminds everyone how bad the last Bush presidency was by nicknaming a state senator "Hurricane Katrina."
Ed Kilgore: Former New York Gov. George "Pataki was seeking the presidency via a 'moderate lane' that no longer exists. Yes, there are genuinely moderate Republican voters, and a lot more conservative voters who self-identify as 'moderate' to distinguish themselves from the fire-breathing fanatics who used to be found only in the fever swamps of the John Birch Society and other far-right groups. But the constellation of heavily funded ideological groups exerting power in the Republican Party, and the structure of the nominating process, make something like a Pataki candidacy a nonstarter...."
Beyond the Beltway
Ryan Felton of the Guardian: "Michigan governor Rick Snyder apologized on Tuesday for the debacle that caused the city of Flint's water supply to be poisoned by lead, while the top state environment official resigned in light of a report that chiefly placed the blame for the crisis on his department.... Flint has been embroiled in a never-ending stream of water quality issues that began in April 2014, when the city started pulling water from a local river as a cost-saving measure. The switch took place while Flint was operated by a state-appointed emergency manager...." Read the whole story. (Also linked yesterday.)
Christine Hauser & Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "The authorities in Pennsylvania announced criminal charges on Wednesday against the entertainer Bill Cosby stemming from a woman's accusation that he drugged and sexually abused her at his home in a suburb north of Philadelphia, in 2004. Kevin Steele, Montgomery County's district attorney-elect, said that Mr. Cosby faces a felony charge of aggravated indecent assault. He said the investigation involved a 'relationship' between Mr. Cosby and the woman, Andrea Constand, that came about from her work with the basketball team at Temple University, Mr. Cosby's alma mater." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Manuel Roig-Franzia & others of the Washington Post have more on the story.
... The criminal complaint against Cosby is here. ...
... Colin Moynihan & Graham Bowley of the New York Times: "While dozens of women have come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Cosby, the Constand case is unique, not only because it is the singular case that has resulted in criminal charges, but also because there exists so many documentary, albeit conflicting, accounts of what took place."
AP: "Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Wednesday that Chicago police must be better trained to distinguish between when they can use a gun and when they should use a gun, after a series of shootings by officers sparked protests and complaints that police are too quick to fire their weapons. Emanuel announced changes in police training and department policies on use of force during a news conference. He also said the police department will double the number of Tasers available to officers...." ...
... ** Rick Perlstein, writing in the New Yorker, takes a brief look at Rahm's brilliant career. Perlstein credits Rahm with screwing up the Democratic party for the past two decades. CW: In fairness, Rahm had a lot of help.
Richard Winton & James Queally of the Los Angeles Times: "Enrique Marquez Jr., the man who purchased two of the weapons used to kill 14 people inside a San Bernardino social services center earlier this month, was indicted Wednesday on additional charges related to the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors unveiled a superseding indictment that brings the total number of charges against Marquez to five. He faces up to 50 years in federal prison if convicted."
Katherine Krueger of TPM: "A loosely organized group of self-styled patriots is convening in rural Oregon Saturday in hopes of provoking another showdown with the federal government, this time in support of a father and son ranching duo convicted of torching public land. Dwight Hammond Jr., 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46, are due to report to federal prison Jan. 4 for starting a series of wildfires on federal lands in 2012.... Now a cast of right wing-rabble rousers are coming to their defense, including the infamous anti-Muslim activist Jon Ritzheimer and Ammon Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.... The decentralized group has called on Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward to create a sanctuary so the Hammonds won't have to surrender to federal authorities, The Oregonian reported. After Ward refused, he received death threats and was labeled an 'enemy of the people.'"
Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "Federal marshals said on Wednesday that it was uncertain when Ethan Couch, the Texas teenager known for using an 'affluenza' defense in a fatal drunken-driving case, would be returned to the United States from Mexico to face charges of violating his parole. Mr. Couch, 18, and his mother, Tonya, 48, were arrested Monday night in Puerto Vallarta after the United States Marshals Service tipped off the Mexican authorities to their location. He was made famous by the successful defense that he should not go to prison for killing four people in an accident because he suffered from too much privilege stemming from his family's wealth."
Way Beyond
Milan Schrueur of the New York Times: "In the six weeks since the Paris terrorist attacks, law enforcement agencies in Brussels, where most of the attackers lived or had ties, have been denounced as slow, unresponsive, disorganized and even incompetent. To this list of woes, another was added on Wednesday: Officials are investigating accounts of an alcohol-fueled 'orgy' at a police station one night last month while Brussels, the Belgian capital, was nearly shut down over fears of a copycat terrorist attack." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ceylan Yeginsu of the New York Times: "A major Turkish military operation to eradicate Kurdish militants in Turkey's restive southeast has turned dozens of urban districts into bloody battlefields, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians and shattering hopes of reviving peace as an old war reaches its deadliest level in two decades."
News Ledes
Reuters: Emanuel L Lutchman, "a 25-year-old man accused of planning to attack a restaurant in [Rochester in] upstate New York on New Year's Eve, has been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State militant group, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday."
AP: Tonya Couch, "the mother of fugitive 'affluenza teen' Ethan Couch, will likely remain jailed for several days in Los Angeles after being deported from Mexico, investigators said on Thursday."
Washington Post: "A fire broke out at the Address Hotel in downtown Dubai on Thursday just hours before a planned New Year's Eve fireworks display nearby."
AP: "Belgian authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of a 10th person in connection with last month's bloodbath in Paris and said six others have been detained for questioning over a suspected plot to stage new attacks in Brussels during the holidays."
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Reader Comments (18)
Forgive me if I have a Very. Bad. Feeling. about the Belgians. "fueled by alcohol is the first clue. Their generally uncooperative and entitled feelinsg are red flags! As a young tourist traveling in Belgium many years ago, I had never encountered such arrogant and unfriendly police. I could not wait to get out of there and do not doubt that most refugees do not want to have to travel thorough there either.
Good luck to all of you! I will cross my fingers!
Ok, I spent all of 10 minutes checking on immigration numbers. Legally about 1 million a year. 31% Hispanic, 38% Asian and 10% Muslim. I did this because I wanted again to show something about Adolf. He never checks a fact. He is the only person in America over the age of 5 that never heard of Google. Why. Because he already knows everything!
And remember he has absolutely no problem telling 'lies' (incorrect information) out loud, because there are no facts, only Trumps! So lets stop calling him a liar because again that gives him why to much credit.
And while I do wish everyone a happy New Year, it will only work on a personal level. Now that weather is the number one subject on the evening news, it is going to be hard to see good news for the future of the human race.
Marvin,
I'm somewhat confused by your percentage breakdown on immigration because it's a mix of ethnicity and religious affiliation. Should we assume all Hispanics are Roman Catholic and Asians are Buddhists or Shinto? Aren't a lot Asians also Muslim?
It's early here, still dark, and though I might appear awake, I feel as if I have one foot yet in the land of dreams.
Still well positioned, in other words, to better grasp what the Bundy and anti-government militia crowd might be thinking, for they must surely live in a kind of dreamland, a world not that much different from the frighteningly similar Cowboy and Indian world of ISIL, both peopled by good guys and bad guys, warriors and heroes, inspired by Truth and death on heresy, the only differences between them (so far) the settings--though our own lands beyond the 100th meridian and Arabia Deserta do have something in common-- and background music and on the ISIL side, the disproportionate expenditure of ammunition.
But as long as we can dream, we can hope. We'll see how the latest stop of the Bundy Improv Troupe turns out.
Maybe this time they'll shoot, adding real bullets and death to their dreams.
Unwashed, good question. The data I was able to find comes from several different sources so they are not totally compatible. However, the Muslim one is by religion so a piece could be a part of 'Asian', although I expect that the great majority of Asian is not Muslim. I bet if you could find a number comparing Indonesia vs. China, China wins big time. Also note only 17% of Muslims live in Asia. In any case, the idea that "We take only the Muslims" is not just wrong it is beyond ridiculous. And also note that Buddhism and Hindu (what no Indians?) etc, apparently don't exist. Under any calculation, Muslims are a serious minority of the total. One website that I found was making the point that Asians were overtaking Christians as a percentage of immigrants but the Muslim number paid no attention to source of location.
And now you know a lot more about immigration in America that the Emperor of the United States of Trump. (It took me another 15 min.)
@Unwashed. Now this is really scary. In a May 2015 PEW Research piece, Caryle Murphy writes,
"Immigrants to the U.S. are increasingly identifying themselves as religiously unaffiliated, that is, atheist, agnostic or having “no religion in particular,” according to a new Pew Research Center study of America’s religious composition. Indeed, recent immigrants (those who have arrived since 2000) are as likely to have no religious affiliation as the country’s overall adult population....
"The new survey also found that the share of Christian immigrants has slipped somewhat in the same period, moving from 75% to 68%. That too is in line with trends in the general population, where the share that is Christian has declined."
From a 2013 PEW report, we learn that in 2012, the U.S. admitted more people claiming no religious affiliation than it did people of any non-Christian faith. That is, we are letting in more "secular" people than Muslims.
So only about 2/3rds of immigrants claim to be Christian, while 20 percent say they have no religion affiliation. Should these atheists & what-not also be barred from the Land of the Free & the Brave? How are we to remain a Christian nation when we're letting self-described heathens into the country?
AND, it should go without saying, Donald Trump is an idiot.
Marie
You Know It's Bad if a Republican is Apologizing. Really Bad.
"Money is for white Republicans. Austerity is for black Democrats. And they get no say in the matter because I've taken away their voting rights."
Rick Snyder(R), Governor of Michigan.
Okay, he didn't really say that. But he's done it. And much more. All bad.
Anyone who thinks Republicans don't adhere to racist policies of control and containment, to the point of destroying the health of constituents just hasn't been paying attention.
The horrific problem of poisonous water in Flint, a man-made--sorry, Republican-made--disaster is the direct result of Republican policy ideas, specifically that blacks are too stupid to make decisions for themselves and are taking up too much money that should be lining the pockets of rich white donors and our business associates. Also, they can't be allowed the privilege of democracy because they may not agree with our decisions about how their lives should be handled. To top it off, they haven't figured out yet that they are here to benefit us, not the other way around.
What Snyder has done is to implement laws to address each of these "policy" concerns. But not everywhere. Mostly in certain communities that are now the beneficiaries of Republican management skill and administrative excellence. Meaning, potential brain damage, cancer, no schools, no jobs, and no right to vote.
Snyder rammed through what's called an emergency financial manager law. "This legislation not only strips residents of their local voting rights, but gives Snyder's appointee the power to do just about anything, including dissolving the city itself—all (no matter how disastrous) in the name of 'fiscal responsibility.'"
And in order to skirt pesky democracy, that thing Republicans hate so much, Snyder has resorted to emergency management of cities he has deemed worthy of being dissected and experimented upon:
"The cities under emergency management, Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, Allen Park, Benton Harbor and Ecorse, account for 49.5 percent of the state’s black population, according to U.S. Census data. They contain only 2.1 percent of the white population."
Got that? The cities most affected by Snyder's anti-democratic, autocratic, slave-owner rules contain only 2.1 % whites. It's a "Do Whatever the Hell You Want; They're Only Darkies" jamboree.
Snyder forced residents of Flint to drink lead-laced water so he could trumpet, Scott Walker-like, his management abilities and his simple plans for saving money by depriving (some) citizens of services. This is a big deal in Confederate circles. Stick it to the poor, the disenfranchised (after you've disenfranchised them, of course), and claim that you've done it to save them, *wink-wink*, and the haters will love you.
Other Snyder "accomplishments"? Closing over 95 schools in these cities. Who needs edu-macation? I mean, look at Dubya. No, what these darkies need are CHARTER SCHOOLS. Schools that are in business to make money. We'll turn them into profit centers for our buddies in the business world. Snyder sicced one of his "emergency managers" on Muskegon Heights in 2012. They were told they could have no schools at all (he immediately closed all public schools) or they could have for-profit charter schools picked by the pro-business, anti-citizen Snyder Administration.
"Two years later, that company broke its five-year contract and fled because, according to the emergency manager, 'the profit just simply wasn't there.'"
Oops.
There's more. A lot more.
Republicans love to strut around and pride themselves on a number of important skill sets. First, they're experts at national security. But under Republican "leadership" multiple "pre-emptive" wars of choice triggered a firestorm of instability across an already dangerous region of the world leading to the rise of vicious terrorist sects. Security experts? Enormous fail there. Second, they're experts in handling money. World wide recession, worst economic disaster since the depression, under Republican policies. Money experts? Unh-uh. Third, they're some of the best business savvy managers in the world. Lead in the water. No schools. No voting rights. Failure there too.
But guys like Snyder and Walker are still running around the country talking about the miracles they've accomplished in their states and how the rest of the country needs their kind of miraculous leadership too!
Like a second grader needs a great big glass of lead.
And don't think Trump and Cruz and the like aren't paying attention. Republicans have learned that the only way they can get their policies into action is to force the issue. Steal elections then take away voting rights and do whatever you want. Just look at the states under Republican control. Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Florida...cluster fucks all.
It's the Republican Way.
I spent a lot of time watching Jerry and Barry this morning (and viewing those wonderful pictures Pete S. takes) And after that, which was delightful, I closed shop and went for a walk. I didn't want to spoil that "good feeling"––after all it's the eve of a brand new year and I can pretend it's gonna be great, if only for awhile. And to grab one of my favorite lines from Obama after Jerry questions him as to why he shaves BEFORE exercising–––"That's how I do it––I don't really need a reason."
Geez....thank god this year is over. I'm sure next year will be a LOT better.
*snicker*
That vile pile of orange-topped inhumanity known as the Trump Thing has so degraded civility and public discourse, you say to yourself, surely this malefic cozener can't stoop any further, right?
Then you see his spokesperson, Texas 'bagger, Katrina Pearson, the campaign functionary who, rather than attempting to moderate controversy, juices it up, appearing on CNN wearing a necklace made of bullets. Seriously. Bullets.
When called on it, she quipped--with the sort of kindness and joviality that has characterized the entire Trump Experiment--that next time she'll wear a necklace made of fetuses in honor of the millions of babies aborted in this country. Okay, bitches?!
She sounds nice, doesn't she?
This is also the idiot who, when asked about Trump's plan to ban all Muslims coming to this country, shot back "So what? They're Muslim!" She's also wondered aloud about why we don't use nuclear weapons if we have them lying around? I mean, are we weenies, or what? Time to nuke somebody, somewhere, isn't it? It's five o'clock somewhere...
Christ. There'll be a lot more crazy next year.
I can't wait.
Aretha Franklin brings President Obama to tears at the Kennedy Center honors singing, "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" to honor Carole King:
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/news/a40849/aretha-franklin-obama-kennedy-center/
Happy New Year, everyone!
Okay....let's see.
Two hundred years ago, 1816, was known as the year without a summer. Volcanic ash obscured warming rays of the sun enough to maintain snow and ice across much of the northern portions of the US (as far south as Pennsylvania) all through the summer. Crop failure across the northern hemisphere was widespread.
One hundred years ago, 1916, Ernest Shackelton and his crew were still stuck in arctic ice.
Today, with arctic temperatures 50 degrees above normal, they could all swim back to England. And we may soon start having years without winter. Republicans will make sure of it.
One hundred years ago, in 1916, a million men died at the Battle of the Somme, almost 20,000 British soldiers dead on the first day.
One hundred years later, Republicans are screaming for war, war, and more war. Bombs, bullets, and boots on the ground. Presidential hopefuls talk about "making the sand glow" and "bombing the shit" out of other countries.
In 1916 Margaret Sanger opened a family planning and birth control center in Brooklyn. In 2016, Republicans are working day and night to close family planning and birth control centers across the country.
In 1916 the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the national income tax.
In 2016, Republicans, based on a recent Supreme Court decision, are being encouraged to invalidate taxation as much as possible for corporations and the very wealthy.
In 1916 black holes were discovered and Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published the year before, was beginning to change how and what we think about the universe.
In 2016 Republicans treat science as just another source of opinions and seek to return the country to a pre-science era of superstition and religious bushwa.
Okay, that's enough.
Elections matter. 'nuff said.
And lest it get around that I am an unreconstructed, complaining curmudgeon, bereft of the social graces enough to ignore the holiday, Happy New Year to you all.
Do you think it would be possible to get John Roberts, Ted Cruz, and the Trump Thing in a car with Jerry Seinfeld?
It probably wouldn't be very funny (intentionally) but it would be pretty wild. It's a good set-up, but too much work to come up with a decent joke for it, so I'll leave it at Happy New Year.
Closing out the year with the image of Jerry Seinfeld picking up Roberts, Cruz, and Trump in a Yugo. Priceless!
Happy New Year!
Whew! It’s almost over and I can stop seeing those detestable top 10 end-of-the-year lists. 2015’s 10 Best Law & Order ReRuns, 10 Best Restaurants off the Beaten Path, 10 Best Bratwurst Joints, et al. But, if you can’t fight’em, join’em…OK, I caved.
Here’s my 2015’s Top 10 Reality Chex-ers —in no particular sorta order:
1. @ Marie, our intrepid Constant Weader who is dedicated to posting 24/7/365. Don’t think we don’t notice that during your on-the-road excursions you still get up at 4 am-ish (?) to get posts online by 6:30 am!—your kinda (self-imposed) deadline come moonsoons, I-95 roadblocks or whatever. While RC’ers have been quite well behaved this year, I kinda miss Sister Mary Elephant’s reprimands!
2. @ Akheilleus, whose brilliant interpretations and witty insights continually astound and provoke—often sending me off on a Google-search for the definition of some obscure word that (of course) he uses correctly! A Greek & Latin scholar who knows rock bands from eons ago! Wow!…yet, what blew me away most recently…is the awareness of his fashionista side and how wonderfully he wordsmithed “pret-a-porter” into one of his best lines of the year:
On December 21: “…with Trumpy's blowhardiness. He is a prêt–à–porter propaganda warehouse.”
3. @ MarwinS & KenW…well-thought out analysis,
obviously well read readers, checkers & researchers of the first rank.
4. @ PDPepe feisty and given to wry phrasings. Think of her as the Madame DeFarge of RC. Surely, knitting is among her many skills, as well!
5. @ Diane… sharp input, to the point & never ever brooking nonsense!
6. @ Ophelia M. among RC’s newest…(imagine you in floating in an ethereal mist over Manhattan with iPad close at hand for ever sage observations!)
7. @ D.C. Clark always knowledgeable, besides he’s the one who has the biggest one anywhere. For Star-gazing, that is!
8. @ Kate Madison RC’s ‘in-house’ psychoanalyst who cuts through the bull—and never lets us forget the importance of the Supremes (not talking Diana, Flo & Mary)!
9. @ Barbarossa, Unwashed, Citizen625, Owen Whyte, Nisky Guy, and the Victorias (with & without the D) add their smart POVs and great links to follow! Thanks!
10. @ and to one & all who have been UNINTENTIONALLY left unmentioned, you’re still the greatest, best-est, too! (Disclaimer: this list is still incomplete) And to everyone thanks for the terrific daily reads!
HAPPY NEW YEAR one and all
… said the Tiny Mag!
"1 January 1965"
By Joseph Brodsky
[Copyrighted material removed. Sorry, no time to repeat my Sister Mary Elephant thing, especially on a subject where I've done it so many times before.]
Iosif Alexandrovich Brodsky, for some time, lived down the street from me and thrilled - when strolling side-by-side - with this younger dancer's god, 'Misha' Baryshnikov.
The Best of All to All -
Ophelia
To my brilliant and faithful RC fellow commenters--but especially to Sister Mary Elephant (aka Marie Burns):
A healthy and Tea Party-Free New Year! My wish for all of us is to become "affluent" in whatever it is that defines our bliss. But may none of us evah be afflicted with "affluenza!" (I think that is not even a possibility, but I couldn't resist!)
With affection - Dr. Ruth
This should pass the copyright police; happy new year:
[Copyrighted material removed.]
— Garrison Keillor
Otherwise:
http://prairiehome.org/script/p-o-e-m-december-20-2014/
To all,
Best wishes and happy hyperlinks for the New Year!