1/ The excellent Frank Rich with his commentary on the big stories of the week - how the "establishment" GOP candidates shrugged off the challenges from the Tea Party and the VA Hospital scandal......
And just look at this face below.......so innocent, and yet he is the biggest weasel, the most vicious asshole in the Senate.....
Every week, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich talks with contributor Eric Benson about the biggest stories in politics and culture. This week: the GOP shows it's not so stupid; the VA hospital scandal should never have happened; and remembering Arthur Gelb.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell triumphed yesterdayagainst a well-financed tea-party challenger in a race pundits had once predicted to be close. In Georgia, two GOP Establishment candidates moved on to a runoff, fending off three more hard-line opponents. What does this tell us about the state of the GOP going into the midterms? Is the era of Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock, and the GOP Civil War truly over?
In the orgy of self-flagellation that followed the 2012 election, Bobby Jindalcalled the GOP “the stupid party.” The GOP is many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. It is learning how to weed out candidates who have “witch” on their résumé or talk about “legitimate rape.” But those who say the tea party is dead miss the point. The tea party is and always has been the Republican base: dedicated to obstructing and dismantling federal government, livid about Obama and all he represents about the country’s demographical change, and well to the country’s right on issues ranging from immigration reform to gay marriage. John Boehner had it right this week when he said there’s “not that big a difference between what you call the tea party and your average conservative Republican.” The motion was seconded by Matt Kibbe, the leader of the tea-party organization FreedomWorks, who said, “Everybody is running like a tea-party candidate now.
2/ Jon Stewart looks at the NRA and found there is one gun even the crazies don't like......not bad, two segments, 2 and 4 minutes.....
Jon Stewart revealed Tuesday night that the NRA’s fight to let people get whatever guns they want has finally come up against its greatest foe yet: the NRA. Yes, there is actually a gun out there that the NRA is actually fighting not to have on the market…
Stewart first mocked the outcry over Chipotle banning guns (an assault on freedom so dire Stewart cried, “Why don’t I just let the king of England shit in my mouth?”) before getting to the “smart gun” issue. See, smart guns would actually make sure your gun can only be used by you and no one else, but apparently the NRA is outraged, which Stewart just didn’t quite understand.
And even with New Jersey working out a deal with the NRA that “will repeal a gun control law if, in return, you consent to let people sell more guns,” the NRA isn’t budging. Which led Stewart to catch the logic trap that is the NRA finally finding a gun they are objecting to putting on the market.
3/ Everything you need to know about Net Neutrality and what the communications oligarchs are trying to do to it, from the cartoonist Tom Tomorrow......
4/ The really bad news for American workers, and when I say workers I mean both the middle class and the working poor [i.e. 85% of US citizens] is coming from the States with Republican Governors and statehouses. They are chipping away diligently at the rights of workers in favour of employers.....
Midterm elections are like fancy software: Experts love them, end-users couldn’t care less. But if the 2010 elections are any indication, we might not want to doze off as we head into the summer months before November. Midterm elections at the state level can have tremendous consequences, especially for low-wage workers. What you don’t know can hurt you — or them.
In 2010, the Republicans won control of the executive and legislative branches in 11 states (there are now more than 20 such states). Inspired by business groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, they proceeded to rewrite the rules of work, passing legislation designed to enhance the position of employers at the expense of employees.
The University of Oregon political scientist Gordon Lafer, who wrote an eye-opening report on this topic last October for the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington, looked at dozens of bills affecting workers. The legislation involved unemployment insurance, the minimum wage, child labor, collective bargaining, sick days, even meal breaks. Despite frequent Republican claims to be defending local customs and individual liberty, Mr. Lafer found a “cookie-cutter” pattern to their legislation. Not only did it consistently favor employers over workers, it also tilted toward big government over local government. And it often abridged the economic rights of individuals.
Take the case of tipped workers and the minimum wage. In most states, tipped workers earn an hourly wage that is less than the federal minimum — the federal subminimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 per hour — because they’re supposed to make up the rest in tips. (They often don’t; the poverty rate among waiters and waitresses is 250 percent higher than it is among the general work force.) But non-serving staff who don’t get tips must be paid the minimum wage.
5/ You may remember Kay and Peele's incredibly funny skit "Substitute Teacher".....here is a follow-up, after Mr Garvey has settled in and his class has learned the "proper" pronunciation of their names.....three amusing minutes.....
6/ Another story on "El Nino" and what it will mean to our weather later this year.....I'm not sure I understand this completely, but it doesn't sound good.....
The Weather Forecast for the Rest of Year Is Out, And It Could Be CatastrophicImage Credit: NOAA
The news: This year's weather might be awfully weird — and potentially very, very dangerous. Meteorologists are preparing for an El Niño that could rival the catastrophic 1997-1998 phenomenon, which the Wire calls "potentially terrifying." And for good reason — that event killed 1,500 people and cost the globe as much as $35-45 billion. In Peru some 350,000 people were driven from their homes; in Argentina, 150,000.
The designation "El Niño," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific." Such events are responsible for disrupting typical weather patterns (often severely), and depending on where you live, El Niño can trigger anything from torrential rainstorms to severe drought. This usually happens every few years, but environmental scientists worry that climate change could increase the phenomenon's frequency.
7/ A most interesting story on the politics of climate change, and how the Republicans may take this up this summer as the next outrage, now that Obamacare is working and Benghazi has fizzled as a scandal....
The frenzy will be about the EPA issuing new rules for coal electric plants, and I have already got emails from the right wingers about how coal is wonderful, hands off etc etc.
One of the tacks will be we can't afford to do anything about CC, but the main thrust is still deny, deny, deny.....
Photo: Tim Laman
On May 6, a team of more than 300 climate scientists and experts released the third U.S. National Climate Assessment, which reported, “Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present.” The Obama administration had intended the Climate Assessment to underscore the urgency of new regulations to curtail greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants, which it will unveil next month.
But the point was underscored far more dramatically, and by events the administration did not choreograph, six days later. The day began when a different group of scientists reported that the West Antarctic ice sheet has begun disintegrating irreversibly, a process that will hasten the continued rise of the oceans. That same afternoon, in Washington, the Senate considered a bipartisan bill to reduce energy costs through conservation—cuddly, corporate-friendly greening like energy-efficiency standards in buildings and smart meters. The proposal, sponsored by Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, was projected to save businesses and consumers a hundred billion dollars by eliminating wasted energy costs without creating any notable losers. The two senators had worked on versions of the bill for three and a half years, jettisoning any remotely controversial provisions, and gained the backing of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and other famous non-hippies. It contains all the lowest-hanging fruit of reduced carbon emissions. Republicans nonetheless filibustered it to death over the inclusion of controversial amendments that they hope could damage Democrats in the midterm elections but are unrelated to the bill’s workings.
Here is where the politics of climate change stand at the outset of Obama’s new climate offensive. The scientific consensus is stronger and more urgent than ever, while the political consensus is weaker than ever. Republicans are not even considering the notion of asking Americans to spend money to mitigate climate change, and are increasingly uncertain about the notion of even saving money to mitigate climate change. And into this simmering pot of reflexive opposition and anti-empiricism Obama will plop a highly ambitious and not very cuddly scheme to clean up the power-plant sector. It has already drawn strong opposition from the major business lobbies. It is likely to become the major point of conflagration of Obama’s second term.
8/ Marco Rubio sets himself up wonderfully with his extreme positions on any issue that might be controversial with "the base", i.e. angry stupid old white people, so Stephen Colbert has a great time with Rubio's position on weed........four quite amusing minutes......
Marco Rubio won't answer questions because, you know, kids. At least that's Stephen Colbert's take.
When discussing possible GOP candidates for the 2016 presidential election on "The Colbert Report" on Thursday, the host showed a special interest in Florida Senator Marco Rubio and his knack for not answering somewhat controversial questions, like if he's ever smoked marijuana.
"Rubio can't admit that he's burned down, he's trying to win over Republicans," Colbert said. "The party that brought us just say no, first as a drug policy, then as their entire platform."
In an interview with Fusion host Mariana Atencio in March, Rubio very obviously avoided the question about drug use.
In an interview with Fusion host Mariana Atencio in March, Rubio very obviously avoided the question about drug use.
"I'll tell you why I never answer that question. If I tell you that I haven't you won't believe me," the senator replied, "and if I tell you that I did then kids will look up to me and say well I can smoke marijuana 'cause look how he made it."
Rubio seems to think there are a lot of young fans out there who admire him and want to be as successful as he is. Colbert has his own take on the matter.
9/ And just in case Rubio changes his mind again, here are the stats on how dangerous marijuana is compared to other drugs and liquor.......
Alcohol Killed 3.3 Million People in 2012 Alone – Here's What the Data Shows About MarijuanaImage Credit: AP
ZERO.
Despite the recurring claims that the drug (and its growing legalization) leads to serious health problems, marijuana still has not claimed a single life. Alcohol, on the other hand, is a different story.
In 2012 alone, more than 3.3 million people around the world suffered alcohol-related deaths (equalling roughly 5.9% of all deaths), according to the latest statistics from the World Health Organization.
The "global status report on alcohol and health 2014" says that AIDS, tuberculosis and violence combined killed fewer people than alcohol, which accounted for up to 7.6% of all male deaths (causes of death ranged from cancer to liver disease to alcohol-fueled bar brawls). Marijuana was not included on the list, but it would have accounted for 0.0% of all male deaths.
10/ Time for some fails, mainly American from "Failarmy", so there are fewer hospital visits and car cams, but more drunk kids......still 11 minutes of mayhem and chaos.....
11/ There's organic, and there's phony organic owned by Big Ag.......here is a list of the real organic companies, run by real people......
Further down in the story they give more detail on each company.....
Need a list of non GMO brands? We’ve put together one and include tips on where you can go to buy non GMO products. In many cases these non GMO brands sell products in your local box store. Some of these products are naturally gluten free, and some are not. So if you are looking for a list of non GMO brands that are alsogluten free, you can find additional information at Organic Living for a Healthy Family.
12/ Interesting EDM song from Borgeous - "Invincible", where two lesbians race around the British countryside holding up 7/11's......I know it sounds goofy and it is, but the song is pretty good.....
13/ A couple of weeks ago we had a story about baking soda and how useful it was for the little things our bodies need help with, like colds, at minimal cost. Some of you may wonder "does he believe this stuff" when I put it in DDD? Well I bought a box of Arm and Hammer baking soda [cost of 89c] last week, and am taking a teaspoon every day. Hey.....who knows?
We have almost completely moved on from the old remedies our grandparents used to treat minor ailments, and one of the reasons is of course corporate greed. There's no profit in using, for example, baking soda to treat a cold....according to this article baking soda won't cure a cold, it just makes it milder and shorter in length.......actually nothing cures a cold, but if you can mitigate the effects that's a big win.
Here is another example of a common household staple that has uses noone tells you about, because there's no money in it. Aspirin has uses in preventing cancer, per this story in the New York Times.
Just remember, if you keep healthy the medical complex and Big Pharma don't make money. I'm not saying there is an overt conspiracy to make you sick, but they absolutely will not tell you about the old remedies and inexpensive ways to keep you well.
WE believe that it might be possible to treat breast cancer — the leading cause of female cancer death — with a drug that can already be found in nearly every medicine cabinet in the world: Aspirin.
In 2010, we published an observational study in The Journal of Clinical Oncology showing that women with breast cancer who took aspirin at least once a week for various reasons were 50 percent less likely to die of breast cancer. In 2012, British researchers, by combining results from clinical trials that looked at using aspirin to prevent heart disease, found that aspirin was also associated with a significantly lower risk of breast cancer death.
And yet, until now, there have been no randomized trials (the gold standard of research) of aspirin use among women with breast cancer.
It’s not hard to see why: Clinical trials are typically conducted on drugs developed by labs seeking huge profits. No one stands to make money off aspirin, which has been a generic drug since the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, and which costs less than $6 for a year’s supply.
Thankfully, the first randomized clinical trial is now going on in Britain, made possible by funding from a nonprofit group, Cancer Research UK. But the British study is looking at four cancers, and won’t be done until 2025. If we in the United States had funding to do a similar trial, we could combine our data and get answers much faster. If the United States is to maintain its role as the global leader in biomedical research, it must fund its own trial of aspirin in breast cancer.
14/ Ecuador has some of the most pristine rain forests in the world in the beginning of the Amazon basin in Yasuni National Park, home to an incredibly diverse ecology of both plants and animals.
The park, which is home to two tribes of uncontacted Indians, is thought to have more mammal, bird, amphibian and plant species than any other spot on earth. Development of the oilfield, which was planned to take place immediately if the money had not been raised, would have inevitably led to ecological devastation and the eventual release of over 400m tonnes of CO2.
Not any more - Ecuador's President has opened the untouched park for oil drilling because the major governments of the world don't care enough about protecting the environment......and/or the oil companies have paid him off. Maybe we as a species should be made extinct, the way we are destroying the planet.
15/ All of the decent TV shows are close to or have had their season finales, and your DVR will be empty in a couple of weeks, so here are some Netflix documentaries you might like......the last one [Blackfish] is a must see..........
As you search for a movie to watch this weekend, consider abandoning the fictional for some real-life drama. Here are 12 completely fantastic documentaries on Netflix right now, destined to blow your mind (or at least make you think a little).
Todays video - George Carlin with "The American Dream".......it's time to watch this again and see how right he was......remember he said all this in 2007......
This is an extended version of 4 1/2 minutes with some new material, and even if you have seen this before, watch it again and while you listen to this great man, think about the news stories you remember since the last time you saw this and how spot on he is, seven years later.
Here's a quote from his rant - "nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care"....and this applies most of our stories!
Todays dentist joke
MY NAME IS ALICE , AND I WAS SITTING IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR MY FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH A NEW DENTIST.
I NOTICED HIS DDS DIPLOMA ON THE WALL, WHICH BORE HIS FULL NAME. SUDDENLY, I REMEMBERED A TALL, HANDSOME, DARK-HAIRED BOY WITH THE SAME NAME HAD BEEN IN MY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS SOME 40-ODD YEARS AGO. COULD HE BE THE SAME GUY THAT I HAD A SECRET CRUSH ON, WAY BACK THEN? UPON SEEING HIM, HOWEVER, I QUICKLY DISCARDED ANY SUCH THOUGHT. THIS BALDING, GRAY-HAIRED MAN WITH THE DEEPLY LINED FACE WAS WAY TOO OLD TO HAVE BEEN MY CLASSMATE. AFTER HE EXAMINED MY TEETH, I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD ATTENDED MORGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL ... “YES. YES, I DID. I'M A MUSTANG,” HE GLEAMED WITH PRIDE.
WHEN DID YOU GRADUATE?' I ASKED.
HE ANSWERED, 'IN 1967.. WHY DO YOU ASK?' YOU WERE IN MY CLASS!', I EXCLAIMED. HE LOOKED AT ME CLOSELY. THEN, THAT UGLY, OLD, BALD, WRINKLED FACED, FAT-ASSED, GRAY-HAIRED, DECREPIT SON-OF-A-BITCH ASKED, “WHAT DID YOU TEACH???” |
Todays married's joke
An older couple finally learned how to send and receive texts on their cell phones.
The wife, being a romantic at heart, decided one day that she'd send her husband
a text while she was out of the house having coffee with a friend.
She texted:
If you are sleeping, send me your dreams.
If you are laughing, send me your smile.
If you are eating, send me a bite.
If you are drinking, send me a sip.
If you are crying, send me your tears.
I love you.
The husband, being a no-nonsense sort of guy, texted back:
I'm on the toilet. Please advise.
Todays pilot joke
A woman was flying from Seattle to San Francisco .
The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes..
Everybody got off the plane except one lady
Everybody got off the plane except one lady
Who was blind.
A man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her guide dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight..
He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, "Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?"
The blind lady said,
The blind lady said,
"No thanks, but maybe Buddy
Would like to stretch his legs."
Picture this:
All the people in the gate area came to a complete stand still when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a guide dog for the blind!
Picture this:
All the people in the gate area came to a complete stand still when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a guide dog for the blind!
Even worse, the pilot was wearing sunglasses!
People scattered.
They not only tried to change planes,
True story....
