Back from our three month "See America" tour.....and dealing with the disaster that is our yard! Weeds! Anyway, here is "the dose".....
1/ Paul Krugman with a most interesting column last week, and it's relevant because of the way wealth flows upwards to the elites.....at the billionaire level you cannot realistically spend even a fraction of your money but as the oligarchs feel obligated to get their wealth working they are constantly looking for opportunities, creating bubbles. If the obscene money tap was distributed more fairly, a lot more money would be flowing in our economy creating real growth.....
Anyway this column struck me as very insightful.....
Paul Krugman (Credit: Reuters/Brendan Mcdermid)
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued on Monday that nobody’s entirely sure why the stock market plunged on Friday, but that volatility of the sort is to be expected given that there is simply “too much money…chasing too few investment opportunities,” scouring the world “for new bubbles to inflate.”
2/ Jimmy Kimmel with an amusing four minutes, asking people on the street - "is Obama a Muslim?"
According to a new poll, a majority of Republicans still believe that President Obama is a Muslim. Jimmy was shocked by this and thought it might be a good subject for our audience guessing game #PedestrianQuestion. So we went out on the street and asked people “Is President Obama A Muslim?”
3/ Politics as usual has been upended in Britain too - Jeremy Corbyn is the frontrunner to lead the Labour Party there, and he is as much as a surprise as Trump's leap to the front of the GOP......good column from Roger Cohen in the Times......
Very little appears to link Jeremy Corbyn, who has emerged from nowhere to become the favorite to lead the British Labour Party, with Donald Trump, the equally surprising front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Corbyn is a slight, quiet, parsimonious radical leftist who is anti-money, anti-meat, anti-war and pro-nationalization of banks. He has, to put it mildly, deep misgivings about America. Trump is a large, loud, self-promoting businessman who is pro-money, pro-market and wants to “Make America Great Again” by unleashing its animal entrepreneurial spirit and putting the red meat back in political discourse clogged by political correctness. He has spoken approvingly of John Bolton, hawk of neocon hawks among Republican foreign policy officials.But the two men do have a couple of things in common. Both opposed the Iraq war (Trump thought Mexico might be a more sensible target). More importantly, both speak their minds at a time when a lot of people in Britain and the United States have had it with politics as usual and the mealy-mouthed, finger-to-the-wind calibration of the political persona.
This is a season of radical discontent. People believe the system is rigged. They have good reason. Rigged to favor the super-rich, rigged to accentuate inequality, rigged to hide huge increases in the cost of living, rigged to buy elections, rigged to put off retirement, rigged to eviscerate pensions, rigged to export jobs, rigged to sabotage equal opportunity, rigged to hurt the middle class and minorities and the poor. Increasingly unequal societies have spawned anger, an unsurprising development. The anger is diffuse, in search of somebody to articulate it, preferably in short declarative sentences.
4/ When Bill Maher is on form, he's wonderful ......this is his six minute opening monologue from last week, and it's very very good.....
(Credit: YouTube/HBO)
On last night’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the host tore into Donald Trump, criticizing the Republican presidential candidate’s extreme views on immigration.
“Republicans are tearing their hear out… doctors say the Trump that has been growing inside them is inoperable,” riffed Maher. “Donald Trump, America’s great Irish hope, unveiled his immigration plan this week—and it is huge. It’s a three-point plan called Cinco de Bye-o. Here are the plans: repeal the 14th amendment, seize the wages of illegal immigrants who are working here, use that money to build a wall, and then deport all 11 million of them. Is any of this possible? No. But it gave millions of Fox News viewers their first erection in years.”
5/ Israel is having it's "Eric Garner" moment - a 3 minute video has gone viral worldwide [not here in the USA of course] of an Israeli soldier grabbing and beating a 12 year old boy with a broken arm, and being dragged from the kid by angry Palestinian women....
I was struck by how fairly this story was written in Vox, giving both sides versions and possible interpretations.....but it's still horrific....
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ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty
An Israeli soldier holds down 11-year-old Palestinian boy Mohammed Tamimi in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.
For a few years now, Palestinians in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh have held a weekly demonstration to protest the Israeli occupation that has confiscated village land for a nearby Israeli settlement. These protests don't usually make international news.
But last week's was different. Friday's demonstration in Nabi Saleh escalated into a violent confrontation between an Israeli soldier and a young child — all caught on camera by the press who had attended the protest. The result was a video of an IDF soldier placing an 11-year-old child in a chokehold, holding a gun near his head, and then sitting on him as he screamed in fear and pain.
6/ Donald Trump did a baby picture at his Alabama rally, and it was already creepy enough because of the demented mother and the baby thinking "WTF", but of course the internet went loopy and it was "photoshop time!"
Some of these are hilarious.....and who was the crazy looking mother? Wow.....
Donald Trump held a sizable, though not stadium-filling, rally in Mobile, Alabama on Friday. Nothing too exciting happened, at least until the Internet got its grubby mits on a photo taken by Mark Wallheiser for Getty Images:
7/ A couple of stories about India, the second most populous country on the planet, and how it is in trouble.....
The first from the Times, and the issue is the complete lack of infrastructure dealing with waste, air pollution and garbage.....
Today, India’s environmental problems are among the grimmest in the world. They relate to raw sewage, waste and open defecation, which exacerbate childhood malnourishment, and cause diseases like hepatitis, cholera and typhoid fever. The air in the cities is so filthy from factories and cars that middle-class parents now check the levels of PM2.5, or airborne particulate matter, on their smartphones, as people in other places do the weather, before letting their children outside to play.
One father I spoke to the other day in Delhi conjectured that the air his children were breathing was perhaps the most polluted in the history of mankind. “No one has ever breathed air as dirty as this,” he said. He may be wrong; down the road in Lucknow, a smaller city, the air is said to be even worse. But pollution, like poverty, is one of those concepts whose meaning is lost in the abstract; television gives it a concrete reality. In the spring, a news channel flashed images of what became known as #toxiclake in Bangalore. The screens showed a body of water dark with fecal matter; a poisonous white froth had broken its banks and foamed out into the street, causing nearby residents to react with fury.
8/ A fascinating tour of Britain and how Brits speak by one guy doing 17 different accents....a clever one minute, and yes the various regions of the UK actually sound like this............
8/ The second India story is more sinister, and it's how World Trade Organization and the major corporations have corrupted farming in India. There used to be countless small farms, inefficient but they fed the country.....but since this wasn't profitable for "the boys" they mandated India's farmers use chemicals, Monsanto seeds and are consolidating small farms into huge ones and ruining small farmers....
There is no reason why India should face hunger and malnutrition and why our farmers should commit suicide. India is blessed with the most fertile soils in the world. Our climate is so generous we can, in places, grow four crops in a year—compared to the industrialized west where sometimes only one crop is possible per year. We have the richest biodiversity of the world, both because of our diverse climates and because of the brilliance of our farmers as breeders. Our farmers are among the most hardworking, productive people in the world. Yet India faces an emergency, in our food and agricultural system. This emergency is man-made.
Firstly, the poor and vulnerable are dying for lack of food. According to the Deccan Herald, Lalita S. Rangari, 36, a Dalit widow and mother of two children of the Gondiya tribal belt, allegedly died due to starvation. Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Indu Jain of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court have served notice to the government of Maharashtra seeking its reply to the starvation death of a Dalit widow.
Photo credit: Nourishing Revolution
10/ The title of this is "if you're going to be dumb, be tough".....it's a collection of fails by some very stupid people.....it's not the best, but here it is anyway.....soundtrack by Roger Alan Wade.....three stupid minutes....
When you get knocked down you gotta get back up,
I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer but I know enough, to know,
If your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough
11/ Turmeric - a spice you know very little about [like most of us], but it apparently has some quite useful qualities.....this story is a little nerdy, but it's worth a look.....
Do you have a jar of turmeric languishing in your spice cupboard? Or perhaps you're looking for ways to add it to your diet in response to all the recent studies indicating its health-promoting and disease-preventing properties.
And because you will have no idea how to use it, here are some suggestions!
12/ Haley Williams and Paramore with "The Only Exception"....a music video with a plot, timeline and a lesson.....it's pretty clever, and a lovely song....
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13/ Ho hum - just another black guy dead of indifference.....he did four months in jail for stealing $5 worth of groceries, and died there......there's nothing special about this story, but it just illustrates how if you are black, or poor, or mentally ill this is a very cruel country.......this poor bastard was all three......
A young black man arrested by police in Portsmouth, Virginia, has been found dead in jail after spending almost four months behind bars without bail for stealing groceries worth $5.
Jamycheal Mitchell, who had mental health problems, was discovered lying on the floor of his cell by guards early last Wednesday, according to authorities. While his body is still awaiting an autopsy, senior prison officials said his death was not being treated as suspicious.
“As of right now it is deemed ‘natural causes’,” Natasha Perry, the master jail officer at the Hampton Roads regional jail in Portsmouth, said of his death in an interview. Perry said there were no obvious outward signs of injury to the 24-year-old’s body. Portsmouth police are looking into the death.
Mitchell’s family said they believed he starved to death after refusing meals and medication at the jail, where he was being held on misdemeanour charges of petty larceny and trespassing. A clerk at Portsmouth district court said Mitchell was accused of stealing a bottle of Mountain Dew, a Snickers bar and a Zebra Cake worth a total of $5 from a 7-Eleven.
14/ John Romano in the Tampa Bay Times with another story of Floriduh and our inept, corrupt and horrible politicians....
In the face of judicial demands, public ridicule and private heartburn, legislators still managed to end a special session on redistricting Friday in complete disarray.
More importantly, they kept alive the distinct possibility that we may soon be able to proclaim 2015 as the most pathetic year in the history of Florida politics.
Sacrilege, you say!
After all, this is a state that single-handedly held up a presidential election in 2000. It bungled the 1876 presidential election, too. For crying out loud, this is a state that elected Rick Scott as governor. Twice!
Considering such an inglorious history, how could 2015 possibly be in the running as the worst of the bunch?
Simple. It is the consistent stupidity. The relentless undermining and backstabbing. It is the utter dedication to self-interest in the guise of public service.
Truly, it has been a remarkable eight-month run in Tallahassee. Scandal followed by embarrassment followed by ineptness. And all of it without a hint of shame or remorse.
Think I'm exaggerating?
15/ And if you want to make yourself sick watch this 30 second ad from Americans for Prosperity and the Koch Brothers congratulating Florida Republicans for turning down $50 billion in Federal funds to help Medicaid and the poorest Floridians.....oh wait they didn't mention that, did they........
Watch for Mount Dora's own Jennifer Sullivan in the montage of scum......
Today, Americans for Prosperity-Florida launched a statewide “Thank You” effort to the Florida lawmakers who opposed Medicaid expansion during the 2015 legislative session. The conservative grassroots group wil run a two-week long ad effort will feature TV, digital and mail to educate Floridians about the 72 legislators “who stood up for taxpayers and patients against special interests who pushed to bring Obama’s Medicaid expansion to the Sunshine State.”
“Families, patients, and taxpayers should thank and congratulate the 72 members of the legislature for being champions on this critically important issue,” said state director, Chris Hudson.
Todays video
An award-winning six minute short film [mainly] for guys, and lads if this ever happens to you I hope you don't have to go to this doctor. A guy drinks too much, and has an uncomfortable feeling in the morning.....
This is one of the funniest videos I have seen for a long while.....it builds wonderfully.....
Todays Kentucky joke
Two hillbillies walk into a restaurant. While having a bite to eat, they talk about their moonshine operation.
Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough. After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress.
One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, Kin ya swallar?'
The woman shakes her head no.
Then he asks, 'Kin ya breathe?'
The woman begins to turn blue, and shakes her head no.
The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress, yanks down her drawers, and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his tongue.
The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm, and the obstruction flies out of her mouth.
As she begins to breathe again, the Hillbilly walks slowly back to his table.
His partner says, 'Ya know, I'd heerd of that there 'Hind Lick Maneuver' but I ain't niver seed nobody do it!'
Todays blond joke
A blond was browsing around Target and came across a thermos.
She was quite fascinated by it and took it to the cashier.
After asking what it was for she was told it was to keep some things hot and some things cold.
“That sounds great,” she said. “ I’m buying it.’’
At work the next day her boss asked what she was doing with the thermos.
She told him it was great to keep things hot or to keep things cold.
“What’s in it,” he asks.
To which she answered, ”2 popsicles and some coffee.”
Todays Home Schooling jokes
1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
3. My father taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock
you into the middle of next week!"
4. My father taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why."
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck,
you're not going to the store with me."
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7. My father taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS .
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Just you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate!"
13. My father taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out..."
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION .
"Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world
who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it from your father when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My father taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand.
25. My father taught me about JUSTICE .
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"
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