A very depressing story, if you're a Democrat. A well argued case for why it's likely we will have the same divided politics in this country for a while yet.....
There is a debate emerging on these pages (and elsewhere) as to whether the Democrats are in deep trouble.
Vox's Matt Yglesias thinks they are. Not only, he notes, do Republicans now hold majorities in the US House and the Senate, but the GOP also now has unified control of 25 state legislatures, while Dems control only seven. More significantly, Republicans are using their power. They are going after unions, which have traditionally been a key organizing force for Democrats. And they are enacting stricter voting rules, which tend to disenfranchise those voters most likely to vote for Democrats.
Political scientist Phil Klinkner has disagreed, arguing that there is a natural, almost "thermostatic" ebb and flow to partisan fortunes in America. When one party controls the White House, public opinion naturally moves against that party. Put a Republican in the White House, he argues, and voters across the country will readjust to favor Democrats.
Who is right? It depends on whether you think American democracy operates primarily by balancing feedback loops (in which partisan electoral victories are always short-lived because they provoke an equal but opposite reaction) or primarily by reinforcing feedback loops (in which electoral victories translate into policy victories that can cement long-term advantages).
If you need confirmation of the ideas in the above story about the intelligence level of voters, look at who is leading the polls in the Republican race - Dr. Ben Carson.......how can this demented asshole be seriously considered for President?
Be that what it may, this skit from SNL is quite amusing.....four minutes....
On this week’s Saturday Night Live, it looks like the writers have been reading Mediaite, because they went through most of our epic Ben Carson slideshow in order to send up the retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential frontrunner. “The Adventures of Young Ben Carson” shows Carson and Black Jesus running through the Carson oeuvre, featuring everything from the infamous stabbing story, to his thoughts on evolution and the pyramids, to the Jesus selfie he has hanging in his house (although Carson’s Jesus is more John Boehner orange). You’ll never guess how it ends:
And more confirmation of #1.....did you watch the Democratic debate last night [Saturday at 9pm]? Probably not, because in her misguided and blatant attempts to protect Hillary Clinton, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, head of the DNC has only scheduled four debates and not in prime time thereby guaranteeing many of the Republican stupids or Democratic voters won't see their candidates intelligently discuss important issues, and compare it to the bullshit we see in the Republican debates.
Mary and I watched it, but we left an event early to do so....
If winning in 2016 is all about turnout, how is this a good strategy? Anyway here are snippets of some of the "soundbite moments"....
Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley debated Saturday evening in Des Moines, Iowa. Alex Wong/Getty
CBS News' John Dickerson opened the second Democratic debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday with a moment of silence for the victims of terrorist attacks in Paris, setting the tone for a debate that included an increased focus on matters of terrorism, foreign policy and national security, thanks to a last-minute change by the network.
You occasionally see on talent shows like "America's Got Talent" a very young lady come out and amaze the crowd (and Simon) with her voice.......but imagine it in front of 5000+ people at the famous music festival at Maastricht, with a full symphony orchestra.
This video is a WOW......seven incredible and moving minutes....
Amira Willighagen was born on March 27, 2004, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and became well-known by demonstrating her talent as a singer of opera arias and other classical music at the age of 9, without ever having taken a single music or singing lesson. [1][2]
In October 2013, Willighagen took part in the auditions for the talent show Holland's Got Talent and wowed the jury with her interpretation of the aria "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi.[2] The video of this performance rapidly became a YouTube hit and has been viewed by more than 36 million viewers worldwide as of June 2015. In the semi-finals Willighagen sang Gounod's "Ave Maria". On December 28, 2013, Willighagen won the finals of the talent show with her interpretation "Nessun dorma", an aria for tenor from Puccini's opera Turandot.[3] By then she was so popular that she received over 50% of the votes from the TV viewers.
In February 2014, Willighagen recorded her debut album titled Amira.[4] The album contains ten tracks including the songs she performed during Holland's Got Talent. The album was released in The Netherlands on March 28, reaching a Gold status only 2 weeks later, meaning that by then already 10,000 copies had been sold or downloaded.
President Obama visited New Delhi in India last month, and just by being there three days he cut six hours off his life expectancy because the air pollution is so bad.....
It’s been unseasonably hot in North India this month; but cooler weather brings not relief but stinging eyes and painful breath.
Air pollution has become headline news here—one of the snippets that flowed from President Obama’s visit was that breathing the air had cut six hours off his life-expectancy. Soot levels are up to 16 times higher than World Health Organization safety levels, double Beijing’s. Corporations routinely try to reassure their staff by providing air purifiers for their offices.
Delhi came to the edge of unlivable air pollution once before, in the 1990’s. Highly polluting two-cycle three wheeler motor rickshaws were a main villain. A campaign led by the Center for Science and the Environment, capped by a Supreme Court ruling, converted the rickshaws to CNG and the air immediately improved. But three decades of vehicle growth, exacerbated by government subsidies for diesel fuel which drove the auto market towards dirtier diesel models, brought the return of choking air. This time there is no single fix like CNG in the wings.
SNL took a look at the recent vote in Austin [Texas] about trans gender males using ladies bathrooms, and evicerates it.....an amusing three minutes on their "Weekend Update".....
This past election day, voters in Houston repealed an anti-discrimination law, mostly on the basis of anti-LGBT scare tactics about men using women’s rest rooms. On this week’s Saturday Night Live, Pete Davidson gave the perfect rejoinder to all the panicky homophobes and creepy Mike Huckabees of the world who think that trans-people are just dying to share a hot turd-making session with the opposite sex. Please pay attention, America, because it probably won’t be said better than this:
See how you do on this quiz.....it's allegedly for highly intelligent people, like our readers!
A Columbus, Ohio story about the recent election.....and it's interesting, isn't it? The Republicans are blatantly stealing elections, and there's no outrage, no consequences.....welcome to the new order, and read this in conjunction with the first article and we are in for a long road of domination from the right wing....
In the lead-up to the November 3 referendum on pot legalization in Ohio, reputable mainstream polls show it winning.
Then, amidst the usual “glitches” that distinguish the Buckeye State’s electronic elections, it officially failed by a 2:1 margin.
The outcome is a virtual statistical impossibility. But it fits a pattern that has made Ohio elections infamous since the 2004 “selection” of George W. Bush over John Kerry.
As in 2004, this year’s balloting was supervised by a Secretary of State with a heavy partisan stake in the outcome.
In 2004, the presidential voting was supervised by J. Kenneth Blackwell, who simultaneously served as the co-chair of Ohio’s Committee to Re-Elect Bush and Cheney.
In 2015, the general voting was supervised by Jon Husted, who vehemently opposed pot legalization and threatened legal action against the sponsors of the referendum.
In both 2004 and 2015, the vast majority of votes were cast on electronic machines owned by private corporations, with proprietary software. When a federal judge mandated a recount in a class action suit in 2004, 56 of Ohio’s 88 counties failed to produce the required documentation. No recount was ever conducted. (disclosure: Bob was a lead attorney and Harvey a plaintiff in that federal lawsuit).
Todays video - wry humor from FedEx.....30 second ad.....very good....
Todays heartwarming joke
Roger, 85, married Jenny, a lovely 25 year old
After the wedding festivities Jenny prepares herself for bed and the expected knock on the door.
Sure enough the knock comes, the door opens and there is Roger, her 85 year old groom, ready for action. They unite as one.
All goes well, Roger takes leave of his bride, and she prepares to go to sleep.
After a few minutes, Jenny hears another knock on her bedroom door, and it's Roger.
Again he is ready for more "action." Somewhat surprised, Jenny consents for more coupling.
When the newlyweds are done, Roger kisses his bride, bids her a fond good night and leaves.
She is set to go to sleep again, but, aha, you guessed it - Roger is back again, rapping on the door and is as fresh as a 25-year-old, ready for more "action."
And, once more they enjoy each other.
But as Roger gets set to leave again, his young bride says to him, "I am thoroughly impressed that at your age you can perform so well and so often. I have been with guys less than a third of your age who were only good once. You are truly a great lover, Roger."
Roger, somewhat embarrassed, turns to Jenny and says: "You mean I was here already?"
Todays party joke
A couple was invited to a swanky costume party. The Mrs. got a terrible headache and told her husband to go to the party alone.
He being a devoted husband protested, but she argued and said she was going to take some aspirin and go to bed and there was no need for his good time being spoiled by not going.
So he took his costume and away he went. The wife, after sleeping soundly for about an hour, awakened without pain and, as it was still early, decided to go the party.
Since her husband did not know what her costume was, she thought she would have some fun by watching her husband to see how he acted when she was not with him.
She joined the party and soon spotted her husband cavorting around on the dance floor, dancing with every nice woman he could and copping a little feel here and a little kiss there.
His wife sidled up to him and being a rather seductive babe herself, he left his current partner high and dry and devoted his time to the new babe that had just arrived. She let him go as far as he wished, naturally, since he was her husband. Finally, he whispered a little proposition in her ear and she agreed.
So off they went to one of the cars and had a quickie.
Just before unmasking at midnight, she slipped away, went home, put the costume away and got into bed, wondering what kind of explanation he would make for his behavior.
She was sitting up reading when he came in, and she asked what kind of a time he had.He said: 'Oh, the same old thing. You know I never have a good time when you're not there.'
'Did you dance much?'
'I'll tell you, I never even danced one dance. When I got there, I met Pete, Bill Brown and some other guys, so we went into the den and played poker all evening. But you're not going to believe what
happened to the guy I loaned my costume to!"
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