I'm just including the headline of this NYTimes story because it illustrates how frightened, how cowed Americans have become, scared of the boogeyman and five year old Syrian kids. It's disgusting - Fox News has made us a nation of weenies....not like the French....
French Return to Cafes in a Show of Defiance
And for the best response to the attacks in Paris, here is John Oliver....two profane but great minutes.....
John Oliver kicked off Last Week Tonight Sunday with an expletive-laden, therapeutic verbal takedown of the perpetrators responsible for Friday's terror attack in Paris. "It's hardly been 48 hours, and much is still unknown, but there are a few things we can say for certain," Oliver said. "And this is when it actually helps to be on HBO, where those things can be said without restraint. Because after the many necessary and appropriate moments of silence, I'd like to offer you a moment of premium-cable profanity.
Matt Taibbi went to Iowa to look at the Republicans on tour, trying to impress the Iowans.....it's informative and sometimes amusing....Taibbi is one of our more astute political reporters....
Love the title....
The GOP Clown Car Rolls On
On the campaign trail with the most dishonest, bumbling and underqualified pack of presidential candidates in history
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is one of the few "plausible" establishment candidates in the GOP primary.
N
ot one of them can win, but one must. That's the paradox of the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, fast becoming the signature event in the history of black comedy.
Conventional wisdom says that with the primaries and caucuses rapidly approaching, front-running nuts Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson must soon give way to the "real" candidates. But behind Trump and Carson is just more abyss. As I found out on a recent trip to New Hampshire, the rest of the field is either just as crazy or as dangerous as the current poll leaders, or too bumbling to win.
Bill Maher went on the Colbert show, and the talk was a little uncomfortable - funny, but uncomfortable......however this two minute clip has one of the best comedic comebacks ever......Colbert is so clever!
Two great minutes [the highlights]...they talk about religion......
And here is the full eight minute interview.....
Bill Maher sat down with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday's Late Show for an intense, profanity-laced and awkward discussion about ISIS, religion, the road to the White House and Donald Trump. The first part of the chat dealt with the eradication of ISIS, with both Maher and Colbert – who seems to support "scratching that itch" through bombing them – holding different ideas on how to deal with the problem. "This is the most bloodthirsty conversation I've ever had with anyone in my life," Colbert noted.
Most people have no idea how unequal the income is in this country, but here is a clever short video "The L-Curve" which gets it into perspective.....fascinating, and actually a little shocking.....
The income distribution of the United States is far more unequal than most people realize. In fact it is so lopsided, it is hard to represent on a single graph. For more see http://www.lcurve.org.
Tom Tomorrow on the events in Paris......a cartoon says it all.....
The insane right wing reactions to the events in Paris and Syrian refugees are symptoms of the racism, fear and hatred of change that are constantly being pumped by right wing media.....
Excellent and insightful story about global cities like Paris, which are cosmopolitan and hated by extremists because of the civilization they embody.....
(Credit: CURAphotography via S
Cities are contradictions segregated by race and class, the spatial organization of a capitalist order that exploits difference to make a profit; they also foster diverse encounters and solidarities as people work, party, transit and live together. Share public restrooms. Sit in a park. Make eye contact acknowledging how wonderfully and horribly bizarre it is that this person on the bus is having such an embarrassing personal conversation in front of everyone.
Among the 129 reported murdered on a festive night in Paris were people from all corners. Their number included Patricia San Martín Núñez, 61, a Chilean exile who fled Pinochet’s murderous regime, and her French-born daughter. The latter’s five-year old son survived. They were attending a rock concert.
ISIS, in a statement, described Paris as “the capital of prostitution and vice.” They no doubt knew, and perhaps even preferred, that their victims would be many colors and religions, speaking many languages.
Cities are simultaneously the spatial realization of oppression and a bulwark of decency and joy amidst chauvinism and racism; they are a built environment remade each day by commuters, outdoor chess players, carpenters, musicians and bored teenagers. They are the Kurdish proprietor of my neighborhood pizza shop giving me a free pie, made lahmajoon style, after I confided that I thought Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is an autocrat and warmonger.
That is the city that nationalists and bigots want to destroy. That includes the American right wing which, like its European counterparts, quickly found its own use for the innocent blood spilled in Paris.
This is very, very funny....Stephen Colbert and "President Trump".....five minutes.....
For the first time ever, Donald Trump has captured 42 percent of Republican primary voters according to the latest poll that Stephen Colbert quoted on Tuesday night’s “Late Show.” If that freaks you out, you’re not alone. Colbert says that this has the Republican establishment shaking in their wingtips.
The staying power of Donald Trump and Ben Carson is not only surprising, bless their hearts, they never saw it coming. “Especially Trump!” Colbert said. “They thought for sure by now he would have left the campaign for a younger one.”
Out of fear, Republicans are turning to a “very white knight.” That’s right, Mr. 47 percent himself, Mitt Romney. In the last several months, Romney has been interviewed by a few reporters who have asked him the probing question if he would consider running. He has been clear that it is somewhere between zero and nil. “So, there’s a chance?” Colbert asked.
I have to say I had not heard of this, but thanks to one of our alert readers now I do.....and it ain't nice.....
A BE-200 water bomber dumps on a fire in South Sumatra. Photo: Antara Foto/Reuters
As you read this, an ecological disaster on a massive scale is happening. For months, Indonesia has been literally burning–a massive forest fire of near-biblical proportions is charging across vast tracts of land, blanketing the area with smoke so thick that people are dying. George Monbiot of The Guardian called it “almost certainly the greatest environmental disaster of the 21st century.” And what are we talking about? Starbucks’ red cup debacle and the unhealthiness of bacon. As people who surf, Indonesia is a veritable playground, and to ignore its violent destruction is, quite simply, not ok.
The haze from the fires burning tens of thousands of hectares has reached as far as Malaysia and Singapore, where, according to The Guardian, the fires are being called a “crime against humanity.” Six Indonesian provinces have declared a state of emergency, and in Sumatra, the PSI level (Pollutant Standard Index, where 300 is dangerous), is currently hovering at around 2000. According to WRI, “since September (the fires) have generated emissions each day exceeding the average daily emissions from all U.S. economic activity.” As of November 12, 19 people have died, somewhere around half a million cases of respiratory tract infections have been reported, and the Indonesian government has estimated that the cost of fighting the fires may be as high as almost 475 trillion rupiah, which works out to somewhere around $50 billion.
Two Floriduh stories, not seemingly connected but both showing the corruption and casual indifference to "normal" Floridians....if there's money around, it goes to the top management [School Board] or the top 1% [State]......
The first is from the excellent Lauren Ritchie, who takes Lake County's School Board to task.......
The Lake County School Board gets a little money for raises.
The board doles out cash to overpaid principals, professionals and managers.
The Lake County School Board gets a little money for raises.
The board doles out cash to overpaid principals, professionals and managers.
The Lake County School Board gets a little money for raises.
The board doles out cash to overpaid principals, professionals and managers.
It never ends.
This is like watching an endless loop of Larry, Moe and Curley pulling off their standard Three Stooges shenanigans over and over. It's not funny anymore.
For nearly a decade, the district's principals, professionals, managers and administrators have been paid far above the state average and often well above Lake's rank of 18th in student population among Florida's 67 counties.
So what did the School Board do last week? Of course, board members voted to do it again, this time at a cost of nearly $700,000.
What does it take to get these five elected people to spend money on employees who are drastically and shamefully underpaid or on — here's a concept — students, not bureaucrats? Must the lunch ladies at Clermont Elementary set themselves afire on the playground? Must fourth-graders take up arms?
The second is from Scott Maxwell and the Florida budget.....
Last year, Florida's revenues soared so high, Gov. Rick Scott literally begged for ideas on how to spend it all.
This year, spending is expected to be even higher.
The influx of cash would seem to be an answer to prayers in a state that has long short-changed basic priorities.
For a state that ranks near the bottom when it comes to funding education.
For a state that ranks 49th in mental-health funding.
For a state where special-needs families spend years — even a decade or longer — on waiting lists for help and treatment.
Scott has, in fact, proposed boosting one state agency's budget by more than 400 percent.
But not one that helps education, special-needs families or the mentally ill.
No, Scott wants a 480 percent increase — an extra $200 million — for Enterprise Florida, so the public-private agency can hand out taxpayer-funded perks to corporations.
This is the same agency that has been repeatedly criticized for paying companies for jobs that never actually materialize.
My friends, I submit we are in a battle for this state's soul.
Todays video - an interesting 90 second commercial that will make you think a little....especially with this week's BS about Muslims flying around.....don't judge by appearances!
Todays lovely story.....very nice.....
Gate A-4 By Naomi Shihab Nye:
Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: “If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.” Well— one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing. “Help,” said the flight agent. “Talk to her . What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be late and she did this.”
I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke haltingly. “Shu-dow-a, shu-bid-uck, habibti? Stani schway, min fadlick, shu-bit-se-wee?” The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used, she stopped crying. She thought the flight had been cancelled entirely. She needed to be in El Paso for major medical treatment the next day. I said, “No, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late, who is picking you up? Let’s call him.”
We called her son, I spoke with him in English. I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane. She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it. Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out of course they had ten shared friends. Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian poets I know and let them chat with her? This all took up two hours.
She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life, patting my knee, answering questions. She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies— little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts— from her bag and was offering them to all the women at the gate. To my amazement, not a single traveler declined one. It was like a sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo— we were all covered with the same powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookie.
Then the airline broke out free apple juice and two little girls from our flight ran around serving it and they were covered with powdered sugar too. And I noticed my new best friend— by now we were holding hands— had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.
And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought, This is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate— once the crying of confusion stopped— seemed apprehensive about any other person. They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.
Todays Stephen Wright jokes
Don't get too excited, but today is the deadpan comedian's 59th birthday.
1. It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.
2. I almost broke both my arms trying to hold open a revolving door for a woman.
3. I got a new dog. He’s a paranoid retriever. He brings back everything because he’s not sure what I threw him.
4. Every morning I get up and make instant coffee and I drink it so I have the energy to make real coffee.
5. Woke up this morning and folded my bed back into a couch. Almost broke both my arms cause it’s not that kind of bed.
6. I’m going to get a tattoo over my whole body of me but taller.
7. I went to a tourist information booth and said "tell me about some people who were here last year."
8. I’ve been getting into astronomy so I installed a skylight. The people who live above me are furious.
9. Why is it a penny for your thoughts but you have to put your two cents in? Somebody’s making a penny.
10. I broke a mirror in my house and I’m supposed to get seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.
11. When I get real real bored I like to drive downtown and get a great parking spot then sit in my car and count how many people ask me if I’m leaving.
12. I spilled spot remover on my dog and now he’s gone.
13. I’m writing a book. I have the page numbers done; now I just have to fill in the rest.
14. When we were driving over the border back into the United States, they asked me if I had any firearms. I said what do you need?
15. I've written several children's books ... Not on purpose.
16. I called the wrong number today. I said “Hello, is Joey there?” A woman answered and she said “yes he is.” And I said ‘can I speak to him please?’ She said ‘no, he can’t talk right now, he’s only two months old.” I said “alright, I’ll wait.”
17. I went to a place to eat. It said "breakfast at any time." So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.
18. We lived in a house that ran on static electricity. If we wanted to cook something, we had to take a sweater off real quick. If we wanted to run a blender we had to rub balloons on our heads.
19. I stayed up one night playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.
20. I was Caesarean born. Can’t really tell, although whenever I leave a house I go through the window.
Todays positive thinking joke
Late in the night, he finally regained consciousness.
He was in the hospital, in terrible pain.
He found himself in the ICU with tubes in his mouth, needles and IV drips in
both arms, a breathing mask, wires monitoring every function, and a nurse
hovering over him. He realized that he was obviously in a life-threatening
situation.
both arms, a breathing mask, wires monitoring every function, and a nurse
hovering over him. He realized that he was obviously in a life-threatening
situation.
The nurse gave him a serious, deep look, straight into his eyes, then spoke
to him slowly and clearly, enunciating each word and syllable, "You may not
feel anything from the waist down."
to him slowly and clearly, enunciating each word and syllable, "You may not
feel anything from the waist down."
Somehow he managed to mumble in reply, "Can I feel your boobs, then?"
AND THAT, MY FRIEND, IS A POSITIVE ATTITUDE!!!
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