In other words, a clown show is exactly what to expect from the Presidency* of Fuckface von Clownstick
Nobody has more respect for Russia than @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/uke8pqntbS
— Super Deluxe (@superdeluxe) March 21, 2017
Milk Of Human Kindness
And Rep. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, one of Trump’s earliest and most ardent backers on Capitol Hill, announced on Twitter that he would vote against the American Health Care Act after Trump’s personal plea for passage.
“Due to my concern over lack of verification that tax credits won’t go to people unlawfully in U.S.,” Barletta wrote, “I can’t support AHCA in its current form.”
Anyone watching Maddow? Interesting bit on Russian bots used during the elections
women, what’s the most infuriating thing you’ve had mansplained to you?
— Tracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) March 21, 2017
A dude once explained to me how many people are in the Electoral College even though he knew I work for FiveThirtyEight. https://t.co/YDEAb3GQV2
— Colleen Barry (@CopyCurmudgeon) March 22, 2017
@tomgara This is actually making me cry; I’m laughing so hard.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) March 22, 2017
Olbermann has it right. Anyone who thinks Trump is playing 12th dimensional chess is not paying attention. To me, it was obvious during the campaign - he would stomp all over what would have been a really bad news cycle for Clinton to make himself look bad.
One thing my wife does that drives me mad is to constantly ignore the simple rule “Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” So much of what Trump et al. do is just so dumb, the only thing that prevents them being rode out of town on a rail is that about 40% of America is even dumber.
As a freebie, the Chrome game Crosswords Arena is a deal, but I wonder if the English dictionary is cobbled together by non-English speakers…
Here is a game I won:
My last word was “KAT”.
Now the only way that is an English word is as a spelling variant of “khat” which is common word for an African plant.
Oh well, the computer is easy enough to beat, at least if I’m not under the clock.
.@kaltoons draws…President Trump’s poor impulse control. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/y9MDhBwZMv
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) March 21, 2017
re: #9 freetoken
As a freebie, the Chrome game Crosswords Arena is a deal, but I wonder if the English dictionary is cobbled together by non-English speakers…
Here is a game I won:
[Embedded content]
My last word was “KAT”.
Now the only way that is an English word is as a spelling variant of “khat” which is common word for an African plant.
Oh well, the computer is easy enough to beat, at least if I’m not under the clock.
Well, it is held as an acceptable alternative spelling.
kat
or khat, qat
[kaht]noun
1.
an evergreen shrub, Catha edulis, of Arabia and Africa, the leaves of which are used as a narcotic when chewed or made into a beverage.
re: #12 Anymouse
But the game’s dictionary won’t accept “DANE”, but that was a word to describe any of the invaders into England during Danelaw.
re: #8 Blind Frog Belly White
Olbermann has it right. Anyone who thinks Trump is playing 12th dimensional chess is not paying attention. To me, it was obvious during the campaign - he would stomp all over what would have been a really bad news cycle for Clinton to make himself look bad.
One thing my wife does that drives me mad is to constantly ignore the simple rule “Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” So much of what Trump et al. do is just so dumb, the only thing that prevents them being rode out of town on a rail is that about 40% of America is even dumber.
And 60% don’t even bother to get off their asses and vote.
re: #13 freetoken
But the game’s dictionary won’t accept “DANE”, but that was a word to describe any of the invaders into England during Danelaw.
Bloody Vikings…
re: #8 Blind Frog Belly White
Olbermann has it right. Anyone who thinks Trump is playing 12th dimensional chess is not paying attention.
Anyone who thinks that is just as ignorant as the yam.
Anyone who knows even the basics of chess realizes that it’s the Queen who wins in the end..never the King.
My computer just borked. I need to restart it. BRB you poor devils.
God Emperor? Well, maybe not… pic.twitter.com/2YuJdkcRh0
— Kragar (@Kragar_LGF) March 22, 2017
re: #17 Anymouse
My computer just borked. I need to restart it. BRB you poor devils.
Your computer grew a Brillo Pad on the bottom of its monitor?
That’s just creepy as shit, dude.
Tomorrow’s front:
DR. EVIL https://t.co/BUDtHG1Uq8
-Trump plots to buy votes for health care plan
-2 beeel-yun dollar scheme screws NYC pic.twitter.com/6M5guH76dy— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 22, 2017
re: #13 freetoken
But the game’s dictionary won’t accept “DANE”, but that was a word to describe any of the invaders into England during Danelaw.
Dane is a proper noun. (In Scrabble proper nouns aren’t allowed, perhaps this computer game doesn’t accept them either).
Humour in logging back into LGF: When I get to the home page, but before I log in, I get the bar of Revcontent adverts to the right side of the browser. They are always variants on “Biblical secret to melt belly fat right away!”
a) atheist
b) I weigh #115 pounds
“…aides describe a nearly paralytic inability to tell Mr. Trump that he has erred or gone too far on Twitter.” https://t.co/nPExWKq6Cx pic.twitter.com/e19Gy4xUMd
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 22, 2017
Former Louisiana Republican Rep. John Fleming joining former colleague Price at HHS. https://t.co/xtabbNukG2 pic.twitter.com/qQ3ZAHdsqg
— Roll Call (@rollcall) March 22, 2017
This is the congressman who posted The Onion article on Planned Parenthood as fact https://t.co/FExsvtCdih
— andrew kaczynski 🤔 (@KFILE) March 22, 2017
Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex - The Onion (2011)
Congressman links to Onion story - Politico (2012)
How exactlt did you get elected? - Literally Unbelievable
re: #14 Charles Johnson
And 60% don’t even bother to get off their asses and vote.
And yet tell themselves they’re “smarter” or “morally superior” for sitting on their asses or voting third party.
I would say we are living in Idiocracy right now, except that Trump makes President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho look like Winston Churchill.
re: #25 FormerDirtDart
Dude thought this was real.
The 900,000-square-foot facility has more than 2,000 rooms dedicated to the abortion procedure. The abundance of surgical space, [Cecile] Richards said, will ensure that women visiting the facility can be quickly fitted into stirrups without pausing to second-guess their decision or consider alternatives such as adoption. Hundreds of on-site counselors are also available to meet with clients free of charge and go over the many ways that carrying a child to term will burden them and very likely ruin their lives.
The remaining space is dedicated to amenities such as coffee shops, bars, dozens of restaurants and retail outlets, a three-story nightclub, and a 10-screen multiplex theater—features intended not only to help clients relax, but to foster a sense of community and make abortion more of a social event.
“We really want abortion to become a regular part of women’s lives, especially younger women who have enough fertile years ahead of them to potentially have dozens of abortions,” said Richards, adding that the Abortionplex would provide shuttle service to and from most residences, schools, and shopping malls in the region. “Our hope is for this facility to become a regular destination where a woman in her second trimester can whoop it up at karaoke and then kick back while we vacuum out the contents of her uterus.”
And now this ass clown will be making important decisions at the Department of Health and Human Services. No wonder we’re fucked as a country.
re: #28 The Vicious Babushka
I would say we are living in Idiocracy right now, except that Trump makes President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho look like Winston Churchill.
You said it yourself, President Camacho is a much better president. He deferred to people smarter than him with important policy and peacefully ceded power to his intellectual and political better. And he let people jet ski in the reflecting pool.
re: #26 freetoken
“dane” is used in other ways.
For example, as a shortening of “great dane”.
Great Dane is a proper noun (thus it is capitalised)
re: #28 The Vicious Babushka
I would say we are living in Idiocracy right now, except that Trump makes President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho look like Winston Churchill.
and President Camacho is in a hella lot better physical shape.
The FBI warns Colorado residents to beware of phone scammers pretending to be FBI agents and demanding money https://t.co/mlVEZLlZQV pic.twitter.com/Ny8nIi3WHj
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 22, 2017
re: #5 Dave In Austin
Anyone watching Maddow? Interesting bit on Russian bots used during the elections
I saw that. Twitter is very good for bot activity. I don’t think it could be set up any better actually.
re: #30 teleskiguy
You said it yourself, President Camacho is a much better president. He defers to people smarter than him with important policy and peacefully ceded power to his intellectual and political better. And he let people jet ski in the reflecting pool.
He was also not a racist.
“The GOP is creating a new patient-centered system that will improve care for all by focusing on the individual.”https://t.co/rh8AeJ8zXY
— Paul Ryan (@PRyan) March 21, 2017
How is it that nobody has ever managed to ask Ryan what provision of the bill, specifically, makes the system more patient-centered? https://t.co/kX1ljHn1yy
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 21, 2017
As a farmer, might I politely suggest you to take your proclamation and shove it where the sun don’t shine…
Today on #NationalAgDay, we honor our great American farmers & ranchers. Their hard work & dedication are ingrained in our nation’s fabric. pic.twitter.com/HG9BGCmSmc
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2017
re: #37 Backwoods_Sleuth
As a farmer, might I politely suggest you to take your proclamation and shove it where the sun don’t shine…
[Embedded content]
Well, I’m not a farmer, but I live in an agricultural community. May I politely help?
re: #38 Anymouse
Well, I’m not a farmer, but I live in an agricultural community. May I politely help?
yes, you may.
WSJ editorial: If Trump “doesn’t show more respect for the truth most Americans may conclude he’s a fake President.” https://t.co/Hpagp2EFno
— Gary Rosen (@garyrosenWSJ) March 22, 2017
THAT SHIP HAS SAILED TBH
⛵️
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 https://t.co/9GdpwJqm9G— darth™ (@darth) March 22, 2017
re: #37 Backwoods_Sleuth
As an owner of farmland (“farmer” is a bit of a reach)…seconded.
CEO of Molina Healthcare (an insurance company) comes out against the AHCA - “I think it’s terrible.”
huffingtonpost.com
Why are groups secretly spending millions in dark money to get Gorsuch confirmed? Judge Gorsuch told me I’d have to ask them. Wish I could!
Why are groups secretly spending millions in dark money to get Gorsuch confirmed? Judge Gorsuch told me I’d have to ask them. Wish I could! pic.twitter.com/PQN3LZ3eL9
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) March 21, 2017
cuteness break
18 months later and he still sleeps with his duck buddy… pic.twitter.com/K6ckevVuuB
— Animal Life (@MeetAnimals) March 22, 2017
stand back and watch the blood spatter if this thing doesnt pass
American spring breakers chant “build that wall” while in Mexico.
ajc.com
The Yucatan Times blasted them in an editorial response.
theyucatantimes.com
O_O
A busy morning over Turkey and the Black Sea.
📡 https://t.co/l0eaKuTwSx pic.twitter.com/iH5nDYnKMZ— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 22, 2017
This is the DECADE of @alfranken
Al Franken never fails to kick ass & take names.#GorsuchHearing #TrumpRussia #RussiaGate #TheResistance pic.twitter.com/HHvzqHi2Dh— Resist🇺🇸Now ☮ (@ItIzBiz) March 21, 2017
He speaks! ……. kind of. @mitchellreports
He speaks! ……. kind of. @mitchellreports pic.twitter.com/EBpGYcWOZP
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 22, 2017
White House backs off stock market boasts as Dow, Nasdaq drop https://t.co/OlMFGL7lhl pic.twitter.com/8f94KVX40P
— The Hill (@thehill) March 22, 2017
Isn’t this where Trump traditionally doubles down and claims fake news? https://t.co/ZAwUn0AwME
— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 22, 2017
The Senate needs to invest in a BOX full of mics, because every time Al Franken speaks… pic.twitter.com/tpHQ0fbQwz
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) March 22, 2017
The IJR piece on Rex Tillerson is up. “I didn’t want this job,” he said to @ErinMcPike. https://t.co/LCDBM0Gsq8
— Dan Zak (@MrDanZak) March 22, 2017
yeah we can see that rex https://t.co/HkHrXwmJm1
— darth™ (@darth) March 22, 2017
re: #46 Anymouse
American spring breakers chant “build that wall” while in Mexico.
ajc.comThe Yucatan Times blasted them in an editorial response.
theyucatantimes.com
Ugly Americans. What nerve they have.
re: #49 Stanley Sea
He speaks! ……. kind of. @mitchellreports
[Embedded content]
It sure looks like someone is playing brinkmanship with North Korea.
External threat (or war) is always good to divert from domestic Dumpster fires.
re: #52 Backwoods_Sleuth
[Embedded content]
He acts like it RT @MrDanZak: Tillerson: “I was supposed to retire in March, this month. was going to go to ranch to be with my grandkids.”
— Dave McW (@DaveMc99TA) March 22, 2017
He should have stuck with that plan https://t.co/G9VTxp4arl
— Karoli (@Karoli) March 22, 2017
re: #46 Anymouse
American spring breakers chant “build that wall” while in Mexico.
ajc.comThe Yucatan Times blasted them in an editorial response.
theyucatantimes.com
There simply is no excuse for that kind of behavior at all. Sigh. Fucking assholes.
Officials: US expects next North Korean missile launch soon https://t.co/nK7aaXfqGu
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) March 21, 2017
Well, that was quick: Japanese sources say #NorthKorea may have launched another four-missile salvo Wednesday morning KST. https://t.co/ME0Vobkowy
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) March 22, 2017
re: #56 HappyWarrior
There simply is no excuse for that kind of behavior at all. Sigh. Fucking assholes.
I’m all for genetic study to determine the “asshole gene” so parents can be counselled about having children. /s
North Korea may have launched missiles a short time ago, per Reuters/Kyodo https://t.co/ajldMRFMpG
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) March 22, 2017
re: #50 Backwoods_Sleuth
S&P 500 today slumped on realization that Trump won’t deliver, which quantifies that S&P reacts about 60 days slower than Twitter.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) March 22, 2017
re: #50 Backwoods_Sleuth
This is where he tweets he knew it was going to happen so he sold all his stocks and ” made a killing”.
No mention of the “blind trust” was made.re: #54 Anymouse
It sure looks like someone is playing brinkmanship with North Korea.
External threat (or war) is always good to divert from domestic Dumpster fires.
We’re living in a real life “Being There” where everyone is Chauncy Gardener, only not as smart.
re: #61 Skip Intro
This is where he tweets he knew it was going to happen so he sold all his stocks and ” made a killing”.
No mention of the “blind trust” was made.
We’re living in a real life “Being There” where everyone is Chauncy Gardener, only not as smart.
And no where near as likeable.
re: #61 Skip Intro
Chauncy knew he wasn’t smart.
And he wasn’t as mean as a piss-drenched weasel that just divorced.
As Donald Trump keeps tripping over his own feet, North Korea seems to be gearing up for a major test of this hapless clown of a president.
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) March 22, 2017
re: #59 Backwoods_Sleuth
I don’t want to brag too much, but I predicted something like this as soon as Tillerson made his stupid remarks about our North Korea policy needing change.
“So far I think I’m batting about 100%,” Trump says.
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) March 21, 2017
Can’t even get the simplest sports metaphor right. https://t.co/wze1lHDn6F
— GangstaYid (@AbuKedem) March 22, 2017
Unfamiliar with baseball. Eats pizza with fork. Does not own a pet. The president of the United States, making it great again. https://t.co/FoYvGsOK4s
— Jason Fagone (@jfagone) March 22, 2017
re: #62 Backwoods_Sleuth
I was going to add that but my finger got tired (damn iPad).
re: #65 wheat-dogg
I don’t want to brag too much, but I predicted something like this as soon as Tillerson made his stupid remarks about our North Korea policy needing change.
lol it gets worse -_-
The secretary of state didn’t want to be secretary of state. He did it b/c his wife told him to. So that’s a thing. https://t.co/0UIptpAE25 pic.twitter.com/2WR5OGheWB
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) March 22, 2017
“The President clings to his assertion like a drunk to an empty gin bottle.” Powerful WSJ editorial: https://t.co/AZ4bDBuaiG via @WSJOpinion
— Bret Stephens (@StephensWSJ) March 22, 2017
Liberal media bias still out of control https://t.co/j0qN737pjs
— Joe Sonka 😐 (@joesonka) March 22, 2017
re: #68 Interesting Times
More accurately, God told his wife to tell him.
re: #64 Charles Johnson
Looks like he’ll be heading to Mar-a-lago early this week to discuss this with whoever is eating dinner there.
re: #60 Interesting Times
It will be interesting to see if the market is ‘hiccuping’ or if it will drop precipitously.
Disclaimer: I can’t imagine who thought that Trump would be good for business, long term, and bid up those stock prices.
.@greta just said #TrumpRussia investigation differs from 9/11 investigation b/c “during 9/11 there was a common enemy”
*There is now, too*— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) March 21, 2017
re: #72 calochortus
It will be interesting to see if the market is ‘hiccuping’ or if it will drop precipitously.
Disclaimer: I can’t imagine who thought that Trump would be good for business, long term, and bid up those stock prices.
Investors don’t like instability and doubt, which we got a lot of lately, what with the FBI investigating the Trump campaign, the AHCA dead in the water, and international relations going down the toilet.
re: #68 Interesting Times
lol it gets worse -_-
[Embedded content]
The lack of sophistication on the part of the CEO of a major company is stunning. What exactly did he think the Secretary of State does that he might be qualified to take up?
Hmmm…could a filibuster be in her future? #ShePersisted
The FBI Director testified @realDonaldTrump’s campaign is under investigation for collusion w/ Russia. Lifetime court appointments can wait.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 21, 2017
re: #55 Backwoods_Sleuth
It’s like he thinks he’s doing us a favor. ** rolls eyes **
re: #76 Interesting Times
Democrats should be filibustering Gorsuch on principle. That vacancy was President Obama’s to fill.
re: #74 wheat-dogg
Investors don’t like instability and doubt, which we got a lot of lately, what with the FBI investigating the Trump campaign, the AHCA dead in the water, and international relations going down the toilet.
True, but there was a whole boatload of instability and doubt the day after the election (when the market dropped.) The big boys have just been following each other in betting that this sector or that will do well with fewer regulations. Now someone realized that Trump is a total incompetent, surrounded by venal, self interested jerks and this isn’t going to be great for the economy. Surprise.
re: #66 Backwoods_Sleuth
Puts money in communion plate in a Catholic church.
re: #75 calochortus
The lack of sophistication on the part of the CEO of a major company is stunning. What exactly did he think the Secretary of State does that he might be qualified to take up?
All this time I assumed it was a ploy to lift sanctions so he could shovel through his $500-billion pillage-the-Arctic deal. Is he making up the “my wife told me to” story to cover that up, or is he genuinely this hopeless? o_O
re: #75 calochortus
The lack of sophistication on the part of the CEO of a major company is stunning. What exactly did he think the Secretary of State does that he might be qualified to take up?
Five hundred billion reasons from Russia with Love… .
re: #81 Interesting Times
All this time I assumed it was a ploy to lift sanctions so he could shovel through his $500-billion pillage-the-Arctic deal. Is he making up the “my wife told me to” story to cover that up, or is he genuinely this hopeless? o_O
He might just be hopeless enough to have let his wife flatter him into doing God’s will-‘cause he’s just that important a person.
re: #80 Anymouse
Once knew a fabulous fellow who did anthropological studies of very wealthy Americans; I very much wish he’d lived long enough to give everyone an earful about Trump as product of an insular culture that we basically deny exists…the people so well off they can just operate inside a bubble where “normal” culture doesn’t penetrate.
re: #66 Backwoods_Sleuth
[Embedded content]
Maybe he can put it in the basketball ring with Ted Cruz.
Statement by the Press Secretary on President Trump’s Travel to Brussels and NATO Meetings pic.twitter.com/m0LDg8MS3E
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 22, 2017
me yesterday: I can’t believe Tillerson isn’t going to a NATO meeting
me today: oh lord Trump is going to a NATO meeting https://t.co/vuJtRReBum— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) March 22, 2017
re: #73 Backwoods_Sleuth
[Embedded content]
Well, she doesn’t realize it but she’s basically admitting that the Republicans don’t care that Russia hacked the election in favor of Trump because it benefited them. If there had been evidence of foreign involvement to directly elect Clinton or Obama, they would have been out for blood but because Team GOP won, they just don’t fucking care. They want their fucked up ideology pushed no matter what.
re: #70 wheat-dogg
More accurately, God told his wife to tell him.
Apparently God’s plan is for him to go down as the most incompetent SS in US history working for the most incompetent president in US history.
I’m ok with that. You don’t want to cross GOD!
Kellyanne: Trump doesn’t know these people.
What about you, Kellyanne. You’ve only been with the campaign for less than a year. Does Trump know you? Does Trump know anyone besides his beloved Ivanka?
posting this again because it still isn’t old…
The Trump Administration so far. pic.twitter.com/ryDPl0HKkw
— Jay Kuo (@nycjayjay) March 16, 2017
Apparently the office Ivanka is taking has been held aside for her since Trump took office, per two ppl briefed.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 21, 2017
re: #86 Backwoods_Sleuth
Will he be bringing his nurse along?
The WSJ, whose owner might see his Sky News deal collapse over the Napolitano falsehood said on Fox, slams Trump https://t.co/yVqiW6RK8h
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 22, 2017
Rupert reminding Little Donnie who’s in charge here. https://t.co/rtoz6hvWxP
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 22, 2017
So, I had one of my pals from the Hamilton cast tell a waiter at Comet Pizza to mention to Spicey that we had Trump bugged
Goddamnit, Joe pic.twitter.com/URNVWeOKd1— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) March 20, 2017
No one has ever had as much fun trying to take away health care from 24 million people as Paul Ryan pic.twitter.com/iueO3mWJaL
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) March 22, 2017
re: #88 Skip Intro
Apparently God’s plan is for him to go down as the most incompetent SS in US history working for the most incompetent president in US history.
I’m ok with that. You don’t want to cross GOD!
God also told several of the GOP candidates to run for the nomination, and they all lost to an irreligious billionaire. God has a sick sense of humor.
President Trump remains steadfast in his commitment to fix the illegal immigration crisis… That is tonight’s opening monologue #Hannity
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 22, 2017
The only crisis is the humanitarian crisis he’s creating. https://t.co/0JsKBhduqi
— Kragar (@Kragar_LGF) March 22, 2017
Statement by the Press Secretary on President Trump’s Travel to Brussels and NATO Meetings pic.twitter.com/m0LDg8MS3E
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 22, 2017
me yesterday: I can’t believe Tillerson isn’t going to a NATO meeting
me today: oh lord Trump is going to a NATO meeting https://t.co/vuJtRReBum— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) March 22, 2017
re: #93 Backwoods_Sleuth
[Embedded content]
And here we are
If President Trump announces that North Korea launched a missile that landed within 100 miles of Hawaii, would most Americans believe him? Would the rest of the world? We’re not sure, which speaks to the damage that Mr. Trump is doing to his Presidency with his seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods.
re: #98 Kragar
But there was no crisis to begin with. Despite the bleating from Trump and RWNJs, there were not hordes of illegal immigrants crossing the border, “invading” our country. In reality, illegal border crossings have declined since 2006, and no one from the 6 or 7 banned countries have committed acts of terrorism on our soil.
Every time TSA pats down an old woman in a wheelchair cos her leg brace is metal, Satan hi-fives bin Laden in Hell.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) March 21, 2017
re: #97 wheat-dogg
God also told several of the GOP candidates to run for the nomination, and they all lost to an irreligious
billionairehundredaire. God has a sick sense of humor.
Fixed /s
re: #100 Stanley Sea
And here we are
But, I thought with Trump in charge all those other countries would be afraid of our manly military might and behave themselves.
re: #101 wheat-dogg
But there was no crisis to begin with. Despite the bleating from Trump and RWNJs, there were not hordes of illegal immigrants crossing the border, “invading” our country. In reality, illegal border crossings have declined since 2006, and no one from the 6 or 7 banned countries have committed acts of terrorism on our soil.
Right! There was no “death spiral” for ACA; there was no “mess” to clean up; there was no “crisis” of immigrant hordes. A few choice words came to my fingertips about the kind of people who would cause real human suffering and even death by these lies, but I felt a higher power drawing me back.
This is what you say about taking a turn on the Homeowner’s Association Board NOT BEING THE SEC OF STATE OF THE US https://t.co/cCCkPXRIK6 pic.twitter.com/QB6NqXvdB7
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) March 22, 2017
“… and I’m giving it to a guy who doesn’t even want it!” pic.twitter.com/tE3K2IWfUF
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) March 22, 2017
re: #105 Barefoot Grin
Right! There was no “death spiral” for ACA; there was no “mess” to clean up; there was no “crisis” of immigrant hordes. A few choice words came to my fingertips about the kind of people who would cause real human suffering and even death by these lies, but I felt a higher power drawing me back.
It’s the GOP/RW gameplan.
1. Develop a platform with no factual basis
2. Create Fabricate a crisis for each plank of the platform, despite lack of evidence for crisis
3. Portray the fake crisis as an imminent threat/disaster to the nation
4. Once in power, enact platform
5. Watch as proposed solutions make the situation worse, creating a real crisis.
6. Blame Obama.
re: #4 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸
Milk Of Human Kindness
And Rep. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, one of Trump’s earliest and most ardent backers on Capitol Hill, announced on Twitter that he would vote against the American Health Care Act after Trump’s personal plea for passage.
“Due to my concern over lack of verification that tax credits won’t go to people unlawfully in U.S.,” Barletta wrote, “I can’t support AHCA in its current form.”
I think I may call my representative, Andy Barr, and tell him to oppose the ACHA because its “Obamacare lite.” Because telling him it cruelly denies healthcare to the sick and poor may cause him to support it.
@seanhannity Let’s see you go down to Alabama for a week and pick crops. You won’t last 30 minutes!
— josephebacon (@josephebacon) March 22, 2017
re: #49 Stanley Sea
He speaks! ……. kind of. @mitchellreports
[Embedded content]
Wow, Andrea, I smell Pulitzer!!
//
What the fuck was she thanking him for?
*facepalm*
Tillerson: ‘“I didn’t want this job” https://t.co/nf3K9tVqQc pic.twitter.com/PlvQaWJmIJ
— The Hill (@thehill) March 22, 2017
What could possibly go wrong?
Trump is going to the NATO meeting in Brussels in May, White House says pic.twitter.com/15cKn3LBed
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 22, 2017
re: #46 Anymouse
American spring breakers chant “build that wall” while in Mexico.
ajc.comThe Yucatan Times blasted them in an editorial response.
theyucatantimes.com
The Comments on the Yucatan Times piece, from Americans, are mostly horrible
Our previous president would have released some kind of statement in regards to this sad and important milestone in American culture.
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) March 22, 2017
But Chuck Berry was black, and we know how Fuckface Von Clownstick feels about black people. Fuck you @realDonaldTrump.
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) March 22, 2017
re: #108 Big Beautiful Door
I think I may call my representative, Andy Barr, and tell him to oppose the ACHA because its “Obamacare lite.” Because telling him it cruelly denies healthcare to the sick and poor may cause him to support it.
Barletta has always been a racist pig. Remember him from 1980 when he was a hard core Reagan backer. Yet another reason why I left Pennsylvania and I will never go back!
re: #45 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸
stand back and watch the blood spatter if this thing doesnt pass
I so want to see that happen Thursday and how Trump reacts.
re: #68 Interesting Times
lol it gets worse -_-
[Embedded content]
Well, as long as he answered humbly after seeing the contortions of the “reporter’s” face.
This is what passes for journalism in the yam era. Sigh.
re: #73 Backwoods_Sleuth
[Embedded content]
Is anyone even comparing it to the 9/11 investigation? I hear Watergate and HILLARY’S EMAILS 11TY more often.
re: #116 Big Beautiful Door
I so want to see that happen Thursday and how Trump reacts.
Don’t we all?
re: #114 teleskiguy
Chuck Berry rolled over everyone who came before him – and turned up everyone who came after. We’ll miss you, Chuck. Be good.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 19, 2017
Our previous President on Chuck Berry
re: #120 fern01
[Embedded content]
Our previous President on Chuck Berry
The only time you’ll see a similar tweet like that from President Pee Pee is when Pat Boone dies.
But then, Pat has been brain dead for years ever since he lost his head…
re: #74 wheat-dogg
Investors don’t like instability and doubt, which we got a lot of lately, what with the FBI investigating the Trump campaign, the AHCA dead in the water, and international relations going down the toilet.
I think this is pretty minimal compared to the kind of drop we may see if Kim Jong Un tries to mix it up with Trump.
PS One of the managers at work told me what his wife (an immigration attorney) calls Trump: “Trumpty Dumpty.” Yeah, Trump has brought her business, but it’s not business she likes. Having to basically rescue people with visas (that she helped them get) from Customs and Border Patrol is not making her happy.
Woah, here’s an angle on the electronics ban I hadn’t even thought of:
.@democracynow It’s blatant favouritism towards U.S. carriers. pic.twitter.com/Om1u2CnrJ7
— CC (@canadiancynic) March 21, 2017
This “ban” affects only foreign airlines, not U.S. airlines. It is a sleazy attempt to let U.S. airlines poach profitable routes. pic.twitter.com/JEPoWC0iE0
— CC (@canadiancynic) March 21, 2017
re: #102 Anymouse
Sometime in the early ’00s, my parents picked me up at Phoenix Sky Harbor. I stalked out from the secured gate area and told them flatly, “Get me out of here before I lose my shit.” I’d just seen a little old lady in a purple pantsuit in the secondary screening area and was NOT HAPPY.
Who knew health care could be so complicated?
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) March 21, 2017
Great thread. https://t.co/wyXOahEaOq
— Jason Karsh (@jkarsh) March 22, 2017
Golly I hope this is a true thing. #ImpeachTrump
@POTUS Sorry, Mitch McConnell said we’re not supposed to consider SCOTUS nominees in the last year of someone’s presidency.
— Parker 🏳️🌈 (@Parker9_) March 21, 2017
Another promising sign:
To be clear: I’m voting against Gorsuch’s nomination and will insist that it meet the traditional 60 vote threshold.
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) March 21, 2017
Man, I always see things late.
Worst things mansplained to me…
In the first year of our 20+ year marriage, my husband explained to me why I should be able to use less toilet paper AND that I get too many runs in my tights.
That habit was corrected immediately. Which is why we are still married.
At work, it’s constant. I am our enterprise agile coach for a very large tech company…everything rolls up to me. I cannot TELL you how many times I have had male colleagues or outside vendors think they need to explain to me, slowly and patiently, how agile “should work.”
They’re pretty much always wrong. And they invariably have less experience than me….been at this since 1999. I just end up quizzing them on their experience with running agile teams in the real world vs. quoting a book to me and it becomes obvious that I don’t need any explanations.
I’ve gotten immune to it now, it used to infuriate me. Now my (male) boss just looks and me and then at them and says, “Well, you fucked up. Now you get to deal with her making you look stupid.”
re: #127 Interesting Times
Somewhat encouraging, but I fear Trump and co will find a way to ram Gorsuch through. Then, after Trump has his guy on SCOTUS, he can really fuck up the country.
re: #113 petesh
The Comments on the Yucatan Times piece, from Americans, are mostly horrible
We sure have a bunch of wingnut trolls in our country.
Worse, they’re going after Canada on the piece as well. (Variations of the “genocide the liberals” that was chanted in Arizona at a rally attended by Republican politicians a few days ago.)
re: #129 Eclectic Cyborg
Somewhat encouraging, but I fear Trump and co will find a way to ram Gorsuch through. Then, after Trump has his guy on SCOTUS, he can really fuck up the country.
Or, alternately, Pence and the TPGOP faithful in Congress may just decide to airlock Hair Furor once Gorsuch is confirmed, because Trump is quickly making them look pretty fucking bad to regular folks, not just to those of us who have always been paying attention to them. The longer Trump is in office, the weaker it makes the GOP incumbents in 2018 and 2020.
re: #113 petesh
The Comments on the Yucatan Times piece, from Americans, are mostly horrible
Those comments are yet another reason why the rest of the world is turning against us. I’m really dreading President Pee Pee going to the NATO summit and truly going out of control to the point that other countries pull out of NATO.
re: #123 Interesting Times
Woah, here’s an angle on the electronics ban I hadn’t even thought of:
No US air carriers are affected because no US air carriers fly direct routes to/from any of the designated countries.
The UK is imposing similar ban to flights originating from a number of countries. It will affect number of UK air carriers.
re: #133 FormerDirtDart
No US air carriers are affected because no US air carriers fly direct routes to/from any of the designated countries.
The UK is imposing similar ban to flights originating from a number of countries. It will affect number of UK air carriers.
Why can’t someone just fly from, say, Istanbul to Spain or Germany, and then fly to New York? Why can’t someone blow up their laptop in the luggage compartment as well as in the passenger compartment?
re: #129 Eclectic Cyborg
Somewhat encouraging, but I fear Trump and co will find a way to ram Gorsuch through. Then, after Trump has his guy on SCOTUS, he can really fuck up the country.
He doesn’t need the Supreme Court to destroy the country; having today’s Republicans in charge of Congress as well as the White House is enough to inflict lasting harm. Most of his Cabinet Secretaries can damage their departments beyond repair. The Republican party today are nihilists who care nothing about the future and romanticize the past; Trump is not an aberration, except for his extreme ignorance about apparently everything involved in governing. Unfortunately 46% of the population saw fit to vote for him despite his obvious lack of qualifications for the position — and they weren’t all uneducated coal miners.
re: #135 Hecuba’s daughter
He doesn’t need the Supreme Court to destroy the country; having today’s Republicans in charge of Congress as well as the White House is enough to inflict lasting harm. Most of his Cabinet Secretaries can damage their departments beyond repair. The Republican party today are nihilists who care nothing about the future and romanticize the past; Trump is not an aberration, except for his extreme ignorance about
apparentlyeverythinginvolved in governing. Unfortunately 46% of the population saw fit to vote for him despite his obvious lack of qualifications for the position — and they weren’t all uneducated coal miners.
Edited with your permission!
Sean Hannity: A president under FBI investigation would present “a major Constitutional crisis” pic.twitter.com/KwdAk4zpjP
— Media Matters (@mmfa) March 21, 2017
Hey @seanhannity, I don’t agree with you often but you’re spot on with this one! https://t.co/YhUbBrRoIj
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) March 22, 2017
Memmmmmreees light the corners of my mind @seanhannity - where is @Judgenap these days? Did he sink the Sky deal? Witting Dupe https://t.co/vumj6ehoEh
— Randi Rhodes (@RandiRhodes) March 22, 2017
re: #114 teleskiguy
It wouldn’t have just been a statement, either - it would have been respectful, eloquent, and sensitive.
ETA: Like the statement he did make. And which I had already seen….
re: #138 Jebediah, RBG
It wouldn’t have just been a statement, either - it would have been respectful, eloquent, and sensitive.
I have to be honest. I really miss this guy. pic.twitter.com/C1okeQMYmi
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) March 11, 2017
I will never understand how politicians who call themselves Christian can read the Gospels and then treat the poor and the sick like dirt.
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) March 22, 2017
re: #140 Anymouse
Because they are just CALLING themselves Christian. Not being Christian.
re: #141 retired cynic
Because they are just CALLING themselves Christian. Not being Christian.
But I’ll be the one who goes to Hell for not saying the right words.
re: #143 Anymouse
But I’ll be the one who goes to Hell for not saying the right words.
You know you don’t believe that! And there would be a bunch of us on adjoining benches, if the words are all it takes.
Remember, Mr. Manafort: The guy who rolls first to the Feds gets the best deal.
“We’re going to need to bring him in”: Senate wants to know more about Paul Manafort’s Ukraine dealings. https://t.co/aw87SuR1NX pic.twitter.com/nXlIuaHlA2
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) March 22, 2017
re: #143 Anymouse
But I’ll be the one who goes to Hell for not saying the right words.
re: #144 retired cynic
You know you don’t believe that! And there would be a bunch of us on adjoining benches, if the words are all it takes.
No of course I don’t believe it. It is what a depressing number of people believe about me, though.
James 2:17 - Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter has died peacefully at his home in Oxford, aged 86 https://t.co/GQjDyBHLoL
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 21, 2017
re: #147 Anymouse
No of course I don’t believe it. It is what a depressing number of people believe about me, though.
James 2:17 - Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Isn’t this a major theological dispute among some Christian sects? As I understand it, some of the Pentecostal/Evangelical sects make faith primary and consider works largely irrelevant. IOW, a “good Christian” is someone who has strong faith and witnesses to others (potential converts), regardless of his or her works, whereas someone who devotes time and energy to charitable and humanitarian work without making it all about Christ is a “lukewarm Christian.”
Thai senator calls a particular Buddhist temple is “a threat to national security.” The temple is very modernistic and unlike any other Buddhist temple in the world. Conservatives in Thailand want to “purge Buddhism of corrupting influences.” Thai police were in a siege with the temple, looking for the abbot, who they accuse of financial misdeeds surrounding a failed credit union.
The temple is shaped like a flying saucer, and is the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
bbc.com
re: #149 wheat-dogg
Isn’t this a major theological dispute among some Christian sects? As I understand it, some of the Pentecostal/Evangelical sects make faith primary and consider works largely irrelevant. IOW, a “good Christian” is someone who has strong faith and witnesses to others (potential converts), regardless of his or her works, whereas someone who devotes time and energy to charitable and humanitarian work without making it all about Christ is a “lukewarm Christian.”
My personal belief has always been that charity, kindness, good works, true repentance, and love are all that matter; and the only value of faith is to bring you there. But then I am not particularly religious.
re: #141 retired cynic
“Because they are just CALLING themselves Christian. Not being Christian.”
I had a “c”hristian on the MMFA site yesterday who called me a CINO. He was quoting from Ezekiel about how we all should respect Trump because he was “chosen” by Godand claimed that for the first time, we now have a “c”hristian in the WH. I asked him if this was a fairly recent way he developed for viewing American presidents and informed him that if is is, he’s a hypocrite. He never answered my question, so I asked him again. No answer. The one time he responded to my response to his original comment, he told me how “educated” he is and listed his credentials. In my response I told him he needs to remove the education card from the deck because I have multiple degrees, and therefore, I am better-educated than he is, that is, if he wants to count the number of degrees one has.
ABC says the electronics ban by the UK and US is based in a credible threat from ISIS.
abcnews.go.com
(more at ABC):
New aviation security measures restricting electronic devices on flights from certain overseas airports were prompted by new threat intelligence obtained earlier this year indicating that ISIS associates were working on smuggling explosives-laden electronics onto U.S.-bound flights, ABC News has learned.
The U.S. government has deemed the threat information “substantiated” and “credible,” according to one source familiar with the intelligence.
Sources said that the airports - in eight Middle Eastern and African countries - affected by the restrictions were not directly named in the most recent threat intelligence gathered by authorities, but determined through intelligence analysis paired with other government information.
re: #145 Anymouse
“”We’re going to need to bring him in”: Senate wants to know more about Paul Manafort’s Ukraine dealings.”
I would not be surprised if Manafort refused to appear before a Senate committee. Some politicians in the Ukrainian government have been trying to get him to testify there for going on about three years, and counting. He is lawyered up big time.
re: #152 majii
Appeal to personal authority (citing your achievements, degrees, IQ, &c) is a particularly bad argument. It does not support an assertion.
“I’m smart, I’m educated” whatever can still be “I’m wrong.”
Does your wingnut sparring partner over at MMFA think that Hitler or Pol Pot were chosen by God (citing Ezekiel again), and if not, how does one differentiate? The passage in the Bible does not say.
ryan’s problems with his precious bill stem from the fact that he gave himself a christmas present and called it healthcare reform, but it isnt anybody else’s idea of a christmas present
re: #143 Anymouse
But I’ll be the one who goes to Hell for not saying the right words.
Piffle. If there is a heaven, you will be there far sooner than the believers in cheap grace and a supposed divine “get out of jail free” card.
re: #155 Anymouse
EXACTLY. My dad had an 8th Grade education and was one of the smartest people I knew when I was growing up. If there was something he needed/wanted to know how to do, he’d read about and would master the information and skills needed to complete the task/job. He built both of the homes I lived in while growing up, with my mom’s help, and ours when we got old enough to help. When he finished our last home, a three level dwelling, everything was paid for before we moved in. He was a sheet metal mechanic at Robins AFB, which is about 20 miles from the city in which I live.
re: #155 Anymouse
Appeal to personal authority (citing your achievements, degrees, IQ, &c) is a particularly bad argument. It does not support an assertion.
“I’m smart, I’m educated” whatever can still be “I’m wrong.”
generally a sign of insecurity, immaturity, and ignorance
re: #155 Anymouse
Appeal to personal authority (citing your achievements, degrees, IQ, &c) is a particularly bad argument. It does not support an assertion.
“I’m smart, I’m educated” whatever can still be “I’m wrong.”
Well, with the exception of accomplishments in the field under discussion. And even so, if your argument isn’t valid, your credentials won’t make it so.
re: #141 retired cynic
Thing is, religion exists in the interstice between the worshippers and the preserved traditions.
There really is no “no, you can’t read it that way” even if it’s utterly outlandish and bonkers. The minute you have text, you have the possibility of interpretation and the divining of “gnostic” meaning. The more commentary you have, the longer the textual tradition stretches, the greater the chance of attenuation of meaning. You can skip about and pick—OT versus NT, gospel versus gospel, Paul versus everything else—until you can justify what you want.
Atop that, there’s charismatic and “spontaneous” traditions that further distort meaning, even though they’re not part of the direct textual tradition. When “validity” of theology becomes attached to personalities that inform their followers what it all means, the text ceases to be a document, but becomes just as significant as a fetish.
The GOP’s current state of truthlessness—an-epistemology, if you will—in many ways comes from how a century of charismatic religion has altered the way the Bible functions for some US Christians. It’s not a coherent text but a body of passages that can be cut-up and re-arranged to “prove” any point; the “hidden” and “prophetic” meanings supposedly present—visible only to key divines, who promote and sell their secret knowledge to their followers—matter more than the very bald statements made; the esoteric notion of dispensations means that the most naked commandments simply do not apply; context—especially Jewish contextualization of the Old Testament, and argument about its “laws” and analysis of its “history”—doesn’t matter…the Bible is “literal” even when so much of it is clearly allegorical.
They’ve rebuilt Christianity to service their needs, but it’s still Christianity—barring a Supreme being dropping down and correcting everyone.
…and it’s not exclusively a crisis in Christianity. The “invention” of State Shinto pretty much fucked up Showa Japan. Right now, Hindutva and the BJP are trying to trim the plurality of Hinduism to create a tidier, conservative religion that services their needs (and deliberately, one that ignores the historic likelihood that Hinduism is a religion that entered the subcontinent via Indoeuropean migration). Islam was built with a number of stringent rules that were an attempt to shut down pluralization of meaning….and they failed almost immediately and sects developed. And the Islamists trying to pack everyone back into “original” Islam are even more creative with their re-readings of law: wherever they’re in doubt, they assume that the issue at hand must be a matter of firm law, requiring harsh action, not something about which there can be disagreement or flexion because it’s not important.
Yep, it sucks.
re: #159 majii
My dad was a sheet metal worker, after WW2, and a darned good one, until he injured his back on the job and was partially paralyzed.
re: #163 The Ghost of Senator Incitatus
In that case, if I’m a spiritual being, perhaps I am Neanderthal!
re: #155 Anymouse
citing your achievements, degrees, IQ, &c
i always tell people that an any intelligent person can get a pretty good idea of how stupid they are, but because of the precise nature of computer programs, a programmer finds out every day exactly how stupid they are
e.g., here, today you were stupid on line 416 where you coded an off-by-one error
re: #163 The Ghost of Senator Incitatus
Thing is, religion exists in the interstice between the worshippers and the preserved traditions.
There really is no “no, you can’t read it that way” even if it’s utterly outlandish and bonkers. The minute you have text, you have the possibility of interpretation and the divining of “gnostic” meaning. The more commentary you have, the longer the textual tradition stretches, the greater the chance of attenuation of meaning. You can skip about and pick—OT versus NT, gospel versus gospel, Paul versus everything else—until you can justify what you want.
Atop that, there’s charismatic and “spontaneous” traditions that further distort meaning, even though they’re not part of the direct textual tradition. When “validity” of theology becomes attached to personalities that inform their followers what it all means, the text ceases to be a document, but becomes just as significant as a fetish.
The GOP’s current state of truthlessness—an-epistemology, if you will—in many ways comes from how a century of charismatic religion has altered the way the Bible functions for some US Christians. It’s not a coherent text but a body of passages that can be cut-up and re-arranged to “prove” any point; the “hidden” and “prophetic” meanings supposedly present—visible only to key divines, who promote and sell their secret knowledge to their followers—matter more than the very bald statements made; the esoteric notion of dispensations means that the most naked commandments simply do not apply; context—especially Jewish contextualization of the Old Testament, and argument about its “laws” and analysis of its “history”—doesn’t matter…the Bible is “literal” even when so much of it is clearly allegorical.
They’ve rebuilt Christianity to service their needs, but it’s still Christianity—barring a Supreme being dropping down and correcting everyone.
…and it’s not exclusively a crisis in Christianity. The “invention” of State Shinto pretty much fucked up Showa Japan. Right now, Hindutva and the BJP are trying to trim the plurality of Hinduism to create a tidier, conservative religion that services their needs (and deliberately, one that ignores the historic likelihood that Hinduism is a religion that entered the subcontinent via Indoeuropean migration). Islam was built with a number of stringent rules that were an attempt to shut down pluralization of meaning….and they failed almost immediately and sects developed. And the Islamists trying to pack everyone back into “original” Islam are even more creative with their re-readings of law: wherever they’re in doubt, they assume that the issue at hand must be a matter of firm law, requiring harsh action, not something about which there can be disagreement or flexion because it’s not important.
Yep, it sucks.
extra updings
re: #149 wheat-dogg
Isn’t this a major theological dispute among some Christian sects? As I understand it, some of the Pentecostal/Evangelical sects make faith primary and consider works largely irrelevant. IOW, a “good Christian” is someone who has strong faith and witnesses to others (potential converts), regardless of his or her works, whereas someone who devotes time and energy to charitable and humanitarian work without making it all about Christ is a “lukewarm Christian.”
That is the classic misunderstanding that hurts Christianity. Even where faith is considered to be primary, works are how you show grace in the world. Works, without faith, at least brings good into the world and as Christ said, those who are not against me are for me. But as James notes, faith without works is meaningless. As he says. What good is it to tell people without food or shelter to be full and warm if YOU don’t give them food or shelter?
Francis recently reiterated his comment that God would prefer a good atheist to a fake Christian. I agree. Further I think we Christians need to act like atheist s are correct and do good because it is right not out of some vain hope of a reward in the sky someday.
re: #163 The Ghost of Senator Incitatus
You can even “prove” that there is a secret hidden message in melting belly fat (as three adverts here noted before I logged in).
I view the Bible as a document reflecting its time and place (while aware that it has been repeatedly edited by various people either by accident or on purpose), and exists in different versions with differing numbers of books depending on the particular faith.
Endless lists of “begats” in the OT really don’t interest me much, though the writing on alleged or real historic incidents shows the minds of the writers.
For Christmas a couple years ago, I got a print copy of the “Skeptic’s Annotated Bible” for my wife (she said it was one of the most thoughtful presents she ever got).
re: #169 Anymouse
I love the belly fat ads.
They invariably involve pictures of (1) sea creatures, (2) tropical fruits from Asia that make no damn sense in the best way possible.
re: #171 The Ghost of Senator Incitatus
I love the belly fat ads.
They invariably involve pictures of (1) sea creatures, (2) tropical fruits from Asia that make no damn sense in the best way possible.
With our secret knowledge, you could turn from an ugli frut or a pineapple to a banana overnight!
re: #168 William Lewis
That is the classic misunderstanding that hurts Christianity. Even where faith is considered to be primary, works are how you show grace in the world. Works, without faith, at least brings good into the world and as Christ said, those who are not against me are for me. But as James notes, faith without works is meaningless. As he says. What good is it to tell people without food or shelter to be full and warm if YOU don’t give them food or shelter?
Francis recently reiterated his comment that God would prefer a good atheist to a fake Christian. I agree. Further I think we Christians need to act like atheist s are correct and do good because it is right not out of some vain hope of a reward in the sky someday.
ive been reading quite a bit about the arguments between paul and james
suffice it to say that james’ jewish, moral behavior oriented christianity has struggled with “faith alone” from just about the very beginning
re: #173 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸
ive been reading quite a bit about the arguments between paul and james
suffice it to say that james’ jewish, moral behavior oriented christianity has struggled with “faith alone” from just about the very beginning
Dadgum Paul anyway…
re: #173 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸
Honestly, I’ve always been a bit “huh?” about Paul. He’s Cousin Oliver.
re: #173 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸
ive been reading quite a bit about the arguments between paul and james
suffice it to say that james’ jewish, moral behavior oriented christianity has struggled with “faith alone” from just about the very beginning
It’s also noteworthy that Martin Luther referred to the Book of James as “the Book of Straw.”
Exclusive: Tillerson urges Senate ratification of Montenegro’s NATO membership https://t.co/QRH2pwoK64
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 22, 2017
re: #177 Anymouse
Well, that’ll tickle Putin.
re: #177 Anymouse
It’s also noteworthy that Martin Luther referred to the Book of James as “the Book of Straw.”
[Embedded content]
huh
figgers since that martin luther shure did make a big fuss about “faith alone”
seriously, actually i like martin luther quite a bit, mostly, except he does really get on my bad side with this and also his anti semitism
re: #178 retired cynic
Well, that’ll tickle Putin.
“Hello, President Bannon? Get our guy in the White House to oppose that on Twitter.”
re: #179 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸
huh
figgers since that martin luther shure did make a big fuss about “faith alone”
seriously, actually i like martin luther quite a bit, mostly, except he does really get on my bad side with this and also his anti semitism
Well, according to one church, they refer to the phrase as “ill-advised.”
Frustrated by religious leaders who claimed this book supported their mistaken ideas that people could buy their salvation through monetary gifts to the church, Luther uttered his ill-advised phrase. Consumed in the debate, he went beyond a proper understanding of the Scriptures and dismissed James’ statements that works are a necessary evidence of faith.
Many people today misapply Luther’s words, not understanding the circumstances behind them. Martin Luther’s life was one of dedication and chaste behavior. But his zealous words and arguments are sometimes taken out of historical context to excuse undisciplined lifestyles.
Jesus Christ expects actions—works—from us: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
(More at the United Church of God Website)
Laying the justification for the “immigrant crime report”:
White House: Maryland high school rape an example why tougher immigration needed https://t.co/pSEprhbM1x pic.twitter.com/16SfW7lkdY
Another use for a holy book:
Mississippi couple charged with using Bible to smuggle meth into jail https://t.co/xcOIPcicV5 pic.twitter.com/hpDCgvjvhs
— Odd News from @UPI (@OddNewsUPI) March 21, 2017
re: #182 Anymouse
Well, according to one church, they refer to the phrase as “ill-advised.”
(More at the United Church of God Website)
interesting!
Blast from the past.
Speaker Pelosie,with all due respect if you are restructuring 17pc of our economy thru HealthCareRef shouldn’t it be bipartisan Work w Repub
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 18, 2009
White House: Maryland high school rape an example why tougher immigration needed https://t.co/pSEprhbM1x pic.twitter.com/16SfW7lkdY
Because red blooded American boys never rape high school girls… https://t.co/b0XN8tmU91
— Kragar (@Kragar_LGF) March 22, 2017
re: #187 teleskiguy
Senator Grassley didn’t spell Rep. Pelosi’s name correctly. How long has she served in the House?
re: #189 Anymouse
Senator Grassley didn’t spell Rep. Pelosi’s name correctly. How long has she served in the House?
30 years this June.
The cat just beat me up for his insulin. Owowowow.
8 Sneaky Racial Code Words and Why Politicians Love Them https://t.co/KgrIrMqWcH via @TheRoot
— Propane Jane™ (@docrocktex26) March 22, 2017
#NowPlaying Bloodhound Gang > One Fierce Beer Coaster > Asleep At The Wheel https://t.co/SBFsmvb6VD
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) March 22, 2017
Whoever was born when this song was released is now old enough to drink. Where does the time go?
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) March 22, 2017
Your tax dollars at work:
Trump sends lawyers after teen for site where kittens can punch POTUS https://t.co/Zhr1Q0YoxI pic.twitter.com/azEwFDVGzh
— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 21, 2017
.@Wonkette was not exactly all-in on punching Nazis.
But who could object if the kittens wanna belt somebody? @commiegirl1 https://t.co/dwLTrD1uJD— Cody Kessler ☠️⚓️ (@cody_k) March 21, 2017
How to move a giant statue. pic.twitter.com/20DGoOuJwD
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) March 22, 2017
re: #156 Anymouse
Does your wingnut sparring partner over at MMFA think that Hitler or Pol Pot were chosen by God (citing Ezekiel again), and if not, how does one differentiate? The passage in the Bible does not say.
Also, the divine right of kings was a concept discarded during the Enlightenment (and even before by Magna Carta) and became one of the foundations of our republic. Trump has no more claim to being divinely chosen than Obama, Reagan, or Millard Fillmore.
Automatic blocking function: activated. pic.twitter.com/JI9HtqsQEz
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) March 22, 2017
re: #163 The Ghost of Senator Incitatus
Pretty much what happens every time: holy man proposes a new way of life and sets down some basic precepts and codes of behavior. Holy man dies. Successors then splinter into different groups, each claiming ascendancy over the others.
Alternatively, a government in power adapts (some could say corrupts) the existing precepts and codes for political advantage. The Chinese Communist Party, for example, finds the Confucian precept of filial piety especially helpful in teaching the masses to honor the ruler and not to question his judgment. Other Confucian principles, such the ruler needing to be honest and cognizant of his fallibility, have been ignored.
Makes me wonder if any of my students have read an unedited version of The Analects.
If you need me I’ll be taping a crap ton of seemingly random newspaper articles to my crazy wall & connecting them with yarn. pic.twitter.com/SVkx3hVnRE
— Frankly My Dear … (@goddamnedfrank) March 22, 2017
re: #173 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸
ive been reading quite a bit about the arguments between paul and james
suffice it to say that james’ jewish, moral behavior oriented christianity has struggled with “faith alone” from just about the very beginning
Right. Even before Christians started calling themselves Christians, there was dissent among the leaders. Peter and Paul also had differences, with Peter wanting to follow Jewish practices and Paul arguing the gentiles would never go for all that.
re: #152 majii
“Because they are just CALLING themselves Christian. Not being Christian.”
I had a “c”hristian on the MMFA site yesterday who called me a CINO. He was quoting from Ezekiel about how we all should respect Trump because he was “chosen” by Godand claimed that for the first time, we now have a “c”hristian in the WH. I asked him if this was a fairly recent way he developed for viewing American presidents and informed him that if is is, he’s a hypocrite. He never answered my question, so I asked him again. No answer. The one time he responded to my response to his original comment, he told me how “educated” he is and listed his credentials. In my response I told him he needs to remove the education card from the deck because I have multiple degrees, and therefore, I am better-educated than he is, that is, if he wants to count the number of degrees one has.
Of course this wingnut had no respect for President Obama, so he is a hypocrite. The bullshit about degrees does nothing to hide this fact, as anyone can see.
Wingnuts appear to be increasingly incapable of communicating, at all. Within their in-groups they hoot and holler at the approved cues, meaninglessly. It’s even worse when they exchange word-things with non-wingnuts. There is absolutely no common point of reference, so inevitably it devolves to some version of “I’m correct because I say so.” The only thing that varies is the kind and amount of insults/abuse that accompanies this wingnut axiom.
re: #199 goddamnedfrank
@goddamnedfrank You mean like this? pic.twitter.com/syAVGOer0f
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) March 22, 2017
re: #13 freetoken
But the game’s dictionary won’t accept “DANE”, but that was a word to describe any of the invaders into England during Danelaw.
We use the Official Scrabble Dictionary, but also make exceptions for dirty words like cum, jism and queef…
re: #26 freetoken
“dane” is used in other ways.
For example, as a shortening of “great dane”.
The OSD accepts “celt” as “a prehistoric stone or metal implement with a bevelled cutting edge, probably used as a tool or weapon.”
re: #28 The Vicious Babushka
I would say we are living in Idiocracy right now, except that Trump makes President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho look like Winston Churchill.
I come to see this as the cumulative result of the decline in in the level of public education since the 80’s: we have people who are unaware of how science, history, economics or government actually work and are unaware of the world beyond their narrow view of it.
re: #87 HappyWarrior
Well, she doesn’t realize it but she’s basically admitting that the Republicans don’t care that Russia hacked the election in favor of Trump because it benefited them. If there had been evidence of foreign involvement to directly elect Clinton or Obama, they would have been out for blood but because Team GOP won, they just don’t fucking care. They want their fucked up ideology pushed no matter what.
It is not a matter of Russians hacking, that sort of behavior is to be expected. But a US political party actively colluding with them to influence an election is another matter.
re: #114 teleskiguy
Not a word - a public statement, tweet, anything - from Fuckface Von Clownstick about the passing of American cultural icon Chuck Berry.
“Sweet Little Sixteen” is already too old for his tastes.
re: #156 Anymouse
Does your wingnut sparring partner over at MMFA think that Hitler or Pol Pot were chosen by God (citing Ezekiel again), and if not, how does one differentiate? The passage in the Bible does not say.
America is God’s Chosen Country, not Germany or Cambodia, for Chrissakes.
Life lesson #6403 : Don’t haul a bathtub upstairs on a rope by yourself.
Wendell Wave followed by Freetoken drip…
re: #153 Anymouse
ABC says the electronics ban by the UK and US is based in a credible threat from ISIS.
abcnews.go.com(more at ABC):
New aviation security measures restricting electronic devices on flights from certain overseas airports were prompted by new threat intelligence obtained earlier this year indicating that ISIS associates were working on smuggling explosives-laden electronics onto U.S.-bound flights, ABC News has learned.The U.S. government has deemed the threat information “substantiated” and “credible,” according to one source familiar with the intelligence.
Sources said that the airports - in eight Middle Eastern and African countries - affected by the restrictions were not directly named in the most recent threat intelligence gathered by authorities, but determined through intelligence analysis paired with other government information.
The UK and the US also said those weapons of mass destruction were a credible threat. These things seem more prevalent under RW governments. Maybe the concept of being friends, making peace in the world has some advantages.
re: #208 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
America is God’s Chosen Country, not Germany or Cambodia, for Chrissakes.
Which is why the original Bible was written in English.
/
re: #213 wheat-dogg
Which is why the original Bible was written in English.
/
I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the RCC’s long-time stance that the Bible in vernacular was somehow improper, and wingnut churches here saying anything but the KJV (ancient modern English that literature students have trouble with) is improper.
re: #214 Anymouse
I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the RCC’s long-time stance that the Bible in vernacular was somehow improper, and wingnut churches here saying anything but the KJV (ancient modern English that literature students have trouble with) is improper.
When GW Bush came out in favor of posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings, some journalist (obviously one with a few semesters of comparative religion under his belt) asked Dubya “Which translation should we use?”.
To which Bush replied, “The standard one.”
He did not elaborate, but I somehow assume he meant the KJV.
re: #215 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
When GW Bush came out in favor of posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings, some journalist (obviously one with a few semesters of comparative religion under his belt) asked Dubya “Which translation should we use?”.
To which Bush replied, “The standard one.”
He did not elaborate, but I somehow assume he meant the KJV.
Maybe he meant the RSV. (Maybe he doesn’t really read the Bible.)
re: #216 Anymouse
Maybe he meant the RSV. (Maybe he doesn’t really read the Bible.)
Assume whichever Bible was used in the church he was raised in, which to his mind was The Standard.
And we see another illustration of the great wisdom our Forefathers had in separating Church and State.
We’re getting more rain here in SF bay. 30.42 inches for the season. I’m thinking we’re going to rack up a record year. I’ve lived here since 1964 and there were very few years where we had this much rain.
re: #214 Anymouse
I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the RCC’s long-time stance that the Bible in vernacular was somehow improper, and wingnut churches here saying anything but the KJV (ancient modern English that literature students have trouble with) is improper.
The KJV, despite their insistence, is not the best translation available, as scholarship since the 1600s has given us a better understanding of the original languages and meanings of the Scriptures. Besides, the flowery, archaic prose is difficult for modern readers to understand without effort — or the assistance of the pastor, who can interpret it in a suitable way.
IOW, the hardline KJV lovers would prefer to keep the obscure language to keep the laity befuddled, much as the RCC insisted the Vulgate was the only acceptable version of Scripture, until it acknowledged vernacular versions were necessary to spread the faith.
Their argument boils down to insisting the KJV was divinely inspired (or guided) and thus all later translations are merely the work of men, and not God.
These are often the same people who reject evolution, plate tectonics, the Big Bang theory, or any suggestion that “truth” is a fluid concept, that is impermanent, subject to later re-interpretation. Constitutional originalists are cut from the same cloth.
re: #220 wheat-dogg
These are often the same people who reject evolution, plate tectonics, the Big Bang theory, or any suggestion that “truth” is a fluid concept, that is impermanent, subject to later re-interpretation. Constitutional originalists are cut from the same cloth.
Not just those theories, but science and the scientific method in general. Ditto for history and the historical method, as they are both in conflict with a literal interpretation of Scripture.
And logic itself, as the Bible contradicts itself in numerous places.
re: #221 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
Not just those theories, but science and the scientific method in general. Ditto for history and the historical method, as they are both in conflict with a literal interpretation of Scripture.
And logic itself, as the Bible contradicts itself in numerous places.
One could add critical thinking skills to the list, as fundies really don’t want their kids learning to question authority.
re: #222 wheat-dogg
One could add critical thinking skills to the list, as fundies really don’t want their kids learning to question authority.
They just love them some teach-the-controversy critical thinking, as long as that criticism is directed towards issues like climate change, evolution or modern interpretations of gender and identity.
re: #223 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
They just love them some teach-the-controversy critical thinking, as long as that criticism is directed towards issues like climate change, evolution or modern interpretations of gender and identity.
They co-opted the term “critical thinking” from professional educators, to conceal their religious motivations for objecting to schools teaching those subjects. Similarly, they created the hogwash called “creation science” and Intelligent Design to provide cover for their unscientific ideas. School boards who are not aware of this sneakiness (lying for Jesus) are easily manipulated to open the curriculum to fundie ideas.
In fact, there is no critical thinking being done in biology classes where there is a “teach the controversy” curriculum. The teacher and texts deliberately misinform students about evolution, or bash the precepts and conclusions of evolution as invalid, in favor of the “more logical” creation or ID concepts. Middle and high school students are in no position to think critically about creationism vs modern scientific theories, because they don’t yet have the background knowledge to judge which is valid. Fundies do their damnedest to ensure the kids never get that background knowledge.
It happens, though it never ends up in the media unless some student or parent makes a stink. In some school districts, biology teachers skirt around teaching evolution as presented in the textbooks to avoid the inevitable conflicts with Bible-toting, fire-and-brimstone parents.
re: #158 William Lewis
Piffle. If there is a heaven, you will be there far sooner than the believers in cheap grace and a supposed divine “get out of jail free” card.
updinged for use of “cheap grace.” Bonhoeffer is one of my Dad’s personal heroes.
re: #226 steve_davis
updinged for use of “cheap grace.” Bonhoeffer is one of my Dad’s personal heroes.
One of mine as well. He was in the US when the war broke out learning from the black churches in NYC what it means to be a Christian in an often horrific world. “The Cost of Discipleship” was one outcome, his almost inevitable execution that he met with grace was the other.
Trump’s honeymoon period with Wall Street seems to have ended.
Live: US markets set for further selling as faith fades in Trump plan https://t.co/dreYIPUjOM pic.twitter.com/LmWiXwniQZ
— CNBC International (@CNBCi) March 22, 2017
re: #228 wheat-dogg
Trump’s honeymoon period with Wall Street seems to have ended.
Politicians use Wall Street alternately as a personal shoulder-patting device when indexes are climbing and and a whip to flail previous administrations or opponents when they are falling.
They can really only be of relevance when seen over the long term.
Remember when it was a political and journalistic tradition to give a new President 100 days in office before passing judgement on their policies and personnel choices?
re: #229 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
Politicians use Wall Street alternately as a personal shoulder-patting device when indexes are climbing and and a whip to flail previous administrations or opponents when they are falling.
They can really only be of relevance when seen over the long term.
Remember when it was a political and journalistic tradition to give a new President 100 days in office before passing judgement on their policies and personnel choices?
Maybe this time they figure the president won’t be in office more than 99 days.
re: #123 Interesting Times
Woah, here’s an angle on the electronics ban I hadn’t even thought of:
[Embedded content]
Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways have been attracting travelers who enjoy their First Class and Business Class amenities, supposedly the best in the industry.
Too bad they don’t have flights to Israel.
re: #230 wheat-dogg
Maybe this time they figure the president won’t be in office more than 99 days.
First thing I do on FB is to delete all the Trump-related postings, be they pro or anti. I will wait until May 1st to comment on what he has accomplished. I can say to date that about the only thing he has done so far that I approve of is to increase the VA budget.
re: #232 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))
First thing I do on FB is to delete all the Trump-related postings, be they pro or anti. I will wait until May 1st to comment on what he has accomplished. I can say to date that about the only thing he has done so far that I approve of is to increase the VA budget.
Yeah, I’d wait to see what Congress does with that budget before you get too sanguine.
re: #233 wheat-dogg
Yeah, I’d wait to see what Congress does with that budget before you get too sanguine.
Let me phrase it this way: that slight proposed increase to VA is the only thing he has done that I do not find fully reprehensible.
.@SpeakerRyan Tweaked this for you. pic.twitter.com/nzqLoxBNny
— Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) March 21, 2017
President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics, The Associated Press has learned. The work appears to contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests.Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Manafort pitched the plans to Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin ally with whom Manafort eventually signed a $10 million annual contract beginning in 2006, according to interviews with several people familiar with payments to Manafort and business records obtained by the AP. Manafort and Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work.
A Flint man pleads guilty to pulling a “Seinfeld”-like bottle return scheme in Michigan for three years. https://t.co/kQtgUUQZCi
— Brian J. Manzullo (@BrianManzullo) March 22, 2017
TOUCHA THA CAKEY
He’s one needy cat pic.twitter.com/Ybn9HJl7lY
— Cutest Animals Ever (@CUTEST_ANlMALS) March 22, 2017
This thead has some cringeworthy quotes from a Trump speech at the National Building Museum last night:
This is, by far, my favorite bit from the president’s speech tonight. pic.twitter.com/xDTMZy9zeI
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) March 22, 2017
re: #240 Barefoot Grin
This thead has some cringeworthy quotes from a Trump speech at the National Building Museum last night:
[Embedded content]
He’s just practicing for his NATO appearance.
LOLOLOL
Former head of Colorado GOP, who said almost all voter fraud is committed by Democrats, is charged with voter fraud: https://t.co/3ZEDq3DnmR pic.twitter.com/C7IgytSHv3
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 22, 2017
One of the most creative (and some may contend disturbed) minds from 1960s-1970s television has passed away.
‘Gong Show’ Host Chuck Barris Dies; Game Show Creator Was 87
Not only was he the creator and host of the Gong Show - one of the original “Talent Show” programs that showcased some of the oddest individuals who ever made it to a television screen, but also he created two of the hottest game shows of the 1960s - “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game”, both of which survived in one form or another for close to 40 years. What wasn’t known to me was that before his stint as a game show creator, he was a relatively accomplished songwriter, with Freddy Cannon’s “Palisades Park” credited to him.
Sears may soon be added to the trash heap of businesses that shoulda, coulda kept up with the times, but didn’t.
Sears has ‘substantial doubt’ that it can survive https://t.co/KwiJ8sG18F via @CNNMoney
— dwayne cobb (@dwaynecobb) March 22, 2017
A member of my family remarked a couple of months ago that someone had encouraged him to buy shares in Sears. I told him his friend was an idiot, because Sears would probably be bankrupt in a year or two.
re: #247 wheat-dogg
Sears may soon be added to the trash heap of businesses that shoulda, coulda kept up with the times, but didn’t.
[Embedded content]
A member of my family remarked a couple of months ago that someone had encouraged him to buy shares in Sears. I told him his friend was an idiot, because Sears would probably be bankrupt in a year or two.
Sears was destroyed by its own CEO, an Ayn Rand loving hedge fund manager.
Greets and saluts from the resistance in NYC metro area. Media reports are fixated this morning on Manafort’s ties to Russia. Oh really? We knew this the moment he entered the fray as Trump’s campaign guy. These aren’t entirely new revelations, but that’s not important right now.
What’s important is that the media is focused on them now.
Trump is one who needs to hire a crisis management team. All his advisers were compromised & he didn’t care. He hired them anyways @RVAwonk
— lawhawk (@lawhawk) March 22, 2017
Note too that Flynn didn’t sign Trump’s vaunted ethics pledge. How can you parse that one? Oh wait: Trump’s such a great negotiator he couldn’t even get his own employees to sign a pledge that he requested all his employees sign. It’s not much of a pledge if no one signs it. It also shows Trump to not care one bit about ethics (again, I’m repeating myself).
BREAKING: Re: Manafort, Spicer tells me: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on a person who is not a White House employee.”
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) March 22, 2017
It was inappropriate for Trump to ever get near Manafort. Or Stone. Or Flynn. And yet he did. They were key cogs in his cabal of cronies https://t.co/N5Q2DjMfU2
— lawhawk (@lawhawk) March 22, 2017
Then, you’ve got Tillerson saying on the record that he really didn’t want to take the job, and that he’d like to get out. Problem is that he took the job, and there’s no one else who wants it under Trump. He’s stuck but the honorable thing to do would be to resign. He wont of course. He’s too busy working the contact gravy train to notice.
Each one of these things would by itself be the biggest scandal in any other administration not named Nixon. And yet Trump’s got all of this going at one time (he came in with more scandals than anyone else in history - and was already under investigation for Russia-Trump contacts, which is yet another unique qualifier for his regime).
re: #248 The Vicious Babushka
Sears was destroyed by its own CEO, an Ayn Rand loving hedge fund manager.
I read an article, and I need to relocate it, suggesting that Sears had almost all the necessary resources to put the Sears catalog online and beat Amazon to the punch — or at least challenge Amazon early in its post-bookstore days — except the willingness and foresight to adapt quickly to the times. Instead, it remained committed to the brick-and-mortar concept even as more agile companies went digital. Plus, as you say, the Sears CEO was a complete idiot and sabotaged his own managers’ expertise by pitting them against each other.
I’d argue that Kmart acquiring Sears was a dumb move, too, seeing as Kmart was losing money even before it bought Sears.
re: #250 wheat-dogg
Yup. Sears (and to a lesser extent JC Penney) had massive mail order business that they’ve vaporized and failed to translate into online sales. So, while Amazon is now building a brick and mortar presence based on their online primacy, Sears had ability at outset to build a significant online presence but failed to adapt.
Lampert’s belief system wouldn’t allow his business to succeed because he constant put each of the business units in conflict with each other to the point where the most valuable thing left of the company is its real estate holdings. The company has no value otherwise - as they’ve sold off Craftsman to Black and Decker/Stanley.
Kenmore isn’t worth anything either, and Land’s End likewise has little value to speak of.
That’s why they’re in the mess they’re in.
And Speaker Ryan has the same kind of math skills and Ayn Rand beliefs.
Ryan would do to health care what Lampert has done to Sears.
And the thing that hit the fan yesterday proves to cling to the fan blades:
Sweden’s major banks caught up in Russian global money laundering operation
[…]
Journalist network OCCRP revealed to international media that banks across Europe appear to have been involved in a giant network of money laundering. Swedish banks Nordea, SEB, Handelsbanken and Swedbank were reportedly either used or attempted to be used in the movement of the money.
According the Guardian, documents show that at least $20 billion disappeared from Russia via the international bank system, but investigators believe it could amount to as much as $80 billion. The money is also suspected to have come from illegal activities.
Around 500 people are thought to be involved, including bankers from Moscow, oligarchs, people linked to the Russian government and spy agency FSB the Guardian writes, also naming Putin’s cousin Igor Putin as sitting on the board of one of the Moscow banks involved.
[…]
re: #252 Teukka
The money laundering scandal is worldwide, and includes banks from the UK, Sweden, and the US (and many other countries that have yet to be identified).
Trump’s policies would relax restrictions on banks, which would make money laundering even easier - and who would that benefit? Russia’s oligarchs who have found ways to evade existing anti-money laundering laws so far.
re: #245 Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Kodos
One of the most creative (and some may contend disturbed) minds from 1960s-1970s television has passed away.
‘Gong Show’ Host Chuck Barris Dies; Game Show Creator Was 87
Not only was he the creator and host of the Gong Show - one of the original “Talent Show” programs that showcased some of the oddest individuals who ever made it to a television screen, but also he created two of the hottest game shows of the 1960s - “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game”, both of which survived in one form or another for close to 40 years. What wasn’t known to me was that before his stint as a game show creator, he was a relatively accomplished songwriter, with Freddy Cannon’s “Palisades Park” credited to him.
The Gong Show. Used to be a TV thing. Now it’s in the WH, running the country.
re: #253 lawhawk
The money laundering scandal is worldwide, and includes banks from the UK, Sweden, and the US (and many other countries that have yet to be identified).
Trump’s policies would relax restrictions on banks, which would make money laundering even easier - and who would that benefit? Russia’s oligarchs who have found ways to evade existing anti-money laundering laws so far.
Exactly.
re: #245 Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Kodos
One of the most creative (and some may contend disturbed) minds from 1960s-1970s television has passed away.
‘Gong Show’ Host Chuck Barris Dies; Game Show Creator Was 87
Not only was he the creator and host of the Gong Show - one of the original “Talent Show” programs that showcased some of the oddest individuals who ever made it to a television screen, but also he created two of the hottest game shows of the 1960s - “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game”, both of which survived in one form or another for close to 40 years. What wasn’t known to me was that before his stint as a game show creator, he was a relatively accomplished songwriter, with Freddy Cannon’s “Palisades Park” credited to him.
And a secret career as a CIA hit man! imdb.com
re: #246 HappyWarrior
Projection thy name is Republicans again.
They have done a successful job of associating Democrats and minorities with voter fraud while they quietly gerrymandered and disenfranchised themselves into a majority.
re: #252 Teukka
And the thing that hit the fan yesterday proves to cling to the fan blades:
Sweden’s major banks caught up in Russian global money laundering operation
See? Sweden is overrun with white-collar crime and its financial districts are no longer safe to walk through…
re: #250 wheat-dogg
I read an article, and I need to relocate it, suggesting that Sears had almost all the necessary resources to put the Sears catalog online and beat Amazon to the punch — or at least challenge Amazon early in its post-bookstore days — except the willingness and foresight to adapt quickly to the times. Instead, it remained committed to the brick-and-mortar concept even as more agile companies went digital. Plus, as you say, the Sears CEO was a complete idiot and sabotaged his own managers’ expertise by pitting them against each other.
I’d argue that Kmart acquiring Sears was a dumb move, too, seeing as Kmart was losing money even before it bought Sears.
Even stranger is when you look at Sears’ history. It began as a mail order company utilizing the railroad. Jumping heavily onto the Internet would have been true to its history.
re: #239 The Vicious Babushka
TOUCHA THA CAKEY
[Embedded content]
I love the cat’s expression at the beginning of the video. It’s almost human-like. I’ve seen that expression before on people…that studied look of “hmmm, that looks and smells good, I probably shouldn’t, but I think I’ll have a piece.”
re: #250 wheat-dogg
Hey-I was there when the whole sad story went down when Sears sold their Golden Calf off (Sears Credit-the largest private label card portfolio in the nation and perennial moneymaker) to Citi and lan lacy made the bet to go at it alone as a standalone retail enterprise.