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Friday, June 29, 2018

Weekend!

  Enjoy the weekend, see you bright and early Monday morning.

work by Monet

Bonnie

NY Daily News: Bonnie the wonder cow flees N.Y. farm, becomes a 'deer,' survives winter and is saved from slaughter By Brian Niemietz

Message To Trump

Yahoo: Capital Gazette Reporter To Trump: 'I Couldn't Give A F**k' About Your Prayers by Mary Papenfuss

Stephen Colbert - Jon Stewart Is Ready To Negotiate With Donald Trump

'Lindy Hop Hellzapoppin'

Bromance

Salon: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin plan a summit: Our president remains suspiciously eager to please - Let’s ask this one more time, slowly: Why is Donald Trump so delighted to do everything Vladimir Putin wants? by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Frugal Couple Saves Money By Making Own Porn

The Onion: Frugal Couple Saves Money By Making Own Porn

Life Span

NY Times: How Long Can We Live? The Limit Hasn’t Been Reached, Study Finds - The mortality rate flattens among the oldest of the old, a study of elderly Italians concludes, suggesting that the oldest humans have not yet reached the limits of life span. By Carl Zimmer

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Margarita Fick, this is papel picado, they are cut out of paper.





Lawrence O'Donnell - Is Trump Trying To Dismantle NATO And The EU?

Rachel Maddow - Hundreds Of Women Arrested At Protest Of Trump Border Policy

Sorry Charlie

Palmer Report: Sorry, Donald, criminal suspects don’t get to pick which judge decides their fate by Bill Palmer

Who Is Going To Do This Work

Guardian UK: US meatpacking workers face new hazard: threat of deportation by Ice - In industry where one-third of workers are immigrants, Ice’s largest raid at an Ohio plant strikes fear in local communities

From Prison To Prostitution

Guardian UK: Revealed: how US sex traffickers recruit jailed women for prostitution - Guardian investigation finds incarcerated women are groomed by pimps and forced into sex work once released

Shooting

NY Times: 5 People Dead in Shooting at Maryland’s Capital Gazette Newsroom

War

  Can you believe it, a complete scumbag, Trump, gets to set the Supreme Court for the next couple of decades. Your freaking vote matters.

NY Times: Political War Over Replacing Kennedy on Supreme Court Is Underway

The Market On Friday

  Good morning. At 8:50 a.m. ET DOW futures are +101 and the price of oil is fluctuating above $73 a barrel. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Xiaomi prices its IPO; Deutsche stress; Novartis unloads Alcon by Ivana Kottasová

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Who Indeed

  Read this article.

New Yorker: Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Who Deserves a Place at the Table By Adam Gopnik

True

Senator Cory Booker:
"The president of the United States is a subject of an ongoing criminal investigation...that could end up before the Supreme Court," so any Trump SCOTUS nomination should be "delayed until the Mueller investigation is concluded."

Chuckle

Every ten years, the monks in the monastery are allowed to break their vow of silence to speak two words. Ten years go by and it’s one monk’s first chance. He thinks for a second before saying, “Food bad.” Ten years later, he says, “Bed hard.” It’s the big day, a decade later. He gives the head monk a long stare and says, “I quit.” “I’m not surprised,” the head monk says. “You’ve been complaining ever since you got here.”

The Blame Goes To Trump

WTKR: Four dead after shooting at Maryland newspaper office

Carpenter V. United States

Ars Technica: Supreme Court surveillance opinion nudges us to think nationally, act locally - Op-ed: Think police have gone too far? Tell your city council. Seriously. by Cyrus Farivar
With the court clearly imposing a warrant standard, police just have to do a little more legwork ahead of time, but getting a warrant is not difficult.

Mitch

Salon: Another Supreme Court seat: Another big win for Mitch McConnell and the anti-abortion movement - With Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, Mitch McConnell’s cynical Merrick Garland ploy goes from big to massive by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - App Knows It’s Gone Next Time Man Needs Space For Photos

The Onion: App Knows It’s Gone Next Time Man Needs Space For Photos

Loss

NPR: Tropical Forests Suffered 2nd-Worst Loss Of Trees On Record Last Year

'Don't Be A Sucker'

  Anti-fascist film from 1947.

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Berthe Morisot




Lawrence O'Donnell - Judge Orders Trump Admin. To Reunite Families Within 30 Days

Rachel Maddow - Democrats Face Day 1 Of Winnable Fight For Supreme Court's Future

The Biggest Loser

Palmer Report: The only guaranteed loser in this mess: Donald Trump by Bill Palmer

Seeing Red

Guardian UK: How the Red Hen affair broke America's civility wars wide open - A restaurant’s choice to eject Trump’s press secretary stoked debate on how liberals should behave in an era of outrage
In short, Democrats of all persuasions are wrestling with what the proper response is to Trump’s age of outrage. Is it (to quote Michelle Obama) “When they go low, we go high” or “Fight fire with fire”?

Democracy Is At Stake

Guardian UK: 'Democracy is at stake': Anthony Kennedy's exit causes a political earthquake - Democrats warn successor ‘could radically alter the course of justice’ and help Trump put an enduring stamp on America
The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy is a political earthquake that could affect millions of lives and allow Donald Trump to put a stamp on America that will endure long after he leaves the White House.

Trump's America

NY Times: Trump Remakes America By Charles M. Blow
Donald Trump, a lying, bullying, womanizing autocrat-idolizer, is fundamentally transforming America in very real and lasting ways, in ways that have left decent people slack-jawed, enraged and exasperated.

He has overtaken and destroyed the structure of the Republican Party, unleashing its ugliest elements to chant his praise and stroke his ego like drunken apostates dancing around a golden calf.

Buckle Up

NY Times: Kennedy Retirement Injects an Inflammatory New Issue Into Midterms
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s announcement on Wednesday that he would retire this summer immediately thrust the high court to the center of the battle for control of the Senate, with Republicans daring red-state Democrats to oppose the nominee to replace Justice Kennedy, and Democrats warning that a rush to seat a new justice before the election would further galvanize moderate and liberal voters.

The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -139 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

CNN: Yuan pressure; EU summit; Disney win by Ivana Kottasová

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Bourbon

The Atlantic: Bourbon Is the Latest Victim of Trump's Trade War - How a spat over aluminum and steel could threaten the American spirit’s growing international presence by Yasmeen Serhan

Hugs Sarah


Retire

  Say goodbye to legal abortion.

NPR: Supreme Court To Lose Its Swing Voter: Justice Anthony Kennedy To Retire

Guilty

Newsweek: Jeff Sessions Charged With ‘Child Abuse’ by United Methodist Church Members After Implementing Child Separation Policy By Ramsey Touchberry

Goals Vs Reality

Guardian UK: North Korea making 'rapid' upgrades to nuclear reactor despite summit pledges - Monitoring group says work shows why a denuclearisation deal rather than a ‘statement of lofty goals’ is needed

Craven Enabler

Salon: Democracy in peril: With the Supreme Court backing down, who will stop Donald Trump? Congress has become a craven enabler, and the high court just gave Trump free rein. It’s all up to Mueller now by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - ASPCA Report Warns That Many Americans Are Not Giving Their Dogs Correct Name

The Onion: ASPCA Report Warns That Many Americans Are Not Giving Their Dogs Correct Name

Beating The Odds

NPR: What Can Cancer Specialists Learn From Patients Who Beat All The Odds?

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Piet Mondrian 1872 - 1944





Lawrence O'Donnell - Confusion Over Number Of Migrant Children In HHS Custody

Rachel Maddow - SCOTUS Conservatives Repudiate Yet Echo Korematsu On Muslim Ban

The Ruling

The Palmer Report: Well, we’re in it now by Bill Palmer

Un-American

Guardian UK: Donald Trump is the most un-American president in living memory - Where his predecessors reaffirmed US values, Trump has surrendered them with his words, thoughts and actions on immigration by Richard Wolffe
But in his own words, thoughts and actions, Trump is surely the most un-American president in living memory. It is no small irony that he wraps his un-American activities in the flag.

Where his predecessors saw it as part of their job to reaffirm the American idea, Trump has entirely surrendered this position. Even in the darkest days of the war on terror – with an administration that justified waterboarding and indefinite detention at Guantánamo Bay – former president George W Bush cast his worldview as fundamentally American: “Stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty,” he said in 2003.

Difficult

  This seems promising.

Guardian UK: Make America talk again: the lab teaching sworn enemies to have decent conversations - Could the secret to healing a riven politics lie in a Difficult Conversations Laboratory?
Participants sign a waiver warning them that the experiments could cause stress or unpleasant feelings, before they are surveyed on a range of fraught topics, from abortion to the Israel-Palestine conflict. They are paired with someone who utterly disagrees with them and asked to talk things through around a small conference table. All while being recorded.

Bigoted, Feckless, And Disgraceful

NY Times: Bigoted and Feckless, the Travel Ban Is Pure Trump By The Editorial Board
On Tuesday morning the five conservative justices of the Supreme Court — including the one who got the job only because Senate Republicans stole a seat and held it open for him — voted to uphold President Trump’s travel ban, which indefinitely bars most people from five majority-Muslim countries, and certain citizens from two other countries, from entering the United States.

Whoa

NY Times: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defeats Joseph Crowley in Major Democratic House Upset
Representative Joseph Crowley of New York, once seen as a possible successor to Nancy Pelosi as Democratic leader of the House, suffered a shocking primary defeat on Tuesday...

Mr. Crowley was defeated by a 28-year-old political newcomer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former organizer for Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign...

The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. At 9:10 a.m. ET DOW futures are +18 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open modestly higher.

CNN: Investment restrictions; Oil surge; GE relief by Ivana Kottasová

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Rejects

ABC7: Judge rejects Manafort's effort to dismiss Mueller indictment as overreach

Crisis

NY Times: We Have a Crisis of Democracy, Not Manners By Michelle Goldberg

Schmidt - By A Fluke, Voters Elected An Imbecilic Con Man

No Requirement

Reuters: U.S. urges judge not to require reuniting of immigrant families by Jonathan Stempel

Harley

The Atlantic: Uneasy Riders: Trump’s War on Harley - The iconic motorcycle-maker’s decision to move some operations overseas isn’t only about the president’s tariffs. by Krishnadev Calamur

Travel Ban Upheld

Axios: The big picture: Conservatives win big at Supreme Court

Buckle Up

Salon: Don’t sleep on Robert Mueller and the Russia probe: It’s about to get hot for Donald Trump - High anxiety for Team Trump: A Democratic senator says, “Buckle up!” Big news from Mueller probe could be coming by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Clay Pot Shards From Dwelling Of Earliest Known Klutz

The Onion: Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Clay Pot Shards From Dwelling Of Earliest Known Klutz

This Woman Is Building Herself A Robot Boyfriend

Making The World's First Male Sex Doll

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Ishiodori Tatsuya


Lawrence O'Donnell - Harley-Davidson Is Losing Jobs In Trump’s Trade War

Rachel Maddow - Surreptitious Video Offers Peek At Impact Of Trump Border Policy

Outrage

The Daily Beast: Detention Camps on Military Bases ‘Smacks of Totalitarianism,’ Troops Say - The Pentagon ‘is participating in a scheme that appropriates the concept of military honor to perpetrate a human rights abuse,’ one decorated veteran tells The Daily Beast. by James LaPorta and Spencer Ackerman
Active-duty and retired U.S. military officers and enlisted personnel are expressing a sense of moral emergency over the Defense Department setting up detention camps for undocumented immigrants on military bases.

“It smacks of totalitarianism,” said Steve Kleinman, a retired Air Force colonel and military intelligence officer.

Conflict

The Palmer Report: U.S. troops lash out at Donald Trump’s child concentration camps, setting stage for unprecedented conflict by Bill Palmer

Dumb And Stupid

Guardian UK: 'Dumb, stupid' family separations harm children, says detention camp manager - Manager at camp close to US-Mexico border speaks out to decry Donald Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy
“All it did was harm children,” he said.

Unnatural

Guardian UK: Why are so many of San Francisco's black mothers and babies dying?
In one of the wealthiest US cities, the racial disparity in birth outcomes is stark: ‘Why isn’t this sounding a bigger alarm?’

A Love Story

NY Times: Trump and Putin: A Love Story

WTF Is Going On

NY Times: Border Officials Suspend Handing Over Migrant Families to Prosecutors
The nation’s top border security official said Monday that his agency has temporarily stopped handing over migrant adults who cross the Mexican border with children for prosecution, undercutting claims by other Trump administration officials that “zero tolerance” for illegal immigration is still in place.

The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are -9 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open slightly lower.

CNN: Bear market in China; GE sells another business; Brexit trouble by Ivana Kottasová

Monday, June 25, 2018

Vile

The Daily Beast: Trump’s Roach-Infested Restaurants Are Vile Compared to the Red Hen - Seriously, some of the health-code violations in these places are disgusting. by Lachlan Markay

Power Grab

Salon: Donald Trump’s authoritarian power-grab: Due process is for wimps - Donald Trump openly craves the kind of power Kim Jong Un wields. Stop telling yourself that he’s joking by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Hamburger Creeped Out By Eerie Soy Facsimile Of Itself On Grill

The Onion: Hamburger Creeped Out By Eerie Soy Facsimile Of Itself On Grill

Tick Bites

NPR: Red Meat Allergies Caused By Tick Bites Are On The Rise

Try Making Sense Out Of It


Have An Excellent Monday

work by Neo Rauch, born 1960




Morning Joe - Joe On Trump Supporters - 'Why Are They Supporting This Man?'

Crash

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump’s distraction machine crashes and burns by Bill Palmer

Bunker Mentality

Guardian UK: How family separations caused Trump's first retreat – and deepened his bunker mentality
“The imagery was so bad that he could no longer justify the policy. You had people out there making complete asses of themselves in front of cameras, from the attorney general to the secretary of homeland security, justifying this inhumanity and blaming the migrants who are coming here seeking asylum.”

Trump Attacks The Red Hen Restaurant

Guardian UK: Trump attacks 'dirty, filthy' restaurant that asked Sarah Sanders to leave - Trump says Red Hen ‘should focus more on cleaning its filthy windows than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Sanders’
"The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!"

Missing

NY Times: Teenager Is Missing After Walking Away From Migrant Children’s Center in Texas
A 15-year-old migrant boy who was housed in a large shelter near the southern tip of Texas walked off its premises on Saturday and disappeared into the borderland, officials said.

No Due Process

NY Times: Trump Calls for Depriving Immigrants Who Illegally Cross Border of Due Process Rights
“We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country,” Mr. Trump tweeted while on the way to his golf course in Virginia. “When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came.”

Consequences To Trump's Trade War

The Hill: Harley-Davidson to move production for some motorcycles out of US after EU tariffs By Jacqueline Thomsen

The Market On Monday

  Good morning. At 9:20 DOW futures are -174 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

CNN: China stimulus; Turkey reaction; Oil after OPEC by Alanna Petroff

Friday, June 22, 2018

Weekend!

  Enjoy the weekend, see you bright and early Monday morning.

work by Monet

Vote Them Out

The Hill: George Will: Vote against GOP in midterms By Justin Wise

All Lives Apparently Don't Matter

The Daily Beast: Fox & Friends’ Host Brian Kilmeade Defends Family Separations: ‘These Aren’t Our Kids’ - ‘Show them compassion, but it’s not like he is doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas. These are people from another country.’ by Andrew Kirell

Paul McCartney Carpool Karaoke

Inept Authoritarian

Salon: Donald Trump’s staggering incompetence: Is this terrifying bumbler the GOP’s secret weapon? From the Muslim ban to zero tolerance and kids in cages: An inept president can still be an authoritarian by Heather Digby Parton

Bad News For The Resistance - Sources Close To Mueller Are Suggesting The Pee Tape Is Real, But It Is Hot As Hell, Maybe The Sexiest Event Ever Caught On Camera

ResistanceHole: News Bad News For The #Resistance: Sources Close To Mueller Are Suggesting The Pee Tape Is Real, But It Is Hot As Hell, Maybe The Sexiest Event Ever Caught On Camera

Off

The Hill: Rhode Island bill would keep Trump off 2020 ballot unless he releases his tax returns By Morgan Gstalter

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Helmer Osslund




Lawrence O'Donnell - Trump Admin Fights Rules On Border Children

Rachel Maddow - As HHS Tent City Filled With Kids, Azar Left For College Reunion

How Indeed

The Palmer Report: How does Donald Trump find these idiots? by Bill Palmer

Stoking Fear

Guardian UK: Demagogues and charlatans are stoking fear, says Joe Biden - Former US vice-president compares situation with 1930s as migration convulses politics
“In ways that evoke memories of the 30s, frustrated and disaffected voters may turn instead to strongmen,” he told a conference in Copenhagen. “Demagogues and charlatans step up to stoke people’s legitimate fears and push the blame always on the other. There always has to be scapegoats. Now it is immigrants, the outsider, the other.”

Arrogant Know Nothing

Guardian UK: Family separation crisis: Trump tells Republicans to 'stop wasting time on immigration'

Barbarism

NY Times: G.O.P. Wants Hungry Kids to Fund Tax Cuts By The Editorial Board
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, if House Republicans get their way, more than two million people, many of them young children, will lose access to the food stamp program known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The farm bill that passed by a two-vote margin on Thursday includes tougher work requirements and new eligibility restrictions that would make it much more difficult for families who need food assistance to get it.

Moral Descent

NY Times: Return of the Blood Libel By Paul Krugman
The speed of America’s moral descent under Donald Trump is breathtaking. In a matter of months we’ve gone from a nation that stood for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to a nation that tears children from their parents and puts them in cages.

The Market On Friday

  Good morning. At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are +128 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: OPEC meeting; Airbus Brexit warning; Stress test results by Charles Riley

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Bad Lip Reading - Trump Kim Summit

Sisyphus

via GIPHY

Krauthammer Dies

Yahoo: Fox News Pundit Charles Krauthammer Dead At 68

The Intercept - Asylum-Seeker Reunited With 5-Year-Old Son

Coffman

The Daily Beast: GOP Congressman Mike Coffman to Trump: Fire Stephen Miller Now - He also called the president’s family-separation ordeal a ‘human rights mess.’ by Gideon Resnick

Stephen Miller - Stephen Miller Takes A Victory Lap On Family Separation

Womp Womp

Instant karma.

CNN: Corey Lewandowski dropped by speakers bureau after 'womp womp' comment by Dylan Byers

The British

The Spectator: What does the British government know about Trump and Russia? Many trails in the Mueller inquiry lead straight to the UK by Paul Wood
The ‘Western intelligence community’ — a nebulous group encompassing Steele, his associates, the US intelligence agencies and many experts in Britain — believe the Kremlin is directing operations to try to shake public faith in democracy across Europe and the US.

The Onion - Recently Uncovered Passage From Book Of Revelation Shows That Prophet Foresaw ‘Violent Reign Of Red-Headed Boy-King’

The Onion: Recently Uncovered Passage From Book Of Revelation Shows That Prophet Foresaw ‘Violent Reign Of Red-Headed Boy-King’

How To


Backs Down - Sort Of

Salon: Donald Trump backs down, for now: But this political horror show isn’t over - This whole nightmare was nothing more than ugly political theater. But for once, Trump misjudged the public mood by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Political Scientists Baffled By Trump’s Ability To End Something He Had No Control Over Just Days Ago

The Onion: Political Scientists Baffled By Trump’s Ability To End Something He Had No Control Over Just Days Ago - ‘This Destroys All Previous Knowledge About The Power Of The Presidency’

Unsupported

CNN: CNN Poll: Americans don't support Trump's tariffs or foreign policy By Grace Sparks

Time To Go


Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by environmental artist Liz McGowan



Lawrence O'Donnell - Will Michael Cohen Turn On Trump?

Rachel Maddow - Americans Finding Ways To Work Against Trump Immigration Policy

Crazed

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump’s sinking base resorts to pure delusion by Bill Palmer

Blockade

Guardian UK: 'Occupy Ice': activists blockade Portland building over family separations - Dozens pitch tents outside immigration office in response to thousands of migrant children split from their parents

Trump's Disgrace

Guardian UK: Without Trump administration plan to reunite families, burden falls to NGOs - Organisations say bringing parents and children back together is an enormous puzzle with no single, clear system

Cruelty

NY Times: The King and Queen of Cruelty By Charles M. Blow
Citizens were outraged. Politicians were outraged. Corporate leaders were outraged. Foreign leaders were outraged. The pope was outraged.

Nothing

NY Times: Trump Retreats on Separating Families, but Thousands May Remain Apart By Michael D. Shear, Abby Goodnough and Maggie Haberman
And the president’s order does nothing to address the plight of the more than 2,300 children who have already been separated from their parents under the president’s “zero tolerance” policy.

The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. At 7:50 a.m. ET DOW futures are -78 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

CNN: Bank stress tests; Trade war victim; Bank of England decision by Ivana Kottasová

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

National Disgrace

The Daily Beast: Trump’s Family Separation Order Does Nothing for Families He Already Broke Up - Kids are thousands of miles away from parents with no reliable way to find each other—and they may never after adults are deported. by Betsy Woodruff and Justin Glawe

Yup


The Onion - Americans Finally Recognize Own Country Again After President Does Half-Assed Job Walking Back Humanitarian Crimes

The Onion: Americans Finally Recognize Own Country Again After President Does Half-Assed Job Walking Back Humanitarian Crimes

Just Three Days Ago

  Trump just signed an executive order stopping the separation of children from parents caught at the border, illegally crossing into the country. Recall that he spent the last several days lying his backside off about it including.
Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen
‏Verified account @SecNielsen

We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.
4:52 PM - 17 Jun 2018

New Tactic

The Daily Beast: DSA Says They’re Coming After More Trump Officials After Ruining Kirstjen Nielsen's Dinner - Socialists ran Trump’s immigration enforcer out of a Mexican restaurant and she won’t be the last, they say. ‘This administration can’t be allowed to enjoy a nice night out.’ by Kelly Weill

The Onion - Ants Having Some Kind Of Party Inside Crack In Pavement

The Onion: Report: Ants Having Some Kind Of Party Inside Crack In Pavement

Believe It When You See It

Yahoo: Donald Trump says he will sign executive order to end child separation policy

Indifferent

NY Times: President Trump seems to be saying more and more things that aren’t true by Ashley Parker
“It’s extraordinary how he is completely indifferent to truth. There’s just no relationship between his statements — anything he utters — and the actual truth of the matter,” said Thomas Murray, president emeritus of the Hastings Center, the founding institution in the field of bioethics.

Wednesday June 20th Is World Refugee Day - The Irony Is Palpable


Lawrence O'Donnell - Babies, Toddlers Held In 'Tender Age' Facilities In Texas

Rachel Maddow - Trump Cruel To Migrant Kids To Drive Immigration Political Wedge

The Moment

The Palmer Report: Here’s the thing about Rachel Maddow’s stunning on-air moment by Bill Palmer
...America is now holding kids in concentration camps, for God’s sake.

Backlash

Guardian UK: Child separations: Trump faces extreme backlash from public and his own party

Death Or Separation

Guardian UK: 'If they try to take my daughter, I’ll turn back': impossible choices at US border - For the women and children hoping to cross into the US, the options are death at home or forced separation in Texas

Numbskulls

NY Times: G.O.P. Moves to End Trump’s Family Separation Policy, but Can’t Agree How By Michael D. Shear, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Thomas Kaplan

The Trump Dystopia

NY Times: The Dystopia Is Here By Daniel A. Olivas
Sons and daughters are being ripped from their parents’ arms — in some cases, literally — and detention centers are filled with frightened children. In immigrant communities, the fear is palpable, with parents asking themselves if they should risk taking their children to school, or going to work or reporting a crime, lest they become vulnerable to a sweep by immigration agents.

Hostage Taker

NY Times: Trump’s Small Hostages By Frank Bruni
Why don’t we call the terrified children whose incarceration is riveting the country what they are at this point?

Not migrants. Not detainees. Not pawns, although that comes closest to the mark.

They’re hostages.

The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. At 9:05 a.m. ET DOW futures are +118 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Chinese investment in the United States has plummeted 92% this year by Julia Horowitz

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Trump Is Hitler

  We are there folks, we have hit the wall. Trump must go. This is not America.

AP News: Youngest migrants held in ‘tender age’ shelters

Strategy

  Could it be that Trump's separation policy is cover for much more objectionable policy? The attention is on the separation but what is also occurring - a space force, the US withdrawing from the UN's council on human rights, a tariff war, and perhaps the firing of Rosenstein and consequently Mueller. What we are witnessing is Trump gaining practice with navigating an incredibly unpopular policy, it's practice for firing Mueller among other things.

Raw Story: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: Republicans plan on ‘firing’ Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein ‘on Friday’

Even Graham Gets It

Myrtle Beach Online: Trump could end policy of separating children 'with a phone call,' SC's Graham says

The Onion - Jeff Sessions Argues Family Separations Only Happening Because Current Law Doesn’t Allow Him To Strangle Immigrants With Bare Hands

The Onion: Jeff Sessions Argues Family Separations Only Happening Because Current Law Doesn’t Allow Him To Strangle Immigrants With Bare Hands

The Onion - Stephen Miller Furious At ProPublica For Only Releasing 7-Minute Recording Of Immigrant Children Sobbing

The Onion: Stephen Miller Furious At ProPublica For Only Releasing 7-Minute Recording Of Immigrant Children Sobbing

Stephen Colbert - Trump Wants To 'Win' More Than He Wants To Lead

'Have You No Sense Of Decency, Sir?'

Human Rights

Bloomberg: U.S. Plans to Withdraw From UN Human Rights Council Today By Nick Wadhams

Prince

The Daily Beast: Erik Prince: I ‘Cooperated’ With Mueller - The Trumpworld insider is under scrutiny for his alleged backchanneling with Russia, his work for China, and his plans for Afghanistan. He defends it all in a new interview. by Betsy Woodruff

Fear Of The Vote

Salon: Conservatives’ anti-immigration fervor is political: They think keeping America white will save them - For right-wing commentators like Ann Coulter and her ilk, it’s no secret: They fear more Latino voters by Heather Digby Parton

Circulated

app.com: Social media post about a party brings 15,000 to Seaside Park by Erik Larsen

Televised Sadism

Spectator USA: Why is the party of Trump comfortable with televised sadism? The President isn’t Hitler. But the banality of his populist nationalism is eerily familiar by Rick Wilson

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Angie Lewin




Lawrence O'Donnell - Religious Leaders - Call Trump’s Family Separation What It Is- Sin

Rachel Maddow - Trump Accelerates Rate Of Taking Migrant Kids From Parents

Monster

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump is a monster wimp by Bill Palmer

Listen

Pro Publica: Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated From Their Parents at the Border - ProPublica has obtained audio from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, in which children can be heard wailing as an agent jokes, “We have an orchestra here.” by Ginger Thompson

The baritone voice of a Border Patrol agent booms above the crying. “Well, we have an orchestra here,” he jokes. “What’s missing is a conductor.”

Outrage Grows

Guardian UK: Trump administration scrambles as outrage grows over border separations - Homeland security secretary claims administration is simply enforcing the law as photos and audio of children fuel anger

The Lunatic Fringe Drives American Immigration Policy

NY Times: How Anti-Immigration Passion Was Inflamed From the Fringe
Jeff Sessions and Stephen Miller spent years on the political fringe in the nation’s capital as high-decibel immigration hard-liners, always warning about the dangers of open borders but rarely in a position to affect law or policy.

Trump Is Sadistic

NY Times: Trump Resisting a Growing Wrath for Separating Migrant Families
“They could be murderers and thieves and so much else,” Mr. Trump said of the people crossing the border. “We want a safe country, and it starts with the borders, and that’s the way it is.”

The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -349 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

CNN: $200 billion trade threat; Markets hit; Volkswagen trouble by Ivana Kottasová

Monday, June 18, 2018

Look Who Likes It

CNN: Majority oppose policy that causes family separation, but Republicans approve By Grace Sparks

Richard Painter - Dumpster Fire Ad

Erased

The Atlantic: The End of Civil Rights - Across immigration, policing, criminal justice, and voting rights, the attorney general is pushing an agenda that could erase many of the legal gains of modern America's defining movement. by Matthieu Bourel and Vann R. Newkirk

Ann Provides Cover

  On cue, nuttier, and more hateful than ever.

The Daily Beast: Ann Coulter Smears Immigrant Children as ‘Child Actors’ - She cited a supposed New Yorker article that does not seem to exist. by Matt Wilstein

The Giuliani Conspiracy

Salon: Here’s what’s buried beneath that FBI report: How rogue agents sabotaged the Clinton campaign - There was no FBI conspiracy against Trump. But agents loyal to Rudy Giuliani were eager to sink Hillary Clinton by Heather Digby Parton

The Borowitz Report - Trump Agrees To Let Kim Jong Un Have Pence As Manservant

New Yorker: Trump Agrees to Let Kim Jong Un Have Pence as Manservant By Andy Borowitz

Anger

NPR: Embattled EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Faces Anger In Farm Country Over Policy

What It's Like

The Nation: What It’s Like Inside a Border Patrol Facility Where Families Are Being Separated - The Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy has overwhelmed Ursula, where children sleep in cages, the lights never go off, and detainees are brought in 24 hours a day. By ZoĂ« Carpenter

Have An Excellent Monday

work by Alexandra Dillon




Morning Joe - 'People Are Kept In Cages' - Inside Border Patrol Center

Morning Joe - Fmr. First Lady Laura Bush Calls Border Policy 'Cruel'

Avenatti Gets Into It

The Palmer Report: Michael Avenatti enters legal fight to stop Donald Trump’s abuse of immigrant kids by Bill Palmer

Art Shooting

Guardian UK: One dead and 22 injured in shooting at New Jersey Art All Night festival - One suspect killed and one in custody, prosecutor says - Shooting at overnight event in Trenton a ‘neighborhood beef’

Sea Level Rise

Guardian UK: Flooding from sea level rise threatens over 300,000 US coastal homes – study - Climate change study predicts ‘staggering impact’ of swelling oceans on coastal communities within next 30 years
...new research finding that as many as 311,000 homes face being flooded every two weeks within the next 30 years.

Amoral Trump

NY Times: I Can’t Go Without My Son,’ a Mother Pleaded as She Was Deported to Guatemala - As a growing number of families are separated as part of the Trump administration’s attempt to control illegal immigration, some parents are being deported before recovering their children.

Sadistic Trump

NY Times: Leading Republicans Join Democrats in Pushing Trump to Halt Family Separations
Republican lawmakers, the former first lady Laura Bush, a conservative newspaper and a onetime adviser to Mr. Trump joined Democrats in condemning family separations that have removed nearly 2,000 children from their parents in just six weeks.

The Market On Monday

  Good morning. At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -203 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

CNN: Oil slides; Google bets on China; Internet tax decision by Ivana Kottasová

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Friday, June 15, 2018

Weekend!

  Enjoy the weekend, see you bright and early Monday morning.

work by Ishiodori Tatsuya

Insecure

The Daily Beast: Donald Trump, The Insecure Pledge in the Dictatorship Fraternity - The authoritarian impulses would be sad, if they also weren’t so horrifying. by Rick Wilson

Share It


Colbert - Trump Celebrated His Historic Summit With A Historic Lie

Admission

The Atlantic: Trump’s Remarkable Admission About Dishonesty - The president is open in his affection for oppressive rulers and in saying it’s acceptable to lie to the public. Why does anyone still doubt he means it? by David A. Graham

Nut In Chief

The Daily Beast: Trump Wanders Onto ‘Fox & Friends,’ Praises Kim Jong Un, Calls FBI Leadership ‘Scum’ - ‘He speaks and his people sit up in attention,’ Trump said of the North Korean dictator. ‘I want my people to do the same.’ by Andrew Kirell

NPR - Carl Zimmer - A Science Writer Explores The 'Perversions And Potential' Of Genetic Tests

Off To Jail Manafort Goes

Bloomberg: Manafort Heads to Jail After Judge Criticizes Witness Tampering By Andrew M Harris, David Voreacos, and David McLaughlin

Bust

Salon: Inspector general’s James Comey report: Another pro-Trump conspiracy theory falls apart - Despite furious right-wing spin, all the IG’s Comey report proves is that the FBI was terrified of Republicans by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Mark Zuckerberg Defends Decision To Fly Confederate Flag At Facebook Headquarters

The Onion: Mark Zuckerberg Defends Decision To Fly Confederate Flag At Facebook Headquarters

Biosignature

Biosignature -
"A biosignature is any substance – such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon – that provides scientific evidence of past or present life. Measurable attributes of life include its complex physical and chemical structures and also its utilization of free energy and the production of biomass and wastes."

Habitable Moons

Science Daily: Distant moons may harbor life - Researchers have identified 121 giant planets that may have habitable moons
summary - Researchers have identified more than 100 giant planets that potentially host moons capable of supporting life. Their work will guide the design of future telescopes that can detect these potential moons and look for tell-tale signs of life, called biosignatures, in their atmospheres.

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Anu Tuominen


Morning Joe - Rudy Giuliani Calls For End To Mueller Probe

Of course.....

Lawrence O'Donnell - New York A.G. Files Fraud Lawsuit Against Trump Family

Rachel Maddow - DoJ IG Report Lesson - Republican Bulling Of Law Enforcement Works

Hope Springs Eternal

  I'll believe it when I see it.

The Palmer Report: Today’s the day: welcome to the prison phase of the Trump-Russia scandal by Bill Palmer

Where Is America?

Guardian UK: Sanders uses Bible to defend Trump's separation of children from families at border - Press secretary rejects criticism of Jeff Sessions citing Romans 13 to justify policy and says ‘it is very biblical to enforce the law’

God Help Us

Guardian UK: 'Antsy and bored' Trump nearly left Kim summit in peril, report says - President almost upended summit by wanting to move event forward a day after ‘tense’ staff meeting with North Korean officials

Charity To Himself

NY Times: Donald Trump’s Charity Begins, and Ends, at Home By The Editorial Board
It’s long been clear that Donald Trump’s family foundation, the Trump Foundation, is not a generous and ethical charity, but just another of his grifts. He branded it the way he brands his buildings, using his name to generate income that he then has used largely for his own benefit.

Tariffs

  Trump is setting in motion the circumstances that will be about the worst recession yet. This is my sentiment.

NY Times: U.S. to Put Tariffs on $50 Billion in Chinese Goods as Trade Fight Widens

The Market On Friday

  Good morning. At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -197 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

CNN: US tariffs; Euro tumbles; Upbeat Rolls-Royce by Ivana Kottasová

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Preet Explains

  Preet Bharara describes how Trump used his foundation to ‘funnel money’ into his own pocket.