Sunday Reads: Wow
Posted: September 9, 2012 Filed under: Foreign Affairs, morning reads, Russia, Syria | Tags: Georgia Schools, Hillary Clinton, Mandarin, OJ Simpson, tornadoes 72 Comments » |
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Good Morning
It sure is strange to click on the computer and the top news stories have headlines like these, I mean look at that picture up top…you would expect a tripod shooting out of the ground at any minute.
The Associated Press: A look at tornadoes that have hit major cities
Tornadoes hit NYC; Violent storms tear through D.C. – USATODAY.com
Tornado Touches Down in NYC – Truthdig
There is video at that USA Today link.
This morning’s post will be on the short side. It is five thirty am, and real life has been kicking me in the ass lately…so truth be told, I am exhausted.
I saved this next link from earlier in the week, because I wanted to share it with my dad…he flies ultralights. Putin leads Siberian crane migration in hang-glider – CBC News
Russian President Vladimir Putin, seen here in a motorized hang-glider near a Siberian crane, has drawn both praise and criticism for a number of adventurous stunts. (Alexsey Druginyn/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has piloted a motorized hang-glider to lead a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight.
Dressed in a white costume meant to imitate an adult crane, Putin took part in a project to teach the endangered birds — which were raised in captivity — to follow the aircraft on their migration to Central Asia.
RIA-Novosti news agency reported that only one crane followed Putin on his first flight, which he attributed to high winds that caused the hang-glider to travel faster than usual. On the second flight, five birds followed Putin, but after a few circles only two had stuck with him for the full 15-minute flight.
Wow, talk about a photo op, if this dude isn’t wresting snow leopards or flashing his muscular abs, he is showing a bird its migratory path south.
Check out how this story is playing this morning:
Putin’s cranes vs anti-Putin protesters
Putin’s God Squad: The Orthodox Church and Russian Politics – Newsweek and The Daily Beast
Okay, so that last link was more along the lines of Pussy Riot news, but hey…that Putin is something else.
And Putin’s Pussy fiasco…and crane FAIL aren’t the only bits of Russian news trending today. BBC News – Syria: Hillary Clinton rejects Russian plan for UN
Despite the smiles at the Apec summit, differences on Syria remain between the US and Russia
Sima
dakinikat
ecocatwoman
fiscalliberal
grayslady
mablue2
NW Luna
peggysue22
quixote
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Gosh, I hadn’t heard about yesterday’s tornadoes. I hope the storms missed bb.
Does Putin actually care about wildlife or is he burnishing a feel good image? Regardless, it’s sad that the flights didn’t work for most of the young cranes. Guiding young whooping cranes via ultralights has been happening in the US for many years. They have helped the species rebound after being on the verge of extinction. Remember when the FAA recently grounded the US pilot? They finally granted a waiver so the birds could continue on their way to Florida’s Crystal River area.
I thought this piece on racism from Alternet was interesting: http://www.alternet.org/americas-ku-klux-klan-mentality?page=0%2C0 Personally, I think humans are hardwired to support tribalism. Those that inflame these feelings into hatred (Rush Limbaugh, I’m calling you out in particular) should be prosecuted for promoting hate. That isn’t free speech in my book.
I’d be interested in kat’s take on this piece, also from Alternet: http://www.alternet.org/mitt-romney-poster-child-why-theres-no-economic-recovery-why-are-democrats-so-bad-saying?page=0%2C0 Essentially it says Americans are worse off than we were 4 years ago, but it’s because of folks like Romney & that’s what Dems should be saying.
And what’s with the lack of recent polling? Rasmussen & Gallup are the only timely polls listed on RCP. And what’s with the lack of polling in MA? The most recent is nearly a month old and the others date back to July & even May.
jj, so sorry for the extra stress & worry you are going through. Hope your son is improving. Thinking of both of you. (((HUGS)))
Hi Connie,
We’ve been getting some thunderstorms here for the past couple of days, but nothing nothing like in NY.
Glad you didn’t get hit & didn’t experience high water.
Thanks. I don’t live near the coast and my house is on a very big hill, so I never get flooding. But I haven’t heard about any problems along the coast here. We’re a long way from NY.
{{{{{JJ,}}}}
Sorry you have been so weighed down by “real life” lately. I hope your son is getting better. I sure do miss your comments and hope things will settle down for you soon.
Me too. Real life sucks some times, doesn’t it.
Thanks for the post; it sure does cover a lot of ground for 5:30 am!
Thanks y’all. It has been one hell of a ride around here lately, I will say that.
According to Nate Silver, it looks like post-convention, Obama could become the clear favorite in the presidential race once all the polls are in.
According to Silver, for Obama to have had the 3 point jump he has already gotten, he would have to have been leading by an average in the four rolling polls of about 8 points in the portion of the interviews that were held after Bill Clinton’s speech on Wed. night.
Talk about wow!
There’s a politico piece at memeorandum where the advantage is clearly Obama’s at this point. Even GOP people say in it that Ohio looks to be gone for Romney.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80949.html
I think this election is going to end up being a blowout. I’d even be willing to take bets on it if I had any money.
From the Politico article:
Hahahahahahhahahahaha! What solutions? Romney won’t even spell them out. He has no chance.
I read that and almost laughed out loud. “Just trust me” versus “Arithmetic” is a loser for him..
ROTFLMAO.
Two words:
1. Snowball.
2. Hell.
NW, you forgot:
3. Seamus
HT, I have a bumper sticker that says “Dogs Against Romney”!
NW – brilliant bumper sticker. Sorry for sounding facetious in view of all the things that R/R bring to the table on a human level, but like Connie, I cannot forget what it means to our friends and companions who are not designated as human, but in my view are more deserving of the label than a lot of homo sapiens. Besides which I was just having a romp with Milly the Wonder dog, and she told me I had to bring Seamus into the discussion. Now if I could only get her to react to my commands the way I react to hers.
HT, just further proof that homo sapiens are further down the evolutionary tree than we’ve given ourselves credit for. After all – do any of us speak dog or cat? However, our cats & dogs understand our language. Of course, cats often choose to ignore us since we are lesser beings.
Please read this horrifying article about discipline methods in schools. This happened in Lexington, MA–an upper middle class suburban community!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/opinion/sunday/a-terrifying-way-to-discipline-children.html?pagewanted=all
That is simply horrifying. How can anyone ignore the screams of a child?
Very mature and loving child.
I can’t stop thinking about it. I sent the article to my brother and sister-in-law. I don’t think my nephews’ school does anything like this, but thought they should know. They live in Cambridge. Lexington is a very progressive community. Imagine what could be happening in the Boston schools. And the article says that African American and Hispanic kids are more at risk of abuse.
At least Rose found out that her parents cared and would stand up for her to the end. That’s important.
Good grief, that is beyond inappropriate. Poor Rose. Kudos to the parents for taking quick action and obviously the district school board recognized the seriousness of the actions and settled with the family. Let’s hope that it woke them up and they will take action with the schools to stop this.
Excellent & important article. Thanks for sharing, bb. I would have missed this had you not posted it. I was curious about the author & googled him. Here’s his Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Lichtenstein What an impressive career. Check out the 3 stories about Reagan cronies, stories that ABC network refused to run. Nothing like a Free Press, is there?
I just when in the way back machine to those news stories that were censored, Wow! I have never even heard a rumor about that stuff. Good grief, this country is screwed with the media we have.
I read the book “On Bended Knee” by Mark Hertzgaard when if first came out. What an eye opener that was! I was subscribing the Mother Jones back then too, so the stories aren’t new to me. But I don’t recall Bill Lichtenstein and I listed to WBCN from the very beginning. Thanks for that info.
Here’s another important piece about schools – those in Chicago & good old Rahm Emanual vs the teachers’ union. Too bad “nice” words about educating America’s children doesn’t translate into actually improving public schools & the education the children receive.
Oops – might help to include the darn link: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11365-selling-the-soul-of-public-education
That is appalling!
I hope the parents sue and get the perpetrators banned from any jobs with children forever.
Despite the warnings of possible tornados in the region Saturday, our family gathered in Brimfield for a barbecue/birthday party for my 10 yr old granddaughter.
Suffice to say the storms passed us by but I also came away with a feeling of “satisfaction” when my son from Boston declared that owing to the speech made by Bill Clinton at the Dem Convention he came away convinced of how he will vote in November.
My son works is VP of HR in a topflight Boston firm. Surrounded by “country club Repups”, but with a fierce wife, a dedicated Democrat who loathes the GOP, he often can be heard making “sympathetic” statements regarding the GoP which sends both her and myself into monumental temper tantrums.
But having said that, he admitted to be being somewhat “in awe” of Bill’s ability to lay out his case with such clarity. Too young to appreciate Clinton at the time of his presidency, he admtted that he now understands both mine and his wife’s admiration for this man and he no longer has “doubts” about voting for Obama come November.
Apparently having Bill Clinton address the nation in a way that only Bill Clinton can do, did have impact after all on those who were either “on the fence” or unable to come to a firm decision.
His words “I wish Clinton were the candidate” struck musical chords into the ears of my daughter in law and myself. He lives in a world of “not politically inclined” for the most part but Clinton’s ability to outline what really is at stake made an impact on someone who we may have described as one of those “undecideds”.
As a result he may find a few extra Christmas gifts under the tree this year from a Mom who dragged him along to the polls and held signs when he was just a toddler believing he would carry out the Dem agenda in future years.
I did my job!!!! I owe it all to the Big Dawg!
It’s simply amazing what Bill can do to clear things up for people. It’s because he speaks to them as if they were intelligent adults who can understand his points. Most politicians talk to crowds as if they are children and people don’t take anything worthwhile from those kind of speeches.
By the way, I believe Obama’s convention speech was also aimed at the adult in people for a change. It worked with me where his flowery flourishes have never done the trick.
MHP’s Footnote today was comparing Obama’s acceptance speech to Romans 8. That comparison was an Ugh moment for me, but maybe some undecided religionistas will find it inspiring.
I doubt most voters, religious or not, expect the president to be their pastor. But, if it works, I would take it
I think my daughter in law’s constant reminder to my son that this election will have more effect on the future of his 2 daughters also rang a bell for him. And she can be relentless when she has a point to make! Don’t get her started on the environment!
But if you step back and examine that statement it carries the truth of what she is trying to convey. The future of women in this country lies in the next 4 years.
The Supreme Court nominations, Planned Parenthood, contraception accessibilty, the right to choose, collective bargaining, childcare and education. These are foremost “women issues” no matter how you slice the loaf.
The fear for seniors and those about to be are no less important but it is the future of women that is mostly at stake when you shake out the impact of where this radicalization will take us if it is not halted in its tracks.
But if Bill Clinton can reach more of those who have not been paying close attention to this hogwash offered up by the GoP I am forever grateful since it only helps to underscore those of us who still abide by our Democratic Principles that we have had to defent for more years than we care to remember.
That’s great Pat, I wish I could make my nephew watch that speech!
JJ, I hope things are better for you.
Here is a link with graphs of Bill Clinton’s speech (length) which I thought that debate was settled in 1996 State of the Union (1hr 10min). The media hated and made fun of and the people loved it and his poll numbers went up. But the main reason I am adding the link is the word cloud.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/06/bill-clintons-speech-in-graphs/
I think this is the one of the most important things that Bill Clinton did in his speech, Medicaid.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/08/medicaid-as-a-middle-class-entitlement/
I’m trying to get my dad unhooked from Fox News. I don’t think it’s good for his blood pressure or my sanity.
Good for you and your daughter-in-law!! I think when all is said and done Bill Clinton’s speech will be the turning point of this campaign. I thought it was pretty cool when Obama said yesterday that he’d like to make Bill “Secretary of Explaining Things.”
Splendid idea!
I’m tired of Obama not explaining things himself. He was a lecturer, he has children, and he has speech writers, or used to. He’s educable, surely. Bill Clinton will engage with people on the campaign trail and pull Obama along, but Obama’s unease with people has been quite an achilles heel. If Jarrette and his people are upset with Bill for speaking twice the time he was given, then I say it’s too damn bad. Knowing Bill goes on and on is not a secret and he could have been scheduled for Wednesday night and Biden could have introduced Obama. I’ve read that Obama thinks Clinton’s scmoozing people is beneath him. gawd, Bill Clinton’s campaigning, “explaining things”, for Obama could easily keep his numbers up with likely 3 more months of lackluster employment numbers. I live in a swing state that has the 5th highest unemployment rate. He better start explaining things on the campaign trail and in the 3 debates or there will not be enough blacks and base voters to swing my state into his column.
Congratulations, Pat!
I’m going to read over the Big Dawg’s speech (the real one, not the pre-speech transcript) and memorize some lines. Not that my delivery will be anywhere as good.
Mitt shakes the Etch-a-Sketch on Obamacare. Will this work? I doubt it.
Mitt Romney: I’ll Keep The Good Parts Of ‘Obamacare’
I was just about to post that. I’m not surprised, but that may not please his KKK supporters.
Malkin probably went into spasms.
The asshat also said his Healthcare plan would not take place until his second term.
Oh NOES! What about the 33 republican votes to completely repeal it!?!
A fine example of R/R treating voters like stupid children instead of adults. “Just trust us”, heh Arithmetic!!!
Romney, Ryan Refuse To Identify Tax Loopholes They’d Close
I saw this article and it reminded me of watching the Tom Brokaw mix up of a baby aspirin and a half of ambien. This is the story he was trying to tell on Morning Joe.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/robert-rubin-swimming-pool_n_1859987.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
I’d like to think Invisible Obama pushed him in!!!!!
me, too, Ralph.
A very good letter to the editor from the Peoria Journal-Star. It was at the top of Google news for some reason.
http://www.pjstar.com/opinions/forum/x1681146873/Forum-Romney-needs-to-answer-a-few-questions-for-American-voters
Great letter with good questions. Birther commenters are weird though.
And as usual, the comments are quite awe inspiring – by that I mean the etymological (read original) definition of “awe”, which meant dread, horror, terror. (sorry, my pedantic side is raising it’s ugly head)
I have never bothered to read “TV sound off” column at Huffington Post every Sunday because I would never watch that shit. But this guy Jason Linkins is funny as hell. Here’s the link and the best part is at the bottom with the interview with Dancin’ Dave.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/09/tv-soundoff-sunday-talkin_n_1868365.html
ROFLMAO. This may be the best paragraph I’ve ever read about the beltway media. I’m gonna read that dude from now on.
Ralph, I when “in” expecting to come out vomiting. And I laughed my ass off. fap, fap, fap.
I have to say I was in ROFLMAO with,
Gregory’s next question: “When is the last time you got to spend some quality time from someone who is out of work and what did you get from that?”
Funny, that’s the same question I would ask most reporters.
Zandar takes on the Wingnuttia bubble.
Zandar Versus The Stupid: Your Insanity Is Exquisite, Sir
ralph, I especially liked this part:
I’m assuming by “the real economy” John means the stock market & the investors profits. Wages, SS, pensions – that’s not part of the REAL economy. Real working people or retirees, buying groceries, gasoline, school supplies, kid’s sneakers, even the occasional airline tickets or theme park tickets – that’s monopoly money, not the money that truly drives the economy.
Who know what those folks are talking about when they say “economy”? I’ll bet it’s not something that you or I would recognize though. Same goes for 99.7% of their other BS.
What’s with the “entitlement” garbage language by that journalist? We pay into these programs; they are not entitlements. I dislike how the MSM has bought into that Republican language. Probably ordered to use it by their owners.
nw luna, that a wingnut from powerline, not a journalist. though sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart.
NWLuna, I agree,I have been yelling about that word so long I have a sore throat. We payed into that. It is a government INSURANCE program. I’m sick of hearing both sides do it. The people wanting to cut it don’t need it.
pd, it’s not just that the people wanting to end it don’t need it, they want to plunder the massive amounts of money that are currently residing in those insurance (not entitlement) programs. Typical vulture capitalism, if only the rest of the electorate who cheer these ideas would get that through their thick skulls.
I have no idea why people don’t get this.
Great link Ralph, and that link to TPM “America has kinda figured out”, was really good news, that people get that the Pubbies have stopped Obama from helping the jobs problem.
Thanks. I think when people get adequate and honest information they usually come to the correct conclusions about issues. For a long time people have been fed hogwash and I hope that gets better with more sources.
Thinking of Dak’s post last night on the high cost of higher education when I read this editorial in our local paper. Education funding has been slashed badly in our state. Glad to see more comment on the need to reverse this.
http://seattletimes.com/text/2019095785.html
Hillary is not the only person that people was to “pick up”, Funny picture.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/09/obama-picked-up-photo_n_1868870.html
This is what Sam Stein tweeted about the Secret Service: Of the Secret Service agents flipping out over Van Duzer lifting Potus, he said: “He said I was alright as long as I didn’t take him away.”
Here is a sarcastic commenter,
Fox Headline:
Obama greeted by his secret lover.
proof read , wants to pick up, he he.