14 January 2018

Link round-up for 14 January 2018

A kitten goes for a wild ride.

Some animals are bigger than you think.

Turtles and tortoises, tiny and large.

Explore a fascinating tradition of northern Colombia.

Please support this man's business.

Crazy Eddie brings us the truth about lemmings.

Maybe Bannon can get a new job.

Beware of sealioning.

Don't look, don't touch, don't think.

There are some who would support Bachmann running for Senate (found via Hackwhackers).

Ah, conservative domestic bliss.

If this were true, it would devastate the Catholic Church.

Just a difference of opinion, or maybe not.

There are only two words for "tea" (and they're actually the same word).

Here's a case of natural selection in action.

Sexism plays a role in assessments of The Last Jedi.

Sometimes, being nice works (but in some cases it wouldn't).

Certain city workers in Oklahoma have issues.

Whom to exclude, whom to shun -- that's what Christianity is about (as I discussed here).  But this guy gets a standing ovation (another view here).

Green Eagle surveys the wingnut world of delusions.

The marijuana industry isn't all that scared of the crackdown.  Well, their opponents include people like this and this.

Jerry Coyne dissects a scurrilous attack on Stephen Pinker.

The witch hunts of the later Middle Ages may have been about competition for religious market share.

If you have done good in your life, Christianity disdains it, and you.

Wolff's claim that Trump didn't recognize Boehner's name is actually quite credible.

Contrary to religionists' hopes, most Americans under 30 don't support forcing women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term.

Collecting on fake debt is the latest scam (found via Fair and Unbalanced).

Religious belief enhances family life.

Missouri furnishes the latest example of Republican sexual hypocrisy (and perhaps blackmail).

The comment mentioned here never did get posted, so I can only conclude the moderators prefer to leave their readers confused about the facts.

There's no longer much public support for anti-gay discrimination.

Building Trump's wall would face substantial obstacles.

The role of Christianity in Nazi Germany has lessons for us today.

Solar power is helping Puerto Rico recover from the hurricanes.

Telephone harassers use technology in their long war against mankind.

Yes, global warming can cause colder winters (don't miss the two videos at the end, on hopeful new technology).  Some people can't quite understand the situation.

We need more science education -- and more scientists in Congress (found via TYWKIWDBI).

What if Earth had rings?

For the world as a whole, 2017 was a good year.

Republicans try to prevent abortion even in foreign countries, with disastrous results, and bizarrely claim that opposing this is "cultural imperialism".

Trump wants more immigrants from Norway, but they're not coming.

Remember Willem Arondeus, a hero of the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance.

Germany considers a law to deport anti-Semitic immigrants.

A single court ruling could bring gay marriage to most of Latin America.

The new wave of protests shows that Iranians are losing their fear of the regime.

China has built its first "solar road" and parts of it are already being stolen.

A "limited strike" on North Korea would likely bring disaster.

Radical Hindus resort to violence against the blasphemy of having to treat "untouchables" decently.

Mueller's obstruction-of-justice case against Trump looks solid, and Americans believe his investigation is fair, by 59% to 26%.  We must not normalize Trump's behavior.  He's gradually losing his base.  Cartoonists have their say.

Republicans could probably win in 2018 with this plan, but there's not a chance in Hell they'll use it.

Shitholegate continuesThe knuckle-draggers love itTwitter reactsLinks here.  And these people exist.

Democrats could lose some House seat pick-ups in California due to having too many candidates.

Humiliated by association with Trump, "responsible" Republicans try to shoot the messenger. But Mafia-like Republican politics dates back long before Trump.

Hey, Rubio did something good.

Oprah for President is an unwise idea and not what the public wantsExperience does matter.  Anyway, right now we need to focus on 2018.

Want more links?  TYWKIWDBI has its own round-up.

8 Comments:

Blogger AWJ said...

Yeah, the whole "The Storm" conspiracy theory is pretty amazing in what it reveals about the people who believe in it.

Wingnuts in 2012: Any day now, President Obama is going to suspend the Constitution and send his enemies to Gitmo. Oh noes! Grab your guns!

Wingnuts in 2018: Any day now, President Trump is going to suspend the Constitution and send his enemies to Gitmo. Hurray! Drain the swamp! Lock them up!

14 January, 2018 04:52  
Anonymous Marc McKenzie said...

Thanks for the Sunday morning brunch, Infidel.

--I loved the "What if Earth had rings?" video--and now I think I'll go back and try to brush up on my 3D Max/3D modelling skills.

--"Shitholegate" will not disappear--and it seems (hopefully) that the media has finally come to the realization that yes, Trump is a racist, and has always been. yet they dismissed his "Mexicans are rapists!" comments when he started off his campaign in 2015, and for over two years have skirted the truth. Well, now there's no excuse. What's even more frustrating is, of course, some on the far Left claiming that no, it's the Democrats who are the real racists (and Hillary said "superpredators" back in the 1990s!!), and then there's former Bernie-Bro now Trump suck-up H.A. Goodman whining, "But there's no audio, so Trump never said it! And Hillary's going to be indicted!!"

--Mueller's investigation is proceeding far quicker than I imagined...but then again, Team Trump are busy tripping over their own feet in showing just how guilty they are. Also interesting is that Mueller has brought on a new member who is a whiz at cyber-security crimes. Yet some still claim that Mueller is actually going after Hillary--which begs the question, "So, these indictments and plea deals so far are all about Hillary? Huh?". As Malcolm Nance said, Trump thinks he's dealing with some junior attorney from New York and not the man who was the former director of the FBI and someone who has had a long history in law enforcement.

--Yes, we must focus on 2018. This rushing to speculate about Oprah running in 2020 is not useful, and despite my admiration of Oprah I still feel that experience in politics is necessary--and Oprah does not have that. And after Trump, people (hopefully) will not want a TV celebrity running for President. 2018 is the best time to check the GOP and Trump, and it does appear that Democrats are focused on the importance of this year. No purist whining will change the fact that it's all hands on deck for November. If 2017 was a portent of things to come, then the GOP will get a much-deserved shellacking this fall.

(And also, if the GOP was so confident that they will win in November....then why are so many of them retiring?)

--Finally, have you seen the images from the Juno probe mission to Jupiter? They are astounding, truly awe-inspiring. Sadly, no pictures yet of a large black monolith...:) They can be seen here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/images/index.html

14 January, 2018 07:51  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Nofake: For them, it's all about whose ox is being gored.

Marc: Well, some of the rightists also claim Democrats are "the real racists" because BLM is racist, the KKK were Democrats, etc. Most people can see that this stuff is just word-games. And I see a lot of that stuff about Mueller actually targeting Hillary. That's what happens when people get all their information in an alternate-reality bubble.

Even RedState predicted Republicans would make gains in Congress. In the Senate, it's actually not impossible given the sheer number of seats in red states that we have to defend -- but I don't think that's what will happen. It will be harder for us to make gains if Bannon isn't in there backing Moore-like horrible candidates on the other side, but I think we've got a shot at picking up two seats for a majority.

Those images from Jupiter are awesome. If only Galileo could have seen this!

14 January, 2018 08:50  
Anonymous nonnie9999 said...

That kitten has a wild tail to tell.

Are we sure those are really big animals and not really small people?

I have lots of neighbors from Colombia. Do I ask?

I've seen sealioning often. I will answer someone a couple of times (if I feel like it). Then I'll inform the possible sealioner that I won't be responding again.

I have to admit, I'd love to see Batshit Bachmann run. I have a shitload of old posters I would love to dust off.

Using churches to foster hate in this country is nothing new. Remember Father Coughlin? You would hope that we might have learned our lesson, but we have a new bumper crop of so-called preachers enriching themselves by stoking hatred. They are among Twitler's staunchest supporters.

The rings around Earth look really cool, but I still don't know why they would cause Ave Maria to be played all over the world.

I'll bet that Twitler would welcome anyone who gets deported from Germany for anti-Semitism with open arms. Unless, of course, they emigrated to Germany from some shithole country.

I don't think Oprah should run for President. The best idea I have seen so far was from a commenter on Facebook. S/he suggested that Oprah should buy Faux News and fire everyone except Shep Smith. She knows the media. If she had a liberal TV or radio network, it would do more than a run for POTUS would do.

14 January, 2018 19:48  
Blogger Ranch Chimp said...

Lots of stuff here, wanted to leave a few comments, while trying to text as well {:-(

Yes, the reason I wanted to post about cold vs warming is because of how crazy this weather can get and mix people up on what is happening, too many people I hear, thinking global warming is over, every year when we get these arctic fronts (even europe and the globe are experiencing strange intense weather and droughts). Also because I keep up with energy investment news, seminars related stuff ... not enough on renewables, and as long as we keep incentivising fossil fuel investments with the reward that we have been, there is going to be even more extraction. The thing is, we already have the TECHNOLOGY as well, to actually clean up production enormously! ... So NO ... all this slipery talk about what we're doing is just half assed. But I'll leave it there. Back when they were having the Thomas fires through LA, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, I was telling folks here locally ... just wait till the rains come later, which you can see happening now with massive mudslides, even the 101 is closed up there, what a mess!

Yep, heard alot about Oprah for President. I dont even think anyone knows where in Hell she stands on various issues? I'm sure with the proper inside coaching though, they can mold her. They say she is an "outsider" ... my question is "outside of what?". I seen a couple of her interview shows, I think back in the 90's though, which were pretty good, but that dont tell me nothing. You know ... despite the "love" from some for Trump, there is such a strong dislike for him that trumps the love ... that at this point ... you could have Richard Ramirez (Nightstalker) probably get public mass support! ... bottom line ... most folks want a change of guard, and quickly! NO ... I wont support Oprah, unless I have REASON to, and the only reason I see now, is that she is better than Trump (like that's really f'n hard to be), give me something else.

As far as the fed attack on marijuana selling ... I dont know, I dont think that would play well, and cause more trouble and expense than it is worth ... as far as Sessions ... just let it go, dude! Yep, it's still illegal here in Texas, except for prescription pot for sick folks. I am buying it ILLEGALLY, but if it was legal, I probably would go to the store, just to pay the tax on it, I look at it as contributing to my community paying the sales taxes, so it's all good. I dont even hardly smoke, just an occasional toke or 2 (not like when I was young) ... I went to see "Commuter" at the movies the other night, I took a couple hits before I went in the theatre. Dallas County, you can have up to 4 ounces (1/4 lb) without getting arrested basically. This girl from LA told me, that folks without ID, or under 21, are buying it on the street ... but mostly everyone is buying it legally from the stores ... the LA street price is a little cheaper only.

15 January, 2018 06:31  
Blogger Ranch Chimp said...

Credit MIchael Wittmer in Oklahoma for recording the n*gger comments, I'm sure he made some folks angry in doing so too. But this is so common talk or the n*gger jokes, etc ... I mean, even black folks have "perkerwood" jokes and insults, it all feeds each other, and is part of American culture, for years at that. And it's not only in the south ... I seen some county utilities workers off downtown LA once, that told a homeless black man who was a few feet from where I was sitting on a public bench, panhandling and physically handicapped ... these 2 young white guys in their county uniform work clothes ... told him "go find a f'n job n*gger". I heard people in Brooklyn/ NYC when I was a kid, tell me personally, they the dont rent to n*ggers in their neighbourhood, or even allow them in the hood. Folks will say they are not racist ... and I dont think they would go out and try to kill or injure blacks, but what they dont understand, is that every time they push the "N card" ... they are just promoting that kind of racist mentality and feeding the fire.

It was weird reading the HuffPost piece on Norway and shithole countries. Reason why, is because I was at my daughters house the other day when this went down, and some folks at her house was talking about Trump wanting Norwegians here over people of colour, etc ... I laughed and told these folks "how many people from Norway or even Denmark or wherever, would even want to come to live in America?", unless they were professionals with some outstanding salary/ benefits pay package. If I was a working person in Denmark, for example ... I sure as Hell wouldnt want to be here, unless for the weather. Hell, they take care of their people better than America, any given day of the week! The way were going here ... this WILL be a shithole in time for most working classes, unless WE put OUR FOOT DOWN!

On the flip side of that ... after all, every coin has 2 side, eh? ... the piece you also posted, on 2017 being a good year on some things ... so there is improvements as well. Which shows that with enough determination, change is POSSIBLE on many fronts.

Juanita Gomez, killing daughter with crucifix ... I rest my argument that "human sacrifice" is a Christian concept, not Satanic.

Trump Wall obstacles ... I sure as Hell hope so ... what a f'n waste of tax dollars (maybe the Russians will pay for it, eh?), just so Trump can add his "brand" to that too. Notice, the price went up again ... by the time they're done with this shit and all is said and done ... and everyone dips their wick to get a piece of the contract ... we'll shell out f'n $30 billion or whatever, and wont get told it was a mistake, till 10 years later. Bastards would rather cut Vets and Medicaid for this shit. These SOB's up there are out of control!

I'm gonna cook some breakfast for my wife and I ... later, guy

15 January, 2018 07:09  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Nonnie: No need to be proactive with the neighbors. Just be ready to believe the local donkeys if they start posting #MeToo.

Bachmann is an unparalleled subject for your type of art -- as much as for cartoonists. I hope she runs.

Churches have been fostering hatred for a very long time. I doubt they will ever stop, so long as they have any influence.

The ring video did have a curious choice of background music. Seriously, having something like that in the sky for humanity's entire history would probably have caused religion to evolve rather differently.

Oprah could do a lot for the Democrats this year and 2020. Look how rich donors on the other side, like the Kochs and the Mercers, have both helped and influenced Republican candidates. It would be much better than running for President.

Ranch: The thing is, as the material you posted shows, it's not even very difficult to understand how global warming will cause extreme cold in some situations. If Trump and the rest of the wingnuts don't understand it, it's because they don't want to.

Jeff "reefer madness" Sessions is very much a product of an earlier and different time. Marijuana is so normalized now that even a fair number of Republicans think nothing of using it occasionally. People like Sessions can't turn the clock back on public attitudes, even if they carry out a wasteful crackdown for a while.

The funny thing is, a lot of Republicans really believe Scandinavia is a hellhole because of socialism and Muslim immigration. But socialism there basically works pretty well, and the immigration problems aren't nearly such a big influence on everyday life as readers of American wingnut websites would imagine.

I don't think the Russians will pay for a wall for Trump. They already spent plenty buying him the election.

15 January, 2018 08:39  
Blogger Pinku-Sensei said...

@nonnie9999: "Are we sure those are really big animals and not really small people?"

Most of those animals look big, but I see bigger deer in my backyard all the time.

"Remember Father Coughlin?"

I used to live a mile-and-a-half down the street from his church in Royal Oak, Michigan. I used to pass it every day on the way home from work. The place is both impressive and creepy. I'm glad to have moved away from it.

"I don't think Oprah should run for President."

I don't think the Democratic Party is as ready for a celebrity takeover as the Republican Party was. It's been an issue with the G.O.P. in California since Reagan was elected governor. The closest the Democrats came to that was Al Franken in Minnesota. Just for his being forced out, I'm not voting for Kristen Gillibrand in the 2020 primary should she be on the ballot in Michigan. I'll vote for her in the general election, but my primary vote will go to someone else, even if they called for Franken to resign. At least Kamela Harris and Elizabeth Warren didn't start it!

19 January, 2018 05:06  

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