Saturday, January 26, 2019

Snow Crystals


25 comments:

  1. Pardon my tardiness. We got talking and I lost track of time.

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  2. It's kind of stunning to see the Dems in the House actually getting something done. There are adults in DC again. And Nancy Pelosi is a hero.

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    1. Yesterday evening I came across a remark to this effect: It's amazing what Democrats can do when they stand up to Trump's bullying.

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  3. Pope says 'builders of walls' sow fear and divide
    Pope says 'builders of walls' sow fear and divide

    Trump calls the Pope "disgraceful."

    Let me get this right. The guy who had affairs while his wife was home with a baby, who has been destroying the USA, and who uses mob boss tactics called the *Pope* disgraceful?

    I'm so glad the Pope said that people who build walls are not Christian.

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    1. From Fart, "disgraceful" is a high compliment. He wouldn't know moral rectitude if it smacked him in the face.

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    2. Or applied a good paddle to a different part of his anatomy. But I guess modern parents don't believe in physical discipline.

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    3. Well, my eldest is 43 and my youngest is 36, and I have always been against striking a child as discipline. If you strike a child they forget what you are trying to teach them and remember being hurt by you. And they may learn that power over involves violence. I feel strongly that, ideally, discipline is based on loving guidance. I prefer the approach that Nancy Pelosi appears to be taking with the Toddler in the White House: refuse to accept bad behaviour and don't cave in to tantrums. And dhildren are far more reasonable (even before the age of reason...7 years old) than DT...!

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  4. Well, Christians certainly have built walls. Leo IV built a wall at the Vatican, and Constantinople was famous for its wall. After the fall of the western Roman empire, walled villas and cities proliferated. Perhaps the Pope tried to make a point in an unfortunately easy to misunderstand manner.

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  5. Now for the real deal — what is a 'wall'?. I wish I had time to read Page's Page every day. He is the one Tribune columnist I think pretty consistently makes sense.

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    1. Always enjoyed listening to Clarence Page, whom I used to see on The PBS News Hour

      Trenchant quote:
      He’s never allowed himself to be confined very long to actual facts. Why should he start now?

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  6. Just received an e-mail from Our Revolution saying that news outlets are reporting that Bernie is preparing to announce whether he is going to run. Convoluted much? At any rate, I guess the takeaway is, stay tuned. Naturally, I donated. What can I say? I'm a pushover, especially if the magic word 'Bernie' is invoked.

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    1. Yeah, I got that too. I sure do wish they had said whether he will run on the Dem ticket or go Indy.

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    2. I doubt they know. In fact, they don't seem to have inside knowledge, or else they wouldn't be waiting for news reports like the rest of us mere mortals.

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  7. We are watching the History of Impeachment on CNN. The parallels between Nixon and DT are impressive!

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    1. Nixon resigned. He wasn't impeached and at the time I never seriously believed he would be impeached. I can't see Trump resigning.

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    2. Are you kidding? Nixon was an experienced and adroit politician, albeit a ruthless one, whose government ran smoothly and reasonably well for the most part. He was also a highly intelligent, if by the end deeply disturbed man. Yes, his administration engaged in and covered up criminal activity but, to be blunt, it looks like grade school pranks compared to what Trump has been doing since the beginning of the 2016 election cycle. Yes, impeachment proceedings were begun against Nixon and he at least must have believed they would be successful, because he resigned. I do not mean to minimize the damage the Watergate scandal did to our country; but, frankly, IMO Nixon was a piker compared to Trump. My personal opinion has always been that, had it not been for Watergate, Nixon would have gone down as one of our more successful presidents. Even with Watergate, his successes are undeniable. Trump is an unmitigated disaster, whose very few, very minor positive achievements are vastly overshadowed by his braggadocio, his manifest incompetence and his sweeping criminality. Nixon deserved to be impeached and disgraced; Trump deserves to be impeached, removed from office and tried for treason, among other high crimes and misdemeanors, and to spend the rest of his natural life in Leavenworth.

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  8. "Unless there is evidence of a crime related to high office or obstruction of justice that the majority of the country accepts, an impeachment will not bring this country together." ~ Fareed Zakaria, CNN

    I can see that the polarisation could lead to a new civil war. Of course, impeachment would still help the country keep from falling apart from deregulation, denial of science, destroying of the natural world, demonisation of the media...etc.

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  9. Wil saw this on Twitter:

    MAGA = Many Are Getting Arrested

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  10. According to Win without War, Trump is planning to scrap an anti-nuclear treaty Reagan signed with Russia and in fact is currently building new nuclear weapons. Congress can stop him, but what with the shutdown nonsense and everything else he has been doing, there is a danger Congress may overlook this new crisis. It bears looking into.

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    1. Trump has been threatening to do that for weeks. But with Trump, there is often a disconnect between threats and action. And are you sure Congress can stop him? That's not the impression I've gotten from the last two years, but there may be something different about this treaty.

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    2. All I know is what the Win without War e-mail says. There's considerably less sensational than some other organizations I get e-mail from, like Bold Progressives. Here's part of the e-mail:

      Trump is playing a game of chicken… with nuclear weapons.

      He’s barreling forward with building banned nukes that would violate — and destroy — a Cold War-era nuclear treaty with Russia. He’s set a dangerous ultimatum… and his deadline is February 2nd. That’s just 7 days away.

      We have one week to raise hell about Trump scrapping this treaty and dragging us into a Cold-War-style nuclear arms race.

      The good news is, Trump can’t get the money to build his dangerous new nukes without a thumbs-up from Congress. The not-so-good news: Congress has their hands full trying to clean up Trump’s shutdown tantrum. Even Trump’s dangerous nuclear games are likely to whiz under Congress’ radar — unless we jump into action now. That’s why we need your help.

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