No one seems to know whose frogmen placed explosives on the last blast that occurred. With my son in Alaska doing 3x the usual amount of work on gathering wildlife data that could restrain Arctic drilling, I can't help suspecting that DT is behind the blasts to force the opening of ANWR to drilling, for personal gain.
The whole business just doesn't make sense; trying to link the Iranian government to it doesn't make sense. Iran doesn't have any torpedoes or mines that small. They also don't have invisible boats or flying torpedoes. Maybe the Yeminis are striking back at Saudi Arabia, but that's a bit of a stretch, roughly comparable to a US false flag action.
Thinking of things that don't make sense, remember the propaganda that Saddam Hussein was backing Shia terrorists? It was preposterous on its face, not just after the invasion.
If we're considering conspiracy theories -- and how can we not? -- I'm looking at Netanyahu. The timing suggests that it was intended to derail Abe-Khoemeni talks; the fact that the ships were bound for Japan points in the same direction. And Netanhayu benefits politically from being able to present Iran as an existential threat to Israel.
I wish I believed in Hell. And *my* version of Hell would come with glass viewing windows, like the zoo. So I could watch Donald Trump and his minions roast for eternity.
I don’t even want to see them there. Not anywhere. I prefer Edith Schaeffer’s take on it. She said that when a person stands before perfect holiness (God) all that is in them that is not of God gets burned away and all that is good remains. Will there be enough of some people left to even recognize them? There are a few who might just vanish in a poof of smoke.
I am partial to the old Indian concept of six realms of existence (or rebirth), which is really a psychological profile of being human--one can go from one to another of the realms, even several in one day. From top to bottom the worlds of:
Devas/gods/shining beings, where everything is wonderful-- "Heaven" Humans (no explanation necessary) Ashuras (which have the intelligence of humans but use it only for conflict/war/violence Beasts Hungry ghosts (very hellish--anything they want turns out to be horrible or for practical purposes inaccessible) Demons (Hell--if it is worse than the world of hungry ghosts I really don't want to know the details.)
The interesting point is that there is only one of these worlds from which it is impossible to gain enlightenment: Heaven, because there is no suffering there. And they are all temporary.
California Democratic 2020 presidential primary is a wide-open race, poll finds [Click] Well, not really. Biden, Warren, Sanders and Harris appear at this time to be mutually competitive, and Buttigieg is not getting skunked. Mark DiCamillo is one of the outstanding pollsters in California, previously working with the Field Poll, which was the best California Poll but has gone out of business.
But in this case Mueller said that ignorance of the law is an excuse. I confess I don't understand. Although, since there were no dirty details to be had, the charge would have had to be conspiracy rather than actual campaign violations. Maybe that makes a difference.
Sarah Sanders is leaving at the end of the month! No replacement named. Apparently DT will just tweet. As the NPR commentator said, “What does it matter, with no press briefings anymore?”
Spicey had enough character [decency?] left to appear agitated when he was lying through his teeth; that's an awfully low bar, but still sightly above ground level.
"Elizabeth Warren is threatening Joe Biden’s front-runner standing in California, and Kamala Harris is showing signs of weakness in her delegate-rich home state, according to a new poll.
A new UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll found Biden leading with 22% of likely Democratic primary voters; followed by Warren and Sanders, who are at 18% and 17%, respectively.
Harris (13%) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (10%) are the only other 2020 presidential contenders to exceed 3% in the survey, which was directed by pollster Mark DiCamillo, who for years led the venerable Field Poll."
It's essential to remember that Democratic presidential primaries split the delegates among all candidates with a reasonable number of votes. So if the election were held today there would be a t-way split with Biden getting a bit over a quarter and Warren and Sanders a bit under a quarter each.
As I've said before, I really don't think anyone is going to emerge from the primaries with a majority of the delegates.
I remember listening to the 1952 Republican convention on the radio. Very interesting, especially the polling of the Virgin Islands delegation. But in that case the favorite son votes were the only reason Eisenhower didn't have an automatic first-vote victory. And as soon as the first-ballot roll call was over, all the favorite sons switch their votes to him and it was over.
He recalled Roosevelt, quoting from a 1936 campaign speech: “Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me – and I welcome their hatred.”
At that remark, which Sanders delivered with a characteristic roar, the audience rose to its feet, whooping and applauding. When the room quieted, Sanders quipped: “I must say, it does sound a little contemporary doesn’t it?”
Thanks for the link, Alan. That article is significantly better than the one I saw in the Tribune. I think it is now abundantly clear that what Bernie means by "democratic socialism" bear no discernible resemblance to what I understood by the term "socialism" when I was coming of age in the 1950s. I'd really like to just forget the term entirely.
Yes, even in Germany they have rebranded Otto von Bismarck’s State Socialism [Click] as “Rhine Capitalism.” It started out as an epithet, but Bismarck took personal possession of the term. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and to a lesser exent unemployment benefits in the US were copied from Bismarck. There are still a lot of hard feelings toward Bismarck, but credit where credit is due: he was an incredibly effective diplomat and practical politician in very difficult times and situations. But he didn't have a successor who could carry on after him, probably in no small part because of the madness or foolishness of Wilhelm II.
FEC Rebukes Trump Over Foreign Election Assistance June 13, 2019 at 8:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
“The head of the Federal Election Commission released a statement on Thursday evening reiterating, emphatically, that foreign assistance is illegal in U.S. elections,” Politico reports.
Said commissioner Ellen Weintraub: “Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election. This is not a novel concept.“
Gulf of Oman Tanker Blasts
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-middle-east-48619771
No one seems to know whose frogmen placed explosives on the last blast that occurred. With my son in Alaska doing 3x the usual amount of work on gathering wildlife data that could restrain Arctic drilling, I can't help suspecting that DT is behind the blasts to force the opening of ANWR to drilling, for personal gain.
The whole business just doesn't make sense; trying to link the Iranian government to it doesn't make sense. Iran doesn't have any torpedoes or mines that small. They also don't have invisible boats or flying torpedoes. Maybe the Yeminis are striking back at Saudi Arabia, but that's a bit of a stretch, roughly comparable to a US false flag action.
DeleteThinking of things that don't make sense, remember the propaganda that Saddam Hussein was backing Shia terrorists? It was preposterous on its face, not just after the invasion.
DeleteIf we're considering conspiracy theories -- and how can we not? -- I'm looking at Netanyahu. The timing suggests that it was intended to derail Abe-Khoemeni talks; the fact that the ships were bound for Japan points in the same direction. And Netanhayu benefits politically from being able to present Iran as an existential threat to Israel.
DeleteI wish I believed in Hell. And *my* version of Hell would come with glass viewing windows, like the zoo. So I could watch Donald Trump and his minions roast for eternity.
ReplyDeleteI don’t even want to see them there. Not anywhere.
DeleteI prefer Edith Schaeffer’s take on it. She said that when a person stands before perfect holiness (God) all that is in them that is not of God gets burned away and all that is good remains. Will there be enough of some people left to even recognize them? There are a few who might just vanish in a poof of smoke.
I am partial to the old Indian concept of six realms of existence (or rebirth), which is really a psychological profile of being human--one can go from one to another of the realms, even several in one day. From top to bottom the worlds of:
DeleteDevas/gods/shining beings, where everything is wonderful-- "Heaven"
Humans (no explanation necessary)
Ashuras (which have the intelligence of humans but use it only for conflict/war/violence
Beasts
Hungry ghosts (very hellish--anything they want turns out to be horrible or for practical purposes inaccessible)
Demons (Hell--if it is worse than the world of hungry ghosts I really don't want to know the details.)
The interesting point is that there is only one of these worlds from which it is impossible to gain enlightenment: Heaven, because there is no suffering there. And they are all temporary.
California Democratic 2020 presidential primary is a wide-open race, poll finds [Click] Well, not really. Biden, Warren, Sanders and Harris appear at this time to be mutually competitive, and Buttigieg is not getting skunked. Mark DiCamillo is one of the outstanding pollsters in California, previously working with the Field Poll, which was the best California Poll but has gone out of business.
ReplyDeleteFederal watchdog agency recommends White House aide Kellyanne Conway be fired [click]
ReplyDeleteThe FBI director is wrong': Trump says he'd 'want to hear' dirt on 2020 rival if foreign governments offered [click] It's my understanding that useful information supplied directly to a campaign constitutes a campaign contribution, which cannot legally come from a foreign source. Trump Jr. got away with agreeing to accept such illegal contributions (which didn't actually happen) because he and his fellow campaign workers were ignorant of the law.
Treasonous!
DeleteIgnoratia legis neminem excusat.
DeleteBut in this case Mueller said that ignorance of the law is an excuse. I confess I don't understand. Although, since there were no dirty details to be had, the charge would have had to be conspiracy rather than actual campaign violations. Maybe that makes a difference.
DeleteSarah Sanders is leaving at the end of the month! No replacement named. Apparently DT will just tweet. As the NPR commentator said, “What does it matter, with no press briefings anymore?”
ReplyDeleteI miss Spicey.
DeleteSpicey had enough character [decency?] left to appear agitated when he was lying through his teeth; that's an awfully low bar, but still sightly above ground level.
DeleteHistory lesson of the day: How Fears of Abolition Shaped the Second Amendment [Click] This is definitely not something we were taught in eighth grade Civics.
ReplyDeleteJim Hightower Trump to Working Class: 'Adios, Chumps' [Click] Reminds me of Mister Block, [Click] it does.
Vanity Fair: Peter Hamby on the Democratic debates. [Click] Seems pretty level-headed to me.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/13/warren-california-poll-2020-election-1363619?fbclid=IwAR2lO_NmBL8lCYO93jRZ8AW2i0ltarFM-zObRNxTuxZHDdMpztA8ttRcBxo
ReplyDelete"Elizabeth Warren is threatening Joe Biden’s front-runner standing in California, and Kamala Harris is showing signs of weakness in her delegate-rich home state, according to a new poll.
DeleteA new UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll found Biden leading with 22% of likely Democratic primary voters; followed by Warren and Sanders, who are at 18% and 17%, respectively.
Harris (13%) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (10%) are the only other 2020 presidential contenders to exceed 3% in the survey, which was directed by pollster Mark DiCamillo, who for years led the venerable Field Poll."
It's essential to remember that Democratic presidential primaries split the delegates among all candidates with a reasonable number of votes. So if the election were held today there would be a t-way split with Biden getting a bit over a quarter and Warren and Sanders a bit under a quarter each.
DeleteAs I've said before, I really don't think anyone is going to emerge from the primaries with a majority of the delegates.
A brokered [AKA "contested"] convention could be very interesting; there hasn't been one since 1952.
DeleteI remember listening to the 1952 Republican convention on the radio. Very interesting, especially the polling of the Virgin Islands delegation. But in that case the favorite son votes were the only reason Eisenhower didn't have an automatic first-vote victory. And as soon as the first-ballot roll call was over, all the favorite sons switch their votes to him and it was over.
DeleteThe Guardian on Bernie’s speech. [Click] Item:
ReplyDeleteHe recalled Roosevelt, quoting from a 1936 campaign speech: “Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me – and I welcome their hatred.”
At that remark, which Sanders delivered with a characteristic roar, the audience rose to its feet, whooping and applauding. When the room quieted, Sanders quipped: “I must say, it does sound a little contemporary doesn’t it?”
Thanks for the link, Alan. That article is significantly better than the one I saw in the Tribune. I think it is now abundantly clear that what Bernie means by "democratic socialism" bear no discernible resemblance to what I understood by the term "socialism" when I was coming of age in the 1950s. I'd really like to just forget the term entirely.
DeleteYes, even in Germany they have rebranded Otto von Bismarck’s State Socialism [Click] as “Rhine Capitalism.” It started out as an epithet, but Bismarck took personal possession of the term. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and to a lesser exent unemployment benefits in the US were copied from Bismarck. There are still a lot of hard feelings toward Bismarck, but credit where credit is due: he was an incredibly effective diplomat and practical politician in very difficult times and situations. But he didn't have a successor who could carry on after him, probably in no small part because of the madness or foolishness of Wilhelm II.
DeleteFEC Rebukes Trump Over Foreign Election Assistance
ReplyDeleteJune 13, 2019 at 8:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
“The head of the Federal Election Commission released a statement on Thursday evening reiterating, emphatically, that foreign assistance is illegal in U.S. elections,” Politico reports.
Said commissioner Ellen Weintraub: “Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election. This is not a novel concept.“
And now for a little break from politics:
ReplyDeleteFrozen wolf's head found in Siberia is 40,000 years old [Click]
Want to get drunk and play with rats? San Francisco has your bait [Click]
Nasa tries to get Martian 'mole' working again [Click]