Astronomers have found a nearby solar system with seven Earth-sized planets, three of which circle their parent star at the right distance for liquid surface water, raising the prospect of life. (Reuters)
Hello Out There
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https://youtu.be/LW2RlaC6nAs
wapo:
A new poll from Quinnipiac University suggests that while people may be broadly unhappy with the mainstream media, they still think it’s more credible than Trump. The president regularly accuses the press of “fake news,” but people see more “fake news” coming out of his own mouth.
The poll asked who registered voters “trust more to tell you the truth about important issues.” A majority — 52 percent — picked the media. Just 37 percent picked Trump.
OMG… Jack… I am so very, very sorry for your loss. Hang in there as best as you and the Mrs. can. And yes…. we are here for you. {{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}
Just 37 percent picked pants-on-fire? just? that’s over one third of the polled population!
For those who haven’t seen it yet, Google salutes the newest find with a cute video today. How can you not celebrate something that aligns Google & the Muppets. It just may be a late arrival for the Age of Aquarius.
Pray for rain. It has always been known at some level that the GOP wants to limit turnout because when fewer people vote, they win. Now Montana has provided absolute proof of the phenomena. They would rather spend more money than have a fair election.
GOP Balks At Cheaper Way To Reach Voters
building walls here…against trumpence. Tomorrow we are attending a mock townhall at pearce’s office. The candidate of the people is too afraid to hold a meeting in person. Just like when he went to central America to view the immigrant problem first hand…too afraid to leave the hotel as it was unsafe. A cowardly act by a rich man…we are seeing a flurry from the wealthy as they dictate from the tower.
Jack…suicide is on the rise, but to see children be so hopeless…it really hurts.
abc news:
Jackie Evancho, the opera singer who performed the national anthem at President Trump’s inauguration, said she and her transgender sister, Juliet, hope to “enlighten” the president on transgender issues in the wake of his administration’s order to roll back protections for transgender students. But she said that she would still perform for the president again.
“The reason why I did sing for the inauguration was not politics,” Jackie Evancho, 16, said Thursday on “Good Morning America” in an interview alongside her sister, Juliet Evancho. “It was for the honor and privilege to perform for my country and that will stay the same I think.”
But they nonetheless expressed concern over the president’s new transgender policy. Jackie Evancho said she had not yet heard from Trump after asking him via Twitter to meet with her and Juliet, an 18-year-old transgender advocate who was born “Jacob.”
“I guess I just want to enlighten him on what my sister, I’ve seen her go through every single day in school and people just like her, what they deal with,” Jackie Evancho said. “The discrimination, it’s terrible.”
[….]
On Thursday, Juliet Evancho said she would also bring a message of understanding were she to meet with Trump.
“Basically that being at a high school where the policies on the bathroom are unclear, I, as Jackie has said, I kind of live it every day, going through discrimination,” she said she would tell the president. “I’ve had things thrown at me. I’ve had people say pretty horrible things and the unsafe environment is just very unhealthy so I feel like Donald Trump needs to know that being in such an unsafe environment won’t do any good not only for the transgenders and the LGBTQ community but as well as everyone as a whole.”
“When I heard about it I was very disappointed and I realized that we would need to take action in order to enlighten the administration on everything,” she said.
wonder how the new edict will affect the sports world and if they will still stand up as they did a few days ago when this story ran NFL and NCAA issue warnings over transgender ‘bathroom bills’
jace, you’ll enjoy this one I think
garrison Keillor: Blessed are the winners. Big league.
Jack
So sorry to hear about the loss in your life. It just feels as if so many children are neglected or harmed. May your friends and neighbors be a comfort to you now.
politico: How Trump’s campaign staffers tried to keep him off Twitter
The trick? Making sure his media diet included a healthy dose of praise.
this was also talked about on mojo this a.m.: Politico’s Tara Palmeri reports on how Donald Trump’s campaign staffers have tried to keep the president’s Twitter habits under control. … more Duration: 5:19
was traveling back to DC last night and just catching up to Jack’s news. How terrible. Just plain sad. Sounds like you might be correct in your suspicions.
at 2 minutes it’s a little long for the usual political ad, but this by inequality media sure looks like a good one. hope we see more
Published on Feb 13, 2017
What are the 7 signs of impending tyranny? Watch our latest video, and spread the alarm.
and one for granny and mrddog
Published on Feb 22, 2017
Does Donald Trump see what’s going on here?
De-lurking for a moment to send hugs to Jack! I would encourage you to pursue an investigation into Kylen’s death if it isn’t being done already. As some may recall, family violence is my passion and I wish the world had more people like you and MrsJack taking an interest in children living in abusive situations. I would hope that the coroner and police are looking into such a suspicious death of a child, but they may need encouragement to pursue it all the way.
I’ve been very busy for the last couple months finishing some design work and finally achieving my goal of opening a “store” on the internet. I’ve been doing image manipulation for many years as a hobby and decided last year to put it to use and maybe eventually supplement my SS income so I chose Zazzle as the place to put my designs after looking into a few options. I launched the store at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb and now I will be creating new products every week. I really think trumplstiltskin was the push I needed to get off my a** and design full time. Keeping up on the insanity was literally making me sick to my stomach and I needed the distraction. I’m creating St Patrick’s Day designs at the moment and I have many more design ideas in the works so this is what I’ve been doing.
I do check here frequently and yes Pat, I check YouTube every day to see if there is something new from Keith, thanks for thinking of me 🙂 I also read the headlines on my internet home page every morning…mainly to see if we’ve gone to war or if some other calamity has occurred LOL! I read some of the articles the headlines link to, but I mostly stay away from commenting and rarely go to twitter these days. I am having fun with my new pursuit and I promise to be less of a stranger in the weeks to come. Love to all!
Alan Colmes died. Only 66. A rarity — a successful liberal voice on radio.
So sorry to hear of the passing of Jack’s young friend and of Alan Colmes. Colmes was one of my favorites for the past 30 or so years.
Young deaths are always tragic and extremely hard to wrap one’s head around and come to terms with. Don’t know about your neck of the woods Jack, but all unattended deaths here that don’t have an obvious natural cause are automatically referred to the state medical examiner for autopsy and a report.
interesting discussion on mojo (well joe does rant a bit rather than discuss) on how the left radicalized the right and this explains extreme conservatives like Stephen miller (whom they thoroughly trashed).
btw, this is the Sullivan article joe & co were very impressed with.
ny mag:
The White House Mole
Joe Morning Load he must have a long unbreakable contract what an ass
Oh, and on the thread topic, I’m getting ready to go to the Internet to see where I can purchase tickets. I’m planning to grab my wetsuit maybe a kayak and certainly snorkeling gear and take my chances.
Where is Melanoma’s anti-bullying campaign?
Pussy Grabber is ending AmeriCorp time for Dems to propose 2 years complusory national service
hmmmm..
wapo:
Two polls released this week offer that downside to President Trump. New surveys from Quinnipiac University and McClatchy-Marist reveal that Trump — never terribly popular nationally — continues to be seen as dishonest, a poor leader and unstable.
What’s more, the U.S. is embarrassed by him.
Note, as will be the case throughout these results, that there’s a wide partisan split on this question. Democrats almost uniformly describe themselves as embarrassed. Republicans describe themselves as proud. (According to the pollsters, those feelings are strong among those who describe themselves as stronger partisans, too.) Overall, though, thanks in part to a majority of independents saying that they’re embarrassed, 58 percent of the country uses that term to describe its feelings about Trump’s first month in office.
What’s more, Quinnipiac’s polling found that concerns about Trump’s personality that haunted him throughout the campaign have not been ameliorated much.
A majority of Americans still see Trump as not honest.
[and it goes on from there…. sad]
It just occurred to me that although I never really met him Mrs. P and I saw Alan Colmes when we were going into Greenwich Village last summer. He and his wife were walking past the subway station as we were getting off to go to a blues club. He looked even gaunter than he appears on the tube.
Dishonest………but…….dishonest to whom?
wasnt Alan married to Monica crowley’s sister?
Space, the final trumpeer. If we could convince trump/bannon/pence/ryan/midget mcconnell and the rest to go to those three aqueous planets to build perfect worlds of golf resorts and leninist revolutions, it would be YUUUUJ. I mean, reeeeeaaally bigly YUUUUUUUJ !
from bbc:
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says the US is “not experiencing the best of times” – but the “pendulum” will swing back.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight in a rare interview, Justice Ginsburg reiterated the importance of the free press.
“I read the Washington Post and the New York Times every day, and I think that the reporters are trying to tell the public the way things are,” she said.
Justice Ginsburg was nominated by Bill Clinton and is regarded as a liberal.
“Think of what the press has done in the United States,” she said citing the Watergate scandal. “That story might never have come out if we didn’t have the free press that we do.”
[….]
Asked what most concerns her about the current climate she said, in an apparent reference to longstanding congressional gridlock: “Our legislature – which is the first branch of government – is right now not working.”
[….]
Asked about the rise of the so-called “post truth world”, Justice Ginsburg said: “I am optimistic in the long run. A great man once said that the true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle. It is the pendulum.
“And when the pendulum swings too far in one direction it will go back.
“Some terrible things have happened in the United States but one can only hope that we learn from those bad things.”
She cited the example of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, when more than 110,000 people were put into camps, in the largest official forced relocation in US history.
“That was a dreadful mistake. It took a long time for the United States to realise how dreadful it was. But ultimately the president acknowledged that there was no reason to intern people of Japanese ancestry and Congress passed a bill providing compensation for the people who were interned or their survivors.”
Justice Ginsburg said she was encouraged by the Women’s March, which saw millions in the US and around the world take part in anti-Trump protests.
“I’ve never seen such a demonstration – both the numbers and the rapport of the people in that crowd. There was no violence, it was orderly. So yes, we are not experiencing the best times but there is there is reason to hope that that we will see a better day.”
Justice Ginsburg has been on the Supreme Court since 1993 and – at 83 years-old – is the oldest serving member.
Asked how much longer she would stay in post, she said: “At my age you have to take it year by year. I know I’m OK. What will be next year?”
She added: “I’m hopeful however, because my most senior colleague the one who most recently retired, Justice John Paul Stevens, stepped down at age 90. So I have a way to go.”
cnn: Trump lawyer pushed pro-Russia deal for Ukraine, politician claims
The setting was a Manhattan restaurant, and after 25 minutes what allegedly emerged was a pro-Russian peace plan for Ukraine that its author believes may have ended up in the White House.
In a CNN interview, Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Artemenko said he discussed his left-field proposal for Ukraine in January with US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who offered to deliver the plan to the Trump administration.
The exact details of the plan are unclear, yet reports have suggested it revolves around leasing Crimea — annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 — to Moscow for 50 to 100 years. In exchange, Russia would withdraw its troops from the separatist regions in Ukraine’s war-torn east.
[….]
In a hurried interview in a Kiev hotel, Artemenko said Cohen told him that Flynn — who resigned in mid-February due to a controversy over calls with the Russian ambassador to the US — was his best connection at the White House.
“Michael Flynn is the best person, the best of my connections in the Trump administration, who if he likes [it], it’s going to [get] huge support, huge support,” Cohen said, according to Artemenko.
[….]
In a text message to CNN, Cohen denied delivering any documents to Flynn, and refuted Artemenko’s recollection of their January conversation.
“If this continued fake news narrative wasn’t so ridiculous, I would be angered. Despite the multitude of statements issued denying any nexus between Presidents Trump and [Russian President Vladimir Putin], the main stream media just keeps on trying to perpetuate this lie.
“I acknowledge that the brief meeting took place, but emphatically deny discussing this topic or delivering any documents to the White House and/or General Flynn; something I stated to the New York Times.”
According to the Times, Cohen said he left a sealed envelope with the proposed peace plan in Flynn’s office. Later, Cohen denied delivering a peace plan to Flynn.
Artemenko insists, however, that it was Cohen’s idea to show the peace proposal to the senior White House official. “It was his idea, absolutely his idea,” he said.
http://www.free-times.com/food/chew-on-this/gullah-restaurant-and-piano-bar-opens-this-week/article_476bca5c-f2ff-11e6-984e-fbc26c9a59b8.html
Hmmmm……….coming to a Columbia, SC near you…….
sturge, is this a likely gig in your future …DaufusKEYS will be hosting both classical and jazz musicians, says Carla Goodson…
ride sally ride one more time?
I feel certain that our man on the ground in Columbia will look into this possible travesty……
The commute would be horrendous……
But alas, I’m neither classical, nor jazzy………..
I’m exhausted. The Cracker Family Utility Company requires a lot of maintenance. We have solar and a small hydro system. The hydro takes daily maintenance, especially after a big storm. Mr. Cracker is unable to work due to his recent cataract surgery and so I am the only employee left.
It involves cleaning out various intake and outtake areas which all seem to be located in hard to reach and slippery places.
Given a few hours with a video creation development kit it is possible I could create something for the floater’s 6pm viewing that would have him believing aliens from Planet 9 were invading drumpf tower and the margo-de-sewer.
Life is good. Reality is good. Republican versions of life and reality are very sick and very bad.
Dear Beings On Other Planets,
Don’t screw it up like we did & be glad we don’t live in your neighborhood…if we did, I’d suggest you build a wall to keep us out.
(That thing on the side of BananaNazi’s face doesn’t look benign.)
The face doesn’t either……
BB, there HAS to be a way to do that and both provide wonderful entertainment and make a few bucks off it in these days of video streaming. Think about it.
with regard to bannon, he looks so much like rosie O’Donnell it’s hard to think of him otherwise. much less to take him seriously. anytime now I expect some kind of a drag king finale where he throws open his coat to expose a she with a triumphant “gotcha” grin.
Published on Feb 23, 2017
Donald Trump is not fit for his office.
Check out Anne Tenaes’ latest – fricking hilarious
https://images.washingtonpost.com/?url=https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/02242417PositiveReinforcement.gif&op=noop
(Sorry for the link – having to post this through the edit function.)
Here’s a disturbing nugget from Radley Balko at Wapo:
There is no limit to the corruption under this administration. God are we fucked or what?
Noregard needs a place to put all the pot smokers he plans on arresting
We’ll probably need lots of labor camps, showers, and incinerators, too. Privately owned, of course.
Speaking of the need for prison space, WH Chief of Staff prince rebus contacted the FBI to get them to lay off the russia investigation. That’s a felony.
Lock Him Up !
xr, no the story is rancid wants the fbi to announce there’s nothing there re russkies. big to do is over who told who that the agency thinks nyt story overblown/shaky factwise…. did fbi come to rancid or rancid make a move on them? doesn’t matter since trumpsters got what they wanted out of it anyway, a way to make it look like nyt was fake news purveyor. all the kerfluffle and tsktsking just spreads the story more that (whether true or not) someone said fbi doesn’t think there’s anything to the campaign staff Russia contacts.
this is the little nugget that they want repeated
from wapo story “White House adviser asked FBI to dispute Russia reports”
The official said that Priebus’ request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to.
[emphasis on the “after the FBI told the White House it believed…” ]
It is a felony for anyone in the WH other than the Prez, the Veep, the Prez’ Counsel, and the Prez’ Counsel’s Chief Asst to contact the FBI regarding an investigation. As Chief of Staff, rancid peebiz is not among the select four allowed by law to contact the FBI about an investigation.
Lock Him Up !
more info from bloomberg:
A senior administration official, who would only speak anonymously, told agroup of reporters Friday that the request was only made after an FBI official indicated to the White House that the bureau didn’t believe the news reports were accurate.
The administration official said that the bureau’s deputy director, Andrew McCabe, instigated the discussion on Feb. 15, the day after the New York Times published a report on contacts between Trump campaign aides and Russian officials. McCabe asked Priebus for extra time at the end of an unrelated meeting at the White House, the official said, and then told the White House chief of staff that the FBI didn’t consider the Times report to be accurate.
Priebus asked McCabe if he could say so publicly, according to the official. McCabe said he’d consider it, then called Priebus back later and declined, saying the FBI didn’t want to criticize journalists, the official said.
A second administration official, who also requested anonymity, said there was nothing inappropriate about Priebus’s communication with the FBI over public-affairs issues. Priebus was discussing media coverage, not the ongoing investigation, the official said.
As week 5 careens on, or as I prefer week 5 of the count down, the WH is working hard at challenging the media and intelligence community to take it down. The floater kicks out NY Times, LA Times and CNN, not a good thing. They have resources to dig and dig deep. The IC is not happy. They may not be leaking, it maybe DOJ leaking along with WH. Mr. Peebody needs some plumbers. Don’t piss off those who know your secrets and a media willing to let the world know those.
I did enjoy the Russian flags for drumpf at the “conservative” party. Those really set the scene. I wonder how Putin baby got those in? That is a true love fest.
we now have their names, the enemies of the people press
from the hill:
The White House blocked a number of news outlets from covering spokesman Sean Spicer’s question-and-answer session on Friday afternoon.
Spicer decided to hold an off-camera “gaggle” with reporters inside his West Wing office instead of the traditional on-camera briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
Among the outlets not permitted to cover the gaggle were news organizations that President Trump has singled out for criticism, including CNN.
The New York Times, The Hill, Politico, BuzzFeed, the Daily Mail, BBC, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News were among the other news organizations not permitted to attend.
perhaps they who are on twit’s enemy of the people list will have bragging rights which they can make hay with like some of those did who were on Nixon’s complete enemies list annotated. daniel schorr I believe was very proud of being on it.
too bad helen Thomas is no longer with us. she would have been on the new list for sure.
Pussy Grabber is Nixon without the charm
good for these guys
wapo:
The Wall Street Journal, which did participate in the briefing, said in a statement that it was unaware of the exclusions and “had we known at the time, we would not have participated, and we will not participate in such closed briefings in the future.”
[….]
Fox News anchor Bret Baier quickly discouraged gloating on the right, noting that his network’s rivals showed solidarity when the Obama White House tried to freeze out Fox News eight years ago.
@BretBaier “Some at CNN & NYT stood w/FOX News when the Obama admin attacked us & tried 2 exclude us-a WH gaggle should be open to all credentialed orgs …”
In 2009, the Obama administration attempted to exclude Fox News from a round of TV interviews with “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg. Jake Tapper (then of ABC, now of CNN) stood up for one of his network’s “sister organizations” during a press briefing.
“Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one?” Tapper asked Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary at the time.
Rival networks refused to conduct interviews with Feinberg unless Fox News was granted one, too.
Witches are out to stop Trump??? Fake news??? Nope, apparently not.
I think a lot of those guys believe in witches
Thank You, frump for giving the news organizations a reason for bringing back investigating reporting. I’m sure someone right now is rubbing their hands hoping for a Pulitzer for taking you and your sorry ass friends and family down ala Nixon.
Let the snooping commence!
A strong voice was lost with Mr Colmes….I always liked HANNITY and colmes and all but Alan never backed up nor backed off.
wish I’d got to say “Hey”somewhere or another
Not the SHOW HANNITY and colmes, but just the way everyone always wrote HANNITY and colmes……lol
Sorry, Jack…..you know, the bummers arise out of the mist and sometimes I feel like all’s I can do is mutter, “Bummer.”
Flate……..how’s the plate?
I’m not a brandy kinda sewer but there was this once upon a time in Nashville where Christian Bros and coffee was quite the thing for a moo-jician’s morning…….
That kind of thing would get some fiddles playing, I guaran-done-tol’ ya………
So, the WH has blocked some news organizations from covering their lies. That should free up their time to do some real journalistic work.
Jeez, NK has chemical weapons. Could it be deployed my misspelled with any precision? Crazy, little f-er. Maybe the witches should work on binding Lil’ Kim.
Help babykim to find new allies to replace commieChina. Send him to the moon.
I had gotten a set of ne’er-do-wells, miscreants, and vipers together to play out the string for this would-be next George Jones who was in his last gasp for hanging on and we were a long way from home up in Philidelphia P A and it was 4 pm and Jimmie Sam got out the blender and started making Brandy Alexander’s……….I thought, oh Lord, here we go…….well as we’re in the midst of merriment a couple hours later our headliner sticks his head in the door and says, in his best Muncie, Indiana Rock-a-Billy accent, ” Ok, boys, lets get some rest……we’ve got a show to do tonight…..”
we were playing a double bill in a two stage joint along with Johnny Carver who’d just struck Nashville gold by recording the country re-make of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” after the Iran hostages were released to Reagan.
Johnny pissed off Steamboat Bob Fulton, the club-owner, by trying to act like a star, and our band wound up so good that Bob gave us top billing.
I have fond memories of brandy.
Greta Von Cess Pool is like a right wing nanny – a shrill shrew
That. Was also the world famous No-Gripe-Gig.
No new SNL this week.
I don’t think SNL could top the clowns at CPAC. No wonder people are terrified of clowns.
The “enemy of the people” hooey is a red herring meant to lead our minds away from the real story : felonious activity by members of the trump campaign and ‘administration’.
The media was the enemy of the people last year.
a major screw-up, baby. this one has legs bigly big league.
sporting news:
Muhammad Ali Jr. was detained by immigration officers for about two hours earlier this month at a Florida airport, the Miami New Times reported Friday.
Attorney Chris Mancini, a friend of the Ali family, told the New Times that the son of the late boxing champion was questioned about his religion after arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a Feb. 7 flight from Jamaica.
if he’s good enough for the good doctor, he’s good enough for me. sounds like a winner, a needed fresh face and fresh blood.
south bend tribune: Buttigieg tries to build last-minute momentum in DNC chair run
ATLANTA — With momentum building for his candidacy, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg spent Friday reaching out to voters and huddling with team members, including former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, in an effort to build last-minute support for his bid to lead the Democratic National Committee.
“This is one of those ‘where were you’ moments you’re going to tell your grandkids about,” the Harvard graduate and former Rhodes Scholar told about 150 DNC members during a joint luncheon with Dean, whose surprise endorsement this week provided an unexpected boost to the 35-year-old’s upstart campaign.
Still, despite a strong performance during a recent, nationally televised CNN debate and support from nine U.S. mayors and five former national party chairs, including Dean, the two-term mayor faces an uphill battle against frontrunners Tom Perez and Keith Ellison.