Monday, February 11, 2019

And another day that “gives a lot of people joy” comes to a close:

“Joy to the word. All the boys and girls, now. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy, to you and me.” -- Three Dog Night

For those at the border, the reality is different than Trump's rhetoric. Politicians and business leaders from border cities say Trump’s portrayal is unfair, misleading and exaggerated.

2020 candidate Kamala Harris says she supports legalizing marijuana and acknowledges trying pot in the past: "I think it gives a lot of people joy," she said, "And we need more joy.” Yes, Miss Harris. We do.

Bob Costas wanted to talk about concussions. He says NBC took him off the air as a result. “The reality is that this game destroys people’s brains,” he said during that discussion. After an ensuing series of media appearances, Costas says NBC Sports’ executive producer texted him, “You’ve crossed the line.” Please stop watching the NFL. Please don’t let your kids play the stupid sport. How can watching people permanently damage their brains and bodies be entertainment? Here’s the full story at ESPN.

Socially liberal, fiscally conservative voters preferred Trump in 2016. But of course he’s neither. Also, are they still supporting the poor excuse for a human? If so, that says more about them. None of it good.

Study: Access To Guns, Not Mental Health, May Be Responsible For Gun Violence.

20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms. It’s not just the Catholic Church that has a problem.

Over 40% of global insect species are threatened with extinction, scientists said in a new report, marking an unprecedented loss of biodiversity. Data suggests they could be gone within a century. Without insects, we die.

House Democrats’ new plan for a $15 minimum wage, explained. The bill would phase out the lower minimum wage for tipped workers — such as restaurant servers and valets — which has been $2.13 an hour since 1996. You read that correctly.

Microplastic levels in the Tennessee River are among the highest ever measured, a report shows.

Senator Sanders asks why drug, once free, now costs $375k.

House Democratic leadership, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have released a statement condemning Rep. Ilhan Omar for recent tweets that were perceived as anti-Semitic for relying on tropes about Jewish money and influence in American politics. Hmmm. Seems there’s more going on here than meets the eye.

Utah lawmakers have officially blocked their state’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion. Yeah, they’re Republicans. Like all Republicans, they don’t give a shit about what voters approve.

About a third of Americans believe wearing blackface for Halloween is always or sometimes acceptable, according to a new Pew poll. In other news, about a third of Americans still support Donald Trump. Just saying.

West Virginia lawmaker faces calls to resign after likening LGBTQ people to KKK, 'terrorist group. Yes, he’s a Republican. And like most Republicans, he’s a horrible person.

Russia prepares to test its own DNS so it can cut itself off from the global internet in times of conflict or build a China-like censored web.

Teachers in Denver Just Went on Strike to Push for Better Pay.

Arizona lawmakers are pushing to declare pornography a public health crisis. Because, you know, there’s nothing else that really needs our attention.

Sandusky, Ohio, Makes Election Day A Paid Holiday — By Swapping Out Columbus Day.

Man wants to sue his parents for bringing him into the world without his consent.

Fox host says he 'hasn't washed hands in 10 years'. He says germs aren’t real because he can’t see them. Because he’s an idiot.

Hungary to give women with 4 or more kids life tax exemption.

Oh, good, there's a button you can press to tell your partner you're horny. Can’t make this up.

“Keep a cool head and a warm heart.” -- Mike Love

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.

Saturday, February 9, 2019

And another day of Trump joking (though you know it wasn’t really a joke) about Native American genocide comes to a close:

“We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt.” -- Walter Scott

Elizabeth Warren makes presidential bid official with call for change.

Trump responds with his usual hateful, racist rhetoric, and even tips his hat to The Trail of Tears. Whether you like Warren or not, there is no reason to be a racist white privileged fuckwad when speaking about her...or anyone. Ever.

Ivanka Trump told ABC News that she knew “literally almost nothing” about her family’s secret pursuit of a deal to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. Her claim, however, is contradicted by various sources.

Republican congressmen send letter pleading for Dems to stop hunt for Donald Trump's tax returns. They really do want to keep that shit hidden, don’t they?

Fairfax denies sexual assault allegations, asks for due process and full investigation.

Amid a measles outbreak that has sickened more than 50, Washington lawmakers consider bill that would remove parents' ability to claim a personal or philosophical exemption to opt their school-age children out of combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Um, do it. Should’ve been that way to begin with. Someone’s ignorance or religion should not endanger public health.

Shocking Video Shows Florida Sheriff’s Deputy Calling a Black Man “Boy” and Grabbing Him by the Neck. The man was quietly sitting on the sidewalk with a baby in his arms. The deputy is a racist fuckwad. And he’s still “serving the public.”

Trump campaign paid legal fees to firm representing Jared Kushner.

Climate change is already making Atlantic hurricanes more fierce, study finds.

Hundreds rally to preserve right not to vaccinate children amid measles outbreak. I’d like to say this is Darwinism at work here, but the children don’t get a say in this. They are simply at the mercy of their parent’s stupidity. It’s unfortunate children don’t get to choose their parents.

A man with autism, behaving violently, winds up in the ER. The officers on duty respond — by singing and dancing.

Growth of private school voucher program impacts public school funds. With more private schools opting in to voucher programs each year and families continuing to use loopholes in the law, public school funds are flowing to private schools at an increasing rate. Because it’s really not about what’s best for the public.

Earth's magnetic north pole is hurtling toward Russia so fast that it could be a problem for smartphone maps and navigation systems.

Yes, having sex makes you better at your job. Engaging in an activity like sex that feeds the pleasure and reward centers of your brain helps you feel happier and more motivated the next day. Just thought you all should know. There needs to be more sex happening in the world.

20,000 birds just starved to death off the Dutch coast and no one knows why.

Both Uranus and Neptune have seasons that can last for decades and their storms can be larger than the United States.

“You’re all right, as long as you don’t believe your own hype.” -- Suzi Quatro

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.

Thursday, February 7, 2019

And another day of the one who dishes it announcing he’s unable to take it comes to a close:

“I find it hard to tell you, ‘cause I find it hard to take; when people run in circles. It's a very, very mad world, mad world.” -- Tears for Fears (But I like Gary Jule’s version better.)

Russia's propaganda machine discovers 2020 Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard. Experts who track websites and social media linked to Russia have seen stirrings of a possible campaign of support for Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard. She’s a horrible choice, so of course Russia is interested in her.

Jeff Bezos takes the gloves off. No, thank you, Mr. Pecker.

Supreme Court blocks a restrictive Louisiana abortion law by 5-4 vote as Roberts joins liberals.

Over the last month, baseless conspiracy theories about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s health have been tip-toeing toward the mainstream.

Dozens of Cities Have Secretly Experimented With Predictive Policing Software. The software company claims its algorithm can predict crime in specific 500-foot by 500-foot sections of a city. Yeah, this can’t be good. Welcome to The Minority Report.

CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Man Shoots School Bus Driver On I-35W In Minneapolis. A white male just stops on the highway (in traffic), walks to the bus and starts firing. This is really the national emergency that needs to be addressed: America’s gun problem.

Anti-abortion legislators and activists believe President Trump has bolstered their cause with his appointments of conservative judges.

The number of people infected with measles in the European region during 2018 is the highest in a decade, the World Health Organization says.

The melting of this glacier could lead to as much as 10 feet of sea level rise over the next century or so. If we’re unlucky, much of that could happen the lifetimes of people alive today, flooding every coastal city on Earth.

2018 was the fourth-hottest year ever recorded, according to NOAA and NASA, which means that the past five years have been the five warmest years in the modern record.

Weather and climate-related disasters cost the US $80 billion in 2018, but go ahead and say climate change isn’t real.

Key West voted late Tuesday to ban the sale of sunscreens containing certain chemicals linked to coral reef bleaching. The ban is set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2021.

Driverless cars could be in full use on Britain's roads by 2021, the government announced.

Hundreds Of Scientific Studies May Have Used Organs Stolen From Prisoners.

A fish just passed a mirror test for self-awareness, but what does that mean? It means humans aren’t as special as they pretend to be.

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” -- Anthony J. D’Angelo

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

And another day of “CHOOSING GREATNESS” comes to a close:

“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” -- Confucius

Trump calls for rejection of "politics of revenge" in speech that jabs at Democrats. So much for that “unity” thing.

Trump admin at a loss on reuniting kids they took from parents. "These are children who were ripped from their parents arms...and now the government is saying, 'well, maybe the children don't really want to see the parents anymore'... It's a stunning argument.”

Pope Francis for first time acknowledges sexual abuse of nuns by priests. Religion is not the answer.

One third or more of Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2100 — melted because of Earth's changing climate, a new study says.

Washington's measles outbreak is a wake-up call on childhood vaccination.

Texas man dies after vape pen explosion severs artery to brain.

“Truth is powerful and it prevails.” -- Sojourner Truth

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.

Monday, February 4, 2019

And another day of subpoenas, taps, and nipples comes to a close:

“People change and forget to tell each other.” -- Lillian Hellman

Federal prosecutors subpoena Trump inaugural committee.

Trump taps David Bernhardt for Interior secretary post.

Justin Fairfax, Virginia lieutenant governor, denies sexual assault allegation.

Trump proposal threatens due process in Social Security appeals.

Trump campaign takes steps to prevent a challenge within GOP.

Half of Dallas households are struggling to make ends meet,United Way says. More than 60 percent of jobs in Texas pay less than $20 per hour, according to the United Way, and minimum wage in the state is $7.25.

Her Body is Not School Property. This is how it plays out: You can already ask her to take off non-uniform jackets. So, it follows that you can ask her to remove more clothing for a strip search. You can then comment on her body as she undresses, because she is not a person, she is an object that must comply.

Researchers are turning to stem cells, 3D printing, and pig organs in an effort to save the thousands who die each year awaiting an organ transplant.

Obesity-related cancers rising fastest among millennials, study finds. The study could be a warning that if the obesity epidemic continues, fat-sensitive cancers will explode in the years to come.

Women’s brains are four years younger than men’s, study finds. Analysis of metabolic brain age may explain differences in cognitive decline rate.

Hawaii is considering a bill that would eventually ban cigarette sales to anyone under 100.

Adam Levine's bare-chested Super Bowl moment - years after Janet Jackson's famed slip-up - revives dialogue about how male and female nipples are treated differently, especially on network TV.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -- Winston Churchill

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.

Sunday, February 3, 2019

And another Superb Owl Sunday comes to a close:

“It is a myth, not a mandate, a fable not a logic, and a symbol rather than a reason by which men are moved.” -- Irwin Edman

'Willful Ignorance.' Inside President Trump's Troubled Intelligence Briefings.

Mitch McConnell, Enemy of the Vote. The Senate Majority Leader mocked a bill expanding ballot access while staying silent on foreign threats to our elections. Mitch McConnell has been the most vile and dangerous person in American politics for several years.

Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Department's efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said removing children from "sponsor" homes to rejoin their parents "would present grave child welfare concerns." He said the government should focus on reuniting children currently in its custody, not those who have already been released to sponsors. WTAF? They literally stole those children from their parents and now say they can’t reunite them with their parents because it would be “traumatic.” These people are evil.

Nearly 60 percent of Trump's schedule is 'Executive Time,' report says. Axios reports Trump often spends the first five hours of his day watching TV, reading newspapers and phoning advisers to discuss news items.

It's 'Superb Owl' Sunday and owls are overtaking social media

Some Super Bowl vets
Recall with joy the big day.
Others don’t recall.
Super Bowl Haiku XXV.

Two L.A. Rams desegregated football a year before Jackie Robinson’s heroic arrival in baseball. They’ve never been given the credit they deserve.

The House Democratic Women's Working Group is inviting women to wear white to President Trump's State of the Union address. "Wearing suffragette white is a respectful message of solidarity with women across the country," Rep. Lois Frankel said.

Most oppose Trump declaring national emergency for wall funding.

A massive hole two-thirds the size of Manhattan has been discovered growing in an Antarctic glacier, signaling rapid ice decay that has shocked scientists.

A Science Journal Funded by Peter Thiel Is Running Articles Dismissing Climate Change and Evolution. Peter Thiel, the controversial tech billionaire with close ties to President Trump, has expressed doubts about the settled science of evolution and climate change—and similar doubts are reflected in this science journal.

Devastating flooding in northeast Australia has forced thousands of people from their homes and brought snakes and crocodiles onto the streets.

GM to lay off 4,250 salaried workers starting Monday.

Most Inmates With Mental Illness Still Wait For Decent Care.

Buddy Holly's Classmates Remember The Pioneer 60 Years After 'The Day The Music Died'. On Feb. 3, 1959, at only 22, Buddy Holly died as one of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll.

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” -- Lao Tzu

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.

Saturday, February 2, 2019

And another day of loans, retaliation, and racism comes to a close:

“Stupidity has a knack of getting its way.” -- Albert Camus

During the 2016 presidential election, then-candidate Donald Trump was not granted a loan from Deutsche Bank following an extensive debate within the ranks of the bank.

U.S. suspends nuclear treaty with Russia, plans to pull out in 6 months.

Russia will develop new nuclear weapons after the U.S. pulls out of arms pact.

President Trump has appointed Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, the president's former physician who withdrew his nomination as secretary of Veterans Affairs amid controversy, to serve as assistant to the president and chief medical adviser. There is still an active Pentagon investigation into the allegations that torpedoed his nomination for the VA post.

Remember the 2018 teachers strikes in Republican-led states? Now legislators in 3 states are trying to retaliate. They’re trying to pass bills in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Arizona that would make teachers' working lives more difficult. Republicans are such horrible people.

Trump Administration Wants To Cut Drug Prices By Eliminating Middlemen's Rebates.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam apologizes for appearing in 'racist' yearbook photo of men in blackface, Klan robes.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam did not resign during a news conference, saying he does not believe he is either person in the racist photo that appeared in his 1984 yearbook. Instead he says he dressed up in blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume. That hole you’re digging Northam gets bigger every time you speak. Idiot. 

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signs legislation mandating that every school in the state teach students about "the political, economic, and social contributions" of LGBTQ people and people with disabilities.

Catholic leaders in Texas identified 286 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children.

Delete your account: leaving Facebook can make you happier, study finds.

Snopes stops working with Facebook.

Suicides among active duty military personnel assigned to US Special Operations Command tripled in 2018, according to figures provided to CNN.

Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say that people are too easily offended by the language others use.

A climate change denier is among those appointed to an EPA science board. The ship is sinking. They’re rearranging the chairs.

What to know about "tree man" syndrome.

Astronomers Accidentally Find An Unusually Tiny, Old, And Lonely Galaxy. Because science is freakin’ cool.

Earth is being bombarded with mysterious, invisible light. Mysterious fast radio bursts detected from deep space. The precise source of these signals is not known.

“He who know best knows how little he knows.” -- Thomas Jefferson

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Good night.