Thread
Holiday gift ideas
It’s that time of year.
If you are Donald Trump, all you want for Christmas is another high profile mass shooting. If you do the math, we can expect about 30 or 31 more mass shootings this year. Trump ought to get a couple of high profile ones out of that.
Merry Christmas, Donald!
For the rest of us, here’s an idea for a unique gift that almost everyone on your holiday gift list can use.
Give the ones you love a bullet-proof vest, or other types of body armor.
Sure…if we all did this, everyone would receive a bunch of these things. That’s okay…several vests can be useful. Stash one in the basement, one upstairs. Keep one at work. Stash one in the car…and one in the other car. Use one for stinky stuff, like hiking or running. And maybe keep a few spare around for guests with whom you are sharing an intimate hostile fire situation.
Brilliant, no?
Oh…and if Ben Carson is on you holiday list, pick him up some fresh hummus and a shiny new foreign policy adviser.
Open Thread!
Speak.
Another Lunatic Fringe Right Wing theory shot to hell
So…this is what Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was thinking about the other day:
When a reporter asked him at an Iowa campaign stop Sunday evening about suspect Robert Lewis Dear saying he was motivated by “no more baby parts,” Cruz countered that he’s also been reported to be a “transgendered [sic] leftist activist.”
Cruz explained, “We know that he was a man registered to vote as a woman.” This discrepancy on Dear’s voter registration was first reported by The Gateway Pundit, a self-described “right-of-center news website,” under the claim that he “identifies as [a] woman.” Conservatives have since run with the claim that Dear is transgender.
Yeah…that makes perfect sense. Because transgendered [sic] women always sport a full, scruffy beard and a mustache. You know, especially if they are “transgendered [sic] leftist activist[s].”
Reality turns out to be a bit more mundane:
Records show Dear traveled 65 miles to a Colorado Springs clerk and recorder’s office to obtain his driver’s license and his voter’s registration card, Parsell said.
Although Dear clearly identified himself as a man, the information was incorrectly logged into a computer, Parsell added.
“Our employee inadvertently clicked on ‘female’ and gave the confirmation to Mr. Dear to review,” he said. “He missed it and signed it.”
Thirteen days later, Dear received the erroneous driver’s license in the mail. Records show he traveled to a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Salida to report the error and request a corrected license, which he received, Parsell said.
To change his voter’s registration card, however, Dear would have had to mail a separate request to his local clerk and recorder’s office.
Crackpots of the week: Ted Cruz and the rest of the right wing “scruffy bearded transgendered woman” theorists.
Holy shit.
Drinking Liberally — Seattle
Please join us tonight for drinks, conversation, and dinner at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally.
We meet tonight and every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern. Things start up at about 8:00 pm.
Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings happening this week. The Long Beach, Tri-Cities and West Seattle chapters also meet tonight. The Lakewood chapter meets on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Tacoma chapter meets. And next Monday, the Yakima and South Bellevue chapters meet.
There are 185 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, three in Oregon and one in Idaho. Find—or start—a chapter near you.
Open Thread 11/30
Still on break…
HA Bible Study: Exodus 21:22-25
Exodus 21:22-25
Suppose a pregnant woman suffers a miscarriage as the result of an injury caused by someone who is fighting. If she isn’t badly hurt, the one who injured her must pay whatever fine her husband demands and the judges approve. But if she is seriously injured, the payment will be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, cut for cut, and bruise for bruise.
Discuss.
Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!
Lee Camp: Hell frozen over? A CEO is jailed!
PBS & NPR: Are pesticides to blame for the massive bee die-off?
The 2016 Clown Auditions:
- The G.O.P. is the party of the past.
- The G.O.P. Health Care plan? Repeal ObamaCare.
- Sam Seder: Bedtime stories with Ben Carson…the imaginary crafting of the Constitution.
- Young Turks: The bizarre “end times” beliefs of Dr. Ben Carson.
- Sam Seder and Farron Cousins: Ben Carson’s stupidity is a national security threat
- Maddow: Is Cruz courting the violent religious right?
- Farron Cousins: Scientists confirm…Ted Cruz is roughly as intelligent as Kindergartners.
- Maddow: Ted Cruz embraces religious radicals with violent message.:
- Farron Cousins: Ted Cruz could win the nomination…and that should terrify Americans.
- Stephen: The all-seeing NostraDonald
- Chris Hayes: Trump doubles down on lies and violence.
- Harry Shearer: Trump is the O.J. of politics.
- Kasich PAC goes after Trump
- Lawrence O’Donnell & friends: About that anti-Trump ad
- Maddow: New devastating G.O.P. ad rips Trump!
- Young Turks: Press now needs escorts for bathroom breaks at Trump rallies.
- Sam Seder: Trump Mania—Waterboarding? Torture? Absolutely!
- Farron Cousins: Is the Trumphole the most racist presidential candidate ever????
- Maddow: Trumphole sticks to 9/11 lie & his campaign takes a dark turn.
- David Pakman: Donald Trump calls for “registering” Muslims like animals
- PsychoSuperMom: (Trump Can’t Hide) Your Lying Eyes.
- Chris Hayes: Many Republicans are now calling Trump the “F-word”.
- Jonathan Mann: Donald Trump reminds me of Hitler.
- Inside the Trump hat factory.
- Farron Cousins: G.O.P. wants Trump to disappear before he costs them the presidency
- Seth Meyers: A closer look at Trump’s racist claims:
- Young Turks: Trump retweets fake statistics from a neo-Nazi.
- Thom: Trump’s White Fascist Brigade
- Farron Cousins: Trump and FAUX News want to bring back waterboarding.
- Sam Seder: Trump Mania—Saw thousands of Arabs in N.J. cheering 9/11
- David Packman: Huckabee says there will be no abortion when he is President.
- Farron Cousins: Mike Huckabee wants Obama to wipe out Muslims
Minute Physics: Why isn’t it faster to fly West?
Pap: Corporate media wants you to be stupid. Let’s fight back.
Mitch McConnell drinks.
Refugophobia:
- Young Turks: Asshat Congressman (R) says refugees just want paid vacations.
- Jonathan Mann: Jesus was a refugee.
- David Pakman: Obama explains to Republicans that you can’t keep refugees out of your state.
- Richard Fowler: Obama calls G.O.P. stance on refugees “shameful”
- Young Turks: Game of Thrones author schools Republicans on refugees
- Stephen: Presidential Medal Of Honor recipient Gloria Estefan knows what it’s like to be a refugee
Thom with Steven Gaffney: Really! How do you know a politician is lying?
Jimmy Dore: God refuses to apologize for Paris.
California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (with Bill Maher): Why raise the minimum wage.
Redacted Tonight comedy special with Lee Camp.
Farron Cousins: Corporate media is hungering for a war.
Actual Terrorism That Happened in the U.S. This Week:
- Young Turks: Armed masked men intimidate Black Lives Matter protests.
- Terrorists strike in Minneapolis
- Young Turks: 5 BLM protesters shot
- Liberal Viewer: FOX News omits key Planned Parenthood statement on Colorado Springs shooting.
- News coverage: Terrorist attack in Colorado.
Congressional hits and misses: Thanksgiving leftovers edition.
John Oliver: Pennies.
Thom: The Good, the Bad & The Very, Very Gallionicly Ugly!
David Pakman: World hunger is a social construction.
Young Turks: Koch brothers building their own CIA to spy on progressives.
Surviving the survivalist game.
Quagmire Happening:
- Young Turks: Turkey shoots down Russian fighter plane
- Turkey shoots down Russian fighter.
- Assad talks peace while chemical weapons become routine.
Jimmy Dore: Not drunk Bill O’Reilly calls about Muslims, responsibility & Muslims:
David Pakman: More Mexicans are leaving U.S. than coming in to the U.S.
White House: West Wing Week.
Maddow: Origin of the “freakin’ Presidential turkey pardon”.
Thom: Why the Kochs really embrace criminal justice reform.
Stop war and start cuddling.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
HA spoils your Thanksgiving
Obama pardons Honest and Abe.
Family Fellowship:
- Thanksgiving in 90 seconds.
- SNL: A Thanksgiving miracle.
- David Pakman: How to deal with your ill-informed relative at Thanksgiving.
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Guns.
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Islamophobia
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Climate change
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Planned Parenthood.
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Marriage equality
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Minimum wage.
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Voter ID
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Refugees and terrorism
- Thanksgiving survival guide: Immigration and employment.
Classic: Sarah Palin’s Thanksgiving massacre:
Red State Update: Happy Trumpsgiving.
Trevor’s Thanksgiving Thankstacular Round-Up.
Thanksgiving Stuffing:
- What it takes to burn off your Thanksgiving dinner.
- Too full to fuck.:
- The Ham-a-Day club.
Mental Floss: What’s the difference between American and Canadian Thanksgiving?
The Morning After:
- Roy Zimmerman: I’m dreaming of a Black Friday:
- Professor Mike Yard’s Guide to Black Friday
- Ann Telnaes: What the Republicans would like to return after Thanksgiving.
Mark Fiore: Learn to draw Republican Turkeys.
Stephen calls the Butterball Turkey Talk Line:
Open Thread
Have your say.
The Coming Council Battle Over Parental Leave Will Tell Us Who Really Won the 2015 Election Cycle
This afternoon, King County Elections will certify the November 3 results with Lisa Herbold holding a 30-something-vote lead in the closely contested District 1 race. There will be an automatic manual recount, but don’t expect the margin to change by more than a vote or two at most. KCE pre-inspects ballots, duplicating those it expects might have trouble scanning, and previous recounts have routinely shown little or no change from the first count.
Congratulations to Herbold, and my sympathies to Shannon Braddock for what must be a heartbreaking loss.
Back when Braddock had a comfortable election night lead and it was Kshama Sawant’s D3 race that looked uncomfortably close (she eventually won by 12-plus percent), there was a rush by some pundits and politicos to judge the election cycle as a loss for Sawant and her socialist/labor alliance. But with Herbold replacing her ultra-liberal boss Nick Licata on the council, the current 6-3 split on the council remains intact. At least.
For the question of who really won this cycle will be answered in the new year, when the issue of 12 weeks parental leave for city employees is inevitably again raised before the council. Yesterday, the proposal went down to defeat, with Sawant, Licata, Mike O’Brien, and Bruce Harrell voting for it. Sally Bagshaw, who voted yes in committee, switched her vote to no before the full council. I’ll leave it to others to speculate on her motives.
But next year, four newly elected council members will have the opportunity to weigh in. If the new council approves 12 weeks parental leave, that will indicate a further shift to left left. If the proposal fails by the same 4-5 margin, that will indicate status quo.
Every member of the council thinks of themselves as progressive. The truth will be in their votes.
Drinking Liberally — Seattle
The past week in politics has been absolutely crazy. Conservatives have developed bladder control issues as they cower at the thought of refugees coming into the U.S. Some Washington State lawmakers joined right in on the public display of cowardice. A leading Presidential candidate has been spewing incredibly racist lies, apparently to stoke his base. And that just touches on the week’s wackiness.
Please join us for some sane political conversation over the beverage of your choice at tonight’s Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally.
We meet tonight and every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern. Things start up at about 8:00 pm.
Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings happening this week. Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter also meets. On Wednesday, the Burien chapter meets. And the Woodinville, Spokane, and Kent chapters meet on Thursday.
Open Thread 11-23
Happy Fibonacci Day.
Welcome, Hanna Brooks Olsen, to Nick Hanauer’s Crass Menagerie
Back in March, when I welcomed Paul Constant to our then-unnamed policy/messaging shop, I joked about our boss’s weird hobby:
Most 1 percenters just don’t know what to do with all their filthy lucre. Some rich people collect art. Other rich people collect cars or even houses. But Nick Hanauer, America’s premier self-loathing plutocrat, seems intent on ostentatiously collecting ex-Stranger writers.
Well, I’m happy to announce that Nick has recently added Hanna Brooks Olsen to his crass menagerie.
Hanna has a number of freelance bylines at The Stranger and elsewhere, though she’s certainly best known to local readers as one of the forces behind the popular tumblog, Seattlish. Mostly, Hanna will be heading up a top-secret internal Civic Ventures project, but she’ll also contribute regularly to our Civic Skunkworks blog. In fact, her first Skunkworks post just went live today: “It’s Too Soon to Tell if a Higher Minimum Wage is Eliminating Restaurant Jobs.” Give it a read, and then pretty much ignore just about every headline you see on the so-called “early” impact of Seattle’s minimum wage.
So welcome to Civic Ventures, Hanna. Now let’s all go out there and change the world… you know, hopefully for the better.
HA Bible Study: 1 Timothy 5:23
1 Timothy 5:23
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
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