Month: April 2017

 

 
From Andy Borowitz:

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Offering a stunningly blunt appraisal of the North Korean leader, Jared Kushner said on Tuesday that Kim Jong-un was a “totally unqualified person” who attained his position of power only through nepotism.

“Here you have a guy who has no government experience, and he’s in charge of the whole thing,” Kushner said, in an interview with Fox News. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

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Wondering why a few conservative friends are less than impressed.

• The 100 day mark was once the subject of angry Trump promises (Many, many, many, very, very boastful rants). The Big Empty develops a checklist of presidential triumphs.
   
• Hope rings out that, with one deliberate economic and political betrayal after another, conservative working class voters will finally realize they have been duped. driftglass is having none of it.
   
• Dr. Mark Bear at MadMikesAmerica rips Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe, who praises Fox and Trump for their impact on popular culture.
   
• As China, then Russia, begin to get drawn into the Korean nuclear mess over missiles, Green Eagle reviews the domino history of 1914 that made a single murder into the Great World War. Of course, that was before we knew to number them.
   
• Andy Borowitz reports on the surprise surrender of North Korea after Mike Pence ferociously squints toward Pyongyang.
   
• This week, we find angry rejection of Trumpian ‘Alternative Facts’. The Seattle Pi points out the lessons of Earth Day and the March for Science is that science trumps lies, liars, and alternate … well … you know.
   
• The March for Science was supposed to be non-partisan, above politics. PZ Myers, argues that the entire movement is political, that it very much is partisan, and that it ought to be.
   
• Science, and most informed people, embrace the principle that a hypothesis that requires the fewest assumptions to explain known facts is usually closest to truth: Occam’s Razor. The Journal of Improbable Research finds a recent study that indicates most people prefer complex explanations for pretty much everything.
   
• A prehistoric monument rises in Wiltshire, England, and ancient stone heads appear on a speck of land in the South Pacific. Last Of The Millenniums discovers the link between Stonehenge and Easter Island. Not exactly science, but our President might buy it.
   
• A white woman in Washington state who identifies as black, explains that others should see her as transracial. A mother in Oregon shoots her children. A substantial minority of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump. nojo at Stinque provides insight into the power and danger of delusion.
   
• In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, former pastor and current atheist Bruce, with a fascination that is both repelled and amused, watches vicious debate between two religious writers who do not like the idea of gay love. One has a harsh view of sodomites, the other regards his colleague’s views as limp-wristed, lacking sufficient angry fervor.
   
• Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson argues that local efforts to meet EPA clean water regulations are not sustainable.
   
• As libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara takes a look at animal rights arguments, his perspective is that of an Ayn Rand enthusiast. Since human rights ought to be confined to humans, he suggests a sort of circle of devolution: human rights to animal rights to plant rights to the end of human rights. It’s one of the better arguments for the binary view that seems to dominate most extremism: no middle ground. Any objection to pulling the wings off captured flies, any disapproval of setting fire to the occasional stray cat, equates to the demolition of human freedom.
   
• At The Saturday Afternoon Post, Jack Jodell is inspired by Richard Nixon to develop an enemies list of conservative politicians. However, while Nixon wanted to destroy, Jack only wants to vote.
   

Trump, Kim, and the Nedelin Disaster

Mitrofan Nedelin set off an explosion in the Soviet Empire in 1960 that killed an amazing number of scientists.

He also managed to leave a lesson for North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un, and for President Trump.

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From Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger:

…about half of the public thinks the job being done by the Republican-dominated 115th Congress is hurting the chances of Republican candidates this year. Only 25% think those candidates are helped, and 25% think it will have no impact or are unsure of the impact.

Some Democrats may think that is cause for celebration, especially when combined with the performance of the Democratic candidates in Kansas and Georgia special elections. I disagree.

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From Infidel753:

There are few scenarios more disquieting than a showdown between two mentally-erratic rulers with nuclear weapons in the middle of one of the world’s most densely-populated and economically-important regions. Yet that’s the scenario which seems to be developing in East Asia.

In brief, the North Korean regime, showing its usual bluster, is apparently about to conduct another nuclear or missile test. Trump has diverted the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group toward the region and warned that the US will not tolerate such a provocation. The North Korean regime has a history of ignoring foreign pressure to dial back its saber-rattling, and Trump has a history of taking aggressive actions without thought to, or even understanding of, possible consequences. But if the test goes ahead and Trump carries out some kind of military action against North Korea, the consequences could be enormous indeed.

The regime has repeatedly threatened that, if attacked, it would retaliate against our allies Japan and South Korea:

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From Max’s Dad:

Jon Ossoff ran in a special election for the U.S. House of Reprehensibles in Georgia’s 6th district last night and ran 30 points ahead of his nearest challenger, a truly horrible woman named Karen Handel. Yet to Trump, who didnt even support Handel cuz she’s a broad or something, he did support the twist and she “won” bigley.

Now because Georgia, as much of the South, has this weirdo procedure where if the winner does not get 50% of the vote, we get a run off election in about 2 months time. I gather this is so the powers that be in Georgia, white men, can keep those pesky libtards or blacks or anyone not a conservative white con artist out of office by coming together to keep guys like Ossoff below 50%.

This will be ugly.

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From Blue in the Bluegrass:

The coal operators were shrugging off the destruction, one of them actually recorded on video saying “These mountains ain’t no good for nuthin’ anyway.” Nothing except supporting families with the bounty of mature, diverse forests.

The environmentalists and local activists were jumping up and down with their hair on fire, accurately predicting the devastation of mountain communities to come over the next decades and demanding a solution.

You see, when you strip mine for coal, you are literally stripping everything from trees and leaf mold right down to bedrock.

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Wondering why a few conservative friends are less than impressed.