Thursday, November 14, 2024

Cult member Tulsi Gabbard cannot be trusted with national intelligence

 Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS  "Elon Secures A White House Position"


elons white house position



Tulsi Gabbard is a threat to US national security and should not be allowed to be the Director of National Intelligence.  She has made her entire career and life about being politically compromised.  As C.I. noted in this morning's snapshot, she's a member of a crazy foreign cult ("Chris" is her guru -- and, no, that's not short for Christ -- she worships a dude named Chris).  We don't need her crazy.

There's her Bashar al-Assad connection and so much more.  Since C.I. noted that this morning,  Michael Sheils McNamee (BBC NEWS) reports:

The nomination has raised questions over Gabbard's lack of experience in intelligence as well as accusations that she has in the past amplified Russia propaganda.

She will require Senate confirmation to take up the role.

If she is confirmed to the role Gabbard would manage a budget of more than $70bn (£55bn) and oversee 18 intelligence agencies.

But the nomination has sparked criticism in some quarters.

Reacting to the appointment on X, Democrat Virginia congresswoman member of the House Intelligence Committee Abigail Spanberger said she was "appalled at the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard".

"Not only is she ill-prepared and unqualified, but she traffics in conspiracy theories and cozies up to dictators like Bashar-al Assad and Vladimir Putin," she said.




John Bolton has argued Rep. Matt Gaetz and Tulsi GabbardDonald Trump's nominees for Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) respectively, should undergo "full field FBI investigations" before their Senate confirmation hearings take place.



The comments were made by Bolton, who served as Trump's National Security Advisor during his first term, but has since become a trenchant critic, in an interview with NewsNation's 'The Hill' hours after the appointments were announced.

[. . .]

Speaking about Gabbard on NewsNation Bolton said: "I don't think either she or Matt Gaetz ought to have a confirmation hearing until they have both had full field FBI investigations.

"And then I think the Chinese would say, 'Maybe they are serious.'"

Referring to Gabbard specifically Bolton added: "Given the Russian propaganda that she has espoused over the past period of time, I think she's a serious threat to our national security."



She is not to be trusted.  I say that based on her cult membership alone.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, November 14, 2024.  Carville goes crazed, Donald learns the US Senate does not work for him, a cult member is nominated for National Intelligence, and much more.

First up, this.


BlueSky, Threads, anything, get off Twitter if you're able to.  BlueSky actually sounds better from the video above.  Danielle Moodie is going with BlueSky, for example.  But if you're able to, take your free labor off Twitter.  We know who Elon Musk is, let's not be working on the plantation for him.

And let's make sure that we understand every day that he is a racist.  He was born in raised under apartheid.  He was taught to look down on Black people.  And though he fled South Africa when apartheid was crumbling, he carried his belief in racism with him.  It's who he is, it's who he will always be.

Now let's move over to another person who would make the world a better place by dying, James Carville.


80 years old and still a disgusting vile man, James Carville.

And a know nothing.  He trashed Kamala's campaign early on, we need to remember that.  This is someone who wants us to fall in line -- that's people of color and all women regardless of race -- but when it mattered most refused to fall in line himself. 

He was out there trashing Kamala, trashing her campaign.  A far cry from when CNN broke with him in 2008.  Is that what's made you even more bitter, James?

We were going to highlight another Roland Martin video -- and may this snapshot, otherwise we'll do it in tomorrow's snapshot -- it went up here last night.  I'm sure Roland does a fierce take down of James but I was just told about this video and all I've heard is James' nonsensical ravings and maybe a minute of Roland.  If I'm repeating Roland, my apologies.

First off, my state still has 13% of the vote to count.  Kamala won it, that's not the point.  The point is that right now the official count of the popular vote is still Kamala 48.2% and Donald Trump 50.2%.  That's not a landslide, that's not a mandate.  That's not even a big difference so grasp that first of all.

James Carville is what Sam Seder's going to grow into if Sam's not careful.  

He's an idiot who  never built a thing and who only won by hurting others.  He refused to invest in the work and time needed to build the Democratic Party, all he ever wanted was -- bean counter that he is -- a campaign that could appeal to swing voters.  And if used racism?  All the better for James.

It didn't matter that James signed off on racism, not to him.  He didn't care about the effect on the country or the direct impact on people's lives.

He also didn't give a damn about growing the Democratic Party.  There was no push on that from him either.  

Now you can argue that last one was a mistake this time.

Some people are arguing it.  Colin Allred, for example, wasted resources in Texas.  

It would have been wonderful to have seen Beto get that kind of funding from the national party in 2018, for example. 

Beto got voters.  Colin didn't.  That's reality.  And reality is that Colin should have done better but he was a James Carville -- he caved.  Fighters win.  Bill Clinton grasped that, Carville never did.  You can't run on weakness.  And that's all Colin did once his political spine collapsed.  


That said, Texans were really glad to see advertisements on TV.  

There was one about an old couple talking about their Social Security -- I haven't seen it.  But I've heard about it in roundtables, I've read about it in e-mails.  

Imagine being that forgotten by your own party that you're grateful for a Social Security spot.

That's the James Carvilles, they starved Texas and other states like it.

They don't want to do the building and the work.

They're just bean counters trying to figure out the easiest way to do anything.  They plant the crop in same plot of land over and over and strip the soil.  They have no clue how to actually build or grow.

You do it through investments.  And that's too much for old man Carville.

He did nothing to help Kamala's campaign, he did nothing to help her.  Hey, 80 year old useless old man, go away.  No one needs you.  No one wants you.  

In 2008, Barack Obama supporters doctored a documentary to take out Hillary.  They altered footage from THE WAR ROOM.  On it, they insisted, some Clintonite was using the N-word.  And this story moved quickly through the media.  When I heard about it, I thought, "Damn it, Carville."  Because it easily could have been him.  Fortunately, it was no one.  The clip was doctored.  

But that's the reality of James Carville, you hear someone used the N-word in the Clinton campaign and you immediately think Carville.

That's is his legacy.

That and the trailer tramp labels he pushed on all the women who said Clinton propositioned them or harassed them.  

That's his legacy.

He's built nothing.

He will die a loser because that's all he's ever been.

"We didn't have a process!" (To select the presidential nominee after Joe dropped out.)

Joe Biden was dead in the water after the debate.

That's reality.  

He goes on ABC a week later and seems steady but still weak and he's unable to pivot so he's getting pummeled with questions.

It is July.  The election is in November.  The polls in early July showed much worse results then what we got last week.

He had to step down.  He could not fight the media.  People rarely grasp that.  To his credit, Joe did.  

You really think there was time for a campaign for the nominee?

First off, if it was the Biden-Harris ticket.  So if he was going to drop out after the primaries, yeah, it would go to her.  That's what's logical.

Second, Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson never got traction and nobody liked them -- excuse me, people who got married with Marianne as a wedding guest liked her -- and those YOUTUBERS -- Kyle and Krystal -- tried to pimp her off on us.  But America never took to her or to Dean.  

We'd never had this happen in the Democratic Party -- a presidential candidate drops out weeks before the convention -- and things needed to move quick because we wouldn't have months to come together after the primaries.  That's generally what happens, the primaries generally are over -- in terms of knowing who has the nomination -- by May.  That gives June and July for the losers to get over it before the convention and August, September and October before the general election.

And in my lifetime, only one candidate I supported in the presidential primary ever got the nomination (2004, John Kerry).  You cannot do a primary -- even a mini-one -- in August and expect to deliver in November.

We were damn lucky, as a party, that Joe stepped aside.

There is no mandate, there is no landslide.  Trump -- and the media (see Stan's "Why does NEWSWEEK need to lie?") can keep lying, but the country remains split and that's what the official count demonstrates. 


We're damn lucky Kamala was the nominee.  She was strong and she was surefooted.  Can you imagine Marianne simpering around the press as they asked her about crystals, her difficult relationship with the gay community due to her snake oil AIDS' 'cures,' her difficult relationship with everyone who's ever worked for her, her 'brand' that long ago cratered and her inability in the last two decades to adapt . . . 

Kamala gave the best debate performance of any presidential candidate in modern times.

"It's the economy, stupid" -- James said it in the 90s.

The economy under Joe Biden was great.  He turned it around.  And Trump could coast on that if he weren't an idiot and determined to impose tariffs but history will show that Joe saved the economy.

For too many people, though, and this was before Kamala became the nominee, there was a feeling that the economy was not better because they continued to see price hikes.  Prior to general election, one of the few people noting this was Senator Elizabeth Warren.  She didn't just press release it and leave it alone.  She talked about.  Every Democrat should have been talking about that, the price gouging. 

Everyone in Congress should have been on message.

But they weren't.

Credit to Elizabeth Warren for doing what everyone else should have done.

In addition, Joe should have issued -- I stated this in 2023, at the start of it -- a stimulus.  Now James Carville mocked me on that behind my back.  I said people needed money and you could call it a post-COVID stimulus.  

That didn't happen.

That could have made a difference.

But we didn't get that.

And so it was an economy election with a lot of stupid people.  If you don't know that a tariff is paid by the people in the country imposing the tariff then you are stupid.  Hopefully, you'll learn and be less stupid.  Doesn't help the country now, but maybe you'll learn.

Economics for most people is what they can put on the table. 

If Congressional Democrats had made that a unified message, it might have made a difference.

If THE NATION, IN THESE TIMES, THE PROGRESSIVE, DEMOCRACY NOW!, et al had stopped attacking Kamala daily and covered the economy seriously, it might have made a difference.

But remember, Amy Goodman thinks her DEMOCRACY NOW! audience is too stupid to understand economics.  She told that to the late Danny Schechter who immediately told me.  I told him to do a blind item at NEWS DISSECTOR and that I'd pick up on it and carry it to THIRD, which I did.

So there's a lot going on.

People made decisions and we have to live with them now.

We don't need James Carville and his garbage.  It was a very close election.  No one's ever done what Kamala did.  Probably no one else could have.  

The Gaza Freaks had already shut her out -- don't give me your b.s. that a speaker at the DNC would have mattered.  Not only could it not have happened, but it wouldn't have mattered.  Everything the Gaza Freaks did after to poison the well made that clear.

Let's stay with the Gaza Freaks but move on. 

Gaza Freaks are yet again destroying support for their goals.  Courtney McGinley (NEWSWEEK) reports that the University of Rochester was the site of an 'action' in which posters of professors and staff went up with slogans like  "Wanted: Connection to War Crimes."  Students can do whatever they want -- if it was students -- and I'm not going to clutch the pearls.  But I will point out that's a lousy way to win support for your cause.  I will point out that support for these actions cratered at the end of last spring.  If they want press attention, they'll need to try something different -- because campus protests was the story of last spring.  But an action like this might please a freak like Michelle Shocked look-alike Linda Sarour but it doesn't move the needle on those in the middle and it actually pushes some of those in the support camp away.  


It's a failing move.  Kind of like protesting outside the White House.   Yawn.  The media needs new angles and, too bad, none of the non-college student leadership knows a damn thing about a media friendly moment.  Grasp that Susan Benjamin (stage name "Medea") is forever pulling stunts and hoping one of them will get her the attention she is always starved for.  If she truly knew how to create a media moment, she would get actual moments.  Instead, she's just the crazy and pathetic woman who smells and people laugh at.  

Repeating, the protests you enjoyed under Joe Biden's presidency may be criminalized under Trump's so now's not really the time you need to be pushing more supporters away.  But, then again, if anyone in that camp knew how to strategize, they wouldn't have spent six months attacking Kamala.  You're in Ralph Nader land now where no one wants to know your name and no one feels they owe you anything.  



The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on Wednesday published a propaganda video of hostage Sasha Trufanov, which his family authorized media outlets to publicize.

After a year in captivity, Trufanov describes a shortage of food, water, electricity, and basic hygiene products in the Gaza Strip, adding that he now has a skin condition that he did not have before being abducted. Like in several other hostage videos released by terror groups, Trufanov urges citizens to demand the government reach a deal for their release, and says that the Israel Defense Forces operation only puts them in more danger.

It is unclear exactly when the video was made, though it appears to be recent, as Trufanov mentions Israel’s ground incursion in Lebanon, which was announced on October 1. Though he says in the clip that he is aged 28, the video was released two days after he turned 29, his second birthday in captivity.



Not a good look for the 'movement.'  Or do they think keeping someone away from their family and friends is a good look?  Netanyahu is a War Criminal.  But so is someone who holds a person hostage for a year and counting. 


It's going to be interesting to watch the Linda Sarour's try to navigate this minefield and maintain public support.  Too bad they're probably on their on their own now.  So they'll scream in horror at each other -- unable to communicate with the larger, needed group -- and the body count will only increase.

Didn't have to be that way. 



Yesterday, shock!!! Shock!!!  And more shock!!!! That the US Senate refused to play . . . Donald Trump's bitch.  Honestly, you're surprised by that?  You don't understand human nature?

Oh, wait, the country's full of idiots.  Like the ones who thought people screaming they wouldn't vote for Kamala Harris had a right to have someone on stage at the Convention.

The DNC pageant is about rewarding the old boys' club and setting up the next one.  Women who are actually Democrats and are names have a hard time getting on that stage due to all the egos.  But, sure, whine for your little nobody that has no national stature and is not anyone the DNC plans to turn into a national star (they planned to turn Barack Obama into one and that's why he spoke at the 2004 convention).

You are so filled with stupidity and with conspiracy talk that sometimes you miss the most basic things in the world.  From Tuesday's snapshot:


From ALL ABOUT EVE -- Bette Davis played Margo,  Thelma Reed played Birdie.  It's after a performance and Margo's assistant Eve (Anne Baxter) has picked up the costume and headed off from the dressing room.  
 

Birdie:  May I be so bold as to say something?  Have you ever heard of the word "union"?

Margo:  Behind in your dues? How much?

Birdie:  I haven't got a union. I'm slave labor.

Margo:  Well?

Birdie:  But the wardrobe women have got one and, next to a tenor, a wardrobe woman is the touchiest thing in show business.

Margo:  Oh, oh.

Birdie: She's got two things to do:  carry clothes and press 'em wrong.  And don't let anybody try to muscle in.




You know what's touchier than a wardrobe woman?  A sitting US senator.  




After 17 years in the hot seat, McConnell is expected to exit his post at the top of Senate Republican leadership on Wednesday, ending his run as the longest serving Senate party leader in U.S. history.

At the top of the billing to replace the 82-year-old are South Dakota Senator John Thune and Texas Senator John Cornyn, two establishment conservatives and longtime McConnell allies who have not always seen eye to eye with the president-elect.

Meanwhile, a gamut of Trump’s key allies, including Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, and Charlie Kirk, are aggressively lobbying for Florida Senator Rick Scott to take the helm. (Trump, notably, has so far avoided endorsing any of the contenders.) But the overzealous pressure campaign—which is also being pushed along by some far-right social media influencers and their harassment tactics—is on the verge of combusting, according to Politico.


That’s because most of the Senate Republican conference won’t have to face reelection until 2028 or later. On top of that, the vote is by secret ballot, ensuring that no one—from their constituents to MAGA’s top brass—will know if they voted for or against Trump’s candidate.
“Senators do not take kindly to having an army of social media trolls attack them,” one unnamed aide told Politico on Sunday, noting that the effort was only “pissing off senators whose votes Rick needs” to win.


And sitting US senators do not take kindly to anyone outside the Senate -- that includes a president -- attempting to tell them what to do.  Now pair that with Kaia Hubbard (CBS NEWS) reporting:


As Senate Republicans prepare to vote Wednesday on new leadership for the upcoming Congress, President-elect Donald Trump is already weighing in with demands for the new majority leader regarding his Cabinet

After a decisive victory in the 2024 elections, Trump is returning to the White House with a GOP-led Senate at his side. Senate Republican leaders are expected to ease the way for the president-elect's agenda and his Cabinet and judicial nominees. Trump has made it clear that he'd like his nominees to be installed immediately, suggesting that he may want the option to bypass the Senate's advice and consent role entirely. 




Please  note, that would be the Constitutionally assigned role of advice and consent.   For the ignorant -- like Donald Trump -- let's not the Constitution:


Article II, Section 2, Clause 2:

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.


When the most recent US senators were sworn in back in January of 2023 -- two years ago -- the median age was 65.3 years.  

Wait.  We have MAGA drive bys and you know they were homeschooled so let me explain median.   Think of it as the midpoint.  So half the US Senate, in 2023, was composed of senators under the age of 65.3 and half was composed of senators over the age of 65.3 -- 65.3 is the mid point.


And US senators are very territorial.  And that's before you get to over half being over 65.  So he wants to bypass them on advice and consent and he wants to be able to determine who will be the next Majority Leader -- something the Senate traditionally does all by itself.


Pushy and stupid, that's Donald Trump.  

A Senate campaign?  That's much more difficult than a House campaign (except in Alaska which has two senators and one member of the House of Representatives).  They work very hard in those runs -- or at least hard for them -- and it being the upper house and it being a six year term, they tend to think they know better than others -- and that's before you factor in the issue of incumbency.

US senators do not like to be pushed around or talked to like their children.  But there goes the idiot Trump antagonizing the Senate -- Republicans and Democrats -- before he even gets into the White House.


Where's the popcorn, right?




Get it?  

No, the US Senate -- GOP members -- made Donald Trump their bitch.  He'll have to curry favor with them.  Lindsey Graham will crawl into bed and spoon with Donald but the others have a little more self-respect.  And, if we're being honest, Lindsey's always one of the first to stab Donald in the back when talking to other senators.

The GOP in the Senate will fall in line with Trump . . . when he flatters, when he grasps that they're not going to be ordered around.  This is a turf war.

You saw it with Samuel Alito making clear this week that Donald might like him to step down from the Supreme Court but that he will only do that when he is good and damn ready.  (See Marcia's "Trying again.") 

Idiots like Glenneth Greenwald lost it ahead of Trump's taking the oath of office in January 2017 because Senator Chuck Schumer noted that the intelligence committee had "six ways from Sunday to get back" at someone.  Drama Queen and chronic masturbator that he is, Glenneth went into a shrieking panic: Schumer was threatening Trump!!!

No, drama queen.  Chuck was noting the reality of turf wars.  



Could Donald Trump be the Newt Gingrich of presidents?  Someone with grand plans whose hubris and ego destroy it all?  We can only hope.

And those ready to fight?  We may want to focus on Tulsi Gabbard.





Group post I participated in ("Trashy Tulsi talks").  As we completed it and were about to post, Betty realized we forgot something important: Tulsi is a cult member.

Donald Trump is nominating a member of a cult to be Director of National Intelligence.  Guru Chris and that relationship need to be explained.

We should be demanding that news outlets actually cover what the cult Tulsi is a member of practices.

We wouldn't turn national intelligence over to a Moonie.

In addition, Tulsi visited with Bashar al-Assad.  A butcher.  Is she stable enough to hold this position?

Those serving in the reserves with her sounded the alarm on her to the government reportedly resulting in her being on a watch list.

This is a nomination that needs to seriously explored.


 Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Kristi Noem Wants To Be At Home In Homeland Security"  and "Elon Secures A White House Position"  went up last night.  

The following sites updated:








Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Trashy Garbage pretends she has a brain

BULLY BOY PRESS CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A GREAT MAN & ANN'S MEGA DUB  & THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS & THE COMMON ILLS  -- THE KOOL AID TABLE  


THOUGH HE CLAIMS TO BE AGAINST DEI HIRES, INCOMING PRESIDENT AND FOREVER FELON DONALD TRUMP-DUMP HAS SELECTED TRASHY GARBAGE (STAGE NAME TULSI GABBARD) TO BE THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.  DOES A TUTOR COME WITH THAT JOB?  INTELLIGENCE?  TULSI?  

WE REACHED GABBARD FOR COMMENT.  WHAT FOLLOWS IS A WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION.

US: IS THIS TULSI GABBARD?

TULSI: ARE YOU A BILL COLLECTOR?  

US: NO.

TULSI: IS THIS ABOUT THAT SECTIONAL SOFA I NEVER PAID OFF RENT-A-CENTER FOR.

US: NO.  THIS IS CEDRIC, WALLY, BETTY, ANN, ISAIAH AND C.I. AND WE'RE CALLING ABOUT YOUR NEW POST.

TULSI: OH!  WHAT A RELIEF.  AND MY FIRST CONGRATULATIONS CALL!

US: WE DIDN'T CONGRATULATE YOU.

TULSI: OH?  WELL, ON THE DOWN LOW, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT I'M GOING TO BE?  DIRECTOR OF SOMETHING OR OTHER.  DOES THAT MEAN I MAKE FILMS?  I'M OKAY WITH THAT, I JUST CAN'T STAND IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA.  OR AT LEAST NOT UNTIL I GET SOME SANDPAPER AND SAND DOWN ALL MY ACNE PIT SCARS.  I LIKE DIRECTOR, THOUGH.  I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A CRUISE DIRECTOR BUT PLAYED BY FRED GRADY, YOU KNOW?  

US: DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT YOUR NEW ROLE ENTAILS?

TULSI: IN TAILS?  DO I GET A TOP HAT TOO?

US: DO YOU FEEL PREPARED TO SERVE?

TULSI: DRINKS?  I WAS KIND OF HOPING WITH THE TITLE "DIRECTOR," SOMEONE ELSE WOULD SERVE SNACKS AND DRINKS.

AS WE CONCLUDED OUR INTERVIEW WITH TRASHY GARBAGE, WE WERE LEFT WITH A SCARY THOUGHT: WHAT IF SHE WAS THE SMARTEST PERSON IN TRUMP DUMP'S ADMINISTRATION?



bringyourpettowork




FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Did Kamala never say "working class"?  The house pet CNN brought on raised that issue -- wasn't asked, raised it.  But she qualified it with "as far as I know."  Weasel words because facts didn't matter, it was about getting her attack in.


It's the same nonsense -- and Roland's called this out and Karen Hunter has called this out -- that people are using to water down the Democratic Party.


I know this is hard for Zac and Cody and the other youngsters to believe but Bernie is not a god.  He's not even a decent person.


Decent people don't give their lives to public service jobs and end up millionaires.  Bernie's got over three million dollars.  How did he get the money?


Not by being a threat to the world of corporations.


Here's what the toddlers don't grasp: Bernie talks a good game frequently.


Talks.


Does?


He never does anything.  Now back in the day, when he was in the House of Representatives and progressive were rightfully outraged by his failure to ever actually deliver (or fight for that matter).  And what we were told back then was that due to being a member of the House of Representatives, he was limited by the fact that he had to run for office every two years.  He'd show up in documentaries and Robert Greenwald's 'documentaries' and make statements that he never followed up on.  Then he got the Senate.  How long are people going to make excuses for him?


I stopped when he chaired a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.  We were there to cover the issue.  And the press was there for another issue.  The VA was keeping two sets of books.  Veteran care was appalling and the wait lists were appalling.  So the VA was keeping the true wait time book and the false one that they had been providing to Congress.


And what did Bernie do that morning?  Please grasp that veterans were dying due to lack of care.  This was a huge scandal.  And Bernie insisted, in his opening remarks, that the focus would not be on the emerging story and asked that those on the Committee stay on topic -- the topic being holistic health care.


Veterans are dying and the VA has been caught lying.  Lying to our government representatives and president and lying to the people.


And Bernie's more interested in holistic healthcare.


That's when I stopped making excuses for fake ass Bernie.


He might have made a great president in 2020.  If he had, it would have been due to the people behind him -- his supporters -- and not due to Bernie.  


His remarks this week were racist.  Not surprising, he's over 80 years old.  


Remember Ralph Nader.  Remember him in 2008?  Running against Barack Obama and Ralph using terms like "ghetto" and using the term blindly and repeatedly anytime he was asked about any issue effecting Black people?  And people thinking Ralph was out of touch and racist.  Ralph was only in his 70s.


"Working class"?  Kamala did use the term.  She was more often using the term "working families."


You might not like it, I might not like it.  It was used because it was poll tested and this was done before Zac and Cody even got out of diapers. 


Now if we want to have a conversation -- post-election -- about terms, let's do that.  But let's be honest about it.


Black women turned out in this election.  And no one wants to explore that Danielle, Olay, Tabitha and so many more strong Black women could be a part of this conversation taking place right now -- could be  and should be.







But they were taken for granted before the election, taken for granted during the election cycle and are still being taken for granted when we pretend we want answers.


We don't want real answers.  Sam doesn't want real answers.  He wants to jawbone about conventional wisdom.  I have been told Sam is incredibly intelligent.  I would love for that to be accurate.  But nothing I see right now speaks of anything more than a half-wit.


Currently, the election results are Kamala got 48.1% of the vote and Donald got 50.2% of the vote. You wouldn't know that by the coverage and the hand wringing.


By all means, wring the hands over what Donald's going to do.  But this isn't a mandate and it's not a landslide -- and thank you to Lawrence O'Donnell who points this out when everyone else ignores it.  Here he is from last night.



Let's also note that currently, only 79% of votes have been counted in California. 



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Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Science post archaeology round up

 Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Junior Moves Into His New Office


doormat



Junior is a disgrace as is his pathetic door mat wife. 


Amy Goodman and Katrina vanden Heuvel -- two racist women who worked overtime to elect Donald Trump by trashing Kamala Harris every day over a three month period are garbage and we should never forget nor forgive their actions.  But I'm going to do a science round up tonight.  Tim Newcomb (POPULAR MECHANICS) reports:



  • Archaeologists discovered a fourth-century Christian church in Armenia, considered the country’s oldest.
  • Armenia is believed to be the first Christian state in the world after King Tiridates III converted to Christianity.
  • The octagonal shape of the building wasn’t common in the immediate area, but it was with churches throughout the world, as the number eight held symbolic meaning in biblical context.

For obvious reasons, the life and death of Jesus Christ had a wide-ranging impact on the world’s culture, including architecturally. Early Christian churches were often shaped like an octagon, which was an early Christian church symbol for the resurrection of Jesus and, more broadly, the rebirth of life.


Archaeologists recently discovered such a structure in Armenia’s ancient city of Artaxata, considered the first Christian state in the world.

Dating to the mid-fourth century AD, it is the oldest archaeologically documented church in the country and provides additional evidence for early Christianity in Armenia, Achim Lichtenberger, professor at the University of Münster, said in a statement.

“Octagonal churches were unknown here until now,” Mkrtich Zardaryan of the National Academy of Sciences in Armenia said in a statement, “but we are very familiar with them from the Eastern Mediterranean region, where they first appeared in the fourth century AD.”



Learn something new every day -- usually several things new.  I honestly had never heard about the octagon having been a symbol for Jesus and resurrection before.  So that's interesting and let me just make this post about archaeology.    What happens when we use modern science tools in archaeology?  New discoveries.  Jack Guy (CNN) reports:

Archaeologists have identified the site of an ancient battle in what is now Iraq by comparing historical accounts with declassified images from US spy satellites.

Researchers from Durham University in the United Kingdom and the University of Al-Qadisiyah in Iraq say they have found the site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, which took place in 636 or 637 AD, according to a statement published Monday.

Despite the fact that the battle marked a significant victory for Arab Muslims and enabled their expansion beyond Arabia, its precise location was not previously known.

William Deadman, a specialist in archaeological remote sensing at Durham University, told CNN that the discovery was part of a wider project aimed at mapping archaeological sites across the Middle East.

Initially, the team was mapping out the Darb Zubaydah pilgrimage route from Kufa in Iraq to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, using declassified spy satellite images from the 1970s and historical texts, when they realized they might also be able to use the same pieces of information to identify the site of the famous battle.




Science is discovery, knowledge, freedom and growth.  And, under Donald Trump, science will be decimated.  Thanks racists Amy Goodman and Katrina vanden Heuvel, thanks for putting your own racist attitudes ahead of democracy and our country.  Bitter?  "Like Medea," as Woody Allen says in one of his movies.  ANNIE HALL!  Had to think a minute on that one.  

Now let's move on to another discovery.   Sinead Butler (INDY 100) notes:


The Temple of Poseidon was once lost but scientists have discovered the structure dedicated to the Ancient Greek God of water.

In 2022, archaeologists from the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Greek Ministry of Culture were able to identify the ancient structure in Elis, Greece which they believe to be the lost Temple of Poseidon of Samikon, described by the ancient Greek geographer Strabo.

And it's even bigger than expected as the temple is approximately 28 meters in length and nearly 9.5 meters wide.

Layout-wise, it's pretty unique as the structure contains two main rooms, a vestibule, as well as what is thought to be a rear hall.




In the Western Peloponnese, archaeologists have unearthed a monumental discovery that reshapes the understanding of ancient Greek religious practices. Near the coastal village of Samikon, a sprawling temple complex, believed to be dedicated to Poseidon, the god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses, has come to light.

This find not only sheds light on the region’s ancient religious life but also highlights the cultural and strategic significance of Poseidon’s worship in the Greek world.

Poseidon: God of the Sea and Earthquakes

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was a central figure, one of the twelve Olympian gods who ruled from Mount Olympus. As the god of the sea, he was both revered and feared by sailors, who prayed for calm waters and safe journeys.


One of the biggest archaeological finds in the 20th century, a discovery that happened fifty years ago this month, was Lucy.  Facundo Macchi (EL PAIS) reports:


On the evening of November 24, 1974, in a camp in northeastern Ethiopia, American anthropologist Donald Johanson and his assistant Tom Gray were drinking cold beer around the fire while a goat was cooking on embers. They were celebrating, along with a handful of colleagues: that very morning they had found the fossilized bones of what appeared to be a hominid never before described by science. They sang and danced to the music of the Beatles. Their song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds came on and someone ventured: “Why don’t we call her Lucy?” The name stuck, and Lucy became the most famous fossil in history. Her discovery led to thousands of questions. The two main ones were: what species did she belong to? And was humanity beholding its closest primate relative?

One of those tasked with clearing up these questions was Tim White, a paleoanthropologist also from the United States. He was there, studying the fossils, whose discovery took place 50 years ago this month. He is now 74 and lives in Burgos, Spain, where he works as a scientist affiliated with the National Center for Research on Human Evolution (CNIEH), far from the spotlight that focused on Lucy when she was presented to the world. The 47 fragments found dated back 3.2 million years and formed a fossil so complete that it allowed people to imagine for the first time what this remote ancestor was like.

Thus, Lucy forever changed the field of paleoanthropology: “These fossils represent our evolution. Lucy’s lineage led to the genus Homo, the genus of our species,” White explains. That skeleton helped put together the pieces of an evolutionary puzzle that, until then, had been in disarray, full of loose ends. After several years of study, in 1978 Johanson and White no longer had doubts, but certainties: they announced that Lucy and other fossils they found later all came from a single, previously unknown species of hominid. They called it Australopithecus afarensis.

Like many other paleoanthropologists around the world, Juan Luis Arsuaga, scientific director of the Museum of Human Evolution (Burgos), has spent a good part of his career studying what came from Lucy. “She is what was missing to link humans with monkeys, an intermediate form of life. The missing link,” he says. He quickly corrects himself: “I wouldn’t use the term ‘missing link’ in a class because it’s an outdated idea, but it’s good for explaining what Lucy meant for science, it’s nice.”

“The bones are the obsession, but they are the least important thing. What is truly important is the data they provide,” says Arsuaga. And the information that Lucy provided was a lot: she was four feet tall, she died at 11 or 12 years of age (the key to determining this was a worn-out wisdom tooth), her posture and locomotion were bipedal, she had a small brain, and a pelvis similar to that of a human.



So that's our science round up.  And remember: DEMOCRACY NOW!'s Amy Goodman and THE NATION's Katrina vanden Heuverl are racists who put Donald Trump back into the White House.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, November 12, 2024.  Hiding behind his late life marriage and late life fatherhood Seth Moulton wants to kick others down, Trump's usurping the Senate, Black women are still being shut out of the conversation, and much more.


Let's start with big 'manly' Seth Moulton, a member of the US House of Representative and a long term contestant in WHAT'S MY SEXUALITY?  Some argue he settled that question in 2017 when, at the age of 38, he finally found a woman to marry.  But most of us said at the time, "Well he is planning to run for president in 2020."  And he did.  No one wanted him, but he did run.


He launched his attack on trans people last week.  That could provide cover for his being gay -- if he was.  At least for some people who don't grasp that he could be -- he certainly acts like one -- one of those big puffy chest conservative gay men who insult and trash trans men and women.  Here's what Seth said and I'll respond every sentence or so.


I mean, here we are accusing Republicans of being weird and we're the ones who are suddenly requiring people to put pronouns in their email signatures


What's weird about that?  It's perfectly normal and even more so if your name is Taylor or Drew or Bailey or Morgan or Alex or . . .  Get the point, stupid?  Even someone as stupid as you has to grasp that a man named Alex Smith doesn't want to be called "Ms Smith."  Even you, you overgrown fat ass, has to grasp that, right.

As for "requiring"?  There's no law.  Which means it would be the company you work for making the requirement.  Companies making requirements of their employees!!!!!  OH my goodness, whoever heard of that happening.


I mean, that's kind of weird, to be honest.  You know, we went through the whole gay rights movement.


Did you now?  Do tell?  And where did you lose your Pride virginity, big boy?  I don't know about the rest of America but I guess I picture Seth on his knees, in a men's room, working the glory hole.


We went through the whole Civil Rights Movement.  We never had to say "Seth Moulton: Straight" or Seth Moulton: "White."


Seth, I would be greatly surprised -- as someone who's met you and spoken with you -- if you ever, once in your life, introduced yourself as "Seth Moulton: Straight."  But if you do, I pray that you will record it on your phone and then post it online because I could really use a good laugh.



You didn't go through the Civil Rights Movement, it's before your time. But actually, there were people passing and they did tend to get called out.  You wouldn't know that because you're Big Stupid -- that's what the men who served with you called you, "Big Stupid."  They called you other names too but let me bite my tongue.



And all of a sudden, we have to change all our values to meet the needs or demands of one very small minority group.


Saying he or she or they makes you change all your values?  What values are those?  Your refusal to adapt to growing society don't speak well for your post-marriage scenes.  Maybe they'll forgive you if you do pig play?



So I think we just have to be able to have a real discussion about this.


The nation's been having that conversation for years now.  Where were you?  At the bathhouse?

Or maybe you were in hiding, trying to avoid questions about how you, the successful businessman, actually ran Eastern Healthcare Partners into the ground.

Hey, you know what, let's talk about that?  Yeah, why don't you finally answer to that?  Oh, rushing off already.  Well give him my love, tell him I say "Hi!"


WIKIPEDIA notes:

Following Kamala Harris's loss in the presidential election, he expressed opposition to transgender participation in girls' sports, saying that he does not want his daughters "getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete."[87] Following his remarks, his campaign manager resigned in protest, his comments were condemned by Salem mayor Dominick Pangallo and he faced protest from constituents.[88] In an MSNBC interview, he refused to apologize and claimed the backlash "[proved] his point".[89]


Got to work those two daughters in -- but no gay panic, you understand.  I've made this point before -- many times -- but I'll make it again.  People like Seth don't appear bothered by transgender athletes.  They're bothered by male to female trans kids.  When a female to male trans kid plays sports -- which is honestly what I've always seen much more of -- these same people like Seth don't give a damn and don't care about it.  But aren't they fixed on 'protecting' girls (cis girls) -- Seth's kind of like Donald Trump, he's going to protect them whether they want it or not. 


Speaking of whether they want it or not . . . Maureen Dowd's always struggled as a columnist.  Always.  Facts are hard for MoDo. She's now signed off with Seth in her latest column so it's a good time to point out that the 72-year-old needs to be put out to pasture.  That should apply to many columnists getting paid for a job that someone younger could be doing.  But it especially applies to Maureen who's always tried to fudge the facts by falling back on pop culture references.  At 72, she's really outlived that and it's time for some new blood.  72?  What am I saying, she's 73 in January.  Get her a gold watch and show her where the exit door is.




She's got a massive ego on her, Dowd, and she thought aligning herself with Sue Mengers was the way to go as the '00s wound down.  It only made it clear to those of us in the entertainment community that Dowd was dead.  She's had no real importance or traction since then.  Nor could she.  She is, in fact, as dead as any film on Sue.  Remember that?  Sue was going to have a big comeback.  So sorry.  Sue's racism was popular in the seventies but those of us who weren't racist ensured that she never had a comeback -- not in the 80s or the 90s or the '00s when Maureen (and Tina Fey) tried to adopt her.  Yes, Bette Midler did star in that play.  And, yes, the lie was that the play was a hit -- or some tried to pretend it was a hit.

It was a one act play with only one character so I'm sure it broke even.  But hit plays?  They don't run less than three months.  Bette also starred in HELLO DOLLY which was a hit -- 550 performances.

Every now and then another actress gets attached to an 'upcoming' film about Mengers.  But, again, she was a racist and the project tends to hit a wall when that reality pops up.  For example?  Diana Ross was her client.  Diana was dating Ryan O'Neal -- another Sue client.  And one film after another that Diana was supposed to be the lead in would get recast with a White actress.  Black people learned early on that the ultimate star f**ker Sue Mengers would f**k them over.  But I am so very glad that Tina Fey (does 30 ROCK exist without all that racist humor -- excuse me, 'post racist' racist humor?) and Maureen Dowd were able to sit besides Sue Mengers on her throne.  My only question?  Did Sue provide them with  white sheets to wear or did they bring their own?


Need another tidbit?  Sue spent decades whining that her 'best friend' Barbra Streisand left her and how that destroyed her and upset her.  Barbra had already heard Sue trash everyone else (trash them to Barbra).  Some might have been tickled.  A) Barbra's not big on gossip and B) when speaking with her manager, Barbra expected the focus to be on her career.  But Barbra began to wonder did Sue trash her to Candy Bergen or Ali MacGraw or any of the others that Sue always trashed to Barbra.  Barbra decided to trust her with a big secret (that was made up) to see if it got out.  It did.  Barbra had her answer and fired Sue.  And then Sue began whining.  I believe this part is in Barbra's book -- the part I'm about to note -- it was in an early version so my apologies if it didn't make it into the book.  Barbra told Sue they could be friends and Sue screamed that why would she be friends with Barbra if Barbra wouldn't stay on as her client?  So Sue's drama over Barbra leaving was always one big lie -- just like everything else about Sue.  Except her feet.  Her feet did stink and she ruined many a party by kicking her shoes off.

Donald Trump is the Sue Mengers of the federal government.  He's already destroying himself before he gets sworn in.  Last time it was the CIA.  This time it's Republicans in the US Senate.

From ALL ABOUT EVE -- Bette Davis played Margo,  Thelma Reed played Birdie.  It's after a performance and Margo's assistant Eve (Anne Baxter) has picked up the costume and headed off from the dressing room.  
 

Birdie:  May I be so bold as to say something?  Have you ever heard of the word "union"?

Margo:  Behind in your dues? How much?

Birdie:  I haven't got a union. I'm slave labor.

Margo:  Well?

Birdie:  But the wardrobe women have got one and, next to a tenor, a wardrobe woman is the touchiest thing in show business.

Margo:  Oh, oh.

Birdie: She's got two things to do:  carry clothes and press 'em wrong.  And don't let anybody try to muscle in.




You know what's touchier than a wardrobe woman?  A sitting US senator.  




After 17 years in the hot seat, McConnell is expected to exit his post at the top of Senate Republican leadership on Wednesday, ending his run as the longest serving Senate party leader in U.S. history.

At the top of the billing to replace the 82-year-old are South Dakota Senator John Thune and Texas Senator John Cornyn, two establishment conservatives and longtime McConnell allies who have not always seen eye to eye with the president-elect.

Meanwhile, a gamut of Trump’s key allies, including Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, and Charlie Kirk, are aggressively lobbying for Florida Senator Rick Scott to take the helm. (Trump, notably, has so far avoided endorsing any of the contenders.) But the overzealous pressure campaign—which is also being pushed along by some far-right social media influencers and their harassment tactics—is on the verge of combusting, according to Politico.


That’s because most of the Senate Republican conference won’t have to face reelection until 2028 or later. On top of that, the vote is by secret ballot, ensuring that no one—from their constituents to MAGA’s top brass—will know if they voted for or against Trump’s candidate.
“Senators do not take kindly to having an army of social media trolls attack them,” one unnamed aide told Politico on Sunday, noting that the effort was only “pissing off senators whose votes Rick needs” to win.


And sitting US senators do not take kindly to anyone outside the Senate -- that includes a president -- attempting to tell them what to do.  Now pair that with Kaia Hubbard (CBS NEWS) reporting:


As Senate Republicans prepare to vote Wednesday on new leadership for the upcoming Congress, President-elect Donald Trump is already weighing in with demands for the new majority leader regarding his Cabinet

After a decisive victory in the 2024 elections, Trump is returning to the White House with a GOP-led Senate at his side. Senate Republican leaders are expected to ease the way for the president-elect's agenda and his Cabinet and judicial nominees. Trump has made it clear that he'd like his nominees to be installed immediately, suggesting that he may want the option to bypass the Senate's advice and consent role entirely. 




Please  note, that would be the Constitutionally assigned role of advice and consent.   For the ignorant -- like Donald Trump -- let's not the Constitution:


Article II, Section 2, Clause 2:

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.


When the most recent US senators were sworn in back in January of 2023 -- two years ago -- the median age was 65.3 years.  

Wait.  We have MAGA drive bys and you know they were homeschooled so let me explain median.   Think of it as the midpoint.  So half the US Senate, in 2023, was composed of senators under the age of 65.3 and half was composed of senators over the age of 65.3 -- 65.3 is the mid point.


And US senators are very territorial.  And that's before you get to over half being over 65.  So he wants to bypass them on advice and consent and he wants to be able to determine who will be the next Majority Leader -- something the Senate traditionally does all by itself.


Pushy and stupid, that's Donald Trump.  

A Senate campaign?  That's much more difficult than a House campaign (except in Alaska which has two senators and one member of the House of Representatives).  They work very hard in those runs -- or at least hard for them -- and it being the upper house and it being a six year term, they tend to think they know better than others -- and that's before you factor in the issue of incumbency.

US senators do not like to be pushed around or talked to like their children.  But there goes the idiot Trump antagonizing the Senate -- Republicans and Democrats -- before he even gets into the White House.


Where's the popcorn, right?

I went to COMMON DREAMS before I started dictating this snapshot and had a good, long laugh.  Independent 'left' media trashed Kamala Harris day after day -- depressing and suppressing the vote.  Month after month after month.  COMMON DREAMS was one of those and they were the only one that we publicly called out who took a look at it and changed course.

That's the only reason I look at COMMON DREAMS now.  I will note something from them if I think it helps this community.  Others, I'm done with.  But I do actively seek out stuff to note from COMMON DREAMS.

So I go there this morning and I can't stop laughing.

Where's the Jill Stein coverage?  Remember Jill was so damn important and independent media had to pimp her like crazy.

There's not one story about the 'hero' Jill Stein today. 


Headline after headline of panic.  Joe needs to do this or that before he leaves office!  This needs to happen!  57 groups call on the White House!  Over and over.

I applaud you for taking a look at your coverage before the campaign concluded; however, don't you get now why you should have dropped that s**t?

We didn't need Norman Solomon sharing how he was voting for Jill Stein, did we?


No, we didn't. 


If you could go back in time now, do you really think you would still publish those multiple attacks on Kamala Harris that COMMON DREAMS had each day?

This was a serious election.  Much was at stake.

But they didn't care.  THE NATION, THE PROGRESSIVE, IN THESE TIMES, DEMOCRACY NOW!, etc.  They saw their purpose in ripping apart Kamala every day.  

And now they're all shocked by what Trump's going to do.

You should have been paying attention in real time.  You should have been focused on your own damn country.  Your neighbor needs the lawn mowed?  Fine.  Take care of your own yard and then you can go help.  But you take care of your own yard first.

I saw the COMMON DREAMS story about student's protesting Trump already.  I had to wonder?  How much force will greet their actions when Trump's sworn in?  

I have to wonder all the lying Gaza Freak whores who misled young people on what was possible and who directed all the anger at Joe Biden and Kamala Harris -- not at the ICC, not at the United Nations, not at this, not at that -- are going to feel as immigrants are deported.  As this country crumbles, I have to wonder.

Today, we look back at Nazi Germany and wonder how?  How did it happen?

Our own Hitler happened because Katrina vanden Heuvel, Amy Goodman and others worked overtime to attack the only possible alternative to Donald Trump and to attack her day after day, every day in the three month lead up to the election.

That's why we're here now.

If the official figures are correct, we didn't turn out.  Not just in enough numbers, we didn't turn out in the numbers we did in 2020.  

We were discouraged from voting and that's the message beggar media put out -- remember that when they ask you to donate next.  They have destroyed our country.  There are people waking up in fear every day now.

And we don't need to hear Seth -- in the midst of his homosexual panic -- trashing transgender people -- voters who overwhelmingly showed up and voted for Kamala.

We don't need it.

Let me note again, that there are all these roundtables taking place -- THE DAILY BEAST just posted one with Samantha Bee as a co-host.

How stupid are they?  How stupid do they think we are?

Black women were shut out during the campaign by the media and that's still the case when the so-called experts want to talk about what happened and what we do next.

Black women?  Vote for Democrats.  We won't give you a say, we won't listen to you.  And when one of you runs for office, we won't call out DEMOCRACY NOW! or any other left platform that trashes the Black candidate every day.  We'll look the other way.


That's what it says.

The following sites updated: