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[ides1056]

Opinion | The Education of Fanatical Centrists - The New York Times

all too true

[thollandpe]

Donald Trump Is Not Well - The Atlantic

"I don’t oppose Mr. Trump because I think he's going to lose to Hillary Clinton. I think he will, but as I said, he may well win. My opposition to him is based on something completely different, which is, first, I think he is temperamentally unfit to be president. I think he's erratic, I think he's unprincipled, I think he's unstable, and I think that he has a personality disorder; I think he's obsessive. And at the end of the day, having served in the White House for seven years in three administrations and worked for three presidents, one closely, and read a lot of history, I think the main requirement for president of the United States… is temperament, and disposition… whether you have wisdom and judgment and prudence." -- Peter Wehner, July 14, 2016

"Whether or not his disorders are diagnosable, the president's psychological flaws are all too apparent. They were alarming when he took the oath of office; they are worse now. Every day Donald Trump is president is a day of disgrace. And a day of danger." -- Peter Wehner, September 9, 2009

[htwoopup]

A letter to the editor from a doctor...which links to the second link of the study of aged homelessness.

Opinion | When the Homeless Look Like Grandma or Grandpa - The New York Times

http://https://1slo241vnt3j2dn45s1y9...lessness-1.pdf

[thollandpe]

Amazing reporting by the Times. Sifting through and translating thousands of Russian Air Force radio transmissions and cross-referencing them with ground spotter logs and eyewitness accounts. The Russians deliberately targeted and bombed four hospitals. Sick.

https://nyti.ms/2osT98L

12 Hours. 4 Syrian Hospitals Bombed. One Culprit: Russia. - The New York Times

[ides1056]

There is plenty of blame to go around:

Kunduz hospital airstrike - Wikipedia

A friend was in Iraq during the invasion, staying with all the journalists in the Palestine Hotel. He recalled this incident when we were hiking in Kings Canyon this summer:

Death of Journalist Killed by G.I.'''s Prompts Calls for Inquiry - The New York Times

War is hell.

[guido]

Opinion | God Is Now Trump’s Co-Conspirator - The New York Times

[guido]

How to Beat Trump, According to Experts on Middle-School Bullies | The New Yorker

[ides1056]

Michelle Goldberg, now at the Times, wrote a very good book on the subject of evangelical christianity, so-called: Kingdom Coming.

Highly recommended.

I taught Sunday school- long story- many years ago in an evangelical church. After perhaps six Sundays I told the minister I could insert Hitler's name for Jesus, that the latter wasn't asking anyone to be stupid, and that indoctrination wasn't spiritual instruction.

That was the end of that.

[guido]

The Literal Gaslighting That Helps America Avoid Acting on the Climate Crisis | The New Yorker

[guido]

As Bike Racing Goes Digital, So Does Doping | Outside Online

[guido]

Despite Their Promises, Giant Energy Companies Burn Away Vast Amounts of Natural Gas - The New York Times

[guido]

William Barr’s Wild Misreading of the First Amendment | The New Yorker

[ides1056]

Despite Their Promises, Giant Energy Companies Burn Away Vast Amounts of Natural Gas - The New York Times

throwing the baby out with the bathwater

[ides1056]

William Barr’s Wild Misreading of the First Amendment | The New Yorker

"Throughout this lecture, one can only wonder if William Barr has ever actually met Donald Trump."

Indeed.

[ides1056]

along the lines of swords into plowshares:

Opinion | How to Fund ‘Medicare for All’: Slash the Military - The New York Times

[ericpmoss]

along the lines of swords into plowshares:

Opinion | How to Fund ‘Medicare for All’: Slash the Military - The New York Times

Imagine our foreign policy if we weren't oil-dependent. Not just independent of foreign oil, but any fossil fuel. No need to dominate the world to guarantee oil flow. One less reason to play nations against each other. No need to cozy up to vicious dictators who end up funding terrorism against us. No worry about oil spills and their aftermath -- the Gulf of Mexico is still reeling from the 2010 spill, and Alaska *still* hasn't fully recovered from Exxon-Valdez. So instead of sacrificing food security for oil security, we could make more rational choices.

[jclay]

Imagine our foreign policy if we weren't oil-dependent. Not just independent of foreign oil, but any fossil fuel. No need to dominate the world to guarantee oil flow. One less reason to play nations against each other. No need to cozy up to vicious dictators who end up funding terrorism against us. No worry about oil spills and their aftermath -- the Gulf of Mexico is still reeling from the 2010 spill, and Alaska *still* hasn't fully recovered from Exxon-Valdez. So instead of sacrificing food security for oil security, we could make more rational choices.

All I can do is sigh, shake my head and wish it were so. Nothing pithy left in my quiver. How ANYBODY can still support this vile, intentionally destructive moron is beyond me. And please don't anybody bore me by trying to make comparisons with Obama or either Clinton. Whatever their flaws and screwups there aren't any.

[jclay]

along the lines of swords into plowshares:

Opinion | How to Fund ‘Medicare for All’: Slash the Military - The New York Times

1) Medicare for All, at least if we're as smart as Canada and Western European countries, will have a per capita cost about 2/3 of what we pay (Kaiser Family Foundation, PNHP and other sources).
2) How we structure regulations to make it happen will take a bunch of smart regulatory experts but it seems pretty obvious that redirecting all current forms of HC insurance contributions (employer & employee contributions, tax breaks, whatever) to M4A would provide the necessary funds.

And somebody tell me how it benefits the individual to lose the benefit of all their HC insurance contributions at every job change/loss, which is what our current system does. Moreover, all those contributions, made during our most financially productive years having the lowest medical costs during our lives, add up to far more than our contributions to Medicare...which covers the most costly portion of HC during our lives. Tell me how that makes sense. Would we intentionally come up with such an inefficient, Byzantine system if starting with a clean sheet of paper? I don't think we could if we tried. It's effing crazy.

[jclay]

This is proof that Trump used coercion of a foreign head of state in an attempt to gain advantage over a domestic political rival.

While we've been on a slow and shallow glide-path towards a third world political reality for quite some time, Donald Trump and his enablers have pushed the nose over. We are now headed there in a pretty big hurry. My Italian sister-in-law saw it coming nearly 20 years ago. I'll have to congratulate her on being so astute.

Yeah, I know, "it can't possibly happen here".

Read the Ukraine Envoy’s Statement to Impeachment Inquiry - The New York Times

[jclay]

This is proof that Trump used coercion of a foreign head of state in an attempt to gain advantage over a domestic political rival.

While we've been on a slow and shallow glide-path towards a third world political reality for quite some time, Donald Trump and his enablers have pushed the nose over. We are now headed there in a pretty big hurry. My Italian sister-in-law saw it coming nearly 20 years ago. I'll have to congratulate her on being so astute.

Yeah, I know, "it can't possibly happen here".

Read the Ukraine Envoy’s Statement to Impeachment Inquiry - The New York Times

It's time to put the screws to your Members of Congress. One of mine characterizes the impeachment investigation as a sham. Not wanting to leave anyone out this was my reply to my congressman and representatives: You, Trump and his enablers are the sham and your constituents are increasingly becoming aware of that fact. Any modestly intelligent adult who isn't ideologically blinded and has bothered to read the Mueller Report OR the information pertaining to this Ukraine affair knows that Trump has committed numerous impeachable offenses and that he should be removed from office. That this sort of devotion to a person who has done nothing but demonstrate a complete lack of fitness for any office of the public trust comes from a Constitutional absolutist can only mean that you are nothing but a liar and demagogue. You have betrayed us all in pursuit of overturning Roe v Wade and generally foisting your pseudo Christian idea of what the USA should be onto the rest of us. Adam Schiff and the Democratic Party are doing what is required of them.