Category Archives: Re-blogs

The Dems in Disarray Media Narrative Continues

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary, voting rights

I was so exhausted last night that I missed Jeff’s spot-on post. The media is condemning the Democratic Party for putting its shoes on the wrong feet, while turning a blind eye to the Republican Party who is trying to steal others’ shoes, even if it means chopping off their feet! Great post, Jeff! Thanks!

On The Fence Voters

One of the more prevailing narratives over the past several years by the mainstream media is how the Democratic Party is always in disarray. To hear some of them, you’d think Democrats can never agree on anything.

A recent article by Jeff Stein in The Washington Post drives home the idea by pointing out that there are differences in opinion between Senator Bernie Sanders in the Senate and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on how Democrats should move forward on health care.

Sanders has been a vocal advocate of Medicare for all, a government-run health care system where every citizen in the country is covered from birth to death. Pelosi is advocating for an expanded version of The Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Pelosi would like to make the ACA subsidy enhancements included in the American Rescue Act permanent. Sanders, for his part, would like to lower the Medicare eligibility age requirement…

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The Week’s Best Cartoons 4/10

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Environmental Issues, Humour, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary, voting rights

People like Matt Gaetz and Mitch McConnell give the political cartoonists much material to work with these days!  It’s almost impossible not to mock them … it’s almost as if they’re begging us to!  Our friend TokyoSand found some of the very best ones last week, as she always does.  Thank you, TS!

See All The ‘Toons!

Two Worlds

Posted on by under animals, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, History, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Of late … well, for the past decade or so … I have wondered how the human species could possibly survive to the end of this century, for we are destroying our home, our world, and each other at an alarming rate. Professor Taboo, aka PT, has written a post that I think should be required reading for every human alive … thoughtful and though-provoking. Thank you, Prof, for your words of wisdom and the eye-opening photos.

The Professor's Convatorium

OF WONDER AND SPLENDOR

Just like as in a nest of boxes round,
Degrees of sizes in each box are found:
So, in this world, may many others be
Thinner and less, and less still by degree:
Although they are not subject to our sense,
A world may be no bigger than two-pence.
Nature is curious, and such works may shape,
Which our dull senses easily escape.Margaret CavendishOf Many Worlds in This World

There are a number of Earth’s animals, great and small, that care for each other. They seem to have feelings for the welfare of another. They demonstrate an innate behavior to protect their own as a whole rather than and possibly at the demise of themselves. In human terms this is called compassion, empathy, courage, altruism, love, and other inspiring virtues. In scientific terms it is known as eusociality and forms of superorganism behavior…

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The States Racing to Copy Georgia

Posted on by under Election 2022, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, voting rights

Our friend TokyoSand reminds us that Georgia isn’t the only state that has passed a restrictive voting law this year.  Some 43 states are working on or have already passed voting laws that will strictly restrict voting by minorities, the poor, the elderly and the young.  In other words, they only want fat, old men to vote!  Read Tokyo’s post to learn which states are coming up on Georgia’s heels …

The States Racing to Copy Georgia

By TokyoSand on •

I’m happy that the media is covering the travesty that is the new Georgia law that restricts all kinds of voting rights for its citizens. But, that coverage is drowning out other, similarly important stories.

First and foremost, the media barely covered the Iowa governor signing a voter suppression bill a few weeks before the Georgia bill was signed. The Republicans in the state House and state Senate pushed their bill through, using the tired, old GOP talking point that it was all about “guarding against voter fraud,” even as they admitted that “Iowa has no history of election irregularities and that November’s election saw record turnout with no hint of problems in the state.”

Continue reading …The States Racing to Copy Georgia

The Week’s Best Cartoons 4/3

Posted on by under cartoons, Election 2022, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, voting rights

Once again, TokyoSand has found the best selection of political cartoons from the hundreds out there.  This week’s biggest topics have been Matt Gaetz (who, in my book, deserves to be consigned to the annals of idiocy and forgotten), the trial of Derek Chauvin, the man who murdered George Floyd, and the horrendous voter suppression bill signed into law in Georgia by Governor Kemp.  Thank you, TS, for all your hard work putting these weekly cartoon posts together!

See All The ‘Toons!

Humanity is still a thing

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Reading the news every day, it’s easy to believe that simple humanity has been lost in the great web greed, politics, corruption, bigotry and more. But, as blogging buddy Owen reminds us … Humanity Is Still A Thing. Thank you, Owen, for the timely reminder.

R2030 - In hope of a better decade

It is time to write something positive.

Today in Nantes, France, some young people rescued a family from a fire, showing great courage and putting their own lives at risk by scaling a building. The young peope who conducted the rescue were all migrants.

Migrant youths in Nantes, France, rescued a baby and parents from a deadly fire. (Image from connexionfrance.com)
Migrant youths in Nantes, France, rescued a baby and parents from a deadly fire.
(Image from connexionfrance.com)

The incident invokes memories of a news story from 2018, also in France, where a migrant in Paris scaled a building to rescue a small boy.

Mamoudou Gassama, a migrant from Mali, scaled four balconies of a building in Paris before pulling a child to safety.
Mamoudou Gassama, a migrant from Mali, scaled four balconies of a building in Paris before pulling a child to safety.
(Image from New York Times via You Tube)

These stuning moments of humanity tell us something profound; that we are human before we are a skin colour. We are human before we are a passport holder. We are human before we…

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The Week’s Best Cartoons 3/27

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2020, Election 2022, guns, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary, voting rights

As she does each week, TokyoSand scoured the internet for the best of last week’s political cartoons.  Needless to say, mass shootings and guns led the way, followed by the attempts to overthrow the right of We the People to vote, to have a say in our government, who runs it and how.  These days I wish I had some shred of artistic talent, for I would love to be able to opine in a ‘toon!  But alas, a cracked egg shell is about the extent of my talents!

toon-1toon-2toon-3toon-5

See All The ‘Toons!

Trumpity Diggity

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Humour, Political commentary, Re-blogs

Yes, yes, I know I’ve committed to ignoring the former guy and that he must be allowed to fade into oblivion. But, when I saw this one by Claytoonz yesterday … it made me laugh … really laugh … and I simply couldn’t resist sharing the humour!  The cartoon is good, but his commentary beneath is truly priceless!

claytoonz

Cjones03312021

I have excellent timing. Minutes after finishing up this cartoon and while creating different file types of it for my clients, The New York Times sent me a notification that the ship blocking the Suez Canal for the past five days has finally been freed (I made that sound like I’m really important because the NYT sent me a notification, but it’s an app on my phone).

In case you’re a Republican, the Suez Canal is in Egypt. It’s a vital artery for the world’s shipping and economy. Think of it like a short cut between the Atlantic Ocean, after going through the Mediterranean Sea, to the Indian Ocean. It beats having to go around Africa. In case you’re a Republican, Africa is a continent, not a country.

While salvage crews were digging and tug boats were tugging, it was the moon that came through with the final push. The…

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What is your ‘ism’? Ask the dictionary

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Owen is a blogging friend from the UK. His post yesterday focused on the political terms we use that so many people don’t even understand, but use them almost as if they were bad words. He gives concise definitions for everything from liberalism to fascism and adds his own views of each. Though his perspective is from Brexit and the UK, he also has a good understanding of U.S. politics and sees the parallels between his country and ours. Thank you, Owen, for this helpful post!

R2030 - In hope of a better decade

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
The dictionary can be a calm, quiet, simple source of truth

In times of turmoil, fear and uncertainty, words matter. As ever, the dictionary provides our clarity, our definition, our truth. It is held up as a source of truth to settle arguments, to provide resolve to confusions, to finish debates.

We should look to the dictionary for simplicity in chaos. One can gain more from a two-paragraph definition than a five hundred page book about politics.

A lot of words are banded about in online arguments: Fascism, Conservatism, Liberalism, Socialism. These words are weaponised, hurled as insults, but also worn as proud badges, waved as flags (don’t get me started). Sometimes though, one wonders if the users of such words actually know their meanings. I put myself in that same category, and it struck me that I should pause and recap, and refresh myself on the meanings of these…

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Yes, Mass Shootings are a Uniquely American Phenomenon

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Our friend Jeff, like myself, is still reeling from the recent mass shootings. And, as our friend Keith so often reminds us, while the mass shootings get a ton of notice, many more die in other, less publicized shootings and suicides. I want guns gone, but realistically will have to settle for some sweeping gun legislation that reduces the number of incidents, injuries and deaths. Good post, Jeff … thanks!

On The Fence Voters

But so is the cultural and right-wing media obsession with guns

In 2008, during his rough and tumble presidential primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama got into some trouble at a fundraising event when hemade these commentsabout working-class voters:

“They get bitter; they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Clinton, of course, nailed him for the comment, hoping to resurrect her campaign. And Republicans were all over him as well, but that’s no surprise. To them and Clinton at the time, it was a way to further the narrative that Obama was an out-of-touch elitist.

But rather than break down the quote word for word, which by the way is 100% accurate, for purposes of this post and the recent tragedies in the news, let’s…

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