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Tag: Hiroshima and Nagasaki
When Nothing Is Unthinkable
"Take out your entire enemy, virtually risk-free."
Strategic thinker, Herman Kahn, and his Kubrickian counterpart, Dr. Strangelove
What President Truman Taught Us
It was August 9, 1945 when Harry Truman, President of the United States, proved irrevocably that nothing is unthinkable. Truman had authorized the dropping of two nuclear bombs on Japan. They were loaded on two B29 bombers and flown to the island of Trinian, within striking distance of the Japanese homeland. On that August day they unleashed the second one, playfully called "Fat Boy," over a second city in Japan. Any normal human being would agree that dropping the first nuclear bomb, which obliterated Hiroshima, was unthinkable, but to drop another one on Nagasaki, just three days later, surpassed all human understanding, thus firmly establishing the certainty that nothing–nichts, nada, niente, rien–was unthinkable.
This comes to mind after watching an eight-minute video on YouTube (Slaughterbots) suggested by Sue Halpern in a New Yorker article, "The Rise of A.I. Fighter Pilots." The film is a spoof but it demonstrates convincingly the opportunities now offered by artificial intelligence for identifying and eliminating your enemies. An adequate adjective for these "opportunities" has yet to be invented, but we cannot permit ourselves the luxury of rejecting the possibility that the Slaughterbots will, sooner or later, be loosed on the world. President Truman convinced us of that.
Halpern's New Yorker article traces in minute detail the process of applying artificial intelligence (A.I.) to the development and deployment of a robot fighter plane capable of winning a dogfight against a likely enemy. Actually the aircraft does have a pilot but Halpern makes clear that he or she is mainly set decoration aimed at complying with international regulations that require a human to be included in the killing loop. When push comes to shove we'll see whether the excess pilot remains in that redundant cockpit. According to Halpern's report, the robot executes virtually every maneuver faster and better than its human counterpart, and never requires a haircut.
The most fascinating aspect of the article is not the technology. At this stage in the game we can take that for granted. What really impresses is the magnitude of the whole project. There are some 600 firms participating, each one with its budget. One wonders how many more high-priority research programs exist and how many of them are as as unthinkable as the A.I. fighter plane or the Slaughterbots. Little wonder that critical seeds of President Biden's social programs for the country have fallen on rocky ground.
Unthinkability Yesterday and Today
Herman Khan, a bright young man from Bayonne, New Jersey, raised in New York and Los Angeles, was one of the Rand Corporation's leading lights in the 1950s, a specialist in war games and strategic futurology whose papers made important contributions to American foreign policy. When he left RAND, he founded his own thinktank, the Hudson Institute, which still functions today as a non-profit entity, a virtual hive of right-wing nationalist dwarves, financed by the usual suspects.
In 1960 Kahn published On Thermonuclear War, in which he looked on the bright side of a theoretical nuclear holocaust. According to his calculations, after an atomic war against Russia, the United States' enemy of choice, there would still be enough Americans left to bury their dead. He thus became famous as the first strategist to admit to thinking the unthinkable. Insiders affirm that Stanley Kubrick's extravagant Dr. Strangelove character was a composite based on Herman Kahn, the alleged conceiver of the Doomsday Machine, and the German rocket scientist, Werner von Braun.
Having come this far on the subject of unthinkability, we're obliged to continue down that dark, crowded rabbit hole. Let's start from the not-unreasonable premise that a functioning democracy presupposes a certain degree of honesty, decency, and good will among its practitioners. Anything less negates all democratic pretensions. Does the United States meet those vital conditions today? Clearly not. Today there are more weasels than rabbits in the hole, and the first priority of them all is bare-faced self interest–or worse, the interests of sinister movers and shakers–big pharma, big fossil fuels, big armament and big everything else–who formerly lurked in the shadows of Washington's lobbying firms. Nowadays, thanks to legislation custom-designed by pliable legislators to facilitate the big guys' sinister agendas, they have carte blanche everywhere and they can see to it that their word is law. How else can one explain a country where the pharmaceutical companies can collect multi-billion-dollar subsidies and then prohibit the government from negotiating the price when they come to purchase medications.
Then There's Ukraine
Ukraine is all over the news these days, partly because of tensions along their long border with Russia and partly because the United States needs to take the world's eye off their own lamentable condition. They seem to have realized only recently that the Chinese are winning the worldwide economic development race, and that their beloved country, the United States of America, is facing an imminent future when it will no longer be the world's only superpower. It's the first time that observers of Washingtonia have ever seen the American turtle on its back, and it's unsettling as well as fascinating. They are in check today and will still be in check next week, and the coming checkmate is as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.
This is America's gravest geopolitical problem since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. It's perhaps graver, as their victory over Japan was a foregone conclusion, and the Americans could depend upon the Russians to defenestrate the German Wehrmacht on the eastern front. Will the American response to China be a pondered, negotiated, carefully-cut-the-losses approach, or will they lose their cool and resort to bombast and hyperbole? Not to mention what they consider their strongest suit: war.
Their moves thus far have seemed silly, as well as dangerous. After threatening and insulting the Russians at the negotiating table the US state department has demanded of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, that Russia retire their troops from the Ukraine border, seemingly unaware that the Russian troops are sitting on their own territory, around 160 miles from the border. Meanwhile the U.S. and U.K. are flying arms and ammunition into Ukraine from stockpiles thousands of miles away in their respective countries, as if that weren't a provocation. Why is NATO playing a role in this affair, anyway? Neither Ukraine nor Russia belong to NATO. This is a family affair. Furthermore, are the Americans sure Ukraine needs to join NATO? They are already threatening Russia by a semi-circle of missile bases in current NATO countries close by its borders.
Galloway's Helpful Solution
George Galloway is a former member of the British parliament from Scotland and commentator for RT America. (Full disclosure: RT is a Russian communist English-language news service based in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House.) Galloway has made what he considers a reasonable proposal for resolving the Ukraine deadlock. With his wry Scottish sense of humor, he says that Russia should establish military bases in Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela so the Americans can begin to get the picture.
The Americans Lower the Benchmark
What proper country prioritizes war initiatives over the health, education, and welfare of its own citizens? What decent country has inserted so many loopholes and stumbling blocks in its legislative and judicial processes that laws benefitting its citizens are virtually impossible to pass, while the aforementioned drug companies are writing their own tickets? Can anyone name a modern, industrialized country which lacks even the most elemental standards of equality and opportunity for all of its citizens, regardless of race, religion or sexual inclinations? Or a nation that is currently carrying out a concerted state-by-state campaign to prevent a large segment of the society from being able to vote? I can only think of one. And all of this skullduggery and malfeasance is taking place in that country which is allegedly a beacon of democracy for the entire world, a universal role model. Who alleges that? Well, they do.
But Western Democracy, especially the severely-crippled American version, is not a one-size-fits-all solution for other countries if, indeed, it's even a viable system for their own. In order to acknowledge that we must desist from considering "democracy" as the worldwide default setting, and stop believing the false equivalence, socialism=evil , when the reality is quite the contrary. There are other valid ways to approach the issue of governance. There's Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and, yes, China.
Martin Jacques is a celebrated British intellectual who has been taking China seriously for decades. He devotes a lot of space in the new edition of his 2009 book, When China Rules the World, to explaining the legitimacy of China's brand of communism/state capitalism, based on the singularities of Chinese history. If the proof is in the pudding, he makes a convincing case, after China's non-democratic government has succeeded, with the massive approval (in the 90+ percentile) of the Chinese people, in lifting more than a billion of their citizens out of ignorance and poverty. That is something that, in 1978, when the Chinese economic comeback was launched, the entire world considered unthinkable.
Author Michael BoothPosted on January 24, 2022 Categories A.I. Robot Fighters, Big Business Rules, George Galloway, Nothing is Unthinkable, Rand Corporation Kahn, RT America, Truman's Japanese BombingsTags A.I. Robot Fighterrs, Big Everything Rules, Herman Kahn Rand, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, NATO in the Soup, Nothing is Unthinkable, The Doomsday Machine, Truman's Japanese Bombings, What is Unthinkable?Leave a comment on When Nothing Is Unthinkable


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Innovation: Connecting the Dots
|In June - July 2018
|By Audra Renyi
Audra Renyi
In May, 2017, Audra Renyi was awarded one of six Governor General's Innovation Award, a prize that recognizes and celebrates "outstanding Canadian individuals, teams and organizations whose exceptional and transformative work help shape our future and positively impact our quality of life." Renyi has worked in investment banking on Wall Street and volunteered in Chad, Rwanda and Kenya. That range of experience has informed her approach to innovation.
When I heard that the Governor General would be granting me an innovation award, it made me think, "What makes a prize-winning innovator?" I certainly never thought of myself as one. And yet, I won the 2017 Governor General's Innovation Award.
Innovation is not necessarily a patented engineering solution—a chose ponctuelle in French—but a potentially endless sequence of small steps, each solving a small problem on the way to changing the way big things are done. Each step allows you to bypass a wall you have run into, forcing you to zig or zag as needed, but always in the general direction of your ultimate quest for the big change.
Innovation is not just game-changing technology or major scientific invention. In my personal journey, innovation has mostly been about connecting the dots. That is, taking what seem to be disparate things or experiences and putting them together, re-organizing them to create a solution that is exponentially better than the status quo. Connecting the dots might simply mean linking demand with supply. In our case, it was realising that there was a huge unmet need for hearing aids in developing countries; my goal was to find a way to supply those countries with the hearing aids they needed: quality product at an affordable price. That's why I helped launch and grow World Wide Hearing, a non-profit focused on providing hearing aids to children from the poorest areas in the world; and why I founded earAccess, a for-profit social enterprise that sells a Canadian brand of hearing aids called ACCESS to lower-middle income populations around the world.
The media rarely speak of business-model innovation. In my case, if the poor were to have hearing aids, a new business model was needed since all the old ones were failing at this task. My innovation process started with a big, global problem: more than 466 million people suffer from disabling hearing loss; 80 per cent of these people live in lower- or middle-income countries, and fewer than 1 per cent currently have access to hearing aids. At an average price of $2,500, hearing aids remain unaffordable for most people, yet they cost as little as $50 to manufacture. On the long road to consumers, hearing aids incur regulatory and legal costs, service charges, warranty costs, distribution fees and high profit margins. Our innovation lies in creating alternative distribution paths free of these costs and obstacles, and in passing on the savings to the end user.
To really innovate and make a difference, you have to be deeply aligned with your mission and your passion. Innovation actually translates into a lot of hard work, so if you are going to work hard, you might as well be working on something you really care about. My best ideas did not happen while I was meditating on a mountain. They came in moments of intense pressure when we had to solve an urgent problem and we needed a good solution, fast. Nor can I claim that the best ideas came only from me: it was often a team effort of bouncing ideas off each other until we arrived at a viable solution. Personal mentors, like the visionary founder of the World Wide Hearing Foundations, Claudio Bussandri, and my father, Pierre Renyi, were instrumental in the co-creation process and have provided a sounding board for my ideas (not incidentally, both have had to wear hearing aids since childhood). Finding mentors is key to helping you through what is often a lonely journey as an innovator-entrepreneur. Connecting with other entrepreneurs and exchanging advice and war stories is helpful in reminding yourself that you are not alone in your fight to make the world a better place. And, entrepreneurs don't exist without financing and I am extremely grateful to Grand Challenges Canada for their early and ongoing support. They were crucial in allowing us to make things happen.
Innovation is also about failing, a lot. And then failing again. There were times when I became discouraged after repeated failures—at earAccess we struggled to find a path to market—but then I pulled myself up each time and ploughed on, and eventually found a solution. Innovation is 10 per cent creative ideas and 90 per cent hard work, execution and perseverance. I once heard a female entrepreneur say that being an innovator is about "being at peace with feeling constantly uncomfortable." That is exactly how I feel every day: just when I think I have figured it all out, something else comes up, an unexpected problem needing a solution. Once I accepted the fact that that is the way most entrepreneurs feel, I felt liberated.
In 2012, I was kidnapped in Argentina—this was the period of the country's economic crisis. It was what they called an "express kidnapping"—we were driven around Buenos Aires and then abandoned in a slum at 4am in the morning. I had only just arrived in Argentina for a 6-month student exchange program. After that traumatizing experience, the obvious choice was to go home and forget all about Argentina. However, I decided to stay on for a full year in the country. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. The result of staying on was that I felt more resilient in the face of whatever life threw at me. Resiliency and the ability to overcome adversity are useful qualities in innovators.
It is a widely-held belief that to start an innovative business, you need a brilliant, earth-shattering idea. That is not the case—in fact, most entrepreneurs start businesses in areas where they have simply seen gaps in the market; they seek to fill those gaps without a very clear idea about exactly how they are going to do that. I started a company with a back of the envelope business plan that completely changed in a matter of months (even weeks) and we pivoted many, many times.
People have asked me over the years, "How do you find your passion?" The only way to discover your passion is to ask yourself what really drives you; if you are not sure, then try working in an area or start a project that gets you excited. It can be a small side project, but the most important thing is to just get started and start "doing". You will learn along the way what you enjoy—and don't enjoy—and that experience will guide you onto the path that is right for you. The enemy of innovation is inaction. Personally, I would rather be criticized for something I did than for something I failed to do. And, despite all the challenges, nothing is more rewarding to me than knowing I've created something that has made the world a better place.
There is no question that the future of a middle power like Canada lies in innovation. It might not be widely known but Canadians have been very innovative for a long time. Former Governor General David Johnston's book "Ingenious" lists a huge number of Canadian innovations. And the GG's Innovation Award is now there to recognize innovators and foster new growth. So, come join us in working hard at making the world a better place.
Audra Renyi is the executive director of the non-profit World Wide Hearing and the founder & CEO of earAccess Inc. She is a recipient of the 2017 Governor General's Innovation Award.
© 2021 Policy Magazine. All rights reserved

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Keller advertises itself with a motto of "successfully balancing big-city comforts with small-town charm." The city's varied housing opportunities, from senior living facilities and multi-family apartments to patio homes and proud mansions, provide something for everyone. Over 40,000 folks have taken advantage of this, recognizing a great place to raise a family; many of Keller's homes and businesses trust Texas Hardwood Flooring to install their flooring – it's no wonder we love this community so much!
The Keller Independent School District is a highly regarded educational organization, and many of these excellent schools are in Keller proper. The city sponsors a first-rate public library, which excels at providing homeschooling resources. Along with its always high rating in safety, Keller one of the most desirable small cities to live in in the entire United States.
Settled in the 1850's and named after a foreman on the Texas Pacific Railroad, Keller started its life as a stop along that rail line. The area was attractive to settlers because of plentiful water, game and land for farming and cattle ranching. It came into its own by 1882 and the post office was established in 1886. The town also benefited, growth-wise, from being on the main highway between Fort Worth and Denton, SH 377, as well as being close to the Trinity River.
Today, the civic administration of Keller has the aspiration to provide culture to its people and has adopted a vision for public art: "to be a destination and showplace of art and talent." Public art installations abound and the city's Town Hall has constantly changing art exhibits. The recently opened Wild Rose Heritage Center is an art gallery and a historical museum.
This all reflects the City's larger vision to be a premier community in which to live, work, and play by adhering to their city motto of "balancing big-city comforts with small-town charm;" and they make an outstanding go of it. There are golf courses, amusement centers, restaurants (including the highly regarded Texas Bleu), and shopping areas. In addition, the residents of Keller are expertly served in the home-improvement field by Texas Hardwood Flooring, the best in hardwood floor installation.
Keller is mostly residential with extensive recreational opportunities. The city has more than 300 acres of public land with 11 parks and 23 miles of hiking and biking trails. The Keller Pointe is a state-of-the-art recreational facility for working out and swimming. Besides the public areas, Keller is awash in fitness centers, meaning it probably has some of the healthiest folks around.
Today, this energetic metropolis is expanding in all directions, physical and cultural, and Texas Hardwood Flooring is privileged to serve this fine community and all of its hardwood flooring installation and refinishing needs. If you're interested in learning more about our Keller hardwood flooring services, contact our team today!


The Smart Caregiver 433-MS System Wireless Motion Sensor eliminates "in room" alarm noise.
Complete Cordless Motion Sensor Monitoring System includes a portable Economy Cordless Alert programmed to a Wireless Motion Sensor and is designed to alert caregivers when an at-risk individual attempts to leave their bed or leave without assistance. The Wireless Motion Sensor is placed by the bed or doorway to monitor the at-risk individual's activity. When that individual attempts to leave, a wireless signal is transmitted to the portable caregiver alert, which alerts audibly and visually to notify caregivers that assistance is required. The Economy CordLess Alert can be placed up to 300 feet away from the resident, allowing you to remove startling alarm noise from the room and create a quiet & secure environment for each resident. The Economy CordLess Alert notifies the caregiver with audible chime and bright blinking red light, and features an easy Low-Medium-High volume control. Range of detection area is up to 12' wide and up to 30 feet length. This system comes pre-programmed and is ideal for home or facility use. Batteries not included (3-C). Optional AC Power Adapter.


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Clinton Again To Address Benghazi Attack
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumed front-runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016, has a book coming out shortly in which she blasts the Benghazi! Benghazi! BENGHAZI!! circus that the Rethugs are using to damage her credentials. As she says in an excerpt from the book:
"Those who exploit this tragedy over and over as a political tool minimize the sacrifice of those who served our country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me. I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans."
We believe there's nothing the Rethugs won't try to do to undermine their most daunting opponent, including what Clinton calls "a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans." Every important question has been asked and answered, so now all the Rethugs can do is continue to spin conspiracy theories and fling poo, hoping that enough Americans who haven't been paying close attention will see a cloud of dust, hear the word "investigation" over and over, and assume there's something there that isn't.
Posted by Hackwhackers at 11:28 AM 2 comments:
Labels: Clinton book to address Benghazi attack, Rethuglican Benghazi obsession
Saturday Cartoons - Happiness Is A Warm Gun Edition
(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)
Labels: National Rifle Association
Binders Full of Women Quote of the Day
"She was raised here, she worked on a farm. She didn't just sit at home needle-pointing, as you know, she was doing some work on the farm – squealing work on the farm."-- (emphasis added) plutocratic gaffe machine Willard "Mittens" Romney, stumping in Iowa for far-right Rethug senatorial candidate Joni "The Castrator" Ernst. That needle-pointing crack should go over well with Iowa's women, but then Willard always did enjoy paging through those binders full of women.
Labels: Romney campaigns in Iowa for Joni Ernst
Weekend Twofer
Prematurely, The Byrds co-founder Gene Clark passed away just over 23 years ago, on May 24, 1991, at 46. A prolific songwriter, Clark's output with The Byrds is some of the best work that group produced. Here, from their first album (1965's "Mr. Tambourine Man") is Clark's gorgeous ballad "I Knew I'd Want You."
Fast forwarding to 1967, David Crosby breathily introduces the Clark-less Byrds, before the iconic South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela joins them on the rousing "So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star." (Well do ya'?!)
Enjoy the music and your weekend.
Labels: Gene Clark, The Byrds
Changes At The VA
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki resigned this morning during a meeting with President Obama, as evidence mounted that scheduling records for veterans' care in VA medical facilities was being falsified and manipulated. Shinseki, himself a decorated combat veteran and former Army Chief of Staff, said for him to remain to clean up the system would be "a distraction." The President named VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson to temporarily replace Shinseki while a search for a permanent Secretary gets underway.
The vast majority of veterans receive quality care in VA facilities, once they get in to see a doctor. However, much of the problem stems from perverse incentives put in place by VA management that encouraged falsification of appointment records, etc. * Shinseki was clearly misled by subordinates as to the credibility of waiting times for care, something he referred to today as "a breach of integrity." The Justice Department is looking into possible criminal charges for those falsifying official records at VA facilities.
*BONUS: Peter Schuck has a thoughtful column in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle that allocates blame more broadly =cough= Congress =cough=.
Labels: Veterans Affairs health facility problems, Veterans Affairs Secretary resigns
Asymmetric Quote of the Day
"Republicans have become a radical insurgency—ideologically extreme, contemptuous of the inherited policy regime, scornful of compromise, unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of their political opposition. The evidence of this asymmetry is overwhelming." -- Brookings Institution's Thomas Mann, discussing the blatant dishonesty of the Beltway media's "blame both sides" / "false equivalency" story line. Read Mann's article here, and understand how extremist Republican obstruction is harming the U.S. with the tacit complicity of our broken media.
(h/t to Daily Kos)
Labels: false equivalence pushed by media, quote of the day, Republican obstruction
From The Sports Desk...
Item #1: The PR department of Washington's football team thought it would be a clever idea to troll team critic Sen. Harry Reid by asking their fans to tweet their support of the team's racist name to his account. It bombed spectacularly, as a large majority took the opportunity to criticize the team's ownership for resisting a name change (btw, ask yourself whether you would call a Native American a "redskin" to his or her face. Right, enough said). Any more bright ideas, Li'l Danny Snyder?
Item #2: The NBA Clippers have apparently found a new sucker owner: Steve "Gimme The" Ballmer, who paid an incredible $2 billion for a team that only recently had a projected value of $750 - $850 million tops. The estranged (and soon to be divorced) wife of racist owner Donald Sterling, acting for the Sterling family trust, ok'ed the Clippers' sale to the former Microsoft executive. Suffice it to say that Gimme The Ballmer was…er…Clipped.
Labels: Clippers sold to Steve Ballmer, Dan Snyder counterattack on Sen. Reid fails
In More Ways Than One Quote of the Day, Extended Play Edition
"I've been confused for Anthony Weiner twice now. I don't know how this keeps happening," [Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul] Ryan told a group of Republicans on Wednesday at an event in Mount Pleasant, Mich., according to MLive.com.
Note to Ryan: When people yell, "Hey, wiener!" at you, they're not referring to former New York Congressman Weiner.
Labels: Rep. Paul Ryan
Glasses Are Temporary, Stupid's Forever
News that Texas Gov. and future LensCrafter spokesmodel Rick "Oops" Perry is once again testing the Presidential waters in Iowa is cause for anticipatory merriment. Oops is in Iowa ostensibly campaigning for Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and other wingers, but he wants to refurbish his image from 2012, where he finished fourth in the Iowa Rethug primary behind such political geniuses as Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum and Ron "Race War" Paul.
Oops was one of the biggest punch-lines in the 2012 Rethuglican Presidential clown car primary, and despite his acquisition of serious glasses to make him appear smarter, he's the same dumbass Governor elected by dumbass Texans. Get the popcorn ready for the coming buffoonery.
Labels: Rick Perry in Iowa campaigning for Rethug candidates in 2014
Revealing factoid: at the NRA headquarters in Northern Virginia, part of the Second Amendment is chiseled into the building's granite wall. It begins with, "...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." What's deliberately missing is the preceding phrase, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…." Surprise.
The mentally ill have become the un-regulated militia undermining our security with their Second Amendment "rights."
(cartoons: top, Pat Oliphant, bottom Jack Ohman, via Gocomics.com)
Labels: cartoon of the day, gun violence
In More Ways Than One Quote of the Day
"Let's not be totally unfair, I am much smaller now than I used to be. I used to be bigger." -- New Jersey Rethuglican mob boss Gov. Chris "Krispykreme" Christie, at a recent "town hall" meeting (i.e., a Krispykreme supporters rally). Krispykreme's lost weight as a result of last year's lap-band surgery. But the political extortion and revenge games played by Krispykreme's gang in New Jersey have sunk his Presidential hopes, and more scandal is yet to come as a Federal grand jury and legislative investigations continue.
Smaller indeed.
Labels: Chris Christie loses weight, quote of the day
Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept. - The "R" Word Edition
From yesterday's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, William Ade writes regarding a letter sent by the president and general manager of Washington's football team (i.e., Bruce Allen, brother of former Republican Sen. George "Macaca" Allen) to Sen. Harry Reid on May 23. Reid and 49 other Democratic senators had previously written the NFL asking the league to endorse a team name change:
I wonder if Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and General Manager Bruce Allen and National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell address Native Americans in person as "our honorable redskin friends." When handing out tablet computers to Native American children, does Mr. Snyder tell them that being called a "redskin" is something they should be proud of, that having their heritage serve a sports brand worth millions to Mr. Snyder and his partners has "deep and purposeful meaning"?
I don't expect those gentlemen to admit the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of their arguments; there is just too much money involved. But for the rest of us, this argument that a group of wealthy, white sports executives are honest arbiters of how Native Americans should feel is a charade.
William Ade, Burke
Mr. Ade is correct in saying Li'l Danny Snyder, his butt-boy Bruce Allen, and Commissioner Goodfella Goodell would never admit the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of their arguments. Frankly, it's long been obvious that the only color that gets their attention is green. If Li'l Danny could profitably own and market a team named the Washington Shitsacks, he would vow to never change that name either.
Today, Native American, civil rights and religious leaders are sending a letter to every NFL player asking them to add their voices to the campaign to get the team's name changed. Maybe shaming will lead to shunning, and shunning will lead to the change needed.
(Image: Li'l Danny Snyder, ethically but not financially bankrupt.)
Labels: Bruce Allen, Daniel Snyder, Washington Redskins
Coming Back To Bite Them
From the early days of the Affordable Care Act, the right-wing has been furiously and serially lying about the health insurance reform legislation. "Death panels," "socialized medicine," and "you won't have a choice," were some of the standard falsehoods. Of course, the village media largely failed to correct the record, preferring to keep score as to who "won" the "debate."
Now, with the ACA exceeding enrollment goals and gaining popularity as more people sign up, the Dems are on the offensive for a change in several election contests, where "Obamacare" is not proving to be the wedge issue the Rethuglicans had hoped. Senate Minority Leader and human / turtle hybrid Mitch "Missy" McConnell was just lambasted for dishonestly claiming he would repeal "Obamacare" while at the same time preserving the highly popular state exchange, Kynect, which was formed under the ACA. Thankfully, Dem candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes was quick to slam Missy's deceit, as was the Lexington Herald-Leader, one of Kentucky's major newspapers.
The dishonest campaign to torpedo the ACA seems to be coming back to bite many Rethug politicians. Sadly for them, getting bitten in the ass isn't covered under the ACA.
BONUS: This Hackwhacker can personally attest to the turning of the worm on Obamacare. I heard a radio ad for Democratic congressional candidate Don Beyer today, who's running in the 8th District in Virginia (admittedly a safe Democratic seat in recent years). Playing a clip of President Obama saying the debate on the ACA was over, Beyer promised to defend Obamacare. Oh, he also referred to himself as a "progressive."
Labels: Dems starting to defend ACA
Maya Angelou, 1928 - 2014
Poet and artist Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86. Since 1982 a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University, Angelou achieved fame for her 1970 work "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings." She's won Grammy awards for spoken word albums, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Award. Coming from a harsh background that included dancing at a strip club in her teens, and rape at age 7 by her mother's boyfriend, Angelou later befriended Presidents and artists alike and became an icon to generations. RIP.
Labels: Maya Angelou dies at 86
Mid-Week Whispers Song
Following up the hit "Let Her Go" from last year, Passenger (a.k.a., Englishman Michael Rosenberg) has a new album, "Whispers," coming out in June. Here's the lovely title track from that album.
Labels: Mid-Week Song, Passenger
How Low Can You Go? (Cont.)
Responding to the recent shootings in Santa Barbara, Richard Martinez, the father of one of the victims, spoke out against the gun violence:
"Our son Christopher [Michael-Martinez] and six others are dead," Richard Martinez told reporters gathered outside a sheriff's station for a news conference the day after the shootings near the University of California, Santa Barbara, where the 20-year-old son was a sophomore. "You don't think it'll happen to your child until it does." [snip]
"The talk about gun rights. What about Chris' right to live?" Martinez said. "When will enough people say: 'Stop this madness! We don't have to live like this! Too many people have died!"
Of course, that can't be allowed to stand, so the knuckledraggers of the gun fondler set sprang into action immediately. Here's a small, but representative sample of their wit and wisdom:
Tea bagger Republican icon Samuel "Joe the (Not) Plumber" Wurzelbacher manned the battle station he calls his website (!):
I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter and the one thing I never want to go through, is what you are going through now. But:
As harsh as this sounds – your dead kids don't trump my Constitutional rights.
Somewhat more unhinged comments came from a Twitter twit, Todd "Loose" Kincannon former executive director of the Republican Party of South Carolina, who ejaculated this:
Fuck him. He is a piece of shit. His tragedy sucks, but he blamed me for it and wants to take away my rights. The guy is trying to take away my rights to protect my family. Fuck him every day of the week and twice on Sunday. [snip]
No idea how my son will die, but I know it won't be cowering like a bitch at UC Santa Barbara. Any son of mine would have been shooting back.
Well, Todd (who apparently and most unfortunately has already bred) has made despicable remarks in the past, but this is about as Low As You Can Go. If there's such a thing as karma, it's going to land on Todd and "Joe the (Not) Plumber" like a ton of bricks some day.
Labels: gun violence, Joe the Plumber, Sam Wurzelbacher, Santa Barbara shootings, Todd Kincannon
Lookit Me! I'm The Smart One!
There's an obvious campaign underway by the usual suspects who brought us the Dumbya Debacle to assure us that brother John Ellis "Jeb" Bush isn't viewed as a cretin like his older brother. Peppering his speeches with words that his older brother wouldn't recognize and helpfully providing the courtier press with a list of books Jebster's allegedly read are part of a campaign to distance him from Dumbya's deserved image as a dunce, and create an image for a 2016 race.
We don't think it's going to matter to the Rethug base. First, because the ruling base of the Republican / Stupid Party didn't have a problem with Dumbya's stupidity; indeed, they applaud straight talkin', gut-checkin' man-of-action guys who can't be bothered to get his facts straight. Second, Jebster's seen as a RINO to most of the ruling base, and however much he quotes libertarian horse manure, they know in his heart he's all Connecticut Yankee. He can't read that away.
(photo: Dumb and Dumbya)
Labels: Jeb Bush trying to create image as a policy "nerd"
Remembering those soldiers, sailors and airmen that died in war. Peace.
(photo: Boston Commons)
Cartoon of the Day
How sad that the long-term, systemic screw-ups at Veterans Affairs hospitals are overshadowing the Memorial Day weekend and honoring our veterans. Falsifying appointment scheduling metrics so that VA administrators can look good, while vets die waiting for care, is obscene. During the surprise visit of the President to Afghanistan earlier today, we wonder how many men and women in that audience were worried about the care they're likely to receive from the VA once home.
We've been critical of President Obama over other management failings (e.g., the bungled health care roll-out), but this is especially galling. If there were criminal acts involved in the falsification of records, they need to come down hard with firings and indictments, and make sure that in the last two years of his Administration they get it right.
(cartoon: Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Gocomics.com)
Labels: cartoon of the day, scandal at the VA
The "10 Dumbest States"
If you're guessing there's a direct correlation between "dumb States" and "Stupid Party," you are CORRECT, sir! (Only #6 Nevada has gone Democratic in the last several presidential elections; the rest are solidly Republican/ Stupid Party.)
Labels: Dumbest states, Stupid Party
Tailgunner Ted Cruz To Sheeple: Dems Want To Repeal First Amendment!
Let the fundraising grifting begin! This is what you get when you elect a P.T. Barnum Elmer Gantry Joe McCarthy Tailgunner Ted Cruz (Teabag-TX) to the Senate:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) drew audible gasps Thursday when he told gathering of Christian conservatives that Democrats intended to amend the Constitution to limit free speech.
"When you think it can't get any worse, it does," Cruz warned at the Watchmen on the Wall gathering of pastors sponsored by the Family Research Council.
"This year, I'm sorry to tell you, the United States Senate is going to be voting on a constitutional amendment to repeal the First Amendment," Cruz said, to the audible shock of the crowd. (our emphasis)
Of course, that's not quite an accurate description of Senate Joint Resolution 19:
The Tea Party-backed senator said Senate Democrats intend to vote this year on Senate Joint Resolution 19, which would effectively undo the unpopular U.S. Supreme Court decisions on campaign financing in the Citizens United and McCutcheon cases. (our emphasis)
Tailgunner Ted followed with this line, guaranteed to empty the pockets of galvanize the assembled nitwits:
"I am telling you, I am not making this up."
No, he's not making it up; as usual, it's something he pulled straight out of his ass.
It's no revelation that Republicans want us to believe "money equals speech" in politics (see aforementioned Citizens United and McCutcheon cases decided by the Republican/ corporate majority on the Supreme Court). Right-wingers are deathly afraid of "one man, one vote" democracy, preferring to limit voting turnout as much as possible through a variety of voter suppression methods or, when speaking candidly, limiting voting to property owners. Given the talibangelist audience he was addressing, they'd probably also prefer to limit voting to evangelical Christians. That's their concept of a "republic," versus a "democracy."
If you think Tailgunner Ted's remarks came out of nowhere (other than his ass), we have this:
The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission on Friday seeking the ability to raise unlimited donations from individuals, the latest attempt by the GOP to reverse a seminal 2002 campaign finance overhaul.
In its suit, the party committee argues that it has a First Amendment right to raise the kind of massive contributions that now fuel super PACs and other independent groups. Currently, individuals can only give $32,400 a year to party committees. Overturning that limit would knock out a major plank of the McCain-Feingold Act, which banned parties from accepting soft money. (our emphasis)
So, the Republican counter to closing the Supreme Court's decisions to let plutocrats further corrupt the political system is to argue for an even bigger hole in the law to allow the party apparatus to rake in more Koch ca$h. If that doesn't make you sick, you may want to check your pulse.
(Image: Tailgunner Ted Cruz with his Doppelganger and political lodestar, the original "Tailgunner," Joe McCarthy.)
Labels: Republican extremism, Sen. Ted Cruz claims Democrats want to repeal First Amendment
Weasel of the Week: Sen. Marco Rubio
Watch Stephen Colbert's takedown of "youth icon" Florida Republican Sen. Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio's self-serving hedge on the question of whether he smoked pot (with an assist from Rubio "fan" David):
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Labels: Sen. Marco Rubio won't say if he smoked pot
Weekend Trying To Be Cool Song
Blogging may be a little light this Memorial Day weekend, as we connect with family and practice our anger management techniques. In the meantime, enjoy "Trying To Be Cool," by French (French?!) alt rock group Phoenix , from Versailles (Versailles?!). Also, we love the names of group leaders Thomas Mars and Deck d'Arcy. Hope your weekend is tres formidable.
Labels: Phoenix
Quitter Quote of the Day
"When you hold someone accountable, it takes some energy and some resource, and Barack Obama is lazy. In fact, he warned us that he was lazy. And he attributed that to having brought up in Hawaii. It's his words, not mine." -- Snowbilly grifter Sarah "Quitter from Wasilla" Palin, commenting on the President's handling of the ongoing Veterans Affairs controversy. It's worth remembering that this comment is from a person so lazy herself that she couldn't finish her term as Governor, or prepare herself for higher office by reading anything beyond ads for shoe sales.
Continuing her public primal scream therapy for having lost the 2008 election, the Quitter managed to leave out "shiftless," "black buck," "darky" and some other choice epithets from her comments. We're certain she'll work them into her future commentary.
Labels: Palin calls Obama "lazy"
"We Have Met The Tea Party And It Is Us"
(Jim Morin, The Miami Herald)
Following this week's primaries in various states, the "Republican Establishment is back!" narrative is being breathlessly flogged by the usual, lazy Beltway political analysts and Republican-wired reporters (curiously employed by the "liberal" once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle). But as Charles P. Pierce aptly puts it:
The basic lesson of last night's primary elections in several states is not to nominate morons. It is decidedly not the comeback of the "Establishment Republicans" because that myth depends vitally on two assertions that are demonstrably unproven in this political era: a) that "Establishment" somehow means "moderate," and b) that there is any such thing as a Republican establishment, or as a formal Republican party, for that matter. What happened in Kentucky, and in various other places where GOP statewide races were contested, was that one group of very conservative, very wealthy, very powerful people sponsored candidates who beat other candidates who were sponsored by other groups of very conservative, very wealthy, very powerful people. (our emphasis)
Jon Stewart, who has more political savvy and insight than most of the hacks employed by the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle =cough= Cillizza =cough= Balz =cough=, had a great line about the win of human-turtle hybrid Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell (Reptile-KY) over a tea bagger:
"Doesn't seem like the Tea Party so much lost, as found a new host."
When comedians and political cartoonists have it figured out and the beard-stroking punditry hasn't, it tells you something about why the biggest political story of the last 25 years -- the radicalization of the Republican Party -- has gone largely unreported.
Labels: Republican extremism, tea party drives Rethug agenda
Fuxers Behaving Badly
Fux news anchor Gregg "Jarhead" Jarrett was arrested yesterday at a Minneapolis-St. Paul airport bar for interfering with a police officer during an investigation into his drunken behavior. According to accounts, Jarhead was belligerent after being presented his bar bill. After posting $300 bond at the Hennepin County jail, Jarhead was -- unfortunately -- released.
Following his arrest, he provided an "exclusive" first-person report on jail conditions in Minnesota (that last part was made up, of course).
Labels: Gregg Jarrett of Fox arrested for intoxication
Colbert on Republican Fear of Hillary Clinton
Stephen Colbert has a wonderful take on the Republicans' fear of a Hillary Clinton candidacy, particularly after reviewing the comparative likability of Republican sociopathic dimbulbs hopefuls ("Oh my God. We've gotta hit her hard.").
Labels: Hillary Clinton's possible run in 2016 scares Rethugs, Stephen Colbert
Somebody Needs A Nap
Today's tweet from a twit:
That would be noted climatologist and host of "Wheel of Fortune" Pat Sajak, possibly drunk tweeting Monday night. Sajak is a noted Republican wingnut who favors the twitter machine, since it enables him to capture the entirety of his thinking within the comfy confines of 140 characters or less. No doubt in Sajak's "mind," the "racists" are people biased against rich, white, stupid game show hosts. Here are some funny tweets in response to Sajak's mini-rant. Good night.
UPDATE: Here's some more, uh, sober reaction from clergy.
Labels: climate change deniers, Pat Sajak
Arkansas ID-iot
We saw a bit of farce play out yesterday in Arkansas, where Rethuglican gubernatorial candidate Asa "Assa" Hutchinson showed up at his polling place without the ID required as a result of the voter suppression law passed by the reactionary Arkansas legislature, which he strongly supports. Not to worry. Assa dispatched an aide to fetch his ID while he waited at the polls.
Imagine a worker voting on his lunch break having to rush back to where he or she left an ID, or a mom having someone babysit while she went to vote, only to discover her ID missing. They can't dispatch an "aide" to retrieve the ID. That, it seems, is the whole point: voter ID laws were meant to make voting more difficult for working and middle class people, not the Assas of the world, who can send their help if they forgot their ID.
(photo: "I'll strike a casual pose while you fetch my identification. And be quick… I tee off at the club in an hour.")
Labels: Arkansas Rethug candidate forgets ID and sends aide to get it, voter suppression
Muffins Anyone?
The Plum Line's Paul Waldman makes a valid point about the right-wing's knee-jerk "outrage" over gubmint waste, but only when that spending is on the civilian side of the ledger. The story a few years ago about "$16 muffins" at a Department of Justice conference is a case in point. However, giant defense contractors apparently don't merit the spotlight of the Fux Channel and the rest of the Wingnut Wurlitzer because….uh….freedumb! (Also, Beltway reporters can understand muffins better than contractor invoices, which are too much work and not tasty).
Waldman references a story about $100 million in questionable billing by Northrup Grumman, including an enterprising employee that billed 100 hours per day to the Government contract. We guarantee that if this were someone getting an extra Social Security check, or more than their share of food stamps, the Fuxers would be on it like white on black people. Read the article for an explanation of why the right-wing and their media enablers won't find this contractor fraud compelling news.
Labels: waste by defense contractor doesn't prompt conservative outrage
Mid-Week Song
Nico and Vinz (formerly recording as "Envy") are an Afro-Norwegian (yes) duo that formed in Oslo in 2009. This song, "Am I Wrong," was released on YouTube last year, and made its American radio debut last month. It's already the most-added Top 40/mainstream record, and is in the top 10 iTunes singles chart. The video was filmed in Botswana. Enjoy their upbeat sound.
Labels: Mid-Week Song, Nico and Vinz
The Republican War On Women - Peach State Primary Day Edition
As we note below, today is primary day in many states, among them a hotbed of crazy - the State of Georgia. Each candidate running for the Republican Senatorial nomination has made his or her* own contribution to the Republican War on Women. However, one candidate stands alone in his personal bidness experience with the challenges women face in the working world:
With Republicans trying to avoid a repeat of 2012's Todd Akin disaster and retake the Senate, the Georgia GOP establishment was happy to see David Perdue, a self-funded businessman, leading in the polls ahead of Tuesday's Senate primary. Compared to gaffe machines such as Rep. Paul Broun, who has pushed personhood for zygotes, and Rep. Phil Gingrey, who defended Akin's "legitimate rape" comment, the former Dollar General CEO seemed unlikely to introduce fraught gender issues into the general election—where Michelle Nunn, the likely Democratic nominee, is polling well against the GOP field.
But Perdue's record on women's issues—specifically, whether women are entitled to equal pay for equal work—is far from clean. In 2006, three years into Perdue's four-plus years as Dollar General's CEO, federal investigators at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that female store managers who worked for the company he ran "were discriminated against," and "generally were paid less than similarly situated male managers performing duties requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility." A year later, separate from that investigation, thousands of female managers who were paid less than their male counterparts joined a class action suit against the company—which Dollar General eventually settled, paying the women more than $15 million. (our emphasis)
* The one female candidate on the Republican side is Karen Handel, who burnished her credentials as a wingnut warrior when, as an official of the Susan G. Komen fund, she used her influence to defund grants to Planned Parenthood. Following a firestorm, the nice lady was forced to resign in April 2012, hence her appearance in the Senate race, however briefly.
Labels: David Perdue, equal pay for women, Georgia Senate race, Karen Handel
Crime Blotter Update: Arc of Justice Edition
Today we have two updates on court proceedings against ethically-challenged Republicans:
Former Virginia Gov. "Blowdry Bob" McDonnell:
The corruption trial against former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, is set to go to trial this summer after a judge tossed out a motion to dismiss most of the charges against the couple.
U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer also ruled Tuesday that the former first couple should be tried together rather than apart.
Blowdry Bob's fall from potential Republican presidential hopeful to defendant in the dock has been breathtaking. And quite satisfying.
Crackpot fabulist, family values man, and conspiracy film maker Dinesh D'Souza:
Conservative writer Dinesh D'Souza has pleaded guilty to charges that he asked two associates to donate $10,000 to the Senate campaign of New York Republican Wendy Long, then illegally reimbursed them. D'Souza has also agreed not to contest any prison term between 10 and 16 months, though he won't be sentenced until Sept. 23...
If he does jail time, you can bet D'Souza will be among the sleaziest inmates no matter where he's sent. Should he receive prison time, a complimentary Hackwhackers Soap-On-A-Rope will be on its way to D'Souza for those communal prison showers.
Labels: Dinesh D'Souza, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Republican values
The VA Curse Jar Is Brimming
The mess at the Department of Veterans Affairs continues with evidence that patient waiting lists were manipulated to falsely meet internal goals at several VA locations. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, who has made veterans' care a personal issue with him going back at least to lengthy backlogs in veteran benefit claims, took the VA to the woodshed again last night.
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It's hard to watch VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who courageously called "B.S." on troop levels needed for invading Iraq as Army Chief of Staff, come off as a bland company guy whose "mad as hell" comment doesn't wash. But it's long past time for things to get shaken up at the VA. Long past.
Labels: Department of Veterans Affairs mired in patient care delays and records falsification
Quote of the Day, Redneck Chronicles
"A man in Tennessee was arrested for attempting to have sex with an ATM. Even worse, he had to pay a penalty for early withdrawal." -- Stephen Colbert, in last night's opening teaser for The Colbert Report. Funny because, #1, it's about a drunken guy in Tennessee, and #2, it's about a drunken guy in Tennessee. Oh, and the guy also tried to hump a picnic table.
No wonder he missed the #OperationAmericanSpring festivities.
Labels: humor, quote of the day
Primary Day In Several States
Several states are holding their primaries today to decide which candidates from their parties will face off in November. Daily Kos has nice a state-by-state analysis of today's primary elections.
Much of the focus has been on internecine teabagger vs. "establishment" right-wing Republican fights in several states, most prominently in Kentucky, where Senate Minority Leader and human-turtle hybrid Mitch "Missy" McConnell has a solid lead over teahadist challenger Matt Bevin. While Missy appears likely to win the challenge, he faces a much harder fight against presumptive Dem candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes in November. Also, 25% of Bevin's supporters are saying they'll cross over and vote for Grimes in November. Also worth watching is the right-wing free for all in Oregon, where the Rethug candidates were in the final poo-flinging stage of campaigning in the past week, including the news that frontrunner Monica "The Huntress" Wehby was accused of "stalking" her ex-husband and a former boyfriend. Charming.
As in every election, turnout determines outcomes. In the Rethug primary elections, the lunatic right can be assured of turning out for their teabagger candidates, and in the past they've given us the unelectable likes of Sharron Angle, Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin. That's the good news. If Dems don't turn out to vote in November in a big way, that's the bad news.
Labels: 2014 primary elections
Bitter Irony Alert: Cheney Says Hillary Clinton Should Bear Benghazi Responsibility
Iraq War criminal, torture enthusiast and the man behind the smearing/ outing of a CIA agent, former President Vice President Dick "Five Vietnam Draft Deferments" Cheney, was on Fox "News" yesterday with his loathsome gargoyle of a wife Lynne, when Chris Wallace asked him about Hillary Clinton and Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!!
"She was secretary of state at the time that it happened," Cheney opined. "She was one of the first in Washington to know about it. I think she clearly bears responsibility for whatever the State Department did or didn't do with respect to that crisis."
Well, um, Dickwhistle, she already did take responsibility (October 16, 2012). How about you? Did you ever take responsibility for any of your illegal, immoral or unethical acts? Being the soulless sociopath that you are, of course you haven't. Had you done so, or had the Obama Administration prosecuted you as many hoped it would, you'd be giving interviews with a phone from behind a quarter inch of plexiglass. But you're the luckiest son of a bitch in the world aren't you, unlike the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11, pre-warnings of which the Bush Assministration chose to ignore, or the 4,486 Americans killed in Iraq and thousands more wounded (and many more thousand civilians dead)?
But, please feel free to opine about "responsibility."
Labels: Dick Cheney and Benghazi
Today's Tomorrow Cartoon
In guns everywhere news, there's this story today about the death of a 6 year old playing with a loaded handgun in Texas, and another today about an 8 year old in Indiana fatally shooting himself. The guns were left unlocked by the parents. And, seven people shot in a bar in Ohio, where it's legal to bring your Glock (thanks, Republicans!).
Then there's Wayne "Craziest Man on Earth" Lapierre of the NRA, mocking the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, and suggesting that "force" is the only answer (as long as someone else does the fighting) whether a tyrant, terrorist or your garden variety kid-with-a-hoodie. Any guesses on how many of the 276 kidnapped girls would have been immediately shot if General Lapierre had gone in with guns blazing?
Last but not least, there's the report that thousands of dollars worth of ammunition was distributed to "mentally unbalanced" loons hanging around Nevada deadbeat rancher/racist Cliven "Hoof" Bundy's hellhole ranch, waiting to start trouble.
(cartoon: Tom Tomorrow, via DailyKos)
Labels: gun safety, Open carry laws
Civil Rights Landmark Observed
Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision Brown v. Board of Education, which overturned the "separate but equal" ruling (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896) which allowed de facto racial discrimination in public schools. The wheels were set in motion by a 16 year-old African-American high school student, Barbara Rose Johns, who walked out of Moton High School in Farmville, VA, as recounted in this interesting article.
The civil rights gains of the last 60 years are far from being certain, as a hostile right-wing exercises its political muscle in state legislatures, Congress, and in the current Supreme Court to undermine voting rights and affirmative action legislation. Although they've switched uniforms from Dixiecrats to Republicans in the intervening years since 1954, the same reactionary forces are working continuously and perniciously to turn the clock back to those segregated days. They have to be defeated.
(photo: Ft. Myers, VA elementary school on the first day of desegregation in Sept. 1954. Bettman/Corbis)
Labels: 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
Sunday Cartoon and Reading
Leonard Pitts writes about the knee-jerk reaction of some on the right to the Twitter campaign #BringBackOurGirls that expressed support and concern for the Nigerian girls kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram:
...As noted, [Rush] Limbaugh, [George F.] Will and the National Review have all pronounced themselves unimpressed. Donald Trump, Ann Coulter and Fox's Steve Doocy have also made attempts at ridicule.
There is something more than usually saddening about that.
It is a truth curdling into cliche that American politics is riven by a partisan gap, left wing and right wing estranged from one another like the husband and wife in some long, bad marriage. But in its behavior here, the right does not so much seem estranged from a competing ideology as from its own humanity.
How is this a thing? How is an expression of caring, concern and outrage deemed worthy of mockery and condemnation? Are these people truly that corroded with cynicism and bile? Is their criticism now just a tic, a reflex bypassing thought? Is every damn thing to be reduced to politics?
"Estranged...from its own humanity." That captures so much of what the right wing and its vessel -- the Republican Party -- is today. Whether it's denying health care to millions of Americans, or voting rights for minorities, or immigration reform, or women's reproductive rights, or equal pay, or same-sex marriage, or sensible gun laws, or You Name It, this is a collection of sociopaths masquerading as a political movement. It's no wonder they reacted to #BringBackOurGirls the way they did.
Labels: Boko Haram terrorists kidnap girls in Nigeria, Republican extremism
How Low Can You Go?
Only a tea bagger knows. One might sink lower than this, but it would be hard to imagine:
A conservative Mississippi blogger was arrested Friday for sneaking into a nursing home to shoot a photo of the ailing wife of Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS). According to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 28-year-old Clayton Thomas Kelly — who was charged with exploitation of a vulnerable adult — wanted the image to use in a "hit piece" video supporting Cochran's far-right Tea Party primary challenger, Chris McDaniel.
Kelly runs the Constitutional Clayton blog, where he regularly posts anti-Cochran rants, screeds against the United Nations, posts defending religious discrimination against LGBT people and a smattering of posts heaping praise on McDaniel, who Kelly calls "the next Rand Paul."
The blogger wanted a photo of Rose Cochran — who was hospitalized for dementia in 2000 — for an anti-Cochran video that was posted on Kelly's YouTube channel on April 26, but which only remained online for a few hours.
Already facing criminal penalties, Constitutional Clayton will hopefully get his ass sued off by Sen. Cochran's family. McDaniel's campaign issued a strong disavowal and condemnation of their supporter's Constitutional Clayton's actions. (UPDATE: But there was some curious timing involved in their knowledge of the incident. UPDATE II: More to the story than meets the eye.)
Fortunately, once this has all blown over, Constitutional Clayton can certainly find employment with James "G. Gordon Diddy" O'Keefe's gang of immoral ratf*ckers.
(Photo: Constitutional Clayton Thomas Kelly's mugshot, Madison MS Police Dept.; the numbers on the board behind Constitutional Clayton are for IQ measurement.)
Labels: Clayton Thomas Kelly, Sen. Thad Cochran
9,999,950 "Patriot" No-Shows In D.C.
The blog Raw Story has had the most extensive coverage of the wingnut wingding that was supposed to have drawn "10 to 30 million patriots" to Washington, D.C. yesterday to make public idiots of themselves overthrow Osamabama's gubmint tyranny and install "tribunals" of right wingers to run the nation….all Constitutionally, of course. Well, the "patriots" must have gotten lost on their way to D.C., because the turnout wasn't enough to fill a Cracker Barrel store. Not to worry: a twitter site has been set up to 'splain the massive flop: #AmericanSpringexcuses. It's hilarious. Rachel Maddow also took a swing at the seditious saps on her program last night.
While we can mock the pathetic turnout and mindlessness of people who think they're defending the Constitution by overthrowing the Government elected under the Constitution, it's disturbing that this level of ignorance and rage has grown exponentially since America elected its first African-American president. We can laugh, but we can't ignore.
(photo: They'll need a smaller gubmint to overthrow)
Labels: right wing rage, right wingers plan Operation American Spring march on D.C.
Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept.
At the risk of perpetuating what the letter writer rightly skewers the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle for, here's a Letter We Wish We'd Written anyway:
After more than three years as a Post subscriber, I think I finally understand the newspaper's editorial policy: Someone prominent makes a statement, and, no matter how outrageous or false, it becomes a peg for a news article to hang on.
Case in point: Karl Rove suggested that Hillary Rodham Clinton might have suffered brain damage in a fall she took in December 2012. Rove said she was in a hospital for 30 days (actually, three) and that when she emerged she wore "glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury" (actually, they were her regular glasses).
Rather than treat this as the nonsense it was, The Post published a serious analysis asking whether Clinton's age and health will be an issue in the 2016 presidential election [news, May 14]. Mind you, Clinton is not yet a candidate for that election.
Rove must be delighted. Thanks to The Post, people are now discussing her age and health rather than why he continues to get a hearing in a serious newspaper.
I can't wait for the next two years to be over.
Robert Rothman, Washington
Of course, the Bugle is not alone in catapulting Rove's nonsense to a national audience. As Mr. Rothman notes, the media has already done Rove's job for him by getting people to talk about another non-issue. It's a given by now that the "mainstream media" will continue to breathlessly report on any lie, smear, or crackpot conspiracy that someone, somewhere pulled out of their heinie -- the more outrageous, the better it seems. (It's a lot more edgy than a report on global climate change; who wants to hear about that again?!) The same editorial "standards" that prompted the Bugle, CNN, etc., etc., to dissect Rove's patently absurd "diagnosis" operate every day in the ratings-obsessed, gutless, "not my job to sort out the facts" (i.e., the "Chuck Todd maxim") newsrooms across the nation. If you want to assign responsibility for the decline in American political discourse, look no further than that.
Labels: Karl Rove claims Hillary Clinton may have brain damage, mainstream media peddling republican talking points, washington post
Weekend Song Bird
Normally, the song we'd bring you for the weekend would more likely be by The Byrds rather than... the birds. But there are few creatures with as evocative and memorable a song as a wood thrush. At some point, if you live in the United States east of the Great Plains, you might have heard the wood thrush on a summer stroll in the woods -- it's a sound that brings back memories of sun-dappled forests of childhood for us. We hope you enjoy the song, and your weekend.
Labels: wood thrush
Today's Dispatch From The Stupid...Er...Crazy Party - "Idaho, Do You?" Edition
Our regular fellow-banging-his-head "Dispatch..." gif got exhausted (brain trauma?) after watching the recent gubernatorial debate featuring four candidates for the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid/ Crazy Party nomination in Idaho. The debate featured two representatives of the Republican base (the aptly named Harley Brown and Walt Bayes) and two politicians (Gov. Bruce "Proud Member of the Weasel Family" Otter and State Sen. Russ Fulcher). Rather than subject viewers to the entire 1-hour debate, this supercut version is lighting up the internet toobs:
Labels: Idaho governor's debate, rethug base, Stupid Party
Millions Haven't Descended on Washington Yet
As we noted yesterday ("Freaky Friday"), 10 to 30 million "patriots" were expected to descend on Washington, D.C. today to lynch President Obama take over the un-Constitutional government of B. Hussein Osamabama, or something. We didn't notice any coverage in the lame stream media (the formerly great Washington Post Bezos Bugle didn't even notice the 10 to 30 million "patriots" in the Local D.C. section). Ditto with all of the radio and TV channels. So, what gives? Hold on, we're getting some photos of the patriotic millions (via Raw Story):
OK, the guy with a cross is a good start. Anything else?
We'll count the two in the middle as equivalent to four "patriots." That's seven counting the guy with the cross.
Nonetheless, these "patriots" will be working up a ferocious appetite later -- especially the two in the middle, above -- because taking down the gubmint is hard work. So we were worried, especially after we saw this tweet that made us even more concerned:
Hope overthrow gov't thing doesn't turn ugly at 5:00 when 30,000,000 "patriots" ready for dinner realize DC doesn't have a Cracker Barrel.
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) May 16, 2014
BONUS: Charles Johnson has more pictures (and hilarious tweets) of Operation American Sproing! here.
Labels: right wingers plan Operation American Spring march on D.C.
Rethug Crime Blotter, I'm "OK" Edition
Former Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Chad Alexander was arrested on possession of cocaine and a controlled substance (oxycontin) without a prescription, after a traffic stop for driving erratically in Oklahoma City. Next stop, rehab and redemption.
Alexander blamed his "drug dependency" on the stress of his lobbying job and "duties" associated with being a single father ("duties?" Is he being forced?). Also, check out one of his lobbying clients: The Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
(mugshot: "Hey, boys and girls, this is your brain on drugs!")
Labels: Former OK GOP Chairman arrested on drug charges
Turdblossom's Sh*tty Diagnosis
The irrational fear of Hillary Clinton's possible candidacy for President in 2016 is rampant on the right. The Rethuglican House Select Committee to Smear Hillary Clinton on Benghazi Benghazi! BENGHAZI!! is the primary attack vehicle on her tenure as Secretary of State. Then we have the pond scum-level attacks that emanate from the likes of Karl "Turdblossom" Rove, the most recent being the nasty, false insinuation that she suffers brain damage from a concussion in 2012. On The Colbert Report last night, Stephen Colbert delivered a hilarious smack down to Turdblossom's attempted smear. Enjoy.
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Labels: Karl Rove claims Hillary Clinton may have brain damage, right wing smears, Stephen Colbert
President and Mrs. Obama, along with former Secretary of State Clinton and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, tour the new National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York, which was dedicated today.
(photo: K. Lamarque, Reuters)
Labels: 9-11 museum dedicated, photo of the day
Some 'Splainin' Is In Order
There's a lot of finger pointing at the New York Times today, after its publisher Arthur Sultzberger, Jr. fired Editor Jill Abramson. Reports indicate that Abramson was fired for making equal pay demands based on her predecessor's salary. Sulzberger denies that was the reason for sacking Abramson, mentioning her management style in the newsroom. If we were to bet, we'd believe Abramson's version, if only for the reason that the newsroom was shocked and dismayed at her dismissal. Given the nature of the business involved, no one should be surprised if some additional details of the situation surrounding the firing leak out, and more ink is spilled.
UPDATE: The evidence is mounting that Abramson's been paid far less than her predecessors for a decade.
Labels: abrasion out as NY Times editor
We're reading reports that a collection of wingnuts and other assorted loons are planning a march into Washington, D.C. tomorrow to force President Obama, Vice President Biden, and the top Congressional leaders of both parties to resign. No, this isn't an Onion story, although it belongs there.
Called "Operation American Spring" (get it? American Spring / Arab Spring?), the organizers say they've called "10 million patriots" to march on D.C. to lynch the black guy in the White House restore Constitutional government. Check out this excerpt from their website:
"Those with the principles of a West, Cruz, Dr. Ben Carson, Lee, DeMint, Paul, Gov Walker, Sessions, Gowdy, Jordan, should comprise a tribunal and assume positions of authority to convene investigations, recommend appropriate charges against politicians and government employees to the new U.S. Attorney General appointed by the new President."
It's interesting that all of the people whose "principles" they refer to are on the far, far right. And where in the Constitution does it permit "tribunals" set up by a mob of angry, ignorant misfits to "assume positions of authority" to rule the U.S.? What these crackpots are advocating is sedition and rebellion against a Government elected by the people under the terms of the Constitution that they lay claim to as "patriots." Not to worry. If the massive flop of last year's similar "Ride for the Constitution" redneck trucker rally was a preview, only a few dozen losers waving tea bagger signs and Confederate flags will show up.
Legendary crooner Frank Sinatra died on this day in 1998 at the age of 82, after one of the most successful careers ever in music and film. Here's one of his best known hits (best watched full screen).
Labels: Frank Sinatra, Mid-Week Song
The Water World Of Marco Rubio
Florida Senator and very thirsty man Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio stated earlier this week that there was nothing we could do about climate change, man made or not, contrary to overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. Ironically, the state he represents will be one of the most devastated with the rise of ocean levels resulting from melting polar ice caps and glaciers. So, after some ridicule was thrown Glug Glug's way, he slightly clarified his ridiculous comment, only to say that yes, the climate was changing, but it always is and man's not responsible. Or something. The point is that Glug Glug has to appease the mouth breathing base of his increasingly anti-science party, while not completely alienating independent voters with patent nonsense about climate change. Meanwhile, Florida's coast will be changing as a result of the climate, whether Glug Glug wants to face it or not.
(photo: Glug Glug's solution to rising waters)
Labels: Rubio's comments on climate change at odds with facts
Tom Toles Twofer
Which is why they've shifted to...
Disclaimer: Results may vary (but not by much).
(Tom Toles, via gocomics.com)
Labels: Obamacare outperforming estimates, Republican extremism, Rethuglican Benghazi obsession
Bush Alumni Week
The little shrubs are keeping busy:
- "Bush's brain" (an oxymoron if there ever was one) Karl "Turdblossom" Rove is up to his usual, sleazy, lying tricks, suggesting Hillary Clinton suffered a "traumatic brain injury" when she fell and hit her head last year.
- Bush speechwriter and current once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle pundit Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson, is confoozed about the curious anti-science fever abounding in the land, without (as Charles P. Pierce points out) ever mentioning the word "Republican."
- Bush speechwriter and torture apologist Marc Thiessen (another Bezos Bugle hire, to its everlasting shame) is beating yet another Benghazi! dead horse: where was Obama during the attack on the consulate? Where would you have liked for him to have been, and what difference would that have made, you criminal asshat?
Labels: Bush administration alumni
Why We Love Elizabeth Warren - Part Infinity
Here's an excerpt from Sen. Elizabeth Warren's blog on the Republicans' Benghazi! kangaroo court:
As a Senator, I take oversight seriously because it is powerfully important. But Trey Gowdy gives oversight a bad name. The House GOP is on a waste-of-time-and-resources witch hunt and fundraising sideshow, shamefully grasping for any straw to make President Obama, former Secretary Clinton, or Secretary Kerry look bad. This stunt does a disservice to those who serve our country abroad, and it distracts us from issues we should be taking up on behalf of the American people.
With millions of people still out of work and millions more working full time yet still living below the poverty line, with students drowning in debt, with roads and bridges crumbling, is this really what the House Republicans are choosing to spend their time on? Even for guys who have so few solutions to offer that they have voted 54 times to repeal Obamacare, this is a new low.
House Republicans are doing whatever they can to distract the American people from what's really going on in Washington – a rigged system that works great for those who have armies of lobbyists and lawyers but that leaves everyone else behind. A system in which Republicans protect tax breaks for billionaires while they block increases in the minimum wage for millions of people who work full time and live in poverty. A system in which Republicans give away billions of dollars in subsidies to Big Oil while making billions in profits off of our kids' student loans.
It's wrong, and it's shameful.
We two Marylanders would gladly commit voter fraud to vote for this person.
Labels: Rethuglicans using Benghazi for political purposes
A Mathematically Representative Climate Change "Debate"
We know climate change deniers (Republicans and their fossil fuel oligarch backers) long ago lost the debate as to the science of global climate change (as Paul Krugman notes in an op/ed linked to below, they're now trying to shift the goal posts to a bogus economic analysis). Meanwhile, John Oliver presents a hugely satisfying rejoinder to the asshat media that continues to play this as a one- on- one, he said/ she said "debate:"
Labels: climate change, humor, John Oliver skewers climate change deniers and media
(Tom Tomorrow, via Daily Kos)
Labels: Benghazi, Cliven Bundy, Fox News, Sean Hannity, TomTomorrow
Bucks For Benghazi
Here you have proof positive that the cynical Rethugs are shamelessly raising funds from their far-right base over the 2012 attack in Benghazi. The National Republican Congressional Committee couldn't care less about the 4 Americans killed by terrorists, nor do they care enough to provide requested funds for security measures at our embassies and consulates. The picture conflating the images of President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton tells you this is about fundraising in 2014 and smearing the presumed Dem candidate in 2016. Period.
BONUS: Just how lucrative are these faux scandals as fundraisers? Check out this New Republic piece on how the Republican sheeple base is sheared.
Labels: Rethugs fundraise over Benghazi
"Crazy Climate Economics"
Paul Krugman writes about a new front in the climate change battle, "crazy climate economics":
Until now, the right's climate craziness has mainly been focused on attacking the science. And it has been quite a spectacle: At this point almost all card-carrying conservatives endorse the view that climate change is a gigantic hoax, that thousands of research papers showing a warming planet — 97 percent of the literature — are the product of a vast international conspiracy. But as the Obama administration moves toward actually doing something based on that science, crazy climate economics will come into its own.
As always, please read Krugman's entire op/ed.
As if on cue, the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle's resident right-wing "economics" writer, Robert J. Samuelson wrings his hands and despairs there's no "magical fix," and besides CHINA!
Although he writes on economic matters, Samuelson is not an economist -- he has a B.A. in government -- and is often confused with economics Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson. His stock in trade is to look for the dark cloud in every silver lining when Democrats are in charge.
Labels: Paul Krugman on climate change economics, Robert Samuelson
In honor of our late mother and all mothers (and mothers-to-be) everywhere, we'll try to do better and be better. We love you.
Labels: Mother's Day 2014
Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept. - Benghazi! Edition
From today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle print edition:
Regarding the May 5 news article "Benghazi attacks back at center of political stage":
I understand the urgency of House Republicans in continuing to examine the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. As they remain so focused on the response of Democrats to an unanticipated attack, I imagine they will soon turn to examine the events of Dec. 7, 1941, for which they, in their righteous wrath, will scrutinize the actions not only of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt but probably Hillary Clinton as well.
Michael B. Lehrhoff, Gaithersburg
Let's not give them any ideas, sir.
Labels: Benghazi obsession all about Hillary Clinton in 2016
Good For Michael Sam and Good For the NFL
In today's seventh round of the NFL draft, as the 249th player to be selected, All-American defensive lineman Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. Sam, who came out publicly as gay earlier in the year (his college teammates already knew), was a standout player while at the University of Missouri. He's the first openly gay player in the NFL. Let's hope his teammates, and other players, will let his play on the field speak for itself.
Labels: St. Louis Rams draft first openly gay player
Boko Loco Cartoon of the Day
The Nigerian terrorist cult Boko Haram is playing cat and mouse with Nigeria and international governments seeking to find and free the 276 girls kidnapped from their schools. Their latest abomination was the attack on a village that was being used as a staging area by Nigerian forces, killing around 150 villagers.
The #Bring Our Girls Home movement has spread in days across the world community, which sees the fanatic fundamentalist cult's obsession with denying females their human rights as a danger to all humanity.
Labels: Boko Haram terrorists kidnap girls in Nigeria
Pope Francis: Redistribute Economic Benefits
Pope Francis, today in Rome:
[E]quitable economic and social progress can only be attained by joining scientific and technical abilities with an unfailing commitment to solidarity accompanied by a generous and disinterested spirit of gratuitousness at every level. A contribution to this equitable development will also be made both by international activity aimed at the integral human development of all the world's peoples and by the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the State, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society.
In our imagination, the entire Wingnut World -- from Fox "News," to the Catholic League's "Sweaty" Bill Donohue, to the New York Times' Ross "I Seriously" Douthat, to Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner -- is sharting mightily today.
UPDATE: Hate radio's porcine poo flinger Rush Limpballs is wetting his XXXXL Depends: his response to the Pope's statement is "Marxism and socialism." Which would put J.C. Himself in the same category as the Pope….
UPDATE II: More sharting on the right. Jim "The Dumbest Man on the Internet" Hoft applies his weightless analysis: "Marxist Pope" (via dimbulb Matt Drudge)!
UPDATE III: Regarding Fox "News's" Sean Hannity and "Sweaty" Bill Donohue, we rest our case.
Labels: economic inequality, Jim Hoft, Pope Francis I, Rush Limbaugh


text:
L'orfano della selva (título original en italiano; en español, El huérfano del bosque) es una ópera en dos actos con música de Carlo Coccia y libreto en italiano de Gaetano Rossi. Se estrenó el 15 de noviembre de 1828 en el Teatro alla Scala de Milán.

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Óperas de Carlo Coccia
Óperas en italiano
Óperas de 1828
Óperas estrenadas en Milán

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Workforce Management Software Group (WFMSG), fresh off exhibiting at the Software for Planning Professionals (SWPP) annual conference last week, and Cooordinated Systems, Inc. (CSI) are two call center technology firms who both have accomplished much in their respective spaces, now working together to deliver an incredibly mature workforce management solution, Virtual Observer Community WFM software.
Coordinated Systems, Inc. (CSI), a veteran-owned technology company, was started in 1972 and continues to thrive, innovate and disrupt the contact center space with their bundled, scalable workforce optimization solution, Virtual Observer (VO).
Back In 1995, WFMSG launched their first consultancy, which was dedicated exclusively to WFM systems and practices. They offered a wide range of services, including acquisition support, deployment, and optimization services across all product lines. WFMSG was a recognized "Best Practices" leader and they were also regarded as highly reputable industry speakers.


Is anyone running 2.26 ona pcengines apu2b4 quad-core AMD board?
• No boot from SD card.
Very nice! Would you mind keeping us posted on performance etc or any other quirks you find with the APU2B4? The combination of 3 intel ports + AES + fanless + usually lower price of AMD processors will probably make this a popular platform.
Would you recommend this model over their apu1d /apu4d?
The price appears to be the same and I need to make a decision now to put a new fw in place for an installation to serve ~10 servers with a 20/20 mbit line.
The main question I guess is the nic support in 2.2.x branch as I don't feel comfortable running a beta version in a production environment.
i have problems to install pfsense on my new apu2b4.
I tried to change usb stick, format(fat32) with "HP disk storage format tool" and then write image with "win32 disk imager"
The default baud rate for alix boards is 38400,8n1 and for apu boards 115200,8n1.
solved with serial console 115200 81N.
Hi im very interested in performance numbers / benchmark of the new apu2 unit. Specially ipsec aes-ni performance.


The Peppa Sauce is made from the piquant peppers Peppadew. This unique pepper originates in South Africa and is conquering the culinary world. Peppa sauce has the perfect balance between sweet and spicy. Sauces are an essential ingredient in every cuisine and Oil & Vinegar helps you create effortless meals with intricate flavors. Product of The Netherlands.


Rutgers will play Army in 2011 in the second football game at the new Yankee Stadium, The Post has learned. The two schools will meet a second time in The Bronx, but that season is still to be determined.
The first game in the new ballpark will feature Army against Notre Dame, and it will be played in 2010. The Yankees officially announced that much-publicized game at a press conference today in The Bronx.
A press conference has been called for Wednesday at the Stadium to announce more college football games at the new historic site, including Army games in 201,, 2012 and 2014.
The Fighting Irish and Black Knights played each other at the old Yankee Stadium nearly every year from 1925-46, when the two programs were among the best in the nation.
The Scarlet Knights entering the picture is a big plus for new athletic director Tim Pernetti, and his quest to keep the program moving forward at a high, national level. Rutgers has qualified for four straight bowl games, and has won the past three. The Scarlet Knights could, in fact, be the preseason favorite to win the Big East this season.
The next school to possibly be added to the Yankees Stadium mix is Syracuse, a source said.


Take your UTV to the next level with a Solid Fold 2.0. The UTV Edition offers the same premium features of the Solid Fold 2.0 and more! Optimize cargo capacity with maximum protection and versatility. The Solid Fold 2.0 meets all of your utility needs! With exceptional versatility the Solid Fold 2.0 UTV Edition offers increased hauling capacity allowing you to stow cargo both above and below the cover. This hard folding cover offers unique bed access with the ability to operate in three different positions. The articulating front hinge allows for full bed access, offering you the ability to carry tall, oversized cargo. The exterior tie down cleats allow you to secure stacked cargo on top of the cover.
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