Thursday, April 21, 2016

Open Thread - Earth Day Update

UPDATE: It's Earth Day today, so love the Earth or else Bill Nye and other pseudo-scientists want you to go to jail and silenced. If only we could change the discussion to:
"Hey, everyone, let's work together to develop an inexpensive, non-toxic, plentiful, infinite source of energy. Like, what about that gravitational wave energy I've read so much about lately? How's about it, huh?"

Yeah, that will never happen...

Anyway, back to it...

So it's been a busy week, but here are the highlights (or low lights depending on your perspective) -

1. The results of the New York State Primary are in and there are no real surprises there. Clinton won handily with 58% to Sanders' 42%. It just proves that you can't campaign in New York on an anti-Wall Street/anti-banking platform when most of the state's budget is funded by the Wall Street/Banking industry.

And on the Republican side, it was a rout with Trump taking 60.4%, Kasich 25.1%, and Cruz bringing up the rear at 14.5%. I am not surprised that Cruz didn't do well, but interestly, Trump did the worst in Manhattan.

On a related note, there were many hiccups with the voter rolls. To the great surprise of many in Brooklyn, at least 54,000 voters were stuck off the rolls right before the vote for no discernable reason. According to a NY Daily News article "Mayor de Blasio issued a statement charging that entire buildings and city blocks of voters were among the 126,000 voters purged from the Brooklyn books since last fall" and no one from the New York Board of Elections can explain why. Yeah, but someone is looking into it and will get back to us. Of course, it won't be the DOJ because this isn't Mississippi.

2. Today is San Jacinto Day in Texas. On this day in 1836 Gen. Sam Houston and the Texicans outsmarted and finally defeated Gen. Santa Ana and the Mexican Army to independance from Mexico and the Republic of Texas was born. Yay, Texas!

And on a related note, there's this from the Washington Post...Texans are talkin' secession...again. Not to worry though. Texans have never stopped talking secession. However if Trump is elected, all bets are off.

3. Okay, I just don't have a #3. I am still trying to process how Trump is about to win the Republican nomination.

The floor is now open.

31 comments:

EPorvaznik said...

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to laugh at the alleged voter fraud, or question all my Democrat friends who have consistently and loudly denied its existence. Guess a little of both can't hurt.

AndrewPrice said...

Here's an interesting movie test. It's fairly difficult actually: LINK.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Trump's win is now guaranteed. I'll explain Monday, but he will get a minimum of 1240 delegates, which is three more than he needs, with potentially a lot more.

EPorvaznik said...

Missed four on the movie quiz, but not having seen any of the Harry Potter movies, didn't care about that. Did find it funny I typed in Christmas Story for "lamp," but it auto-filled Anchorman.

EPorvaznik said...

Missed four on the movie quiz, but not having seen any of the Harry Potter movies, didn't care about that. Did find it funny I typed in Christmas Story for "lamp," but it auto-filled Anchorman.

Kit said...

Being in a declining superpower is not fun.

Kit said...

If Trump is president then two things will happen:
(1) America's place as a world superpower will be over. Kaput.
(2) Conservatism will be finished as an ideological force in America.

There is a distinct possibility Vera Lynn's "We'll meet again" will top the charts within the next decade and a half.

We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when...

Kit said...

So... anyone been watching Agents of SHIELD?

AndrewPrice said...

We are not declining. And honestly, as much as I don't like him, Trump won't be any worse that W or Obama and will probably be a lot better actually.

AndrewPrice said...

Eric, I missed four as well. This was a tough test. I got hung up on a couple and couldn't see past my first wrong choice. "Milkshake" through me as well.

AndrewPrice said...

On the Harriet Tubman change, I actually don't mind. I thought I would mind more, but (1) they picked a woman with an actual achievement (unlike all the rest of the chickies the left wanted), and (2) they are replacing a racist, populist Democrat. Ha ha! It's funny how all the Democratic heroes are being excised now from the modern world...

Jefferson... hypocrite slave owner
Jackson... racist Indian holocaust causer
Wilson... racist

We need to find some dirt on FDR! :)

BevfromNYC said...

Interesting thing about the currency picture change. All the bills will be changed in some way. "Hamilton" saved Hamilton, but the flip side is going to the Suffragettes. And none of this is happening until 2030. I would imagine that in 13 years, we will be using more e-currency and much hard currency will be relegated to quaint souvenirs. Or Armeggedon will have begun and we will be burning the bills for warmth.

Oh, and now they are looking at the coins to see who is no longer in favor.

BevfromNYC said...

..."And honestly, as much as I don't like him, Trump won't be any worse that W or Obama and will probably be a lot better actually.

That is actually not any great comfort...8-/

Anthony said...

Chicago just had an incident which brings to mind Kitty Genovese.

http://www.mediaite.com/print/chicago-assault-victim-robbed-run-over-by-cab-while-a-dozen-bystanders-do-nothing/

A guy leaving a 7-11 was sucker punched and knocked unconscious by a random thug, then two other people ran up to the unconscious guy and stole his possessions. A bunch of people just looked at him as he lay in the street. The store clerk called 911 but didn't think to move him. Eventually a cab ran over him and killed him.

Everybody aside from the clerk would leave the world no poorer if they disappeared.

BevfromNYC said...

Anthony - Wow...just...wow. What is wrong with people?

BevfromNYC said...

OT: It has just been announced that Prince has died. I read last week he caused an emergency landing on flight he was on and he was ruched to the hospital. But the few reports I read alluded that he was just pulling a star-thing and may not have really been sick. Guess again...

tryanmax said...

Also missed four on the quiz. I've never seen Caddyshack or The Graduate, however.

ScottDS said...

I'm a novice when it comes to Prince but my parents have satellite radio and whenever I drive one of their vehicles, I tune into 80s on 8. And whenever "Let's Go Crazy" comes on, I crank up the volume. :-(

We also lost wrestler Chyna...

...and Guy Hamilton, director of Goldfinger and three other James Bond films along with Remo Williams

And I got 23/26. :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Wow, Prince died. That is sad. I heard he was sick the other day. I wonder what he died from?

As an aside, these things come in clumps. Bowie... Prince... look out Madonna.

ArgentGale said...

Like Scott, I got 23/26 on the quiz (not bad for someone who spends more time reading and gaming than watching movies). On the Trump thing I'm slowly becoming numb to the nomination, but I'm still expecting the Democrats to have a very good year out of it that was completely preventable had the right not thrown a tantrum and I can't help but shake the feeling that we're in decline as well. Maybe it's time I go back to reading Monster Hunter International for a bit as a pick-me-up?

- Daniel

Kit said...

Daniel,

Monster Hunter is a good pick-me-up.

Anthony said...

Cruz has made the first truly great ad of the election cycle. It's a bit misleading and won't change anything, but still hilarious.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/04/21/video-new-cruz-ad-imagines-hillary-war-room-rooting-for-trump-n2152085

Anthony said...

Here's an article which explains how Tubman is more awesome than most people know.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/434360/harriet-tubman-20-bill-change-honors-american-hero

During one of her scouting missions along the Combahee River, she became the first woman and one of the first African Americans to command a significant number of U.S. troops in combat. The raid she organized and helped to command freed far more enslaved people than her decades of work on the Underground Railroad. She also was a strong advocate of allowing African Americans into the Union Army. She knew Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the almost entirely African-American 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry regiment — the unit at the center of the 1989 film Glory. A (probably apocryphal) legend even has it that she cooked his last meal before the heroic assault in which he and much of his regiment perished.

EPorvaznik said...

Prince was the 80s, an album every year except '83 though '82's 1999 was a double album like '87's Sign 'O' the Times, and not a week goes by to this day where I don't listen to one of them. Truly one of a kind uber-talent, and like fellow guitar impresario Frank Zappa, thank God for all the music, past catalog along with the untold amount of unreleased tunes I hope will eventually see the light of day.

"Y'all don't know how many hits I got!"
PRINCE, 2011 LA Forum show

AndrewPrice said...

Eric, He also wrote/produced dozens of hits for other artists too, plus he discovered a half dozen as well.

EPorvaznik said...

Amen to that. I recently put together a playlist of songs he either wrote or played on, and no matter the collaborators (Chuck D, No Doubt, The Bangles, Skinhead O'Connor, etc.), the man rarely disappointed.

That said, the Carmen Electra album sucked, real bad.

ArgentGale said...

That it is, Kit. So far I still prefer the Grimnoir Chronicles but I'm only halfway through International right now ( Vendetta just came in today, though) but it's been a fun ride so far! And now I've got a few of my own fictional characters wanting their own Abomination, heh. I'm still cracking up about the elves, too!

- Daniel

Allena-C said...

Hi y'all, I'm back. I went on a mini-vacation to Disneyland that a friend of mine paid for, which was a nice surprise! He even paid for my gf to go! :)
All I had to do is help drive us down to Anaheim from Seattle. not a bad deal.

BevfromNYC said...

Hi Allena, welcome back. Sorry you had to return from the Happiest Place on Earth. Nothing has really changed in the real world. It continues to be a giant SNAFU.

BevfromNYC said...

Anthony - I think Harriet Tubman is an excellent choice. Interestingly there is evidence that she may have also suffered from epilepsy which makes what she did even more heroic.

Allena-C said...

Thanks Bev!
I really wouldn't mind loving at Disneyland for awhile, lol

Post a Comment