Dave Mammen

Can anyone tell me how a dissenting minority opinion (Kavanagh’s on tariffs) establishes authority for presidential action?

Bottom third of the photo is olive green Ponderosa pine, reddish brown face of the Mogollon Rim stretches across above that. Blue sky with some thin white clouds above that .

The Mogollon Rim is one of our favorite places.

Small urban lake at sunset, 50 or so ducks in silhouette in the water in the foreground. Silhouette of dark trees and bushes at the far edge of the lake, a few palm trees rising above, and a thick band of deep reddish orange across the sky above the trees.

Arizona sunsets bring calm.

Interesting fact: if Trump’s immigration ban had been put on place in 1945 there’d be no Marco Rubio, and no Jared Kushner.

U.S. Border Security has been a mess for decades. Better control of immigration is good. But migration isn’t random. Military & covert action by the U.S., unscrupulous resource extraction, cultural factors and drug demand help create the push
factors. Borders alone won’t fix that.

Trump math

“The law of war does not permit the intentional targeting of civilians, unless and for such time as they are directly participating in hostilities.”

Seems the MAGA message is always that we can’t afford having so many aliens in the U.S. From what I can see the Trump
mass deportation approach will actually COST us about a half trillion dollars.

Ukraine is showing no gratitude for Trump attempting to unconditionally surrender on their behalf. Can you believe it?

Looks like 3I/ATLAS is a comet, not a spcecraft. Too bad, I was hoping for someone we could surrender to.

Ironic too, or hypocritical that the GOP congress who are so critical of people “not working and collecting a gov’t check” are sitting at home not working and collecting a government check?

Ironic, isn’t it? Or just hypocritical, that a portrait of a “beardo” slave-holding traitor was put back on display at West Point by Hegseth?

There’s nothing like hearing that the crazy msn wants to start playing with the nuclear missiles.

So can Mexico’s President bomb trucks in America that she thinks are carrying guns to cartels? Or bomb the gun manufacturers in the U.S. that produce those illegal guns? Would that be okay?

I asked ChatGPT what proof was being cited to support the announcement of the link between autism and Tylenol. I got a lengthy response about rigorous studies that contradict the claim, but ChatGPT’s response started with:

“There is no proof”.

If we respect science only when it fits our politics…
we’re not seeking knowledge.

If we only value rights/life for a living favored few…
neither of those is what we prize.

If outrage shifts with the target, it’s not principles we believe in, it’s power.

Power separates. We need connection.

If we only oppose violence when it hits “us”… violence isn’t our enemy.

If we condemn lies only from others…truth isn’t what we value.

Hegseth said this about the attack on Iran: “President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history...”

With respect to all involved, it wasn’t even the most complex operation this YEAR. Operation Roughrider in March was larger and more complex. So was D-Day.

RFK is so poorly informed, and/or given to stereotypes and unfounded generalizations and such a poor thinker, he is just a terrible choice to lead HHS.

And what, a 20 year or more period to rebuild the manufacturing base? Not to mention negative impact on US sectors from retaliatory tariffs. What a mess!

Public Environmental Data Partners archives climate datasets, uploading copies to public repositories and cataloging where and how to find them if they go missing from government websites. Scholars explain: #climatechange #data #epa #NOAA https://buff.ly/4b9ZbxY

Saddest in of all of this is after 12 years of “the hottest economy in history”, we’ll be further in debt than we’ve ever been, our healthcare system will be worse and more expensive, wealth inequity will be worse, we’ll have lost decades of civil rights progress, and climate change will be worse.

In a cheerful nod to the past, Crayola is bringing back some retired colors.

Welcome back:

• Dandelion
• Blizzard Blue
• Magic Mint
• Mulberry
• Orange Red
• Violet Blue
• Lemon Yellow
• Raw Umber

You know, happy news is pretty scarce…

Felonious Monk?

Great thread on providing practical helps to disaster victims from someone who’s been there.

A reminder about proper arrangement of adjectives.

Bette Middler’s non-fat, dairy-free, lo-cal eggnog recipe:

Bourbon

‘The party is over’ as Tupperware files for bankruptcy after years of troubles | CNN Business Tupperware, known the world over for its plastic food storage containers, has filed for bankruptcy after years of falling popularity and financial troubles.

The real story here is that Tupperware’s inventory manager discovered that none of the lids in the warehouses fit any of the bowls.

www.cnn.com/2024/09/18/b...

White book cover, featuring two groups of people seen from a distance above, gathered together to look like forearms and hands reaching toward each other. About a dozen or so people scattered individually around each hand-shaped group. Book title Life After Suicide in upper case black letters above the hand images. Subtitle in uppercase red letters below the hand images is Finding Courage and Community After Unthinkable Loss, followed by author’s name, Jennifer Ashton, M.D.

20 books that have stayed with you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#20 Life After Suicide, Jennifer Ashton, M.D.

#BookSky
💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge