Readings – How does Mitt Romney sound?

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Joy of Fishes

~ Readings features content from elsewhere. ~

Apparently Donald Trump is no more popular with some conservatives than he is with liberals.  Will Rahn of CBS News makes the case for Mitt Romney to step in.

–o-O-o–

Commentary: Run, Mitt, run!

Will Rahn | CBS News | June 15, 12016

“Why doesn’t Mitt Romney just run for president? If Mitt thinks Donald Trump would be such a disaster as president, why doesn’t he just go in as a spoiler? Why not ensure that Trump can’t win by dividing the Republican vote?

Maybe, as of just a few weeks ago, Mitt was really thinking about running. I sort of suspect he was, if only because it’s the only reason I can think of why Paul Ryan would wait so long to endorse Trump, make such a big deal of not endorsing Trump, and then fold a couple of weeks later after Trump surrenders more-or-less nothing. Ryan’s a sophisticated operator – why would he do all that, embarrass himself like that, unless he was told that there really was a non-Trump Republican who might jump in?…

Because here’s the thing about another Romney run: he could win… ” ~ my emphasis,  continue reading

Posted in 2016 Election, Readings | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Readings – Former CIA, NSA directors, retired generals, launch gun control group

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Joy of Fishes

~ Readings features content from elsewhere. ~

But, will Congress listen?

–o-O-o–

Former CIA, NSA directors, retired generals, launch gun control group 

Ian Allen, June 14, 2016, Intel News

“Former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, as well as several 3- and 4-star generals and admirals have launched a new effort to control the sales of guns in the United States. The effort is certain to attract attention after last weekend’s deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. The group, which calls itself Veterans Coalition for Common Sense, is led by former CIA Director David Petraeus, former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden, and US Army General (ret.) Stanely McChrystal. ” ~ Continue reading

For further information, see Americans for Responsible Solutions, including comments from several group members:

Captain Mark Kelly –

“As service members, each of us swore an oath to protect our Constitution and the homeland. Now we’re asking our leaders to do more to protect our rights and save lives. Gabby and I are grateful to all of these incredible veterans and leaders who are using their voice to call for commonsense change that makes our communities safer.”

Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett –

“As a former Deputy Commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, I know that our Sailors had to be well versed in the use of firearms. I saw first hand the incredible power of firearms, and I know the precautions we taught to keep people safe. But I also know the dangers guns pose when they are in the hands of dangerous people. Making our communities safer from gun violence shouldn’t have to be a partisan idea – it’s just a commonsense idea. That’s why so many Americans – including veterans like me – support these policies. We’re standing together and demanding commonsense change because we have a responsibility to leave to our kids and grandkids a country that is safer from gun violence.”

Brigadier General Stephen Cheney –

“Each year, approximately 6,000 of our fellow veterans take their own life, and two-thirds of those veterans who choose to end their life do so with a gun. We know that this gun violence crisis has many causes, and therefore, that there is no single solution. But I’m joining this effort because I know that we can do better.”

Posted in Readings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Walking with Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass – Inscriptions – “On Journeys Through the States”

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Joy of Fishes

Walt_Whitman,_cropped 1

Walking with Walt Whitman
A daily installment from Leaves of Grass

‌Inscriptions
‌‌
‌

‌

“On Journeys Through the States”

On journeys through the States we start,
(Ay through the world, urged by these songs,
Sailing henceforth to every land, to every sea,)
We willing learners of all, teachers of all, and lovers of all.

We have watch’d the seasons dispensing themselves and passing on,
And have said, Why should not a man or woman do as much as the seasons, and effuse as much?

We dwell a while in every city and town,
We pass through Kanada, the North-east, the vast valley of the Mississippi, and the Southern States,
We confer on equal terms with each of the States,
We make trial of ourselves and invite men and women to hear,
We say to ourselves, Remember, fear not, be candid, promulge the body and the soul,
Dwell a while and pass on, be copious, temperate, chaste, magnetic,
And what you effuse may then return as the seasons return,
And may be just as much as the seasons.

~ ❦ ~

Leaves of Grass – Wikisource
Image – Walt Whitman, age 35, from the frontispiece to Leaves of Grass, Fulton St., Brooklyn, N.Y., steel engraving by Samuel Hollyer from a lost daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison (my frame) ~ Wikipedia

Posted in Leaves of Grass, poem, Poetry, Walt Whitman | Tagged , | Comments Off on Walking with Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass – Inscriptions – “On Journeys Through the States”

“What Matters Today” from Moyers & Company, June 15, 2016

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Joy of Fishes

 From Moyers & Company for June 15, 2015. –

Obama Tears Into Trump; House Plot to Throw Out Dodd-Frank

President goes on the attack –> In a speech following a National Security Council meeting about the Islamic State yesterday, Obama ripped into Donald Trump and the Republican Party: “Where does this stop? … Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminating against them because of their faith? We’ve heard these suggestions during the course of this campaign. Do Republican officials actually agree with this? Because that’s not the America we want. It doesn’t reflect our democratic ideals. It won’t make us more safe; it will make us less safe — fueling ISIL’s notion that the West hates Muslims.”

Click through to BillMoyers.com to continue reading their roundup of stories about New York subway heroes, DC’s primary results, the news that there is no news about Bernie Sanders’ post primary plans, Russian hackers in the DNC’s computers, the Chris Christie “Bridgegate” scandal, Paul Ryan et al. planning to scuttle Dodd-Frank, federal court ruling on Net Neutrality, a bill to further shield donors to non-profits, and yet another sign that climate change is real.

Posted in What Matters Today from Moyers and Company | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “What Matters Today” from Moyers & Company, June 15, 2016

Naomi Shihab Nye Talks about Writing

Posted on June 15, 2016 by wordcloud9

dividing_wall_West BankPalestinian-American poet, essayist and novelist Naomi Shihab Nye is a wonderful writer, and she’s also a terrific teacher.

In this video, Marcia Franklin talks with her  at the 2012 Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. The two discuss the themes in Nye’s works, her style of writing, her response as a writer to 9/11, and her thoughts on the Palestinian-Israeli crisis.

– – – – – – –

Photo: Barrier Wall, West Bank – AHMAD GHARABLI/
AFP/Getty Images)

Posted in Literature, Poetry | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Notes in Emily Dickinson’s pocket – “Some things that fly there be” (Life, 14)

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Joy of Fishes

Emily_Dickinson_daguerreotype 3
‌
‌
‌

“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.”
~ Emily Dickinson

‌
‌
‌
‌

____________________________________

‌Some things that fly there be,—
Birds, hours, the bumble-bee:
Of these no elegy.

Some things that stay there be,—
Grief, hills, eternity:
Nor this behooveth me.

There are, that resting, rise.
Can I expound the skies?
How still the riddle lies!

____________________________________

Emily is said to have carried a pencil and scraps of paper in her pocket in order to always be prepared when a poem came her way. 

Image of Emily Dickinson – from the daguerreotype taken circa 1848. (my frame)
Poem – Emily Dickinson. Complete Poems. 1924.

Posted in Emily Dickinson, Poetry | Tagged , | Comments Off on Notes in Emily Dickinson’s pocket – “Some things that fly there be” (Life, 14)

The Coffee Shop – Baby River’s Wild Ride (video)

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Joy of Fishes

The Coffee Shop is an open thread-style discussion forum for human interest news of the day.

From Mindframe – Christian Kirk:

—oooOooo–

This is an open thread. There are several hosts, each host being responsible for picking a “theme of the day” and starting the discussion. However, there is no hard and fast rule about staying on topic, especially if you have a personal story burning a hole in your pocket trying to escape.
Pictures and videos are welcome in the comments.  If photos are used, please be sure you own the copyright. We would rather see your personal photos anyway, rather than random stuff copied from the internet.  Our only request is that if you use pictures or videos, take pity on those who don’t have broadband, and don’t post more than two or three in a single comment.

Coffee cup

This is an Open Thread. Grab your cup, pull up a chair, sit a spell and share what’s on your mind today.

Posted in Short Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Memes of a feather: ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ and ‘radical Christian terrorism’

Posted on June 14, 2016 by ann li-summers

Immanuel Kant — ‘Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.’

 

By ann summers

Home-grown extremism still intersects and is intersectional, so expressing “radical islamic terrorism” like “radical Christian terrorism” are as PBO indicated today about political talking points, there’s no magic; it’s not a strategy.

In fact armed patriarchy as a kind of conflicted and gendered magical thinking may be more at the root of global terror and it’s more about mental health in a society more interested in political power and private profit than public safety and health.

Charleston Shooting

Orlando’s massacre as the “worst mass shooting in US history should not be a lede for the Guinness Book considering that it does not eclipse the same problems presented in the Newtown shootings among so many other “less worse” events. What is important is the degree of delusional ideology and ideation at work in every case, some mediated, others less so.

Remember the Pam Geller wannebee curating the Prophet art show from his pickup bed winding up in the Eastern Oregon wildlife refuge. His hope was to attract anti-blasphemic Islamic terrorists, and yet he now is in custody in part related to the Bundy-based siege.

ritzheimer.jpg

 

Commonalities of violence and mental illness and ultimately the projection of gendered force in one case sexuality, in another patriarchy, in both cases with racialism.

ExtremistKillings2015Table2a_1_.jpg

 

2016-01-03-1451836592-7186607-activehategroupsmap_1_.png

 

Posted in 9-11, Barack Obama, Christianity, Criminal Law, DHS, FBI, Florida, Fundamentalism, Government, Homeland Security, Homosexual Rights, Immigrants, Immigration, Islam, Law Enforcement, Media, Mental Health, Murder, Political Science, Politics, Propaganda, Racism, Reproductive Rights, Terrorism, Terrorists, Uncategorized, War on "Terror" | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Walking with Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass – Inscriptions – “To the States”

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Joy of Fishes

Walt_Whitman,_cropped 1

Walking with Walt Whitman
A daily installment from Leaves of Grass

‌Inscriptions
‌‌
‌

‌

“To the States”

To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States,
         Resist much, obey little,
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,
Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever afterward resumes its liberty.

~ ❦ ~

Leaves of Grass – Wikisource
Image – Walt Whitman, age 35, from the frontispiece to Leaves of Grass, Fulton St., Brooklyn, N.Y., steel engraving by Samuel Hollyer from a lost daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison (my frame) ~ Wikipedia

Posted in Leaves of Grass, poem, Poetry, Walt Whitman | Tagged , | Comments Off on Walking with Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass – Inscriptions – “To the States”

Fishing: The One That Got Away

Posted on June 14, 2016 by wordcloud9

One of the joys of childhood for many lucky kids is time spent on the water fishing with their dad. If you actually catch anything, it’s even better.

But this boy had an experience of “the one that got away” that he’ll be telling friends about for years, and photographic proof  that it happened.

Better luck next time, kid.

Posted in Weird News | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fishing: The One That Got Away