Get Ready For It

Storm comin'.  Time for the waves of panicked humanity to start crashing thru the walls of the neighborhood grocery.

hat tip = FB friend MM

Tiny Desk

Natalie Merchant

Today's Quote

I get the whole bit about "micro-agressions" and all, but I think I like it better in its original form:

Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them. --Martin Luther King, Jr

hat tip = @zimbabwekid

Today's Quote

On his birthday

"I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it." --Edgar Allan Poe

Today's Tweet

Trump is amazingly *unpopular* with general election voters. https://t.co/jmwl5uaR4Z pic.twitter.com/7SQfrsFaLp

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 18, 2016

Golden Oldie

hat tips = FB friends VW-E and LM-M 

Today's Tweet

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience..." #MLKDay2016 #MLK pic.twitter.com/Uq3JkU9KJ2

— The King Center (@TheKingCenter) January 18, 2016

MLK Day

Civil Disobedience is an honored tradition in USAmerica Inc.  As long as you do it right - with respect for the rule of law.  Even when you're resisting a law you believe is unjust, you still adhere to the greater concept of A Nation Of Laws.

He got arrested too😒🙄........ Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. !!!!#MLK ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/bEIOfAG0LK

— HBCU Buzz (@HBCUBuzz) January 15, 2016

And now for today's Check-Your-White-Privilege Quiz:

Here we see LBJ meeting with MLK and "other black leaders" in the run up to The Civil Rights Act in 1964 - can you name any of those 3 other guys?

Enjoy It While It Lasts

Choosing Sides?

A good look at the candidates from a slightly obtuse viewpoint(?) I dunno - worth considering.

From Bitter Empire:

(In reverse order, starting at)

14. Ted Cruz

Let’s be clear here: Ted Cruz is not just the worst presidential candidate to have on your side in a bar fight. He is the worst possible human being to have on your side in a bar fight. And it’s not only because when he speaks he sounds like Eddie Murphy doing his nerd character. It’s that everyone hates Ted Cruz, and they hate him for a reason. Not just Democrats, everyone. Ted Cruz is famously and vigorously loathed by everyone in his own party. Fellow Republican Bob Dole has been out of politics for like 20 years and even he takes the time to hate Ted Cruz.

hat tip = FB pal AF 

Ali's Birthday

"I handcuffed lightnin' and throwed thunder in jail"

Happy birthday to the greatest.

I grew up without benefit of color.  I don't remember even meeting anybody with dark brown skin for the first 12 or 15 years of my life.  But in 7th grade, I had a teacher/coach who showed us films of (then) Cassius Clay.  He taught us that a man's ability is where everything starts because that will show you what's in his heart.  If you get hung up on how he doesn't look like you or act like you or think like you - while you're busy with all the shit that doesn't matter, he'll be busy knockin' you on your dumb ass.  On a playing field. In a classroom. At a job.  Everybody's competing.  Everybody can learn to do what it takes to win. 

If you don't respect all of that because you refuse to see anybody else as your equal, you'll have a hard time being willing to do the work necessary to give yourself a shot.  Then the only way you win is if the game is rigged in your favor.  And that ain't winnin'.

Always A Little Perspective Please

Vox, addressing the panic pushers at the GOP "debate":

Again, this by no means obviates the real threat from terrorism generally or ISIS specifically, but it makes the rhetoric on the GOP stage seem a bit hysterical.

For even more perspective: The number of Americans killed per year by terrorism is the same as the number crushed to death by their own furniture.

Obviously one key difference here is that terrorist groups would like to kill many more Americans, and are surely trying to accomplish just that, whereas presumably your sofa is not plotting any major attacks. But the point is that the risk terrorism poses to everyday American lives is not where you might have thought it was from this debate.

America just doesn't have much of a domestic terrorism problem. Incidents like the shootings in San Bernardino are vanishingly rare, as violent extremist groups have very few adherents here. US intelligence operations make it very difficult for foreign terrorist groups to bring operatives into the US and plan an attack.

Today's Tweet

Trump to go all out for the Millennial vote in the general election. [pic via @figdrewton] pic.twitter.com/nRurK40h0X

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) January 17, 2016

Testing My Embeds

Sorry - found it at Mock Paper Scissors and I just couldn't resist.

Senator Fecal Foam coming from behind

Another Nail In The Coffin

Former Virginia Governor Robert (Vaginal Bob) McDonnell will stay out of federal prison for a bit longer.

HuffPo:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up the case of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who in October urged the justices to review his multiple convictions on federal corruption charges.

The justices' decision to hear the case effectively allows McDonnell to remain out of prison at least until the court issues a decision -- which could arrive as late as June.

McDonnell's lawyers are trying to convince the court that the kind of "official action" federal law treats as corruption -- and that a jury agreed McDonnell committed while governor -- was no more than "routine political courtesies," including activities such as "arranging meetings, asking questions, and attending events."

"This is the first time in our history that a public official has been convicted of corruption despite never agreeing to put a thumb on the scales of any government decision," McDonnell's lawyers wrote in their appeal to the Supreme Court. "Officials routinely arrange meetings for donors, take their calls, and politely listen to their ideas."

I think we need to be ready for the Roberts Court to use this case to strengthen the link between Money and Speech.  It seems like these guys need to establish precedents that reinforce the system of Legalized Bribery that's been evolving from what continues to look more and more like our failed experiment in self-government.