Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (8/22/17) For The ONT In All Of Us Edition

Quote I

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.Mark Twain

Quote II

When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that the old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had one before. H. L. Mencken

Quote III

Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond. Hunter S. Thompson

One side of the coin. Not content to hammer on Trump. Commentary Magazine slams Jerry Falwell, Jr.

How far–how low–do religious leaders end up going when they decide that, in public life, the end justifies any means? Consider the case of Jerry Falwell, Jr. For the Liberty University president, the end was the advancement of social conservatism. The means: Donald Trump.

Falwell endorsed Trump for the GOP nomination ahead of the Iowa Caucuses last year, and soon he emerged as one of the New Yorker’s most ardent evangelical backers. Trump’s dissolute personal life didn’t make him an ideal avatar for the evangelical cause. Nor did his transparently opportunistic change of heart on social issues such as abortion. But Falwell reminded his flock that Trump was running for president, not “pastor-in-chief.”

The other side of the coin. Trump reveals the GOP worthless side.

What has this party done since Trump saved their bacon, keeping them in the majority, saving them from becoming a worthless second fiddle to a corrupt Hillary? Nothing. Just nothing. And now worse than nothing. I am not the first to say this, but let’s be clear, the GOP has become a party of spineless wimps and frauds. They have betrayed half of America, betrayed the base that once supported them so well, and also betrayed their country.

They have been watching fecklessly as the left is destroying the agenda they were sent to put into place. They have been sitting on their hands while the left has been destroying their own party’s president, not only doing nothing, but often actively helping the left in their attempts to take him down.

Donald Trump is not a perfect man. Hell, he might not even be a good man. But he is a much better man than the House and Senate GOP leadership combined.

The failure to plan. Economic slavery.

Despite working six days a week, Marion, 37, a single mother of two, can’t make ends meet on the $9.50 an hour she gets at Popeyes (no apostrophe – founder Al Copeland joked he was too poor to afford one). A fast food worker for 22 years, Marion has almost always had a second job. Until recently, she had been working 9am-4pm at Popeyes, without a break, then crossing town to a janitorial job at Bartle Hall, the convention center, where she would work from 5pm- to 1.30am for $11 an hour. She didn’t take breaks there either, although they were allowed.

There are so many things wrong with this picture.

Is it time to have a national conversation about marijuana and hemp? KY lawmakers fighting to legalize hemp.

Even so, the US has threatened farmers who grow it and often treated it like a dangerous drug: the plant remains forbidden in the eyes of the federal government, which blanket-banned all forms of cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. Now, republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky is sponsoring the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017, with the bipartisan support of 16 congresspeople. Kentucky's two Republican senators—Rand Paul and yes, even Mitch McConnell—are also in support of the bill.

Holy crap, Mitch McConnell sticking his neck out? Miracles never cease.

Bernie Sanders. Why Medicare is good for all.

Despite major improvements made by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), our health care system remains in crisis. Today, we have the most expensive, inefficient, and bureaucratic health care system in the world. We spend almost $10,000 per capita each year on health care, while the Canadians spend $4,644, the Germans $5,551, the French $4,600, and the British $4,192. Meanwhile, our life expectancy is lower than most other industrialized countries and our infant mortality rates are much higher.
Further, as of September 2016, 28 million Americans were uninsured and millions more underinsured with premiums, deductibles, and copayments that are too high. We also pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

The ONT hopes you Morons explain to good Old Comrade Bernie what is fucked up wrong with his thinking.

August 22, 1964, The Supremes started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Where Did Our Love Go' the girl group's first No.1. Holland–Dozier–Holland had originally composed the song for The Marvelettes to record it who rejected the song. via thisdayinmusic.com

August 22, 1970, Bread went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Make It With You', the group's only No.1 hit, which was a No.5 in the UK. Many artists have covered the song including: The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dusty Springfield, Andy Williams, and Marc Cohn. via thisdayinmusic.com

Say it aint so Fido. Settled pet science is not so settled after all?

Bad news for Fluffy and Fido. A new study revealed that kids’ health may actually be more dependent on another household animal – the piggy bank.

Analyzing data from a California Health Interview Survey, researchers from the nonprofit RAND Corporation compared statistics on 2,200 children with pets and 3,000 children without them. This was one of the largest ever studies on the pet-health link in kids between 0 and 17 years old.

So how is climate settled? Oh yeah, easier to tax the bejeebers out of Fido's owner than Fido.

Planning on getting away for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend. Plan your speeds accordingly with this map.

Want to scratch your head? Want to shake your head? Want to say, DA FUQ? Here you go.

For example, somebody can be privileged by the fact that they are cisgender, thin, and white, while being oppressed by the fact that they are queer, disabled, and female.

Because of this, we need a word to describe the complex social order that keeps these intersecting oppressions in place.

Kyriarchy is an excellent word for this concept – it is more in line with intersectional feminism, and is not as problematic as the word patriarchy can be.

Over the past 10 years adult food allergies are on the rise.

According to dismaying new research data, the rate of severe allergic reactions to foods in America has risen 377 percent in the last decade — a nearly fivefold jump. The numbers come from a new study by Fair Health, a nonprofit with access to 24 billion health-insurance claims filed by 150 million individuals. To get these allergy numbers, the group looked for claims where the diagnosis was anaphylaxis caused by food, a condition that can be life-threatening. Researchers discovered that not only are there more attacks now than ten years ago, but that almost a quarter of them occurred in 2016 alone, the most recent year for which data is available.

The most depressing part is that scientists aren’t sure what’s causing this proliferation — which is starting to snowball something fierce. They assume Americans’ overuse of antibiotics and tendency to rear babies in almost totally “sterile” environments have something to do with it, though, and say the uptick in C-sections, which can mess up babies’ microbiota, might also be partly to blame.

I'm so glad this solar eclipse mania is over with. However if you aren't how to get over the eclipse blues.

And then reality happens. The endorphins and other feel-good chemicals stop coursing through our bodies, the high wears off, and we start to feel a physiological comedown, as well as a psychological one. The body is not only releasing itself from an uptick of stress hormones, but also neurotransmitters and endorphins that put us in an improved mood and state of mind.
Was that really it?

The time to learn how to have a civil disagreement is in your childhood not as an adult.

In the wake of the Evergreen State College disaster, incoming freshmen will now be required to attend a workshop designed to teach them how to have civil conversations with each other.

My Twitter thingy.

Don't tweet? That's cool, tips, stories and loose change can go to petmorons at the gmail.

Craigslist user is a Genius Award Winner.

Lifeless child is rescued. Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) government experiments.

Notice: Posted with permission by AceCorp, LLC. Your satisfaction is not nor can it be guaranteed.

posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:01 PM

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