Cartnoon

Nightmares – Off the Air

You’re soaking in it right now.

The Breakfast Club (Passions)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

 photo stress free zone_zps7hlsflkj.jpg

This Day in History

Peace talks conclude in Northern Ireland with Good Friday agreement; the Titanic sets sail; F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ published; Comedian Sam Kinison killed.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.

Julia Child

Continue reading

Pardon The Pause

I’m actually pretty focused on providing regular content and I feel badly about it when I am thwarted. Today both sites have been entirely unresponsive and if you’re reading this it means the problem has been fixed.

I won’t try and make up for lost time however, we will move forward from this point.

I do apologize though, I imagine I have readers and flatter myself that they actually like my stuff and remark its absence.

Update: GoDaddy Security Upgrades.

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from> around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Paul Krugman: Why Does Trump Want to Debase the Fed?

The tax cut fizzled; send in the clowns!

As far as I know, the Federal Reserve — the world’s most important economic policy institution — doesn’t have an anthem. But if it were to adopt one now, the choice would be obvious: “Send In the Clowns.”

You see, the Fed’s governing board currently has two vacancies, and Donald Trump has proposed filling those vacancies with ludicrous hacks. If he succeeds, one of our few remaining havens of serious, nonpartisan policymaking will be on its way toward becoming as corrupt and dysfunctional as the rest of the Trump administration.

Stephen Moore and Herman Cain are, of course, completely unqualified — I say “of course” because their lack of qualifications is, paradoxically, a key qualification not just for Trump but for the G.O.P. in general.

There are plenty of genuine monetary experts with conservative political leanings, some of them quite partisan. But modern Republicans have shown consistent disdain for such experts, perhaps because of a sense that anyone with real expertise or an independent reputation might occasionally be tempted to take a stand on principle.

Marcy Wheeler: We already knew Barr’s summary was too easy on Trump. Public records prove it.

Court filings and congressional testimony show the attorney general left out a lot of Mueller’s findings.

When Attorney General William P. Barr released a four-page memo two weeks ago opining that “the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense,” we already knew enough to be sure that Barr was spinning the contents of the report his memo claimed to summarize, as multiple reports now say he did.

That’s because there was already public evidence at the time that undermined Barr’s conclusions. Barr’s letter may have been accurate, technically speaking. But based on what it omitted about two key associates of President Trump — his longtime adviser Roger Stone and his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort — it was obvious that the attorney general had left whole areas of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s findings out of the summary. That Mueller’s team thinks Barr made the investigation’s findings look less damaging to Trump should not come as a surprise.

Continue reading

Everybody Out Of The Pool

Trump’s temper tantrum is continuing after he fired Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who told him he couldn’t arbitrarily keep immigrants from seeking asylum, separate children from their families and close the border. There are laws and treaties but Trump doesn’t like being told he can’t do what he wants to do. The man is pure evil and Nielsen is no saint.

The purge at DHS expanded on Monday with the ouster of United States Secret Service director Randolph “Tex” Alles, a retired Marine Corps major general who was appointed to the post two years ago. The White House claimed that the decision was made before a March 28 incident in which a Chinese woman was arrested at Mar-a-Lago without an invitation, touching off security concerns. In typical Trump style, Trump had mocked General Alles

The president had soured on Mr. Alles a while ago, even making fun of his looks, calling him Dumbo because of his ears, two officials said.

Despite the denials that his firing was not related to the Mar-a-Lago security breach, the NY Times reported that it was most likely related to the breach.

After Zhang’s arrest, the Secret Service issued a statement that said that they couldn’t control who Trump lets into his private club.

The fight to secure Mar-a-Lago has been a source of tension between Trump and the Secret Service for at least a year.

The Secret Service didn’t make a mistake in the Zhang case, but Trump wants a Secret Service director who will not try to keep his properties secure. Randolph Ailes is out as Secret Service Direct possibly because he wanted better security at Trump’s properties.

The Secret Service spoke out about the security issues at Mar-a-Lago and the result was Trump trashing national security to likely place one of his own loyalists in charge. Ailes was also fired because he was loyal to former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, but never underestimate the fact that competence and following the law are traits that will always be punished by Donald Trump.

Let me say this, it is unprecedented for the Secret Service to make any statement about their operations, especially, about the security of the president.

We learned today more DHS leadership heads are about to follow:

Government officials, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel changes before they were announced, said at least two to four more high-ranking figures affiliated with Ms. Nielsen were expected to leave soon, too, hollowing out the top echelon of the department managing border security, presidential safety, counterterrorism, natural disasters, customs and other matters. [..]

The latest shuffle came just a day after Mr. Trump pushed out Ms. Nielsen for not doing enough in his view to secure the border and three days after Ronald D. Vitiello, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was told to step aside so the administration could go in a “tougher direction,” as Mr. Trump put it.

Officials said they expect to see the departures of L. Francis Cissna, the head of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services; Kathy Nuebel Kovarik, one of his top deputies; and John Mitnick, the department’s general counsel and a senior member of Ms. Nielsen’s leadership team. All of them were said to be viewed by Mr. Miller as obstacles to implementing the president’s policies.

The White House is also pressing for the resignation of Claire Grady, the acting deputy secretary, who under law would normally fill in for Ms. Nielsen. Mr. Trump has already announced that he will install Kevin K. McAleenan, the Customs and Border Protection commissioner, as Ms. Nielsen’s acting replacement, which he cannot do if Ms. Grady remains in place.

The latest moves appeared to be a housecleaning of officials associated with John F. Kelly, the president’s former chief of staff and his first homeland security secretary, who was pushed out at the end of last year after months of tension with Mr. Trump.

We all know that Trump is not wily enough to have orchestrated these firings. So who is behind this Machiavellian plot to destroy this massive government department? The real brains behind this is none other than arch-villain and Trump policy advisor, Stephen Miller

The iconoclastic hard-line young conservative policy aide to President Donald Trump, hated by the left, and celebrated by the extreme right, is the obvious winner in the power struggle that led to Kirstjen Nielsen’s ouster Sunday night as Homeland Security secretary.

Miller has unofficially taken the reins of border security amid a purge at the department that has also seen Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles removed from his job and Trump’s pick to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Ron Vitiello, yanked.

The Department of Homeland Security, a sprawling agency charged with defending the nation at home, does not have Senate-confirmed officials in the roles of secretary, deputy secretary, ICE chief, Secret Service director or inspector general. When Kevin McAleenan, who has been tapped to take over Nielsen’s job on a temporary basis, moves into his new digs, there won’t be a Senate-confirmed leader at Customs and Border Protection, either.

Miller has always had a strong hand in the administration’s internal wars over immigration policy, but now there’s no one left to fight him. [..]

Her (Nielsen) departure comes as Trump is turning hard toward the Miller playbook, which is full of take-no-prisoners policies and rhetoric that demonizes immigrants. If Trump is unable to bend Congress, his own administration, other countries and immigrants to his will, he’ll be sure to tell his immigration-obsessed base that he only failed because he didn’t have enough power. And he’ll ask for more in the form of another term, more Republican members of Congress and the ability to appoint a new slew of conservative judges to federal courts.

That’s the Miller way, and Trump has little choice politically but to follow it after alienating liberals and moderates with his immigration policy so far.

Steve M., at his blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, has Miller pegged and a way to stop him if the mainstream media would cooperate:

Miller might be the most frightening Trump subordinate. But he could be stopped. Here’s how.

Miller is skilled at remaining in the shadows. Over the past couple of years, he’s done TV interviews and other public appearances when President Trump wanted him to, but he doesn’t court the press. You don’t read a lot of feature stories about Miller. In the early days of the administration, he was frequently paired with another Stephen, Steve Bannon — they were both racists who wanted to make big changes. But Bannon loved to talk to reporters, telling them, in effect, that he was the brains of the outfit, and trash-talking people he shouldn’t have trash-talked. He got canned. Miller kept his mouth shut and is still around.

If the press were to begin writing big stories about Miller, especially stories calling him “the real president of the United States” (which, at this moment, he seems to be), Trump would be mightily peeved. It would especially offend Trump if Miller were to show up on the cover of Time, or some other legacy magazine. (Are there any others that are on Trump’s radar? New York magazine? The New York Times Magazine?) Trump would feel upstaged. He’d be furious. Miller would, at the very least, be moved to Trump’s doghouse, if not to the dead-man-walking category that precedes all defenestrations in this White House.

Miller seems too shrewd to cooperate with writers seeking to do big feature stories. But they could be done without access, using a little … what’s the word for it? — journalism. This would be a service to the country, because Miller is a dangerous person who should not be working for the U.S. government.

Unless something catastrophic happens and Congress wakes up to its responsibilities to reign this out of control psychopath and his minions, it’s going to be a rough ride to January 20, 2021, or the worse.

The Breakfast Club (Omnipotence)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

 photo stress free zone_zps7hlsflkj.jpg

This Day in History

American Civil War effectively ends; Iraq celebrates collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime;NASA announces first seven astronauts dubbed the Mercury Seven; Marian Anderson performs at the Lincoln Memorial; Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Power confuses itself with virtue and tends also to take itself for omnipotence.

J. William Fulbright

Continue reading

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament 2019: Final

I can’t tell you how done I am with NCAA Basketball at this point, even though it’s been a relatively easy year from an assembly standpoint despite the data being the dirtiest I can remember. I am disappointed but not surprised by UConn’s exit, only to whom, and since State’s departure I have little reason to pay any attention at all what with Curling (Sweden over Canada who made some very bad decisions about control of the Hammer) and American Gods. The Metropolitans are but a single game behind the Phillies in the loss column and we have Shanghai coming up Sunday so there’s that.

On the other hand I have also watched the Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, Team and Individual, and while it’s athletic I’m not sure it qualifies as a sport as the judging is entirely subjective. Give me some Darts or Team Handball please.

Virginia has never won, which is interesting, Texas Tech is an underdog. This information doesn’t make me lean either way.

The puzzle is to decide if I want to get back into Le Tour which is a pain in the ass because it falls during Summer travel season and I spend a lot of time on the road.

Does have a cool song though.

Results of the Regional Finals

 

Seed School Record Score Region Seed School Record Score Region
1 Virginia 33 – 3 63 South 5 Auburn 30 – 10 62 Midwest
2 Mich. St. 32 – 7 51 East 3 * Texas Tech 29 – 6 61 West

Tonight’s Game

 

Time Network Seed School Record Region Seed School Record Region
9:20 pm CBS 1 Virginia 33 – 3 South 3 Texas Tech 29 – 6 West

Que Haces Aqui?

Brad! Janet! Dr. Scott!

Under the circumstances, formal dress is to be optional.

Ok, you don’t get it. D’Arcy Carden?

That and guest spots on John Oliver.

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from> around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Michael Tomasky: Kirstjen Nielsen Was Heartless, but Not Heartless Enough for Trump

If there’s any justice in this world, she will think twice before traveling overseas for fear of being arrested for crimes against humanity. Her successor will surely be worse.

So Kirstjen Nielsen, whose legacy will be the most heartless and lawbreaking immigration policy this nation has known in at least 70 years, wasn’t heartless and lawbreaky enough for Donald Trump, who accepted her resignation Sunday evening so he can move immigration policy in “a tougher direction.” [..]

A while back, you’ll recall, Trump shut down the government for the longest period in American history (remember? Everyone’s forgotten!) because there was a “crisis” at the border that existed in his head but not in real life. But that was then. Now, there actually is a crisis at the border, as you may have read. Detentions are way up, to highs not seen in many years.

But it’s a crisis largely of Trump’s making. We—yes, we; you and I, in whose name these hideous people are acting—are spending billions of dollars separating families and keeping kids in cages, billions that could have been spent trying to fix the asylum system. Trump is, we must concede, right about that—the asylum processing system is horrible, with a million-case backlog. But he has just made it worse. We could have been spending those billions trying to speed the process along.

But that’s no fun. That’s called governing. That’s making responsible decisions and treating human beings with some basic minimum level of dignity. And Trump has no time for nonsense like that.

Jill Filipovic: Joe Biden’s policies are as troubling as his inappropriate touching

As the Democratic primary heats up, Joe Biden, who hasn’t even formally declared yet, is the latest candidate in the hot seat. At issue: his handsiness, which is generally notorious and specifically detailed by Nevada politician Lucy Flores; his moderate policies, which seem painfully out of touch in today’s Democratic party and the promise that his supporters make, which is that he’s the only candidate who can defeat Donald Trump.

One thing is clear. Joe Biden is the wrong candidate for 2020. [..]

Biden was anti-abortion before he was pro-choice; his record shows that he is still highly ambivalent and unreliable in his support for a woman’s right to choose. In response to the supreme court legalizing abortion for American women in 1973’s Roe v Wade, Biden said they went “too far” and that a woman shouldn’t have the “sole right to say what should happen to her body”.

Continue reading

Gone Girl

Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, has left the room. As usual, Trump announced her departure, effective Wednesday, in a tweet on Sunday. She was summoned to the White House in the morning to meet with Trump over plans for “a way forward” over the Trump created border crisis. Instead she was asked to resign, in other words, she was fired. Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, will become acting secretary pending confirmation of Nielsen’s successor. Any bets that this time next year he’ll still be “acting director”? Trump seems to like that title.

Her departure comes just two days after she and Trump visited the U.S. border with Mexico and three days after the president withdrew his nomination of Ronald Vitiello to be the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The president was frustrated with Nielsen’s tenure as secretary and accepted her resignation after a meeting at the White House on Sunday night, according to two people familiar with the matter, one of them a senior U.S. official and the other a person who is close to Nielsen.

The frustration, which had been mounting for weeks, was mutual, according to the person close to Nielsen. Their poor relationship was exacerbated by Trump’s failure to consult with her on his decision to withdraw Vitiello’s nomination, according to the person.

The president gave Nielsen the opportunity to resign, but he clearly wanted her to leave, according to a third person familiar with the matter. [..]

She has also faced fierce criticism from within and outside the department, which is the subject of numerous House subpoenas and more than 20 investigations by the agency’s own inspector general. [..]

Nielsen has run Homeland Security, the federal government’s third-largest department, without a deputy ever since she succeeded John Kelly as secretary in December 2017 after Kelly became White House chief of staff.

Trump has expressed his frustration with the situation on the border for months, at times threatening to shut down all points of entry with Mexico and demanding that both the Mexican government and Congress do more to solve with the president persistently calls a “crisis.” [..]

McAleenan, who was confirmed as head of CBP in March 2018, was deputy commissioner of the bureau, the nation’s largest law enforcement agency, during President Barack Obama’s administration.

His confirmation to head CBP was delayed for more than three months as allegations emerged that anonymous accusers had alleged that McAleenan had an affair with a subordinate and bypassed proper channels to fund an immigration detention center. DHS’ inspector general cleared him of wrongdoing at the time.

CBP came under investigation by the House Homeland Security Committee last month after NBC News and NBC San Diego reported that it had compiled a list of 59 reporters, lawyers and activists, most of them U.S. citizens, who were to be stopped for questioning crossing the U.S.-Mexican border at San Diego-area checkpoints. At least 21 of them have been stopped and questioned or arrested.

I quite sure Trump will find someone with the appropriate reprehensible resume to replace her

Cartnoon

Cosplay wih Jenny Nicholson

By the way- Solo Bad

I’ve seen it. It wasn’t Oedipus/Lear bad, I just can’t remember anything about it except Woody Harrelson and only because he was in Cheers.

The Breakfast Club (April Fools)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

 photo stress free zone_zps7hlsflkj.jpg

This Day in History

Funeral of Pope John Paul II; Pablo Picasso dies at 91; Teen aids patient Ryan White dies at 18; Hank Aaron hits 715th home run; Kurt Cobain found dead in home from self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.

Charles Lamb

Continue reading

Load more