Good morning on a temperate Wednesday, June 20, 2018: National Vanilla Milkshake Day (eccch!) as well as World Refugee Day. We’re in a for a coolish and rainy week in Chicago—good weather for ducks!
First, watch what the latest immigration news did to Rachel Maddow (h/t: Matthew):
Extraordinary stuff. When the news does this to an anchor… pic.twitter.com/YUledbgcYP
— Stig Abell (@StigAbell) June 20, 2018
Not a lot of things happened on this day in history; do events slow down in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer? On this day in 1756, a group of British soldiers, Anglo-Indian soldiers, and Indian non-combatants was imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta. About 65 went in, and about 23 survived the one night in stifling, cramped, waterless quarters. On this day in 1840, Samuel Morse was given a patent for his telegraph. On June 20, 1944, the Nazi’s MW 18014 V-2 rocket attained an altitude of 176 km, technically becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space. Ironically, exactly one year later the U.S. State Department approved the transfer of Nazi rocket scientists, including Wernher von Braun, to the U.S.—to help us build rockets! On June 20, 1972, the famous 18.5-minute gap appeared in White House tape recordings between President Nixon and his aides. The crooks were discussing Watergate, and the gap was fobbed off as a mistake of Nixon’s secretary Rose Mary Woods, who said she hit the “record” button while transcribing the tapes, accidentally erasing the segment. Finally, on June 20, 1975—43 years ago—the movie “Jaws” was released in the U.S.; as Wikipedia claims, it became “the highest-grossing film of that time and start[ed] the trend of films known as ‘summer blockbusters’“.
Notables born on June 20 include Lillian Hellman (1905), Audie Murphy (1925), Eric Dolphy (1928), Brian Wilson (1942), Anne Murray (1945), Lionel Richie (1949), and Nicole Kidman (1967). I could find only one notable who died on this day: gangster Bugsy Siegel (1947, born 1906; murdered, of course).
A tweet for a musical genius who’s had a rough life:
The sound of genius. Happy birthday to Brian Wilson. https://t.co/kKoreUUtHv
— Paul Husband (@PaulHusband_) June 20, 2018
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is playing Socrates:
Cyrus: Everything we know indicates that…Hili: That we know too little.
Cyrus: Wszystko co wiemy wskazuje na to…
Hili: Że za mało wiemy.
Reader Paul sent a tweet showing a real Ceiling Cat:
My friend’s mum was at the animal welfare league and apparently there's a cat that lives in the ceiling pic.twitter.com/jLl84ahuZX
— Emma (@CampbellxEmma) June 19, 2018
Remember, he’s watching you and everything you do!
Tweets from Matthew: this first one shows a moving rainshower:
Timelapse of a cloudburst over Lake Millstatt in Carinthia, Austria by photographer Peter Maier. Thank you internet pic.twitter.com/w3DDGlipb5
— fernanda castano (@ferwen) June 19, 2018
This cat wants only love (NOT!):
https://twitter.com/SimonNRicketts/status/1009023759095869441
From the writer and scientist Adam Rutherford (note to Adam: start wearing other colors? Are you a hipster?)
Issues with dressing almost exclusively in black and being butler to an all black cat pic.twitter.com/6omQk3Ku0R
— Dr Adam Rutherford (@AdamRutherford) June 19, 2018
Au + Hg = ?
https://twitter.com/WorldAndScience/status/1008862080517246977
Another photo from Matthew when he was in Zermatt: sunrise on the Matterhorn:
Matterhorn in the morning pic.twitter.com/7A15AOm6pR
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb) June 19, 2018
This is real; click and read the article. You will lose what remaining faith you have in humanity.
Editor: “you wrote this weird, half the story is a single quote.”
Reporter: [long drag on a Marlboro] “Trust me.” pic.twitter.com/d7ctcVX4GE
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) June 19, 2018
From Grania:
A tweet from a First Lady retweeted by another First Lady. Mr. Trump, TEAR DOWN THAT POLICY!
Sometimes truth transcends party. https://t.co/TeFM7NmNzU
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 18, 2018
I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.https://t.co/he1uw1E96A
— Laura Bush (@laurawbush) June 18, 2018
And if you still have any faith in humanity left, have a gander at this.
Pew study finds Americans can’t tell fact from opinion https://t.co/hH4gHVVQJ0
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) June 18, 2018
. . . but you can still have faith in cats being cats!
My cats stare down at me, mocking me whilst I clean up the mess they’ve made.
Cats. pic.twitter.com/TthtJohRCj
— Aureylian △⃒⃘ (@aureylian) June 19, 2018
The thread that follows this tweet is very good; have a look (the official pundit now is a deaf white cat named Achilles).
Ruth's Official List of Animals Who Have Never Been Hired As #WorldCup Pundits, But Who'd Do An Excellent Job If Just Given The Chance
an official list, by Ruth. pic.twitter.com/k4aTBi6JHe
— Ruth Nic Hata Risteard (@RuthieFizz) June 18, 2018
‘Florida couple arrested for selling tickets to heaven’.
“You will lose what remaining faith you have in humanity.”
I was going to say, that I wouldn’t lose faith in humanity over the druggies who were selling the tickets. I would lose faith in humanity because some people were mind-bogglingly dumb enough to purchase such tickets.
Sadly, it appears likely this story was a fake. I have now lost all faith in myself for being credulous enough to believe it.
8-((
cr
That’s a relief, I’ll now cease worrying about drug-addicted, interstellar alligators
I meant the credulous purchasers more than the nefarious sellers!
Ah, that was my immediate reaction too.
As I noted, it does seem kind of likely the story was fake. The mention of sh (shilling?) currency equivalents does seem to suggest a Ugandan origin, as Simon Hayward notes below.
cr
Many governors are finding their spines and refusing to send their national guard to the boarder if requested to do so and some are recalling their units already there. I guess jailing babies is nearly as bad as FT. Sumter. I certainly do not want this to sound racist to any viewers who might be offended by this comparison. After all, surely some of these babies are criminals and bad people.
My Governor (Walker) has no spine to find and so Wisconsin will send troops to support this horror show.
I fear that Trump will double down and try to invoke the Insurrection Act to assert Federal authority over the National Guards in this matter. Back around 2007 (I think) or so Congress changed the conditions in which the IA could be invoked to include “natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident.”
Border control isn’t specifically listed but when has something like that ever stopped this administration? I could easily see them arguing that the National Guards are necessary to stop border crossings so that terrorists can’t get into the country over the border.
Yes and unless the president takes full control of the guard for his circus they cannot do anything down on the board such as chases and arrest anyone. All they do now is busy work as I heard one say. Maybe they can change diapers.
The threat of dictatorship grows daily. The root cause of our country’s woes is not even the spineless Republican politicians who will not challenge him. The heart of the problem is the country’s political system that allows the Trump cult (a distinct minority of Americans) to control the Republican Party. The cult cares nothing about democracy, but only maintenance of their cultural and social dominance, which they feel is threatened. I will not attempt to predict future developments except to say that they don’t look bright for those who desire to live under a democratic system. The damage caused by Trump to American institutions could take decades to repair, even if he should leave the political scene in the near future, i.e., well before the end of his first term, which is an unlikely event.
$10,000 in cash, drug paraphernalia “and a baby alligator” – do they let alligators into heaven, or was it just coming to outer space “to do drugs”? As an aside, how does this story end up in a newspaper in (I assume) Uganda? Bizarre.
It’s an old stuppid.com fake story that went social media viral ~ hence Uganda & everywhere else reported on it
Rachael Maddow cried because she is a decent human being whose occupation has her constantly inundated with the news of the ongoing fall of her nation. The people criticizing her for crying seriously need to check their priorities and perhaps their humanity.
Re “Ironically, exactly one year later the U.S. State Department approved the transfer of Nazi rocket scientists, including Wernher von Braun, to the U.S.—to help us build rockets!” That wasn’t irony, that was a well-planned highly orchestrated harvesting of Nazi technology as the war was winding down and after it ended. We scooped up plans, documents, equipment, and personnel who were involved in creating Nazi war technology. The Soviets did the same as did the British and French, but we were very, very good at it.
Was it Tom Lehrer who said of Wernher von Braun:
“He reached for the stars, and instead he hit London?”
Eric Dolphy: died before his time; major loss to music. His “Out to Lunch” is one of the classics of modern jazz.
Von Braun himself said “the rocket worked perfectly, except for landing on the wrong planet” when he heard the news of the first V2 hit on London.
Both of these First Ladies are covering up for the horrific failures of their husbands. Pure virtue signaling.
It’s not like this is a new issue.
I feel like the left just sits in a room spinning a bingo cage wheel with problems that have been around for decades. They pull one out once a month, blame it on Trump, offer zero solutions, then act like they’re saving the world because they’re upset all of a sudden.
I have absolute certainty that Democrats would lay claymore mines along the border if immigrants voted Republican.
And Maddow breaks the first rule of journalism.
Cryin’ Chuck Schumer has given his hand away. Won’t sign legislation. Wants Trump to issue an executive order. Imagine that.
Did you just arrive from the fox channel or what? Lying is not well thought of here at this site. You might want to take the rubbish somewhere you know, where they appreciate the crap.
Point out the lie.
“Point out the lie” Well most of what you wrote were opinions and not statements of facts (at least I hope you are not stating these things as literal truths). Anyhow, you got me to waste 10 minutes of my day trying to understand your comments so here goes:
“Both of these First Ladies are covering up for the horrific failures of their husbands. Pure virtue signaling.” You are speculating on the motives of others in the least charitable way.
“It’s not like this is a new issue.” Yes, the zero tolerance policy under discussion here is a new issue so saying it is not is a lie.
“I feel like the left just sits in a room spinning a bingo cage wheel with problems that have been around for decades. They pull one out once a month, blame it on Trump, offer zero solutions, then act like they’re saving the world because they’re upset all of a sudden.” This is an opinion that may be based on lies but since you probably believe it, could be excused as not a lie.
“I have absolute certainty that Democrats would lay claymore mines along the border if immigrants voted Republican.” This sounds like some kind of ramblings from an Alex Jones fever dream and is a lie.
“And Maddow breaks the first rule of journalism.” What might that be? I’m not a journalist so I googled it and found nothing helpful.
“Cryin’ Chuck Schumer has given his hand away. Won’t sign legislation. Wants Trump to issue an executive order. Imagine” Chuck Schumer is a US Senator and doesn’t have the authority to sign legislation so this is a lie.
‘You are speculating on the motives of others in the least charitable way.”
Yes. Imagine if their husbands were two term presidents. What might they have done?
“Yes, the zero tolerance policy under discussion here is a new issue so saying it is not is a lie.”
Separating children is not a new policy.
Loosely, The first rule of journalism is don’t make yourself part of the story.
“Chuck Schumer is a US Senator and doesn’t have the authority to sign legislation so this is a lie.”
Not a lie. I sloppily wrote sign. Should have written endorse a bill.
I disagree with you on this issue but I think you could contribute to an interesting conversation here if you would just tone down the hyperbole and stay on topic while you defend the actions of the current administration (if I’m interpreting your position correctly) rather than simply attacking its critics.
I agree with Neil. If you want a conversation, it should be dignified and respectful.
Don’t be silly, the whole thing is a lie. There was no time in the past 30/40 years when this was happening. Separating thousands of kids from parents at the boarder. It started about two months ago with Trump.
Spinning a bingo cage around pulling one out every month. Yes that immigration problem was quite the bingo. Those tariffs were another but the best was that worthless meeting with N. Korea, damn those democrats.
Schumer won’t sign legislation? What legislation – the one to give Trump billions to build the wall…you know, the wall that Mexico was going to pay for. Please go back to fox where you belong.
Thank you Neil and Randall. I was tempted to comment too but I couldn’t figure how to word it to adequately convey my reaction without getting me banned.
cr
That’s okay, we are here to help and maybe learn a little about science.
I find I have the same problem.
So I hold back.
@Rick
You call it ‘holding back’, I call it ‘trolling’.
cr
@Rick Maybe I should clarify that crack of mine. If you consider your first comment above to be ‘holding back’ I find that hard to credit.
cr
+1
infiniteimprobabilit, My +1 was for your comment.
Your president (he damned sure ain’t mine) spins a bingo cage every day and pulls out at least one something to blame the Democrats for.
I hope you don’t think detaining unaccompanied minors is the same thing as jailing parents away from their kids.
This is a difficult situation. A country without borders is not a country.
Both parties have been kicking this can down the road for decades. It’s time to fix it. Really. Not score political points. No more executive orders. It’s the legislature job to legislate.
The policy of separating children is an attempt to stop child trafficking.
Google “dead immigrant children” sometime.
“The policy of separating children is an attempt to stop child trafficking.”
Here we have a person with an extraordinary sardonic wit. Ah, if only my previous sentence were true.
“A country without boarders is not a country” That is either a lie or an incorrect assumption. Do you not have google maps? Take a look. The country has a specific boarder line all around it. Much of our southern boarder was established/stolen from Mexico. You remember that little war? You could drive down to Brownsville and then drive across the line and what do you know, you are in Matamores. That is Mexico. Yes, we have boarders.
Who knew?
*borders*
By definition, a country not covering the entire Earth’s surface must have borders i.e. there is a point where the surface of the Earth stops being part of the country and that is its border.
Therefore, the statement that a country without borders is not a country is not a lie. In fact, it’s almost tautological. What is a lie is the idea that the borders will disappear in a puff of smoke if you allow non-citizens to cross them without kidnapping their children.
Weird. If only someone was arguing that.
What did you mean to imply by “a country without borders is not a country” then? I don’t see anybody directly arguing to the contrary, so why say it unless you wanted to imply that letting immigrants in would destroy the USA as a country?
If that were true, the country would have been destroyed many years ago.
After reading several of your comments, I’m forced to conclude that one or more of your screws needs tightening.
You, a human being, have put defensive language around the action of separating babies, toddlers, and children from their parents and housing them in cages.
Everything you’ve said before or after that language is useless.
This is not true & never has been true. And IF it were true than it’s ironic, because a PBS Frontline investigation found cases of teenagers getting released to labour traffickers by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. SOURCE
Your assertions are mostly untrue, when they are true they are only partial. What’s with spraying so much unsupported bullshit? Let’s have some sources!
Children have been kidnapped, trafficked and used by nefarious individuals to easily slip into the county.
Obama’s “catch and release” policy allowed people to enter the country with only a promise to show up at a later hearing. A lot didn’t show up, of course.
The human traffickers seized on the weakness and exploited it. Routinely trafficking people across the border using children as camouflage.
Obama’s DACA policy was another lure (even by his own admission it was to be temporary). The number of unaccompanied children surged between 2012 and 2014 by more than 400%. The number of unaccompanied children referred to the Office of Refuge Resettlement tripled between 2012 and 2014. 13,625 to 40,810.
Even the WaPo reported that the unaccompanied minor surge was “driven in large part by the perception they will be allowed to stay under the Obama immigration policy.”
Throw in sanctuary cities and we’re asking for immigrants to break the law.
We spend $35k per child per year to house the detainees. This is well above the $24k per household per year poverty line for American children.
This administration I trying to solve the problem of our lawless immigration system after decades of governmental neglect. No more executive orders. Legislate.
Admitted its an awful policy. Both sides have been complicit. We need action. Stop kicking the can.
1.) When DHS is unable to verify the relationship between the adult and the child;
2.) When DHS determines that the child my be at risk with the parent or guardian; or
3.) When the parent or legal guardian is referred for criminal prosecution.
Asylum requires entering at a point of entry. Otherwise crossing llegal.
I’m sure many here will disagree with my viewpoint.
Also see: 1997 Flores Settlement
Beg to differ Michael.
H.R. 7311 (110th): William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008
@Rick Graham. I wrote that this statement of yours is untrue & never has been true:
You reply with two comments.
The first comment is very long & nowhere in it is there anything supporting your assertion!
Your short second comment calls attention to The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 – It authorises protections for undocumented immigrants who are victims of severe forms of trafficking & violence. It DOES NOT authorise the separation of children from their undocumented immigrant parents [or guardians].
Please provide one piece of evidence for your assertion WITH A LINK TO THE POLICY where it is stated in some form of words that “separating children, at or near the Mexican border, from parents/guardians is a measure to stop child trafficking”
You can’t do it. It is nonsense.
Nothing here about separating children from their parents or guardians:
from Wiki
By the way, what is that first rule of journalism. I am guessing that someone who watches fox all day might have some problem finding that first rule. Is it not to cry while on tv?
And also, I think the thing in the story that got her was – Tender Age Incarceration. Finding out that babies were included in this stalag 17 show. Certainly nothing for you to be concerned with.
Project much?
You don’t know what news sources I watch.
“Forget it, Jake. It’s a liberal combox.”
Sorry, I don’t go by that rule. Journalist are human. I remember Walter Cronkite wiping away a tear as he announced the death of John F. Kennedy. Maddow couldn’t control her feelings because she is an empathic human being.
The more things change. . . .
Apologists for chuld detention centers infuriate me. Pointing out that the centers are reasonably clean and not completely barbaric doesn’t make them okay. They are as much a national embarrassment as Japanese-American internment camps.
I have to wonder where the outrage was when Obama was detaining (unaccompanied) children in those same detention centers, though. It smacks of a double standard, which is something I hate…
Well, no. Putting kids in cages is bad either way, but there’s a monumental difference between dealing improperly with a situation that isn’t your doing, which is what housing unaccompanied minors in these centers is, and purposely creating thousands of new cases through the enaction of a forced separation policy.
It’s not a “double standard” because the two situations are only superficially comparable. In reality they’re not even in the same ballpark.
DIY Matterhorn pic is great. Great lighting. Bet it’s nothing like being there.
The speciality of the first quarter of 21st century is that all media have lost credibility and that their main function is not informing / educatinganymore, but entertaining which is slowly deteriorating into titillation. That I belonged to that world of media for nearly 6 decades is something I may be ashamed to admit tomorrow.
It’s just a bit more complicated than that, isn’t it?
I mean, just off the top of my head, I’d suggest that 24hr news cycles, the prominence of social media (and the consequential fall of big media as gatekeepers of news and information), the changing nature of how media is monetized–all of these (and others, of course) have something to do with the response of media to its challenges, don’t you think?
I think they’re miscalculating as well, but my decades of media experience tells me that they’ll get it right sooner or later, even if the form they make successful isn’t recognizable to old timers like us.
The Guardian is just reporting:
“Associated Press reports homeland security department is considering order to end practice as pressure for action mounts and anger grows”
Yay!
Unable to post above:
Children have been kidnapped, trafficked and used by nefarious individuals to easily slip into the county.
Obama’s “catch and release” policy allowed people to enter the country with only a promise to show up at a later hearing. A lot didn’t show up, of course.
The human traffickers seized on the weakness and exploited it. Routinely trafficking people across the border using children as camouflage.
Obama’s DACA policy was another lure (even by his own admission it was to be temporary). The number of unaccompanied children surged between 2012 and 2014 by more than 400%. The number of unaccompanied children referred to the Office of Refuge Resettlement tripled between 2012 and 2014. 13,625 to 40,810.
Even the WaPo reported that the unaccompanied minor surge was “driven in large part by the perception they will be allowed to stay under the Obama immigration policy.”
Throw in sanctuary cities and we’re asking for immigrants to break the law.
We spend $35k per child per year to house the detainees. This is well above the $24k per household per year poverty line for American children.
This administration I trying to solve the problem of our lawless immigration system after decades of governmental neglect. No more executive orders. Legislate.
Admitted its an awful policy. Both sides have been complicit. We need action. Stop kicking the can.
1.) When DHS is unable to verify the relationship between the adult and the child;
2.) When DHS determines that the child my be at risk with the parent or guardian; or
3.) When the parent or legal guardian is referred for criminal prosecution.
Asylum requires entering at a point of entry. Otherwise crossing llegal.
I’m sure many here will disagree with my viewpoint.
Also see: 1997 Flores Settlement
What will happen to the likes of you after today. It appears that our hated president will sign something today to stop this insanity. With that and current legislation going thru this stupidity will end shortly. You will then be freed to go bark about something else. He started this about 6 weeks ago and now he ends it, only because the heat and the facts are against him.
You just parrot the lines from Trump news over at fox, that is why I must assume you watch that stuff. By the way fred, my name is not jake.
Sorry you missed the Chinatown reference.
“Forget it Jake. It’s Chinatown.”
Hoping Congress does the right thing. Or we’ll be back here again.
Richard
You are correct that Obama era policies contributed to the immigration mess, but you are pretending that their failures excuse Trump’s.
This separation policy (which is Trump’s not Obama’s – no matter how many times a lie is repeated, it remains a lie) must stop. It is NOT who we are. Ending it won’t fix the mess (in fact, it might make it worse), but that’s no reason to stop doing something of such unconscionable cruelty. This is NOT my country.
You should be ashamed of yourself for supporting Trump in this policy.
So, it’s better to allow this immigration mess continue being a political football for a few more decades?
How many will be hurt over that time?
Not ashamed. At. All.
I had a a binary choice. The other was worse!
“I had a a binary choice.”
I think this is the root of the problem. It is not a binary choice (false dilemma fallacy) because humans and human interactions are not binary. We should be working toward a nuanced immigration policy that allows compassion while at the same time provides security. Crafting and implementing such a policy requires very hard work which is why it hasn’t been done. The Democrats seem to only care about compassion and the Republicans security. Lately, the Republicans seem to be hiding behind the excuse of security in order to implement policies whose actual goals are cruelty and sending a message to the world that compassion is not an American value.
This is progress. Thank you.
I believe the disengenous press is sending the message.
You’re right that it’s Trump’s policy, but the administration doesn’t have much choice here.
There is a ruling (the Flores settlement Rick referred to), later expanded/clarified under the Obama administration (though they opposed the expansion), that illegal immigrants with children must be released into the US pending a hearing. Unsurprisingly, they subsequently disappear and don’t show up for their hearing. It’s a loophole that illegal immigrants exploit. Separating children from their parents, as cruel as it may be, is about the only legal option available to the executive branch given that Congress and the judiciary haven’t closed this loophole.
It’s either separate them or let anyone with a child freely enter the US. I agree that it’s a distasteful policy, but Congress should fix the situation that gives rise to it.
Even if you believe this story, and I do not, why is Trump not trying hard to end the policy? Instead, he is trying very hard to keep the policy. Hiding behind this law just doesn’t fly. Your claim that it is a “distasteful policy” doesn’t fly either. It seems you like the policy just as much as Trump does.
You are not listening to me, Adam. Neither are you Richard.
I don’t dispute that the policy may be effective. The Romans conquered their empire using very effective tactics. So did the Nazis. But effectiveness is not the only consideration when implementing policies made in our name.
My argument is about what we ought to be doing. Yes, our immigration policies are a royal mess, yes congress and the Obama administration bears responsibility for the current state, yadda yadda yadda. That HAS caused lots of problems and has exacerbated the immigration mess. I. DO. NOT. DISPUTE. THAT.
But before Trump’s order, children were NOT routinely separated from their parents. We have lost whatever is left of our national soul by pursuing this policy. It does NOT matter that the policy is (or could be) effective or that it is put into place to address a real problem.
It is the WRONG WAY TO DO IT.
I am astonished that anyone could defend it.
Au + Hg -> Au + Hg
From what I remember, an amalgam is sort of a (non-ionic) solution, so there’s no compound proper formed.
(Where’s a physical chemist when you need one? :))
So, given that immigrants surely know by now that they’ll be separated from their children if they try to cross illegally, how much responsibility do they bear for doing it anyway and knowingly putting their children in that situation? Surely some.
Perhaps most of the illegal immigrants get their information from Fox News.
Asylum seekers should have considered that before they chose to be chased from their homes.
Yeah, damn thoughtless of them, isn’t it?
Well gosh, if inflicting cruelty is the best deterrent, sky’s the limit for the Trump administration. Why not some torture too? True, downtrodden people fleeing from failed states have already put up with a lot of pain, but I trust Sessions to rise to the challenge.
Good Vibrations is no doubt genius but man is it depressing to wake up to with the radio alarm. That and MacArthur Park.
sub
The way that Abyssinian is buttering up their staff member is why I hid my car keys when I had one…