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Pre-Thanksgiving Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 03:19:24 PM EST
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If you're one of the lucky ones not running around like a maniac today, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    Pre-Thanksgiving Open Thread | 20 comments (20 topical)

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    Happy Thanksgiving to all! (5.00 / 9) (#3)
    by Zorba on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 04:25:13 PM EST
    And be sure to give thanks for the good things in our lives.
    Sometimes, we tend to focus too much on the negatives, but there are many, many good things, as well.
    The love of our friends and families, the fact that we do not live in a Third World country, and that we enjoy essential freedoms (yes, I know, we do complain about certain restrictions) which are not available to so many people in the world.
    Be thankful for what we have, and I will raise a glass of wine to all of you tomorrow.
    Be well, and namaste.

    Happy Thanksgiving, Mme. Zorba. (5.00 / 5) (#4)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 04:48:30 PM EST
    I'm still in Pasadena, and The Spouse is flying into L.A. later this evening so we can spend the weekend together with family. It's been a sad week for everyone, but the Goddess of the Elements has nevertheless decided to cheer us up a little today with absolutely gorgeous and nearly flawless fall weather.

    The leaves on the trees are a vivid green, red and gold, the sky is bright blue with scattered clouds building up over the San Gabriel Mountains, the air is crisp and the temperature is a very comfortable 64 degrees. Hope does spring eternal, and with a new grandchild due in three weeks or so we are reminded of how so very much we do have, for which we can be truly thankful.

    Me ke aloha pumehana.

    Parent

    Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. (5.00 / 4) (#9)
    by vml68 on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:15:26 PM EST
    Hope everyone has an enjoyable day tomorrow even if some of you have to share the table with an "Uncle Jim"!

    Donald I was enjoying your description of the fall weather till I got to the "comfortable 64 degrees" part. That was the temp when we were at Coronado Island a couple of weeks ago. Husband and I were freezing. We walked down to the beach thinking we would sit and watch the sunset, both of us wearing long pants and jackets and found ourselves surrounded by men and women in their swimwear. I felt like we should be carrying a "I'm from FL" sign as an explanation.

    Parent

    And may (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by Zorba on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:55:51 PM EST
    peace be with you.
    Cherish your loved ones who are still with you, and while you will remember with sadness those who have gone before, celebrate their lives and the time you had with them.

    Parent
    I'm looking at Thanksgiving leftovers (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:11:44 PM EST
    Already!  
    The good thing, well, the mixed blessing, of having family members who almost always have to work on holidays is that I usually get one holiday dinner with family and another with friends on the actual holiday.

    The second is usually more fun with no familiar family tensions.   Deciding now if I want to drive for a couple of hours tomorrow.  Gas is cheap.

    Parent

    Happy Thanksgiving to you (5.00 / 5) (#8)
    by MO Blue on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:13:56 PM EST
    and all here at TL.

    Parent
    Happy Thanksgiving to you (none / 0) (#7)
    by MO Blue on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:13:56 PM EST
    and all here at TL.

    Parent
    Happy Thanksgiving (5.00 / 2) (#20)
    by KeysDan on Thu Nov 26, 2015 at 10:32:44 AM EST
    to all of Talk Left.  Thoughts to all of Paris.  It has been our pattern to celebrate my birthday (Nov 12) in Paris.  This year, for reasons of business, we postponed that Parisian celebration; while we stay on the other end of the city in the 16th, it would not have seemed  right to be enjoying ourselves in the face of such tragedy. Glad to be home for this, my favorite holiday. One that is celebrated by all.

    Donald is Hitler (none / 0) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 04:14:32 PM EST
    in a new Kasich ad

    Now, setting aside Godwins Law, this does not seem like a very effective primary ad to me.   It's a pretty good general election ad.  I guess.   But even then I'm not sure.
    This Mike Luckovitch cartoon makes the same point with one frame and IMO it does it better because it uses humor.

    This just seems heavy handed and not particularly effective to me.  

    Curious what others think.

    I frankly (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 06:28:12 PM EST
    found the ad kind of comical. What is scary to me are his actual followers. And what's worse the entire GOP has become Donald Trump.

    And this is going to have no effect on his followers IMO simply because they are all for beating up African Americans, hating on the media and rounding up Hispanics and Muslims. I have heard the same thing Donald says from Republicans here locally. So really nothing he says surprises me. The only thing I'm glad about in this whole sorry saga is that the GOP can't hide anymore. It's all out there who they are.

    Parent

    Adding (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 04:16:23 PM EST
    Not that I don't completely agree.

    Parent
    You are right it is heavy handed (none / 0) (#5)
    by MO Blue on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:10:11 PM EST
    and the cartoon is better.

    But personally, I hope it plays 24/7 on Fox News for the next several months. The fascists are coming out of the woodwork now that the Republicans (not just Trump) have given them permission to openly promote their white supremency and racist doctrines.

    Maybe, just maybe a few might recognize just how close this is to what went on in Germany before World War II.

    People are openly repeating the same talking points as the Republicans as those they were sent to them by God. It is becoming common fair. People are now openly calling for our government to kill all Muslims and let God figure out which Muslims were the terrorists. I was the only one in the group that challenged that statement. But, the fascist promoting this wasn't going to kill anyone you see, the government would do it for him.

    Parent

    Yep (none / 0) (#10)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:16:10 PM EST
    Kevin Drum (I think) wrote an interesting piece the other day that basically said, yes, Donald would lose the general and that's good the spectacle would do lasting damage to the country.

    I just heard on teevee that the planned establishment attack on Donald had probably been cancelled.    Probably not that bad a thing since IMO it would only have helped him.

    Parent

    Correction (none / 0) (#12)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:41:19 PM EST
    Should say

    and that's good BUT the spectacle would do lasting damage to the country.

    I usually ignore those but that one changes the meaning

    Parent

    Kevin Drum (none / 0) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:54:55 PM EST
    As with most liberals, I'm of two minds about all this. On the one hand, Republicans deserve every bit of what they're getting. For years they've been actively encouraging the enraged, racially-charged grievance culture that Trump represents, and it's hard to feel sorry for them now that it's biting them in the ass. Besides, if Trump does win the nomination, he's almost certain to lose, and that's fine with me. Republicans deserve another few years out in the cold.

    On the other hand, life is strange, and "almost certain" is not "certain." What's more, we're now at the point where Trump is no longer a joke. Another year of his unapologetic racism and xenophobia could do serious damage to the country--and especially to the targets of his malignant rants. It's long past time to dump him on the nearest ash heap of history.



    Parent
    I agree (none / 0) (#16)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 06:17:30 PM EST
    with Drum on all this. The problem is the GOP can't do anything about it it seems.

    Parent
    re Russia and ISIS (none / 0) (#11)
    by zaitztheunconvicted on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:25:47 PM EST
    I have been half wondering if Russia did the thing intentionally to create a division of NATO and also to give them good cause to blown any Turkish planes out of the sky in Syria, which is what I would want if I were Russia . . .

    However, the living co-pilot is claiming that they didn't cross over and were not warned . . .

    I think that it is 50-50 odds that Putin and his friends set this up to make Turkey look bad, divide Nato (as they have begun to do), and give the Russians a plausible claim to the moral high ground when they should down turkish planes and Turkish other equipment anywhere outside of Turkey.

    The Lusitania helped get USA into WWI and Pearl Harbor helped get USA into WWII.  Turkey has been helping and/or protecting ISIS at various times.

    So, the question is whether or not Putin has made things a lot more clear . . . and given that Turkish airplanes have attacked the Kurds, Putin would like the ability to shot them down.

    Though Obama is saying we stand with Turkey, a lot of other people have figured out that Turkey's action was foolish and unnecessary.  Moreover, Turkey trying to call for a safe zone or no-fly zone . . .  they can't enforce it and they will be destroyed if they try.

    Also, over at zerohedge there is the summary of some of the evidence of Turkey and ISIS being in league with each other, at least at certain points in time.

    Also, the funniest thing is that a few years ago, Syria shot down a Turkish jet and the same Turkish leader right now so complaining about the Russian jet said a short-term, temporary flight over is not grounds to shot the jet down . .

    Who Said It? "A Short-Term Border Violation Can Never Be A Pretext For An Attack"
    --Erdogan

    Syria insists the F-4 Phantom jet was shot down inside Syrian airspace. The plane crashed into the eastern Mediterranean and its two pilots are missing.

    Mr Erdogan spoke of Turkey's "rage" at the decision to shoot down the F-4 Phantom on 22 June and described Syria as a "clear and present threat". "A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack," he said.

    In a statement, NATO's 28 members said the shooting down of the [Turkish] plane [allegedly flying in Syrian airspace] was "unacceptable" and they stood together with Turkey "in the spirit of strong solidarity".

    Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: "It is another example of the Syrian authorities' disregard for international norms."

    Donald (none / 0) (#14)
    by CoralGables on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 05:55:08 PM EST
    Here's a little something to stir up your NCAA football passion.

    Prior to the games this week here is who I think will advance to the final 4:

    Clemson - Easiest route to remaining undefeated with a South Carolina team in disarray after Spurrier's departure and a probable ACC Title match with NC.

    Alabama - As much as I'd like to see Florida win out and sneak in, they have a better chance of losing the next 2 than winning both. That makes Alabama the easiest win out 1-loss team with Auburn and Florida on the schedule.

    Oklahoma - If and only if they can knock off Oklahoma State on Saturday night. If they lose, the Big 12 (errr ten) could miss out since they have no conference title game. It would probably come down to Baylor or Notre Dame in this slot if both win out with an edge to Notre Dame.

    Someone from the Big 10 - Iowa if they win out but more likely I think Sparty wins out.

    All bets are off the table and you may be able to wiggle Stanford past Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor if Iowa loses to Nebraska, Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, Stanford beats Notre Dame and Oregon, and Florida loses to FSU and beats Alabama.

    I'm still hoping for a Gator miracle, but that would take catching lightning in a bottle in addition to a new QB and kicker and the defense pitching 2 shutouts.

    I completely missed all of last week's games ... (none / 0) (#18)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 07:35:21 PM EST
    ... due to aforementioned family matters. But we're going to the UCLA-USC game on Saturday afternoon. The winner will play Stanford the following weekend for the Pac-12 title.

    Parent
    the man in high castle season 1 . . . (none / 0) (#19)
    by zaitztheunconvicted on Wed Nov 25, 2015 at 09:19:29 PM EST
    So the high castle thing is quite interesting . . .

    It turns out that Hitler himself has been collecting and viewing a bunch of the movies he can get and they enable him to know who might be plotting and going evil or good . . .

    the movie portrays Hitler as being reasonable and calm and while he is alive, there is peace, but after his death, there will be war with Japan and/or the remainder of the USA . . .

    there is a chief Nazi evildoer named John Smith who has a family and who learns that his son has a disability that would lead to mercy killing him and he doesn't know how to react.

    So, will John smith eventually cease to be Nazi based on his realization it is morally bad?

    Hitler's subordinates are killing each other to jockey for position and power before or after the death of Hitler.

    How does both the resistance and Hitler get a hold of these films?

    Pre-Thanksgiving Open Thread | 20 comments (20 topical)

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