Wednesday Open Thread | Nature Week: Iceberg crashing in Greenland

Posted on April 6, 2016 by SouthernGirl2

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Nature week is dedicated to Rikyrah’s co/worker/friend in Chicago who passed away. A lover of nature. This week is for you and your mentor, boo.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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115 Responses to Wednesday Open Thread | Nature Week: Iceberg crashing in Greenland

  1. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    Liza

    Having nearly 500 super delegates before the presidential race starts is equivalent to how many states won before the race even begins?

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      April 7, 2016 at 10:20 am

      Hmmm. Interesting question. Well, Ohio has a total of 143 delegates so it would be like winning the entire state of Ohio (as in 100 percent of the delegates) 3 and a half times. Florida has a total of 214 delegates so it would be like winning the entire state 2 and a third times. Texas has 222 delegates so it would be like winning Texas 2 and a quarter times.
      California has 546 delegates so it would be like winning 91 percent of California before a single vote was cast.

      What is really interesting is when you look at a lesser populated state like Idaho with 23 delegates. It would be like winning 100 percent of Idaho almost 22 times before a single voter cast a vote.

      Reply
      • Liza says:
        April 7, 2016 at 10:33 am

        I based the above on having 500 super delegates so it would actually be slightly less, but not much. Hillary has 469 superdelegates right now so it looks like without a vote being cast she could have had any one of these states multiple times (or 85 percent of California) without a single vote being cast:
        Ohio – she’s won all of Ohio 3.27 times without a vote
        Florida – she’s won Florida 2.19 times without a vote
        Texas – she’s won Texas 2.11 times without a vote
        California – she’s won 85 percent of California without a vote
        Idaho – she’s won Idaho 20.39 times without a vote

        Reply
      • Liza says:
        April 7, 2016 at 12:15 pm

        YVW. Kind of amazing, isn’t it, 85 percent of CA without a single vote.

        Reply
  2. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    When the deck is stacked against an opponent in a contest it’s called CHEATING! #Superdelegates

    Reply
  6. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    Look at this, folks!

    Get your foot off the head of that child. Who is this good for nothing sucking up oxygen sloth putting his foot on the head of child? Is this what America gives them money for? To abuse little girls or blow up little boys on the beach?

    https://twitter.com/Live_UK_News/status/717822877089800194

    Reply
  7. eliihass says:
    April 6, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    Here’s the real reason behind The New York Daily News’ attacks on Bernie…Owner and publisher Mort Zuckerman is a neocon Zionist….And unlike Hillary who is practically owned and beholden to them, Bernie has not committed to the Israel Lobby, America’s wealthy Zionists and Netanyahu…And he didn’t even bother to show up to prostrate before AIPAC…

    “…Declining to address in person the annual meeting of an organization intensely interested in American policy toward Israel, Bernie Sanders last month said he felt pressed to instead remain on the campaign trail in Utah.

    Meanwhile, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton presented her vision to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, as did the three Republican contenders.

    Since then, it has become very clear that there was more to Sanders’ absence than a scheduling conflict.

    A speech he delivered 1,800 miles away in Salt Lake City and a Daily News Editorial Board interview indicate that a President Sanders would fundamentally reset the relationship among the United States, Israel and the Palestinians to the severe disadvantage both of Israel and of hopes for negotiating a peace agreement.

    Sanders would also bring to the White House a destructive conviction that Israel is deeply guilty of oppressing the Palestinians — including through excessive, unjustified violence.

    Stunningly, Sanders said he believed that Israel had been responsible for 10,000 deaths — a number almost five times the United Nations count of roughly 2,000 killed.

    Sanders has, of course, focused his campaign on the American economy, emphasizing a view that the rich and powerful have rigged the game against the working and middle classes.

    Only lately, with the approach of the New York primary, has he begun to face probing questions about his plans for rebalancing the country’s wealth. He has gotten even less scrutiny on foreign policy, as proven by how ideologically blind and dangerous his approach to the Middle East would be…”

    http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/scary-bernie-sanders-article-1.2589787

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      April 6, 2016 at 4:59 pm

      “…Bill and Hillary Clinton are under increasing scrutiny from the mainstream press over paid speeches they have given to big banks in exchange for millions of dollars. According to CNN, the couple has earned a total of $153 million in lecture fees from companies and organizations affiliated with the financial industry.

      But the media has been conspicuously silent about the large sums the Clintons have raked in from paid addresses to pro-Israel organizations, including the Jewish National Fund (JNF), which directly participates in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and Bedouin citizens of Israel. An evaluation of Hillary Clinton’s public disclosures from 2001 to 2015 shows that she and Bill, and their daughter, Chelsea, have earned roughly $4 million in speaking fees from pro-Israel organizations, including JNF and organizations allied with the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The vast majority of these documented payments—$3,599,999—have gone toward the Clintons’ personal income, and up to $450,000 has been funneled into the Clinton Foundation.

      Bill Clinton received $425,000 for two speeches to Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a right-wing group that generally supports the Likud-run government of Benjamin Netanyahu and is hostile to Democrats. Simon Wiesenthal Center president Marvin Hier, who addressed the 2000 Republican National Convention, has compared President Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlain and described the Iran nuclear deal as “another Munich.”

      Among the Clintons’ pro-Israel speaking fees, only one was received from an organization that could be classified as part of Israel’s peace camp. The Abraham Fund, which says its aim is to “promote coexistence and equality among Israel’s Jewish and Arab-Palestinian citizens,” paid Bill Clinton $125,000 for a single speech in 2002.

      Chelsea Clinton raked in as much as $325,000 in speaking fees from the United Jewish Appeal and its affiliate, the Jewish Federations, a pro-Israel umbrella group of Jewish American establishment organizations that actively combats the Palestinian-led BDS (boycott, bivestment and sanctions) movement. She remits 100 percent of her speaking fees to the Clinton Foundation, where she is a board member and helps decide how the foundation spends its $180 million annual budget.

      Bill Clinton took in six-figure lecture fees from pro-Israel synagogues around the country.
      In addition, Bill Clinton received $250,000 for a speech to Univision Management Company, the media corporation co-owned by pro-Israel billionaire Haim Saban. As AlterNet’s Grayzone Project recently reported, Saban and his wife Cheryl contributed $5 million to the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, Priorities USA Action, this February. Saban has also contributed between $5 and $10 million to the Clinton Foundation. “I’m a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel,” Saban said in 2004.

      Hillary Clinton has made her unflinching support for Israel a centerpiece of her foreign policy agenda. In November 2015, she promised to “reaffirm” the “unbreakable bond with Israel, and Benjamin Netanyahu,” suggesting she would adopt a friendlier posture to Israel’s right-wing leader than Obama had.

      Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    tee hee hee.

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    California authorities raid home of anti-Planned Parenthood videographer

    Investigators with the California Department of Justice on Tuesday raided the home of David Daleiden, the anti-abortion activist behind a series of undercover videos targeting Planned Parenthood, the activist said.

    Authorities seized a laptop and multiple hard drives from his Orange County apartment, Daleiden said in an email. The equipment contained all of the video Daleiden had filmed as part of his 30-month project, “including some very damning footage that has yet to be released to the public,” he said.

    A spokeswoman for California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) said she could not comment on an ongoing investigation. But the raid confirms that California is among the states looking into possible criminal activity on the part of Daleiden and his organization, the Center for Medical Progress, which have been the center of controversy since releasing videos purporting to show that Planned Parenthood illegally sells fetal tissue for a profit.

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    I keep on asking folks to give me 5 POLICY differences between Cruz and Trump.

    https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/status/717813373963014144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 3:57 pm

    Michigan governor Rick Snyder faces racketeering lawsuit over Flint water crisis
    The Guardian THE GUARDIAN
    06 APR 2016 AT 16:18 ET

    A federal racketeering lawsuit by hundreds of resident in Flint, Michigan , is alleging the city’s two-year water crisis was the result of an“intentional scheme” crafted by state officials and Michigan governor Rick Snyder to balance the city’s budget.

    In a press conference announcing the 17-count racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations ( Rico ) complaint on Wednesday, attorneys said the state of Michigan ran Flint’s day-to-day operations through an emergency manager, who prioritized balancing the city’s budget through a cost-cutting measure: switching Flint’s water source in April 2014 from Lake Huron, which serviced the city for more than 50 years, to a local river.

    Reply
  13. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    This is a BIG.PHUCKING.DEAL.

    Up until now, the financial advisers who help retirees decide where to put their investments could legally steer clients toward decisions that made themselves more money at their clients’ expense. Now that practice will be against the rules.

    On Wednesday, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule that will require those advisers to adhere to a “fiduciary standard,” or in other words to always put clients’ interests ahead of their own when they make recommendations about investing in exchange for fees or other payment. They will have to make “prudent” investment recommendations, according to the DOL, that don’t take their own interests into account, as well as charge reasonable compensation that doesn’t create a conflict of interest and fairly represent their recommended investments. Compliance will be required in a year, beginning in April of 2017.

    Reply
  16. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    Check this out, Chicas

    Another father was released from Graterford Prison after 9 years of incarceration!! He immediately goes to surprise his 17 year old daughter who was only 8 years old when he left!!

    [facebook url="https://www.facebook.com/unitedfact/videos/1892049284354662/" /]

    Reply
  19. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee
    A place where even squares can have a ball…

    Reply
  21. Liza says:
    April 6, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    Sad, sad country songs. I remember when this song was on the radio, I was still living in the Confederacy and listening to country music occasionally, and hoping like hell I never had to live like the folks in this song.

    Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 1:29 pm

    Enough Is Enough’
    Vice provost at U of Wisconsin makes an unusually frank video in response to a racial incident — and attracts attention most university statements never receive.
    April 4, 2016
    By
    Scott Jaschik
    You know the drill. A racial incident on campus is followed by a statement from a campus leader denouncing what has happened, talking about how there may be a “teachable moment,” maybe organizing an open forum. And relatively few people read the statement or remember it a few days later.
    At the University of Wisconsin at Madison last week, Patrick Sims didn’t follow the normal pattern. Sims, vice provost for diversity and climate at Madison, made a video that was unusually frank in describing what had happened and showing how frustrated he was. He visibly struggled for words about how to describe what he eventually termed “a cowardly act.”
    Sims didn’t say an offensive note had been slipped under the door of a student’s room. He read the note (warning — strong language follows): “You fuck with Bucky. You fuck with us. Fuck you nigger bitch.”
    He said he wanted to describe the act as “punk ass,” even if he acknowledged that vice provosts normally aren’t expected to use such language.
    And Sims said “no letter from the provost” will prevent such acts. Only students looking out for fellow students would make a difference, he said.
    To whoever slipped the message under the student’s door, Sims said he couldn’t believe the person “has such a lack of respect for human dignity.” And he didn’t mince words in describing the atmosphere created by such actions. He said the university was experiencing with an incident like the note “the kind of hatred we haven’t seen since Jim Crow.”
    “Enough is enough,” he said. “This has got to stop.”

    https://youtu.be/zMBQUzwnCL0

    Reply
  23. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 1:29 pm

    My thoughts & prayers to Merle Haggard’s family. May he play some country music in heaven for my mom & daddy. We heard his music all the time in our house when I was growing up.

    Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      April 6, 2016 at 3:11 pm

      2016 Has been rough in calling legends home.

      Reply
      • Ametia says:
        April 6, 2016 at 4:22 pm

        I know it seems rough, but these legends have given all they could here, and now have their next assignments in the higher worlds of God.

        There are enough enlighten Souls already here and those coming in now who need to LIGHT THEIR TORCH, PICK IT UP AND CARRY on the LIGHT, the SOUND & the LOVE.

        Reply
  24. Liza says:
    April 6, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    Merle Haggard really identified with the working man / woman. I like this one, there is just something about his voice, he was the quintessential country singer.

    Reply
  26. Liza says:
    April 6, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    RIP, Merle Haggard, thank you for the music.

    Reply
  27. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 1:06 pm

    I can’t tell you how many times I heard this song played in my house growing up. I’m a country girl!

    Reply
  28. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 12:59 pm

    RIP Merle Haggard. Thank you for the music.

    Reply
  37. Liza says:
    April 6, 2016 at 10:11 am

    The smear campaign against Bernie is just starting. Juan Gonzalez describes Bernie’s overall performance at NYDN as “excellent” but stumbled a bit on exactly how he would break up the big banks, on who has jurisdiction as I understand it. Gee, he hasn’t got the legislation all written up, I guess this should be considered a scandal equal to all of Hillary’s scandals put together, right?

    My idea, elect Bernie and put Elizabeth Warren in charge of breaking up the big banks. Problem solved. Can we move on?

    Juan González Was at Bernie Sanders’ NY Daily News Editorial Board Meeting. What Really Happened?
    APRIL 06, 2016

    http://www.democracynow.org/2016/4/6/juan_gonzalez_was_at_bernie_sanders

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      April 6, 2016 at 4:26 pm

      I believe this…

      The New York Daily News is part rag, part newspaper – almost on the same level as the New York Post…

      Sensationalism and hit pieces, their forte…

      They endorsed then Senator Obama over John McCain in 2008 – but by 2010, its owner and publisher Mort Zuckerman a Zionist, who’d considered a run as a Republican or Independent against Kirsten Gillibrand – was running hit pieces against the newly elected President Obama …and for the 2012 elections, the paper endorsed Mitt Romney…

      Zuckerman is on the neocon side of Haim Saban’s Israel lobby…for these particular plutocrats, it’s about Israel and of course money and greed..

      At the heart of their attacks on Bernie is their publisher’s Zionist stance…Bernie was a no-show at AIPAC, a slight…and he won’t assure them of what they want to hear…not just his complete allegiance to Israel – but committing to doing Netanyahu’s bidding specifically…because in the end, that’s really what it’s all about for Netanyahu as a politico…

      A lot has been made about evangelical Christians, but little attention is paid to the Jewish Lobby which is not only even more powerful, but extremely well-funded…And unlike the evangelicals who are all right-wing, the Jewish lobby is well-represented on both sides – And even if they disagree on everything else, they not only agree on Israel, but prioritize it…

      When it comes to Israel, party identification seizes to matter for these Zionists…And right now, Hillary is their preferred candidate…though the rightwing Zionists like Sheldon Adelson, are still looking to see if they can preferably rustle up a more malleable and beholden right-wing candidate of their own…

      For every Sheldon Adelson on the right, we have more than our fair share of Zionists on the left…Steven Spielberg, S. Daniel Abraham, Jeffrey Katzenberg…and of course Haim Saban who is often quoted as saying “…I’m a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel…”
      There’s of course George Soros who’s Jewish, but who’s said he’s not a Zionist…but has backed “pro-Israel, pro-peace” Liberal Zionist organizations such as J Street, out of concern for Israel’s future…

      Reply
  39. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 10:01 am

    Don’t be distracted. Hillary is using Sandy Hook as the shiny object. We see you Hillary Clinton.

    https://twitter.com/michaelallenmar/status/717528087425114112

    Reply
  43. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 9:30 am

    Producer Debra Martin Chase Sets Up ‘The Black Calhouns’ at ABC as Potential Miniseries

    Photo of Tambay A. Obenson
    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
    April 5, 2016 at 7:06PM

    In author Gail Lumet Buckley’s ambitious “The Black Calhouns: From Civil War to Civil Rights with One African American Family,” the daughter of actress Lena Horne delves deep into her family history, detailing their experiences from the Civil War to the Civil Rights era, starting with her great-great grandfather Moses Calhoun, a house slave who used the rare advantage of his education to become a successful businessman in post-war Atlanta. And from there, the two branches of her family that followed: one that stayed in the South, and the other that settled in New York City.

    Buckley examines these lives and the major events throughout American history that they lived through. From Atlanta during Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow, to New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, and then from World War II to the Civil Rights Movement, combining personal and national history for a unique portrait of 6 generations in times of trial and triumph throughout American history.

    Reply
  44. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 6, 2016 at 9:27 am

    In 2007 Hillary campaign strategy…Barack Obama not American
    In 2016 Hillary campaign strategy…Bernie Sanders not a Democrat

    https://twitter.com/TPM/status/717715504841011200

    Reply
  47. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:36 am

    Ethnicity & Race ‎@EthnicityRace
    Producer Debra Martin Chase Sets Up ‘The Black Calhouns’ at ABC as Potential Miniseries http://dlvr.it/KzWJpT

    Reply
  48. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:36 am

    The NYPD officer who arrested a Black mail carrier has lost his badge. http://blackyouthproject.com/nypd-lieutenant-loses-badge-for-arresting-mail-carrier/ …

    Reply
  52. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:30 am

    Ok, who came up with the idea of Capital One commercials with Sam Jackson, Spike and Barkeley?

    BWA HA HA HA HA H HA HA HA HA

    Reply
  53. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:29 am

    Janet Jackson’s gonna be a mother?

    Really?

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:26 am

    Pfizer abandons $160bn Allergan deal

    US drugs giant Pfizer has scrapped a planned merger with Ireland’s Allergan amid plans to change US tax laws.
    The decision comes two days after the US Treasury announced fresh plans to prevent deals known as “inversions”, where a US firm merges with a company in a country with a lower tax rate.
    The Pfizer-Allergan deal, valued at $160bn (£113bn), would have been the biggest example of an “inversion”.
    It would also have been the biggest pharmaceutical deal in history.
    Pfizer said the move was “driven by the actions announced” by the US Treasury.
    Ian Read, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, said: “Pfizer approached this transaction from a position of strength and viewed the potential combination as an accelerator of existing strategies.”
    He added that the company could look at splitting off part of the business.

    Reply
  57. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:13 am

    hmmph

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/5/16

    Republicans consider advantage of ‘losing with Cruz’

    Nicolle Wallace, Republican strategist, talks with an MSNBC panel about the considerations being made within the Republican Party about how to supplant Donald Trump as the party’s choice for the nomination and whether it might actually be better to nominate Ted Cruz even if he loses.

    Reply
  58. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 8:09 am

    New anti-LGBT law starts undermining North Carolina’s economy
    04/05/16 12:43 PM—UPDATED 04/05/16 02:00 PM
    By Steve Benen

    When North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) recently signed the state’s new anti-LGBT law, which had the practical effect of overturning most of the state’s local anti-discrimination ordinances, the Republican governor tried to argue this was no big deal. McCrory is just sticking up for “norms” that have existed for generations, he said, so there’s no need for a fuss.

    The North Carolina conservative, who also happens to be up for re-election, still doesn’t seem to fully appreciate what he’s done. It’s bad enough that McCrory isn’t fully aware of what his new law actually does, but it’s nearly as problematic that he doesn’t appreciate the impact his policy is having on his state. WRAL in Raleigh reported this morning:
    PayPal, an online money transfer service, has canceled its plans to open an operations center in Charlotte, citing North Carolina’s new anti-discrimination law.

    The company announced plans on March 18 to open its new global operations center that would have employed 400 people. Five days later, Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law House Bill 2, which barred transgender people from using the public bathroom of the gender with which they identify.
    The PayPal news comes on the heels of a similar announcement from Lionsgate Films, which had planned to film a new comedy in North Carolina, but changed its mind in response to HB 2.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/new-anti-lgbt-law-starts-undermining-north-carolinas-economy

    Reply
  75. rikyrah says:
    April 6, 2016 at 7:34 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    Reply
  76. mukul chand says:
    April 6, 2016 at 1:24 am

    Great Post

    Reply

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