Loyd
Loyd's JournalThese 2 Young Men Understand American Priorities, Dammit!
This was cut from SNL this weekend. I post it here as a small slice of levity on a Monday morning.
Dear Mr Trump: Eat More Big Macs!
And KFC Double Downs. And order extra cheese on your tacos! Remember, your highly-skilled doctor has stated you're the healthiest man ever to occupy the presidency. You're in Adonis-like shape, and you don't NEED no stinkin' exercise!
In California, Fires So Fast Hesitation Proved Lethal
Source: New York Times
By THOMAS FULLER and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA 9
OCT. 13, 2017, 9:29 PM ET
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — With towering flames bearing down, one victim delayed escape in hopes of saving his new truck — but he could not find the keys. An elderly couple slept as danger erupted, not waking until it was too late to flee down their one-lane road. Another couple, who barely missed their chance to drive away, huddled in a pool, surrounded by fire and choking smoke; he survived, but she did not.
As widely varied stories emerged of how people died in the wind-driven fires that have ravaged Northern California, the element common to each tragedy — and to many of the tales of people who got out alive — was how quickly it happened. Advance warning was measured in minutes or seconds, or never came at all. Hesitation was lethal.
“My dad’s best friend was calling and calling my parents, but they were completely asleep,” said Trina Grant, whose parents, Arthur and Suiko Grant, died at their hilltop property just outside Santa Rosa. “By the time my dad finally picked up and his friend said ‘You’ve got to get out,’ it was probably already too late.”
The confirmed death toll reached 33 on Friday night, making this the deadliest wildfire outbreak in California history, and the figure is likely to climb. Thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed, hundreds of people who have been reported missing remain unaccounted for, and emergency workers have barely begun the grim work of combing through the blackened, smoking ruins of houses, cars, forests and businesses.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/us/california-wildfires-victims.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
Can you imagine how bad the situation would be if global warming actually wasn't a Chinese hoax?
What are Your Superstitions?
Now, I have to be honest in saying that I'm not a superstitious guy: I walk under ladders, I love cats, including black ones, I don't avoid sidewalk cracks. (Indeed, when I was a teenager, I sought them out after conflicts with my mom. Didn't work!) And Friday the 13th? I lost my virginity on one of those!
In fact, the only superstition I truly believe is the old Navajo prophecy: "When leader of tribe has orange skin, orange hair, and orange's intelligence level, tribe is pretty much screwed."
But I realize that many otherwise rational, smart people do have superstitions. What are yours?
Is Mueller Trying to Stop Trump From Pardoning People?
I did it/Do you think I've gone too far?
I did it it/ Guilty as charged! - The Dave Matthews Band
Yemen's cholera outbreak now the worst in history as millionth case looms
Source: The Guardian (UK)
Kate Lyons
Thursday, 12 October, 2017, 10.34 EDT
The cholera epidemic in Yemen has become the largest and fastest-spreading outbreak of the disease in modern history, with a million cases expected by the end of the year and at least 600,000 children likely to be affected.
The World Health Organization has reported more than 815,000 suspected cases of the disease in Yemen and 2,156 deaths. About 4,000 suspected cases are being reported daily, more than half of which are among children under five, who account for a quarter of all cases.
The spread of the outbreak, which has quickly surpassed Haiti as the biggest since modern records began in 1949, has been exacerbated by hunger and malnutrition. While there were 815,000 cases of cholera in Haiti between 2010 and 2017, Yemen has exceeded that number in just six months.
Save the Children has warned that, at the current rate of infection, the number of cases will reach seven figures before the turn of the year, 60% of which will be among children. In July, the International Committee of the Red Cross predicted there would be 600,000 suspected cholera cases in the country by the end of the year.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/12/yemen-cholera-outbreak-worst-in-history-1-million-cases-by-end-of-year
Aren't you proud that we give billions in blood money to Saudi Arabia? And Apartheid Israel? And Pakistan?
Somebody cue Lee Greenwood!
I Probably Won't be Here Tomorrow
Earlier today, in General Discussion, I praised gibbons, The Forgotten Ape. Sure, we've all heard of orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans, but the gibbon gets no respect, even though it is an anthropoid ape, not a monkey! My argument in favor of the gibbon was a no-holds-barred statement, with foul language and a very angry tone, so I fully expect to be kicked out within 24 hours, if not sooner..
Ah, well, it was nice being here while it lasted.
PS: It's perfectly okay to mix bourbon, tequila and Bavarian Lightning beer, right?
What Mike Pence's Cynical Anthem Stunt Cost
The Grifters was great as a movie. In real life, not so much.
Xi Jinping Presses Military Overhaul, and Two Generals Disappear
Source: New York Times
By CHRIS BUCKLEY and STEVEN LEE MYERS OCT. 11, 2017
BEIJING — He was one of China’s most prominent commanders, with hopes of rising higher. So when Gen. Fang Fenghui disappeared from public view, it sent a clear warning to the top leaders of the People’s Liberation Army: President Xi Jinping was not done shaking up their once-unassailable ranks.
General Fang, the chief of the army’s Joint Staff Department, was not the only military leader to fall ahead of next week’s Communist Party congress. Gen. Zhang Yang, the director of the military’s political department, also vanished from sight. Their names have not appeared in the Chinese news media for more than a month, when their successors were announced with no fanfare.
Removing the two generals was the latest step by Mr. Xi to strengthen his grip on the military, a pillar of Communist Party power. On the eve of the party congress, which will kick off his second five-year term as the nation’s leader, he seems to have concluded that he must exert greater control to remake the country’s armed forces into a power worthy of China’s global standing.
Mr. Xi’s reorganization of the military has already gone further than seemed possible under his recent predecessors, but as the overhaul and its attendant personnel cuts have begun to take shape, Mr. Xi has confronted poor coordination among branches of the armed forces and foot-dragging from senior officers whose positions have been threatened.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/world/asia/xi-jinping-military-china-purge.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
I'm sure the generals are in a beautiful park upstate, frolicking with all the dogs there.
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Member since: Thu Sep 28, 2017, 08:52 AMNumber of posts: 309
