Yup! That's exacty what I said when I heard the hilarious news thatTrump held hands with Theresa May because he's afraid of stairs..

Orange☑️
Fascist☑️
Afraid of stairs ☑️
Unhelpfully small appendages☑️
Barks repetitive meaningless statements☑️ pic.twitter.com/K0QGGPdggn

— Tom Neenan (@TNeenan) January 29, 2017

From the Scottish Sunday Herald TV guide - a preview of the Trump inauguration ceremony.
( Read more... )

This might sound weird, but this morning, Alex Salmond was on the radio, talking about Donald Trump, and something he mentioned made me pause. He was talking about meeting Trump many times in the past when the Orange Man came over to do business in Scotland. Putting aside how well or otherwise that business went, Salmond mentioned that Trump then was a paid up Democrat, a Clinton supporter and showed no evidence of the most outrageous opinions he expressed during the campaign. (He was still disgustingly sexist but that's another matter).

Salmond mused that he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing to think that all of the anti muslim, anti Mexican racist bollocks, together with most of the radical and obnoxious views Trump spouted during the last few months, were in fact things he truly believed in, or lies said to garner free publicity and get the most ignorant and fearful voters onside.

Shades of Brexit again, actually - given that the likes of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove didn't actually think their campaign would win and said what they did in order to further their own personal agendas...

BUT. If Trump was lying (and we all know he's an inveterate fibber without any scruples), that conversely gives me some hope for the future. If he didn't really believe in that idiotic wall, exporting immigrants, banning Muslims, criminalising abortion etc etc then perhaps he won't follow through.

I don't know. He's going to have a lot of explaining to do to all the Trump supporters who thought those things were aces if he doesn't now make them happen. But still. A tiny morsel of hope gleaming amongst the steaming pile of shit.

There's always a Misha and the Queen picture to do, and I did wait a bit this year before claiming it, in case someone else wanted to have a go. Nobody did.
This year's was On a desolate, dusty prairie, a ranch hand rescues the local school marm from a runaway horse. Create a drawing of( Images under the cut! )

This is a long article and takes some time to read and absorb, but it's really thought provoking. Where the conclusions drawn here about ISIS lie, in the light of ISIS claiming responsibiliity for the Paris attrocities, I'm not sure, but if 90% of this is correct, it actually gives me a little hope. Click on the picture to read the article.

I've been having the usual debates with my predominantly (and in some cases it has to be said, rabidly) Republican friends on Facebook as a result of them posting various rants about the current situation with the Government Shutdown.  Why won't Obama negotiate, they cry.  Why won't the President back down and talk about a solution, because the republicans are offering solutions left right and centre, aren't they?  Or should that be right, right and even farther right?

Anyway, after one of them posted an quite frankly incredible rant about Obama prohibiting Catholisism!!!!!! I discovered this article which shows that the concept underpinning Obamacare is in fact a Republican idea. I don't think I will show this to my FB friends as I fear they are a lost cause.

But here's a summary for the record.

A brief timeline of Republicans and the individual mandate:

1960s: President Kennedy subtly hints at universal healthcare for America. Republicans don’t know how to react.
1970s: Republican President Nixon offers market based solution and employer mandate.
1980s: Republican think tank comes up with individual mandate.
1990s: Democrats offer ‘HillaryCare’ a step on the path to universal healthcare.
1990s: Republicans respond by sponsoring market-based Acts with individual mandate attached.
1990s: Republicans propose individual mandate, to prevent government-run healthcare.
2000s: Republicans create individual mandate system in Massachusetts.
2010s: Democrats throw out universal healthcare goal, adopt Republican individual mandate idea.
2010s: Republicans forget that it was their idea for decades, and decide it’s actually Marxist.

And in conclusion, all I can say is - what a damn shame the Democrats backed down from trying to get you Yanks universal health care.  Surely you, the richest nation in the world, could have come up with a scheme that could have taken the best aspects of the various public health care systems around the world and made something wonderful for your nation.

Do not rest in peace, Thatcher. Not while the damage you did lives on.



I saw a newspaper picture from the political
campaign
A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously
in pain
She spills with compassion, as that young child's
face in her hands she grips
Can you imagine all that greed and avarice
coming down on that child's lips
Well I hope I don't die too soon
I pray the Lord my soul to save
Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave
Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live
long enough to savour
That's when they finally put you in the ground
I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down

When England was the whore of the world
Margeret [sic] was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear as
the black tarmacadam
Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't
haunted by every tiny detail
'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands
all she thought of was betrayal

And now the cynical ones say that it all ends
the same in the long run
Try telling that to the desperate father who just
squeezed the life from his only son
And how it's only voices in your head and
dreams you never dreamt
Try telling him the subtle difference between
justice and contempt
Try telling me she isn't angry with this pitiful
discontent
When they flaunt it in your face as you line up
for punishment
And then expect you to say "Thank you"
straighten up, look proud and pleased
Because you've only got the symptoms, you
haven't got the whole disease
Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin-can
filled up with dreams then poured down
the drain
Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being
blown to bits or beaten and maimed
Who takes all the glory and none of the shame

Well I hope you live long now, I pray the Lord
your soul to keep
I think I'll be going before we fold our arms
and start to weep
I never thought for a moment that human life
could be so cheap
'Cos when they finally put you in the ground
They'll stand there laughing and tramp the
dirt down

This is religious fundamentalism at its worst - if we can help stop a government passing an insane law that will sentence gay people to death just by signing a petition, we should.

This is what it says:

To President Museveni of Uganda, Members of the Review Committee, Parliament, and donor governments:

We stand with citizens across Uganda who are calling on their government to withdraw the Anti-Homosexual Bill, and to protect the universal human rights embodied in the Ugandan constitution. We urge Uganda’s leaders and donors to join us in rejecting persecution and upholding values of justice and tolerance.

No get over there and sign, please!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homophobia_petition/?copy

This is religious fundamentalism at its worst - if we can help stop a government passing an insane law that will sentence gay people to death just by signing a petition, we should.

This is what it says:

To President Museveni of Uganda, Members of the Review Committee, Parliament, and donor governments:

We stand with citizens across Uganda who are calling on their government to withdraw the Anti-Homosexual Bill, and to protect the universal human rights embodied in the Ugandan constitution. We urge Uganda’s leaders and donors to join us in rejecting persecution and upholding values of justice and tolerance.

No get over there and sign, please!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homophobia_petition/?copy

Thanks to nanoochka for this
So it seems I stand more with handy bendy Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and the Dali Lama than with Stalin, which is reassuring...

My Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: -6.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.51

And compared with some world leaders....

So there you go.  A definite leftie libertarian.  You can take the test yourself here if you are interested!