adjective ag·a·tho·kak·o·log·i·cal \¦a-gə-(ˌ)thō-ˌka-kə-¦lä-ji-kəl\
Composed of both good and evil. From Ancient Greek ἀγαθός (agathós, “good”) and κακός (kakós, “bad”).
There may be an opposite fault; for indeed upon the agathokakological globe there are opposite qualities always to be found in parallel degrees, north and south of the equator.– Robert Southey, The Doctor, Etc.
© C. Ford.
Finished the last area of embroidered background yesterday. Current Hours: 1,056, Skeins Used: 153.
Black-capped Chickadee, click for full size.
© C. Ford.
General Motors: GM announced Monday that it will lay off 1,300 workers at a Detroit plant. The workers make the Chevy Volt, in addition to the Chevy Impala and Buick LaCrosse.
Those job cuts are in addition to 2,000 other GM (GM) employees who will lose their jobs within a month.
Boeing: Layoffs are nothing new for Boeing in 2016 — the company has already fired thousands as demand for jumbo jets slumps. But Boeing (BA) told employees Monday it will continue to cut jobs at its commercial airplane unit in 2017, citing fierce competition with rival Airbus and a drop in new orders.
Airbus also told its labor unions in November that it was cutting around 1,200 jobs.
GoPro: The action camera company announced plans last month to lay off 200 workers. That comes after it laid off more than 100 employees in January.
Many of the latest job cuts come as GoPro (GPRO, Tech30) plans to shut down its entertainment unit. That group was responsible for featuring videos shot on GoPro’s action cameras.
Xerox: The company is splitting in two before the end of the year, and company President Jeff Jacobson says layoffs are coming — even though the point of the split was to stem the company’s sales slide.
He declined to say how many will be let go, but the 39,000 employees at Xerox’s (XRX) legacy copier business are most likely to be impacted.
Caterpillar: After laying off 10,000 employees last fall, Caterpillar (CAT) said last week that it will issue another round of pink slips.
The construction giant didn’t say how many jobs will be cut, but it said it will try to place as many as possible in new jobs at the company. A post-recession rebound has proved difficult for Caterpillar. Its forecast for the coming year is pretty dour.
The Limited: The clothing store told all 248 employees at its Ohio home office that their jobs are in jeopardy. Earlier this month, the company said on an earnings call that it is looking for cash to keep the company alive, and it might have to shutter stores.
Ho Ho Fucking Ho. And people think Trump is going to magically fix this? The man who handed Carrier millions upon millions so they can automate people out of their jobs? Dream on, as you fall into poverty.
More bad news here: Trump ignores Indiana factory relocating to Mexico.
Via CNN.
Kazuaki Horitomo is a California-based Japanese artist who combines two of his great passions – tattoos and cats – into one. As an illustrator and tattoo artist, Horitomo is steeped in the Japanese tradition of tebori (a technique of tattooing by hand) and his illustrations reflect that. Some of our favorites works are the humorous and surreal depictions of cats performing tebori on other cats.
Horitomo’s brand Monmon Cats derives its name from monmon, the old slang word in Japanese for tattoos. Horitomo currently works at State of Grace Tattoo in San Jose. But if tattooing isn’t your thing, you can also pick up his book, or buy prints from his shop. Or you can just follow him on Instagram.
Via Spoon & Tamago, where you can see much more! Now I want to tattoo one of the cats with rats.
© nicolasjoseschirado, fotalia.
For all the years of screaming over the Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare by the sea of conservative idiots, who insisted death panels would be a comin’ for everyone, what actually happened was that a multitude of people not only lived, but they got healthier, too. That’s generally what happens when people have heath care. In my view, ACA isn’t enough, uStates should grow the fuck up and join all the places in the world who have figured out that healthy citizens are a good thing, and that healthcare is a basic right.
Oh, but we can’t have that, not here in this pit formerly known as America, why that, that might smack of socialism, oh no! It’s juvenile, willfully ignorant conservatives who are going to bring death, which to them, is by far more preferable than having healthcare for all citizens. Now, those who are sitting on nice piles of cash and can afford good coverage, they aren’t worried. It’s just the rest of us who will suffer, and conservatives have never rated on the empathy scale, they just don’t give a fuck about anyone except themselves. Oh, yes, conservatives are, by and large, spiteful assholes, and they just can’t wait to kill off healthcare, out of spite. Yes, a lot of people are going to die because of spite. There’s no reason to dismantle the ACA, it works. It’s not the best plan, but given how many obstacles conservatives kept throwing, it was a near act of brilliance to get most people desperately needed healthcare. When people don’t have healthcare, they can’t face any debt care would bring, and medical debt piles up fast, ask anyone who has had a medical emergency. One emergency can land you in a pit of poverty for a lifetime. Just why in the fuckety fuck do moron-minded conservatives think that’s a dandy plan? So, when people have no insurance, no care, they just keep going until they drop, literally.
Why does that define “exceptional America”? Because to me, that’s a good description of a 3rd world pit with despotic rule, where there’s at most a shrug over people dying. Condemning people to death should not be a source of pride. It should be a source of shame, but, conservatives seem to have no sense of shame, along with no empathy.
Not long ago, Americans learned that the average life expectancy for white people in this country – those most likely to have voted for Donald Trump – actually declined for the first time in many years. The pathologies and frustrations believed to have driven that decline may have motivated the tiny handful of votes that gave Trump his Electoral College victory.
But not long after their euphoria over his inauguration fades, they are going to learn why his administration is so likely to drive those statistics in the wrong direction. Despite his promise to protect Social Security and Medicare – and his vow to replace the Affordable Care Act with “something much better” – Trump’s cabinet appointees and his allies in Congress plan ruinous changes to those programs. And that will mean ruin, and in thousands of cases death, for the mostly white and working class people who depend so heavily on them.
Unless the Republicans come up with a plausible bill to replace Obamacare, which has eluded them since 2009, millions of their constituents will lose the health insurance they have only recently gained – and yes, thousands of those people will die next year.
From left to right: Trump International Hotel, President-elect Trump, Ambassador of Kuwait Salem Al-Sabah, The Four Seasons Hotel CREDIT: AP/Flickr/Composite.
The Embassy of Kuwait allegedly cancelled a contract with a Washington, D.C. hotel days after the presidential election, citing political pressure to hold its National Day celebration at the Trump International Hotel instead.
A source tells ThinkProgress that the Kuwaiti embassy, which has regularly held the event at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, abruptly canceled its reservation after members of the Trump Organization pressured the ambassador to hold the event at the hotel owned by the president-elect. The source, who has direct knowledge of the arrangements between the hotels and the embassy, spoke to ThinkProgress on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to speak publicly. ThinkProgress was also able to review documentary evidence confirming the source’s account.
In the early fall, the Kuwaiti Embassy signed a contract with the Four Seasons. But after the election, members of the Trump Organization contacted the Ambassador of Kuwait, Salem Al-Sabah, and encouraged him to move his event to Trump’s D.C. hotel, the source said.
Kuwait has now signed a contract with the Trump International Hotel, the source said, adding that a representative with the embassy described the decision as political. Invitations to the event are typically sent out in January.
[…]
Less than two weeks after that event, Politico reported that Bahrain, another Middle Eastern monarchy, would host its National Day reception at the Trump hotel on December 7.
Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) harshly criticized the Bahrain event, writing in a letter to Trump that he should “reject all business income from the Bahraini monarchy and all other foreign governments.” McGovern wrote that Trump’s “private commercial dealings with a repressive governments” endanger the fundamental principle that the president will “act solely in our country’s interests.”
The Republic of Azerbaijan also recently co-hosted a Hanukkah party at the Trump hotel, despite the anti-Semitic undertones of the Trump campaign. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, blasted the decision as “tone deaf at best, naked sycophancy at worst.”
Smaller countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan may perceive patronizing the Trump Hotel as an easy way to gain access and favor with the incoming Trump administration.
And there’s the tone of the new administration, as corrupt as could possibly be. I’m not altogether sure why conservatives aren’t in a tizzy over this, perhaps they feel this is just normal rich guy privilege, or they are hoping to get a slice of the fat pie. It’s a free for all now, whoever manages to toss a bit of money and flattery Trump’s way will get whatever they want. Today’s mood: I want off this ship before it sinks all the way down.
UPDATE: Pressure on Kuwait to move event to Trump hotel a ‘paradigm impeachable offense’.
Blue Jay Whoooosh. Click for full size.
© C. Ford.
CREDIT: AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici.
Everything is going to hell in a handbasket. A young man, very upset about events in Aleppo and Syria, has murdered the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov. There’s just no end to the bad news, just more of it.
CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.
The day after his inauguration, a group of people with enough money will have the chance to hang out with President Donald Trump and even get to go hunting with his sons.
That’s according to a draft invitation obtained by TMZ for an “Opening Day” reception on January 21 at the Washington Convention Center. The event will “celebrate the great American tradition of outdoor sporting, shooting, fishing, and conservation,” and the highest sponsors (those shelling out $1 million and $500,000) will receive a private reception and photo opportunity with Trump, as well as a “multi-day hunting and/or fishing excursion” with Donald Trump Jr. and/or Eric Trump.
Both Donald Jr. and Eric have been actively involved with the Trump transition, and Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has indicated it’s still possible they might have positions in the West Wing. This is despite the fact that Trump has indicated they will manage his business while he’s President.
This is only the latest example of access to the Trump family — and thus his administration — being for sale. Ivanka Trump, who is considering moving to DC and possibly even serving as de-facto First Lady, recently attempted to auction off a coffee date for $500,000 through CharityBuzz, but it was abruptly canceled after many questioned the ethics of so blatantly selling special access to the first family. According to the Trump Organization, they decided to hold off on the auction until “our team was aligned on steps moving forward.”
There’s more at Think Progress. I just, I, uh, can’t. The sheer amount of wrong is overwhelming, and why aren’t people seriously skeeved out over Ivanka acting the wife all the time? I’m going to bury myself in work and pretend this is all a bad dream.
Roy Cooper (Wake Forest University/Flickr).
Following a surprise move by the Charlotte City Council, Gov.-elect Roy Cooper said Monday that Legislative leaders have promised him to call a special session Tuesday to repeal House Bill 2.
“Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB 2 in full,” Cooper said in a statement. “I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full.
“Full repeal will help to bring jobs, sports and entertainment events back and will provide the opportunity for strong LGBT protections in our state.”
Cooper’s announcement followed the Charlotte City Council’s 10-0 vote Monday morning to rescind the LGBT ordinance that prompted House Bill 2.
One piece of great news, on a day which is going to be an all around bad one for those of us who aren’t into fascism.
The Charlotte Observer has the full story.
From Think Progress: Charlotte surprisingly repeals LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance in advance of hyped HB2 repeal.
In a 10–0 vote, the Charlotte City Council abruptly repealed the city’s LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance Monday morning in what appears to be a deal with the North Carolina legislature to repeal HB2. This is a compromise they’ve rejected twice before, and it’s unclear what motivates their sudden faith that state lawmakers will actually put an end to the discriminatory law.
Indeed, there’s every reason to believe that both Charlotte and Governor-elect Roy Cooper (D) have been duped.
Alexander Dugin, the leader of the Eurasian Movement (far right) takes part in a Russian nationalists’ rally in support of Serbia in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, April 27, 2008. CREDIT: AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel.
Many Americans, primarily conservative, bigoted ones, are often found across the ‘net, bemoaning globalism. American wannabe nazis don’t have issues with globalism, they embrace it.
Aleksandr Dugin, is a radical, Trump supporting, self-proclaimed philosopher from Russia. Traditionalism and cultural purity are two of his most valued philosophical tenets. And while his influence may be overstated in Russia, his ideology has infiltrated white nationalist circles in the United States and parts of Europe.
One of Dugin’s biggest fans is Richard Spencer, the head of the racist National Policy Institute (NPI) and the man who popularized the term “alt-right.” Dugin’s work has been published on Spencer’s former website Alternate Right. And Spencer’s wife, Nina Spencer (who also goes by the aliases Nina Kouprianova, or Byzantina) has regularly translated Dugin’s work into English on her blog (though the blog gives the disclaimer saying that translated words are not necessarily the views of the translator).
[…]
Spencer’s adherence to Dugin’s ideology was shown as recently as last month when he tweeted a message of Dugin’s, using the same “swamp” metaphor that President-elect Donald Trump has employed when pledging to “drain the swamp.”
Dugin on the "global swamp." pic.twitter.com/hvdbmPFQV3
— Richard ? Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) November 12, 2016
The Swamp is to become the new name for globalist sect, open society adepts, lgbt maniacs, Soros army, posthumanists and so on. Drain the Swamp is not only American categorial imperative. It is global challenge for all of us. Every people now is under power of its own Swamp. We all together should start the fight agains russian Swamp, french Swamp, german Swamp, and so on. We need to purge our societies from the influence of Swamp. So instead of fighting between ourselves let us drain it together. Drainers of the whole world should be united.
So, a purge. A purge of all those undesirable types from all societies everywhere. Does it take three whole guesses to figure out what their solution to all us excess people might be?
Full story at Think Progress.
UPDATE: Bannon and Dugin, Common Ground.
Bannon referred to Dugin while answering questions at a talk hosted by the religious right wing Human Dignity Institute in the summer of 2014.
“When Vladimir Putin, when you really look at some of the underpinnings of some of his beliefs today, a lot of those come from what I call Eurasianism,” said Bannon. “He’s got an adviser [Dugin] who harkens back to Julius Evola and different writers of the early 20th century who are really the supporters of what’s called the traditionalist movement, which really eventually metastasized into Italian fascism. A lot of people that are traditionalists are attracted to that.”
Bannon is referring to Dugin here. Dugin is a proponent of traditionalism — a philosophy in which all moral and religious truths come from divine revelation and are perpetuated by tradition — and counts Evola, an influential Italian fascist, as one of his influences. This speech took place in 2014, when Dugin’s support for the annexation of Crimea had him prominently in the news.
Altogether now, aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww.
Via Out.