This was written by my 24 year old niece

The past few days I've been trying to handle my own emotional and mental state as I bounce between overwhelming despair and the need to act. Over the past several years of senseless killings at the hands of police, I believed I had experienced nearly every emotion possible confronting the reality that this country views black people's very existence, my existence, as something to abuse, control, and ultimately eradicate .

At this point I'm left so heartbroken and weary for my people, for this country, and for the world at large. And, I do not have the energy to argue for my right to exist anymore. There are no more words I can say and no more conversations I can have that won't feel like another layer of trauma placed on my shoulders to carry.

Black people are done waiting for justice to be afforded to us. End of the conversation.

If after 400 years you still do not get why, I'm here to tell you that you probably never will. And, I am opting out of continually trying to explain it to people who refuse to listen, acknowledge, or try to understand.

Real justice and long-standing change does not happen silently. What I am seeing right now in the world is an unflinching scream by black people in the face of an abyss that is cold, hard, and stone-faced in it's refusal to see and protect us . But, it is a scream that once released, cannot be silenced and forgotten no matter how hard they will try.There is no going back because it does NOT work and there is no staying stagnant because we can almost all agree 2020 is a living nightmare.

I'm joining my voice in this collective scream - hoping against my own cautious heart and hundreds of years of precedent - that this country will truly move forward for the better because that is the only option worth any of this.

To friends and true allies on the front lines, I do see and appreciate your efforts. As we all probably realize by now, this is just the beginning and we have a long way to go.

Is anyone else feeling apprehension about the coming New Year?

For some reason, probably for many reasons, I'm just dreading 2020. First, it just sounds apocalyptic, like some far off future after "the bomb". That probably comes from being born in 1951.

But I'm terribly worried about what will happen both if Trump is convicted and removed, and if he is not. I think either way we could all wind up in a terrible mess...retribution and violence from his nutjob supporters if he is removed, and he'll be totally out of control and out for revenge if he is not.

The environment continues to crash at an ever accelerating rate. The insects are dying off, the birds are dying off, every summer is worse than the previous one, nothing seems to be done to check this downward spiral.

My country is seemingly hopelessly divided, and disgraced on the world stage, humiliated by our adversaries, and probably at the weakest point geopolitically since the 1930s.

The economy seems like a house of cards, running faster and faster on ever thinner fumes. Propped up by market manipulation and deficit Treasury spending. Half the country is living meal to meal. When that egg finally splats, it's going to get messy.

Lastly, what if by some combination of luck and thievery, Trump is re-elected. It will make 2019 seem like a walk in the park.

I'm worried. Really worried like I haven't been since the Cuban Missile Crisis, when we had actual leadership.

Anybody out there feeling the same?

Pound falls as Parliament to be suspended in September

The value of the pound has fallen following news that Parliament is to be suspended just days after MPs return to work on 3 September.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49493885

The Republicans don't want to Govern. They want to Rule

There's a difference. Good morning, that is all.

I have to vent. I have a big problem.

Yesterday my wife and I had to go to a meeting some two and half hours away, so we carpooled with two friends. We're in the back seat on the way home, and our friends are up front talking. My wife is checking her Facebook feed on her phone. She hands the phone to me and what do I see; a post about a Survey for Donald Trump, and there's sits my brother's name and my niece's name.

Now my niece, I can and have written off. She's racist. No if ands or buts, so I cut connection to her. Goodbye. She lives 2000 miles away.

My brother is another story. We lost our older and only brother earlier this year to Parkinsons, so it's just me and him left, our parents are long gone. He is 3 years older than me. We were at college together for a year. He is very, very different from me, but I have always loved and supported him, even when he made dumb-ass life decisions. I helped him with his kids' tuition in high school and college, because that's what family does and he's always broke. He recently retired but was what I'd call working poor. Or at least working broke. But what the hell, kids can do that, right? He always been a nice, simple, likable guy, dealing with life on a day to day basis.

But this? He's a Trump supporter. I woke up at 3am thinking about this. He's NEVER been interested in politics. Even when he was about to get his ass drafted, he was against the war in a mild sort of way; I was out in the streets. I'd call him a-political, but he voted, as far as I knew, for Democrats, for as long as I can remember. We don't talk politics because I know he's totally uninterested. So this a.m. I get up and go to his Facebook page because this put a maggot in my brain and I look at his likes; Donald Trump. Melania Trump. Ivanka Trump. Shit. I think his kids would kill him if they knew.

How fucked up is this. Now, you have to understand, he has been living with a black woman for over twenty years. He has two children, 23 and 20 (really bright, nice kids and very liberal) who consider themselves as black. He gets along well with his kids' black aunts and cousins. He lives in a majority black neighborhood. By every measure I can see, he doesn't have a racist bone in his body. In fact, quite the opposite. He has Hispanic friends and co-workers whom he likes and talks about. I been with him in south Texas and seen how he acts around people who speak Spanish. He totally enjoys the culture and people. He never rants and raves about immigrants, or anything, for that matter. He sometimes mildly bitches about how corrupt Illinois state government is, but shit, it is and has been our whole lives (I left at age 31). There's no sign. None. If someone told me he was a MAGA I'd laugh. But I saw it.

Folks, I just can't square this circle. Now I can get past someone who voted for Trump the first time around. You got duped. You got conned. You were pissed about something and you took it out in the ballot box. Whatever. But after two and a half years of this shit, you still support this racist, fascist, lying, thieving, hate monger, then frankly I want nothing whatsoever to do with you.

On top of all this, his birthday is in early August and he's coming out for a visit. For a week. How the hell am I going to deal with this. How do I get past this? I'm trying and failing to pretend I didn't see what I saw. I do not want to lose my last remaining close family. Should I confront him? If he acknowledges it, I swear I don't want him in my house. Should I pretend I didn't see it and just talk sports like we usually do? Is this too circumstantial?

Friends, I cannot fucking deal this this. I need a shrink. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I know others at DU have been in this fifth circle of hell. Thanks for listening. Rant temporarily over.

17 Jewish organizations send open letter demanding Stephen Millers dismissal

Last week, seventeen Jewish organizations penned an open letter and sent it to the White House calling for a dismissal of the far-right Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller. The letter claims Miller is guilty of “extreme viewpoints and advocacy of racist policies.” The protest was led by the National Council of Jewish Women.


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/2/12/1740913/-17-Jewish-groups-send-open-letter-demanding-Stephen-Miller-s-dismissal

Which of these outcomes do you think more likely

Question: What do we do if tomorrow morning, Trump pardons everyone.

Unconditionally. His idiot son, Kushner, Manafort, Flynn. The whole lot, top to bottom, even the Russians.

I posed this question in response to an O/P, and got very little in the way of response. But we all know Trump as no moral scruples whatsoever, so why wouldn't he pardon everyone? Game over, investigation done. Does he give a shit how it would look? All that would be left possible is his own impeachment, and the GOP has shown no inclination to go there.

So what would we do? I think we'd better consider this as a real possibility.

Love to hear everyone's thoughts. As far as I know, the President's pardon authority is total and cannot be overridden.

I was thinking of Trump's supporters and how they'll react at the end of this road we're on.

No matter how Trump goes down, and I believe he's going down, they will never accept it. If he resigns, if he's forced from office under the 25th amendment, if he's impeached, if he just has a heart attack and keels over on the 8th hole at Mar a Lago, they'll never believe it or accept it. It will be a liberal/Clinton/Obama conspiracy and we will have a severe internal fight, possibly even civil war, on our hands. His supporters have shown themselves to be able to believe anything, to be convinced of anything, and that anything is acceptable if it furthers their cause. I'm afraid I don't see this ending well. Comments?

My mother used to call it manners

I'm getting old (66 this year), but we didn't have political correctness when I was growing up. It was called basic manners. You didn't say mean things about people's skin color. You didn't say bad things about religion. You didn't know or want to know what they did in the privacy of their homes. It was simply none of your business, so keep your mouth shut. Now, in an over-reaction to what they deem "political correctness" Trump's followers are emboldened to say any damn thing that pops into their decaying heads. My mom would say they don't have any manners. And she'd be right.