November 9, 2018

Germany: Merkel warns of modern racism on Kristallnacht 80th

https://www.yahoo.com/news/german-president-calls-democratic-patriotism-100608921.html

BERLIN (AP) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany's main Jewish leader warned against tolerating modern-day anti-Semitism and racism as they marked the 80th anniversary Friday of the Nazis' anti-Jewish Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass," pogrom.

On Nov. 9, 1938, Jews were terrorized throughout Germany and Austria. At least 91 people were killed, hundreds of synagogues burned down, some 7,500 Jewish businesses vandalized, and up to 30,000 Jewish men arrested, many of whom were taken away to concentration camps.

Twenty years after Germany's defeat in World War I and 5½ years after Adolf Hitler took power, state-driven anti-Semitism "made it possible for many Germans to live out long-held resentments, to live out hatred and violence," Merkel said. "With the November pogrom, the road to the Holocaust was mapped out."

Merkel spoke in a ceremony at a Berlin synagogue. The head of Germany's Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, said the building was set alight in 1938 and the blaze extinguished relatively quickly only so as not to endanger neighboring houses.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht

November 7, 2018

"Just got a terse message from the same friend. Three words: Fuck this guy"

https://twitter.com/20committee/status/1060280175835992064

and





https://twitter.com/20committee/status/831872441597194241


all this FWIW. I hope this Schindler guy actually has good contacts in the intelligence community.

November 6, 2018

(HuffPost writer) went to a Trump rally asked...supporters if they care whether he lies all the time

https://twitter.com/aterkel/status/1059484451321925632


https://twitter.com/svdate



Response by ex-CIA Michael Hayden:

https://twitter.com/GenMhayden/status/1059782504939438080

In case you lurking Trumpers don't understand this phenomenon, it's called A FREAKING CULT. Time to
deprogram yourselves and get with democracy.

November 3, 2018

Milbank, WaPo: We have no excuses now, our eyes are wide open (indictment of Trump)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-time-our-eyes-are-wide-open/2018/11/02/c14d4cf2-deca-11e8-85df-7a6b4d25cfbb_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f3f1b89e6107

This time, our eyes are wide open.

Exactly two years ago, many Americans held their noses and voted for Donald Trump. Some were conservatives willing to tolerate his vulgar excesses in hopes of getting tax cuts, a repeal of Obamacare and a friendlier judiciary. Others had Clinton fatigue. Sure, they were concerned about Trump’s words about Mexican “rapists” and what he liked to do to women — but maybe those were just words. Maybe Trump could build a coalition across traditional party lines to get things done.

Now, all Americans have seen the results with their own eyes:

Trump defended neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville.

November 1, 2018

Per my last email (doggie pic)

https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/1057621447294812160

November 1, 2018

This is Dog Ross. He never makes mistakes, just happy accidents. Believes there's nothing wrong with

This is Dog Ross. He never makes mistakes, just happy accidents. Believes there’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a fren. Even with a limited perception of color, he’s still a painting legend. 14/10

https://twitter.com/dog_rates/status/1057668882528432134

October 31, 2018

Happy Halloween! Or, if you're a programmer, merry Christmas! 🎃🎄 Do you understand this joke?

https://twitter.com/codeorg/status/1057659207070216192

I'm not a programmer, so I don't get the joke. Can someone explain it, please ? Thanks and Happy Halloween/Samhain

October 31, 2018

Elvira apologizes after fight breaks out at Orlando convention over her exclusive Funko Pops

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/10/30/elvira-apologizes-after-fight-breaks-out-at-orlando-convention-over-her-exclusive-funko-pops



In case you didn't hear, there was a whole thing over at the Spooky Empire horror convention this weekend.

A limited-edition Elvira Funko Pop, exclusive to the horror and pop-culture convention, caused fights to break out between actual, real-life adults when the plastic figurines didn't arrive on time Friday night.

The cops were called in. Arrests were allegedly made. A whole thing.

Well, Cassandra Peterson, aka Elvira, made a statement over the weekend blaming "resellers and scammers" for the problems with the line, and urges fans to boycott the purchase of resold figures on eBay and other sites.

*end of excerpt*

Yes, I know it's not related to the midterm, politics, or anything else serious, but I figured we all need a smile.

October 30, 2018

Nelson compares 'tribal' U.S. politics to Rwanda before genocide

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/413840-nelson-compares-tribal-us-politics-to-rwanda-before-genocide

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) during a campaign event over the weekend compared the heated U.S. political climate to the escalating "tribal" politics that preceded the Rwandan genocide, according to CNN.

Nelson made the comment after a week that saw an ardent Trump supporter send over a dozen explosives to high-profile Democrats and CNN, as well as a mass shooting in Pittsburgh that was reportedly the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.

"When a place gets so tribal that the two tribes won't have anything to do with each other ... that jealousy turns into hate," Nelson said at an event in Florida City, Fla., according to CNN. "And we saw what happened to the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda, it turned into a genocide. A million-people hacked to death within a few months. And we have got to watch what's happening here."

He said the Rwandan genocide could be "instructive" to people in the U.S.

September 25, 2018

(Jewish Group) Germany's surging far-right party is trying to attract an unlikely group of voters...

Germany's surging far-right party is trying to attract an unlikely group of voters: Jews


Germany's surging far-right party is trying to attract an unlikely group of voters: Jews
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/09/25/germanys-surging-far-right-party-is-launching-an-association-attract-an-unlikely-group-voters-jews/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7556a46c0a80

COLOGNE, Germany — Judging from some of the headlines the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has prompted, one wouldn’t assume that it’s also seeking to be an alternative for Germany’s Jewish voters.

For instance, party leader Alexander Gauland stated quite recently that “Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of birds--- in over 1,000 years of successful German history.” Last year, leading AfD figure Björn Höcke called Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial a “memorial of disgrace” and urged Germans to stop feeling guilty for Nazi crimes. Then there’s AfD politician Martin Hohmann, who just celebrated his return to Parliament after more than a decade’s absence following his expulsion from the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union party over anti-Semitic remarks.

Yet, on Oct. 7, the AfD is expected to launch its first Jewish association, in a move that has triggered a fierce backlash among other Jewish organizations. The announcement comes as the AfD’s popularity across the country is growing, with polls showing it ahead of the center-left Social Democrats as the country’s second-most-popular party.

The controversial launch of the AfD’s Jewish association also comes after months of anti-Semitic incidents that have rattled German Jewish communities. Even though top AfD officials have publicly condemned the incidents, Jewish organizations have accused the far-right party of playing into the hands of anti-Semites.