Off-topic, I know, but don't you all need a happy break?

Amazing photos depict man loading the sun into his SUV

The series of images were taken by his photographer wife, Diana Badmaeva, who aligned him perfectly with the setting sun to make it look like he is carrying the celestial body to the vehicle and stuffing it in.

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MOre info and video at link.

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/amazing-photos-man-loading-sun-suv

Just now RE people refusing to testify. CHris specifically asked what are you going to do about people refusing to answer or to testify? SHe didn't answer. SHe walked around how outrageous it was and said nothing about what they might do about it. I wish Chris had pushed the question. I wish all the media would.

Anyone have another viewpoint on this?

than gun control. I was at a town hall about six months ago when our state reps and senator were obviously just transitioning to the new terminology as several times they would start to say gun control and then correct themselves. There were a couple of gun lovers there accusing our electeds of wanting to take their guns away, but the reply was no, we just want gun safety.

It may seem like just semantics, but I thought it was much more effective framing. Lakoff would approve.

that we don't want to miss.
EDited to add: OMG one interview is Peter STruck's attorney.

Found this today and it is so relevant. I had never heard this story and thought you all would love it. He is so tuned in to reading a group and knowing just what will comfort people. Below the story is a video of Joan Baez singing "The President Sang Amazing Grace" for those of you who may not have seen it. Get your hankies out first.

“…when he first raised the idea (of singing Amazing Grace) with first lady Michelle Obama and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, it was met with skepticism.
“Why on earth would that fit in?” the first lady said in reaction to the idea, according to Jarrett, who was with the Obamas as they departed the White House aboard Marine One on their way to the funeral in South Carolina.

snip

The president went on to explain his thinking to Jarrett and the first lady, who had yet to read the president’s prepared eulogy, during the helicopter ride.
“I think if I sing, the church will sing with me,” Obama said, according to Jarrett, who recalled the story during a question answer session at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival.

But even then, President Obama hadn’t made his mind up whether he would in fact sing. “I don’t know whether I’m going to do it, but I just wanted to warn you two that I might sing,” Jarett recalled him saying. “We’ll see how it feels at the time.”

But as soon as the president took to podium to begin the eulogy, Jarrett said, it was clear the mood was right. “From the first time he started to speak, the church was clearly with him,” Jarrett said. “He knew they were with him.”
Before the president began to sing, Jarrett observed that the president paused for a moment. And she later asked him, “Were you thinking about whether or not you were going to sing?”

“Oh no, I knew I was going to sing, I was just trying to figure out what key to sing in,” the president said in response to Jarrett.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story-president-obama-singing-amazing-grace-charleston-funeral/story?id=32264346&fbclid=IwAR2JJfaXyivj87te-2p21XqrN83AAdVeXPVItB7AUDo-hNlJlHJHOBBJ0SA

&fbclid=IwAR0dwnHlS5zrRkq2MjoZXr17fxhSA9YQB0wndjW8JLt6ALwTxkiJ8qXQ62c

“I was driving when I heard ‘The President Sang Amazing Grace,’” Joan Baez told The Atlantic, “and I had to pull over to make sure I heard whose song it was because I knew I had to sing it.” The 77-year-old folk legend included the song in her final album, Whistle Down The Wind, released in early March. Originally written and performed by Zoe Mulford following the 2015 mass shooting in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, Baez’s rendition of “The President Sang Amazing Grace” has been animated in a powerful new video. Read more: ex/556574/joan-baez-amazing-grace/

"The President Sang Amazing Grace" is performed by Joan Baez, written by Zoe Mulford, and animated in this video by Jeff Scher. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

A 6-year-old was swept out to sea, and a group of brothers dove in after her
Marisa Iati
1 day ago

The girl on the pink flamingo-shaped raft was floating away quickly, screaming as her father yelled for a lifeguard who didn’t appear.
Four brothers, who were visiting Ireland from the D.C. area, had just unpacked their towels after arriving at Portmarnock Beach near Dublin, where they had expected to spend a relaxing afternoon Monday. Before they could think about it, they were sprinting into the sea and swimming toward the girl as fast as they could during the almost hour-long rescue.

“I knew we were getting deep, but I didn’t care,” Declan Butler, 18, said Wednesday in an interview. “I just didn’t want to give up on her.”

Snip

Two days after they saved the 6-year-old, the brothers were still thinking about an unlikely twist of fate: They had traveled to Ireland to celebrate the life of their recently deceased grandfather, whose brother drowned on the same date decades before the rescue.

“It’s kind of like this godly, guardian angel kind of feeling,” Walter said, “that the same day he drowned 64 years ago is the day we actually saved the life of a 6-year-old girl.”

See link for details of the rescue. So inspiring.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/a-6-year-old-was-swept-out-to-sea-and-a-group-of-brothers-dove-in-after-her/ar-AAEQGV3?OCID=ansmsnnews11#page=2

Today after the hearing, on her show Nicole was talking to Rachel on the phone, wondering if after what Mueller said about election vulnerability, now FINALLY Mitch and the Rs will get behind the election security bill and puzzling over why they haven't been willing to support it, as in can't they see the need for it?

I was surprised that even Rachel doesn't seem to be able to connect the dots on why they want to keep the election infrastructure insecure and subject to manipulation.

Is there anyone here who doesn't get that it's because it benefits them? It's how they win?

Insightful opinion piece on the broader culture that supports "how heterosexual pedophilia is both normalized and often cast as aspirational: the reward for male success."


Opinion
US news The Guardian
Too many men think teenage girls are fair game. That gave Jeffrey Epstein cover
Moira Donegan

Epstein is an extreme example of how heterosexual pedophilia is both normalized and often cast as aspirational: the reward for male success

Wed 10 Jul 2019 17.02 BST

Snip

It seems clear that Epstein was protected by his many powerful connections, as many abusers are, and because they were wealthy, powerful and famous, their protection was extremely effective at shielding him from consequence. And like other rich people, Epstein used his wealth to evade the criminal justice system, purchasing the services of skilled defense attorneys and leveraging his status in order to procure the favor of prosecutors.

But Epstein, with his opulent life of multiple homes, private jets and lavish parties for the elite that were populated heavily by girls and very young women, also benefited from a culture that interprets male heterosexual pedophilia of his type as benign or even aspirational, a facet of the good life and a privilege of the ruling class. There is a vision of the life of a very rich man that Epstein pursued for himself and that those around him approved of him having, and this vision is grounded heavily in a kind of indulgent sensualism, one in which the very rich man is privileged to enjoy lavish trips, rich wine, fine food and beautiful views.

The sexual abuse of teenage girls and young women is part of this vision; the pleasure that they afford the rich man is considered largely interchangeable with that that he gets from a rare steak or a nice cigar. But Epstein’s victims were not mere party props; they were not cocktails or expensive clothes. They were little girls. “I had braces on,” Epstein victim Courtney Wild told ABC news after his arrest. When she says that he abused her, she was 14.

Epstein was protected by his money, and by his well-positioned friends, and by the corruption of those tasked with stopping him. He was protected by the broad cultural antipathy toward treating sexual abuse as real harm, the often hostile reaction to the premise that teenage girls should matter as much as adult men. But he was also protected by an idea of teenage girls as fair game for adult men to pursue and abuse, by a chuckling acceptance of May-December “romances” that begin mid-March. But he was also protected by a vision of the good life in which girls and women are objects of pleasure more than they are subjects with their own free will and their own demands on justice, dignity and freedom. It is a life that many men still covet for themselves.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/10/teenage-girls-jeffrey-epstein-fair-game?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVUy0xOTA3MTE%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&CMP=GTUS_email

https://www.thedailybeast.com/house-judiciary-approves-subpoenas-for-12-mueller-witnesses-including-jared-kushner?via=newsletter&source=CSPMedition

This inspired a lot of us here when it happened. Good to have something inspiring!

Real-life divers and rescue volunteers who saved a soccer team of 12 Thai boys and their coach stuck in a cave will make their big-screen debut in a dramatization of the rescue operation. The Cave, which is directed by Thai-Irish director Tom Waller, will feature Belgian cave rescue diver Jim Warny and dive instructors Erik Brown from Canada, Mikko Paasi from Finland, and Tan Xiaolong from China, Variety reports. The real-life American journalist Todd Ruiz, who covered the rescue mission for a Thai-based English newspaper, will also play himself in the movie. Hundreds of extras in the film will be comprised of both actors and people who were present at the event. Waller told Variety: “Like the rescue itself, I wanted the cast to be made up of both local and international characters, speaking in their own tongue.” The movie is expected to be released in Thailand later this year.

and Chao's and his Chinese connections, while they're at it.

Remember this thread? (and more has come out since then, but I can never understand why it doesn't get more attention at least from Rachel, etc.)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211668442

Mitch McConnell and "The Chao Connection"
"...the Chao family had by far the most significant effect on McConnell’s personal life and career. Thanks to second wife Elaine and her family, McConnell became a millionaire many times over and forged ties with contacts at the highest echelons of Chinese government and business.

Elaine Chao’s father is shipping magnate, James Chao.
As McConnell’s acquaintance with Elaine Chao developed into a serious relationship, contributions began to pour into his campaign from the Chao family and their business associates. Their wedding ensured that the spigot was never turned off."

"Fast forward to 2018: McConnell retains his position as senate tyrant after the midterms; Elaine Chao is the Secretary of Transportation in Trump’s cabinet, and the Chao family maintains extensive contacts and business investments in China including a seat on the Board of the Bank of China which is partnered with the Russian VTB Bank that is part-owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska who shares ownership in Rusal with Viktor Vekselberg whose business partner Len Blavatnik donated $3.5million to McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund.
It’s little wonder then that he’s blocked every bipartisan bill to protect the Special Counsel’s investigation."

"...It’s hardly surprising when you realise how enmeshed he is in corruption. He must be terrified of being caught — so the last person he’d want to protect is Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
This also explains why he was so aggressively opposed to President Obama going public with warnings regarding Russia’s attack on American democracy in 2016."

"Because the tyrant in charge of the senate isn’t just flawed, isn’t just inadequate to the enormity of the situation, he’s also corrupt. No honorable man would subject his fellow citizens to such privation and misery if he had the power to prevent it."

"Addison Mitchell McConnell is without conscience, without benevolence and without honor."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/13/1825790/-McConnell-and-the-Agents-of-Power-and-Influence?utm_campaign=recent

Excellent breakdown of McTurtle's ties to Chinese and Russian oligarchs.