Caturday

It is "kitten season" again. The shelters are overflowing.

Go adopt an adult cat and make room for the babies.

Or put your name in for one of the babies, once they've been weaned, spayed/neutered and have their shots.

Because It's Friday

Much Shay action on the Cass Scenic RR.

And a Heisler!

International Pushback

President Trump’s nominee to lead the United Nations migration agency has been knocked out of the race, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Ken Isaacs came in third behind Antonio Vitorino of Portugal and Laura Thompson of Costa Rica in a vote by delegates in Geneva.

The loss breaks a decades-long streak of Americans leading the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The IOM has been in existence for 67 years. It and its predecessor, came about because of the vast numbers of people displaced in Europe by the Second World War, coupled with the fact that a hell of a lot of those people didn't want to go back to their countries of origin.

Vitorino is only the second non-American to run the IOM.

This will be taken by the Trump Administration as an insult to King Donald I. Expect to see a move by Trump to slash the U.S.'s contribution to the IOM. Or, possibly, Trump will move the U.S. from being a member of the IOM to being an observer, like the nation that is run by his direct supervisor.

So Much for Civility From the Right

A West Virginia man has been charged after police said he threw feces at the Red Hen Tuesday while others were standing outside the restaurant protesting.

To al of those on the Right who are now, all of a sudden, bemoaning the lack of civility in political discourse, I say this:

Go look in the mirror.

The Right has been demonizing liberals for decades. Traitors, "libtards", you name it. Rush Limbaugh got rich doing that. Newt Gingrich made demonization of his opponents his calling card. Vice-President Cheney told Sen Leahy to "go fuck yourself." One pissant congressman heckled President Obama during a State of the Union Address.

Incivility of the Right has been a hallmark of the Right for a very long time. They have no trouble with Trump insulting people and generally acting like a kindergarten kid who has missed nap time.*

Businesses owned by Right-wingers have been putting up signs saying "no liberals" or "no Muslims" and do you see liberals out throwing horse manure at them? Do you see crowds of protesting liberals trying to shut down those businesses? You do not. Did anyone throw bull feces at the bakes and florists who deny services to gay couples? They did not.

The Right wants it both ways. They want to be able to scream demeaning insults, but as soon as they get called on it, they scream "you're not being civil."

So, to the Right, in the immortal words of Vice President Cheney:

__________________________________________________
* I apologize to kindergarteners for comparing them to Donald Trump.

Dead-Tree Death Spiral

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is dropping two days of print editions.

A few years ago, the P-G abandoned its self-owned printing plant for a new one in a rented building without rail access. The plant was many miles out of town and the building required very expensive refurbishing in order to take the weight and vibration of the presses. Over a decade ago, the P-G was clearly on the sort of downward trajectory that I wrote about back then.

Here is an oddity, though: The Tribune-Review was owned by a right-winger, Richard Scaife. The Post-Gazette has fallen under the control of a right-wing editor and publisher. Both papers lost readers and retreated from their print operations.

Maybe conservatives don't read. We know that Trump doesn't.

The Vibrator Song

A/K/A The Electric Slide.

Lyrics here.

When Might Barn' Get a Clue?

Over thirty years since Tennessee vs. Gardner, cops are finally being charged with shooting people in the back.

Can You Spell "Corruption", Boys & Girls? How About "Revolving Door"?

Francis Slay has been hired by Ferrovial, a Spanish company mulling a bid to lease St. Louis Lambert International Airport, in a move that would thrust the former St. Louis mayor back into a process he initiated before leaving office last year.

So Slay starts a process to sell a municipal asset of some greedy fucks, then, after he leaves office, goes to work for one of the sets of greedy fucks.

Vultures and hyenas. Slay will fit right in with them.

Interesting

A cop in East Pittsburgh, who shot a fleeing suspect int he back, has been charged with murder. Apparently, he couldn't keep his story straight, which is never a good thing.

The "Trumpcels"

Translation: If you're a young Trump staffie, chances are you're not going to get laid very often.

“A lot of times you’ll connect with someone [on an app] and they’ll Google you, find out you worked for Trump’s campaign, and then it’s pretty much all downhill from there,” says a Trump Administration official.

Heh.

(H/T via the Infidel)