Here is the open thread for Sunday, June 7th. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
Last week we covered 8 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.
In addition to subscribing you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right. But you will get more than that for I often post links to articles I probably will not be writing about so it is a great way to keep up with what is happening.
The Twitter widget in the sidebar is fully interactive. This widget updates my tweets in real time and allows you to respond to or retweet my tweets right from the blog. It also allows you to tweet me right from America’s Watchtower. How cool is that! If you do not have a Twitter account what better reason do you need to sign up for one!
Well, the final two spots in my countdown are going to be quite anticlimactic for those of you who have been following the open threads for quite some time, but coming in at number 2 is in my opinion the greatest and most talented rock band currently on the face of the earth–Muse.
Muse is not pigeonholed into any one form of rock music; they have hard rocking songs, piano and synth songs, acoustic melodies, some electronic sounding music, and have even ventured into a little opera. My first Muse CD was The Resistance, which I purchased after becoming hooked on a song about revolution entitled “Uprising.”
At one point while I was playing this CD my wife asked me why we were listening to “Star Wars opera” but before long she was telling me how much she liked it. This is one of the rare occasions where my wife and I actually like the same band. Next I purchased the live concert DVD/CD called “HAARP” and from that point on I was hooked. Most of the videos I am going to post are from this concert and as you can see when you watch them lead singer Matt Bellamy puts every once of his body and his soul into his music.
First up is a piano ballad entitled “Hoodoo.” I have included this song because I am always struck by the last line of the song–“I’ve had recurring nightmares that I was loved for who I am and missed the opportunity to be a better man.” This always makes me think about not being complacent in life and always striving to be a better person no matter how good you might have it. I have been thinking about this line quite a bit lately…
Here is the acoustic based “City of Delusion” where Matt sings about hiding from the “all-seeing eye.”
Next up is “Thoughts of a Dying Atheist.”
Here is “New Born.”
Here is “Apocalypse Now” where Matt Bellamy appears to be singing about the Hegelian Dialectic with the lyrics “declare this an emergency, come on and spread a sense of urgency and pull us through.”
And lastly, here is the kick-ass extended live version of “Stockholm Syndrome.”
D-Day remembered: June 6th, 1944
“I am quite positive that the order must be given.”
With those words the plan to liberate Europe was put into motion. On June 4th allied ships set out across the English channel to begin the much waited for offensive scheduled to begin on June 5th. Torrential downpours forced the delay of the mission but the ships could not be turned around unless the invasion was rescheduled. Running the risk of being spotted by the Germans, the ships were to sit there and wait for another opportunity.
June 5th, the allied commanders met to discuss the weather and the future of the invasion while troops were floating in the channel with no place to go and nothing to do but wait for the decision whether the order was a go or whether the invasion would be postponed. The seas were rough and the waves were high, crashing down over the landing crafts. Many of the soldiers were sick and all of them were tired; physically tired and mentally tired. They were also tired of waiting; if there was to be an invasion they wanted to get it over with. To the troops waiting was worse than fighting.
The weather reports looked bad and most likely another postponement would be necessary but Dwight D. Eisenhower was waiting for the final weather report of the day before making his decision. A postponement now would mean calling off the plans altogether at this point and beginning again at a much later date. With the final weather report came some good news; it looked like there might be a break in the weather at just the right time and just long enough to begin the invasion.
Ike began to survey the other generals in the room for their opinions. Opinions were split; it appeared to some that it was too risky and that the weather report wasn’t good enough, or certain enough, to carry out the invasion. It still looked too risky.
Ironically it was a general who was known for his deliberate and careful pace on the battlefield, a general who many thought (including Ike himself and General Patton) moved too slow and was too cautious who may have swayed Dwight D Eisenhower; when asked, General Montgomery said “I would say GO!”
The fate of Europe hung in the balance.
Apparently George Clooney is in a new movie entitled Tomorrowland. In Bill Whittle’s new Afterburner video which is called “The Tomorrowland Lie” he takes on the message of this movie.
Here it is, enjoy:
Back at the beginning of 2014 NASA was forced to admit that there has been a pause in global warming for the last 15 years and the agency was determined to do something about it. Since that time NASA has been adjusting the historical temperatures in order to “hide the decline” in global temperatures and even some foreign nations joined in the act.
Now, armed with the newly adjusted historical temperatures, NOAA has predictably released a report which claims there has been no global warming hiatus over the last 15 years after all. Here is more:
Much study has been devoted to the possible causes of an apparent decrease in the upward trend of global surface temperatures since 1998, a phenomenon that has been dubbed the global warming “hiatus.” Here we present an updated global surface temperature analysis that reveals that global trends are higher than reported by the IPCC, especially in recent decades, and that the central estimate for the rate of warming during the first 15 years of the 21st century is at least as great as the last half of the 20th century. These results do not support the notion of a “slowdown” in the increase of global surface temperature.
John Boehner to push the House to give Barack Obama fast-track authority on the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Last month the Senate Republicans–who have been bitching and moaning about Barack Obama usurping power which the Constitution grants to the Congress–willingly handed Barack Obama more power which rightfully belongs to the Congress when they voted to give him fast-track authority on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Suddenly those Republicans who claim to believe in the Constitution and the separation of powers contained within basically said nevermind. Here at America’s Watchtower we call these Republicans selective Constitutionalists.
And speaking of selective Constitutionalists: John Boehner is now pushing the House to also hand over power given to the legislative branch in the Constitution over to the Executive branch as well.
Here is more:
The IRS admits amnestied illegal immigrants are eligible for a tax rebate even if they didn’t file tax returns
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen had previously told the Congress that illegal immigrants who benefited from Barack Obama’s Executive Action on immigration could receive tax rebates for years they worked in the United States illegally but only if they had filed tax returns for those years.
However he has now amended that statement and has admitted that amnestied illegal immigrants are now eligible for tax rebates even for years in which they never filed a tax return. Here is more:
Hillary Clinton made $1.8 million from speeches paid for by Keystone Pipeline investors
Hillary Clinton has an issue with taking positions on tough issues and that should send up a red flag to those voters who are inclined to support her bid for the Presidency. This should be a concern to her supporters on two issues specifically.
First there is the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Hillary Clinton, unlike Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, has refused to state whether or not she supports the trade deal but she has also refused to take a stand for or against another issue which is near and dear to Democratic voters and that is the Keystone pipeline–although at one point she did say she was “inclined” to support it.
Here is more:
Today the Senate started a very rare Sunday session in order to stop certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act from sun setting and as you all know Rand Paul has vowed to “force the expiration of the NSA illegal spy program.” Today he gave a five minute speech against the PATRIOT Act and the illegal NSA data-mining program which I thought I would share with my readers.
He made some great points, including reminding everybody that Barack Obama was against the PATRIOT Act before he was for it, but perhaps his best moment was when he asked “how can records be relevant to an investigation which hasn’t started?”
Open thread for Sunday, May 31st: ‘Tupelo’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, May 31st. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
Last week we covered 11 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.
In addition to subscribing you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right. But you will get more than that for I often post links to articles I probably will not be writing about so it is a great way to keep up with what is happening.
The Twitter widget in the sidebar is fully interactive. This widget updates my tweets in real time and allows you to respond to or retweet my tweets right from the blog. It also allows you to tweet me right from America’s Watchtower. How cool is that! If you do not have a Twitter account what better reason do you need to sign up for one!
Now on to my number three favorite band of all time: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. There really is no other band which sounds like this one in my opinion. Nick Cave has two distinct sounds; he can sit down at the piano and sing a ballad but he has a heavier, violent side which is still unique from all others.
I had trouble whittling this down to seven videos but seeing as how I have already used him in several open threads I decided not to use songs I have already used before so that made it slightly easier. I decided to start with a ballad and then to get increasingly heavier as the songs continue.
Here we go with “Wonderful Life”
Second up is “Do You Love Me”
Thirdly: “Oh My Lord”
Next is “As I Sat Sadly By Her Side.”
“The Good Son”
And here is “Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry”
And lastly is a song called “Tupelo.” This song is interesting because Nick Cave takes on the persona of an old school hell and brim fire preacher warning people the beast has descended upon Tupelo and he prophecizes about a coming king. But in this case the king he is talking about is the king of rock and roll–Elvis.
America's Watchtower 