s skippy the bush kangaroo

skippy the bush kangaroo



Tuesday, July 25, 2017

tuesday on the rocks

misinforming the majority: a deliberate strategy of right-wing libertarians

has sexual harassment in silicone valley reached a tipping point?

data shows spanking children produces same result as physical abuse

facebook ignores white extremists

men can be so hormonal 
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Monday, July 24, 2017

monday drive

half of americans are spending their entire paycheck

oregon approves measure requiring insurers to cover abortion

outside collectors for the irs accused of illegal practices

universities are denouncing trump's policies while using them on their own employees

tennessee judge offers inmates reduced jail time if they get sterilized
posted by skippy at 12:00 AM | 0 comments

Sunday, July 23, 2017

environmental news stories sunday

for those stories that are not "alternative facts" based.
a whopping 91% of plastic isn't recycled. billions of tons of plastic have been made over the past decades, and much of it is becoming trash and litter, finds the first analysis of the issue - national geographic news  

should a healthy environment be a human right? do we have a fundamental right to breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat safe food? the idea of environmental human rights is receiving growing attention worldwide, driven by our global ecological crisis. but the united states has lagged behind in codifying these rights into laws and in successfully furthering them - huntington herald dispatch

scaramucci once said it’s ‘disheartening’ that many dismiss climate change. then he took a job with trump.before he was an adviser to then-candidate donald trump, anthony scaramucci, the president’s new white house communications director, lamented that some people did not accept the consensus among climate scientists that human activity was warming earth. it was “disheartening” that so many people dismissed climate change as a “hoax,” scaramucci tweeted. - wapo (also refer to environmental health news from 6 months ago.)  

pepsico, unilever and nestlé accused of complicity in illegal rainforest destruction.palm oil plantations on illegally deforested land in Sumatra – home to elephants, orangutans and tigers – have allegedly been used to supply scores of household brands, says new report. - the guardian  

kingston coal ash spill workers treated as 'expendables,' lawsuit by sick and dying contends. more than 50 coal ash spill cleanup workers and workers' survivors are suiing jacobs engineering for unsafe working conditions that they allege lead to sickness and death at the cleanup site. - knoxville news sentinel

 interior dept. ordered glacier park chief, other climate expert pulled from zuckerberg tour. facebook chief executive mark zuckerberg flew to glacier national park on saturday to tour the melting ice fields that have become the poster child for climate change’s effects on montana’s northern rockies.- wapo  

south miami just made a huge rooftop solar decision. south miami this week became the first city outside of california to require all new homes to install solar panels on their roofs.- climate central
 
new york farmer nailed for poisoning raptors. a joint state-federal investigation revealed that william wentling had shipped carbofuran, a restricted-use pesticide with the brand name furadan, from pennsylvania to his farm and directed farm employees to pour it on sheep carcasses to control birds of prey - great lakes echo  

north carolina governor on trump drilling plan: 'not off our coast.' under pressure from president donald trump, north carolina's governor announced his opposition on thursday to drilling for natural gas and oil off the Atlantic coast, saying it poses too much of a threat to the state's beaches and tourism economy. - ap

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posted by SantaBarbarian at 5:52 PM | 0 comments

whitsundays

war!  huh!  what is it good for? absolutely nothin! (except profits for a few, death for many)

america is suffering from deadly, unaccountable and racist police violence

how climate skepticism turned into something more dangerous

gun militia demanded $10 for family to walk thru mall

viagra coffee recalled

and rip great leading man/character actor, dad in home alone, john heard
posted by skippy at 2:30 AM | 1 comments

Saturday, July 22, 2017

let's kill saturday night

the u.s. is where the rich are the richest

the cia has been hacking into wi-fi routers for years

gender pay gap in the white house

what's more frightening than an evil world leader?  a stupid one

meet the wine whisperers: fancy grape fixers for billionaires 
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 1 comments

Friday, July 21, 2017

apt 2, 4 am friday

even 5-year-old girls can't escape racism

5 faulty beliefs that drive gop dysfunction on healthcare

trump's economy is losing steam

politicians are trying to legalize discrimination against birth control users 

sudden flurry of bear incidents at yosemite

and rip lead singer of linkin park, chester bennington
posted by skippy at 1:30 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, July 20, 2017

gentle thursday

all the president's men's lawyers

silicon valley's old boy network is getting toppled

theresa may is living the brexit nightmare she warned of

militarization of police leads to more people being killed

family charged $898 for an uber 
posted by skippy at 1:30 AM | 1 comments

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

working wednesday wait for you

trump voters vote their values, not their self-interests

more americans died from drug od's last year than in the whole viet nam war

ransacking the public sector

why segregated neighborhoods persist

sony will start making vinyl records again - in japan
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

tuesday on my mind

how conservatives are trying to rewrite the constitution

microbial fuel cells can generate electricity from urine and kill salmonella

forced into debt, worked past exhaustion

when the man who abuses you is also a cop

woman reunited with lost tortoise after 2-week search 
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 1 comments

Monday, July 17, 2017

monday don't mean anything

the 7 stages of gun violence

the madness of king donald

islamophobia is the glue that holds the right together

more states are registering voters automatically 

twitter is a cesspool, but it's our cesspool

and rip creator of night of the living dead series, george romero; also the great character actor (and star of the original mission impossible tv series) martin landau
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 1 comments

Sunday, July 16, 2017

when sunday comes

 sorry, but it's entirely the right's fault

springtime for union busting

increasing voter turnout for 2018

why are america's suburbs becoming poorer?

gangs of whales are shaking down alaskan fishing boats for their fish
posted by skippy at 1:30 AM | 1 comments

Saturday, July 15, 2017

skippy went down to the hollywood battle of the protests today in los angeles.  trump supporters gathered at trump's star on the walk of fame.



it's hard to tell from this picture, but that's trump's star.

and countering the pro-trump supporters, an equally large (read: small) contingent of anti-trumpers stood across the street 





posted by skippy at 9:58 PM | 4 comments

lazy saturday night

scientists just debunked climate deniers' favorite argument

capitalism and mental illness: the human costs of profit

support for gay marriage just keeps going up

the internet is changing civil wars around the world

jerry springer for ohio governor
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 1 comments

Friday, July 14, 2017

another friday night

there are hidden diseases in the ice, and they are waking up

china's plan to run the world

opioids could kill 500,000 ameicans in the next decade

america made me a feminist

can we blame the mafia on lemons?
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, July 13, 2017

forever thursday

rep. brad sherman (d-cal) filed articles of impeachment against trump yesterday

the pro-life movement has a lot of dead women in it

sorry meals on wheels, our war machine is hungry

precription drug spending is consuming a bigger share of wages

what duck sex tells us about human nature
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

woke wednesday

systematic racism couldn't care less about your respectability politics

marijuana is not linked to rise in auto fatalities

thanks to trump morale is seriously low at the epa

investigators tried to secretly get access to phone records of woman who recorded philando castile's death

keep up the pressure: using town halls to defeat trumpcare and demand single payer
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

tuesday of my being sick

untrump the world - it won't self-impeach

to win 2018, dems need to go the offensive in the voting wars

congress must reclaim war-making authority

what is ailing retail?

the secret history of the cat who authored a physics paper
posted by skippy at 2:30 AM | 0 comments

Monday, July 10, 2017

happy 15th blogiversary to skippy!!




hooray!

all of us here at skippy international are as pleased as a platypus to be celebrating 15 years of contiguous blogging at skippy the bush kangaroo!

who can believe that it's been 15 long and relatively unproductive years since skippy wrote his first blog post lo, so long ago?

so much has happened in blogtopia, and yes, we coined that phrase, in the intervening years.

blogtopia (y!wctp!) has grown exponentially, which is the only way to grow, if you ask us, and since you are reading our blog, we're assuming that you did ask us.

in the beginning blogtopia (y!wctp!) was simply a few malcontents switching from usernet flamer forums to pajama-clad rants in their mothers' basements on a daily basis. and now, look around you, blogging has become virtually a vitural world of millions of malcontents switching from usernet flamer forums to pajama-clad rants in their mothers' basements on a daily basis. and we helped!

we'd like to start out our over-indulgence of self-congratulation with, as is our tradition on our blogiversary, a look back at our very first blog post, lo those many years ago:

ok kids, this is my first attempt at blogging. why blogging? because i can. it's a lot like mt. everest in that way. we are all climbing the peaks of cyberspace to get to the pinnacle (or is it pinochle? i prefer canasta).

the web is one huge library full of books that didn't have to go through an editor to get published. is that good or bad? in truth, it's neither (ok, i've seen some of these blogs, you're right, it is bad). but nonetheless, as the french say, pass the fries!

i gotta start off with thoughts about mr. bush's speech. didn't work for me. not me personally, but my stock portfolio. i spent most of this morning selling at least half of my holdings. one sep-ira which i had started in 1993, and had doubled in value by 2000, had fallen all the back to original value plus $50 as of end of trading today.

i hate to tell you kids this, but we're in the middle of another great depression. that's ok, though, i'm old enough that my parents grew up during the first one, so i know some good techniques for saving money.
aaawwwww, isn't that adorkable?

we couldn't have done it without our wonderful staff here at skippy international, which includes our delightful co-bloggers, both current and past:

ken houghton, jim yeager, george, mahakal, tami the one true, rj eskow, holden caufield (formerly of first draft), g.d. frogsdong, carnacki (formerly of the mystery of the haunted vampire), and of course, pudentilla.

a big thank you also to brett penrose, who provides original cartoons to this humble space, including the one above w/obama and skippy sharing a cake (makes sense to us!).

also we must needs give mad props to lauren bruce, blogger extraordinaire and html genius, who designed our blogging template. and to august j. pollack, the brilliant artist/blogger who drew our beloved roo logo.

and of course, most of all we owe this blog's very continued existence to our enviromental editor and right-hand woman, cookie jill, without whom this space would have completely disintegrated into the cybervoid years ago.

but most of all thank you, dear reader, for supporting our perhaps-too-foolish efforts to right all that is wrong with this world, one bad joke at a time!
posted by skippy at 12:05 AM | 14 comments

our fallen comrades: voices gone from blogtopia

on this, our 15th blogiversary of contiguous blogging, we take a moment to reflect upon those fellow bloggers who are no longer with us.

probably foremost among those we remember is our partnership with the late, brilliant blogger jon swift aka al weisel, with whom we (with a little help from blue gal) created national blogroll amnesty day, one of our greatest achievements in blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase!


we teamed with jon/al in our yearly efforts to ignore the uncaring, decidedly-unliberal (at least as far as linking policy went) behemouths that several popular lefty blogs had become, and made a consious effort to not only link to blogs with smaller traffic numbers than ourselves, but to encourage all of blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase, to do so, too!

tho we lost jon/al, we like to think that his unbridled generosity lives on in our blogging philosophy: that no voice is too small to be listened to; that no blog is too irrelevant to be relevant.

al's unending support for everyone who dares lay opinion to pixel was always inspirational; and his cyber-friendship with us will always be remembered as one of the highlights of our blogging career.


we are sad that we lost other great blogging friends during those 15 years as well. this blog couldn't have survived without the kind support of jim capozzola, who graciously paid the way for our banner-less blogger platform in the literal first days of our existence.

we also miss the wonderful pithy stylings of aaron hawkins, the uppity negro, as well as melanie mattson's bump in the beltway, both taken from us far too soon. and we feel sorrow for our buddy laffy who lost her friend and co-blogger paddy early last year

most recently we were quite saddened to learn of the passing of SEK over at lawyers, guns and money. lg and m has been a strong proponent of this blog since the early days, and we loved SEK's musings about, among other things, the adventures of oldman cat.

and of course, the constant support and encouragement of the great steve gilliard was a big part of why we continue, even to this day. we are sure there are dozens of other bloggers who feel the same way about steve's love and support for their work.


we are sure there are many other voices which have fallen silent in blogtopia, and we ask that you feel free to mention them in the comments.  one thing we are sure of, though, is that even though they are not physically with us, their words and hard work still inspire us to resist.

rest in peace, all of you.

addendum:

m. bouffant reminds us that james briggs stratton, aka doghouse riley, also left us.

and an anonymous blogger mentions julia of sisyphus shurgged.

double addendum: omg how did we forgot the godfather of snaryky blogging bartcop? (thx to jdm for reminding us)
posted by skippy at 12:03 AM | 6 comments

skippy: the accomplishments

we at skippy international are proud of the three many accomplishments this blog has achieved during its tenuous tenure thus far.

first and foremost among said achievements was being the very first blog mentioned by name on cnn, when daryn kagen expertly ducked skippy's assertion that she was as guilty of selective truth-telling as she accused blogs of being.

secondly and foremost among skippy's dubious achievements was getting cnn producer abbi tatton to not only start mentioning as many liberal blogs as conservative blogs on her short-lived feature, "let's sit at a computer on tv and look at the blogs! live! with abbi tatton!", but to also, finally, mention our blog as well! (also, we got a mention at columbia journalism review and a name-drop in a slate headline for our efforts!)

second and a halfly, and foremost, we also got to be the punchline for a terrific series of jokes on the daily show, thanks to the whole abbi tatton brou-ha-ha, and yes, "brou-ha-ha" is spelled with a "u":

please excuse the obligatory ad in front of this clip

thirdly, and foremost among our achievements, we would be remiss were we not to toot our own horn mention that it was our blog that found the first of many "mistakes" by ben 'dommie darko' domenech during his brief tenure as washpost official "blogger." these mistakes paved the way to the discovery of domenech's out and out plagiarism, which paved the way to domenech's out and out firing.

we could go on.

so we will:

we have been finalists for "best blog in the entire universe" (or something like that) too many times to count, unless it's relatively easy for you to count to four.

2003 Weblog Awards

2008 Weblog Awards Finalist

2007 Weblog Awards Finalist

2006 Weblog Awards Finalist

2005 nominee for Best of Blogs Award

2003 Finalist for Best Liberal Blog



we were among the first to win the coveted golden monkeyfister award (and we won it twice!)


skippy collected over $10,000 in pledges for relief for aid to the victims of katrina.

we roused all of blogtopia (y!wctp!), left and right, to help us collect a million hits on or near our third blogiversary!

skippy corresponded with two incredibly talented mystery writers, sara paretsky and barry eisler.

we are a reference used in the wikipedia article on marcy wheeler.

but most importantly, the blogroll amnesty day celebrations which we discuss that in length above in our fallen comrades post.
posted by skippy at 12:01 AM | 1 comments

Sunday, July 09, 2017

what are you doing sunday?

the left must resist demonization

the right's secret plan for america goes back farther than you think

america has a corruption problem. and it's not just trump

why we must politicize the grenfell tower tragedy

the tragedy of mountain dew mouth

posted by skippy at 1:30 AM | 1 comments

Saturday, July 08, 2017

be sure to drop by on monday!!

that's when skippy celebrates our 15th year blogivesary! 

trump won't make it, but he's sending ivanka!


posted by skippy at 1:53 PM | 3 comments

lazy saturday

we found the meanest things hidden deep inside the obamacare repeal bill

the racial and religious paranoia of trump's warsaw speech

america made me a feminist

zika remains a serious threat. cutting federal funding will only make it worse

new jersey is considering adopting a state germ
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 1 comments

Friday, July 07, 2017

angeline is always friday

more people were forcibly displaced in 2016 than ever before

science says summer will be ruined for many years to come

why the super rich are even richer than we thought

i spent 14 months in jail because i couldn't pay my way out

if liberals voted 
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, July 06, 2017

every thursday night

banks and credit card fees cost college students $795 million

secret algorithms threaten the rule of law

unable to afford decent housing?  welcome to the club

trump is appointing racist fake-news purveyors to the federal bench

this one's for our namesake: volvo admits its self-driving cars are confused by kangaroos

posted by skippy at 2:30 AM | 1 comments

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

wireless wednesday

cashing in on the rise of the alt-right

in nyc, fast food workers may have a permanent voice

private toll operators salivate at trump's infrastructure plan

how mainstream privilege discourse bolsters the status quo

npr tweeted the declaration of independence on the 4th, and some trump supporters were offended
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, July 04, 2017

environmental news stories - july 4th version

i am finding it harder and harder, especially this independence day, to feel patriotic toward our county due to the gop and the regime of cheeto to do everything in their power to rip apart the threads that bind all americans together. the decades of their machiavellian plans of pitting one section of americans against each other to garner votes and support, pandering to the reptilian brains out there to instill fear and, quite literally, stealing the hopes, dreams and the heritage of our country and our citizens is proving effective.

here are a few stories that showcase the war that is being waged against the environment...and on the resources that americans need to, not only survive, but live.

the los angeles water residents don′t dare drink. when residents of a low-income housing project in south los angeles turn on their faucets, the water runs black, brown and yellow. now they're fighting for the right to clean drinking water. - deutsche wella  

commentary: the end goal of trump’s war on science. epa head scott pruitt wants to undo obama's environmental legacy. This is his smokescreen. - the new republic  

report: global warming threatens north carolina's bees. global warming and urbanization are threatening bee populations across the country. one factor in that threat is heat. at high temperatures, bees become unable to reproduce, fly or even walk. - wunc  

what trump is doing to allow oil drilling near new jersey beaches. the u.s. interior department said it will begin rewriting the five-year oil drilling plan that currently excludes the atlantic ocean - newark star ledger

epa’s scott pruitt is trump’s most adept and dangerous hatchet man. trump’s personal ineffectualness has not kept his administration from rapidly reversing the direction of the federal government in key areas, thanks to a few deft players who are implementing an aggressive ideological agenda - latte times  

we are so forked. wait, we toss out how many plastic utensils every year? - mother jones

obama rues loss of 'american leadership' on climate change. speaking at a conference in indonesia, mr. obama indirectly criticized President Trump for pulling out of the paris climate agreement - nytimes

as trump moves to privatize america's national parks, visitor costs may rise. with the proposed national park service budget slashed by almost $400m, the trump administration says it will turn to privatizing public park services to address deferred maintenance costs - the guardian

zinke envisions cutting 4,000 full-time staff. interior secretary ryan zinke indicated today that the department is looking at relocating more resources out west as part of a larger management reorganization. - greenwire

 trump called 'threat to every coastline' as he pushes ocean drilling plan.administration moves to ‘unleash’ us fossil fuels by rewriting obama-era plan that banned drilling along Atlantic seaboard and large parts of the arctic ocean. - the guardian  

epa's dangerous anti-regulatory policies. this week, while attention was focussed on the senate’s health-care bill, the trump administration continued to quietly do the one thing it does well: wreak havoc on the environment. - the new yorker
is inequality bad for the environment? from buying stuff to eating meat to wasting water, there is growing evidence that countries with a bigger gap between rich and poor do more harm to the planet and its climate. - the guardian

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posted by SantaBarbarian at 12:18 PM | 0 comments

born on the 4th of july

your fourth of july quiz

new jersey gov't shut down will affect the 4th of july (but don't worry, chris christie will still get to enjoy the beach!)

15 mistakes to avoid this 4th of july

how many people would obamacare and the ahca each kill?
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Monday, July 03, 2017

monday don't creep up on me

climate change will affect the southern states the most

paul ryan is pathetic

we'll never see these animals again 

is it time to break up google?

urban tress are stressed out because they can't get enough sleep

 
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Sunday, July 02, 2017

that's what i like about sundays

medicaid is the most widely used benefits program in the world

is there a neo-nazi storm brewing in trump country?

the supreme court is a millionaires club

how to win rural voters without losing liberal values

why are 13 men deciding the fate of women's health care?

posted by skippy at 3:50 PM | 0 comments

Saturday, July 01, 2017

last saturday

the addicts next door

the death of the middle class: more than half of americans make less than $30k/year

study finds homophobic people have a higher chance of being gay

skippy alumnus rj eskow discusses the gop sickness of the soul

never wring a raven. they carry grudges
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 4 comments

Friday, June 30, 2017

american friday night

the 4 different kinds of hate crimes

an open letter to the gop: you are sentencing me to death

here come the robots!

the reality of working in an ivanka trump clothing factory

the emptiness of the all-male panel
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, June 29, 2017

every thursday

illinois legislatures tell trump they will not roll back environmental laws

facebook denies parents access to dead daughter's account

framing abortion as an issue of love and compassion

the hottest planet in the universe has been found - and it's hotter than most stars

newt gingrich - hypocrisy pioneer
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

white wednesday

the food industry is cooking the planet

immigrant deaths in private prisons explode under trump

how the system is rigged so the corporations always win

switzerland votes to phase out nuclear power and replace it w/renewable energy

why the fbi investigated dungeon & dragons in the 90's
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

tuesday night's squad

why it's getting harder (and more dangerous) to hold companies accountable

principal of black charter school fired for being a nazi

baltimore may follow new orleans in removing confederate statues

santa fe reporter indicted following inaugural protests

us might ban laptops on all international flights
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 2 comments

Monday, June 26, 2017

environmental news stories sunday

ok, monday. it was far too hot to do some typing yesterday. (thanks climate change.)

video: franken vs perry climate science. franken vs. perry on climate science sen. franken schools rick perry on the reality of climate change, but perry remains defiantly ignorant. - cspan

tangier island is hurt both by erosion and climate change. tangier island about a dozen miles from the coast in the middle of the chesapeake bay, could be considered Ground Zero for the effects of sea-level rise in the region - hampton roads virginian pilot

murray energy sues john oliver, hbo over coal-industry story. john oliver, hbo and time warner have been sued for defamation for allegedly executing a "maliciously planned attempt to assassinate the character and reputation" of an ohio coal company and its boss during a long-form story about the industry on last week tonight's june 18 episode - usa toady

epa staffers, trump official clashed over new chemical rules.the trump administration appears poised to cement key rules that were heavily shaped by an expert who was a top official for the chemical industry's lobbying group - politico

no one has the data to prevent the next flint. the lead crisis in america is a data crisis - wired

california sees some of highest temperatures ever recorded amid heat wave. the heat wave hitting southern california this week is one for the record books- latte times

cedric the entertainer sues socalgas over well leak. the comedian’s 48-page lawsuit carefully outlines the history of the oil well fields in aliso canyon and alleges the field was poorly maintained and regulated - san jose mercury news

these yoga pants are reincarnated from coffee grounds and crab shells. the yogawear company rumix makes every piece of clothing it sells from materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill or the ocean - fast company

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posted by SantaBarbarian at 6:00 AM | 0 comments

monday delay

the cause of the opiate epidemic

russia tried to hack elections in 21 states

the top 20% are pulling away from the rest of us

hiding the ugly business of torture

emergency rooms are incredibly unfair to the poor 
posted by skippy at 2:00 AM | 0 comments