Weekend Update: Breakdown, Canada, guns, Native Lives Matter

Updating topics of previous posts:

Paul Ryan has agreed to run for Speaker of the House, though his so-called demands were not met.  Margaret Hartmann and Jonathan Chiat are among those who are skeptical that he can make much of a dent in GOPer dysfunction.  Dan Balz at the Washington Post sees the Benghazi committee as further proof of GOPer disarray :

"Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton’s appearance before the House Benghazi committee provided one more example of the breakdown of a Republican Party torn by factionalism and heavily influenced by a cadre of supporters who are far less interested in governing than in expressing its anger.

By the time the committee ended 11 hours of questioning of the Democratic presidential front-runner, the long day of testimony had come to symbolize seven years of Republican frustration with the administration of President Obama — and the fears within the party that it could face another four or eight years of Democratic occupation of the White House."

I mentioned the cost of congressional dysfunction to me and other seniors in the Medicare/Social Security mess.  An oped writer suggests another set of consequences for places all over the country, as Congress allowed the Land and Water Conservation Fund to dry up.

Paul Krugman analyzes the economic implications of Justin Trudeau's victory in Canada, hoping it is an early sign of the new direction.  Another NY Times columnist, Timothy Egan, suggests the U.S. has its own socialistic practices in its common sense governance mix.

Yet another government forecast more strongly supports the likelihood of El Nino rains coming to all of California this winter.  Warm ocean waters, probably enhanced by both El Nino and global heating, helped intensify a storm that grew from nothing to a Category 5 hurricane in 36 hours--Patricia, the strongest hurricane ever recorded at sea.  It roared onto land at nearly 200 mph, in an area of Mexico with relatively few people and no large urban centers.

A previous post here cited a speech by Senator Robert F. Kennedy during his 1968 presidential primary campaign, shortly before his assassination by gun, advocating for a simple gun control measure in the town where the recent Umpqua Community College mass gun killing was perpetrated.  Though presented a bit melodramatically, Salon found earlier remarks he made on the topic that year--the day after Martin Luther King, Jr was shot and killed.

Finally, a couple of post-Columbus Day notes concerning Indigenous peoples in the Americas:  the unnoticed violence against them (in "Native Lives Matter") and the efficacy as well as justice of Canada fighting the climate crisis by honoring treaties with First Nation peoples.  Another item for the new Trudeau's agenda.

"Run World Run" by Clarissa Hudson (Tlinit)--print available at Inuit.com.