Sunday, November 27, 2016

Notations From the Grid (Week-End Edition): On This Thanksgiving Weekend 2016

Bana Alabed

As we celebrated thanksgiving here in the United States, what our team picked up on the Grid earlier (courtesy of reporting by +Al Jazeera English  gave us a true moment of pause to remember all that we're thankful for.  She is a 7-year old who began tweeting earlier this year with her Mother's Help on the plight of the ordinary faces of Aleppo as we just got reporting that the Syrian Regime's Forces have just taken two key districts in Aleppo as over 200,000 People are under siege:



Fear and Loathing in America. Over 66 Years Ago, One Women Had a Message For Today. It’s Time to Revisit Margaret Chase Smith’s Declaration of Conscience



Read these quotes from a speech by Senator Margaret Chase Smith in 1950 (wait- weren’t those supposed to be the “Good Ol’ Days?”). Her Declaration of Conscience could/SHOULD be read today on the Senate floor. She was the first to confront Joseph McCarthy and his fearmongering team. Donald Trump’s campaign returned to those same methods to incite discontent, discord, division, discrimination, and disgust. Despite his earnest vow to be a President to all, some of his followers and potential cabinet members still are pushing for registries and for ending civil liberties for many.

Substitute the words Terrorist or Immigrant for Communist and it’s clear that many things haven’t changed since she gave this speech in1950 to warn the nation against Joseph McCarthy!

“As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the Communist design of “confuse, divide, and conquer.” As an American, I don’t want a Democratic Administration “whitewash” or “cover-up” any more than I want a Republican smear or witch hunt.…

Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and the suspicions that are bred in the United States Senate to spread like cancerous tentacles of “know nothing, suspect everything” attitudes.”…

Certain elements of the Republican Party have materially added to this confusion in the hopes of riding the Republican party to victory through the selfish political exploitation of fear, bigotry, ignorance, and intolerance. There are enough mistakes of the Democrats for Republicans to criticize constructively without resorting to political smears.
To this extent, Democrats and Republicans alike have unwittingly, but undeniably, played directly into the Communist design of “confuse, divide and conquer.”

Excerpts from Senator Margaret Chase Smith’s Declaration of Conscience June 1, 1950


As the Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith was the first to speak out against Joseph McCarthy and a divided Congress.  It was over 4 years later that Senator McCarthy was finally censured and stopped. Margaret Chase Smith’s Declaration of Conscience has a message that rings too true today. We need all representatives to act independently just as she did. President-Elect Trump appealed to many voters with his independent style and hopefully he will be able to see beyond the blue and red. We need to listen now. Why can’t we work together in a positive way, regardless of party?

“It is high time that we stopped thinking politically as Republicans and Democrats about elections and started thinking patriotically as Americans about national security based on individual freedom.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

As Thanksgiving 2016 is almost here!!!

On behalf of us all  here at the Daily Outsider, we wanted to say:


As we hope all enjoy the Pandora Thanksgiving Stations:


Perfect Thanksgiving Music
Find a station for dinner that everybody will thank you for.
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day
Friendsgiving
Friendsgiving
Swingin’ Thanksgiving
Swingin’ Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Country
Thanksgiving Country
Cold Turkey
Cold Turkey
Dinner Downtempo
Dinner Downtempo