Feb 142012
 

Yesterday I spent most of the day doing prep work for today.  I’m current with replies.  Today is a volunteer day for me in prison.  I will return home late, having missed a sleep cycle, so there may be no new articles on Wednesday, and if there are, they may be late.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:13 (average 4:59).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: In Which States Can Ellen Get Fired For Being Gay?

14ellen-states

That’s obscene!  To correct this, we need to clean out Republicans at the state level.

From CBS: Seven members of a Midwest militia group accused of plotting to overthrow the government are in Federal Court in Detroit for the start of their trial, in which jurors will decide whether federal authorities prevented an attack by homegrown extremists or simply made too much of the boasts of weekend warriors who had pledged to "take our nation back."

Opening statements were set for Monday in the trial of the militia members, known as Hutaree, who are charged with conspiring to commit sedition, or rebellion, as well as weapon crimes.

I guess this is what Republicans mean when they call for Second Amendment solutions.

From Think Progress: In a bid to fast-track approval of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Senate Republicans plan to attach an amendment mandating the pipeline’s construction onto a must-pass highway funding bill. The amendment — developed by Sens. John Hoeven, Richard Lugar, and David Vitter — is but the latest congressional push to advance TransCanada’s $7 billion project, which was rejected by President Obama last month.

Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has publicly raised objection to the measure, arguing that it will ultimately “kill the bill.”

If you have not called both of your Senators to demand this be rejected, please do.  Republicans are holding hundreds of highway jobs hostage to blackmail America.

Cartoon:

14Cartoon

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  13 Responses to “Open Thread–2/14/2012”

  1. Puzzle — EeeeHa!  I made a 1 minute rule!  I’m only 1 minute behind TC!  5:13!

    Cartoon — He’s got a secret plan!  Let’s hope he keeps it under his hat so the rest of us don’t become infected!

    In Which States Can Ellen Get Fired For Being Gay? — This is absolutely ridiculous that someone can be fired for being LGBT!  Do states not understand that people contribute in so many ways and to be fired based on sexual orientation society is denied their talents.  I checked the Internet and found that many of the people listed are entertainers, writers etc.  But some were kings like Edward II of the UK; 2 Chinese Emperors, one from the Han Dynasty; Caligula (not Crawford Caligula — he’s not gay, just a despicable little man with absolutely no functioning gray matter between his ears) of Rome; Sam Adams, Mayor of Portland; Libby Davies, social activist and Member of Canadian Parliament representing east end Vancouver; Barney Frank of Dodd-Frank fame and Member of Congress; Jeanine Deckers aka ‘The Singing Nun’ and the Rev Paul Barnes; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, an American labour activist from the early 20th century; Ralph Waldo Emerson, widely read and revered American writer; Margo Frasier, the first openly gay sheriff elected in Texas, now a policing and law consultant.  My point is each of these people has contributed in a meaningful way to their society, but that contribution had nothing to do with them being LGBT.  And there are many more unsung people who teach math, are rad engineers and pilots.  Everyone contributes.

    And sexual orientation knows nothing of politics (too bad we can’t say politics knows nothing of sexual orientation).  Even Cheney’s daughter is LGBT.

    It is past time to clean house and put the Republican/Teabaggers and their policies of hate into the annals of history.

    The Keystone XL — The Republicans are at it again!  Now they are trying to attach it to a must-pass highway funding bill.  However it sure looks like Republicans don’t plan to honour a bargain they made with Democrats: 

    Before taking the bill to the floor, both sides agreed not to attach controversial amendments:

    The Senate’s $109 billion bill is a two-year bipartisan proposal that on Thursday survived a test vote of 85-11 on a measure that limits debate to 30 hours and prevents a filibuster of the bill.

    The Senate bill also has the support of the Obama Administration.

    One more incidence of Republicans holding America hostage.  This is an over used tactic from their playbook.  Probably the only tactic they have left in the book.

    Militia Groups — There is no place in this society for militia groups.  The boasts of weekend warriors be damned.  And I suppose these guys idolise Timothy McVeigh!

    • Do you actually think agreements mean anything to the Rethuglicans?

      • No John, I don’t which is why I wrote “However it sure looks like Republicans don’t plan to honour a bargain they made with Democrats: . . . “.  I think the Republican/Teabaggers are the epitome of dishonesty and corruption — anything for the Kochs and other industrialists and banksters.

    • Lynn, I hate to tell you, but the “one minute rule” is that one minute quicker than average is likely to win.  But it has been failing of late.

      That’s what the hat id for: to protect us.

      Good point, but the one that is not gay (Lizard) is the only one that gets attention.

      When the Republicans agreed to that, they lied.

      True.

      They do.

  2. Whew! 5:05 today. That’s terrible. My fingers wouldn’t work.

    I didn’t realize so many states had bigotted legislation on their books. I’m proud that NY isn’t among them. Must be all those liberals in Manhattan.

    An example should be made of these men for their conspiracies.

    RepublicanTs do NOT want to create jobs!

    Did Dr. Paul get a new tin foil hat under which to hide his “secret plan”?

    • Patty!  What are you doing!?!  I said you were my puzzle idle and I was trying to catch up to you.  You shouldn’t be trying to catch me on the road backwards!

    • Better days. 🙂

      As I am about Oregon.

      Amen.

      Amen

      No.  It’s to protect us from Teabuggered brain waves.

  3. 4:29  Looks like this one is yours, TomCat.

  4. I selected Google.com as my Homepage, so I’m always sure to see their myriad Doodles – they’re a hoot.  But the ending of today’s Valentine’s Doodle was particularly apropos given yesterday’s signing of the Same Sex Marriage Act in the state of Washington.  It closes with a nice montage embracing diversity:
     
     
    If you don’t want to go to the Google homepage site, you can watch the Valentine Animation on YouTube
     
    And you can see also all the Google Doodles so far for 2012.

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