Mar 082013
 

Yesterday I got lots of sleep, and I needed it.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow should be routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:44 (average 5:41).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: The Funniest Anti-Gay Marriage Ad We’ve Seen In At Least Two Weeks

 

This obvious satire makes an excellent point. Republicans act as though who other people love threatens their ability to love. It does not. If threatens only the popularity of their hate.

From NY Times: Four years ago, as a newly elected president began his efforts to rescue the economy and strengthen the social safety net, conservative economic pundits — people who claimed to understand markets and know how to satisfy them — warned of imminent financial disaster. Stocks, they declared, would plunge, while interest rates would soar…

…Sure enough, this week the Dow Jones industrial average has been hitting all-time highs, while the current yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds is roughly half what it was when The Journal published that screed…

…the important point about these particular bad predictions is that they came from people who constantly invoke the potential wrath of the markets as a reason we must follow their policy advice. Don’t try to cover America’s uninsured, they told us; if you do, you will undermine business confidence and the stock market will tank. Don’t try to reform Wall Street, or even criticize its abuses; you’ll hurt the plutocrats’ feelings, and that will lead to plunging markets. Don’t try to fight unemployment with higher government spending; if you do, interest rates will skyrocket.

And, of course, do slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid right away, or the markets will punish you for your presumption.

Click through for the rest of Krugman’s excellent editorial that explains why Republican policies are no better than their predictions.

From ABC: Standing firm on new firearm restrictions, Colorado Democrats are on the cusp of advancing aggressive gun-control proposals Friday in a state balancing a history of heartbreaking shootings with a Western heritage where gun ownership is treasured by many.

There is really no conflict between the two. Sensible regulation poses no threat to responsible gun use, just like licensing and registration poses no threat to responsible driving.

Cartoon:

8Cartoon

Baggers are still stuck on just fingers.

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  18 Responses to “Open Thread–3/8/2013”

  1. 4:10 Is that checkmate?

  2. MoveOn ~ Hilarious! I can see all the hypocrites clinging to each other when they see this.

    NY Times ~ In essence, the self-proclaimed "financial gurus" nare all full of crap!

    ABC ~ When will people learn that they no longer live in the "frontier" but the USA? They protest laws which do nothing to restrict their ownership, they are just tightening regulations and the size of the clips. Use your brain, people!

    Cartoon ~ Imagine the smell when a bunch of them gets together in a room and pull out their calculators to "crunch the numbers" to make an arguement about the economy.

     

     

     

     

     

  3. Loved the ad!  I was forced to listen to Fox news today while waiting with my mother at a doctor's office.  Chris Wallace actually had to inform us that the unemployment rate had gone down and the stock market was soaring. I  am sure he took huge doses of Maalox and Imodium immediately after his broadcast!

  4. That cartoon made me chuckle.

  5. Puzzle — 4:06 I've never been a chess fan . . . too much work!

    MoveOn — If you extend the premise that gay marriage affects other marriages and the ability to love as Republican/Teabaggers propose, then should not the extension of that, that every bad marriage affects every other marriage, be true?  By that, the divorce rate should be much higher than 50%.  Hate begets hate!  Seems that the only selling point that the Republican/Teabaggers have.  I'm surprised that they haven't added "Thou shalt hate the gays." to the 10 Commandments.

    NY Times — What a lot of people don't understand is that there is an inverse relationship between bond yields and markets — stocket market up, bond market down.  Corporations sitting on large piles of cash because demand for goods is down, are removing money from the market cycle and not reinvesting thus slowing things down.  That is Economics 101 that even I understand.  If you ask me, following the advice of these so called "economic gurus" of the Republican/Teabagger persuasion is no more than dancing with the devil and will lead to economic perdition.  Paul Krugman is so spot on.

    ABC — "Sensible regulation poses no threat to responsible gun use, just like licensing and registration poses no threat to responsible driving."  — AMEN!!!!!

    Cartoon — Only one problem, wrong colour polish — Republican/Teabaggers only respect bright red!  Besides, that's the only way that Republican/Teabagger intelletuals can find the right digits!  They only trust red.

  6. "Republican Intellectuals"… No such animal exist in the known universe!

    Ty, Tom.
    .

  7. And those are not the toes of a republican.  Nope.   Too nice.  Don't they all have troll-under-the-bridge feet?

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