Mar 172014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow and am being most brief, because I have so much to do.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:26 (average 4:59).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Paul Ryan is the leader of the Republican Party’s “intellectual” wing. He has been described by the news media in fawning terms as a “policy wonk”, a “numbers guy”, and a “serious thinker”.

Consequently, Ryan’s recent claim that "inner city" black men are lazy and have no work ethic is a revealing insight into the current state of movement conservatism and the former’s supposed intellectual gifts.

There is no genius in Paul Ryan’s claims: his arguments about lazy black people are a boilerplate post-civil Rights era Republican talking point.

To advance this claim, he leveraged Charles Murray’s discredited research on the relationship between I.Q. and race. Ryan’s intellectual slippage is not a new habit. In his anti-poverty tome, which purports (and fails) to discredit President Johnson’s Great Society era programs, Paul Ryan misrepresented and distorted research findings… [emphasis added]

Lyin’ Ryan is using the same racist tactics against blacks that a former Republican named Adolf used against Jews.

From NY Times: The Obama administration issued stringent new standards on Friday for health insurance to address a flood of complaints from consumers who said that costs were too high and that the choice of doctors, hospitals and prescription drugs was too limited in many health plans offered this year under the Affordable Care Act.

In deciding which products can be sold in the federal marketplace next year, officials said, they will scrutinize health plans more closely and rely less on evaluations by state insurance regulators and private groups that accredit health plans.

Consumer advocates welcomed the standards and said they should have gone further. But insurers and employer groups complained of burdensome overregulation and said the White House should focus first on getting the online exchanges to work properly.

It should come as no surprise that most of the complaints are coming from Republican-controlled states, where state insurance regulators are using the plan to give insurers more and insured less. While fixing the online exchanges is indeed key, so is regulating insurers, who are benefiting from Republican attempts to sabotage ObamaCare. Don’t forget that under the GOP alternative, RepubliCare, death is always free for those who cannot pay for healthcare.

From Right Wing Watch: America Was Cursed By Ancient Egyptians

Did you know that ancient, Baal-worshiping Egyptians came to North America long ago and put the continent under a demonic curse? Well you do now! Just let pastor John Benefiel, who helped Gov. Rick Perry organize his The Response prayer rally, explain:

 

This is just one of five examples of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian paranoia. Click through for the other four.

Cartoon:

0317Cartoon

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  20 Responses to “Open Thread–3/17/2014”

  1. Gag.  How is it possible to compress that much ignorance about ancient history into a 1:19 video?

  2. 3:52 I'm green with envy because I was too slow to beat TC.

  3. Daily Kos ~ He's the most intellectual RepublicanT out there? All the mental midgets are nodding their heads and saying "Yup! He talks for us all". Phew! Scary, very scary.

    NY Times ~ Here in NY, one of the insurance giants favorite states, my insurance premiums for a Medicare PPO went up only $2 a month but instead of paying $50 for a 4 day hopital stay it now costs me $700. Quite a jump for an inpatient stay. I also pay more for my meds. NY, even though a Blue state is a corporate friendly Blue state. It's too bad Eliot Spitzer couldn't keep it in his pants and saw hookers. The RepublicanTs couldn't wait to get him out of power.

    Right Wing Watch ~ Isn't putting curses on things and people like he's suggesting a form of witchcraft? And, doesn't the Bible teach "good God fearin' folks" like he's supposed to be not to believe in witches? Just asking.

    Cartoon ~ Can I get a big AMEN?

     

     

  4. YES – a huge AMEN to the cartoon!!!

  5. KOS: Lyin’ Ryan is simply a "no brain-er". lol.

  6. 4:45  Gotta go put on the corned beef, BRB, LOL

    Daily Kos – Not only no genius, but also no numbers guy – unless by a numbers guy you mean a guy who sticks to fourth grade rational "numbers" because that is all he can handle.  You can compare women or blacks or any other group all day long, and put the results into a bell curve, and even if there is a slight difference in where the mean falls, and the majority mean id higher, it will still show that there are a WHOLE LOT of people in the minority group who are smarter than a WHOLE LOT of people in the majority group.  Even if there is a huge difference in the median, it will still show there are SOME people in the minority group who are smarter than SOME people in the majority.  And neither distribution precludes the possibility of the smartest minority person being smarter than the smartest in the majority.  What I am saying is that Charles Murray's research may well have been flawed, but the research doesn't even need to be flawed for his conclusions to be flawed.  They are ridiculous on the face of it.

    NY Times – It's about time we focused less on "it's not perfect" and more on "it's a hell of a lot better than we had before."  And got loud about it.

    RWW – Granted all five are nuts, it's worth pointing out that 1) the ancient Egyptians never worshipped Baal; that was the indigenous peoples of what is now called Israel and the area around it.  2) The ancient Egyptians didn't believe in curses, regardless what you see in the movies.  That's a concept projected on them by Europeans.  3) Baal was not demonic but a perfectly normal god for the period.  The name does not have connotations of absolutism; it was used by women as we might use "DH" today. 4) The Phoenicians might have made it to the Americas, although I doubt it.  The Egyptians had enough to do to navigate the Nile, and the people of Baal had no maritime tradition at all.  I don't know why I bother since fanatics won't listen, but it does show a little bit of their extreme ignorance.

    Cartoon – Good thought since psycho/sociopaths have been called "snakes in suits."  I happen to believe that there are saints working on opposing Republican principles.  Unfortunately that kind of power is not given to saints any more, even if it ever was.

  7. At last an answer to why the Far Right hate President Obama so much – they believe the race lie that Lyin' espouses, yet none of them could best him in an argument if they tried – which must be so upsetting that they project all their self-hatred onto him!

    RightWingWatch – oh really Pastor?  Where are these alleged ancient petroglyphs – and why don't the Egyptians and Phoenicians have descendents – oh hang on – is that his excuse for badly treating the Native Americans?  It is a belief that would really appeal to the nutters on the right – everything that goes wrong with their horrid behaviour is a result of this imagined curse – blame someone else as usual Right Wingers for every mistake and vile deed you do, just this time go back three thousand years to blame someone else!

    Cartoon – love it – and yes, we need a whole flock of saints to help the whole world!  Thanks TC!

  8. Time: 3:44 sort of surprised myself on that one.  Oh, and Dr Who would not approve of the color of that phone booth.

    Oh for goodness sakes, I can not believe that people actually believe this shoveled Cow manure.  Go read some books.  (about the video of lunacy)  We live in an age of instant knowledge, real facts and scientific papers are available on line.  People really need to grow up, not just get older.

    Yes, TC you hit that one, Paul (Eugenics) Ryan may be the best brain the republicans have to offer, that however; does not mean he is correct or that anyone should follow that sick thinking.

    Since almost every single tear jerking story about Obama care (ACA) has been completely debunked, I really don't care about their complaints.  That does not mean that it could not be improved.  The best improvement would be just make it universal health care and be done with all of this.

    Thanks TC and again a Happy St Patrick's Day to you- hope it's a good one.

  9. Lyin, Ryan. May have taken  a class in economics.101. Did he pass?. Or was it a "gentlemans C." a la DUBYA!

    Which ever he is  dead wrong.

    Re comments on race and IQ. I think that it would be VERY difficult to find ANY lower  IQ,s.than some of the current members of the REpublican party. I could give a list ,but think that anyone with half a brain could easily figure it out.(in fact I think that some could not raise a single blip on the scale.!) and guess what? the ones that I am thinking of are "white!"

    However, here I go  again , Who,in hell voted for these nit wits.? the 25% I guess!.

    In closing , re. lyin,Ryan. A trust fund baby,son of a contractor,whose family asked for and  received government benefits ..!

  10. Sorry TC, I could not post on the comments section.  I lost count of the number of tries. 

  11. Daily KOs:  Lyin Ryan should be his legal name.  He has no shame.

    NY Times:  Red states are determined to see the ACA fail.  The insurance and pharmaceutical industries have too much influence on our governments.  I am profoundly grateful that Ky has a democrat as governor, although I don't always agree with him, and another as Attorney General, and I always agree with him.

    Right Wing Watch:  OMG these people need to be institutionalized, they are a danger to society!

    Hope you had a Happy Saint Patrick's day.  

     

  12. Love and totally agree with the cartoon!

  13. Puzzle — 3:07  I love the green.  When I finish my home renovation, the 2nd floor will be painted shades of green.

    Daily Kos — Lyin' Ryan's a "numbers guy"?  The only number he know's is "0" which stands for 1) his IQ; 2) the amount of social benefits (SNAP, Social Security) the GOP would allow if it ran the country; 3) the amount of government healthcare (Obamacare, Medicaid, Medicare); 4) his regard and respect for those of other races and beliefs.

    NY Times — Reading this, it makes me very glad to live in Canada with universal healthcare.  People who are already sick would be overwhelmed with all this BS making them sicker.  Yes it is better than "no insurance" which is almost the same as Republicare but without their almost demonic politics.  Obamacare is a step in the right direction but . . . 

    This is also proof, as if it was needed, that Republicanus/Teabaggers don't give a rat's ass about the middle/working classes and the poor.

    Right Wing Watch — This is paranoia at its worst!  These pseudo Christians do more harm to themselves and society than what they believe authentic Christians do.  As to the curse on the US, the only curse I see is the Republicanus/Teabaggers!

    Cartoon — Oh when the saints come marching in . . . there'll not be a Republicanus/Teabagger among them! . . . not even in sheep's clothing.

  14. Thanks all!  Totally pooped!!

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