Apr 272014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow, resting up t6o recharge, and preparing to confront a mess in my kitchen area.  Politics Plus will be offline for approximately 30 minutes, sometime between 7 PM Sunday night and 3 AM Monday morning.  Our HSP will be doing a kernel upgrade on the servers.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:48 (average 5:52).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Christian Science Monitor: The Democrats face some challenging math in their quest to hold onto the US Senate. In all, 21 Democratic-held seats are up for election this November, versus 15 Republican-held seats. And political analysts deem far more of the Democratic seats vulnerable.

To take control of the Senate, the Republicans need a net gain of six seats. One already looks set to flip: the seat held by retiring Sen. Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota.

Twelve other Senate races are seen as competitive – 10 seats held by Democrats, two by Republicans. Here’s the rundown.

We’re losing a couple good Democrats to retirement.  The rest are DINOs, but we need them to tip the balance.  Click through for an excellent analysis of the challenges we face to keep the Republican Party out of the driver’s seat.

From The Oregonian: Cover Oregon closed one of the sorrier chapters in the history of Oregon state government Friday when it opted to dump its troubled $248 million health insurance exchange in favor of the federal exchange.

The federal exchange doesn’t feature many of the bells and whistles Oregon officials had hoped to offer in their in-house system. But the federal exchange works and offers certainty that the Oregon exchange did not.

Actually that is good news for Oregon. The company they had hired, Oracle, really screwed the pooch with their substandard design performance.

From Politicus USA: Reckless coastal development is heading to Georgia, courtesy of the Nathan Deal administration. Naturally this marsh killing policy was announced on Earth Day.

If you’ve never been to Georgia, you’re missing out. Georgia’s 300,000 acres of tidal marshes are a source of huge pride in the Peach state, for good reason. Not only are fishing and shrimping a large source of recreational, family-owned businesses, but the state has always taken a much more protective stance towards its coasts and marshlands. The birds and the stunning scenery are a testament to past policies of preservation.

But it’s not just Georgians who benefit from the preserved and protected coast. The Center for a Sustainable Coast estimates that “Georgia’s tidal marshes are about a third of those remaining on the U.S. east coast…” You won’t see the kind of built up, destroyed coasts in Georgia that you will see in South Carolina.

Or rather, you wouldn’t see that in the past, but the Nathan Deal (R-GA) administration is doing what Republican governors do best (see Rick Scott’s similar actions in Florida, and Rick Snyder’s giveaway of public parks to corporations in Michigan) — selling out public land, interest and national treasures to big business.

The Center for a Sustainable Coast explained in a statement, “On Earth Day, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division Director Judson Turner announced a radical policy change that will eliminate protective buffers along Georgia’s tidal marshes. This came as a result of a dubious reinterpretation of language in the 1978 Georgia Soil Erosion and Sedimentation (E&S) Act, used to protect waters of the state.”

This is how Republicans celebrate Earth Day!

Cartoon:

0427Cartoon

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  12 Responses to “Open Thread–4/27/2014”

  1. 4:16 What a face!

  2. CSM ~ I don't agree with all the pundits that we are in great danger of losing those seats. People may be waking up to the facts that TeapublicanTs are out for the rich only. Time will tell. In the meantime, educate all you know on the issues and get out and vote in November.

    Oregonian ~ It wasn't too late for them to do that?

    Politicus USA ~ I think I'm going to be sick.

    Cartoon ~ Crawford, if you don't want him, send him to Spain. They can't wait to get a hold of him and his cronies for prosecution.

    • Patty, I'm not saying we will lose them, but the danger is clear. Presenting it as less invites apathy, and that's where the danger lies.

      Viva Spain!!

  3. 7:20  The Italian tradition of mosaics goes back to antiquity and just keeps getting better.  Did you ever think you were made up of all those colors?  Yes, painters do it too, but the constraint of using tiles makes it even more amazing.  BTW average is up.  I must not be the only one who overslept.

    Christian Science Monitor – a few idle thoughts – West Virginians aren't really Republican, but they work for Republicans and are under threat of losing their jobs, as we learned when they had that horrendous spill into their drinking water.  I'm not sure how you focus a campaign on that, but if possible, they should.  Iowa – is there something in the water there that makes candidates say stupid things?  Wheatever it is doesn't seem to stop Steve King from getting elected.  Colorado – if there was ever a state where getting out the vote was critical, it's us.  New Hampshire – damned carpetbagger!

    Oregon – Seeing as most computers won't function without Java, one has to wonder if Oracle indulged in a little sabotage.  I see their headquarters is in one of the most Republican, 1% strongholds in Colorado.

    Politicus – Does anyone know anyone in Georgis?  Do they realize what they did when they elected a Republican?  TC, was it you who said the Republicans are buying our birthrights, not for a bowl of beans, but for a picture of a bowl of beans (suitable for framing, if you can afford it)?

    Cartoon – Pat A, you said it!  Viva España!

     

  4. Is it just me, or do others also sense that the overwhelming majority of political candidates (particularly those on the right) are village idiots?

  5. The biggest thing we need to do to save these seats is get dems out to vote.  We hav no time for complacency.

    Good for Oregon since they knew when to cut their losses and move on.

    The Republicans apparently think that cash will preserve the earth. Sadly, we will suffer with them after they destroy the earth.

    Cartoon:  Wish this had been made pubic prior to his first time in office.

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