I’m writing for tomorrow, day 107. I don’t know why, but I just could not get comfortable last night, and I could not sleep. I had a short nap this morning, but it was nowhere near enough. I’m hoping I can catch some serious Zs, when I finish writing.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 5:02 (average 6:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren cares a lot about making student loans affordable—and she happens to be a bankruptcy expert. This week, she turned that passion and that wealth of knowledge on Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association.
You would think bankers would learn not to try to get sneaky in response to Warren’s pointed questioning. But this one had not learned that.
Was Lizzie munching on Bankster Butt or what? Bankruptcy relief should include student loans, and the death of the borrower should terminate any student loan.
From YouTube: Another Journey into the Parallel World of ALEC
Kudos to Chris Taylor and Ed Schultz. When Republican politicians introduce ALEC boilerplate, they must be exposed and dumped.
From AlterNet: What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society.
Does anyone seriously believe hedge-fund mogul Steven A. Cohen is worth the $2.3 billion he raked in last year, despite being slapped with a $1.8 billion fine after his firm pleaded guilty to insider trading?
On the other hand, what’s the worth to society of social workers who put in long and difficult hours dealing with patients suffering from mental illness or substance abuse? Probably higher than their average pay of $18.14 an hour, which translates into less than $38,000 a year.
How much does society gain from personal-care aides who assist the elderly, convalescents, and persons with disabilities? Likely more than their average pay of $9.67 an hour, or just over $20,000 a year.
As always the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right, while the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, is wrong. Click through for in depth coverage of this subject.
Cartoon:
14 Responses to “Open Thread–8/6/2014”
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4:23 This reminded me of the plant "Hens & Chickens" and it's the same family. I'm not counting all my chickens before they're hatched though.
5:16 That's a prickly little puzzle.
6:34 All I can say is holy crap! I'm green with envy for anyone who can do this in the average time.
Mashed!
107 days! I know they aren't just flying by either. Keep up the good fight! It's worth it.
Daily Kos ~ I'm sure that "rump roast" tasted rotten judging by the face Sen. Warren made at the end of her questioning.
YouTube ~ ALEC is where TeapublicanTs can find new legislation to benefit our newest citizens, the almighty corporations and they get paid by funding for elections from SuperPacs. How can they possibly go wrong? Think when yu cast your vote in November.
Allternet ~ As a nurse, I was more than underpaid and had hazardous duty besides. Hospital administrators on the ther hand get paid enormous amounts of money to look good and go to parties and meetings.
Cartoon ~ It was too bad they even had to drop those bombs. Pandora's box?
Yesterday Joanne was asking about corporations and paying their fair share.
This is not directly related – but certainly tangential. It's a nifty little app that you can find what amounts of money big corporations are getting in terms of subsidies that WE taxpayers provide them. And it's got lots of filters so you can dig down and tailor your search:
http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/subsidy-tracker
Thank you, Nameless, I have bookmarked it.
Ditto JD!
8:25 Well, I knew the puzzle would be tough before I even saw it and I wasn't wrong. (And the headache didn't help.)
Daily Kos – I agree with both your remedies, but you missed one. Student loans in particular should be restructured (and with lower interest rates, incidentally) so that it would be extremly uncommon (instead of the norm) to require a cosigner. It was the fact the parents were cosigners that destroyed this family. That plus the fact that the lack of bankruptcy protection still applied. It was sort of a perfect storm. It certainly shows how stacked the deck is against anyone who comes within a mile of a student loan.
Big Ed – It breaks my heart that not everyone already knows this. It's not like it's difficult to learn this. But if no one ever talks about it, then, if you don't know it, you will never learn it.
Alternet – Robert suggests, and I'll bet you do too, TC, we should "Forgive the student debts of graduates who choose social work, child care, elder care, nursing, and teaching." I also agree. But can you hear the screams from the lenders now? I mean, who else gets student loans? Who ever heard of a hedge fund manager with student debt? How would the banks survive if they didn't finance the guilty at the expense of the innocent? (Proverbs 28:20 He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.)
Cartoon – Being only a few days old, I had no opinion at the time. Those who did have an opinion, including those who were working on it and their families, clearly had no idea what they had there. I do not think the developers had any evil intentions, and I believe it was wrong, wrong, wrong to demonize and break Oppenheimer afterwards. Beyond that I am still trying to sort it out. Anyone who agrees with me that we learn how we feel chiefly from story, and who can stand it, will be interested in the opera "Doctor Atomic" by John Adams.
Just loved the sight of Rand Paul,s exit.
Just a thought. If God help us he ran for Pres. and was elected,here,s the scenario. The phone rings in the night.
A decision is needed. Rand RUNS , .decisions, decisions!!.
Regarding salaries. Why are the Taxpayers paying members of Congress?.They are now taking their 5 week vacation in addition to their 239 day vacation in the past year.(doing nothing).and why are Americans not angry. ? Damned if I know.
Amen to all.
I hope you got your much needed sleep.
Daily Kos: I love Elizabth Warren, she "tells it like it is" and won't let them squirm their way out of answering their questions. The major banks got their bail outs and instead of helping their customers, the taxpayers who footed the bill for their bail outs, gave mega bonuses to their executives. Wells Fargo, for one, charges usury interest rates and there is nothing to stop them.
Youtube: We need more like Chris Taylor in office. Alec needs to be exposed to all of America, and the congress men and women who bow to them need to be exposed, too.
I don't believe that Steven A. Cohen or any other executive is worth what they are paid in comparison to what the people who actually perform the job are paid. This is one of the greatest reasons for the income inequality in this country today. The union busting that has gone on since Reagan has contributed mightily to this injustice.
Cartoon: A sad day.
Puzzle — 6:34 All I can say is holy crap! I'm green with envy for anyone who can do this in the average time.
Daily Kos — Was Hunt evasive or what?! He was on the hot seat and he could not take the heat. Never mess with Warren because the seat is going to get hotter. Yep, Warren had bankster butt for lunch!
Ed Shultz — That's great for Wisconsin. It is oft said that the best defence is a good offence, so what are other states doing? For that matter, what are reps in the federal House doing? Recognising a problem is one thing, but taking action to remedy the problem is essential.
Alternet — With my mother being in a nursing home with dementia, I have a front row seat for nurses and care aids. They are worth their weight in gold, especially the good ones, but their pay certainly does not reflect that. Social workers dealing with the mentally ill and other challenged individuals, many teachers, and the list goes on are not adequately compensated for their contribution to society.
Using my mother's situation as an example, were there no care aids to look after her, that would be left to me. Were I working, I'd have to quit working outside the home for tending my mother is no different than looking after a new baby, well except that she weighs a whole lot more. Just having special lift equipment and a house to accommodate her needs would be difficult.
The societal contribution of many occupations can not be over stated.
Cartoon — From Wikipedia: J Robert Oppenheimer "and many of the project staff were very upset about the bombing of Nagasaki, as they did not feel the second bomb was necessary from a military point of view. He traveled to Washington on August 17 to hand-deliver a letter to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson expressing his revulsion and his wish to see nuclear weapons banned."
Thanks all. Overslept.