Oct 072014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 180.  I’m still feeling quite tired after yesterday.  I’m waiting for Store to Door to call for my grocery order.  After that I’ll catch some sun and a nap.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:53 (average 5:37).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the latest from our own fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

Scores:

5Scores

Standings:

5Standings

A new leader is tiptoeing through the end zone.  She’s so hot she doesn’t even want the good trade I offered her.

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Whether or not you already know who Reza Aslan is, know this: This man is a voice of reason. From the moment he starts talking at 1:21, I’m absolutely smitten with his words. Skip to 4:49 to watch him answer the question we’re all waiting for him to answer.

But wait! He’s still got more to say. Starting at 8:22, Aslan has some parting words for the CNN hosts and drops the mic in a pretty epic way.

This segment gets an A+ from me. I hope you’ll think so, too.

 

I fully agree with Reza. Sadly Maher is no more tolerant of others’ religious beliefs than the most rabid Republicans.  Zionists, ISIL, and Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians are functionally equivalent. None authentically represent the religions they claim and distort.

From The New Yorker: In a blistering indictment of the Administration’s economic policies, the chairman of the Republican National Committee has accused President Obama of forcing five million Americans back to work since he took office, in 2009.

“When President Obama took office, there were five million Americans at home all day who are now, sadly, not at home,” said Reince Priebus, on Sunday’s edition of “Meet the Press.” “They have to go to work five days a week and they’re mad as hell about it.”…

…He added that the President’s failure on this issue has helped sharpen the Republican Party’s message to voters. “If you’re sick and tired of employment, vote for us,” he said.

OMG Andy! The evil Kenyan has really done it this time!!  Great Republican slogan!!

From Daily Kos: If there is any clear evidence that the media in America for all practical purposes is a monolith controlled by one drumbeat it should be evident with today’s morning shows. It was evident they were all following one narrative, a narrative to bash President Obama implicitly and explicitly on competence.

The narrative today was competence. A quoted story from Politico was "Can anyone fill the competency gap." The insinuation was clear. President Obama is not competent. They tried to create this incompetency thread by blaming the President for ISIS/ISIL, Ebola, and on many other issues of which he had little control. Where they could not blame they attempted to get surrogates to blame.

Such was the case with Chuck Todd on Meet The Press. You could see him searching former Senator Jim Webb’s words for some gotcha moment to tie some failure to the president. This exchange was classic.

 

While I agree with this author about Chuck Todd, I disagree that the media is a monolith. Although CNN and the big three are very right slanted, and Faux Noise, the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda is infoganda, not news, MSNBC is balanced. It has Todd, Morning Joe, and other right wing commentators, but is also has Ed Schultz, Al Sharpton, Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell.

Cartoon:

1008Cartoon

Republicans are ready to try this again!

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  23 Responses to “Open Thread–10/8/2014”

  1. Don’t make me go back and check All your day tabulation. Because how did you get from 169 to 180 in just 24 hours?
    (Just keeping you honest is all.)

    • He was in a dream state!

      • The samr way he jumped back a thousand years for the monthly report.  We all make typos.  I make a gazillion myself and I am a natural proofreader, the person who can tell you correctly how many "f"s are in the sentence, and they still get by.  I don't generally mention them unless they affect the meaning and aren't obvious.  Incidentally, for anyone interested in deciphering typos, "x=y" (with any two letters) in a word always means just "y"

  2. 5:33 average up to 6:05.  I've already passed on more about acorns than anyone could possibly want to know.

    Upworthy – I haven't got through it.  But I do know, and I am so tired of, people using the name of ANY religion as an insult.  Promotes violence.  If course I do realize Republicans have trouble with science, but scientific common sense would inform one that a religion which promotes violence would be like a race with penises that are too short.  In the long run they are not going to be around.  That is not to say that violence must disappear, because unfortunately it is so human as not to need any promotion.  One thing, however, that does promote violence is name-calling.  And we have plenty of that!

    New Yorker – It's extremely clever to set up a satire which just satirizes spin itself.  Kudos to Andy.

    Daily Kos – There is a competency gap, all right, but when it comes down to brass tacks it is on the part of voters who elect the people they do.  Of course there are elected people who are competent, and Obama is one of the better ones.  Voters who think any Republican would be better are incompetent beyond belief.

    Cartoon – Republicans are indeed trying, but thankfully, there are others trying to stop them, and going beyond to bring unions back.  Solidarnösc!!

  3. 5:06 These were tough nuts to crack.

  4. New Yorker – brilliant satire from Andy again – thanks TC!

    I love your description of Faux Noise as Infoganda, TC – that is brilliant!

     

  5. FF ~ You really beat me up this week. I think I stand a better chance this week against the Purple Demon. Lynn seems to be stomping all over everyone with those Size 9s.

    Upworthy ~ Reza Aslan is correct and he does recognize Bill Maher as a comedian, not a Religion expert. The problems arise when people give him and others status which they have not earned.

    New Yorker ~ Excellent!

    Daily Kos ~ My TeapulicanT friends would argue that the only fair "news" outlet is FAUX. They tell me that all the rest of MSM is owned and run by bleeding heart liberals. Chuck Todd tries to act like a journalist, something he will never be.

    Cartoon ~ Today is National Pierogi Day! I'm so excited!

     

     

  6. On a sad note, Thomas Duncan passed away due to ebola today.

    • I heard that on our news today too.  Sad indeed.  Can you imagine what Elizabeth Hasselback is doing now after her little tirade last week?  It would not surprise me to hear her opine that one can catch ebola just by talking about it!

    • He needed first rate health care, and Got RepubliCare instead, including the RepubliCare death benefit.  Condolences to hisd family.

  7. I hope you got all the groceries stored away without too much stress.

    Upworthy:  Reza Aslan is a rational man.  I have heard him on other interviews and it seems the hosts always talk over him because they are not interested in rationalism, but sensationalism.  We have a mosque in our little town of 6000 people.  No one is afraid of it, no one worries about "those Muslims". They are people of our community, but the same people who do not fear these citizens can be stirred tohate and fear all of Isam.  Pointless. We have home grown terrorists in the usa, who are mostly Christians.  We don't slander Christians for those people's actions.

    The New Yorker:  If they thought this was a selling point, they would use it.

    Daily Kos:  MSNBC does have more balance than the others, but as a whole, I agree with the article.  They report the same stories, give the same slant every day.  Chuck Todd is no better than Dick Gregory was on Meet The Press.

    Cartoon:  The unions haven't been banned here, yet, but they are almost extinct due to the union busting tactics that Reagon started and the other Republicans have continued. 

     

     

     

  8. Puzzle — 3:43  Who would think that the biggest oak trees come from these tiny nuts?

    FF — I am NOT tiptoeing through the endzone!  I am size 9 stomping through the endzone smacking me some tight male butt in congratulatory glee! And TC, yes I did turn down the trade for Broncos WR Sanders because, you being a Broncos fan know who the good guys are.  You, I know, won't trade for crap so I figured it was better to stand pat.  I might be blonde, but I am more silver and purple now . . . all that football wisdom!  I see you and I are going nose to nose at the snap this week!  Good luck!  Tom Cat vs kitten with size 9  feet!

    Hey TC, it shows a FCOY Rank 93% beside my team.  Does that mean that I am favoured to win our match up?

    Upworthy — I have said this many times in discussions here at home, too many North Americans over generalise and lump all Muslims in together when it comes to religion and violence.  To me, that is no different than lumping all Christians in together . . . and I know I hate being lumped in with the right wing evangelical pseudo Christian nut jobs.  I have Muslim friends, and they are good, hard working people who care about the community.  I agree with Reza Aslan.

    The New Yorker — My, oh my!  If Republicanus/Teabaggers take the White House in 2016, people will really come to know what a dictatorship is.

    “You don’t take five million Americans, uproot them from their families, and make them leave their homes for eight hours a day,” Priebus said. “This isn’t a dictatorship. This is America.”

    Daily Kos — I like my Canadian MSM as it is more balanced (not perfect) than the US MSM.  Of course there are some, like Peter Mannsbridge and Lloyd Robertson (now retired from the National News team at CTV) who are very trusted.  If I had my choice, I would also add Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Ed Schultz and Lawrence O'Donnell to our cable network.  The Canadian Radio Act is such that likes of Faux Noise are not welcome because they publish proaganda, opinion and total conjecture as reliable news which of course it is not.

    Cartoon — I remember being fascinated with Lech Walesa as he lead protests and strikes at the Gdansk shipyard.  "Solidarity" seemed to become THE word, and still holds some of its meaning.  So Patty, you say it is national perogy day.  I wish I could find a place here that has great perogies.  I love them with sausage, onions, bacon and sour cream!

     

    • When I offered it, it actually was a very good good tradefor you, as Sanders had not yet proven to be starter quality, alththough I thought he would be.  I offered a good QB in return.  Youe #2 QB is weak and on a weak team.  Your starting QB is injury prone.  You still need a better backup QB.  My weakness this seaswon is at RB.  I had Ray Rice as my 2nd RB and wumpedhim before the league did when the wife besating scandal broke.  Two more starting RBs were injured, so barring thew unespected, you should have an easy time with me this week, because Rivers is playing Oakland.  You're heavily favored, because of the injuries.

      Your CanuckMSM is better.

    • Correction.  After the changes I made have been reflected, the site has me favored to beat you.  I also got a better than forecact perdormance last night from the only original RB I still have, but I still t6hink the odds favor you, because I disagree with their projections.

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