I’m writing for tomorrow, day 186. I’m rushing to get this finished before I leave for my volunteer work in prison.
The Victims Impact meeting went very well, and my presentation was well received.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:05 (average 4:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Religious Ecstasy:
As penance for missing it, I must say 513 Hail Peytons. 🙂
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Republican Gov. John Kasich got a lot of attention on Monday for acknowledging reality when he said that Obamacare repeal is "not gonna happen." Then he went even deeper, saying that the "political or ideological" opposition to Obamacare—and, in particular, Medicaid expansion—doesn’t "hold water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people’s lives." Two thoughts spring to mind reading that. Either John Kasich has given up any presidential aspirations or Kasich is seeing a shift in his party away from Obamacare insanity.
As it turns out, it’s neither of those things, because Kasich immediately "clarified" his position.
"I don’t back Obamacare. I never have. I want it to be repealed," he told The Washington Post in a telephone interview. "If the House and the Senate [are Republican-controlled] and we have a Republican president, Obamacare will be repealed flat out. Flat out. And it will be replaced."
So much for "real improvements in people’s lives." But that’s not the best part. He goes full McConnell in his backtracking talk with Politico.
Even when one acknowledges the need to feign sanity, the need to suck … nevermind … for money requires that they goosestep first.
From NY Times: Four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards were convicted and immediately jailed Wednesday for their roles in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisour Square that marked a bloody nadir in America’s war in Iraq.
A jury in Federal District Court found that the deaths of 17 Iraqis in the shooting, which began when a convoy of the guards suddenly began firing in a crowded intersection, was not a battlefield tragedy, but the result of a criminal act.
The justice here, although commendable, is incomplete, as long as the company exists in any form. Because it became known as the Republican Gestapo, it changed it’s name to Xe and then to Academi. as it remains as part of Constellis Holdings.
From Upworthy:
She’s already America’s sweetheart, and now she’s won an award for her anti-bullying work. As someone who was bullied herself, Julia Roberts can really relate to the teens she works with.
Kudos to Julia. And she’s right. It’s wrong to stand by and do nothing. But even worse, the Republican Party demands that bullying LGBT people is part of their right to religious expression. How hateful!
Cartoon:
18 Responses to “Open Thread–10/24/2014”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Most of the hatred that leads to bullying has its roots in religion; the rest of it has its roots in ignorance. But I repeat myself.
Phil, not all people approach faith from ignorance. Those who demand exclusivity for atheism are no less ignorant than Republucan Supply-side pseudo-Christians.
You're right, T.C., not all people approach faith from ignorance, but almost everyone approaches religion that way. Please understand that religion and faith are not the same thing and they should not be conflated. Faith draws energy from a higher power; religion yields energy to a lower power. And please, never assume that because I'm anti-religious I'm an atheist. The power I believe in blows God away.
Phil, I didn't aassume you were an atheist. You've mentioned that in the past.
Faith and Rehigion are independent of each other, but are not mutuially exclusive.
Glad your Broncos were able to pull it off without your detailed attention.
Polls and national political news do not indicate anything in play for possible major changes in Indiana so Kasich isn't getting coaching or other special attention these days. He also isn't showng uip campaigning in other states like Perry and Christie. So he's not in the habit of lock step talking points as much as others and may accidentally spoken truth before he realized it wasn't the lock step needed for national aspirations.
The only corporate justice on the horizon might be the new tightened rules where such a history becomes a bar to federal contracts.
Roberts is stellar. Silence is indeed the enemy whenever there is bullying or human rights violations–we learned that with the history of the rise of Nazism.
Chomsky recently spoke to the UN expressing wishes that the US would at least abide by its own laws even if it didn't to international laws it had signed on to honor.
3:26 That is one cute punk dog!
3:23 TomCat punked us.
3:21 Now that is one punked dog! And people say my short purple hair is punked?!?
It was barely mort food than the bug on the flower I ate the other day, but even small dawgs are tasty!!
And apparently less gas producing! You didn't even burp!
Daily Kos ~ Kasich can't back-pedal fast enough. This is what happens when you speak without thinking.
NY Times ~ They do need to be eliminated all together. They make money off others misfortunes and have no regard for human life.
Upworthy ~ Kudos to Julia Roberts! I was also bullied and still am at times. It was always the females who bullied me and to this day it makes me feel alone. I was told once by a close male friend that the girls/women were jealous of me so they treated me as though I didn't exist. The reason doesn't ease the hurting inside.
Cartoon ~ And the TeapublicanTs still want to pull us out of it.
6:48 average unchanged. I didn't realize small dogs were into rock 'n' roll.
I doubt if 513 Hail Peytons will bother you much. Glad they won. I have always been a football jinx. If I watch a game they NEVER win. The one exception was a game where they were playing so badly (and losing) that I left the room. While I was gone (the rest of the game actually) they pulled themselves together and made the winning play. Go figure.
Daily Kos – Oh, hell, he's running for reelection. President? How about dis-electiong him as Governor first? I realize Ed Fitzgerald's chances are underwhelming, but he would have to be better. I don't doubt that Republicans will continue trying to repeal Obamacare. Look at what Eisenhower said about Social Security, yet decades later Republicans are still trying to repeal it and Medicare.
NY Times – I also applaud the conviction, but point out that no conviction is ever complete justice, because the sentencing is not done at the time of conviction, but later (often 30 mdays but I'm sure there are exceptions). So besides the fact that Blackwater still exists, there is still time in this case for the sentencing judge to undermine the conviction.
Upworthy – Really, no one is immune from being bullied. Especially with the internet, bullies can and do gang up on the strongest. How many women have been forced to move due to death threats after just trying to point out inequality on line?
Cartoon – And Republicans have been screaming bloody murder ever since.
BTW, speaking of Kasich (which we were in the Daily Kos take), forgive me for quoting from the "debate" (Kasich didn't show up so it was just Fitzgerald):
"If you run for governor they go through your whole life and they try to figure out the worst thing that they could say about you. And if the worst thing they can say is that I was careless about a driver's license and I let it become expired, so be it. That's the way that life goes and that's they way politics is sometimes. But I would just say this: If you look at the candidate [John Kasich] that didn't bother to show up tonight, which is also an indication of character by the way, and you look at his career outside of public office, you're talking about somebody that was making a seven figure salary from a Wall Street bank while advising public pensions to invest in that bank. And then, public pensions in Ohio lost hundreds of millions of dollars — now what's a greater moral issue?
If somebody wants to say that letting their license expire… if someone wants to say that that is a great moral issue, that's fine. But the fact is that people lost their pension money because of that and one publication in particular found it much more fascinating to talk about the status of someones driver's license than it did about [John Kasich's] really egregious behavior. And that doesn't even count the things that happened in office under Governor Kasich, which I think also have moral implications as well. I'm somebody that's been married for twenty three years. I have four children, and I have a record as a public servant of fifteen years. And that isn't what has been an issue, as to what kind of mayor or county executive I was. Because the strategy on the other side is to make this as superficial of an election as possible. That's reflected in all of their attacks, the fact that they won't deal with substance, and the fact that they won't even show up for a debate here today."
SO if you know anyone in Ohio,, do urge them to GOTV!
Sorry. I'm still out of the loop.
Daily Kos: So, did Kasich acccidently speak the truth and then back track to fit the ideology of his party? That is what it sounds like to me. I wish Mitch would also accidentally tell the truth before election day.
NY Times: Justice has not been served with only four Blackwater employees convicted. The charges should go all the way to the top of the organization, and then to whomever authorized their activity in Iraq on behalf of the USA.
Upworthy: We need a million Julia Roberts. Bullying takes many forms, and is not taken seriously by enough parents. It needs to be stopped, but only will be when enough people are educated to really believe that we are all unique and have a right to be who we are, without judgment.
Cartoon: And we still don't have the participation in it that we should have.
Puzzle — 3:21 Now that is one punked dog! And people say my short purple hair is punked?!?
Ottawa Shooting — A fellow from a marketing firm decided to do a crowd funding for the families of the 2 soldiers killed this week, Nathan Cirillo in Ottawa and Patrice Vincent in Montréal. After one day the fund was very close to the $10,000 target. Then 5 of Canada's banks put in $20,000 each and some larger corporations like Lawblaw's (I think) contributed more. The fund, "Stand On Guard", is now at $251,000. This is Canada pulling together.
Daily Kos — I didn't know that Kaisich could do that Michael Jackson dance move . . . the moon step I think it is called. You know the one where it looks like the dancer is stepping forward when in fact he is moving backwards!
Replaced with Republican Death benefits. "[R]eal improvements in people’s lives." NOT!
NY Times — "The justice here, although commendable, is incomplete, …" There never will be full justice as long as the company continues to exist and as long as CEOs etc are not held criminally responsible. That also applys to banks etc.
Upworthy — Bullying in any form, by anyone, towards anyone is plain WRONG! Unacceptable! And standing silent is the same as doing the bullying because silence lets the bullying continue.
Cartoon — I support the UN and its goals but I do think that there needs to be some changes. One change . . . the veto power in the Security Council. I know that is one of the reasons some countries agreed to the UN Charter, but it plainly allows one nation to go against the majority, to holdup progress on vital issues.
So glad your presentation went so well TC – please rest a bit now, we don't want you getting poorly again, and it takes so much out of you to do so much!
Daily Kos – what a mackerel backed paramecium that man is!
NYTimes – I am appalled at the actions of these men – utterly and completely appalled! Patently they only regard themselves as human beings with feelings, no-one else at all. Shameful.
From the NYT article " the defendants showed little emotion. Three of them arrived late to court. Mr. Heard broke the courtroom silence by popping open a Coke can just before the jury entered. Lawyers, however, said their clients were devastated by the verdicts." – that seems to say it all, the defendents with no emotion, and their lawyers interpreting things their way….
I hope the anti-bullying campaign does some good – it is awful to hear in the news of yet another teenager bullied to death, simply awful.
Thanks and amen to all.