Day 88. I’m rushing to get my articles written and posted before services begin on this highest holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. Your sacrament will be served by Chickens and Cheats. I’ve already collected all the data I’ll needed for tomorrow’s Monthly Report, so I’ve been working my kitty butt off all morning.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:18 (average 5:41). To do it click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: “If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.”
– George Washington, letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia (1789)
This is just one statement by one of our founding fathers that contradicts the lies we hear from Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, as they attempt to overcome the separation of church and state out founding father had the wisdom to incorporate into our Bill of Rights. Click through for a bunch more.
From NY Times: If this state had an official color, it would most certainly be red. Football fans here don scarlet sweatshirts each game day, red meat is a dietary staple and, for decades, Republican presidential candidates filled Nebraska’s borders on the electoral map with their party’s hue.
But in 2008, a Nebraska quirk injected a drop of blue into that sea of red, in the form of a single, lonely electoral vote for the Democratic presidential candidate.
Nebraska is one of just two states, along with Maine, that do not award all their electoral voters to the statewide winner. And that meant that in 2008, Barack Obama picked up an electoral vote from the congressional district around Omaha, even as Senator John McCain trounced him across the rest of the state.
One electoral vote — out of five in Nebraska and 538 nationally — might seem trivial, but Republicans do not see it that way. It was the first time since Lyndon B. Johnson beat Barry Goldwater in 1964, when Mr. Obama was a toddler, that the state awarded any votes to a Democrat.
So this year, a longstanding proposal to change the state’s Electoral College system to winner-take-all may finally reach the Republican governor’s desk, amid a renewed push by conservative lawmakers hoping to have new rules in place for the 2016 presidential election.
I don’t have a problem with this, but I will point out the hypocrisy that in states like California that are blue in Presidential elections, Republicans are trying to do the exact opposite and split the electoral delegation. I prefer it not be split, because split delegations would allow Republicans to Gerrymander the electoral college.
From LA Times: TransCanada Corp., the Canadian company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, filed eminent domain proceedings against an estimated 90 Nebraska landowners Tuesday to secure the right to build the controversial project across their property.
How impolite of them!! We need to build a border fence to defend ourselves from these illegal TransCanada immigrants, until Canadians defeat Harper, and Canuckistan becomes Canada again. 😉
Cartoon:
18 Responses to “Open Thread–2/1/2015”
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4:10 It beats TomCat, but that may be all.
4:16 Beat me too, Jerry.
3:55 I think I'm wired!
Bigfooted!
Puzzle scared me away with some malware warning pop ups…
5:15 average now 5:46. Impressive photo. But nothing to eat.
Daily Kos – I hope everyone does read through. Many of the statements are stronger than George's. His can be interpreted (not by me, I'm sane, but by Republicans) as referring to liberty of "Christian" conscience, and to the "religious persecution" of other religions and even other "Christian" denominations wanting equal protection. Some of the quotes cannot be so twisted. Of course those are the ones the Republicans want to bury – which mean we must keep digging them up.
NY Times – I kind of like the electoral college myself, but that may be just sentiment because I grew up with it (and it did give us John Quincy Adams). But it absolutely must be administered the same in every state or it will become a cruel joke. Either all states must split, or none must split. Or else it must be abolished.
LA Times – Impolite indeed, but Congress gave them that right. If I remember correctly, they sneaked it through with some must-pass legislation. And since it was sneaked through like that, TransCanada may have the right to use eminent domain even if they are barred from building the pipeline. I don't know that that is true, but it could be. Does anyone know for sure?
Cartoon – There was a rather sweet joke about this time that three junior high boys, two white, one black, came to a lunch counter and sat down with the black lad in the middle. When the clerk told them that it was a segregated lunch counter, they said, "We know – we've segregated him." If only it could always be that easy.
Enjoy (?) the religious service. I have it on good authority that the markets are deserted as soon as the game starts (though up till then it's the busiest day of the year) – I thought I'd try to check it out.
I'm watching the Kitten Bowl on the Hallmark Channel. It's the second annual. Thy are all so adorable and I love the names they give them.
Daily Kos ~ I'm sure the Right Wing-nuts read something different when they read these words.
NY Times ~ We all know they wil do anything to win, Look at what they've been doing to dienfranchise voters. I out nothing past them
LA Times ~ I want to know how a foreign corporation has the right of emminent domain in the United States of America.
Cartoon ~ Brave souls!
Enjoy the game tonight, Tom and whoever else will be watching. I usuall switch back and forth while watching a movie. Go Chickenhawks!
Thanks for the Heads-Up WRT "Kitten Bowl"!
I don't have cable TV, but it streamed. From the pre-game tailgate coverage in the "Purrking Lot" to the "Paw Star Game" it was a hoot! And hghligts are on tape at …
http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/kitten-bowl
Absolutely purrfect!
Like you Nameless, I don't have cable so I won't get the Kitten Bowl on 17/02/15. But these little guys are just sooooooooooooooo cute!
Good grief, Nameless, thanks for the link. Priceless.
Little bit disapointed Seattle didn't win – but only a little.
It was a good game/exciting game. Definitely got my money's worth.
GO CHIEFS!
I hope your kitty butt got some rest tonight.
Daily Kos: I shared this on Facebook just now, boy do I expect some flack tomorrow. I DO live in the Bible belt, you know.
NY Times: The Republicans can never stoop too low to further their own needs. Of course they will win in Nebraska, not so sure about California.
LA Times: This burns me! I hate eminent domain to begin with, since so much has been destroyed in Kentucky under that guise. Where are TEd Cruz and Rubio now?
Cartoon: Heroes, each of them.
Puzzle — 3:55 I think I'm wired!
Religious Agony — My Seachickens went without a fish dinner. Sigh . . . 🙁
Daily Kos — I think Madison ties it all up for me. Yesterday I had lunch with a friend and we got into a discussion of religion, specifically Christianity, after she mentioned "The Hour of Power". I cringed but we continued. One thing she liked was that the pastor Bobby Shuller, grandson of the original, talked of historical context. For example, the Letter to the Corinthians was specific to the conditions in Corinth at the time, not to the US today. When I hear about the American right wing pseudo Christians today, they leave out context. When it comes to the discussion of the separation of church and state, they again leave out the context. The founding fathers were from a time of upheaval in the Christian church. Catholics killing Protestants and vice versa . . . look up the history in England at the tme of King Henry VIII, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth I. That was something that they did not want. As Madison said "… superstition, bigotry and persecution." The current debate about the separation of church and state totally misses the context of the writing of the constitution.
NY Times — It seems when it comes to the Republicanus/Teabaggers, a Farsi phrase I recently learned seems to fit . . . che Ali hajeh, che hajeh Ali . . . it doesn't matter. In this context, the Republicanus/Teabaggers are going to do what gains the most for them and screw the hypocrisy. Such a bunch of coniving thieves!
LA Times — Yes TC, I see the wink in your comment. This Canuck is amazed that TransCanada didn't try to go through the NAFTA process like Lone Pine Resources, an American chartered company, is doing in response to the fracking moratorium in Québec http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ilana-solomon/lone-pine-sues-canada-over-fracking_b_4032696.html .Read the article and pay particular attention to the end.
Nonetheless, whether through the courts for eminate domain filings or through a NAFTA tribunal, it is corporatocracy at its worst. And in my mind, it is wrong! . . . at least morally.
Cartoon — Strength and couare to stand up (or sit down) for what was right! May it ever be so!
Daily Kos:
George Washington had the foresight to see beyond singular religious beliefs. George and others like him were learned men who studied history, nations of the past to see what religions had done to other countries. As I am fond of saying, "All religions are flawed as are men".
NY Times:
Time to abolish the electoral College as it is an outdated mode of a voting system.
MoveOn PETITION: There are several others in Google, Petition to abolish electoral college, to look at and sign. Popular vote, one person, one vote, appears to be the best way of a democratic voting system for its citizens. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/abolish-the-electoral-6
LA Times:
How in the world can a foreign country claim eminent domain in USA? What is to stop China, Russia, Iran from claiming eminent domain in USA? Let us hope that the 90 landowners, including Native Americans, say "NO" to TransCanada Corp from building the Keystone XL pipeline on their properties.
Republican-Led Senate Approves Keystone XL Pipeline
On Capitol Hill, the Republican-led Senate has passed a bill to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The Senate bill passed 62 to 36, five votes short of the number needed to overturn a potential veto by President Obama.
Cartoon:
Brave Souls!
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 01/27/15
'Friendship 9' convictions to be overturned
Rachel Maddow reports that the eight surviving members of the Friendship Nine, who served hard labor following arrests for a peaceful lunch counter protest, will have their convictions in that case overturned. Duration: 4:33
The strategy started the no pay for bail-outs of jailed protesters during the civil rights movement in 1960.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/friendship-9-convictions-to-be-overturned-389970499984
Question:
Was the Super Bowl a "No Drone Zone"? lol.
In an open stadium, that would be hard to prevent.
TY TC – enjoyed the articles and everyone's comments, but am too flipping ill again to think properly – sorry.
I had to vote Completely Satisfied in the Poll. Our governor, mayor, congress persons are all Dems. Secrectly, I am glad the Seachickens lost. Not thrilled that the Patriots won,but my 49ers were not playing.
Thanks all. Busy day. As soon as I get my posts uo, I'll have breakfast.