I had another night with little sleep, due to street noise. Therefore I want to get my articles written quickly, before I run out of gas. 80° highs are forecast today and tomorrow. I guess this means I’ll be complaining about freezing weather in June.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:06 (average 4:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: A real-life moment of unequal pay turns into a beautiful discussion of hard work, pressure, appreciating yourself, and … BASKETBALL.
Kudos! Why is it that guns and money evoke the most violent responses? The people making them are Republicans. That’s why! Her only mistake is that she should have been petting a CAT!
From Daily Kos: Sen. Ted Cruz goes full LaPierre:
"The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution isn’t for just protecting hunting rights, and it’s not only to safeguard your right to target practice. It is a Constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny — for the protection of liberty," Cruz wrote to supporters in a fundraising email on Thursday, under the subject line "2nd Amendment against tyranny."
This "insurrectionist" argument, as Second Amendment expert and UCLA law professor Adam Winkler calls it, is popular among passionate gun owners and members of the National Rifle Association.
Second Amendment solutions are being championed by Republican candidates again.
From Alternet: Men’s rights blogger: Women with short hair should be monitored by the authorities.
Men’s rights nutjob Roosh V, who blogs under the moniker “Pick Up Artist,” always has extremely helpful suggestions for women. He thinks women would take more responsibility for themselves if rape on private property was decriminalized, for starters. Thanks, Roosh! Or should we call you Mr. V? How exactly decriminalizing rape would help women is kind of murky.
This week, the Rooshter made an even more bizarre suggestion for how law enforcement should occupy their time, now that they’ve been freed up from all that pesky rape stuff. The authorities should be alerted when women cut their hair short. This, he says, is an act of self harm. Worse still, it hurts men (the group Roosh actually purports to care about). When women cut their hair short, they are trying to appear less fertile and therefore less attractive to men, he reasons.
Here it is from the horse’s (ass) mouth:
“If a woman cuts her hair to a short length, or shaves it outright in a Skrillex haircut, we can now confidently say that she is making herself appear less fertile, less beautiful, and less healthy. A woman cutting off healthy hair is one step away from literal cutting of her skin with a sharp object, because both behaviors denote a likely mental illness where the woman presents herself to society as more damaged than her genetic condition would indicate, suggesting that she has suffered environmental damage that has reduced her overall fitness. She must be monitored by state authorities so she doesn’t continue to hurt herself.”
Stupefying, no?
This is just the last of five Republican lunacies from last week alone. Click through for the other four.
Cartoon:
Unlike years past, I have not been able to find Republicans celebrating bombing the Murrah building with open-carry demonstrations this year.
11 Responses to “Open Thread–4/19/2015”
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3:29 average still 4:10 Good luck, you must be hungry. June may not be totally freezing, but it's just about bound to be … different.
Upworthy – Guns, yes. Money – yeah, but especially money AND WOMEN. You can tell she is serious because it is suitable for work. As to petting a cat – I don't think a cat would have put up with the teasing of moving the snack around – or a few other things. You wouldn't want the message destroyed.
Daily Kos – Granted that it's a stretch, I think the Second Amendment bears the insurrectionist interpretation to some degree, and RECENT courts have upheld it. Probably most here know that retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens (whose birthday is tomorrow, incidentally), while pointing out that when he was on the Court no one ever dreamed of stretching it to that degree, still recommends that the amendment have five words added, namely "when serving in the militia," to clarify the Founders intent. The article is long but well worth reading in full (and the book is longer LOL). I might add that I was still a child the first time Iheard "The first thing Hitler did was take away everyone's guns" and I am 69. Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-five-extra-words-that-can-fix-the-second-amendment/2014/04/11/f8a19578-b8fa-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html
Alternet – Sad to say, the first four, though extreme, are typical extremism coming from their respective sources. But that last one – there must be at least one and probably several diagnosis in the DSM that covers it. Involuntary indefinite commitment would be a good thing here.
Cartoon – How odd. Maybe they are just too concentrated on their Presidential "candidates" to be distracted by it. But this anniversary is the twentieth, and that's usually a significant number. Frankly, their silence scares me more than if they were speaking.
Sarah is great and I'd add we need to stop people that try to frame the discussion as equal pay vs. family friendly policies and benefits or work flexibility–both are fair and appropriate for all.
Twisting things to make money to suit oneself is despicable.
Any man who shaves his beard, sideburns or moustache is violating Biblical commands and should be investigated–including Rooster crowing out the wrong hole.
3:06 I give up. I will give TomCat the bird.
2:46 Given how fast hummers fly, and given that they can fly forwards or backwards as well as up and down, my money's on the bird this time! An aging, mangy Puddy Tat won't be able to get that beautiful little bird.
2:40 I tried my best but it wasn't good enough to stop athat nasty Puddy Tat. I hope you're right about the humming bird being able to give him the slip, Lynn.
I hopeyou got some sleep today, we need it at our age. I have a neighbor who is only home one week a month. He started mowing at 7 am yesterday, and was still playing his music loud enough to be heard in our house at 2am this morning. I am so glad he is only home one week a month.
Upworthy: Sarah Silverman has it right. Most women are taught to be caregivers and to look out for others needs before their own. You have to learn to ask for what you deserve. I worked in an office with five women and one man, we had the same job duties, but he got paid more. This was a government job, too. I asked for more money, more than once, but didn't get it. He did less work than any of us, too.
Daily Kos: I need to read the Second Amendment again, but it seems to me that it does not cover individual gun owners, but militia. I don't like going to the grocery and hoping no one has a loaded gun with them. This is so ridiculous.
Alternet: I clicked through, against my better judgment. Poor Sawah. She invented campaigning and now Hiwory is stealing her idea. The last one was the most absurd. I never heard of that guy, and hope I never do again, he is an idiot.
Cartoon: Another sad day in our history.
Puzzle — 2:46 Given how fast hummers fly, and given that they can fly forwards or backwards as well as up and down, my money's on the bird this time! An aging, mangy Puddy Tat won't be able to get that beautiful little bird.
Upworthy — Kudos Sarah Silverman. It is important to stand up for yourself because nobody else will do it.
Daily Kos — The 2nd amendment: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." . . . and what happens to the Republicanus/Teabaggerum if, having promoted guns to protect against a tyrannical government, becomes the government which in pursuit of absolute power becomes tyrannical? Morons!
Alternet — Bill O'Lielly is such a whiney fool! He needs to learn that R-E-S-P-E-C-T is earned and not automatic. No respect . . . look in the mirror to find out why. Having trouble with your white pseudo Christian male privilege Bill?
Sarah Palin is a certified nut job. If she goes on the road, I wonder who she will be stumping for? Pray it isn't for herself. Mind that might be funny if it weren't so pathetic. If someone wanted to lose the nomination, just invite Palin along.
Michele Bachmann gives new meaning to "insane". Authority on scripture? Before she tries on the Qu'ran for size, perhaps she should learn Christian scripture first, and try practicing it.
Chris Christie, wealth is not measured solely in $$$s. Anybody told you that? But silly me, I forgot, you're a Republicanus/Teabaggerum and $$$s are all you care about . . . other than power. Putz!!!
Roosh V, as a woman with extremely short hair, some of it purple no less, I think you are mentally ill. So what would he say about men that have long hair . . . are they trying to make themselves more attractive to other men, or signal that they are fertile?
Republicanus/Teabaggerum . . . there should be a law against them!
Cartoon — White male terrorists like McVeigh do more damage to the US than any Muslims (with the exception of the WTC bombing). And if the Republicanus/Teabaggerum take the White House in 2016, there will be plenty more white pseudo Christian male terrorism in the form of inept governance!
Happy Belate Birthday, Lynn. I just saw Tom's post from your big day. I'm sorry I missed it and hope it was fabulous!
Thanks TC – read articles, too ill to comment on Daily Kos and Alternet as they have severely affected my bp and caused an increase in pain – do they actually HAVE brains to think with? Fortunately words fail me at this point – arrgghhh!!!
Brilliant comments by Joanne, jla, Jerry, Edie and Lynn, I agree with them all (and wish I had thought of those comments!)….
Edie – deepest sympathies re your office situation, I've been there too (and yes the man in my situation was lazy too – they just get used to having everything and giving nothing – or we are unlucky). Also sympathies re your neighbour – awful, inconsiderate person. I did stop one young electrician from being similarly inconsiderate – he was talking about doing DIY to his new home that he had just bought when he had come home from the pub at 10pm or 11pm – unwise on so many fronts. So instead of telling him that it was deeply unwise to work with power tools after drinking and late at night, which I hope he already knew, (and hammering and banging then) I said to him 'How do you think your neighbours feel about that?' He said he didn't really know. So then I asked 'Do you think you will ever have to ask your neighbour for a favour?' – and THAT made him think. I hoped that 'enlightened self interest' would do what consideration for others patently didn't.
Upworthy ~ Kudos, Sara! We women have to work twice as hard to prove ourseelves and still not get our due.
Daily Kos ~ Ammosexuals are at it again! I've heard them bring up the Wild west too. But they're wrong about that too. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/23/1112703/-De-mythologizing-the-Wild-West-gun-laws-were-actually-stricter-then-than-now#
Alternet ~ 1. Whenever Billy O says: "It's a fact", he's lying. Any time his lips are moving, he's lying 2. Sarah Who??? 3. Batshit should stop worrying about Israel and start praying Marcus' gay away. 4. My heart goes out to him and his ilk. NOT!!! 5. I really hope Mr. V is being monitored to make sure he takes his meds. It sounds like he's off them right now.
Cartoon ~ Maybe Timothy McVeigh's former Militia brethren had a peaceful demonstration somewhere.
Pooped pit stip. Thanks to all. Hugs!