Here’s the rest of what happened yesterday. Fortunately the LIFT bus dropped me off over an hour early, because I discovered that my doctor’s office sent me to the hospital Imaging Department, when I was supposed to go to the Professional Plaza Imaging Department down the street. I called TriMet LIFT and they agreed to change my pickup location. A walk up a steep hill later, I got to the Professional Plaza who discovered that my doctor’s office screwed up the paperwork for the X-Ray. They called and found that her back office staff had just left for lunch. I had to sit al hour waiting for them to return to fax them the right paperwork. Apparently the order was unsigned. After they got the paperwork I went into the queue. The X-Ray only took 10 minutes, which was good, because I made it to the LIFT bus area with only a few minutes to spare. I got to take the grand tour dropping off other riders, but there was no congestion from Obama’s visit. I’ll be brief, because I’m worn out.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From MoveOn: 10 Ideas to Save the Economy: Fight For $15
No one who works full-time should live in poverty. A decent nation ensures that all workers can pay their rent and feed their family.
Please click through to MoveOn to share this from there.
From The New Yorker: In a deepening humanitarian crisis, residents of the city of Austin report that they are completely surrounded by Texas, a situation that locals are calling “dire.”
Austin has traditionally enjoyed freedoms as a semi-autonomous region, hosting film festivals and literary events without the interference of its hostile neighbors, but there are growing fears that those days may be coming to an end.
Alarmingly, citizens of Austin report, extremists within the city limits have taken over the Capitol Building and installed a militant government with dominion over its residents.
In recent days, Austin has made desperate requests for assistance to the U.S. military, which will be conducting exercises in Texas in July.
From Andy we have the clarion call. Save Austin!!
From Reuters: Prime Minister David Cameron won a stunning election victory in Britain, confounding poll predictions that the vote would be the closest in decades to sweep into office for another five years with a clear majority and his Labour opponents in tatters.
My condolences to the people of the UK for demonstrating that the US does not have an exclusive on voter idiocy. Perhaps Pat can fill us in on why this happened.
Cartoon:
31 Responses to “Open Thread–5/8/2015”
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The book "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is a worthy read for anyone interested in a fuller picture of that history and related impacts.
I've read where the problem in the UK is more akin to gerrymandering than to pollsters not getting the overall public's view right.
AB is way too much straight reporting again.
Thank heavens Reich is so good at explaining things so those who believe economics (and other math things) is beyond them.
Glad part of the puzzle got it right and was appropriately flexible for things beyond your control and that feared POTUS visit impact did not emerge.
no surprise with how your new poll results are running (couldn't resist a peek)
3:57 average still 4:48.
MoveOn – I'm pretty much in the choir for anything MoveOn or Robert Reich says. I certainly am on this. So are a lot of business owners, including most small business owners, who know damned well they depend on their customers' purchasing power. Only the uber-rich are against it. So it will at the vary least take a while.
NewYorker – So, so true. It's amazing the mental worlds some peole ive in, ian't it?
Reuters – I vote for gerrymandering. In fact, there is a Care2 petition, which I signed just this morning, on UK gerrymandering. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/726/346/684/PR/
4:08 Whoops! I fell off the garden wall.
2:57 Sorry I didn't wait or help you up after you fell. I had the time.
Big footed!
Glad you agreed JD and posted the petition for people (I'd signed this morning)
Signed earlier. There was a comment that Harper stacked the deck for the Conservatives here with his Fair Elections legislation. I think that will have to be looked at and soon.
Looks like I signed the petition in Joanne's box already.
Tell Greg Abbott, Texass Governor, to Stop Wasting Tax Dollars for Moronic Conspiracy Theories. Far right conspiracists are pushing the absurd idea that an upcoming Army exercise is actually a fiendish plot by President Obama to declare martial law and take over Texas.
PETITION: http://leftaction.com/action/texas-conspiracy
Per Rachel Maddow, this is an ongoing bit of news which will be occurring for the next few days regarding "The conspiracy Theories over Jade Helm Training Exercise in Texas.
Rachel had a nice segment on her show tonight. We celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the end of WW II in Europe, VE Day. as did other euro countries.
MoveOn: Love Robert Reich's explanation on raising the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour as well as many of his other short and very informative videos.
Puzzle — 2:57 Sorry I didn't wait or help you up after you fell. I had the time.
MoveOn — Robert Reich, like usual, hits the nail on the head! . . . and it is ever so logical . . . even a Republicanus/Teabaggerum should be able to follow Reich's simple logic. In watching events of the new Alberta government unfold, part of their platform was a $15 minimum wage by 2018. Right now, The liquor server minimum wage is $9.20 per hour effective 01 Sept 2014, while all others get $10.20 per hour.
I just took a quick trip through minimum wage history in BC and in 1971when I started working, minimum wage was $1.50/hour and I made $1.54/hour as a bank teller. A friend and I could not afford to share a 1 bedroom apartment on those wages.
The New Yorker — A headline from the Daily Beast: " Perry to Texas: Stop Being Insane" (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/06/perry-to-texas-stop-being-insane.html). You know there are serious problems when the chief insaniTEA spokesperson says this about the new crop of Republicanus/Teabaggerum in state government.
Reuters — I sure hope Canada does not follow suit in October! With Alberta going orange (social democrat), apparently Harper is pshawing the orange and saying that the Conservatives will come back with a majority government. Considering that Harper is from Alberta and his provincial riding went orange, maybe there is hope that Harper will go the same route as the Alberta dinosaurs from a different age. My condolences to my UK friends!
Cartoon — It does indeed! And it contimues the world over . . . the cultures of indigenous peoples is stripped away.
For the last 3 days, I have tried to leave a comment on the poll but I keep getting the following message:
I don't know why. Here is my commentfor the poll:
I attempted to leave a test comment there and got the same error. I emailed the poll host and informed them of the error at theitr site. I don't knw what they will do or when.
TY TC.
Seriously depressed. However, you asked for my opinion and here it is…
The general concensus on WTF happened to the voting seems to be that a) the pollsters didn't know what they were talking about (remember the Scottish Referendum that was 'too close to call' and ended up being ten percentage points apart) and that the bookies did – at the very end. Until the very night of voting the bookies were also saying it would be a coalition government – but as the night progressed they changed their view and said they thought there would be a small Tory win. Part of the problem is blamed on the fact that Tory voters don't want to say they are voting Tory, so lie (causing people to think of many Tory lies) so giving a skewed result to pollsters, and another BIG problem is that approximately 40% of the population would could vote don't give a rat's *rse about anyone or the state of the country (or perhaps have to work those evil 'zero hours' contract) so don't bother to/can't vote.
And the biggest problem yet is that you can get millions of votes (out of a population of approximately 64,000,000 people – and ten frustrating minutes trying to find the numbers who can vote found this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results which says the voting population is 46 million) and only one MP. For example the Green Party got over a million votes and got one MP – and Plaid Cymru had just over 181,000 seats and got 3 MPs. UKIP had over 3 million votes and got one seat. The SNP got 56 seats from a million and a half votes. The Lib Dems got nearly 2.5 million votes and got 8 seats.
The whole system used to work (more or less) with 2 parties to vote for but it emphatically does not work with many parties, and since all the scandals that have come out about MPs here people think even less of them than they did before. However, since the Tories got to power under this system they won't even try to alter it – it is to their benefit, and the chances of them changing it are rather like that of a snowballs chance in h*ll.
So your individual distrricts are plurality rules?
Sorry TC – my brain is made of Swiss cheese today – our voting system is First Past The Post – or Winner Takes All – suppose that there are six candidates all with the same number of votes, and a seventh with one more vote than the other six – that makes the seventh the winner. He/she may only have a zillionth over one seventh of the population voting for him, but he gets the prize.
If you have five minutes, P J O'Rourke's piece here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32657761 – I do agree with this –
"But beside the fact that the election's outcome seemed to come as a complete surprise to the electorate, there were other aspects of this election that baffled an American.
"For one thing, telling the candidates apart. To American eyes and ears David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and even Nigel Farage had the same accents, same suits, same gestures – four British Mitt Romneys. We too had a Mitt Romney, but we could tell him apart from Barack Obama." – that is so true, they all look like Mitt-wannabees.
Off to fight off a migraine…
Did they change that? Plurality rules makes it as bad as here.
Pat, this sounds very much like Canada where at the last election, the Conservatives received only 39% of the vote yet formed a majority government. Like the UK, we have multiple parties. I think that the only way to deal with this is to have runoff votes, similar to France. But as you said "… the chances of them changing it are rather like that of a snowballs chance in h*ll."
Here, Harper's Fair Elections Act has actually stacked the deck in favour of the Conservatives according to pundits and others who have actually read the details of the act.
Thanks Lynn – I tried to look up French voting and runoff votes – but my brain has turned to Swiss cheese and I can't understand a word!
Do you know the Tories didn't think they would win and the government actually put aside several buildings to be ready for negotiations between possible coalition members for several days after the election. However I do think that Mr Milliband lost the election – Heaven help us all!
I agree. Several choices can be included on one ballot. Until there is a majority, drop the lowest, and move down a choice for that person's voters.
Just on the thing in Texas. Why can’t the US military conduct exercises on a US military base? That just befuddles me! They are conducting these exercises there because the terrain matches where they are going! Duh!
Instead, they should build an electrified fence between Texas and the US.
From your keyboard to God's ear!. . . but just let the liberals out first!
Of course!
Thanks all! Hugs!
Laughed myA– off re. Texas conspiracy panic,The comments back to the rep. from the army were both rude and hilarious.seriously What could anyone want with TEXAS? Damned if I know. could not be anything intelligent.!. That state must have the lowest average I.Q. in the USA. (just listen to their reps.in Washington!. Iguess that if the country were short of arms they have them ,(in Spades).Cannot think of anything else.
Second thought. Jeb Bush will consult with his Brother "W'during his campaign.!! The W who lied America into a disasterous war, and is responsible(,along with his best buddy, and incredible evil Cheney.)and who is responsible for more than 100,000 deaths,of Iraqi,s.and thousands dead and disabled in the American forces. and frankly. "the beat goes on " now. Can America stand another Bush in the White House. I hope not. God help America!
See today's Open Thread. 🙂
Thank you for the photo comment. And please remember them if and when the economy starts to improve for the mainstream society; better days have never gone to the native people.
Thanks Sheryl. I fully agree.
I believe I would be having a confrontation with my doctor's office staff, this is ridiculous, and inept on their part.
Move On: No one who is working full time should have to live in poverty. Shared this on Facebook.
The New Yorker: I wish Austin the best of luck!
Reuters: So sad for the UK>
cartoon: Yes, it continues, to the disgrace of our country.
I did. 🙂