Feb 012016
 

A very light day today, thankfully, but the week ahead is busy.  I spoke with my brother in Toronto this morning.  He and his wife are taking an Alaska cruise leaving from Vancouver in July so they will spend a few days visiting with me and seeing my mother.  This will be good as they haven't seen her for almost 3 years, or is it 4 years.  Tomorrow is physio and teaching but I shant be lingering to do extra tutoring or Costco runs.

Short Takes

Alternet — Oklahoma legislators are trying to pass an expressively cruel bill that would bar depressed LGBT youngsters from seeking gay-affirming counseling at school, Slate reports.

The state House bill, proposed by Republican Sally Kern, is part of a slew of anti-gay legislation she wants to pass, which would sanction discredited gay “conversion” therapy and prevent HIV-positive people from getting married.

I was absolutely sickened by this legislation.  The party of hate strikes yet again, and this time takes aim at children, children with severe mental health issues such as depression.  If this legislation is passed, I hope the courts will deem it unconstitutional!

Huffington Post — Republicans have spent nearly six years promising to repeal Obamacare and, for most of that time, they have refused to acknowledge what that would mean for the millions who would lose their health insurance.

On Saturday afternoon in Iowa, for at least a few minutes, one Republican couldn't get away with it.

It happened at a Ted Cruz campaign event in Hubbard, a small town smack in the middle of the state. According to reports in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Politico, Cruz fielded a question from Mike Valde, a Democratic voter who had come to the event with a story to tell and a simple question to ask.

The story was about his brother-in-law, a barber named Mark. As Valde told it, Mark was a small business owner who worked so hard that he didn’t even take paid days off. But Mark was unable to afford health insurance until the Affordable Care Act became law. When it did, Mark bought insurance and then, when he started feeling ill, saw a physician — who promptly diagnosed him with cancer with no hope for recovery. He died last year.

Good on Valde to confront Cruz and persist in getting an answer.  I think Cruz was flumoxed by Valde, such that he tried not to answer. Obamacare is not perfect but it is a step in the correct direction.  There are still people not covered because many red states have refused Medicaid expansion.  Others because they make too much for Medicaid coverage but still can't afford the premiums.  Republicans only have the Republicare death benefit — die fast, as Rep Alan Grayson coined.  Cruz was caught between a rock and a hard place and had nowhere to go.

CBC — Two parents watching over an awkward child with weight issues that's still living with them isn't really news. Unless the child in question is a king penguin. 

Nero is, well, different than the adult penguins in his life. While mom, dad and the rest of the colony are decked out in their finest black and whites, the only child is big, fluffy and brown.

Did we mention big?

Nero the penguin

Nero, the first king penguin chick born at the Calgary Zoo, stands out with his fluffy appearance. (Ayesha Clough/CBC)

"He's five months, a little over five months, and he weighs around 15 and a half kilos, which means he is the heaviest bird in our colony," said Malu Celli, a curator at the Calgary Zoo. "He's heavier than his mom, who's quite a big, chunky penguin too, and he still has some growing to do."

OK, this is cuteness overload time!  Nero is 5 months old and only one half kilo bigger than my 8 year old cat!  I love watching penguins play, although I don't particularly like seeing them in an artificial environment such as a zoo.  Play away Nero and happy puberty!

Common Dreams"Corporate criminals routinely escape meaningful prosecution for their misconduct."

This is the damning verdict of Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) report released Friday,Rigged Justice: How Weak Enforcement Lets Corporate Offenders Off Easy (pdf). 

Described as "the first in an annual series on enforcement," the 12-page booklet "highlights 20 of the most egregious civil and criminal cases during the past year in which federal settlements failed to require meaningful accountability to deter future wrongdoing and to protect taxpayers and families," according to a press statement from Warren's office.  

"Justice cannot mean a prison sentence for a teenager who steals a car, but nothing more than a sideways glance at a C.E.O. who quietly engineers the theft of billions of dollars," Warren said in the op-ed.

This from the report, Rigged Justice: How Weak Enforcement Lets Corporate Offenders Off Easy, prepared by Elizabth Warren's office.  Cllick through for more details.

The failure to punish big corporations or their executives when they break the law undermines the foundations of this great country: If justice means a prison sentence for a teenager who steals a car, but it means nothing more than a sideways glance at a CEO who quietly engineers the theft of billions of dollars, then the promise of equal justice under the law has turned into a lie. The failure to prosecute big, visible crimes has a corrosive effect on the fabric of democracy and our shared belief that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. 

Corporate criminals like Jamie Dimon and Don Blankenship need to be held criminally  accountable for the actions of their corporations.  Federal agencies need to conduct robust investigations and see that all charges and penalties are pursued.  Further, corporations should not be able to write-off penalties from a tax perspective.  That is just plain wrong.

My Universe — 

Photobucket

Dance til you drop!

Share

  4 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 31/01/2016”

  1. It will be nice to see your brother and sister in law again, Lynn, but the might be in for a shock when they see your mother after 3-4 years. You've seen her deteriorate very gradually over that period and you still noticed how much of her personality and interaction with the world is gone. Just imagine seeing the result after 3-4 years. You better prepare them for it. Tsssk, another task when you're already so busy.

    Alternet: I'm not very good with names, but I'm sure I've heard Sally Kern's name mentioned in a negative way before. That woman is on a mission to make the life of every LGBT person in Oklahoma, and then some, miserable. Wasn't she the one who had written a bill to make it impossible for a transgender student to go to the toilets designated for his/her new gender and fine schools that didn't comply? Now she also wants to interfere in the lives of HIV positive people. Kern is some piece of work. When is she up for re-election?

    CBC: I've seen some penguin colonies in the wild where quite a few young were as large or larger than their parents, and the birds in my garden tend to overfeed their chicks too before they kick them out on their own. I think they make sure they have some reserve when things get difficult and the young are no longer so cute. So Nero best enjoy it while it lasts and we'll do the same with Nero.

    Common Dreams: That's what I appreciate so much about Sen. Elizabeth Warren: she doesn't beat about the bush, not even in the titles of her very damning reports. Rigged Justice: How Weak Enforcement Lets Corporate Offenders Off Easy is more of a summary than a title and already says it all, the report itself is just there to give background information and examples. Every one of her statements rings true and the only thing missing now is putting a group of truly independent and dedicated enforcers to get to work. Go for it, Liz!

    My Universe: Looks like they're about to drop any minute.

  2. Rather than contending with the calamity of the Zika virus, we’d be much better served if Hate were made a debilitating disease.  It would sideline practically the entire hate-mongering Rethuglican Party – including Rep. Sally Kern (R-Hater)

    (As someone noted at Slate, if Oklahoma is so concerned about being tainted by “The Gays” they shouldn’t have had a top Broadway musical named after their state!)

     

    Don’t want to steal anyone’s thunder, but also don’t want us to miss this nugget:

    Ted Cruz Owes Jesus a LOT of Money

    Turns out that Cruz is a perfect Talibangelical christianist – talks the talk, but doesn’t walk, amble or even crawl the walk!

    Out of the over 5 MILLION dollars he and his wife earned from 2006 through 2010, they donated LESS than 1 measly percent!

    And donated NONE of it to any churches … not even their own, the First Baptist of Houston!

    http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-01-30/now-deeply-christian-cruzs-religion-once-wasnt-so-obvious

     

    On a lighter note, if you’re curious how Iowa and New Hampshire actually do at predicting outcomes, NPR put together a handy-dandy easy to analyze chart comparing them going back to 1976, for both Democrats & republicans.

    http://www.npr.org/2016/01/31/465016222/how-predictive-are-iowa-and-new-hampshire

  3. "I shant be lingering to do extra tutoring or Costco runs."  There is an old saying – If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."  I hope this doesn't trip you up!

    AlterNet – Yes, "sickening" is a great description of this.  And, sadly, it may pass.  It wouldn't in every state, but I'm afraid there are multiple states that would pass it.  I'm afraid I got into a small cat fght in the comments with a few fundamentalist atheists; but I don't see myself that fundamentalist atheism is the best way to combat fundamentalist christianism.  I also hope for confirmationof unconstitutionality if passed.

    HuffPo – Thank God for the brave people who have the stomach to go to these events and confront these people.  I couldn't do it.  I hope there were people at the event who listened to Mike and gave the story some serious thought.  I'm also grateful that the NYTimes and WaPo and Politico covered it.

    CBC – Nero, hmmmm?  Is that normal, brown pre-pubertal?  I'm afraid I don't know enough about pengiuins to know.  Nameless know more than I (from his posts), but he isn't saying.

    Common Dreams – I think I already said this, but – a new Warren Report  and one that can be trusted.

    Universe – Drop?  Not likely!

  4. I bet you cant wait to see your brother!

    Republicans figure if they can drive gay people to suicide thrfough physican and emotional abuse, they can use those suicides to fault gayness.  They don't want any psycholkogical help getting in the way.

    Kudos to Valde!

    One of those nuns does look a bit chunky.

    This is Elizabeth Warren's report that I wrote about a few days ago.  It's a great one!!

    Kitty Boogie Down!!

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.