Jun 142016
 

I needed another Lona nap this morning, and I’m busy, so I’ll be brief.  Happy Flag Day!!

0614americanflag

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:30 (average 4:50).  To do it, click here,  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Rowan Elijah Feldhaus submitted a name change petition which Columbia County Superior Court Judge J. David Roper rejected. Rowan’s previous name had been Rebeccah Elizabeth Feldhaus.

The question presented is whether a female has the salutatory right to change her name to a traditionally and obviously male name. The court concludes that she does not have such right.

–Judge Roper

There’s an judge that Rump Dump would appoint to SCROTUS.

From NY Times: A judge in Oregon has granted a petition allowing a person to legally choose neither sex and be classified as nonbinary: an important development for transgender Americans while civil rights and sexual identity are in the national spotlight, advocates and legal experts said.

Though the petition was granted with little fanfare in a two-paragraph decision on Friday, the experts said that, to their knowledge, the ruling was the first of its kind in the country.

Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center in Oakland, Calif., described the decision in an email as a “historic step” toward the government’s recognizing “nonbinary members of our community and ensuring they have access to identity documents that reflect who they are, just like everyone else.”

The petitioner seeking the new designation, Jamie Shupe of Portland, Ore., is a retired United States Army sergeant born with male anatomy who had successfully battled the military to be given discharge papers that reflected the female sex.

Jamie — who prefers to use only a first name and the pronouns “they” and “their,” instead of singular pronouns — underwent hormone treatments to transition to a woman. But ultimately, neither sex fit, Jamie said in an interview on Friday.

Oregon leads the way! I wonder if this would work for trysexuals (those willing to try anything).

From Alternet: John Oliver Exposes the Retirement Scam: Even Wall Street’s Financial Advisers Agree They Shouldn’t Manage Your Money

 

Note that the cat did better than the fund managers. Give me your money and scratch me above the tail.

Cartoon:

0614Cartoon

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  18 Responses to “Open Thread – 6/14/2016”

  1. 5:11  Gee, I never see sunsets like that.  (Voice in head:  Of course not, dummy, you're at 7,000 feet with 14,000 foot mountains to your immediate west.)

    Sweet dreams, and happy Flag Day to you too.

    DKos – Many great comments on site about the fluidity of what names are considered male or female at which point in history.  Best is probably "Names don't have genitalia.)  Lovely snark about how "dangerous" it would be if an employer signed an employee at 21¢ more per hour than he intended because what he thought was a male turned out to be a female.

    NY Times – Ah, Oregon!  So different from Georgia!  Congrats!

    AlterNet – Unfortunately, I already knew this.  It's why I essentially dropped out of CPCU.  No fiduciary duty = unethical, period.  Now, I don't want to knock CPCU.  It DOES have a principle of fiduciary duty toward clients.  Unfortunately, CPCU is for Property and Casualty insurance people (auto and home), not for financial planners – the financial planning info is for information only – plus, the principle is only enforceable by kicking the offender out of the society, it doesn't remove a license.

    Cartoon – Yes indeed.

  2. My cat LOVES to have his ears, cheeks and especially his chin scratched.

    And sometimes his tummy – but be careful … there's a limit!

    http://www.vetstreet.com/dr-marty-becker/four-places-to-pet-your-cat-and-one-to-leave-alone?page=2

     

    • I have read this article before.  All 3 of mine love belly rubs 99% of the time — it's a daily ritual.  There are 3 neighbourhood cats — Jazzy, Putter and Sam — who likewise roll over at the drop of a hat for a good, gentle belly rub.  It all depends on the cat I guess.

       

    • I love having mr back scratched, especially above the tail.  (Below the tail is the scratch and sniff spot for Republicans.

  3. 3:04  I guess I get the front seat for a relaxing evening gazing at the sunset and stars.

  4. DK: What a jerk of a judge. In reading below story, one of the comments (cartoons), said this: "I try not to judge people by the actions of their state government." Unfortunately, so true. What a shame for this young man…how sad.

    NYT: Kudos!! How awesome. I'm jealous, as it will never happen here in my state.

    Cartoon: Absolutely!!

    Happy Flag Day to you too. Hope that you get plenty of rest. Enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.

  5. Puzzle — 3:04  I guess I get the front seat for a relaxing evening gazing at the sunset and stars.

    Daily Kos — That's not a judge.  That is a Republican idiot . . . a misogynist among other things, nothing flattering.  I am a woman who changed her name (not through marriage) back in 1972 as was my right.  How this idiot could think that a woman could not change her name is well . . . very republican.

    NY Times — Kudos to Oregon!  This should be the law in every state and territory.

    Alternet — In Canada, financial planners must be licensed by the province in which they work and there is definitely fiduciary responsiblities.  The same applies to those  in portfolio management, stock brokers and mutual fund sales.  The licensing process includes extensive education components and continuing education.  From my perspective, it seems we have more regulation which is tiresome at times, but good for the protection of clients.  I know I was licensed for mutual funds but I was not a financial planner.  John Oliver shines a light on some of the many pitfalls that consumers have to deal with.

    Cartoon — Yup!

  6. SOS website: Clinton down 0.2 more and Bernie up 0.2 more–difference has dropped to under 500,000 votes. More votes from Inyo, Lassen, Mono (Bernie ahead), Nevada (Bernie over 60%), San Benito (Central not quite coast-about 800 vote difference)m Santa Barbara (So.CA coast switched to Bernie lead), Santa Clara, Santa Cruz (Major Bernie lead), Siskiyou (far north major Bernie lead), Ventura (So.CA coast ),
    m Yuba (Northern Central Valley/Bernie lead) and Los Angeles,

    Twelve of 58 counties have had no updates. Estimated ballots left to count is 1,959,90.

    Los Angeles Times is asking what about the other 5 million votes recorded as cast not included in these numbers…

  7. DK: Yeah, that's what I was thinking…Atlanta is in the great state of Georgia..the place that once banned Ray Charles, as much equality as they could, and who knows what else?!

    NY T: Oregon rocks, once again!

    John Oliver:  Pointing out more reasons to keep Social Security from Wall Street's grasp!  

  8. Daily Kos:  That judge does not have good "judgment".  This is one of the most ridiculous rulings I have read.

    NY Times:  Oregon leads the way once again.  I think this is a just ruling.

    Alternet:  I don't want Wall Street anywhere near what is left of my retirement money.  We had a 401k that was decimated in the crash in 2008.  It is now worth about a fourth of its original value, after several years of gains.  They commit all sorts of crimes, along with the big banks, and are immune.

    Cartoon:  too true.

  9. Glad to hear you take time to nap and get some much needed rest in between your preparations for next week, TomCat.

    DK: David Roper obviously has issues with LGBT people and doesn't want anything to do with transgenders, let alone facilitate their transition in any way. He apparently takes those personal views with him into court every day and bases his judgment on his views and not on the law. Fortunately Rowan got himself a good lawyer who is going to appeal the case: "The legal discretion accorded to judges is not an invitation to rule based on private opinions, the appeal says.The lawyers say the judge's denial constitutes sex discrimination and a violation of the petitioner's constitutional rights."That should hit the spot.

    NYT: Oh  oh, this Oregon judge is going to get his ears boxed by people in administration all over the country! If this would become a law in Oregon or a federal law, they all need an update of their software to reflect this third gender. Doesn't he realize how much that would to cost ;-). I've been told that America didn't go metric because medical insurance companies told the administration the costs of adapting their software would be too high, so I don't think they'll take on a nonbinary addition to the gender fields in their databases. I feel for Jamie, though. They may have gotten themselves a very just and rational ruling, but now they won't be discriminated on the bases of being transgender, however future employers will tell them they can't hire them because their administration can't handle them 🙁

    Alternet: Don't get me started on pension plans. I'll just mention that financial advisers and the retirement industry over here are just as bad and just as crooked as yours and even our national (401k) retirement funds have done so horribly that all our retirement finances are melting away instead of increasing. For the last two or three years I've only been getting notices that my retirement funds are going to be less, and less and less… I do hope there's some left by the time I turn 67 (the retirement age has been upped with two years, but that didn't help at all).
    But thanks for the John Oliver, he made me laugh despite it all. Got to get me that elf certificate and go spotting some elves. Maybe they can help me with my retirement funds, or maybe I start tossing my cats about to see what funds to pick, although I haven't got any schemes that allow me to pick my own funds. It alleviates some frustration, though.

    Cartoon: Is Republicare one of these idiotic slimming programs you see on TV nowadays? 😉

    • Jood point on the Oregom judge,  I guess that leaves 4 singular prownouns:

      He – Male
      She – Female
      It – Neither
      Shit – Republican

      On the Cartoon, RepubliCare is the Republican health care plan.

      • LOL I know all about Republicare, TomCat. It was meant to be a sarcastic remark on the skeleton (there's a wink smiley behind it, but they're too darn small) but  I obviously missed the mark.

  10. Thanks all!  Hugs!!

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