Open Thread–6/11/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 112013
 

I’m starting to like researching and writing earlier in the day enough that I just may make a habit of it.  I’m a little down today, because tomorrow is a volunteer day in prison, and I’m not quite up to ii yet.  I miss working to help my guys.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:12 (average 5:26).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The National Security Agency moved swiftly and forcefully today to remind its employees of its longstanding zero-tolerance policy on conscience, warning that any violation of that policy would result in immediate termination.

“When you sign on to work at the N.S.A. you swear to uphold the standards of amorality and soullessness that this agency was founded upon,” said N.S.A. director General Keith B. Alexander. “Any evidence of ethics, decency, or a sense of right and wrong will not be tolerated. These things have no place in the intelligence community.”

To enforce the policy, General Alexander said that once a month all N.S.A. employees will be wired to a computer to take full inventory of what is going on in their minds: “We want to be sure they are spending their free time playing Call of Duty, not reading the Federalist Papers.”

This may be satire, but the thinking behind it is far too accurate for my comfort.

From Crooks and Liars: Mary Matalin, a Republican strategist and former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, on Sunday dismissed newly-appointed National Security Advisor Susan Rice as President Barack Obama’s "presidential pet."

 

Leave it to a mouthpiece for ChickenHawk Cheney to dehumanize a distinguished civil servant. Matalin would not have referred to Rice as a "pet" had she been white. Only on Faux Noise.

From Mother Jones: Less than half of Americans living with mental illness receive the treatment they need—a failure that lands large numbers of mentally ill people in jails, emergency rooms, and on the streets. One provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, a.k.a Obamacare, would help fix the problem. Under the law, states will get hundreds of billions in federal money over the next ten years to provide health care to 2.7 million poor mentally ill people who are currently uninsured. But 17 states—including some states with among the worst mental-health programs in the country—are rejecting these funds.

Click through to see the map. I don’t have to tell you which political party controls the states that are refusing federally funded help for their mentally ill citizens, putting both them and others at risk.

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Open Thread–5/23/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 232013
 

Yesterday I got some rest so I have another article for you today.  I’m still on light duty, but hope to gain strength as time goes on.  I am disappointed, because today is a prison volunteer day, and I’m not up to it yet.  Have a fantastic day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Raw Story: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Friday declared that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would have murdered the participants of the original 1773 Boston Tea Party and and would have “killed off” half of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence.

In a 30-minute floor speech to express his outrage over a report in The Daily Caller [propaganda delinked] that said the Department of Homeland Security was “protecting the free speech rights of pro-Shariah Muslim supremacists,” Gohmert noted that President Barack Obama’s administration had a number of other problems like the recent news that the IRS had scrutinized the tax-exempt status of tea party and other conservative groups.

“Homeland Security has had reports warning their employees about the dangers of people that may be involved in such heinous activity as being classified as evangelical Christians or as being concerned about the Constitution and that people should be following the Constitution, and concerned about people who may have tea party in their name,” he explained…

On the other hand, had Gohmert been alive in 1776, he would have been in an asylum. That he is in Congress, instead of an asylum, today, if there is a difference, is a sad commentary on American voters.

From The New Yorker: In a dramatic departure from existing White House procedures, President Obama requested today that his staff start cc’ing him on stuff.

“Look, I know a lot of you think I’m really busy and you don’t want to bother me,” the President reportedly told his staff in an Oval Office meeting. “But cc me anyway. It’s good for me to keep up on what’s going on around here.”

“It’s not good when I turn on the news and they’re talking about something at the White House and I’m like, whoa, when did that happen?” Mr. Obama added. “I think cc’ing me would go a long way toward fixing that.”

“Maybe put a Post-It note on your computer saying, ‘CC POTUS,’ so you don’t forget,” he said as the meeting broke up…

Humor aside, I do think it would behoove Obama to be a bit more inclined to direct his staff, instead of his tendency to allow them complete independence.

From NY Times: Throughout months of Republican “investigation” into the tragedy in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 last year, the Central Intelligence Agency has escaped the scrutiny and partisan bashing aimed at the State Department and the White House. But we now know that the C.I.A., and not the State Department or the White House, originated the talking points that Republicans (wrongly) insisted were proof of a scandal. It was more central to the American presence in Benghazi than the State Department, and more responsible for security there.

The C.I.A.’s role needs to be examined to understand what happened and how to better protect Americans…

I fully agree, but understand that Republicans have a supremely important reason for ignoring the CIA and focusing on the State Department. Hillary is not in charge of the CIA.

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Open Thread–5/17/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 172013
 

I’m in quite a bit of pain from my bad leg, but at least I have an Open Thread today.  I’d like to share a quote from the writing of one of my guys in prison: “We cannot find peace or freedom while sowing the seeds of discord with dishonesty, intolerance, irresponsibility or disrespect.”  If only someone would teach this to the Republican leadership.  My activity here should increase gradually.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:01 (average 4:44).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: With the House set on Friday to convene the first of its hearings into the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, the lessons learned from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, which cost Republicans in elections in 1998, have been on display in recent days.

Listening to the hearings, I learned that the abuse, which Republicans are blaming on Obama, occurred during the Bush Regime under his appointees.  Under Obama, the same people continued the same policies.  In any event, this is clearly not a Democratic attack on Teabaggers.  If anything, it’s an attack by the 1% wings of the Republican Party to limit the power of their Tea Party storm troopers, the monster they created, and now, cannot control.

From The New Yorker: Today Speaker of the House John Boehner issued the following letter to the American people:

Dear American People,

Yesterday, your hardworking House Republicans tried, once again, and failed, once again, to repeal Obamacare. And I really thought we had a good chance this time.

That’s because we were all united in our hatred for this infernal and takes-too-long-to-read law. Every last one of us cast his vote to strike it down, from crazy little Paul Ryan to that arrogant bastard Eric Cantor.

And I wish you could have seen the faces of those freshman Republicans as they voted to repeal Obamacare—so innocent, so full of hope and wonder. As I told them yesterday, “You’ll never forget your first time.” …

Since retaking the House in 2010, Republicans have averaged 5.4 minutes out of every hour to repealing Obamacare.

From MSNBC: Deficits are shrinking at a historic pace.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In spite of everything Republicans have done to sabotage our economy for political gain, the policies taken by Obama and the Democrats are working. The reason Republicans don’t cake is this. Everything their party does is a smokescreen for one of two Republican goals: either transfer of worth from the 99% to the 1%, or establishing a permanent regime of totalitarian Republican rule.

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Open Thread–4/19/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 192013
 

I’m still down, but I need to apologize for inaccuracies in yesterday’s articles.  The fact is, I was just feeling too crappy to apply my standard depth of research, so I misunderstood the SCOTUS Short Take that, thankfully, Nameless corrected.  In the names of the Senate opponents of the fourth gun safety measure, I don’t know what happened.  I copied and pasted that list of names directly from the Senate website.  I have corrected the list here, and the list at the Senate’s site is now also corrected.

As I write I’m listening to MSNBC coverage in Boston.  Since the suspect in a firefight with police, who is now in custody. employed bombs, I think it’s a safe bet that he’s one of the people responsible for the bombing.  Update: The two people in the firefight were definitely the two bombing suspects.  One is dead and the other is at large.

Finally, I have some good news.  One of my guys, so far, was successful in his parole hearing and will be released in September.  It’s Critter, who always sends greetings to Critter.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:15 (4;10 average).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In the halls of the United States Senate, dozens of Senators congratulated themselves today for having what one of them called “the courage and grit to stand up to the overwhelming wishes of the American people.”

“We kept hearing, again and again, that ninety per cent of the American people wanted us to vote a certain way,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). “Well, at the end of the day, we decided that we weren’t going to cave in to that kind of special-interest group.”

“It was a gut check, for sure, but we had to draw a line in the sand,” agreed Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S. Carolina). “If we had voted the way the American people wanted us to, it would have sent the message that we’re here in Washington to be nothing more than their elected representatives.”…

The accuracy of this satire makes me want to puke.

From Huffington Post: Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) skewered senators on Wednesday in a fundraising email sent out seconds after the Senate voted down an amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases.

"Moments ago, the U.S. Senate decided to do the unthinkable about gun violence — nothing at all," read the email from anti-gun violence PAC Americans for Responsible Solutions, according to the Arizona Republic. "Over two years ago, when I was shot point-blank in the head, the U.S. Senate chose to do nothing. Four months ago, 20 first-graders lost their lives in a brutal attack on their school, and the U.S. Senate chose to do nothing. It’s clear to me that if members of the U.S. Senate refuse to change the laws to reduce gun violence, then we need to change the members of the U.S. Senate."…

I could not agree more. Republicans should be opposed outright. The Democrats, who voted NO, should be primaried against firearms safety proponents.

From NY Times:

The story so far: At the beginning of 2010, two Harvard economists, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, circulated a paper, “Growth in a Time of Debt,” that purported to identify a critical “threshold,” a tipping point, for government indebtedness. Once debt exceeds 90 percent of gross domestic product, they claimed, economic growth drops off sharply.

Ms. Reinhart and Mr. Rogoff had credibility thanks to a widely admired earlier book on the history of financial crises, and their timing was impeccable. The paper came out just after Greece went into crisis and played right into the desire of many officials to “pivot” from stimulus to austerity. As a result, the paper instantly became famous; it was, and is, surely the most influential economic analysis of recent years…

…Finally, Ms. Reinhart and Mr. Rogoff allowed researchers at the University of Massachusetts to look at their original spreadsheet — and the mystery of the irreproducible results was solved. First, they omitted some data; second, they used unusual and highly questionable statistical procedures; and finally, yes, they made an Excel coding error. Correct these oddities and errors, and you get what other researchers have found: some correlation between high debt and slow growth, with no indication of which is causing which, but no sign at all of that 90 percent “threshold.”…

Click through for the rest of this fine Krugman editorial. In short, the entire basis of Republicans’ insistence on austerity is the result of omitting inconvenient data, cooking the data that is included, and calculation error.

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Open Thread–4/14/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 142013
 

I’m afraid I’m going to need one more day.  I serve as the Treasurer/CFO of the group for which I do volunteer work in prison.  With all the health issues I have had, I had completely forgotten to do the annual paperwork, and at about six AM, I realized it.  That’s most fortunate, because I would have thoroughly embarrassed myself had I not remembered in time.  I spent the entire day yesterday doing our corporate tax return, state registration renewal, and state charitable activities report.  I finished just in time to walk to the post office to mail them, to the bank to transfer funds to pay the fees, and while I was out, to the corner store.  So instead of resting, I tired myself even more.  I’ll catch up on replies to comments either later today or tomorrow, and I should be back tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:31 (average 5:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: The NRA Morphed Into An Ugly Beast And It Will Break Your Grandfather’s Heart

 

I am one of those people who learned to shoot safely as a child in NRA programs. I was a member for most of my life, but cancelled my membership because of their monstrous reaction to the Columbine HS massacre.

From NY Times: As a bipartisan group of eight senators prepared to introduce a plan early next week to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, Senate negotiators have agreed to a cutoff date that could bar hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the path to legalization provided in the legislation.

Illegal immigrants who arrived in the country after Dec. 31, 2011, could be ineligible to apply for legal status — and potentially citizenship — under the new immigration bill, which will provide a 13-year path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already living in the country.

I think that the cutoff date for undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship should be the date that whatever immigration reform that passes becomes law, not some arbitrary earlier date.  Also, in this so-called compromise, I strongly object to the part of the guest worker program, demanded by Republicans, to import skilled workers to undercut US workers doing jobs that US workers want to increase profit for the 1%.

From MSNBC: Both parties unhappy with chained CPI

 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I agree completely with Howard Dean here, but one thing just occurred to me. Both Agent Orange and Bought Bitch Mitch demanded chained CPI, as a precondition for negotiation, before Obama included it. Now Republicans are objecting to chained CPI. By including it in his budget Obama may have done the best thing to ensure that it will not happen. The surest way to turn Republicans against their own ideas is for Obama to propose them.

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May my addition be prophetic!!!

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Open Thread–4/11/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion
Apr 112013
 

Yesterday I got the rest I needed to recover from my long volunteer day in prison.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:24 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The military prosecutors seeking to have Pfc. Bradley Manning convicted of violating the Espionage Act over his release of secret government files to WikiLeaks will face an additional burden at his court-martial under a ruling on Wednesday by a military judge.

The judge, Col. Denise Lind, ruled at a pretrial hearing that prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Private Manning had “reason to believe” that the files could be used to harm the United States or to aid a foreign power. Prosecutors had contended that they should be required to prove only that he willfully disclosed defense-related files to win a conviction under the spying law.

I think the judge made the right decision. Unlike many on the left, I believe that Manning should receive some punishment. In Civil Disobedience (one of my favorite books), Henry David Thoreau made it clear that the moral authority for civil disobedience is that the perpetrator considers the issue so important that he or she willingly accepts the consequence of punishment to emphasize that point. That said, I also believe that after being convicted of a charge less than espionage, he should be sentenced to time served and released. He has been punished more than enough already.

From Huffington Post: Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) turned to the Bible on Wednesday during a congressional hearing, using the Great Flood to support his claim that climate change isn't man-made…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Flood really exists! It is a flood of BS, and the B stands for Barton.

From The New Observer: An N.C. House lawmaker is equating any prayer to the Islamic God with terrorism.

In an email exchange with a constituent, Republican state Rep. Michele Presnell of Burnsville was asked whether she was comfortable with a prayer to Allah before a legislative meeting. Presnell responded: “No, I do not condone terrorism.”

The first-year lawmaker who represents a district in the North Carolina mountains is a co-sponsor of House resolution 494, a measure asserting that North Carolina can establish a state religion. She did not return a call for comment Monday about the string of emails obtained by Dome.

This is what happens when bigoted Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians ignore the First Amendment.

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Targeted by Republicans for repeal.

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Open Thread–4/10/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 102013
 

I’m way pooped, but as always, I could not be more proud of my guys.  We met with a dozen yesterday, and one of the things we discussed was how to deal with catastrophic life events.  You’d be amazed how often such an event triggers a downward spiral of dysfunctional choices ending in prison.  Their honesty and self-awareness was exciting.  Three of them are up for decisions on parole, so please remember them, however you connect with the infinite.  Critter sends greetings to Critter.  I get to replies either later today, after I get some sleep, or tomorrow.  Tomorrow appears routine. 

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:55 (average 5:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MSNBC: Lawrence O’Donnell debunked Republican bullshitology on taxes.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Even ‘Iron Pants. Thatcher was far more generous to the 99% that today’s Republicans. Despite Republican claims, we are one of the least taxed nations in the industrialized world. That’s not so true for the 99%, but the 1% pays so much less that they pull the percentage of GDP down. Except for welfare for the 1%, we are one of the least industrialized nations in public services for the taxes we pay. That is the landscape in which Republicans are trying to reduce taxes and increase services for the 1%, while increasing taxes and reducing services for the 99%.

From The New Yorker: Senate Republicans today vowed to filibuster a controversial bill supporting the right not to get shot.

G.O.P. leaders lambasted the bill, arguing that the right to go to school, work, or one’s home without fear of being shot was not guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

“The Second Amendment makes it very clear,” said Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming). “The right to bear arms shall not be infringed by a tiny minority’s desire not to be shot.”

Once again Borowitz’ satire is as real as actuality.

From Think Progress: Late last month, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) filed a petition asking the full United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reinstate Virginia’s “Crimes Against Nature” law, which makes oral and anal sex a felony. A three-judge panel of that same court had struck down the law, noting that it cannot be squared the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which prohibits laws criminalizing non-commercial sexual activity between consenting adults. Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit issued an order rejecting Cuccinelli’s request. Notably, not one of the court’s judges requested a poll of the court to consider Cuccinelli’s petition, so his petition received no support whatsoever from the court’s members.

Republicans want government too small to interfere with the corporate right to steal, but just big enough to put a cop in every bedroom. Perhaps sex that produces little Republicans should be a felony. Winking smile

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Animals are people too, and cat is where it’s at, but who let that dawg join?

Good night!

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