Republicans Make the World More Dangerous

 Politics
Apr 062013
 

Because they had no scruples in choosing whom to embrace in their quest for power, the Republican Party is now a cesspit of wing-nuts that change the conspiracy theories they embrace more often than they change their socks.  This has led to interference in foreign policy in ways that make the world more dangerous for us all.

6UNArmsIf you want to understand why progress on gun violence or on other major issues facing the country has become pretty much impossible, one place to start is with the GOP’s opposition to the U.N. treaty on the global arms trade…

…The United States is one of the 154 members to support the treaty; it was opposed by Iran, North Korea and Syria.

Prospects for the treaty are bleak in the United States Senate, however. As Steve Benen details, this is because it is opposed by the National Rifle Association and Republican Senators (and at least [Faux Noise Delinked] one Democrat, Max Baucus), partly on the grounds that it will violate Americans’ gun rights.

Leading Tea Party Senator Ted Cruz is denouncing [propaganda delinked] the treaty as “international gun regulation.” Senator Jim Inhofe called it “another attempt by internationalists to limit and infringe upon America’s sovereignty.” Last year Rand Paul claimed the treaty would pave the way for “full-scale gun CONFISCATION.” There’s no indication he’s since changed his views, which continue to be BEST EXPRESSED IN CAPITAL LETTERS… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Photo credit: UN

Well, grouping the Republican Party with Iran, North Korea and Syria is certainly descriptive!

Rachel Maddow covered the InsaniTEA od paranoia in three segments. In the first, she reviewed previous instances on how it interfered with US foreign policy.

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

The InsaniTEA on disabilities shows that Republicans value whipping their rabid base to presenting a favorable image of America to the world.

In she second, she covers Obama’s success in locking up loose nuclear materials with Joe Cirincione.

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

I remember how angry I was when Republicans demanded a nuclear weapons upgrade to ratify this.

In the third, she outlines Republican InsaniTEA in opposition to a new UN treaty.

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

Genocide must rank high on Republican goals, as long as corporate criminals get their blood money. There can only be one explanation for the extreme f ignorance that believing all this garage requires. A picture is worth a thousand words.

FoxStupid

Share

Open Thread–3/28/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 282013
 

I’ve spent so much time in bed, lately, that I could not get comfortable in bed yesterday, so I have not slept at all and feel completely pooped.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:04 (average 4:38).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The effort over many years to forge an international treaty regulating the booming $70 billion annual trade in conventional weapons headed toward fruition on Wednesday with a final draft sent to the governments of all United Nations member states for approval.

Supporters, including a majority of member states, hope that the Arms Trade Treaty will be approved by consensus at a final negotiation session here on Thursday. The treaty would for the first time set international standards for conventional weapons sales, tying them to respect for human rights, the prevention of war crimes and the protection of civilians. Rights advocates have called the treaty the most ambitious attempt to stop the illicit spread of weapons that fuel deadly conflicts around the world.

I fully support international oversight of conventional weapons sales, but see little chance of ratification here, because ratifying treaties requires 2/3 of the Senate. With Republicans goose-stepping behind Wayne LaPierre and the gun industry, that isn’t happening anytime soon.

From The New Yorker: In an outburst that shocked many onlookers at the Supreme Court today, Justice Antonin Scalia said that it made him “angry beyond belief” that he had to listen to people talking about gay couples all week…

…“O.K., could we just stop talking about this stuff right now?” Justice Scalia snapped at Justice Kennedy. “I’ve told you all how I feel about this topic, and I don’t understand why we’re going on and on about it unless you all hate me.”

As the courtroom froze in dead silence, Justice Scalia seemed to gather steam, shouting, “For two days, it’s been gay this, gay that. You’re all just talking about this stuff as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. Well, it’s not, O.K.? It’s weird and it’s wrong. And just talking about it like it’s O.K. and whatnot is making me angry beyond belief.”

Although this is satire, Scalia is a walking hate crime.  I wonder if he escaped from Nuremberg.

From Think Progress: During oral arguments this morning, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to at least entertain the argument by House Republicans that gays and lesbians are too politically powerful for constitutional protection.

Roberts suggested that gays and lesbians must be “politically powerful” because politicians are “falling all over themselves” to endorse gay marriage, according to a tweet by Mother Jones’ Adam Serwer. The brief by Paul Clement, who represented the House of Representatives in defending DOMA, had reasoned that gays and lesbians are winning political battles and “have the attention of lawmakers.”

You can fertilize your veggies with that lie. The LGBT community is so powerful that states have passed amendments to deny them equal rights. Just ten years ago their sexual relations were a crime in many states. If they seem to enjoy popular support now, it is only because of a public reaction to the extremity of the discrimination leveled against them.

Cartoon:

28Cartoon

Share

Open Thread–3/22/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 222013
 

I’m still down and hoping to be back up soon.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:31 (average 5:02).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Under the federal Medicaid statute, states must seek reimbursement for medical expenses if the beneficiary also receives money from an insurance company or another third party. This week, the Supreme Court correctly slapped down a North Carolina law that could squeeze far more from beneficiaries than they actually owe.

By a 6-to-3 vote, the court ruled that the Medicaid law pre-empts a North Carolina law that, in effect, puts a lien on a beneficiary’s property by automatically seizing one-third of an insurance settlement even though it includes payment for pain and suffering. Under Medicaid law, the state can only claim reimbursement for actual care.

Isn’t it just like the Republican Party to reach into the pockets of poor people to steal their settlements for pain and suffering? Injustices Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas sided with the Republican crooks.

From Think Progress: The final document isn’t even complete yet, but one Republican Senator is already attempting to slip language into vital legislation denouncing the United States’ accession to a new treaty regulating the sale of arms between countries.

Representatives from around the world are meeting in New York over the next two weeks to hammer out a final agreement on how to best regulate the $70 billion arms trade between countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate is attempting finalize passage of a budget for Fiscal Year 2014. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), a noted skeptic of international organizations and the United Nations in particular, filed an amendment Thursday afternoon that brings the two efforts together:

The Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate may revise the allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in this resolution for one or more bills, joint resolutions, amendments, motions, or conference reports that relate to upholding Second Amendment rights, which shall include preventing the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT),by the amounts provided in such legislation for these purposes, provided that such legislation would not increase the deficit or revenues over either the period of the total of fiscal years 2013 through 2018 or the period of the total of fiscal years 2013 through 2023.

…

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a Senator, and I use the term very loosely, has attempted to block a treaty that did not yet exist. Wayne LaPierre and the gun industry must be deathly afraid that their profits from worldwide conflicts will be cut, regardless of the lives that such a treaty might help save.

From Raw Story: On her show Thursday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow lampooned Republicans for having a flip-flopping problem, saying it appeared they did not seem to believe what they were actually supposed to believe.

 

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

Dang! Little Lord Willard’s sketch etching had become so contagious that it is now a party-wide epidemic!

Cartoon:

22Cartoon

I imagine Republicans would support its reinstatement, so Bubba the Bagger could own more than one.

Share

Open Thread–3/18/2013

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 182013
 

Late last night, my fever broke.  I am still out of it, but should come back quickly now.  I’m still not current with replies, and will catch up when I can.  Tomorrow would be nice.

Jig Zone Puzzles:

Saturday’s took me 3:43 (average 4:19.  To do it, click here.  Yesterday’s took me 5:17 (average 7:26).  To do it, click here.  Today’s took me 3:13 (average 5:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Every $1 We Invest In This Could Save $6 On Housing, Healthcare, And Public Services

 

When it comes to foreign aid, Republicans oppose it, except for providing guns to totalitarians that goose-step with Republican conquest objectives and economic imperialism. Domestically, Republicans defund contraception as part of their ongoing War on Women.

From NY Times: What we should have learned from the Iraq debacle was that you should always be skeptical and that you should never rely on supposed authority. If you hear that “everyone” supports a policy, whether it’s a war of choice or fiscal austerity, you should ask whether “everyone” has been defined to exclude anyone expressing a different opinion. And policy arguments should be evaluated on the merits, not by who expresses them; remember when Colin Powell assured us about those Iraqi W.M.D.’s?

Unfortunately, as I said, we don’t seem to have learned those lessons. Will we ever?

This Krugman editorial is too good not to read in it’s entirety. Click through.

From The New Yorker: The decision of Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to support same-sex marriage after learning that his son was gay has inspired hundreds of other Republican lawmakers to stop speaking to their children immediately, G.O.P. leaders confirmed today.

“I have gathered my caucus and told them, if your kids are going to tell you something that’s going to cost you the next election, it’s better to nip that situation in the bud,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “Just stop talking to them altogether, for heaven’s sakes.”

Speaker Boehner said he was advising his fellow Republicans who were “hell bent on speaking to their children” to keep things superficial: “You can talk about sports. You can talk about the weather. But anything beyond that, your policy should be, ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

But even as Mr. Boehner laid down the new guidelines for not speaking to one’s children, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) said that the policy “doesn’t go far enough.”

Of course this is satire, but what a thoroughly Republican response it is.

Cartoon:

16Cartoon

St. Patty knew all about snakes!

Share

A Better Alternative to Cap and Trade

 Politics
Mar 142013
 

Part of the problem with fossil fuels is that nobody pays for the damage they do to the environment.  Instead, their pollution remains and does damage, and the expense of the damage is borne by the people damaged, such as medical costs by individuals and cleanup costs by taxpayers.  Cap and Trade is the most often proposed solution to that problem, but I think there is a better alternative.

14CarbonTaxLooking for a way to improve the operation of the economy, lower our dependence on foreign oil, reduce pollution, slow global warming, cut government spending, and decrease the long-term budget deficit? Then you should support a carbon tax, which could help the nation address all these issues simultaneously. A new paper I’ve written with Samuel Brown and Fernando Saltiel, Carbon Taxes as Part of the Fiscal Solution, argues the tax would even be a good idea if we didn’t have a budget problem.

Although a carbon tax would be new for the U.S. government, it already has been implemented in several European countries (though not always in the manner advocated by economists), Australia, and three Canadian provinces. California recently initiated a cap-and-trade system, which auctions carbon permits to companies and functions much like a tax.

A carbon tax makes good economic sense: Unlike most taxes, it can correct a market failure and make the economy more efficient. Although there are substantial benefits from energy consumption, there are also big societal costs that people don’t pay for when they produce and consume energy – including air and water pollution, road congestion, and climate change. Since buyers of fossil fuels don’t directly bear many of these costs, they ignore them when they decide how much and what kind of energy to buy. And that results in too much consumption and production of these fuels. Economists have long recommended a tax on fossil fuel energy sources as an efficient way to address this problem…

Inserted from <Christian Science Monitor>

At one time many Democrats supported a carbon tax, but they moved to cap and trade for the sake of bipartisanship.  Cap and trade, that Republicans so hate as Satanic Kenyan socialism today, was then the Republican alternative to a carbon tax.

Here’s how they are handling it in Australia.

Love that accent!  And I particularly like the way they are using the revenue.

Now, there is as much chance of getting a carbon tax through Congress now as there is that ice hockey will become hell’s national sport, but to realize it in the future, now is the time to start advocating it.

Share

Open Thread–2/9/2012

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 092013
 

Yesterday my COPD was sufficiently severe that I have been able to sleep, so instead of pushing myself, I’m limiting my blogging to today’s Open Thread and returning to bed.  I’m current with replies.  I should be back tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:10 (average 5:12).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon And The People Gas Companies Tell You Don’t Exist

 

There is no doubt whatsoever that Big Energy companies are profiting by killing and poisoning people. The methods they are using now must be outlawed, and the practice must be stopped altogether, until and unless they find a technique that safe for both humans and the environment. I strongly doubt that there is any such fracking technique.

From NY Times: A vast storm system descended on the Northeast on Friday, bringing high winds, deepening snow and threats of flooding to southern New England and reopening the old wounds of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York.

After a day of pelting wet snow, five states — New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island — had declared states of emergency, and Massachusetts had banned vehicles from every road in the state. As dusk fell, conditions quickly deteriorated. Major highways like Interstate 93 were almost completely abandoned; downtown Boston, in blizzard conditions, was a ghost town lost in a swirl of howling winds and snow. Parked cars lost their shape and resembled scoops of ice cream.

I hope and pray that our friends in the effected area are exercising extreme care and staying safe and warm.

From Huffington Post: The founder of environmental group Sea Shepherd vowed Tuesday to continue disrupting Japan’s whaling fleet when it heads for the southern oceans this winter, despite authorities in at least three countries seeking his arrest.

Paul Watson, 61, was detained in Germany in May on a Costa Rican extradition warrant that accused him of endangering the crew of a fishing vessel in 2002.

About ten days ago the Canadian, who sees himself as an advocate for whales, sharks and other marine animals, skipped bail after learning that Japan, too, was seeking his extradition from Germany.

Personally, I have watched every episode of Whale Wars and have observed the care that the Sea Shepherds take to prevent the Japanese Whaling fleet from murdering whales without doing anything to hurt the Japanese crews. At the same time, I have seen whalers attempt to kill Sea Shepherds. I cannot fault Watson for evading a Japanese kangaroo court. I hope that the Sea Shepherds are successful in ending the murder of whales for profit under the guise of research.

Cartoon:

9Cartoon

Share

We’re Number One… NOT!

 Politics
Feb 072013
 

Here in the US, ethnocentrism is rampant.  That is the notion that we are better than everyone else.  This applies particularly to Republicans.  They use it to justify the wars they started in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the wars they want to start in Iran, Syria, and anywhere a progressive government is blocking exploitation by US companies.  The truth is, we are number one in GDP, but that’s all.

7who'snumber 1"The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013,” by the World Economic Forum, is the latest annual ranking of 144 countries, on a wide range of factors related to global economic competitiveness.

On each of their many rankings, #1 represents the best nation, and #144 represents the worst nation.

Gross Domestic Product is the only factor where the U.S. ranks as #1, which we do both on "GDP” and on “GDP as a Share of World GDP.”

Health Care has the U.S. ranking #34 on “Life Expectancy,” and #41 on “Infant Mortality.”

Education in the U.S. is also mediocre. On “Quality of Primary Education,” we are #38. On “Primary Education Enrollment Rate,” we are #58. On “Quality of the Educational System,” we are #28. On “Quality of Math and Science Education,” we are #47. On “Quality of Scientific Research Institutions,” we are #6. On “PCT [Patent Cooperation Treaty] Patent Applications [per-capita],” we are #12. On “Firm-Level Technology Absorption” (which is an indicator of business-acceptance of inventions), we are #14… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

A solution here requires no rocket science.  Instead of blowing our own horn, we simply need to look at what the leaders are doing in areas where we lag behind, and do what they are doing.

Share
 Older Entries