Open Thread–1/1/2013

 Posted by at 3:34 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 012013
 

I almost used 2012 in the title.  No surprise there.  I am still under the weather, but there is too much going on for me to take the day off completely.  I’m current with replies.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:18 (average 6:00).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s blood clot formed in her head, her doctors said on Monday, a potentially serious condition from which they nonetheless stressed they expect her to fully recover.

Mrs. Clinton was hospitalized Sunday at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital for the blood clot — in a vein between the brain and the skull and behind her right ear — and doctors said on Monday that it had not resulted in a stroke or neurological damage. They said they were treating her with blood thinners to try to dissolve the clot.

I’m sure we all wish her a full and speedy recovery.

From The New Yorker: The House of Representatives adjourned this evening after the legislative body collapsed from exhaustion brought on by hours of doing its job.

Hundreds of congressmen complained of headaches, dizzy spells, and extreme fatigue after putting in what sources called “a six, maybe seven-hour day.”

Awwww…. Da poor widdle goose-steppers! They will have to go to work today too.

From Alternet: 12 Unbelievably Awful Things Fox News Did This Year

Click through for a list truly worthy of the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda.

Cartoon:

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  11 Responses to “Open Thread–1/1/2013”

  1. Lynn Squance says:
    January 1, 2013 at 3:51 am

    4:38  Is this the start of a good year?  The average when I did it was 6:05.  There must be a bunch of inebriates trying the puzzle!  My advice: take a prairie oyster and call me in the morning!

  2. Lynn Squance says:
    January 1, 2013 at 6:25 am

    Puzzle — 4:38 Is this the start of a good year?

    NY Times — A speedy recovery indeed!  At least she is in the right place to get the best care..  I wonder if she gets regular hospital food?  That in and of itself is known to cure many patients — it is so bad that they heal fast just to get a decent meal!

    The New Yorker — Poor babies, having to work 2 whole days in a row!  I wonder how the Republican/Teabaggers will like the unemployment line come 2014.  I wonder if they'll complain then about working 2 days in a row now?

    “I don’t see these people getting back to work until February at the earliest,” he said.

    I suppose they still get paid for all this sick time — something in their union … er … snivel servants' benefits package, I presume?

    Alternet — I know these are supposed to be short takes, but as I read them, things just kept jumping into my head, so I commented on each of them.

    1. Woodward’s story affirms that Fox News is a rogue operation. Its intrusion into the political process debases journalism by breaching all standards of ethical conduct. And it debases democracy as well by exploiting its power and wealth to manipulate political outcomes.

    Unethical, anti-democracy, manipulative — quite the reputation building.  I wonder if this will be considered when Fox's broadcast license renewal is being reviewed?  I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that one!

    2. But it’s difficult for Fox to absolve itself of responsibility for this atrociously unethical affair. By now it is so obvious that Fox exists only to promote Republicans and bash Democrats …

    More unethical conduct!  In the words of my favourite marine, Gomer Pyle "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"  NOT!!!!

    3….because they won’t shut up and accept the fact that if they work closely with men they should expect to be assaulted.

    Such a disservice to both women and men in the military!  I doubt she'll get invited to any of the big military soirées in Washington.
     

    4. …it displayed video of illegal border crossers with a caption reading “The Hispanic Vote.”

    This is just plain lying, and knowingly lying.  Now you know why Canada won't let Faux Noise into the country.  Fair and balanced reporting my ass!

    5. Anchor Shannon Bream falsely declared that “If President Obama gets his way, the special voting rights of some of America’s finest will be eliminated.”

    Colluding in voter suppression and election fraud — that should look good on the résumé! . . . not to mention in a court of law.

    6. …editors were demonstrating their overt hostility to both African Americans and journalistic ethics.

    There's that nasty little word "ethics" again.

    7. This was a part of a broader effort to deceive its audience by castigating or ignoring polls when it didn’t like the results and praising the same pollsters when their numbers were more favorable.

    "Oh what a tangled web we weave, if first we practice to deceive."

    8.  His reasoning had something to do with the fact that multiple homewreckers found him to be marriageable material and that was a mark of character. This is what passes for family values in today’s GOP.

    The AMA should be revoking his license, and the FCC should be revoking Faux Noise's license.

    9.  What’s particularly disturbing about this is that the producers freely admit that their purpose was not so much to promote the film, but to let their ads serve as disguised political messages aimed at disparaging the president and affecting the outcome of the election.

    "Oh what a tangled web we weave, if first we practice to deceive."

    10. Powers … wrote that respecting religious beliefs “is implicit sympathy for the claims of some of the attackers and rioters.” … posing as a Democratic analyst is part of how Fox distorts its presentation of fairness and balance.

    Fair and balanced?  Would someone please buy the woman a really good dictionary, like the newest version of The Oxford English Dictionary.

    11.  None of them could explain why an independent agency of career economists, without a single Obama appointee, would fudge the numbers for a president to whom they owed nothing.

    If it doesn't fit, lie like hell.  The voters are too stupid or too lazy to notice.  What a bnuch of miscreants at Faux Noise!  Some of the voters did notice.  There really needs to be regulation around truth in reporting in the US.  Oops! there's that word, the 'R' word — regulations.  Works in Canada.

    12. …was met by Fox News as an attack on the Second Amendment and free enterprise. Its response was to slaughter the First Amendment by prohibiting any discussion of gun safety on the network….banned all talk of gun control, it did not banish talk of other explanations for the atrocity…

    So the 1st amendment versus the 2nd amendment?  Faux Noise, the NRA and Republican/Teabaggers all in bed together — a ménage à trois — that should be good for a dose of the political clap.

    With all this and more, I can't   understand how the FCC can legitemately renew the Faux Noise license.

    Cartoon — 2012 is sure looking old and tired.  Probably can't even make it to the litter box!   2013 is looking feisty . . . ready to go caterwauling!

     

     

    • TomCat says:
      January 2, 2013 at 2:59 am

      Beat me!

      I know.  It's so bad I have not been admitted to a hospital since over 35 years ago.

      It's the best pate parft-time job there is.

      I see you liked it. 🙂

      Wish I was 2013!

  3. Patty says:
    January 1, 2013 at 8:55 am

    NY Times ~ I wish Secretary Clinton good health and a speedy recovery in the New Year. If she is experiencing half of what I did in the hospital in October, my sympathies lie with her. It is very pinful while the drugs act to dissove the clot. They were giving me morphine IV every hour to control it and it hardly touched the pain. I feel for her.

    From the article: "David Rothkopf, an acting Commerce Department under secretary in the Bill Clinton administration, strongly criticized the quick politicizing of Mrs. Clinton’s health, both by allies and foes."

    “It’s a sign of the level of politicization that this woman could be lying in a hospital bed dealing with a serious issue and the first reaction of all these people is politics,” Mr. Rothkopf said. “There’s no politics in a blood clot.”

    “The point is,” he added, “people should just stop and be human beings.”

     

    I think Pinocchio had a better chance of becoming human.

     

    The New Yorker ~ Oh Dear! The poor, overworked House has to get back to work inless than an hour to "discuss" and "vote" on the Senate proposal which passed overwhelmingly at around 2 AM today. How many of these Republi-Thugs & Insani-Tea Baggers will get the vapors and have to be hospitalized before the scheduled 1PM vote? Any bets?

     

    Alternet ~

    !."Romancing Petraeus"-  It would have been hilarious if they had been successfulin recruitin Gen. Petraeus as a candidate for President and the the skeletons all leaped out of the closet at once.

    2."FAUX Noise Anti-Obama video"- Fact check? Why?

    3."How Much Rape is Too Much?"- Answer- One is too much!

    4."Conning Latinos for Politics & Profit"- Keep on courting the vote whore Marco Rubio. Most Latinos & Latinas  see him for the fake he is.

    5."FAUX Lies About Military access to voting in Ohio"- See reply to # 2.

    6."Racism on FAUX"- Anyone surprised?

    7."Polling Schizophrenia at FAUX"- I still think it was one of the funniest moments of the year when Karl Rove became apoplectic on air on  Election Night.

    8."Newt's stronger America through adultery"- ROFLMA I have nothing further to add.

    9."Hour-long anti-Obama commercial on Hannity's show"- Insanity prevails on FAUX Noise! None of their tactics worked.

    10."Democrat Kristen Powers"- A wolf in sheep's clothing is still just a wolf.

    11."FAUX on unemployment"- Independent agency with no partisan appointees lied? Get a life, Welch, Trump and Un-news pundits on FAUX!

    12."FAUX opposition to assault rifle ban and bans talking about it"- Schizophrenic behavior???

     

    Sorry. But, like Lynn, I couldn't resist commenting on each one.

     

    Cartoon ~    "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little bag of fur…" My tribute to "Big Bang Theory" for the New Year. We all need some comic relief every now and then.

     

    Happy New Year, Everyone!

     

     

     

     

    • TomCat says:
      January 2, 2013 at 3:03 am

      It sure does not sound like fun!

      I hear several have racing stripes in side their shorts.

      I see you liked it too.

      Big Bang… Now that was a fun day! 😉

      Backatca!

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