TomCat

Monthly Report for May 2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:30 am Blog News, Monthly Report, Politics

Jun 022014

In May, Politics Plus improved in every category except Sites and Pages, which was unusually high last month, so I’m pleased with the progress. This is a highly abbreviated report. Normally, collecting the data and formatting it takes several hours, and with this week’s schedule, it’s several hours I just don’t have. Please accept my apology. Next month’s should be back on track.

usage5-2014

Stats5-2014

In the monthly totals, a Site is any website from which someone accessed our server, a Hit is every access attempt to our server, and a File is every access attempt to our server that returned data. The difference between Hits and Files is from access attempts that were sent in error or damaged in transit and failed attempts by hackers, spammers, phishers, and Republicans to access the back end and take control of the site. Any questions?

Here is our latest Clustrmap:

Map5-2014

This is the new map that is starting to look less naked. It shows only the visits from March 2 to May 31.

Our improved performance again last month was because of you. Thank you for everything you do.

Open Thread–6/2/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:29 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 022014

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I’m still 3/4 bleary-eyed after last night, but I have too much work to do to take the day off. Tomorrow I’m trying out a neighborhood barber to see if ugly can be fixed. It’s about 1/4 mile away, so it may interfere with articles for Tuesday. Day 42.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:35 (average 4:22). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: It is pretty good odds that a mass extinction is going on right now as you read this. This ticking time bomb proves that we are like insects, which live just a few days and will never experience changes in a season much less years. You and I will never know from experience the history of this planet. Much of that history is as abstract to us as the dimensions of the universe. Our planet is a complex, dynamic system that we probably will never fully comprehend. The Earth system, like the human body, comprises diverse components that interact in complex ways. The Earth’s atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere is a single connected system.

Extinction is a dire word for an extreme event. There has been five mass extinctions in our planets history due to either asteroid impacts, climate change caused by volcanism and the shifting of tectonic plates. The sixth mass extinction is being fueled by you and me. Mass extinctions are relatively short periods of history during which a significant quantity of species die off beyond the standard background extinction (normal process of a species dying out and is usually a natural occurrence).

If this happens, which Republicans seem bound to guarantee, I hope that intelligent life evolves. Earth needs some, for a change!

From Alternet: NRA’s Chris Cox: Why would we listen to doctors when it comes to the effects of firearms?

The NRA’s chief lobbyist penned some twaddle in the Daily Caller [propaganda delinked] just a few days before the Santa Barbara killings. He was disputing the validity of the pro-gun control group Doctors for America, who have had the nerve to endorse a ban on certain types of semi-automatic firearms and buyback of others. What do they know about firearms, he asked?

Right, what the hell would doctors who treat people with gunshot wounds know about guns and their effects?

The piece: “We Love Our Moms and Trust Our Doctors, But We Don’t Want Gun Control,” was basically a paranoid screed directed at two of the more vocal groups trying to fight the epidemic of gun violence in this country: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and, what Cox calls “the dubiously named Doctors for America.” Yeah, wow, that does sound dubious. People with medical training. These two groups, writes Cox, are just rebranding gimmicks for what he calls the “civilian disarmament advocates.”

Nobody gets to disarm civilians, Cox rants, while trying to sound like a reasonable man. Not moms, not doctors, nobody. Only more heavily armed civilians can do that.

We love you Mom, Cox assures. Hope you don’t get shot. If you do, the solution will be obvious. Not a doctor. More guns.

This is just one of eight outrageous Republican statements from last week alone. Click through for the other seven Republican idiots.

From Crooks and Liars: The RNC’s Reince Priebus wasn’t the only one on Fox News Sunday throwing every ounce of poop against the wall to attack former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton over their fake Benghazi "scandal." Faux "news" regular Liz Cheney took right up where Priebus left off with the name calling, and surprise, surprise, she now has a problem with politicians and officials lying to the American people over matters of national security.

Someone needs to tell her to take that up with her daddy Dick. Chris Wallace sure as hell wasn’t going to do it.

The Lizard of Lies sure takes after her daddy, doesn’t she?

Cartoon:

0602Cartoon

Republicans Vote for Theft

Posted by TomCat at 12:02 am Politics

Jun 012014

There are companies out there that routinely steal money from their workers. The practice is called wage-theft, and it’s a lot more common than you might think. There should no question that companies who steal money from their employees should not be rewarded by our government, but Republicans just voted that they should.

Once again House Republicans prove that they have absolutely no interest in even pretending that they’re interested in looking out for the working class as opposed to the 1 percent that are lining their campaign coffers.

House GOP Votes Down Measure Aimed At Curbing Wage Theft:

Early Friday morning, House Republicans voted down a measure that would have discouraged the government from giving contracts to companies that have committed wage theft.

The Democratic-sponsored amendment to a funding bill would have denied taxpayer money to firms with documented wage violations while under government contract. The idea, championed by members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was to make sure public dollars don’t go to companies with low-road labor practices…

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

Photo credit: The Stand

Keith Ellison explained the problem.

Because Republicans support rewarding government contractors, who steal money from their employees, while on government contract, with even more government contracts, your tax dollars will continue to fund wage theft. There is only one right way to reward Republicans for doing that. On November 4, pull the lever, just like you do when you flush.

Poll Results–6/1/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:01 am Blog News, Politics

Jun 012014

Here are the results of our Hillary Primary Opposition Poll. Politics Plus Polls are not scientific, because those who respond are not balanced according to demographic categories. Therefore, we do not accurately reflect the makeup of the US population. Nevertheless, our polls are often both accurate and indicative of the nation’s view.

0601Poll

And here are your comments.

Showing comments 1–14 of 14.

Posted by Patty 6 hours ago.

We need someone more Progressive than Hillary. but I would vote for her if she is the candidate.

Posted by Fred Lemon May 23, 2014 at 11:34 pm. From 198.91.208.x

Encourage responsible democrats unlike the GOP which let the loonies out of the bin and had them running for office.

Posted by Edie May 18, 2014 at 6:20 pm.

I marked "neither". If she is the nominee, I will vote for her, but I think we should not close out any other options. I like her, but she is a seasoned politician, and will do what is best for herself.

Posted by mamabear in reply to Edie May 22, 2014 at 1:32 am.

Edie, lol She already has and will do what is best for herself. In 2008 she thought no one could beat her and in itself was a wake up call for her. Yes she is seasoned no doubt, but in the scheme of things we as a country can not let a republican/teaparty return in the White House. The Democratic Party should take some lead a grow a back bone before all the work that has been done goes to just another side note in history. We must play hard ball or we will lose.

Posted by mamabearclaw May 18, 2014 at 6:59 am.

I think she should run and encourage her. I think it is time for a woman to get in the White House It would be a stepping stone for another great woman like Elizabeth Warren. Who will address all our concerns. Yes Andrew Cuomo and even Biden but in order for our country to go forward we now need an old school like Hillary to push us into to future. Obama has done a wonderful job showing respect for women and our party is the one who take the White House for another 20yrs? So that is what we can do.

Posted by gene May 17, 2014 at 3:27 am.

Hillary is a fine woman but I am more progressive than she by many orders of magnitude. She’d play the "game" the way it always has been played and I want it played in an entirely new way, a way suitable for the 21st century, new ideas, new approaches, all the people of this world valued and cared for, not just pawns to argue over; and more, this world cared for in a serious way we have never yet done, because future generations depend on us and we are failing them. It is time to start fresh. And catch up to the rest of the civilized world in our economic, political and environmental practices. More of the same is just not enough, not anymore, not now.

Posted by Phil Hanson in reply to gene May 25, 2014 at 6:33 pm.

Exactly, Gene! Just because Hillary lacks balls doesn’t mean she’s not one of the good ol’ boys.; a Hillary Presidency would be disastrous for the country for the same reasons that the Obama Presidency is.

Posted by Joanne D May 17, 2014 at 3:26 am.

Boy, if there was ever a question where the answer was "It depends," this is it. Crass though it is, we must consider electability. You can be the greatest Progressive in the world but you can’t accomplish a thing if you can’t get elected. Primary challenges tend to hurt the eventual candidate’s electability, though there are exceptions. There are many people I would rather have as President than Hillary, but I am not sure I’d encourage any of them to run now. I would like to know how David Nir and David Jarman at Daily Kos would answer this question, since I doubt whether anyone understands elections better.

Posted by Rixar13 May 16, 2014 at 3:37 pm.

Neither –

Posted by Marva May 16, 2014 at 6:11 am.

We shouldn’t be putting up an "annointed one." Lots of good, honest debate through a Democratic primary will help show undecided voters what the Dems stand for.

Posted by misstexaskitty May 16, 2014 at 3:52 am.

We need to encourage more voices to speak to possible presidential runs. I like Andrew Cuomo, and would like to hear what vision he has.

Posted by Patty in reply to misstexaskitty 6 hours ago.

If you lived in NY state, you wouldn’t like him that much. He is in bed with some very rich people and still caters to them a bit too much.

Posted by misstexaskitty in reply to Patty 5 hours ago.

I have no doubt that is true, Patty. As does Hilary and anyone that might be considered for a run in 2016. Hilary is on the consultant board for Monsanto, that does irritate

me.

Posted by Yvonne White May 15, 2014 at 4:16 pm.

The party needs to get it’s act together & redefine what it is & what it represents! A solid Progressive/Liberal platform will eject those old-school DINOs for the good of ALL Democrats!

Hillary or not – the Leader MUST be Liberal, NOT another Bu$h League Corporate enabler!

I voted neither. Someone who needs to be dragged into running for President will be a far less enthusiastic campaigner than someone who really wants the job. That said, if there were a more progressive candidate for the Democratic nomination that actually had a chance at winning the general, that candidate would have my support. I’m not thrilled with Hillary, because she’s less progressive than Obama. Nevertheless, if nominated, Hillary will have my enthusiastic support, because the Republican opposing her will be less progressive than Caligula and less competent than Nero.

Open Thread–6/1/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 012014

I’m writing for tomorrow, the beginning of a new and busy month. I’m feeling quite tired and have pain in my back, leg and shoulder. It took physical therapy to get all three going at once. ARGH! Day 41.

Late Update:

I missed an entire sleep cycle tonight. I did not attend the Starlight Parade. It attended me. From my window: (Inside to outside at night gives horrid quality).

0601P2

0601P1

Parades tend to be a bit noisy. I never knew that above a parade is much louder than at it. The people got noisy with fireworks and air horns before 6:00 PM. It started at 8:30. It lasted until after 11:00.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:03 (average 4:19). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: After a report from the Yale Center on Climate Change Communication showed that the term “climate change” elicits relatively little concern from the American public, leading scientists are recommending replacing it with a new term: “You will be burnt to a crisp and die.”

Other terms under consideration by the scientists include “your cities will be ravaged by tsunamis and floods” and “earth will be a fiery hellhole incapable of supporting human life.”

Scientists were generally supportive of the suggestions, with many favoring the term “your future will involve rowing a boat down a river of rotting corpses.”

Has Andy understated what it will take for Republicans to give up their Koch-sucking denial?

From Daily Kos: On May 22, The Campaign for America’s Future gave a conference on The New Populist Majority. The keynote speaker was Elizabeth Warren. The conference confronted the meme that the US is a "center-right" country.

Most interesting to me was the fact that they obtained poll results from "the 1%."

0601OnePercent

If you didn’t think Republicans are waging class warfare, think again.

From Alternet: This week, Bill [Moyers] speaks to Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, who argues that we must reform the tax code and stop subsidizing tax dodgers. A recent report by Americans for Tax Fairness suggests that corporate taxes are near a 60-year low — and that’s partially because corporations have become adept at not paying their share.

Here’s a list of 10 tax-dodging corporations excerpted from the Americans for Tax Fairness report.

Bank of America runs its business through more than 300 offshore tax-haven subsidiaries. It reported $17.2 billion in accumulated offshore profits in 2012. It would owe $4.3 billion in U.S. taxes if these funds were brought back to the U.S.

Citigroup had $42.6 billion in foreign profits parked offshore in 2012 on which it paid no U.S. taxes. It reported that it would owe $11.5 billion if it brings these funds back to the U.S. A significant chunk is being held in tax-haven countries.

ExxonMobil had a three-year federal income tax rate of just 15 percent. This gave the company a tax subsidy worth $6.2 billion from 2010-2012. It had $43 billion in offshore profits at the end of 2012, on which it paid no U.S. taxes.

I just gave you the top three corporate criminals. Click through for the other seven.

Cartoon:

LA Voters Drilled, Baby, Drilled!

Posted by TomCat at 12:06 am Politics

May 312014

One of the biggest reasons that Katrina devastated New Orleans so completely is that the wetlands that have served as a storm buffer from the Gulf of Mexico in the past are mostly gone. To a great extent, the oil industry destroyed them to facilitate extraction and transport. The voters of Louisiana have made it crystal clear that they want the companies that did the damage to repair it. But thanks to Bobby Jindal and the Republican Party, the voters have been drilled, baby, drilled!

The oil and gas industry won a significant victory Friday in the Louisiana Legislature, receiving final passage of a bill that seeks to kill a lawsuit filed by a New Orleans area levee board against nearly 100 oil and gas companies.

The lawsuit by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East alleges the companies’ drilling activities damaged Louisiana’s coast and vulnerable wetlands.

Senators voted 25-11 for the measure by Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, that is aimed at retroactively voiding the lawsuit.

The vote sent Allain’s bill to Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is expected to sign it into law. The Republican governor opposed the lawsuit and pushed for the measure’s passage…

Inserted from <NOLA.com>

Effectively, no local government entities in LA will have the right to sue corporations without going through the Republican-controlled state government and any ongoing lawsuits pending, like this one, are now moot.

Rachel Maddow explained this issue in much greater detail.

This is how corporate criminals externalize costs. They make everyone pay part of their production costs, like the 2,000 people that died, and either the people that pay to repair the wetlands or the people who will lose life, limb and property, if the wetlands are not repaired. When Republicans own the government, so does Big Oil.

With Republicans in charge, what the voters want does not matter, and Big Oil will continue to pocket obscene profits, because the rest of us are paying the cost of the destruction they leave in their greedy wake and even subsidizing them with our tax dollars.

Open Thread–5/31/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics

May 312014

I’m writing for tomorrow and am feeling quite tired out after the exertions of yesterday and today. I arose at 3:00 AM and spent several hours completing my most hated chore, and I still have lots to do to prepare for my two-day prison volunteer trip next week. I have had a couple cat naps since. Day 40.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:49 (average 5:41). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: OR-Sen, -Gov: PPP’s first post-primary poll of Oregon finds both of the state’s top Democrats, Sen. Jeff Merkley and Gov. John Kitzhaber, with comfortable leads over their GOP opponents. Merkley currently beats physician Monica Wehby, whose public image has recently taken a hit thanks to stalking allegations, by a 50-36 margin. Wehby’s favorables stand at just 26-40, while Merkley sports a decent 41-34 job approval score.

Except for one impossible-to-believe survey from Republican pollster Vox Populi, Merkley’s always had double-digit leads, so PPP’s numbers seem plausible. However, as Tom Jensen notes, most of the undecideds don’t like Obama (even though this is a blue state), so the race will likely tighten.

Kitzhaber, meanwhile, holds a similar 49-35 advantage over state Rep. Dennis Richardson, even though Kitz earns just a 42-46 approval rating. Richardson is little-known, though, and again, things are likely to tighten up. But Oregon’s demographics simply make victory for Republicans, especially against incumbents, very difficult.

The undecided voters that don’t like Obama are mostly further left than he is, so there is no danger of them voting for a billionaire loving stalker like Wehby, as Merkley is one of the most progressive Senators in the US. The danger is that too many may stay home.

From NY Times: President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority asked Rami Hamdallah, the prime minister, on Thursday to form a “government of national consensus” that would unite warring Palestinian factions for the first time in seven years and could send Israeli-Palestinian relations into a tailspin.

The new government, made up of politically independent professionals, would formally ally Mr. Abbas’s Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by the mainstream Fatah faction, and its rival, Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, under the terms of a unity pact reached last month. Palestinian officials said the new government would most likely be announced in the next few days, with Palestinian elections to be held in about six months.

I see this as a good thing for the Palestinians, as Israel has been using a divide and conquer approach to achieve a one-state solution by attrition, in clear violation of the Helsinki Accords. Without a united Palestine to negotiate for all Palestinians, there can be no hope for lasting peace in the middle east.

From Upworthy: Maya Angelou was a poet, novelist, and public figure who became an American treasure in her 86 years on earth. Her work has received accolades, and in particular, her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" — about her early life overcoming racism and trauma by turning to the written word — has become a literature classic. Listen to a popular poem of hers, one I distinctly remember reading in the newspaper as a child, below.

She is and will be very missed.

Cartoon:

0531TCLaundry

Open Thread–5/30/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:09 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 302014

I’m writing for tomorrow. Physical Therapy was grueling, especially on top of walking a mile and a half on the way to and from, including a side trip to the bank. I think it will take at least a day to get over the pain. This will be tomorrow’s only article. We’ll have to see about Saturday, because, If I can, early tomorrow morning I’ll be taking on the most dreaded of all my chores. Day 39.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:43 (average5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: "Your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights"

Conservative sensitivity at its finest, courtesy of Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher [Republican delinked]. Speaking in a time of great tragedy, Wurzelbacher’s only response to a grieving father discussing his son’s right to live is that the be all and end all is the right of Americans to be armed to the teeth without any regulation.

There is a time, a place and a manner for such discussions. He could easily wait several days. He could just as easily frame his ideas in less crass terms. He could choose to use words that will not rub salt in open wounds. He decided not to engage in such behavior, which, unfortunately, is nothing new for him.

Joe is not a plumber. Joe is not even a Joe. He IS a Republican. Need I say more?

From The New Yorker: President Obama raised eyebrows with his West Point commencement address Wednesday by offering a defense of his controversial foreign-policy doctrine of not invading countries for no reason.

Conservative critics were taken aback by Obama’s speech, which was riddled with incendiary remarks about only using military force for a clearly identified and rational purpose.

Obama did not shy away from employing polarizing rhetoric, often using words such as “responsible” and “sensible” to underscore his message.

Harland Dorrinson, a fellow at the conservative think tank the Center for Global Intervention, said that he was “stunned” to see Obama “defend his failure to engage the United States in impulsive and random military adventures.”

LOL Andy!! In a word, spot-on!

From NY Times: President Obama will use his executive authority to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants by up to 20 percent, according to people familiar with his plans, and will force industry to pay for the pollution it creates through cap-and-trade programs across the country.

Mr. Obama will unveil his plans in a new regulation, written by the Environmental Protection Agency, at the White House on Monday. It would be the strongest action ever taken by an American president to tackle climate change and could become one of the defining elements of Mr. Obama’s legacy.

Kudos. I’d hate to be the one to have to wash the stains from the Koch Boys’ underwear over this one.

Cartoon:

0530TCTherapist

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