Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I’m between naps.  The medical appointment tired me out.  All in all, I spent over two hours waiting for the lift bus, and because the medical complex is so huge, I still walked about a mile.  Fortunately I did the research for this article before I left.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:40 (average 5:36).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Salon.com: Old, white, wrinkled and angry, they are slipping from polite society in alarming numbers. We’re losing much of a generation.  They often sport hats or other clothing, some marking their status as veterans, Tea Partyers or “patriots” of some kind or another. They have yellow flags, bumper stickers and an unquenchable rage. They used to be the brave men and women who took on America’s challenges, tackling the ’60s, the Cold War and the Reagan years — but now many are terrified by the idea of slightly more affordable healthcare and a very moderate Democrat in the White House.

We’re losing people like my father to the despair of Fox News, and it’s all by design.

My dad is 67 years old, a full year younger than the average Fox viewer, who is 68, according to an analysis in New York magazine by columnist Frank Rich. I’ve read accounts of people my age — 40 or so — losing parents to cancer or Alzheimer’s, but just as big a tragedy are the crops of grandmothers and grandfathers debilitated by Fox News-induced hysteria.

This is a fascinating read on how the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda brainwashes people to promote irrational hatred. Click through.

From NY Times:

Recently the Federal Reserve released transcripts of its monetary policy meetings during the fateful year of 2008. And, boy, are they discouraging reading.

Partly that’s because Fed officials come across as essentially clueless about the gathering economic storm. But we knew that already. What’s really striking is the extent to which they were obsessed with the wrong thing. The economy was plunging, yet all many people at the Fed wanted to talk about was inflation.

Matthew O’Brien at The Atlantic has done the math. In August 2008 there were 322 mentions of inflation, versus only 28 of unemployment and 19 of systemic risks or crises. In the meeting on Sept. 16, 2008 — the day after Lehman fell! — there were 129 mentions of inflation versus 26 mentions of unemployment and only four of systemic risks or crises.

Historians of the Great Depression have long marveled at the folly of policy discussion at the time. For example, the Bank of England, faced with a devastating deflationary spiral, kept obsessing over the imagined threat of inflation. As the economist Ralph Hawtrey famously observed, “That was to cry ‘Fire, fire!’ in Noah’s flood.” But it turns out that modern monetary officials facing financial crisis were just as obsessed with the wrong thing as their predecessors three generations before.

Click through for most interesting analysis by Paul Krugman. What Krugman did not cover is the reason Banksters fear inflation so much. It devalues the stored wealth of the 0.1%.

From Crooks and Liars: Last month, “Christians” launched the next great hate-based initiative in the guise of a beneficial community program: Trail Life. The organization says it is the “premier national character development organization for young men which produces Godly and responsible husbands, fathers and citizens,” but really amounts to just another attempt by the Christian right to discriminate against America’s LGBT youth.

The Trail Life Scout Oath includes an order to be “morally straight.” Ron Orr, whose almost-Eagle Scout son left BSA to join Trail Life, explains that “As Christians from a scriptural basis, we love all folks, but the Scripture is very clear that being homosexual is a sin.” He says that it’s important to “hold a strong line” and “set a consistent example for our young men,” though some would question what positive example a youth organization based in hatred can possibly provide.

I disagree with the author on one key point.  These are not “Christians”.  They are Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, making them completely anti-Christian.  This is a picture of the Trail Life scouts’ salute. Need I say more?

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I’m writing for tomorrow and am still feeling somewhat tired.  I may have little or nothing for Tuesday, because I have a doctor appointment (routine maintenance) with my Urologist tomorrow.  Hopefully he can help me remember what else it’s for.  I’ll be using the disabled van for the first time, so I have no idea when I’ll return home.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:11 (average 5:20).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The GOP’s growing chart may need an update.  Perhaps a new bar at the bottom redefining rape as "pursuit of sexual freedom"?

How about redefining it as any time the GOP gets involved with women’s rights.

From Think Progress: Pennsylvania is one of just 15 states that ban predatory payday loans, for now. If state Rep. Chris Ross (R) and state Sen. Pat Browne (R) have their way, though, the Keystone State will open its arms to companies that already pull billions of dollars out of poor communities each year through loans with average interest rates of over 300 percent.

Here we have the Republican Party representing one of the most blatant forms of vulture capitalism.

From Robert Reich: House Speaker John Boehner says raising the minimum wage is “bad policy” because it will cause job losses. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says a minimum wage increase would be a job killer. Republicans and the Chamber also say unions are job killers, workplace safety regulations are job killers, environmental

regulations are job killers, and the Affordable Care Act is a job killer. The California Chamber of Commerce even publishes an annual list of “job killers,” including almost any measures that lift wages or protect workers and the environment.

Most of this is bunk.

When in 1996 I recommended the minimum wage be raised, Republicans and the Chamber screamed it would “kill jobs.” In fact, in the four years after it was raised, the U.S. economy created more jobs than were ever created in any four-year period.

Robert Reich is spot on. The Republican Reich is full of it!

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I’m writing for tomorrow and running quite a bit late, because collecting the data for tomorrow’s Monthly Report takes several hours.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:53 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Bill Nye takes a whack at dispelling the myths surrounding child mortality and foreign aid.

Kudos to Bill Nye. What he does not cover is that the majority of the foreign aid we do give is military aid.

From Daily Kos: The iron curtain of the Supreme Court was breached on Wednesday. Activists from the the group 99Rise entered the Supreme Court chamber. After videoing the session where the justice can be clearly seen, one of the activists stood up. He said the following before he was accosted by the Supreme Court security detail.

Kudos to the protestors. What they said is true.

From Alternet: The Death Penalty: The Sanctity of Life Manifested

America: Land I Love In Christian Perspective laments that the death penalty, and thus the sanctity of life, have become less hip. Back in the good old days, “because people believed in the sanctity of human life, most states practiced capital punishment.”

A Beka Book knows what God was thinking when he killed people for crimes like prostitution, bearing false witness, and not crying out while being raped (if you are betrothed): “Most people believed God instituted capital punishment to discourage murder and to teach mankind the value of human life.”

This is just one of seven absurd things Republicans are gutting public education to teach to children. Click through for the other six.

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I’m writing for tomorrow and an feeling quite groggy, having just awakened.  Last night’s volunteer meeting went spectacularly well.  Two Oregon State University professors brought their sociology students to meet with my guys.  There were more than ever before.  In the groups I was in, I played a subdued role, facilitating communication, whenever I realized someone did not understand the jargon used by students and prisoners.  The students’ professors have taught them that the stereotypes, with which our society labels prisoners, are not accurate, but knowing it intellectually is no substitute for experiencing it in person.  My guys left them with a vastly improved outlook, and I could not be more proud of them.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:49 (average 5:44).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Unmistakable Proof That Something’s Wrong With Our Justice System

With what I do, you don’t have to convince me.

From The New Yorker: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a controversial anti-gay bill last night, telling reporters, “Let’s focus on discriminating against Mexicans.”

Governor Brewer said that while “the intentions behind this bill were obviously excellent,” she was worried that the bill “would distract us from our main mission of harassing, tormenting, and otherwise making life miserable for Mexicans.”

Although Governor Brewer said that she could foresee a time when Arizona might “branch out into discriminating against gays,” the decision to veto the anti-gay bill in the name of anti-immigrant pride was not difficult: “Arizona needs to stick to what it does best.”

Dang!! Is Andy on a roll with the Brewerstan Death Angel or what?

From Think Progress: Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bill that sought to provide veterans with greater access to health care and education over an amendment aimed at increasing sanctions on Iran.

Democrats failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to overcome the GOP obstruction.

Republicans have been trying to get a vote on an Iran sanctions measure, which has stalled after experts and Obama administration officials convinced most members of the Democratic caucus that it would derail talks with Iran over its nuclear program and could lead to war.

Did I not tell you that, despite their protestations to the contrary, Republicans would find an excuse to obstruct Democratic legislation to help our veterans?

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