Open Thread – 6/16/2016

Posted by TomCat at 2:11 pm Open Thread, Plus, Politics

Jun 162016

It’s another busy day as I had to find a replacement fort Julie. A woman she recommended has agreed to take the job, and another woman she recommended, has agreed to be on-call backup. Both are registered with the same agency. I have to use it, because the state pays for six hours per month of my care through their disabled seniors program. I have to pay for the rest, but every little bit helps. Tomorrow, I have my last pre-surgery blood tests, so please expect no more than a Personal Update tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The Dixie Chicks are back, and they’re already making trouble. The much-loved liberal bad girls of country/pop kicked off their North American tour this month with a nice big flip-off to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Unabashed in their political views, the three Grammy-winning musicians have taken the long way getting back on tour, after dissing George W. Bush in 2003 while on stage in London. The trio suffered a backlash not many artists can or will survive. Like millions around the world, they were angry at “W” for starting the Iraq War. In comparison to the racist and incredibly disrespectful remarks made publicly about President Obama on the likes of Fox News every day, the Dixie Chicks’ lead singer Natalie Maines merely said she, "Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."… [emphasis original]

The article did not include a picture of what they did to Rump Dump. Here it is.

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The article did include the song they played right after dissing Crawford Caligula. Here it is.

I love that tune!! Kudos to the Dixie Chicks!!

From NY Times: After the Central Intelligence Agency transferred Abu Zubaydah to the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and he was brought before a panel of officers for a hearing in March 2007, he described in broken English how he had been tortured in the agency’s black-site prisons.

He said his body had shaken when he stood for hours, naked and shackled in a cold room and unable to shift his weight to an injured leg. He spoke of his humiliation at having to relieve himself in a bucket in front of other people, “like an animal.” And he described being waterboarded until he stopped breathing and required resuscitation.

“They shackle me completely, even my head; I can’t do anything,” Mr. Zubaydah said. “Like this, and they put one cloth in my mouth and they put water, water, water.” At the “last point before I die,” he said, interrogators stood the board back up and “make like this” — he made breathing noises — “again and again they make it with me, and I tell him, ‘If you want to kill me, kill me.’ ”

Mr. Zubaydah’s testimony was contained in newly declassified transcripts of military hearings for the C.I.A.’s former prisoners. The government disclosed the accounts this week in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which provided the documents to The New York Times.

Bush, Chaney, Rice, Rumsfeld Gonzalez, Yoo and more belong behind bars for this.

From Alternet: At first blush it seems almost un-American—a universal basic income (UBI) that grants an income to every US citizen without any obligation to work or perform a socially mandated task. In a country that celebrates hard work as the path to fulfillment and riches, the idea of getting money for nothing—even if it’s just enough to keep you and your family off the debt collector’s call list and above the poverty line—is heresy. And yet, in some ways, UBI is as idealistic, optimistic, and American as the Declaration of Independence and its foundational principle that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Even with our current economic problems, we live in a land of abundant wealth and resources. And UBI is rooted in the belief that every human being should have at least the basic means to choose the life they want for themselves and their families. At a time when the tried-and-true twentieth-century solutions are failing us, UBI has the potential to give our troubled economy a twenty-first-century shot in the arm by transforming the technological disruption that’s been causing us so much anxiety into a force for self-fulfillment and the common good.

If these sentiments sound lofty and gilded, as I’m sure they do, my hope is that the conversations here will inspire you to see UBI as a policy that can raise the floor and reinvigorate our nation’s founding principles while providing new scaffolding for the American Dream.

Click through for his detailed support for his position. I agree with him.

Cartoon:

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We need it back!

Open Thread – 6/15/2016

Posted by TomCat at 1:40 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 152016

I’m expecting Julie to arrive momentarily, but want to do as much as I can, as this is a very busy week. She came, and brought sad (for me) news, She has been having an online romance in WV and is moving there in early July. So I nave begun the search for another caregiver. I will consider myself blessed if I cab find one half as caring as she is. I trust we will stay in touch.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:27 (average 8:57). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: In the course of delivering the commencement address at Stanford University, Ken Burns did an epic takedown of The Donald. In addition to deriding him for his lack of experience, his bombast, and his lies, he also called his campaign a “political Ponzi scheme” and implored “those ‘Vichy Republicans’ who have endorsed him to please, please reconsider”.

What can I say? He’s absolutely correct, except that trump would not be where he is if Burns’ complaints were not applicable to the Republican Party in general.

From Real Clear Politics.

State	Date ▾	Delegates	Clinton	Sanders	Delegate Allocation	Open/ Closed
(2,382 Needed to Win)	–	4763	2800	1881	–	–
Delegates Won	–	4051	2219	1832
Superdelegates	–	(712)	581	49
District of Columbia	June 14	20 (25)	16	4	Primary	Closed

The primaries are over. The winner, sadly, is beyond refute.

From Alternet: California’s counties process ballots in waves, by category: those that arrive before election day; those cast on election day (including provisional ballots given to people whose names were not on polling place lists); and those that arrive in the mail afterward. Thus, in the days that followed last Tuesday’s primary, the total number of ballots processed—out of 9.2 million cast statewide—has been steadily increasing, even though 2.3 million remain unprocessed… [emphasis added]

Rather than some draconian conspiracy to cheat Bernie, the still uncounted ballots are uncounted because of when they were submitted, not because they were provisional. The article goes on to say that it will almost definitely not give Bernie a win in CA, Even it it did, it would not affect the overall delegate count enough to matter.

Cartoon:

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This map is how Bloody Bullseye Barbie, aka Drill Baby Dingbat, targeted Democrats running for Congress for violence Gabby Giffords was one.

Open Thread – 6/14/2016

Posted by TomCat at 1:13 pm Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 142016

I needed another Lona nap this morning, and I’m busy, so I’ll be brief. Happy Flag Day!!

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Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:30 (average 4:50). To do it, click here, How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Rowan Elijah Feldhaus submitted a name change petition which Columbia County Superior Court Judge J. David Roper rejected. Rowan’s previous name had been Rebeccah Elizabeth Feldhaus.

The question presented is whether a female has the salutatory right to change her name to a traditionally and obviously male name. The court concludes that she does not have such right.

–Judge Roper

There’s an judge that Rump Dump would appoint to SCROTUS.

From NY Times: A judge in Oregon has granted a petition allowing a person to legally choose neither sex and be classified as nonbinary: an important development for transgender Americans while civil rights and sexual identity are in the national spotlight, advocates and legal experts said.

Though the petition was granted with little fanfare in a two-paragraph decision on Friday, the experts said that, to their knowledge, the ruling was the first of its kind in the country.

Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center in Oakland, Calif., described the decision in an email as a “historic step” toward the government’s recognizing “nonbinary members of our community and ensuring they have access to identity documents that reflect who they are, just like everyone else.”

The petitioner seeking the new designation, Jamie Shupe of Portland, Ore., is a retired United States Army sergeant born with male anatomy who had successfully battled the military to be given discharge papers that reflected the female sex.

Jamie — who prefers to use only a first name and the pronouns “they” and “their,” instead of singular pronouns — underwent hormone treatments to transition to a woman. But ultimately, neither sex fit, Jamie said in an interview on Friday.

Oregon leads the way! I wonder if this would work for trysexuals (those willing to try anything).

From Alternet: John Oliver Exposes the Retirement Scam: Even Wall Street’s Financial Advisers Agree They Shouldn’t Manage Your Money

Note that the cat did better than the fund managers. Give me your money and scratch me above the tail.

Cartoon:

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Open Thread – 6/13/2016

Posted by TomCat at 3:03 pm Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics, Religion

Jun 132016

I’m getting another late start, because I’m so tired I needed a Lona nap this morning. Then I needed to arrange a medical cab for all three trips to and from Casey Eye Institute next week. Then I needed to massage the parade pictures into shape. Finally I ordered a new pad for my wheelchair, as the old one is worn out.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:11 (average 4:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade:

The Rose Queen and her Court. (a better Court than SCROTUS).

After every horse act came a contingent of poop-scoopers. Republicans lack the intellectual capacity to do this job, Winking smile

Short Takes:

From NY Times: …Mr. Sanders said that he and Mrs. Clinton planned to meet on Tuesday and that he would ask her “whether she will be vigorous in standing up for working families in the middle class, moving aggressively in climate change, health care for all, making public colleges and universities tuition-free.”

“And after we have that kind of discussion and after we can determine whether or not we are going to have a strong and progressive platform,” he said, “I will be able to make other decisions.”

There have been signs that he was winding down his run. While Mrs. Clinton has been hiring campaign workers, Mr. Sanders started laying off at least half of his campaign staff members last week. He has let go of a number of advance staff members who help with campaign logistics, as well as field workers who have been canvassing for votes.

According to a person who attended the meeting at Mr. Sanders’s home Sunday, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private gathering, there was no talk from Mr. Sanders about trying to win the nomination. The group was keenly interested in how the senator’s meeting with Mrs. Clinton on Tuesday will turn out, and whether he would get assurances that she would fight for his ideas, this person said…

By continuing to run, Bernie increases the likelihood that his dream will live-on because it gives him a stronger negotiating position for the platform. As their stance clings to more and more desperate delusions, those who say they follow Bernie, but ignore his overtures toward unity work to increase the likelihood that Bernie’s dream will die in a totalitarian Rump Dump Trump Reich.

From Alternet: …The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, which works to support and empower LGBTQ Muslims, declared in a statement released on Sunday, "This tragedy cannot be neatly categorized as a fight between the LGBTQ community and the Muslim community. As LGBTQ Muslims, we know that there are many of us who are living at the intersections of LGBTQ identities and Islam. At moments like this, we are doubly affected."

"We reject attempts to perpetuate hatred against our LGBTQ communities as well as our Muslim communities," the organization continued. "We ask all Americans to resist the forces of division and hatred, and to stand against homophobia as well as against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry."…

The violence stems from neither Islam, nor Christianity, but from right wing pseudo-Muslims and right-wing pseudo-Christians, who abuse their respective religions to pursue the right-wing hatred and homophobia that they share.

From Think Progress: This morning on Fox & Friends, Donald Trump not so subtly returned to the subject that launched his political career — outrageous conspiracy theories about Barack Obama.

Trump said there were two possible reasons the gun massacre took place in Orlando. The first possibility was that Obama is “not tough” and “not smart” and therefore incapable of stopping terrorist attacks.

The other scenario, according to Trump, is that Obama is fully capable of stopping terrorist attacks but “has something else in mind.” In other words, Obama is purposefully allowing terrorists to kill people in the United States to pursue a hidden agenda.

Barf Bag Alert!!

Perhaps we could use his hair as a filtration mesh for sewerage. I can’t imagine any other productive use for him, at the moment.

Cartoon:

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Before SCOTUS became SCROTUS (Republican Constitutional VD)

Open Thread – 6/12/2016

Posted by TomCat at 4:09 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 122016

I’m running way late today because Julie was here. I’m a very pampered puddy tat. We finalized the details for my surgeries next week. We did a whole gamut of housekeeping tasks, including the dreaded task. Killer Dawg helped.

0612KillerDawgDreaded

I fed her lunch, a plate of Tony Roma’s Baby Back Ribs. The down-side is that Killer Dawg has hidden three rib bones in my apartment, and I have no idea where they are. We also took a pic of Killer Dawg in his official duds, in compliance with a European request for it.

The parade was cold and it rained on and off. I took a few pics, but as the bands passed us, none were playing and almost none of the girls were baton tossing, pompom shaking, or flag waving. Everyone was just walking past, so about mid-way through, I gave up and had lunch. I still have to resize the pictures and plan to post them tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

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

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (classic 2/2015): The U.S. Geological Survey has backed-up what scientists have been suggesting for years–that deep injection of wastewater is the primary cause of the dramatic rise in detected earthquakes:

Keep it in the ground!!

Also from Daily Kos (classic 3/2015): DW-NOMINATE is a method for analyzing data on preferences, such as voting data, developed by political scientists Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal. Unlike the scoring done by interest groups, DW-NOMINATE doesn’t rely on subjective determinations of what constitutes a liberal vote or a conservative vote–it sorts members of a population according to how similar each member’s choices are to those of other members of the population. Two senators who vote the same way 90 percent of the time will be much closer to each other than two senators who only vote the same way 10 percent of the time. Poole and Rosenthal have used this method to discover some interesting statistics and trends going back to the First Congress in 1787-89.

Using House and Senate roll call votes as inputs, DW-NOMINATE has been used to chart every member of every Congress in a two-dimensional space. The primary dimension corresponds strongly to conventional notions of the liberal-conservative axis in modern politics, while the significance of the secondary axis tends to change over time (traditionally it tended to highlight the distance between Dixiecrats and the rest of the Democratic party; today it’s kind of a more nebulous indicator of social and cultural differences and is, in my opinion, not particularly interesting). The point is that we can sort the members of a particular Congress by their scores on the primary dimension to easily rank them from most liberal to most conservative based entirely on their own voting data.

And when we do this for the period in which Hillary Clinton was in the Senate, here’s what we get:

As it turns out, with a first-dimension score of -0.391 based upon her entire service in Congress, Hillary Clinton was the 11th most liberal member of the Senate in each of the 107th, 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. That places her slightly to the left of Pat Leahy (-0.386), Barbara Mikulski (-0.385) and Dick Durbin (-0.385); clearly to the left of Joe Biden (-0.331) and Harry Reid (-0.289)

This surprised me, but I can’t argue with authentic voting stats. I was not surprised that Bernie is number one!

From LA Times: A heavily armed gunman who had reportedly pledged allegiance to Islamic State stormed into a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., early Sunday, and began rapidly firing into the crowd, killing at least 50 people and wounding 53 in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

The gunman was killed by a SWAT team after taking hostages at Pulse, a popular gay club, investigators said at an early morning news conference. He has been preliminarily identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Fla., a U.S. law enforcement official said.

Mateen called 911 moments before the attack, pledging allegiance to the Islamic state, a federal law enforcement official said, confirming earlier reports. Federal investigators said they also were looking into reports that he recited prayers to Allah during the attack. The investigators stressed that they have just begun digging into his background and don’t want to jump to conclusions about any links to Islamic State.

May their loved ones be comforted. Barack, Bernie and Hillary all tried to comfort their suffering and condemned the pseudo-Muslim from the Daesh. Rump Dump Trump wants congratulations. Some other Republicans are even condemning the victims.

Cartoon:

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Open Thread – 6/11/2016

Posted by TomCat at 10:32 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 112016

I was hoping to sleep-in, but Grand Floral Parade goers started staking out their spots and blowing their air horns at about 5:00 AM. I’d guess that the parade will get here between 11:00 AM and 12:00 N. Julie and I rescheduled shower day to tomorrow, so I’m a stinky puddy tat!! I’ll scoot down and take a few pictures, if it isn’t raining. Rain is bad for my chair.

My first surgery is a week from Monday. The radioactive plaque they will be inserting behind my right eye is about the size of an old pop bottle cap.

0611melanoma_plaque

Mine will have a notch in one side to fit around the optic nerve. The second surgery, a week from Friday, will be to remove it.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:49 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Politico has an excellent piece of reporting from within the Sanders campaign on their future efforts. A great read and very encouraging for those of us who are anticipating unity within the party. It appears that staff within the Sanders group are already starting to shift their focus toward assisting Clinton in the general.

Sanders’ tech team is already expressing interest in working on Clinton’s behalf to drum up enthusiasm among young voters — a critical demographic for Democrats that Sanders dominated and Clinton struggled with during the primaries.

“Getting a bunch of kids stoked on the process is very important to ensure a Trump presidency is not possible,” said Arun Chaudhary, the Sanders videographer who joined the senator’s team at the White House on Thursday to take pictures surrounding his meeting with Obama.

As I said, the problem is not and never was Bernie. It’s the bots, who say they support him, but act at cross-purposes to what he is doing.

From Think Progress: Texas, so fond of seeing the environmental regulators in court that it has sued the Environmental Protection Agency dozens of times, wants to take the EPA to court for a brand new reason.

The Texas Railroad Commission recommended that the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, file another lawsuit targeting new EPA regulations seeking to limit methane emissions. Texas would be the first state to do so.

I don’t know why the Railroad Commission is doing this, when the Texas Republican Party is the biggest source of methane in the Southwest US.

From Alternet: A potentially massive fine levied against three telemarketing companies could finally force others in the industry to comply with federal rules—and stop nuisance calls.

Local news station KSL.com reports that the three companies—Feature Films for Families, Corporations for Character and Family Films of Utah—made more than 117 million illegal calls to consumers who had signed up with the “Do Not Call” registry. If the court assigns the regular fine amount for all of the 117 million illegal calls, the firms could end up paying over $1 trillion.

It goes without saying that the companies would not be able to afford such high fines and would be financially ground into dust by such a verdict, although the companies are still waiting for the judge’s decision on whether the full fines will be enforced. Eric Allen, an attorney for the law firm that is representing the companies, said a $1 trillion fine could have a chilling effect on other telemarketers.

Frankly, I hope the judge puts them out of business. Companies with such a Republican lack of respect don’t deserve to operate, and it would put other telemarketers on notice to respect the Do Not Call list, OR ELSE!! Enough don’t that it’s a rare day that I don’t get at least one scam robocall, usually for timeshare scams or loans

Cartoon:

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Open Thread – 6/10/2016

Posted by TomCat at 2:16 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 102016

I’m getting ready to leave for PT with Courtney. This is today’s only article, and I’ll finish it when I return. Last night I stayed up late, because I needed to do some scanning, and the scanner in my all-in-one color laser printer wouldn’t work. It turned out that my old printer software was incompatible with Windows 10, so I had to upgrade the software and completely reinstall the printer. It works fine now, but I’m very tired.

I’m back. I worked hard. I’m totally pooped!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:07 (average 5:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Oklahoma Highway Patrol began using a new device they have begun using called ERAD—Electronic Recovery and Access to Data machine. The device allows a law enforcement officer to scan any credit or ATM cards and seize any money connected with that card.

"We’re gonna look for different factors in the way that you’re acting,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. John Vincent said. “We’re gonna look for if there’s a difference in your story. If there’s someway that we can prove that you’re falsifying information to us about your business."

Troopers insist this isn’t just about seizing cash.

"I know that a lot of people are just going to focus on the seizing money. That’s a very small thing that’ s happening now. The largest part that we have found … the biggest benefit has been the identity theft," Vincent said.

How do you spell B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T?

From YouTube: Bernie Sanders Speech following White House Meeting with Obama Sanders slams Trump 6/9/16

To me that speech strongly indicates Bernie’s intent to work with Hillary. Will those that have made Bernie a cult follow Bernie? I hope so!

From MSNBC: Warren: I’m ready to get in this fight for Hillary Clinton

Senator Elizabeth Warren offers her endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president of the United States, and talks with Rachel Maddow about the Democratic primary and her objections to Donald Trump.

"The Republicans underestimated Donald Trump, and look where it got them." That’s what Liz to the people who think they can vote their conscience without changing anything. They are wrong. Liz is right.

Vote Blue No Matter Who!!

Cartoon:

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Open Thread – 6/9/2016

Posted by TomCat at 12:35 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 092016

My ocular cancer surgeries are definitely scheduled for 6/20 and 6/24, so I'm swamped making arrangements and rescheduling other appointments. Tomorrow, I go to PT with Courtney, so please expect no more than a Personal Update.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 3:04 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: This is the first Trump ad released by Priorities USA that gets very wide release nationally, it is being aired in Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire. The ad goes at Trump for mocking disabled people, and it is a stunning ad.

Bingo!!

From Alternet: Stephen Colbert riffed on Trump's use of a teleprompter Wednesday night, a move that many were shocked by since Trump often has difficulty stringing actual sentences together.

He also uses a smelleprompter and a helleprompter.

From Daily Kos: We’re at the point of the primary where we can laugh at ourselves, right?

A wet bag of dawg shit would be an improvement over Rump Dump Trump!

Cartoon:

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