Open Thread–4/16/2016

 Posted by at 12:57 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 162016
 

I’m waiting for Julie to come fore my first appointment with her.  My appointment yesterday went poorly.  In less than five tears my nevus has grown from nothing to 3.6mm and thick, so the Retinal Ophthalmologist thinks that I have a 75% chance that it’s a choroidal melanoma, and is referring me to the two specialists at Casey Eye Institute that do nothing else.  You’ll know more when I do.  tomorrow my articles may be late or missing, because I can’t do anything else before my taxes are done.  Later:  Julie came.  She’s fantastic.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:55 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The Senate Republicans’ most vulnerable member is running awfully hard away from his party, as he runs for reelection. Illinois’ Mark Kirk is running furiously from his party, now that voters are actually paying attention in race against Democrat Tammy Duckworth.

Kirk is one of just two outliers in the Senate GOP Conference on whether the chamber should vote on Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court this year and has bent over backward to show he disagrees with his fellow Republicans. Aside from telling other Republicans to "man up" and vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee, Kirk has circulated memos to Republicans touting Garland and boasted about a personal note from Obama thanking Kirk for advocating for his nominee.

Just this week, Kirk co-sponsored a criminal justice reform bill that would loosen some mandatory minimum sentences, despite complaints within the GOP that it would unwittingly release violent criminals early from prison. And he joined with five of the most liberal senators to urge the NBA to move its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, in response to the state’s controversial new law that bans anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people. […]

He’s so full of Republican, that his eyes are brown. Before election season, Kirk was goose-stepping with the Reich, and if elected, he will be again. Yay Tammy Duckworth!!

From NY Times: It was the sort of question — Does Israel have a right to defend itself as it sees fit? — that had often caused candidates, especially those with designs on winning a primary in New York, to produce paeans to the strength of the Israeli-American relationship and a stream of pro-Israel orthodoxy.

But Senator Bernie Sanders dug in.

“There comes a time when if we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all of the time,” Mr. Sanders said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, amid cheers from the crowd at Thursday’s Democratic debate in Brooklyn. He added: “All that I am saying is we cannot continue to be one-sided. There are two sides to the issue.”

I agree with Bernie 100%. Sadly, Most liberal US Jews, are ultra-conservative on maintaining an "Israel. Right or wrong" stance. J Street supporters, Jews who recognize Bibi as the butcher he is, are far too few and far between. Sadly, Bernie’s integrity will cost him dearly in NY, but I admire and commend him for it.

From TPM: Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders enjoyed a visit with Pope Francis Saturday during his trip to the Vatican.

According to NBC News, Sanders met with the pope just outside the Vatican’s breakfast room at 6 a.m. The New York Times reported the meeting lasted just five minutes.

"In terms of economic justice, the need to combat climate change — nobody in the world has been more profound and articulate than the pope, and I’m delighted to go forward with him on those issues," Sanders told NBC News.

So, is Francis feeling the BERN?

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Squatch’s Open Thread 15/04/2016

 Posted by at 10:29 am  Open Thread, Politics
Apr 162016
 

It has been another busy week and I have not posted as often as I would like.  I had the annual meeting with my mother's care team and everything is going as well as can be expected.  I had an ESL and French teaching session and was rewarded with a dinner to take home.  Neda is too good to me.  Saturday my 2 boys will be 8 years old so there will be plenty of belly rubs dished out and a freshly roasted chicken breast for dinner, their favourite!  Only one stipulation, they have to share with their sister.  This coming week will be very busy as well.  To boot, the gas company wants to replace my gas metre but I managed to put them off until 02/05/2016.

Short Takes

Reuters — As ports struggle to cope with a global oil glut, huge queues of supertankers have formed in some of the world's busiest sea lanes, where some 200 million barrels of crude lies waiting to be loaded or delivered.

The vessels, filled with oil worth around $7.5 billion at current market prices, would stretch for almost 40 km (25 miles) if formed up in one straight line.  …

Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at shipbroker Banchero Costa, in Singapore, said the snarl-up was "one of the worst tanker traffic jams in recent years".

The cause was "a perfect storm of red-hot demand from new entrant refineries in China and port infrastructure in the Middle East and Latin America that is unable to cope", he said.

From a Globe and Mail article from 18/02/2016: 

Oil prices rose more than 14 percent over the last three days after a plan by Saudi Arabia and Russia, endorsed without commitment by Iran on Wednesday, to freeze oil output at January’s highs.

The Saudi-Russian production freeze plan, also joined by Qatar and Venezuela, is the first such deal in 15 years between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members.

This will due little to quell the numbers of oil tankers at sea, the costs involved, and do absolutely nothing for the inadequate infrastructure in the ports. 

Huffington Post — The biggest number of complaints, by far, was levelled at a political flyer by the Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform that featured images of aborted fetuses and the slogan "No2Trudeau." 

There were 105 complaints against the flyer, and Advertising Standards Canada agreed it was excessively shocking and upsetting.

The ASC also received and upheld 96 complaints against two billboards in the Montreal area posted by Friends of Science Society.

friends of science billboard

One of the billboards said "The Sun is The Main Driver of Climate Change. Not You. Not CO2" and the other said "Global Warming Stopped Naturally 16-Plus Years Ago." The ad council found they omitted relevant information.

There have been flyers delivered in some areas with very graphic pictures of aborted fetuses.  The idea is to promote pro-life, but IMO, shock and awe is not the way to do it.  Likewise, inaccurate or deceptive claims about climate change are not acceptable.  I am very glad that there agencies that address these issues.

The Guardian — Vermont senator hopes to align campaign with issues Pope Francis has raised in what seems to be a gamble for a candidate who rarely speaks about religion.

Bernie Sanders plans to warn against “the idolatry of money” in a speech at the Vatican next week which the Democratic candidate hopes will align his insurgent presidential campaign with the moral preaching of Pope Francis.

“What the pope has been clear about is linking the issue of morality with the global economy and making the point that you can’t have a moral economy when so many people are living in poverty,” Sanders told the Guardian.

“He has raised the issue more than any other person on the planet and I am very proud to be with him in the Vatican,” he added in an interview shortly after the campaign announced his surprise attendance at the conference on 15 April.

It seems to me that the author has missed a basic point — inequality, poverty, and economic morality are NOT religious issues!  One needs only be a halfway intelligent and compassionate human being to see and understand the global effects of inequality and poverty.  Likewise, those criticising Bernie for leaving the campaign trail for a day or so with the New York primary only days away are likely the same ones who criticise Obama for being away when something significant happens.

Go Bernie!!!

My Universe — BROTHERS OF THE WIND: Golden eagle hunts chamois

Wikipedia: The chamois (Rupicapra spp.) is a goat-antelope genus native to mountains in Europe, including the European Alps, thePyrenees, the Carpathians, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, the Caucasus, and the Apennines.

Did that eagle get it's feathers ruffled, or what?

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Open Thread–4/15/2016

 Posted by at 7:53 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 152016
 

Color me rushing to get this up, before I have to leave,

Jog Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:42 (average 4:32).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Getting attention today: The court case in which Republican now-presidential candidate Ted Cruz, then the Texas solicitor general, ferociously defended the state’s law barring the sale of dildos.

The brief insisted that Texas in order to protect "public morals" had  "police-power interests" in "discouraging prurient interests in sexual gratification, combating the commercial sale of sex, and protecting minors." There was a  "government" interest, it maintained, in "discouraging…autonomous sex." The brief compared the use of sex toys with "hiring a willing prostitute or engaging in consensual bigamy," and it equated advertising these products with the commercial promotion of prostitution. In perhaps the most noticeable line of the brief, Cruz’s office declared, "There is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship."

Cruz lost, with a federal appeals court opining that the state had no legal business telling people what they could and couldn’t do in their own bedrooms.

I wonder if Cruz had his dildo, his TRUS, up his butt when he wrote that brief,

From The New Yorker: Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, stirred controversy on Thursday by saying in a televised interview that he had no recollection of running for President of the United States.

Appearing on the Fox News Channel, Dr. Carson responded to host Sean Hannity’s question about his ten-month-long candidacy by saying, “I do not recall any of that occurring.”

“I’ve been told that I did it, but I find it impossible to believe,” he said. “I don’t think I’d forget a thing like that.”

Dr. Carson said he had seen photographs and videos of him campaigning for the Republican nomination but called them “the work of an evil person who is really good at PhotoShop and whatnot.”

Here’s why, Andy!! Uncle Token has been brain dead, ever since he operated on himself.

From Crooks and Liars: Bernie Sanders gave a spirited closing argument for why he believes he’s the best candidate for the Democratic nomination.

 

I agree with him.  Go Bernie!!

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Open Thread–4/14/2016

 Posted by at 1:33 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 142016
 

Yesterday Lu came for the last time.  She was about four hours late, but getting the day right was an improvement.  So I’m a perfumed puddy tat.  My groceries came.  I put them away.  I also did the dreaded task! Eye rolling smile  Tomorrow I have an appointment with a Retinal Ophthalmologist to check out my choroidal nevi.  The appointment will take three hours, and I’ll be unable to use a computer afterwards until late tomorrow night.  So expect only a Personal Update, please.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:51 (average 4:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos:  When Scott Walker came into office, he claimed that he had no interest in trying to get “Right to Work” laws passed. Unfortunately for the people of Wisconsin, Scott Walker is a liar and a terrible person. In fact, he and his fellow Republican legislators introduced an ALEC inspired written bill making Wisconsin a Right to Work state. Since the bill was signed into law, Wisconsin’s workforce has diminished by at least 10,000. Wisconsin is hemorrhaging jobs because Right to Work laws don’t have anything to do with generating living wage jobs, or much in the way of real work, at all. Three unions filed lawsuits against the bill, arguing that the law posed an unconstitutional seizure of union property, and on Friday they received some good news:

Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust agreed. He said the law amounts to the government taking union funds without compensation since under the law they must represent people who don’t pay dues. That presents an existential threat to unions, Foust wrote.

"While (union) losses today could be characterized by some as minor, they are not isolated and the impact of (the law) over time is threatening to the unions’ very economic viability," he wrote.

This judgement, [sic] calling the law unconstitutional on the grounds that it is an “existential threat,” could have some far-reaching ramifications in the many Republican-backed legislatures that really want to put the screws to the working folk of this country. The importance of this ruling also means that there will be further appeals.

This issue is far from settled, but any day the Koch-sucking Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan takes a loss at any level is a better day for America.

From Real Clear Politics:

Polling Data

Poll

Date

Sample

MoE

Cooper (D)

McCrory (R)

Spread

RCP Average

1/18 – 4/11

—

—

44.0

41.0

Cooper +3.0

WRAL-TV/SurveyUSA

4/8 – 4/11

701 LV

3.8

47

43

Cooper +4

Elon University

2/15 – 2/17

1530 LV

2.5

42

40

Cooper +2

PPP (D)

1/18 – 1/19

948 RV

3.2

43

40

Cooper +3

It looks like the Religious Reichsfuhrer of the Theocratic Republican Dictatorship of McCrorystan is also experiencing backlash from his hatred and bigoted policies.

From TPM: Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, will not be prosecuted in Florida for battery after he allegedly manhandled a reporter, Politico reported on Wednesday night, citing unnamed sources.

CNN also reported that Lewandowski will not be prosecuted early Thursday morning, citing unnamed sources.

What a travesty!  Don’t get me wrong!  I have no bias favoring his victim.  The reporter he assaulted worked for Breitfart, a source for which I have so little regard, that I refuse to embed links to it.

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Open Thread–4/13/2016

 Posted by at 12:17 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 132016
 

I’m waiting for Lu to come for her last appointment.  I have found a certified replacement through the Oregon Home Care Commission.  She starts Saturday, and assuming we get along, she’ll be long term.  I have a big grocery order coming today, that I’ll need to put away.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:32 (average 4:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: No one in the United States has taken note of the total disappearance of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who vanished from view several weeks ago.

In interviews with residents across the country, few if any Americans displayed interest in, or concern about, the whereabouts of Christie, who, until he disappeared, had been a once-prominent political figure.

“I hadn’t really thought about him until you mentioned it,” said Trenton resident Carol Foyler, echoing the opinions of many others in the Garden State.

“Huh,” she added.

Great catch Andy!! PIGnocchio has disappeared, and that’s a LOT of disappearing! What diet was he on?

From Daily Kos: A Beaumont, Texas, high school teacher was arrested last week after video emerged online of her smacking a student. Here’s the video:

 

Here we have another demonstration of Republican education.

From Crooks and Liars: With Ted Cruz battling it out for the Republican nomination with Donald Trump, it seems like a good time for SuperPAC head and fake historian David Barton to take a break and teach Americans how to "take back" their country, right?

And that is what he’s doing, according to Right Wing Watch.

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

I won’t say that’s Dominionist Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian policy from the horse’s mouth. It’s Dominionist Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian policy from the horses ass.

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Open Thread–4/12.2016

 Posted by at 1:10 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 122016
 

Yesterday, Sarah, my Prosthetist, checked out George.  She ordered a new part to stabilize his ankle, and I’ll have to go back when it comes in.  I had to go to the bank, because I discovered over $100.00 was missing from my desk drawer.  I know it was there on Saturday, and only one other person had been in the apartment since.  So I need to get another shower aide.   I’m disappointed, but not angry.  Desperate people do desperate things, and the money I had lent her was used up.  I’ll tell her tomorrow that it is her last day.  I really needed to make the change anyway, because I have not had both weekly showers on time since January, when she moved out of the building, where I used to live.  I need to deal with people who add stability to my life, not destabilize it.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:38 (average 6:48).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The war of words between the two Democratic camps heated up over the weekend, as the Clinton campaign accused Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders of “blatantly attempting to win the Democratic nomination for President.”

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Clinton campaign spokesman Harland Dorrinson said that Sanders’s actions in the past few weeks “left little doubt as to what his true intentions are—namely, to be the Party’s nominee.”

“He’s been raising money, he’s been running in primaries, and, yes, he’s been winning caucuses,” the Clinton aide said. “It’s time for Bernie Sanders to come clean with the American people and admit what he’s really up to.”

“It’s deeply troubling that what appeared at first to be a purely symbolic candidacy has turned into something else entirely,” he said.

In an interview on CNN, Secretary Clinton said that she would not “take the bait” when she was asked whether she thought Sanders was trying to win the nomination, but she stopped short of disavowing the accusation.

Dang, Andy!! Does Bernie have chutzpah or what?!!? The Nerve!! How dare he try to win Hillary’s nomination!! Winking smile

From Daily Kos: Vox is calling for a boycott of using any paid TurboTax product. So am I. If you’ve already filed, don’t use them again. If you haven’t yet filed, I urge you to use a different service, like Jackon Hewitt or TaxSlayer. Or go to an independent accountant.  

The reason, to put it bluntly, is that Intuit, the company that owns TurboTax, has teamed up with Grover Norquist to ensure that paying your taxes is as painful an ordeal as possible.

Intuit has spent over 13 million dollars to lobby AGAINST efforts to make taxes less complicated. After all, if taxes were made simple, then why would you need to shell out big bucks to use their convoluted system? (along with their ever-increasing fees.)

One such effort they oppose is so common-sense that even conservatives are having a hard time making the case against it. (But it’s not stopping them.) It’s called a "Simple Return." Essentially, the onus would be on the IRS, not you, for filling out the tax forms.

You see, the IRS gets all of the same forms in the mail that you do. They already know what you owe, so they would be required to send you a pre-filled out tax return telling you how much you owe (or, if you overpaid, how much you will get back). With one check of the box, you could either accept it, or simply say "No Thanks" and do the taxes yourself. It’s just an option.

I support Vox in this. I use TaxAct.

From Alternet: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has declared April "Confederate Heritage Month," which has rightfully angered many residents in the state, “especially since the governor refuses to mention what the Civil War was really about—slavery,” The Young Turks co-host Ana Kasparian pointed out on Tuesday.

 

I guess that means Mississippi is now celebrating Republican Racism Month.

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Squatch’s Open Thread 09/04/2016

 Posted by at 3:18 am  Open Thread, Politics
Apr 122016
 

This week is very busy again.  I have at least one event every day, but usually more.  I am trying to ready myself for the Alzheimer's Walk for Memories and raising money for research and programmes.  As in the US, it is tax preparation time so that is on my list to do.  And of course there is spring cleaning . . . always spring cleaning no matter what season it is!

Short Takes 

Politico — Dispirited over a Republican Party primary that has devolved into an ugly, damaging fight, some of the GOP’s biggest financiers are reevaluating whether to invest in the 2016 presidential contest at all.

Among those on the sidelines: Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who hosted the Republican Jewish Coalition’s spring meeting at his Venetian hotel this weekend. His apparent ambivalence about 2016 was shared by many RJC members here. With grave doubts about the viability of the few remaining Republican contenders, many of these Republican donors have decided to sit out the rest of the primary entirely. And while some are reluctantly getting behind a remaining candidate, others are shifting their attention to congressional contests.  …

The jewish community and @RJC honoring the great prime minister of Canada Stephen Harper – great friend of Israel

Photo from Huffington Post

While the RJC spring meeting is traditionally a celebration of Adelson, with politicians of all stripes venturing to the Venetian to pay homage, this year’s was different.

On Thursday evening, Adelson hosted some of the organization’s top officials at his palatial mansion. While former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed how fractured parties can unite, Adelson listened but said little, according to three people who were present. And on Friday, rather than preside over the deliberations, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, departed for a wedding.

The lack of interest is partly rooted in exhaustion. After watching many of the party’s establishment prospects — from Scott Walker to Marco Rubio — go up in flames, many top donors say they’ve simply grown tired of opening their wallets. Some here have given to multiple candidates, only to watch them suffer defeat.

And you thought Canada was nasty refusing to take Cruz back!  Now Adelson is importing Canada's Republican demagogue, Stephen Harper.

Think Progress — Nearly a week after pipeline operator TransCanada shut down a section of its Keystone line over an oil leak, the company reported Thursday thousands of gallons of oil were spilled, not less than 200 as it first said.  …

After the spill was reported earlier this week, environmental groups said Keystone’s spill proves the threat that the Keystone XL expansion would have posed. They also noted that the Keystone pipeline, approved by President George W. Bush in 2008, leaked oil 12 times in its first year of operation. “TransCanada’s Keystone I disaster is a stark reminder that it’s not a question if a pipeline will malfunction, but rather a question of when. This is one of the reasons President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline and it’s why he should reject all dangerous fossil fuel pipeline proposals,” Sierra Club’s Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement.

Oil transportation largely relies on trains and pipelines. Out of those two, pipelines spill more often than trains, yet train accidents can be deadlier as trains are more likely to explode. U.S. pipelines spilled three times as much crude oil as trains over the period of 2004 to 2012, …

And Trans Canada thinks it is their right to pollute with impunity?  I hope its lawsuit in federal court and their NAFTA challenge fail miserably.

Raw Story — Bill O’Reilly questioned Donald Trump’s ability to provide jobs in African-American communities during an interview on Monday by painting black Americans as being ill-equipped for the labor force.

“How are you going to get jobs for them?” O’Reilly asked. “Many of them are ill-educated and have tattoos on their foreheads, and I hate to be generalized about it but it’s true. If you look at all the educational statistics, how are you going to give jobs to people who aren’t qualified for jobs?”

Barf Bag Alert!     Barf Bag Alert!     Barf Bag Alert!     Barf Bag Alert!     Barf Bag Alert!     Barf Bag Alert!     

Openly racist comments . . . but that is to be expected from a pair of Republicans!

My Universe — Chilling with some friends!

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