Open Thread – Page 841 – Politics Plus

Open Thread–2/18/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:03 am Monthly Report, Open Thread

Feb 182011

I’m trying to make a comeback today. My stomach has mostly settled but I’m still a raw nerve ending. My body feels disconnected as though it belongs to someone else. At least I have articles for today, and I caught up on comments. Hang in with me please.

Jig Zone Puzzles: Wednesday it took me 4:11 (average 4:38). To do it, click here. Thursday it took me 3:49 (average 4:31). To do it, click here. Today it took me 4:28 (average 4:56). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: …across the Middle East, where brutal social contracts have left millions uneducated, impoverished and alienated, existing battle lines between people and their governments appeared to harden, foreshadowing more confrontations in the days ahead.

Bahrain’s response was particularly savage, because the common people are Shia, but the autocrats are Sunni.

From Progressives United: Look what Russ Feingold is up to.

I joined.

Cartoon:

TGIF – Today is day 4.

Open Thread–2/15/2011

Posted by TomCat at 7:51 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 152011

Yesterday my trip to the doctor showed me I’m still not ready for prime time. Just getting there and back, normally an easy trip was grueling. I’d like to do some visiting today, but I feel pretty weak and tired, so we’ll see. I am up to date on comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:59 (average 4:43). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Salon: Here’s an update on the unfolding story of the trio of technology firms that hatched a plan to attack WikiLeaks and their supporters in the press — including Salon’s Glenn Greenwald. The plan was apparently prepared at the behest of Hunton and Williams, a large law firm working for Bank of America, which is worried because it is reportedly the subject of a future WikiLeaks document release.

BoA is obviously too lame to take responsibility for their own attacks.

From Washington Post: Three months after losing his improbable campaign for U.S. Senate, Alvin Greene is on the ballot again in South Carolina.

This time, the 33-year-old is trying to win the Democratic nomination for a state House seat anchored in his central South Carolina hometown of Manning.

This Republican financed fool needs to be defeated soundly.

Cartoon:

Have you blasted a Republican today?

Open Thread–2/14/2011

Posted by TomCat at 6:55 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 142011

I’m off today to routine medical appointments. No cause for worry. I composed a couple of today’s items yesterday, and got up early to do the rest. I even caught up on comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:45 (average 4:32). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From LA Times: House Speaker John A. Boehner said Sunday that he believed President Obama was a U.S. citizen and a Christian, but that it was not up to him to convince people who were skeptical of the president’s birthplace and religion.

It’s not his job to lead his party, he says.

From VOA News: Egyptian pro-democracy activist Wael Ghonim says the country’s new military rulers have promised him that a referendum will be held on a revised constitution in two months.

This is good news, if true.

From On The Hill: But buried deeply in these 359 pages of ugly surprises [the GOP budget] is a provision that would mean one community in America would do a lot better than all of the others. The legislation added an estimated $450 million for a particular bit of defense spending that the Department of Defense did not ask for and does not want.

The item is a down payment that would obligate the federal government to future payments that could well be three or four times the increased spending added to this particular piece of legislation, with a big portion of the funds flowing to two cities in Ohio—Cincinnati, where Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) grew up, and Dayton, the largest city in his congressional district. [emphasis added]

Does corruption get any more obvious than this?

Cartoon:

Get some lovin’!

Open Thread–2/13/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:43 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 132011

This morning I overslept, so I running several hours behind. I’ll put this Open Thread up now, and the other three stories as I finish them. Tomorrow I have a routine medical appointment, so if I don’t finish on time in the morning, there may be no articles until mid to late afternoon.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:35 (4:58 average). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: A week from Tuesday, when the Supreme Court returns from its midwinter break and hears arguments in two criminal cases, it will have been five years since Justice Clarence Thomas has spoken during a court argument.

From a racist Republican perspective, he’s a perfect African American Justice. He keeps his mouth shut and obeys Scalia.

From Christian Science Monitor: Thousands of Algerian protesters marched amid massive police presence in their nation’s capital Saturday to demand the government’s ouster, echoing the events in Egypt that ended the decades-long authoritarian rule of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Kudos to the protesters. Where next?

From Washington Independent: Further fueling the speculation that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) may be making a bid for the White House in 2012, she handed out jerseys with “Bachmann” on the front and “12″ on the back at a reception Thursday evening. As promised, Bachmann also gave away vouchers for free drinks as she collected information from attendees at CPAC, an annual gathering of conservatives which has drawn over 11,000 attendees this week.

Given that she is a staunch supporter of the Theocon wing of the party that demonizes alcohol almost as much as LGBT rights, why is Batshit passing out drinks?

Cartoon:

I miss football!

Open Thread–2/12/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:43 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 122011

Yesterday after laundry and getting the blog up, I took a walk to the corner store. Some friends stopped by in the afternoon and we had a good chat about some of the articles I’ve posted lately. I always enjoy that. Today I’m up to date on comments, and beyond that, we’ll see how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:00 (5:14 average). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From CBS: An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has issued a warrant for the arrest of the country’s former president, General Pervez Musharraf in connection with the 2007 killing of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in a move that potentially reopens a bitter chapter from the country’s troubled political history.

Musharraf, a close ally of former U.S. President George W Bush, has lived in exile since 2008, dividing his time between the U.K. and Dubai, after he resigned to avoid a parliamentary impeachment by newly-elected politicians.

It’s about time. I called for his arrest two days after he had her killed.

From NY Times: A man died early Friday in a Portland hospital’s parking garage, just 100 feet from the emergency room’s entrance, and the police said no one from the staff of Portland Adventist Medical Center helped as officers tried to revive him.

Shame on PAMC! He must not have had an insurance card.

From TPM: As advertised, House Republicans late Friday unveiled a legislative proposal to cut discretionary spending by billions of dollars starting next month, through the end of the fiscal year in September.

You can download a summary of the proposed cuts here (PDF).

They are ugly! For example, they want to cut the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children over $1 billion from their proposed 2011 budget, and almost $750 million from their 2010 budget.

Cartoon:

What’s happening this weekend?

Open Thread–2/11/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:48 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 112011

Articles are a little late today, because I did laundry while researching. No matter how long it sits there, and now matter how I feel, it just refuses to do itself. Sad smile The multiple trips up and down the stairs have me feeling gasses, but I’m current in replying to comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:23 (4:35 average). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From CREW: Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate whether members of Congress who sleep in their offices are violating House rules. CREW also asked the OCE to determine whether these members are violating tax law by failing to report lodging as a taxable fringe benefit. Press reports indicate that at least 33 members – 26 Republicans and 7 Democrats – have turned their offices into dorm rooms.

Are the Republicans engaging in AIDES research?

From News Hounds: If "liberal" attorney Greta Van Susteren had any qualms about using her show, On The Record, as a fundraising vehicle for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s lawsuit against the federal government, Van Susteren kept them to herself. During the rest of the interview, Van Susteren coddled Brewer like she was Sarah Palin. The entire segment was clearly intended as a set up to promote Brewer’s legal theatrics and the money pot for it.

The Arizona Death Angel’s lawsuit against the government is over her racist “papers” law.

From Right Wing Watch: At the CPAC panel on “How Political Correctness is Harming America’s Military,” Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness continued her campaign against gay and lesbian members of the armed forces serving openly and honorably, but she was upstaged by GOP congressional candidate Ilario Pantano, who insisted that America is meant to be a Christian nation and that the military must reflect biblical values.

Another Republican lie. The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, ratified unanimously in the Senate, while many founding fathers were still Senators, states specifically that the US is NOT a Christian nation. Subjecting our troops to religions pressure violates the Establishment Clause.

Cartoon:

TGIF!

Open Thread–2/10/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:28 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 102011

Yesterday my apartment was quite cold so I went back to bed to stay warm and catch up on sleep. I am up to date on comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:56 (average 4:32). To do it, click here.

Short Takes

From NY Times: Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, has decided not to run for re-election, avoiding a blockbuster rematch with the man he beat in 2006, George Allen, and giving Senate Republicans another opportunity to try to reclaim the majority.

George Allen is a racist pig! Do you remember “maraca”? Tim Kaine could brobably beat him, but so far he has said no.

From SPLC: This morning, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) hosted his first hearing as chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank…

…One of the witnesses invited to testify was Thomas DiLorenzo, a longtime activist in the neo-Confederate hate group, League of the South (LOS). The LOS advocates for a second Southern secession and a society dominated by “Anglo-Celts” – that is, white people. LOS leaders have called slavery “God-ordained” and described segregation as necessary to the racial “integrity” of black and white alike. [emphasis added]

That Ron Paul would invite such a man to testify is proof positive of Paul’s own decrepit racism. No wonder his son Rand wants to dismantle the Civil Rights Act.

From New York Magazine: Keith Olbermann is trying to out-Keith Olbermann himself: His new Current TV show is said to be scheduled against his MSNBC replacement’s slot. Lawrence O’Donnell’s The Last Word replaced Olbermann when he abruptly left MSNBC after eight years with the network. He’ll also—happily we presume—once again be going head to head with Fox News talking head Bill O’Reilly. But fans will have to wait: Olbermann’s non-compete clause doesn’t expire until May.

I’d rather have him opposite Chris Matthew, but I’ll take what I can get. May is a long wait!

Cartoon:

What’s up?

Open Thread–2/9/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:43 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 092011

I hoped to get some visits in yesterday, but I ended up on the phone organizing volunteer work. Today, we’ll see how I feel, but I am up to date on comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:56 (average 4:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NPR: Olbermann, whose decision last month to give up his top-rated MSNBC program shocked his fans, will host a nightly primetime program on Current TV and become the network’s "Chief News Officer." The Olbermann/Current TV agreement comes at a time when cable and digital media outlets are scrambling to position themselves before the 2012 presidential campaign.

The buzz was right! I, for one can’t wait to have him back.

From Alternet: Wide majorities of Americans across the political spectrum favor accelerating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, according to a new Gallup/USA Today poll.

Obama seems blind to the popular will on this issue.

From McClatchy DC: …the Obama administration on Monday proposed a $53 billion plan for high-speed rail, and Republicans who control the purse strings said not so fast.

This kind of infrastructure spending generates $4.30 for every dollar spent. By comparison, Republican tax cuts for the top 2% generate less than $0.50 for every dollar spent.

Cartoon:

Happy hump day!

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