Open Thread – Page 842 – Politics Plus

Open Thread–2/8/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:01 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 082011

After getting the articles up yesterday and doing a few chores I returned to bed and got no visiting in. Today, we’ll see. I am up to date on comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:33 (average 4:35). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Washington Post: …a publicist has sent out word that Keith is holding a news conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday to make an "exciting announcement" regarding the "next chapter in his remarkable career."

The buzz is that Keith id going to Current TV, but we’ll wait and see.

From Washington Independent: Minnesota Republicans have introduced legislation that would repeal the 1984 Local Government Pay Equity Act (LGPEA), which directs local governments to ensure that women are paid the same as men.

Ladies, it’s barefoot and pregnant for you, if Republicans have their way.

From NY Times: Two rights groups issued what they called a preliminary indictment against former President George W. Bush on torture charges in Geneva on Monday, vowing that he would face a case against him wherever he traveled outside the United States.

Bravo! Extradite, NOW!

Cartoon:

It’s a good day to talk to a friend about right wing insanity.

Open Thread–2/7/2011

Posted by TomCat at 9:15 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 072011

Yesterday I thoroughly enjoyed the Super Bowl and congratulate the Green Bay Packers for their well-deserved championship. Today begins the season of mourning in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, because the Orb has set and will shed no light until August. I grieve! I’m up to day on comments and will have to see what the day brings as there are things I have to do.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:47 (average 5:36). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Huffington Post: AOL Inc. [NYSE:AOL] announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire The Huffington Post, the influential and rapidly growing news, analysis, and lifestyle website founded in 2005, which now counts nearly 25 million unique monthly visitors.

For now, it appears that the change will not effect HuffPo’s political orientation, but I am concerned about the long term.

From Washington Post: Authorities say a Florida man is accused of stabbing another man in the neck after learning he was Muslim during a discussion about religion.

According to an arrest affidavit, the man who was stabbed told 52-year-old Bradley Kent Strott that he was Muslim while the two talked on Saturday. Investigators say Strott then grabbed the man by his shirt and stabbed him with a pocket knife.

Yet another victim of the hatred directed against Muslims by the Republican party.

Cartoon:

OGIM!

Open Thread–2/6/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:50 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 062011

Yesterday I didn’t get any visiting in, because I felt so bad, but I am up to date on comments. I’m feeing a little better. Today is the highest holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb: the Super Bowl. I shall be in rapt meditation. I decided to favor the Packers, because they are a community owned, non profit entity.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:45 (average 6:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Aljazeera: As the Egyptian government tries to get the country back to work, security has been tightened around Tahrir Square.

Banks and businesses are re-opening, but the pro-democracy protesters are still out there with their demand for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

I would not support an interim government under VP Omar Suleiman, GW Bush’s point man for torture, unless the protesters agree to it. Obama is backing the wrong guy. He’s Egypt’s Cheney.

From NY Times: A planned trip by former President George W. Bush to Switzerland this week has been canceled in the face of threatened large-scale protests and calls for an investigation into whether his administration committed human rights abuses in the fight against terrorism.

Texas Torquemada remains an international pariah. Our credibility would be greatly enhanced if Obama would unleash DOJ to obey the law and prosecute him, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Gonzales, Yoo and many more.

Cartoon:

Enjoy the game!

Open Thread–2/5/2011

Posted by TomCat at 9:19 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 052011

Yesterday I thought I was feeling better and I did some more visiting. Sadly, today I’m worse, but I am caught up with comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:01 (average 6:07). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NECN: Palin spoke at a banquet celebrating the centennial of former President Ronald Reagan’s birth. She said America is dangerously out of step with Reagan’s values and that the country is "on the road to ruin."

Palin said the moment of disconnect came with the passage of Obamacare.

Were the immaculate Saint Ronnie around today, the blood libel bitch would be the first to drum him out of the party as a liberal socialist Nazi.

From Alternet: Embattled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, whose regime has received billions in U.S. aid, has been in the global media spotlight of late. He’s long been “our bastard,” but he’s not alone.

Let’s take a look at the other dictators from around the planet who are fortunate enough to be on Uncle Sam’s good side.

This three page article is an excellent primer on whom the US should NOT be supporting!

From Think Progress: Now, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates inquiring about Manning’s condition, protesting the Army’s treatment of him, and requesting a visit with the imprisoned solider.

Dennis will never be my choice for the Presidency, but I sure support him here.

Cartoon:

What’s up in your world?

Open Thread–2/4/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:21 am Open Thread, Personal, Plus

Feb 042011

Yesterday I returned visits and hope to do so again today. This morning, I caught up on comments. I’m still feeling ill, but not quite so much as before.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:10 (average 4:33). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Now there finally are some numbers, and they show that the city [New Orleans] is 29 percent smaller than a decade ago.

The Republican response to Katrina was calculated to make New Orleans more conservative by making the population smaller, richer and whiter. Their scheme worked.

From The Age: YEMEN’S veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh has promised not to seek re-election in 2013, becoming the latest Arab dictator to offer concessions before protests spread out of control.

The Revolution is growing legs in areas where governments have allowed their populations to be economically exploited.

From BBC: The last five blocks of the IP Version 4 addresses have been handed over to the regional bodies that distribute them.

Those five blocks, called /8s and which contain 16 million addresses each, are expected to be completely depleted by September 2011.

The move to the new addressing scheme, IP version 6, is under way but could take years to complete.

Nevertheless, IPv4 addresses and IPv6 addresses should be working seamlessly on most networks this year.

Cartoon:

TGIF!

Open Thread–2/3/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:29 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 032011

Yesterday I actually got a bunch of visiting in and hope to do so again today, and I’m up to date with comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:25 (average 4:17). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From International Business Times: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it will develop a first-ever national standard for perchlorate, a naturally occurring and man-made chemical found in rocket propellant, fireworks, explosives and in some drinking water systems.

The agency’s decision to regulate perchlorate reverses a Bush-era decision that provided a guideline of 15 parts of perchlorate for every billion parts of water.

RepubliSpeak Dictionary – Guideline: do whatever you want.

From Alternet: President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies in the US Senate defeated a Republican push to repeal his landmark health care overhaul, likely leaving its fate in the hands of the courts.

Republicans goose stepped in unison. What’s amazing is that in this 47-51 victory, not one single Democrat voted for repeal. However John Warner (D-Va) and Joe LIEberman (Asshole-CT) did not vote.

From Common Dreams: Global food prices have hit a new record high, amid fears that the escalating cost of bread and meat is adding to the turmoil in the Middle East.

Great support for yesterday’s article.

Cartoon:

It’s a great day to expose a RepubliCrime.

Open Thread–2/2/2011

Posted by TomCat at 8:58 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 022011

Today I’m up to date on comments and hope to do a little visiting.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:21 (average 4:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From USA Today: The Republican effort to repeal the nation’s health care law moves to the U.S. Senate today, where a vote to overturn President Obama’s signature domestic achievement is likely to fail.

A day after a federal judge ruled the law unconstitutional, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced the House-passed bill on repeal as an amendment to a pending measure on aviation issues.

If Republicans are successful in attacking this amendment, it will serve as a poison pill, killing the FAA bill, and costing thousands of jobs.

From TPM: GOP Sens Admit: Goal Of Changing Health Care Law Is To Kill It.

Of course it is. Hundreds dying daily due to lack of health care is the Republican plan.

From Think Progress: This morning, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) — fresh from joining a ceremony for a newly built illegal Israeli settlement — called in to Fox & Friends and discussed the situation in Egypt. He complained about the Obama administration’s response to the protests, saying that it showed that the United States has “abandoned a 30-year ally” and said that there are concerns that the protests “could have cascading effects across the Middle East.”

And so it begins. Most Republicans have reacted responsibly on this issue, but I knew it wouldn’t last.

Cartoon:

Happy hump day!

Open Thread–2/1/2011

Posted by TomCat at 10:05 am Open Thread, Personal

Feb 012011

Yesterday’s errands did not go well, because my COPD continued to flare up. I managed to catch up on comments, do data collection for tomorrow’s Monthly Report, and find a full slate of items for today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:02 (average 5:03). Then I ate the bird! To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Raw Story: Former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will be honored with the "Defender of the Constitution Award" at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual event attended by numerous conservative activists, journalists, and politicians.

How obscene! He defended the Constitution like a fox defends the henhouse.

From NY Times: King Abdullah II of Jordan fired his government in a surprise move on Tuesday, in the face of a wave of demands of public accountability sweeping the Arab world and bringing throngs of demonstrators to the streets of Egypt.

If this spreads to Saudi Arabia, it could get most interesting!

From Huffington Post: The Senate ethics committee has appointed a special counsel to investigate Sen. John Ensign, the Nevada Republican whose problems arose from an affair with a former campaign aide.

This has far too long in coming.

Cartoon:

Today is laugh at a Teabagger day. A valid reason is sure to come within 30 seconds of exposure.

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