Open Thread – Page 847 – Politics Plus

Open Thread–12/30/2011

Posted by TomCat at 10:55 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 302010

I slept poorly last night, so I’m a little down today, and my COPD is still flaring up. Nevertheless, I stayed up to date on comments today and have three good articles to post. If you’re going out partying tomorrow night, please do so safely.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:48 (average 5:35). To do it, click here. This one will dog you! How did you do?

Short Takes:

From CNN: For the first time in more than two years, the number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits fell below 400,000 last week — a ray of hope in the one of the longest job droughts in U.S. history.

The number of initial claims fell to 388,000 in the week ended Dec. 25, down 34,000 from the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday.

It may just be seasonal.

From Think Progress: Yet Franklin [a GA State Rep] may have outdone himself with his “Constitutional Tender Act,” which would require all transactions with the state of Georgia — including the payment of taxes — to be paid with U.S. minted gold or silver coins unless the state agrees to grant a special waiver for each transaction.

If this fool gets his way, kiss GA goodbye!

Cartoon:

What’s on your mind today?

Open Thread–12/29/2010

Posted by TomCat at 11:50 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 292010

I caught up with comments this morning. There were very few. News is still hard to come by, but I have a couple interesting items for you. My own year end chores have me busier than a psychiatrist with a ward full of Teabaggers.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:51 (average 4:58)(The Critter is drooling! Winking smile ). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: The Cuban Commission of Human Rights’ Elizardo Sanchez says the country’s Supreme Court has changed the sentence of a former Cuban exile convicted of murder, reducing his death sentence to 30 years in jail.

The court earlier this month commuted the death sentences for two other men to 30 years.

The decision removes the only person on death row in Cuba.

I’m pleased to see Cuba joining the civilized nations of the world. Now if only the US would follow suit.

From The Washington Independent: WorldNetDaily reports that the inclusion of GOProud, a gay Republican — or, in WND parlance, a “homosexual activist” — organization, in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has caused the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America to announce they will skip the next conference, which will be held in Washington in February.

I still thing that gay folks joining GOProud is like black folks joining the KKK.

From Truthdig: “The last American soldier will leave Iraq” after the pre-negotiated 2011 deadline, regardless of any rumblings among American officials, says Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

May it be so, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Cartoon:

Hump day is suspended until Congress reconvenes in one week.

Open Thread–12/28/2010

Posted by TomCat at 10:57 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 282010

The next few days will be busy ones for me, because I track so many things on my computer, from my budget to health logs that preparing for January one promises to consume several hours. In addition, my research is taking more time than usual, because items worth covering are few and far between, making them harder to find. Two out of todays three main items probably would not have made the cut during normal times. The final report for Lefty Bloggers Plus will be a couple days late. One of the NFL games was postponed until tonight and then I need to make the award graphics. But I am current on comment replies.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:39 (average 4:19) To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From News Hounds: Bill O’Reilly says that radical Muslims are the reason behind what he claims is a global "Muslim problem." It’s ironic, don’t ya think, that while Bill invokes images of jihadi mullahs and imams, his calls to action seem to be cut from the same playbook. His views, regarding social issues, also dovetail nicely with that of the Taliban and when Christian "mullah" O’Reilly talks, people listen. When he urged his fans to contact a cartoonist who published unflattering images of Bill, his followers sent e-mail death threats.

Isn’t it ironic how both the Christianity and Islam have pseudo-believers given to political extremism, and the the powerful, right-wing, super-rich both cultures fund and support the extremists?

From Washington Post: A human rights group said Tuesday the U.S. government has refused assistance to Polish prosecutors investigating whether the CIA maintained a secret prison in Poland.

For the Obama administration to impede investigations about Bush/Republican war crimes on their own soil is criminal in itself.

From Think Progress: Huckabee, who has a history of using his ubiquitous media presence to fundraise for political groups benefiting himself and his family, is again associating with a shady political venture. ThinkProgress has learned that Huckabee is working with a firm notorious for defrauding families facing foreclosure with false promises and predatory fees.

By his willing to support Bankster crime demonstrates his pseudo-Christianity. Supply-side Jesus (the Republican invention, not the real Jesus) would be so proud of him!

Cartoon:

This Tuesday, call your Representative or Senator to say what’s on your mind.

Open Thread–12/23/2011

Posted by TomCat at 11:12 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 272010

Today I caught up on replying to comments. When I can, I will post articles in the morning when I’m still fresh. I feel good about being back in full time blogging mode.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:07 (4:42 average). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

DenWeek16

Short Takes:

From The Independent: Scientists have established a link between the cold, snowy winters in Britain and melting sea ice in the Arctic and have warned that long periods of freezing weather are likely to become more frequent in years to come.

An analysis of the ice-free regions of the Arctic Ocean has found that the higher temperatures there caused by global warming, which have melted the sea ice in the summer months, have paradoxically increased the chances of colder winters in Britain and the rest of northern Europe.

But the Republican Party still tries to prove that this is a myth.

From McClatchy DC: Grand jury weighs evidence of conspiracy in Tiller murder.

This is way past due. Let’s start with Beck, Limbaugh, and the leadership of the Republican Party.

From AP/Google: Republican Joe Miller said he won’t stand in the way of Sen. Lisa Murkowski being certified the winner of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, but he vowed to not end his legal fight over the state’s handling of the vote count.

It will be interesting to see how she acts, since she no longer owes allegiance to the Republican Party.

Cartoon:

OGIM!

Open Thread–12/26/2010

Posted by TomCat at 8:22 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 262010

Today I’m quite tired after the effort of cooking a complete Christmas dinner yesterday without an adequate kitchen. Sadly, the lady I fed left her sanity at home, and I listened to several hours of delusion. I tried to talk her down, but it was like trying to reason with a Teabagger. It’s such a slow time for news that all I have is this Open Thread and our poll results. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:02 (average 6:01). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

May the Orb bless your team!

Open Thread–12/25/2010

Posted by TomCat at 8:52 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 252010

Today will be a very light day. On a personal front, a couple people came to last night’s CoDA meeting, so that made it worth having it on Christmas Eve. Today I’ll be making a big dinner and sharing it with a neighbor more disabled than I. About tomorrow, it’s a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:13 (average 4:43). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Did you get what you wanted?

Open Thread–12/24/2010

Posted by TomCat at 9:44 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 242010

It’s Christmas Eve, so if you do not get back tomorrow, a very Merry Christmas (inclusive of other related holidays) to you all. With Congress gone and most of the major pundits on vacation, it’s a slow time for news. Unless something major breaks, this article and the one above it will be it for today. There are no Short Takes. As for me, I slept poorly last night, so I’ll be trying to catch a Z or three before tonight’s CoDA meeting. I will post a Christmas article tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:14 (average 4:43). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

What’s on tomorrow’s menu?

Open Thread–12/23/2010

Posted by TomCat at 11:15 am Open Thread, Personal

Dec 232010

Today I replied to comments and did my research early, because my grocery order will be delivered within the next two hours. The less I have to do afterwards the better, because it always wipes me out. Tomorrow, I’ll want to rest as much as I can, because I co-chair the CoDA group tomorrow night.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:24 (average 5:18). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From CBS: A letter has been signed by every returning Democratic senator urging Majority Leader Harry Reid to push for filibuster reform in the New Congress.

Keep the heat on them!

From AP/Google: Congress failed to pass a bill before adjourning that would have barred most federal departments from punishing employees who report corruption, waste and mismanagement.

The whistle-blower protection bill cleared the House on Wednesday evening, but died in the Senate as time expired on the lame duck session.

That means that for the next two years, Congress will investigate and condemn left wing whistle blowers and ignore right-wing ones.

From Washington Post: The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission issued a draft order approving Comcast’s proposed merger with NBC Universal on Thursday, putting the deal up for vote before the agency’s other members.

Argh! Sad smile I hope the DOJ investigation and report does not concur.

Cartoon:

Are travelling for the Christmas holidays? Be safe!

Older Entries Newer Entries

PHP is a programming language used to build websites. We have it at all through our hosting partner, BlueHost. In order to update it, we have to go through Bluehost. During his life, TomCat was the only one who had access to our account there. I (JD) am now the only one. I have been to BlueHost and investigated updating our PHP to 8.3 or even to 8.1. I found instructions to do so - in fact, I found two conflicting sets of instructions. I went through one set of the steps and got the message that Our site could not handle 8.3, but that it had successfully updated to 8.1. I then went back here to see what it looked like. But I couldn't get in - either as an administrator or as a reader. It was just gone. I had to reach BlueHost by phone. It was determined that Politics Plus is in fact not compatible with any version of PHP newer than the one we have. BlueHost therefore uninstalled it for me, and the site came back to normal. Of course, like everyone else, I care about security. But I also am aware that TomCat elected to use different providers for several of the services that BlueHost provides, for instance backups. We are backed up daily - but not by BlueHost. However, out PHP is through Bluehost. I feel that if they are not worried about the older version, I am not going to worry about it. I believe that our security here is all or mostly through WordFence, whom I trust.