Open Thread–6/4/2014

 Posted by at 12:07 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 042014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow, when I shall be leaving for prison volunteer training.  I will return on Friday afternoon,  I’m taking my notebook, but I don’t know how much I shall be able to do, while there.  It will probably be little more than Personal Updates, if that.  Please keep the Republicans at bay, while I’m gone.  Day 44.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:52 (average 4:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Whenever I hear people condemn those who are financially less fortunate than themselves, I tend to tune them out (yes, sometimes I’m RUDE). A better idea would be to share the information from this infographic, because 1) it’s more tactful than what I usually do and 2) it might help some folks be a little more compassionate.

0604Poverty

The loss of IQ and mental illness factors help explain why some poor people vote Republican.

From Daily Kos: Fox News has fallen and it can’t get up. Ratings for the month of May 2014, have just been published, and the numbers are devastating for Fox News. While still occupying the top slot among the cable news networks, Fox saw about a quarter of its audience dissolve across every demographic group and time period.

Every Fox program in primetime dropped by double-digits, with Bill O’Reilly taking the deepest dive. Sean Hannity posted some of his lowest numbers ever in his new 10:00 pm time slot. And Megyn Kelly’s new, and highly anticipated, primetime show failed to improve on the ratings performance of her predecessor.

To be sure, Fox was not the only network to see declines. In fact, CNN had an even larger dip. The news was much better for MSNBC who was down the least of all the cable news networks. They lost a relatively insignificant five percent of total viewers, but actually saw increases for Morning Joe, and for Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow in primetime.

For Fox to post numbers that they haven’t seen since August of 2001 (before 9/11) is a painful blow to both their reputation and their bank account. But they have even bigger problems. The viewers that do tune in to Fox are significantly older than viewers of their competitors. Fox News has always had the oldest skewing audience in cable news. With a median age of 68.8 years, Fox’s audience is over six years older than either CNN or MSNBC. It’s even worse for their top rated program (O’Reilly) who’s average viewer is over 72 years old. And their Great Blonde Hope (Kelly), who was specifically brought in to draw younger viewers, also exceeded Fox’s average with her typical viewer voyeur being over 70.

You can sum up my response in two words. The first is "Wooo". Can you guess the second? 😉

From NY Times: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider challenges from Democratic lawmakers who say the Alabama Legislature packed minority voters into a few districts, diluting their voting power.

In another case from Alabama last year, the Supreme Court effectively struck down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which has required permission from the federal authorities before states may change their voting procedures.

This is one to watch. Considering the record of the Fascist Five Injustices of SCROTUS (Republican Constitutional VD), I’m not expecting an outcome that agrees with our Constitution.

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0604Cartoon

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Open Thread–6/3/2014

 Posted by at 12:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 032014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow and starting early to get the jump on a very busy day.  Tasks include a trip to the barber shop, putting the files I’ll need to take to Salem on a DVD, firing up the notebook computer long enough to make sure it’s fully charged and updated for my prison volunteer trip, and cleaning the kitchen area thoroughly, so as not to leave a mess behind.  Day 43.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:18 (average 6:18).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Reuters: The U.S. power sector must cut carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels, according to federal regulations unveiled on Monday that form the centerpiece of the Obama administration's climate change strategy.

The Environmental Protection Agency's proposal is one of the most significant environmental rules proposed by the United States, and could transform the power sector, which relies on coal for nearly 38 percent of electricity.

Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Monday that between 2020 and 2030, the U.S. amount of carbon dioxide the proposal would reduce under the plan would be more than double the carbon pollution from the entire power sector in 2012.

Imagine what could have been done with cooperation from Congress.

From Robert Reich: I spent several days in New York last week with students from around the country who were preparing to head into the heartland to help organize Walmart workers for better jobs and wages. (Full familial disclosure: My son Adam is one of the leaders.)

Almost exactly fifty years ago a similar group headed to Mississippi to register African-Americans to vote, in what came to be known as Freedom Summer.

Call this Freedom Summer II.

The current struggle of low-wage workers across America echoes the civil rights struggle of the 1960s.

Today, as then, a group of Americans is denied the dignity of decent wages and working conditions. Today, just as then, powerful forces are threatening and intimidating vulnerable people for exercising their legal rights. Today, just like fifty years ago, people who have been treated as voiceless and disposable are standing up and demanding change.

Like Robert Reich, The Reich on the left, not the Republican Reich on the right, I fully support Freedom Summer II.

From Huffington Post: Asked whether she would be running for president in 2016, Elizabeth Warren framed the coming debate as one of defining values at a critical moment. She stopped short of committing to or rejecting a White House bid, and her answer will likely further speculation about a Warren candidacy.

In an interview with The Huffington Post that will air in full on Monday evening, Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was asked about the promise in her book that she was "fiercely determined to do everything I can to help us once again be the America that creates opportunities for anyone who works hard and plays by the rules." She was also questioned about her warning that "we're running out of time."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not think Warren will run for the Democratic nomination, but if she does, she will have my full support.

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0603TCBarber

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Open Thread–6/2/2014

 Posted by at 12:29 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 022014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I’m still 3/4 bleary-eyed after last night, but I have too much work to do to take the day off.  Tomorrow I’m trying out a neighborhood barber to see if ugly can be fixed.  It’s about 1/4 mile away, so it may interfere with articles for Tuesday.  Day 42.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:35 (average 4:22).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: It is pretty good odds that a mass extinction is going on right now as you read this. This ticking time bomb proves that we are like insects, which live just a few days and will never experience changes in a season much less years. You and I will never know from experience the history of this planet. Much of that history is as abstract to us as the dimensions of the universe. Our planet is a complex, dynamic system that we probably will never fully comprehend. The Earth system, like the human body, comprises diverse components that interact in complex ways. The Earth’s atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere is a single connected system.

Extinction is a dire word for an extreme event. There has been five mass extinctions in our planets history due to either asteroid impacts, climate change caused by volcanism and the shifting of tectonic plates. The sixth mass extinction is being fueled by you and me. Mass extinctions are relatively short periods of history during which a significant quantity of species die off beyond the standard background extinction (normal process of a species dying out and is usually a natural occurrence).

If this happens, which Republicans seem bound to guarantee, I hope that intelligent life evolves. Earth needs some, for a change!

From Alternet: NRA’s Chris Cox: Why would we listen to doctors when it comes to the effects of firearms?

The NRA’s chief lobbyist penned some twaddle in the Daily Caller [propaganda delinked] just a few days before the Santa Barbara killings. He was disputing the validity of the pro-gun control group Doctors for America, who have had the nerve to endorse a ban on certain types of semi-automatic firearms and buyback of others. What do they know about firearms, he asked?

Right, what the hell would doctors who treat people with gunshot wounds know about guns and their effects?

The piece: “We Love Our Moms and Trust Our Doctors, But We Don’t Want Gun Control,” was basically a paranoid screed directed at two of the more vocal groups trying to fight the epidemic of gun violence in this country: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and, what Cox calls “the dubiously named Doctors for America.” Yeah, wow, that does sound dubious. People with medical training. These two groups, writes Cox, are just rebranding gimmicks for what he calls the “civilian disarmament advocates.”

Nobody gets to disarm civilians, Cox rants, while trying to sound like a reasonable man. Not moms, not doctors, nobody. Only more heavily armed civilians can do that.

We love you Mom, Cox assures. Hope you don’t get shot. If you do, the solution will be obvious. Not a doctor. More guns.

This is just one of eight outrageous Republican statements from last week alone. Click through for the other seven Republican idiots.

From Crooks and Liars: The RNC’s Reince Priebus wasn’t the only one on Fox News Sunday throwing every ounce of poop against the wall to attack former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton over their fake Benghazi "scandal." Faux "news" regular Liz Cheney took right up where Priebus left off with the name calling, and surprise, surprise, she now has a problem with politicians and officials lying to the American people over matters of national security.

Someone needs to tell her to take that up with her daddy Dick. Chris Wallace sure as hell wasn’t going to do it.

 

The Lizard of Lies sure takes after her daddy, doesn’t she?

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0602Cartoon

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Open Thread–6/1/2014

 Posted by at 12:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 012014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow, the beginning of a new and busy month.  I’m feeling quite tired and have pain in my back, leg and shoulder.  It took physical therapy to get all three going at once.  ARGH!  Day 41.

Late Update:

I missed an entire sleep cycle tonight.  I did not attend the Starlight Parade.  It attended me.  From my window: (Inside to outside at night gives horrid quality).

0601P2

0601P1

Parades tend to be a bit noisy.  I never knew that above a parade is much louder than at it.  The people got noisy with fireworks and air horns before 6:00 PM.  It started at 8:30.  It lasted until after 11:00.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:03 (average 4:19).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: After a report from the Yale Center on Climate Change Communication showed that the term “climate change” elicits relatively little concern from the American public, leading scientists are recommending replacing it with a new term: “You will be burnt to a crisp and die.”

Other terms under consideration by the scientists include “your cities will be ravaged by tsunamis and floods” and “earth will be a fiery hellhole incapable of supporting human life.”

Scientists were generally supportive of the suggestions, with many favoring the term “your future will involve rowing a boat down a river of rotting corpses.”

Has Andy understated what it will take for Republicans to give up their Koch-sucking denial?

From Daily Kos: On May 22, The Campaign for America’s Future gave a conference on The New Populist Majority. The keynote speaker was Elizabeth Warren. The conference confronted the meme that the US is a "center-right" country.

Most interesting to me was the fact that they obtained poll results from "the 1%."

0601OnePercent

If you didn’t think Republicans are waging class warfare, think again.

From Alternet: This week, Bill [Moyers] speaks to Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, who argues that we must reform the tax code and stop subsidizing tax dodgers. A recent report by Americans for Tax Fairness suggests that corporate taxes are near a 60-year low — and that’s partially because corporations have become adept at not paying their share.

Here’s a list of 10 tax-dodging corporations excerpted from the Americans for Tax Fairness report.

Bank of America runs its business through more than 300 offshore tax-haven subsidiaries. It reported $17.2 billion in accumulated offshore profits in 2012. It would owe $4.3 billion in U.S. taxes if these funds were brought back to the U.S.

Citigroup had $42.6 billion in foreign profits parked offshore in 2012 on which it paid no U.S. taxes. It reported that it would owe $11.5 billion if it brings these funds back to the U.S. A significant chunk is being held in tax-haven countries.

ExxonMobil had a three-year federal income tax rate of just 15 percent. This gave the company a tax subsidy worth $6.2 billion from 2010-2012. It had $43 billion in offshore profits at the end of 2012, on which it paid no U.S. taxes.

I just gave you the top three corporate criminals. Click through for the other seven.

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0601Cartoon

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Open Thread–5/31/2014

 Posted by at 12:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics
May 312014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow and am feeling quite tired out after the exertions of yesterday and today.  I arose at 3:00 AM and spent several hours completing my most hated chore, and I still have lots to do to prepare for my two-day prison volunteer trip next week.  I have had a couple cat naps since.  Day 40.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:49 (average 5:41).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: OR-Sen, -Gov: PPP’s first post-primary poll of Oregon finds both of the state’s top Democrats, Sen. Jeff Merkley and Gov. John Kitzhaber, with comfortable leads over their GOP opponents. Merkley currently beats physician Monica Wehby, whose public image has recently taken a hit thanks to stalking allegations, by a 50-36 margin. Wehby’s favorables stand at just 26-40, while Merkley sports a decent 41-34 job approval score.

Except for one impossible-to-believe survey from Republican pollster Vox Populi, Merkley’s always had double-digit leads, so PPP’s numbers seem plausible. However, as Tom Jensen notes, most of the undecideds don’t like Obama (even though this is a blue state), so the race will likely tighten.

Kitzhaber, meanwhile, holds a similar 49-35 advantage over state Rep. Dennis Richardson, even though Kitz earns just a 42-46 approval rating. Richardson is little-known, though, and again, things are likely to tighten up. But Oregon’s demographics simply make victory for Republicans, especially against incumbents, very difficult.

The undecided voters that don’t like Obama are mostly further left than he is, so there is no danger of them voting for a billionaire loving stalker like Wehby, as Merkley is one of the most progressive Senators in the US. The danger is that too many may stay home.

From NY Times: President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority asked Rami Hamdallah, the prime minister, on Thursday to form a “government of national consensus” that would unite warring Palestinian factions for the first time in seven years and could send Israeli-Palestinian relations into a tailspin.

The new government, made up of politically independent professionals, would formally ally Mr. Abbas’s Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by the mainstream Fatah faction, and its rival, Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, under the terms of a unity pact reached last month. Palestinian officials said the new government would most likely be announced in the next few days, with Palestinian elections to be held in about six months.

I see this as a good thing for the Palestinians, as Israel has been using a divide and conquer approach to achieve a one-state solution by attrition, in clear violation of the Helsinki Accords.   Without a united Palestine to negotiate for all Palestinians, there can be no hope for lasting peace in the middle east.

From Upworthy: Maya Angelou was a poet, novelist, and public figure who became an American treasure in her 86 years on earth. Her work has received accolades, and in particular, her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" — about her early life overcoming racism and trauma by turning to the written word — has become a literature classic. Listen to a popular poem of hers, one I distinctly remember reading in the newspaper as a child, below.

 

She is and will be very missed.

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0531TCLaundry

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Open Thread–5/30/2014

 Posted by at 12:09 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 302014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow.  Physical Therapy was grueling, especially on top of walking a mile and a half on the way to and from, including a side trip to the bank.  I think it will take at least a day to get over the pain.  This will be tomorrow’s only article.  We’ll have to see about Saturday, because, If I can, early tomorrow morning I’ll be taking on the most dreaded of all my chores.  Day 39.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:43 (average5:10).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: "Your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights"

Conservative sensitivity at its finest, courtesy of Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher [Republican delinked].  Speaking in a time of great tragedy, Wurzelbacher’s only response to a grieving father discussing his son’s right to live is that the be all and end all is the right of Americans to be armed to the teeth without any regulation.

There is a time, a place and a manner for such discussions.  He could easily wait several days.  He could just as easily frame his ideas in less crass terms.  He could choose to use words that will not rub salt in open wounds.  He decided not to engage in such behavior, which, unfortunately, is nothing new for him.

Joe is not a plumber. Joe is not even a Joe. He IS a Republican. Need I say more?

From The New Yorker: President Obama raised eyebrows with his West Point commencement address Wednesday by offering a defense of his controversial foreign-policy doctrine of not invading countries for no reason.

Conservative critics were taken aback by Obama’s speech, which was riddled with incendiary remarks about only using military force for a clearly identified and rational purpose.

Obama did not shy away from employing polarizing rhetoric, often using words such as “responsible” and “sensible” to underscore his message.

Harland Dorrinson, a fellow at the conservative think tank the Center for Global Intervention, said that he was “stunned” to see Obama “defend his failure to engage the United States in impulsive and random military adventures.”

LOL Andy!! In a word, spot-on!

From NY Times: President Obama will use his executive authority to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants by up to 20 percent, according to people familiar with his plans, and will force industry to pay for the pollution it creates through cap-and-trade programs across the country.

Mr. Obama will unveil his plans in a new regulation, written by the Environmental Protection Agency, at the White House on Monday. It would be the strongest action ever taken by an American president to tackle climate change and could become one of the defining elements of Mr. Obama’s legacy.

Kudos. I’d hate to be the one to have to wash the stains from the Koch Boys’ underwear over this one.

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0530TCTherapist

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Open Thread–5/29/2014

 Posted by at 12:31 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 292014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow.  First, I wish to express my sorrow over the death of Maya Angelou today, and wish condolences to all who loved her.  Tomorrow I have to go for physical therapy for arthritis in my spine and hips and for a blown out shoulder.  Because of that, please expect little or nothing on Friday, especially since I’ll be taking my walker onto regular public transit for the first time and walking over a mile.  Day 38.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:38 (average 4:28).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) drew audible gasps Thursday when he told gathering of Christian conservatives that Democrats intended to amend the Constitution to limit free speech.

“When you think it can’t get any worse, it does,” Cruz warned at the Watchmen on the Wall gathering of pastors sponsored by the Family Research Council.

“This year, I’m sorry to tell you, the United States Senate is going to be voting on a constitutional amendment to repeal the First Amendment,” Cruz said, to the audible shock of the crowd.

We still need to drive with the Cruz control engaged!

From NY Times: A teenage girl was inspired after dropping her cellphone to create concussion-reducing cushions for football helmets. A team of Girl Scout Brownies designed a bridge that could withstand flooding. And an adolescent boy in a suit and tie told President Obama about his pending patents.

They were just a few of the more than a hundred students demonstrating their inventions and research on Tuesday for what Mr. Obama said was one of his favorite events: the White House Science Fair, now in its fourth year.

Republicans will likely consider this cause for yet another Congressional investigation and scandal. They hate it when ‘libruls do skience’.

From Think Progress: If Florida’s voters evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, the state’s Republicans could still expect to hold 58 percent of the state’s congressional seats. Indeed, according to California Institute of Technology statistics professor Jonathan Katz, a leading expert on redistricting who testified in a trial challenging these maps as an illegal gerrymander, Florida’s maps are the most biased districts he has ever examined.

Although Florida has some of the most biased congressional districts in the country — in 2012, President Obama narrowly won the state but Republicans captured 17 of the state’s 27 congressional districts — the League of Women Voters and other plaintiffs challenging Florida’s maps face an uphill battle in their lawsuit. Under a state constitutional amendment enacted in 2010, “[n]o apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.” Thus, the plaintiffs in this lawsuit do not just have to prove that the maps are biased, they have to prove that they were drawn with the intent of favoring Republicans. As neither the plaintiffs nor their lawyers have ESP, that’s a difficult bar to clear.

In several of the states that Republicans have Gerrymandered to assist them in election theft, they have openly bragged about their intent to favor Republican candidates. What other reason could there possibly be for stacking the deck?

Cartoon:

0529Cartoon

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Open Thread–5/28/2014

 Posted by at 12:16 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion
May 282014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow on a busy day.  I prepared and gave my grocery order to Store to Door and spent several hours researching the WYSIWYG comment editor problem.  Finding a fix for that is like finding liberal Republicans in office,  Tomorrow is grocery delivery day.  Day 37.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:16 (average 4:49).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: As someone who is not American, I first heard about "purity balls" (eesh, that name) for the first time in 2014. It shocked me that fathers and daughters attend these dances to pledge her "purity" and virginity until she is married, giving her little choice or education on, you know, the importance of her own personal choices.

Then I saw this trailer for the documentary "Daddy I Do," which highlights the bigger issue: the serious lack of sexual education in America. Watch filmmaker Cassie Jaye explore the issue in the video below.

 

The video does an excellent job of exposing the devious way Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians are violating the establishment clause in the 1st Amendment and the way they seek to make women chattel: proferty first of the father and then of the husband.

From Daily Kos: NextGen Climate Action—the Super PAC founded by Tom Steyer, the former California hedge fund chief who seeks to counter the Koch brothers’ climate-change propaganda machine with money from his own fortune—produced this ad calling them out for a verbal duel.

 

LOL! Buk-buk-buk-buk-Koch-a-doodle-DO!!!

From Alternet: That Elliot Rodger, the now dead suspect in the UC Santa Barbara shootings, was deeply misogynistic has now been well reported. Less known is that the alleged mass murderer engaged in other kinds of hate-mongering, posting racist messages on PuaHate.com, the online forum primarily known for its fomenting of hatred for women.

According to Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch blog, Rodger ranted on the site against interracial dating, black, Asian and Indian men.

Six months before his deadly shooting spree, Rodger posted a message entitled: “Saw a black guy sitting with 4 white girls.” He proceeded to express his rage about the fact that white women would consort with men of color.

Click through for more GOP Hate. That explains his belief that violence in support of hate is justified. He listened to and followed the principles set forth by Republican politicians, pundits, and media.

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0528Cartoon

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