Still very down and coughing too severely to sleep.
Apr 262013
Apr 242013
I’m still down. The reason for the delay in seeing my doctor is that she is at a medical conference. I have learned the hard way on more than one occasion that whenever I see one of her colleagues, who are not trained in the quirks in the care and feeding of a TomCat, it’s a wasted trip that I have to repeat in a week anyway. Since the trip itself is so taxing, waiting is the best option. I’ll keep you posted.
Apr 232013
Yesterday I was a little worse. I called the doctor and have an appointment on Monday morning. Will keep you posted.
Apr 222013
Yesterday my fever shot up, and I am staying completely down today, except for the holiday message, which I had already prepared. Hugs to all.
Apr 212013
Sadly the spring pollen is still playing hell with my COPD, and I am spending the days coughing up very thick phlegm, which keeps me from sleeping.
Jog Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:42 (average 4:40). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: In a sweeping format change that marks the end of an era for the nation’s first cable news outlet, CNN announced today that it would no longer air breaking news and would instead re-run news stories of the past “that we know we got right.”
The rebranded network, to début nationwide on Monday, will be called “CNN Classic.”
“Breaking news is hard,” said the newly installed CNN chief, Jeff Zucker. “You have to talk to sources, make sure their stories check out O.K., and then get on the air and not say anything stupid. I, for one, am thrilled to be getting out of that horrible business.”
Perhaps, if they go back to the early 1990s, they can find a few things they got right.
From Right Wing Watch: On his radio broadcast today, Bryan Fischer renewed his call for a ban on immigration from majority Muslim nations, claiming that our immigration policy should simply consist of the question "do you believe that the Quran is the holy book of God"?
Authentic Muslims do not take those obscure references seriously, just as authentic Christians go not believe in executing people who shave, as the Bible demands.
Nevertheless, Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians always scream about their rights and their freedoms, but want to deny them to Muslims.
From Think Progress:
As police surrounded Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Friday night, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) mocked the deadly situation with a joke about global warming. Stockman, notorious for making tasteless jokes about LGBT issues, abortion and gun control, and President Obama, tweeted the following at 8:08 PM:
“Suspect thought he could escape in backyard boat after hearing Gore speak on global warming.” — Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX)
Sadly, this Republican fool thinks that both terrorism and destroying the planet are laughing matters.
Cartoon:
Apr 202013
I wish I had some good personal news, but yesterday my COPD was very severe.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:02 (average 4:50). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NBC: The arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ended the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers, but it set in motion an equally intense phase of the case that will begin with the grilling of the man who – for now at least – is the only surviving suspect.
An indication of the complex investigation ahead came Friday night, when an Obama administration official told NBC News that Tsarnaev would not be given a Miranda warning when he is physically able to be interrogated after receiving medical treatment.
Instead, the official said, the government will invoke a legal rule known as the "public safety exception," which will enable investigators to question Tsarnaev without first advising him of his right to remain silent and to be afforded legal counsel.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Republicans are screaming to try Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant, stripping him of virtually all rights afforded criminal suspects by the Constitution. Using the Public Safety Exception is also wrong. The worst domestic terrorist in US history, Timothy McVeigh, whom Republicans have celebrated by scheduling Open Carry events on an anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing, was read his Miranda Rights, as is the right thing to do. So should Tsarnaev. As for Republican military tribunals, considering their almost universal record of failure, as opposed to civilian courts’ universal record of success, when trying terrorism suspects, I’m glad DOJ is defying the Republican Party and going the civilian court route.
From Think Progress:
Three times in American history, the loser of the national popular vote became President of the United States — most recently when George W. Bush entered the White House with an assist from his fellow conservatives on the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, even in elections where the American people ultimately see their choice become president, candidates focus their efforts on just a handful of key swing states — Ohio, Florida, Colorado, etc. — while largely ignoring most of the country. If a plan passed by the Oregon House yesterday becomes sufficiently widespread, however, these practices will end and future presidents will be determined solely according to the will of the voters:
The legislation would require Oregon to cast its seven Electoral College ballots for the candidate who wins the national vote, rather than the one who gets the most votes in Oregon.
It would take effect only if a compact is enacted in states with a majority in the electoral college.
Nine states with 132 electoral votes have enacted it, about half of the 270 needed to win the presidency.
In addition to preventing incidents like the 2000 election, where the loser of the popular vote becomes the winner of the only vote that matters, this National Popular Vote plan would also prevent Republicans from enacting two plans they’ve proposed to rig the Electoral College.
This is the plan I’ve supported for years, because it makes all states and all voters equal. For more info visit National Popular Vote. Kudos to Oregon.
From Bill Moyers Journal: Biologist, mother and activist Sandra Steingraber joins Bill to talk about the need to build awareness about toxins that contaminate our air, water and food — and threaten our children’s health. With government captured by the very industries it’s supposed to regulate, Steingraber says she’s lost patience with politicians and corporations, and the time for direct action is now.
Steingraber also talks to Bill about her arrest for illegally blocking the driveway of a natural gas company as part of a protest against the controversial energy extraction process known as fracking. Steingraber went to jail on April 17, the day after this conversation was taped. She is currently serving a 15-day sentence.
What more can I say? These polluters need to shut the frack up and stop fracking!
Cartoon:
Apr 192013
I’m still down, but I need to apologize for inaccuracies in yesterday’s articles. The fact is, I was just feeling too crappy to apply my standard depth of research, so I misunderstood the SCOTUS Short Take that, thankfully, Nameless corrected. In the names of the Senate opponents of the fourth gun safety measure, I don’t know what happened. I copied and pasted that list of names directly from the Senate website. I have corrected the list here, and the list at the Senate’s site is now also corrected.
As I write I’m listening to MSNBC coverage in Boston. Since the suspect in a firefight with police, who is now in custody. employed bombs, I think it’s a safe bet that he’s one of the people responsible for the bombing. Update: The two people in the firefight were definitely the two bombing suspects. One is dead and the other is at large.
Finally, I have some good news. One of my guys, so far, was successful in his parole hearing and will be released in September. It’s Critter, who always sends greetings to Critter.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:15 (4;10 average). To do it click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: In the halls of the United States Senate, dozens of Senators congratulated themselves today for having what one of them called “the courage and grit to stand up to the overwhelming wishes of the American people.”
“We kept hearing, again and again, that ninety per cent of the American people wanted us to vote a certain way,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). “Well, at the end of the day, we decided that we weren’t going to cave in to that kind of special-interest group.”
“It was a gut check, for sure, but we had to draw a line in the sand,” agreed Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S. Carolina). “If we had voted the way the American people wanted us to, it would have sent the message that we’re here in Washington to be nothing more than their elected representatives.”…
The accuracy of this satire makes me want to puke.
From Huffington Post: Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) skewered senators on Wednesday in a fundraising email sent out seconds after the Senate voted down an amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases.
"Moments ago, the U.S. Senate decided to do the unthinkable about gun violence — nothing at all," read the email from anti-gun violence PAC Americans for Responsible Solutions, according to the Arizona Republic. "Over two years ago, when I was shot point-blank in the head, the U.S. Senate chose to do nothing. Four months ago, 20 first-graders lost their lives in a brutal attack on their school, and the U.S. Senate chose to do nothing. It’s clear to me that if members of the U.S. Senate refuse to change the laws to reduce gun violence, then we need to change the members of the U.S. Senate."…
I could not agree more. Republicans should be opposed outright. The Democrats, who voted NO, should be primaried against firearms safety proponents.
From NY Times:
The story so far: At the beginning of 2010, two Harvard economists, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, circulated a paper, “Growth in a Time of Debt,” that purported to identify a critical “threshold,” a tipping point, for government indebtedness. Once debt exceeds 90 percent of gross domestic product, they claimed, economic growth drops off sharply.
Ms. Reinhart and Mr. Rogoff had credibility thanks to a widely admired earlier book on the history of financial crises, and their timing was impeccable. The paper came out just after Greece went into crisis and played right into the desire of many officials to “pivot” from stimulus to austerity. As a result, the paper instantly became famous; it was, and is, surely the most influential economic analysis of recent years…
…Finally, Ms. Reinhart and Mr. Rogoff allowed researchers at the University of Massachusetts to look at their original spreadsheet — and the mystery of the irreproducible results was solved. First, they omitted some data; second, they used unusual and highly questionable statistical procedures; and finally, yes, they made an Excel coding error. Correct these oddities and errors, and you get what other researchers have found: some correlation between high debt and slow growth, with no indication of which is causing which, but no sign at all of that 90 percent “threshold.”…
Click through for the rest of this fine Krugman editorial. In short, the entire basis of Republicans’ insistence on austerity is the result of omitting inconvenient data, cooking the data that is included, and calculation error.
Cartoon:
Apr 182013
I’m still sick in bed, but today’s other article was just too important not to write..
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 5:07 (average 5:50). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: The Supreme Court’s conservatives dealt a major blow Wednesday to the ability of American federal courts to hold violators of international human rights accountable. The court declared that a 1789 law called the Alien Tort Statute does not allow foreigners to sue in American courts to seek redress “for violations of the law of nations occurring outside the United States.”
In the case at issue, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, Nigerian citizens alleged that, from 1992 to 1995, multinational oil companies working in Nigeria aided the military dictatorship that tortured and killed protesters who fought the environmental damage caused by the oil operations. These companies did business in the United States. But Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said that even where claims of atrocities “touch and concern the territory of the United States, they must do so with sufficient force” to overcome a presumption that the statute does not apply to actions outside this country.
That presumption radically revises and undermines the way the statute has been applied for a generation. It has been limited by the types of human rights abuses it covers — but not by where they take place. The effect is to greatly narrow the statute’s reach…
The vote was 5-4 with the activist fascist five, Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy goose-stepping for international criminal corporations against basic human rights.
From Think Progress: The Tucson, Arizona Police Department held a gun buyback on the anniversary of the 2011 Tucson mass shooting, with the intention of melting down the 200-plus firearms they received. But now the National Rifle Association, which vowed to put a stop to it, appears poised to get its wish. The Arizona Senate approved a measure 18-12 that prevents local municipalities from destroying the firearms, following the House’s action earlier this year.
State Sen. Rick Murphy (R) said gun buybacks “accomplish nothing other than make people feel good,” and the measure is about “protecting taxpayers.” [Reich Wingers delinked] NRA board member and lobbyist Todd Rathner made a similar claim in January that local government must sell seized or abandoned property according to state law…
What next? Will Arizona Republicans require that the weapons be sold to people who cannot pass background checks?
From Raw Story: Minnesota radio host Bob Davis last week said last Friday he would like to personally tell the families in Newtown, Connecticut whose children were murdered to “go to hell.”
On his show Davis & Emmer, which is broadcast by Twin Cities News Talk AM 1130, he attacked the families of those killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School for speaking in support of stricter gun laws.
I bet a buck that this asshole champions Batshit Bachmann! There is only one word to describe such vile lack of decency: Republican!
Cartoon:
Folk history seems to have forgotten the latter two.