Open Thread–11/17/2012

 Posted by at 9:37 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 172012
 

We have made it to another weekend, and I hope that you are enjoying yours.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My Broncos are meditating with the Chargers is the afternoon, so I shall strive to finish in the morning.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:28 (average 4:29).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: This 83 Seconds Is To Remind President Obama What We Just Voted For

 

Tell your Senators and Reps why they are in office, too!

From PR Watch: Wisconsin’s effort to open the state to predatory lenders using American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) legislation has paid dividends for the ALEC legislators behind it.

In May of 2011, Rep. Robin Vos, the ALEC State Chair in Wisconsin and head of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, rolled a provision into the 2011-2012 budget bill resembling ALEC model legislation and that legalized auto title loans. Democrats voted against the provision, but it ultimately passed the Republican-led Finance Committee and state legislature.

Officials with Georgia-based title loan company LoanMax then gave over $24,000 in campaign contributions to Republican Assembly candidates, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Dan Bice reported this week.

I have no doubt that Scott Walker, Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan, heartily approved.

From TPM: Several prominent election lawyers on a panel here Friday predicted that the Supreme Court would ultimately strike down a part of the Voting Rights Act that requires states with a history of racial discrimination to have their election laws precleared [sic] by federal authorities.

If correct, and I think they are, the reason will be that the fascist five are working hard to help Republicans steal elections, by disenfranchising legitimate voters.

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Open Thread–11/16/2012

 Posted by at 9:32 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 162012
 

For once everything here seems to be moving along smoothly.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:49 (average 4:48).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Why Gay Men Are Doing You A Favor By Being Attracted To Each Other, And Not Your Girlfriend

 

Dang! This could lead to Bubba Teabuggering Bubba, ’cause the gays have all the gals! Yuck! 😉

From Dogwood Initiative: Later, the Tory lobbyist elaborated on Harper’s vote counting approach, saying that since he became Prime Minister in 2006 Harper has orchestrated “staged conflicts” to advance his agenda. From Harper’s perspective, the lobbyist explained, he has won all these “staged conflicts.”

In a follow up discussion a Tory insider elaborated on the Conservative’s disregard for mainstream media, emphasizing they put much more energy into unfiltered communications streams, particularly segmented individual, e-mail and phone conversations to their base driven by a state-of-the-art constituency database. Harper and the Tories also prioritize local media, which publishes their narrative without fact checking or cynical analysis by pundits.

It sounds that the NDP needs to take lessons form the Obama campaign, because the Tories seem to have taken lessons from Republicans.

From NY Times: Now, life expectancy at age 65 has risen, too. But the rise has been very uneven since the 1970s, with only the relatively affluent and well-educated seeing large gains. Bear in mind, too, that the full retirement age has already gone up to 66 and is scheduled to rise to 67 under current law.

This means that any further rise in the retirement age would be a harsh blow to Americans in the bottom half of the income distribution, who aren’t living much longer, and who, in many cases, have jobs requiring physical effort that’s difficult even for healthy seniors. And these are precisely the people who depend most on Social Security.

So any rise in the Social Security retirement age would, as I said, be cruel, hurting the most vulnerable Americans. And this cruelty would be gratuitous: While the United States does have a long-run budget problem, Social Security is not a major factor in that problem.

I took this piece out of the middle of an excellent Paul Krugman editorial, so for your own benefit, please click through. Republicans like raising the retirement cage for Social Security, because it would insure that the rich get an even greater portion of the benefits. Instead raise the pay cap.

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Open Thread–11/15/2012

 Posted by at 9:37 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 152012
 

Yesterday I slept most of the day and night to recover from my volunteer day, so I had to spend some extra research time this morning to catch up.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:26 (5:26 average).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Ronald Reagan: ‘Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit.’

 

If Saint Ronnie Ray Gun says so, Republicans obviously know this. Then why all the lies?  They want to give the Social Security Trust Fund to vulture capitalists.

From NY Times: Surprising no one, Senator-elect Angus King, independent of Maine, announced Wednesday that he would caucus with the Senate Democrats, but insisted that he would maintain his political independence.

“By associating myself with one side, I am not in automatic opposition to the other,” the former Maine governor told reporters, saying that “in some small way” he would be a “bridge between the parties.”

That makes the final Senate tally 55-45. In order to get anything done, we need filibuster reform.

From The Tucson Citizen: In the same week that Steven Spielberg’s biopic movie "Lincoln" premiered in theaters, reminding us all how Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union, the so-called Tea Party "Patriots" (sic) are petitioning the White House to secede from the United Sates, an act of sedition and insurrection, because their candidate did not win the presidency.

Nothing demonstrates Reoublican patriotism of InsaniTEA better. What hypocrites!

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Open Thread–11/14/2012

 Posted by at 6:42 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 142012
 

Yesterday’s trip to the prison was quite tiring, and the CoDA Group was smaller than normal, because some of the guys were manning a table on the control room floor, trying to raise money from other prisoners to aid Sandy victims.  I was obviously most proud of them.  In our group we discussed how to manage anger.  Critter greets Critter.  I’m pooped, and this is today’s only article.  I’m current, albeit briefly, with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Todays took me 4:59 (average 4:55).  To do it, click here. How much better than I did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: The Hilarious Wanda Sykes Graphic That Is Lighting Up Facebook

13Wanda

She sure has that right!

From NY Times: In a decision that ignored a 41-year-old precedent and American obligations under international law, a United States appeals court has ruled that American civilians who are tortured by the American military cannot recover damages from the people responsible.

The 8-to-3 ruling by the full United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned an important ruling last year by a three-judge panel of the same court, which held that two Americans who say they were tortured by American military forces in Iraq could sue former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for violating their constitutional rights. That ruling relied on a landmark 1971 ruling by the Supreme Court known as Bivens, under which government officials could be held accountable for the intentional mistreatment of American citizens, even if that conduct happened in a war zone.

Not to hold Rumsfeld (and Bush and Cheney) civilly liable is just as criminal as the failure to prosecute them for war crimes. I suspect the fascist five will ignore the Constitution and uphold this ruling.

From The New Yorker: In response to a high volume of panicked phone calls from the general public, the C.I.A. has published a new informational brochure entitled “How to Tell if You’re Involved in the Petraeus Scandal.”

The C.I.A. rushed to produce the brochure after it became clear that as many as one in three Americans may have some involvement in the Petraeus affair.

Officially and on the record. I have not had an affair with either Petraeus or Allen. I promise!

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What is Agent Orange thinking now?

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Open Thread–11/13/2012

 Posted by at 8:14 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 132012
 

I’m rushing this morning to try to get everything done before leaving for volunteer work in prison.  I;m current with replies, albeit very briefly.  Tomorrow it is probable that I will have only an Open Thread, because I will be overtired after today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:05 (average 5:12).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the latest from our fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

Scores:

TomCat Teabag Trashers

Texans Will Rise Again

110.54

98.78

Progressive Underdogs

MittsMagicJock

101.66

150.54

Playing without a helmet

hugos renegades

78.70

109.12

Standings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points

 

Rank

Team Name

W-L-T

Pct

Streak

Waiver

For

Against

1 (1)

TomCat Teabag Trashers

9-1-0

.900

W7

6

1169.36

1011.32

2 (2)

hugos renegades

7-3-0

.700

W2

5

1150.70

976.82

3 (3)

MittsMagicJock

4-6-0

.400

W1

4

1017.28

1021.00

4 (4)

Playing without a helmet

4-6-0

.400

L4

3

977.72

1063.20

5 (5)

Texans Will Rise Again

3-7-0

.300

L2

2

944.30

1152.08

6 (6)

Progressive Underdogs

3-7-0

.300

L1

1

999.22

1034.16

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: COLBERT: ‘A _ _ Off A Raccoon That Drowned In Your Birdbath’ Is Preferable To Papa Johns

I would happily pay 11 to 14 cents more for a pizza, or a burger, or a sub to cover fast food workers. Otherwise, we’re paying for their care in emergency rooms, so corporate criminals can pocket a few pennies.

From NY Times: Having helped President Obama win re-election, labor leaders will meet with him on Tuesday and intend to offer their robust support for what they view as his mandate: stand tough against cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and keep pushing to raise taxes on the wealthy.

Organized labor’s emphasis on broader policy, rather than union-specific legislation, is somewhat of a change from 2008, when leaders pushed for bills that would make it easier to organize workplaces.

I think this is a wise move on labor’s part. The more engaged they are in policy that benefits all workers, the more incentive they create to pass legislation that facilitates unionization, which I fully support. If only there were a Disabled Old Farts Union!

From Huffington Post (Hat-tip Lisa G): Conservative commentator and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said Sunday the Republican Party should accept new ideas, including the much-criticized suggestion by Democrats that taxes be allowed to go up on the wealthy.

"It won’t kill the country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires," he said on "Fox News Sunday." "It really won’t, I don’t think. I don’t really understand why Republicans don’t take Obama’s offer."

Kristol is spot-on, but I bet the base is furious at him.

Cartoon:

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Once upon a time the Constitution guided SCOTUS.

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Open Thread–11/12/2012

 Posted by at 10:26 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 122012
 

I’m running late, because I overslept again.  I’m current with replies.  I hope to get something up tomorrow, before leaving for my volunteer day in prison.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:24 (average 4:41).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

1111-Broncos36-Panthers14

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: 7 Facts About Our Veterans That Will Shock The Hell Out Of You

12HomelessVeterans

They deserve so much better. If you have Republican legislators, tell them to stop blocking increases in Veterans’ benefits.

From NY Times: And then there’s the matter of the “fiscal cliff.”

Contrary to the way it’s often portrayed, the looming prospect of spending cuts and tax increases isn’t a fiscal crisis. It is, instead, a political crisis brought on by the G.O.P.’s attempt to take the economy hostage. And just to be clear, the danger for next year is not that the deficit will be too large but that it will be too small, and hence plunge America back into recession.

Krugman is spot-on as always.

From National Monitor: America has elected its first black president for an historic first second time,” said comedian Stephen Colbert on election night. While this was cause for celebration for many Americans, for some Americans it was a chance to prove that this country still struggles with racism. In response to numerous anti-Obama rants, geographers at Floating Sheep created a map of which states sent the most racist post-election tweets.

Needless to say deep red states sleazed worse than the rest.

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Open Thread–11/11/2012

 Posted by at 7:31 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 112012
 

I/m trying to get done early today for the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I’ll be doing preparation for Tuesday’s volunteer work in prison, but plan to blog normally before doing so.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:01 (average 3:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: National Petition To The President And Congress: Invest In Jobs, Not Cuts

The 2012 elections are over, and the American people have spoken. We voted for strengthening the middle class and putting people back to work—not for job-killing budget cuts and attacks on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Voters rejected cutting Social Security, health care and education to pay for tax breaks for the rich. “We’re all in this together” defeated “You’re on your own.”

As you face urgent budget decisions over the next two months, you must keep the election results in mind and resist budget cuts that slow our economy and hurt families. The best way to reduce the deficit is to put people back to work and get our economy going again. That’s why we are calling on national leaders from both parties to stand up for the middle class and demand that any budget agreement:

Asks all Americans to pay their fair share of taxes. The Bush tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year must not be extended. We need to grow the economy from the middle out, not the top down.

Please click through, read the rest, and sign.

From LA Times: But for conservatives who identify with the tea party, one emotion seemed to dominate all others: a white-hot anger at the Republican establishment. Tea party supporters are angry at the GOP for embracing as its presidential nominee a "moderate" like Romney. For undermining "true conservative" candidates. And for "choosing to ignore" the conservative agenda.

Geez! They just never learn. Thou shalt not commit Teabuggery!

From NY Times: On a conference call with House Republicans a day after the party’s electoral battering last week, Speaker John A. Boehner dished out some bitter medicine, and for the first time in the 112th Congress, most members took their dose.

Their party lost, badly, Mr. Boehner said, and while Republicans would still control the House and would continue to staunchly oppose tax rate increases as Congress grapples with the impending fiscal battle, they had to avoid the nasty showdowns that marked so much of the last two years.

On one shoulder sits Agent Orange. On the other sits the rabid, bloodthirsty Republican base. Who do you thing the goose-steppers will listen to?

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Open Thread–11/10/2012

 Posted by at 10:50 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 102012
 

Despite sleeping lots yesterday, I still managed to oversleep this morning, so I’m running behind.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  Sadly the morning meditation between my Broncos and the Panthers will not be televised here. 🙁

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:46).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Is There Anything More Beautiful Than This?

 

Awe is an understatement.

From NY Times: There may have been a backlash against voter suppression laws, bringing more minorities to the polls, not fewer. The share of Hispanic voters rose in many states won by Obama. That can be attributed both to the surging Hispanic population in the country and to the Obama campaign’s incredible get-out-the-vote operation. It is less clear why the black vote held steady or grew in many of those states. In Ohio, for example, blacks jumped from being 11 percent of the voters in 2008 to 15 percent this year. Threaten to steal something, and its owner’s grip grows tighter.

This article is a treasure trove of interesting election facts. Click through.

From nj.com: If anyone in Washington could have weathered a sex scandal, Gen. David Petraeus would seem like that person.

Yet the retired general who inspired admiration bordering on reverence from so many in the capital was abruptly out Friday as Central Intelligence Agency director, just one day after President Barack Obama learned of Petraeus’s extramarital relationship.

Intelligence community insiders say Petraeus was felled by an increasing sensitivity in the Obama administration to extramarital dalliances, stemming from recent cases in which officials at various levels have seen their careers scuttled for similar personal misconduct.

Marital infidelity could be Petraeus’ first step to qualify as a Republican candidate for President in 2016.

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