Open Thread–11/30/2011

 Posted by at 12:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 302011
 

Yesterday I spent most of the day in bed.  I guess all that hauling laundry up and down the stairs kicked my butt, because I’m pretty down today.  I’m current with replies.  Today I have errands to run.

Jig Zone:

Today it took me 3:08 (average 4:06).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

TomCat Teabag Trashers

Playing without a helmet

109.32

118.38

hugos renegades

Progressive Underdogs

120.42

94.64

ManOnDogSantorum

Texans Will Rise Again

97.68

60.82

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points

 

Rank

Team Name

W-L-T

Pct

Streak

Waiver

For

Against

1 (1)

Progressive Underdogs

9-3-0

.750

L1

6

1422.58

1283.92

2 (2)

ManOnDogSantorum

8-4-0

.667

W3

5

1327.02

1194.98

3 (3)

Playing without a helmet

7-5-0

.583

W3

4

1329.66

1199.14

4 (4)

TomCat Teabag Trashers

6-6-0

.500

L2

3

1381.02

1288.34

5 (5)

hugos renegades

6-6-0

.500

W1

2

1310.42

1250.08

6 (6)

Texans Will Rise Again

0-12-0

.000

L12

1

870.24

1424.48

Being in 4th p[lace with the second highest score is frustrating.

Short Takes:

From San Francisco Chronicle: Herman Cain told senior aides he is reassessing his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination following allegations yesterday that he had a 13-year extramarital affair with an Atlanta woman.

That didn’t last long.  It’s back to 999!

From Reuters: The top United Nations human rights forum is expected to condemn Syria for crimes against humanity at an emergency session on Friday, European and Arab diplomats said.

The move is also designed to put pressure on China and Russia to take a stronger stand against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, they said.

The US should support this, but China and Russia are sure to compare US support for Israel.

From Raw Story: A gun club in Scottsdale, Arizona is staging a unique fundraiser this year: taking photos of children posing with Santa Clause, and machine guns.

The idea is to use the images on Christmas cards, and the Scottsdale Gun Club says the whole family is invited to say cheese while holding high powered weapons of war.

Scottsdale is the Phoenix suburb, where upper crust Republicans live.  These people are insane!

Cartoon:

30Cartoon

Share

Open Thread–11/29/2011

 Posted by at 12:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 292011
 

Yesterday I was feeling pretty poorly and spent most of the day in bed, but I had a network glitch that took about two hours to restore, and I caught up my email backlog.  I’m also doing laundry as I write and post.  I hate laundry!! I’m current with replies.  Today I’ll be out doing errands,if I can.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 6:03 (average 7:10).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From AP/Google: Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for his office’s response to a disparaging Twitter post by a high school senior who was attending a school function at the state Capitol.

"My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize," Brownback said in a Monday statement emailed to The Associated Press. "Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."

Horse feathers! The lying ideologue saw the public outcry and is blaming his staff.  I do not believe they went after her in school without getting an OK from him.

From CBS: Citing the political challenges he faced because of congressional redistricting, prominent Democratic Rep. Barney Frank on Monday announced he will not seek re-election in 2012.

"I don’t want to be torn [between] a full-fledged campaign… and my obligation to my current constituents," Frank said from the Newton, Massachusetts City Hall.

His district is substantially changed.  Since he was planning to retire in 2014 anyway, I think he wants to avoid the hard campaigning it will take to familiarize his new constituents.  He broke ground as the first openly gay Representative in the US House.

From The Daily Beast: Americans can learn more about foreign policy from The Real Housewives of New Jersey than from Republican presidential hopefuls. At least the shrieks of the housewives speak to reality. The Republican wolves howl about a mostly bygone world of dire military threats, a world inhabited by global ghosts to be thwarted by waterboarding and wars. Most of them just don’t see that the old right-wing rhetorical bromides that once scared Americans and dominated campaigning won’t win future elections.

Republicans could only play the fear card so many times before Americans start to remember that they are the ones who let Osama get away and that 9/11 would not have happened without their total incompetence.

Cartoon:

29Cartoon

Share

Open Thread–11/28/2011

 Posted by at 12:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 282011
 

Yesterday I stayed mostly down and mediated on the Ellipsoid Orb.  I’m current with replies.  Either today or Wednesday I have to go out to run errands, depending on the weather and how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:03 (average 5:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

1127-Broncos16-Chargers13

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: Elizabeth Warren debunks health care myths.

 

This stuff we need to know. We need single-payer, outcome based health care.

From AP/Google: Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich landed the endorsement of New Hampshire’s largest newspaper on Sunday while rival Mitt Romney earned a dismissive wave, potentially resetting the race in the state with the first-in-the-nation primary.

A while back, I said Newter’s campaign was over, when his campaign staff flew the coop.  When I’m wrong, I say so.  I underestimated the desperation of the Republican base for a non-Romney, coupled with the self destruction of everyone else.

From Think Progress: The Arab League today approved financial sanctions on Syria after the Bashar al-Assad regime’s failure to end the violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists there. Nineteen of the organization’s 22 members voted to support the sanctions, which “include a travel ban on senior Syrian officials and a halt to commercial flights to the country.

Given Israel’s opposition to Assad, and their justifiable anger at Israel’s current government, I’m gratified that the Arab League is acing responsibly here.

Cartoon:

28Cartoon

Share

Open Thread–11/27/2011

 Posted by at 12:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 272011
 

Yesterday I spent most of the day resting and napping, because I’m still well short of 100%.  I’m current with replies.  Today is a holy day for the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  Sadly, the service between the Broncos and Chargers won’t be televised here.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:49 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: Robert Reich: The real public nuisance!

Amen! Occupy our Democracy!

From CNN: Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of Texas and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will forgo seeking an eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

That’s a sad thing for Texas, because Charlie has been a champion for voting rights.

From Common Dreams: Turkey sees no possibility of resuming full diplomatic relations with Israel unless Israel apologizes and pays damages for the deaths its commandos caused last year aboard a Turkish ship that was trying to run Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, Turkey’s foreign minister said Friday.

“Israel buried our friendship in the deep waters of the Mediterranean,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in response to a question on whether Turkish-Israeli relations would recover in the near future.

I commend our NATO ally for taking a stand that this country should be supporting.

Cartoon:

27Cartoon

Share

Open Thread–11/26/2011

 Posted by at 12:02 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 262011
 

Yesterday I rested for most of the day, attempting to heal up.  I celebrated Black Friday in the proper way and spent nothing.  I’m current on replies.  Today is another much needed rest day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:40 (average 4:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: Zero-Zero-Zero

The ultimate Republican tax plan.

From LA Times: Los Angeles police detectives hope to retrieve video surveillance evidence from a Porter Ranch Wal-Mart store by early Friday afternoon to begin trying to identify a woman who shot pepper spray at other shoppers to get a Black Friday competitive edge.

“We’re going to check the video surveillance and hope the cameras were pointed in the right direction,” said LAPD Sgt. R.J. Valle of the Devonshire station.

The woman apparently sought to purchase an Xbox video game console and used the spray to clear out other shoppers. About 20 customers, including children, were hurt in the Thursday night incident, which police officials called “shopping rage.” Shoppers complained of minor skin and eye irritation and sore throats.

This women must have been a Republican, given the level of her greed and given that only viewers of the Republican Ministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, think pepper spray is harmless.  In addition, most Democrats boycott Wal-Fart for their causing the outsourcing of US jobs, anti-labor tactics, and employee abuse.

From Raw Story: Denmark aims to have wind power supply half of the country’s electricity needs in 2020, under a new programme presented by Climate and Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard on Friday.

That’s an example we should follow.

Cartoon:

26Cartoon

Share

Open Thread–11/25/2011

 Posted by at 12:03 am  Open Thread, Personal
Nov 252011
 

Yesterday I enjoyed two big plates of food and fed a couple of the people in my building who have nothing.  Thanksgiving dinner always puts me to sleep, so I was sacrilegious to the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, missing most of two games.  Thanksgiving is a slow day for political news, but I did find material for one other article to accompany this one.  I’m current with replies.  Today will be a much needed lazy day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:58 (average 4:39).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Time: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords helped serve a Thanksgiving meal to service members and retirees at a military base in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz.

I’m happy to see her getting up and around.

From News Hounds: Even on Thanksgiving, Fox’s thoughts are not on solving our country’s problems and bringing us together as Americans but promoting its ideological agenda with divisiveness. Let’s be real. There’s no reason for blaring a headline saying, Let’s Give Thanks For The One Percent [Faux delinked], other than as an FU to the 99 Percent/Occupy movements.

I guess these Republicans are thankful for their greed and hate.

From Think Progress: I am thankful for climate scientists, who toil away for long hours away from their family, sometimes in the most inhospitable parts of the world, for not much money (sorry disinformers) — and do so thanklessly, indeed they do so in the face of anti-science cyber-bullying and hostility from sorry-ass disinformers — all in a desperate attempt to avert the gravest of human tragedies.  They are like the hero of Henrik Ibsen’s classic An Enemy of the People — which someone should definitely modernize into a climate science parable.

They certainly deserve our thanks.

Cartoon:

25Cartoon

Share

Thanksgiving: A Time to be Humble

 Posted by at 12:23 am  Holiday, Personal, Plus
Nov 242011
 

Thanksgiving2

Thanksgiving may be a uniquely American holiday, but it is not without controversy, because the mythology I learned as a child has little to do with the real history of the day and the genocide of Native American people that followed.  I have several Native American friends and respect both those who celebrate the day and those who do not.   I think at least we should explore the true history with humility and recognition of the contributions of Native American people and the terrible price they paid for their generosity, without which the US may have never existed.

24thanks…The decision to celebrate Thanksgiving divides even Native Americans. Nearly 10 years ago, Jacqueline Keeler wrote a widely circulated editorial about why she, a member of the Dineh Nation and Yankton Dakota Sioux, celebrates the holiday. For one, Keeler views herself as “a very select group of survivors.” The fact that Natives managed to survive mass murder, forced relocation, theft of land and other injustices “with our ability to share and to give intact” gives Keeler hope that healing is possible.

In her essay, Keeler makes it clear that she takes issue with how one-dimensionally Natives are portrayed in commercialized Thanksgiving celebrations. The Thanksgiving she recognizes is a revisionist one. She explains:

“These were not merely ‘friendly Indians.’ They had already experienced European slave traders raiding their villages for a hundred years or so, and they were wary—but it was their way to give freely to those who had nothing. Among many of our peoples, showing that you can give without holding back is the way to earn respect.”

Award-winning author Sherman Alexie, who is Spokane and Coeur d’alene, also celebrates Thanksgiving by recognizing the contributions the Wampanoag people made to the Pilgrims. Asked in a Sadie Magazine interview if he celebrates the holiday, Alexie humorously answered:

“We live up to the spirit of Thanksgiving cuz we invite all of our most desperately lonely white [friends] to come eat with us. We always end up with the recently broken up, the recently divorced, the brokenhearted. From the very beginning, Indians have been taking care of brokenhearted white people. …We just extend that tradition.”

If we’re to follow Keeler and Alexie’s lead, Thanksgiving should be celebrated by highlighting the contributions and sacrifices made by the Wampanoag. All too often Thanksgiving is celebrated from a Eurocentric point of view… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <About.com>

In addition, I think it important that treat Thanksgiving as a day to be humble and to recognize our duty to care for those who cannot care for themselves, as the Wampanoag people did.

My friends, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving and give thanks for each of you.

Share

Open Thread–11/24/2011

 Posted by at 12:22 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 242011
 

Yesterday I pushed myself a little too hard, so I’m only putting up one other article today.  I did get out to run my errands, and I did prepare tomorrow’s cheese mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli/cauliflower hollandaise, leaving only the turkey, dressing and gravy to make today.  I’m current with replies.  Today is not only Thanksgiving, but also a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, so while stuffing the bird and I, I shall be …umm… meditating.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:43 (average 4:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do? 

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: We are the 99%.

Isn’t it sad that we must often go to foreign media for honest coverage?

From Washington Post: The point man for carrying out President Barack Obama’s health care law will be stepping down after Republicans succeeded in blocking his confirmation by the Senate, the White House announced Wednesday.

Medicare chief Don Berwick, a Harvard professor widely respected for his ideas on how to improve the health care system, became the most prominent casualty of the political wars over a health care overhaul whose constitutionality will be now decided by the Supreme Court.

Praising Berwick for “outstanding work,” White House deputy press secretary Jamie Smith criticized Republicans for “putting political interests above the best interests of the American people.”

This is mire mindless obstruction.  Berwick is not a controversial ideologue.  Once, even Newt endorsed him.

From The Examiner: Nicholas E. Purpura and Donald R. Laster Jr, both of Monmouth County [NJ], yesterday filed a motion for recusal in their case, Purpura et al. v. Sebelius et al. (Docket No. 11-7275). They contend that Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor should not take part in any deliberation, either on whether to grant certiorari in their case, or in hearing oral argument, or in deciding their case or any motion thereon. The reason: both these Justices owe their jobs to Barack H. Obama, and both would lose their jobs should the Court uphold one of their fifteen counts against the massive health care reform bill.

Extending the logic (?) of these idiots, every Justice who was appointed by either a Republican or a Democrat should be forced to recuse.  Note that they have no problem about Teabag Thomas pocketing $thousands from his wife’s lobbying against the ACA.

Cartoon:

24Cartoon

Share
 Older Entries  Newer Entries