Personal – Page 703 – Politics Plus

Open Thread – 7/5/2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:16 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 052010

Yesterday I managed to keep up to date with replying to comments and returning visits in addition to visiting a few more blogs. I cooked a spicy stir-fry for the fourth and shared it with a less fortunate neighbor. I must have been quite tired, because I fell asleep (without my CPAP torture device) early and slept right through the fireworks show seven blocks away. Today I have some volunteer work catch-up to do, but should at least stay current.

Jig-Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:06. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Take: (It’s a slow day for news.)

From Think Progress: Transocean, the company that owns the failed Deepwater Horizon rig that caused the Gulf oil spill, used well-known tax havens in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland to lower its U.S. corporate tax rate by almost 15 points. And due to a break in the U.S. tax code, BP was also allowed to write off the rent it paid to Transocean on its own tax bill, saving it hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.

It’s not just the oil criminals. The amount we spend in corporate welfare swamps the so-callen entitlements. To even talk about cutting entitlements, before all socialism for the rich is eliminated is obscene.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

It’s not an OGIM Monday!

Open Thread – July 4, 2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:47 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 042010

Yesterday I spent the day catching up. I replied to all outstanding comments and returned blog visits. Today, I’m making a holiday dinner, but should at least stay up to date.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

This patriotic puzzle took me 3:40. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From Science Daily: The discovery in Gabon of more than 250 fossils in an excellent state of conservation has provided proof, for the first time, of the existence of multicellular organisms 2.1 billion years ago.

The devil must have put them there to tempt the followers of GOP Supply-side Jesus (not the real one). 😈

From Think Progress: This week on a local Iowa radio show, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said the Obama administration has not responded adequately to BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But according to King, it wasn’t because there was confusion and disarray within the administration. Rather, the problem is that President Obama has it out for Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal because Jindal is a Republican.

If anything, Louisiana has received a higher level of response than other states, all of whom have goose-stepping governors. Isn’t it interesting that King is accusing Obama of doing exactly what GW Bush, aka Neocon Nero, did when he fiddled while New Orleans drowned.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Have a bang up 4th!

Open Thread – 7/3/2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:25 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 032010

Yesterday I went to see my pulmonologists assistant. She told me that if I need sleeping pills, to get them from my regular doctor. Geez. She could have told me that on the phone instead of wasting half my day. Microsoft called again. It turns out that there’s nothing wrong with my computer after all. I had started getting the same script failure on two different websites at the same time. Since both had worked before, long term, I figured it was my system. The tech rep had a brainstorm and tried to perform the same functions on the same websites on his own computer. He got the same errors. ARGH! Go figure!! I did reply to comments, but had no time to return visits. I hope to catch up today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:23. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From Raw Story: In an interview with Fox News, Brewer said, "We cannot afford all this illegal immigration and everything that comes with it, everything from the crime and to the drugs and the kidnappings and the extortion and the beheadings."

Governor Brewer does not realize that her apparent lack of anything in her head stems from idiocy, not immigration.

From Bloomberg: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and then-New York Fed President Timothy Geithner told senators on April 3, 2008, that the tens of billions of dollars in “assets” the government agreed to purchase in the rescue of Bear Stearns Cos. were “investment-grade.” They didn’t share everything the Fed knew about the money.

The so-called assets included collateralized debt obligations and mortgage-backed bonds with names like HG-Coll Ltd. 2007-1A that were so distressed, more than $40 million already had been reduced to less than investment-grade by the time the central bankers testified. The government also became the owner of $16 billion of credit-default swaps, and taxpayers wound up guaranteeing high-yield, high-risk junk bonds.

Telling it like it is, Geithner and Bernanke lied. They defrauded the US Senate, and by extension, the American people. They need replacement.

From CBS: Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele suggested at a Connecticut fundraiser that Afghanistan is "a war of Obama’s choosing" despite the fact that it began years before the president took office.

Next, they’ll be claiming that Obama started the Civil War.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Have a great holiday weekend!

Open Thread – 7/2/2010

Posted by TomCat at 1:03 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 022010

Yesterday was a very frustrating day. Microsoft called and worked with me about an hour without success. He told me to contact Lenovo to get a replacement for my Windows 7 upgrade disk. He gave me the number Lenovo had given Microsoft for OEM support issues. I spent the next two hours burning cell phone minutes, being passed from person to person at Lenovo, calling six different telephone numbers in the process. None of those people had the slightest idea what they are talking about. Finally someone told me that Lenovo stopped providing upgrade disks in February and they have no more. Horsefeathers! I left a nasty email. I emailed Microsoft and told them I cannot get the disk. Within minutes, the tech rep called me, asked a few questions and set an appointment to call me again today. Microsoft is trying hard to help. Lenovo is trying hard not to help. I will not purchase another Lenovo product and advise that you buy elsewhere, lest you suffer a similar experience. Despite this, I did reply to all outstanding comments, but has no time left to return visits. Today I have a doctor appointment and another call coming from Microsoft, so we’ll have to see.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:35. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From TPM: Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) tonight announced she’s coming out in favor of the financial reform bill. She had been one of the two Democratic holdouts; Russ Feingold being the other.

This is good news as long as the final version does not contain the BS Brown cave-in.

From Think Progress: Having already declared health care reform a failure just three months after it passed, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) wants to alert the public that today is the day the Affordable Care Act begins to destroy America, one tanning salon at a time. Boehner blasted out a press release and tweet warning about a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning beds, which goes into affect today, to help fund the Affordable Care Act.

We need to amend the health care bill to include a 100% tax on any tanning bed used by Bad-Tan-Limpy.

From Alternet: From the early 1930’s until the modern story broke in 2004, the newspapers that covered waterboarding almost uniformly called the practice torture or implied it was torture: The New York Times characterized it thus in 81.5% (44 of 54) of articles on the subject and The Los Angeles Times did so in 96.3% of articles (26 of 27). By contrast, from 2002-2008, the studied newspapers almost never referred to waterboarding as torture. The New York Times called waterboarding torture or implied it was torture in just 2 of 143 articles (1.4%). The Los Angeles Times did so in 4.8% of articles (3 of 63). The Wall Street Journal characterized the practice as torture in just 1 of 63 articles (1.6%). USA Today never called waterboarding torture or implied it was torture.

This is the subtle way in which the MSM pushes their right wing agenda. As a former opinion research professional, I know that opinions expressed in a poll can be deceptively slanted through the use of manipulative language. That principle is even more true of opinions derived from sources of information.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

TGIF!!

Open Thread – 7/1/2010

Posted by TomCat at 3:03 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 012010

Yesterday I kept current with replying to comments and returning visits. The monthly report will be out tomorrow, after my stats update. I received some good news yesterday. I have been accepted to continue my volunteer work co-facilitating a therapy group for former prisoners with the new service provider that will be taking over the group I was helping. My attempt at a partial OS reinstall went south. My Windows 7 disk was an upgrade disk that I received as part of the computer sale. It turns out Microsoft had an unannounced security trap built in to prevent its use on multiple computers. The upgrade disk is a DVD-RW. Once it has been used to install Windows 7, the next time it’s put into a DVD drive, it formats itself. You don’t even want to know how pissed off I am! I hope to keep current today, but I have a call from Microsoft Support scheduled this morning, and I don’t know how long it will take. All that yelling could also effect my COPD. 😉

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:22. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From Think Progress: [Michelle Bachmann] ”Well, President Obama is trying to bind the United States into a global economy where all of our nations come together in a global economy. I don’t want the United States to be in a global economy where, where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe.”

Earth to Batshit Bimbo… Earth to Batshit Bimbo… Hello? Is anyone there? Doesn’t that goose-stepping fool realize that the US has been in a global economy for years?

From The Hill: The House and Senate should stay in session until they can pass an extension of unemployment insurance, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Wednesday.

Brown urged leaders to keep Congress in session and eat into the holiday weekend and next week’s recess, if necessary, to pass a long-delayed extension of benefits and tax cuts that’s stalled in the Senate.

Amen! Amen!! Amen!!!

Hat-Tip Daily Kos: Here’s a campaign ad from Pamela Gorman.

Behold the face of the GOP!

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

What’s on tap for July?

Open Thread – 6/30/2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:37 am Open Thread, Personal

Jun 302010

Yesterday I kept up to date on comments and returned visits. I have to be out part of today for errands, and I’m having a problem with Windows. I’ll need to do a partial reinstall of the OS, so today will depend on how well that goes.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:53. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: I saw this and I couldn’t believe it. But then I thought, well, Boehner’s only saying out loud what some Democrats seem to believe anyway: We can’t afford the war AND Social Security, so naturally, Social Security’s gotta get slashed.

As usual, Bad-Tan-Limpy has this bass ackwards. Lets slash the wars instead.

From E!: Carrie Prejean, whose grammatically mangled disapproval of gay marriage during the 2009 Miss USA pageant turned her into a conservative hero, is planning to give "opposite marriage" a go.

E! News confirmed that the fallen beauty queen plans to wed her NFL quarterback beau, Kyle Boller, this Friday in San Diego.

Soon enough, Carrie “Fingers” Prejean’s silicone enhanced exterior will fade, leaving only the ugliness on the inside. I offer my condolences to Kyle Boller.

From Salon: DailyKos’ Markos Moulitsas ended his site’s relationship with the polling outfit Research 2000 after Nate Silver’s most recent pollster ratings listed them as wholly unreliable. Then a group of "statistics wizards" approached Kos with evidence suggesting that Research 2000 had manipulated — or maybe just made up — some or all of their poll data.

Research 2000 was a reputable company, back when I was in the business, so I had no qualms about using the Kos’ data here. I apologize for any inaccuracies therein.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Happy Hump Day!

Open Thread – 6/29/2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:33 am Open Thread, Personal

Jun 292010

Yesterday I kept up with comments, but got no visiting done. However, I put a huge dent in that pile of paperwork. I Still have outside errands to run so we shall see what today brings.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 2:59. Shock, huh? To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From Washington Post: FBI agents arrested 10 people on charges that they spent years in the United States as spies for Russia, taking on fake identities and trying to ferret out intelligence about U.S. policy and secrets by making connections to think tanks and government officials.

This should prove interesting, because the investigation spanned two administrations and one regime.

From Boston Globe: A split Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a law school can legally deny recognition and funding to a Christian student group that will not let gays join, with one justice saying the First Amendment does not require a public university to validate or support the group’s “discriminatory practices.’’

Kennedy did not vote with the four activists for ones. The theocons have their panties in a bunch over this one. SCOTUS also made a big mess out of the gun control issue. Thank goodness their term is over for the year.

From Red State Update: The boys are upset, because Obama fired McChrystal.

He was fortunate to be allowed to resign from the service without a Court Martial.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

What;s up?

Open Thread – 6/28/2010

Posted by TomCat at 3:46 am Open Thread, Personal

Jun 282010

Yesterday I kept up with comments, returned outstanding visits, and visited a hefty chunk of our blogroll. I accomplished that by selectively blinding myself to the growing pile of paperwork on my desk. Today is up in the air. It depends on whether or not I go out to do errands and attack the pile.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:22. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From LA Times: Georgetown University law professor Martin D. Ginsburg, the husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died Sunday of cancer, the Supreme Court announced. He was 78.

It is sad indeed that someone to whom we owe so much for trying to defend the Construction from the predations of extreme ideologue activist justices has suffered such a devastating loss. I encourage you to remember her in prayer, or whatever alternative you deem appropriate.

From TPM: Sen. Byrd’s office has just sent out word that the senator was hospitalized late last week with what were thought to be exhaustion and dehydration. But further tests now show that he is "seriously ill" according to a just released press release. Bear in mind that Byrd is 92 years old and has been hospitalized on a number of occasions in recent years.

I hope and pray that the Senator will have a speedy recovery and retire.

From Think Progress: As significant amounts of oil from the BP disaster moved past Mississippi’s barrier islands this week, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) partied in Washington DC to raise money for Republicans.

I certainly will not criticize Haley “BP” Barbour for fundraising. After all, life must go on in spite of the GOP gusher. However, isn’t Barbour one of the GOP hypocrites who slammed Obama for doing the exact same thing?

Cartoon: from Cagle,com

OGIM!! 🙁

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