{"id":10386,"date":"2013-06-03T10:01:35","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T17:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=10386"},"modified":"2013-06-03T10:01:35","modified_gmt":"2013-06-03T17:01:35","slug":"open-thread632013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/open-thread632013\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–6\/3\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARGH!  The best laid plans of mice and men.  Before leaving to my doctor\u2019s appointment, I swapped in my last unused O2<\/sub> bottle to meet my needs during the trip.  It was empty, and with no oxygen  I cannot go.  I called and left a message.  I just hope I don\u2019t have to pay for a missed appointment.  ARGH!   That is why I have this for you today, albeit late.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s took me 4:33 (average 4:33).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>Since the American-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has become one of the world\u2019s top oil producers, and China is now its biggest customer. <\/p>\n

China already buys nearly half the oil that Iraq produces, nearly 1.5 million barrels a day, and is angling for an even bigger share, bidding for a stake now owned by Exxon Mobil in one of Iraq\u2019s largest oil fields. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese are the biggest beneficiary of this post-Saddam oil boom in Iraq,\u201d said Denise Natali, a Middle East expert at the National Defense University in Washington. \u201cThey need energy, and they want to get into the market.\u201d <\/p>\n

Instead of the issue of 4 US deaths in Benghazi, shouldn’t we be still be asking about 4,000+ US deaths in Iraq. It is ultimate failure that $1 Trillion+ and all those irreplaceable lives spent on Bush’s Republican War for Oil and Conquest has brought Oil for China and a new client state for Iraq.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Alternet<\/a>: <\/font><\/p>\n

In football terms, "piling on" means jumping on a player when he’s down. In the economic new normal<\/a> described by Bernie Sanders, it means taking most of the wealth and all of the income, moving profits and jobs overseas, and making impoverished people pay the bills. <\/p>\n

1. Taking ALL the Income<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles Koch said, "I want my fair share — and that’s all of it." He’s been getting his wish lately. In the first two years of the recovery, the richest 1% seemingly impossibly captured  121%<\/a> of the income gains, while incomes for 99% of Americans declined, with the median household income  dropping<\/a> by 7.3 percent. <\/p>\n

More and more people are working in respectable but  low-wage<\/a> positions in food service and retail.  Low-income jobs<\/a> ($7.69 to $13.83 per hour) made up one-fifth of the jobs lost to the recession, but accounted for three-fifths of the jobs regained during the recovery. <\/p>\n

I urge you to click through to see three more ways in which the 1%, aided by their Republican lackeys, are screwing the rest of us.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Crooks & Liars<\/a>: <\/font>Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Sunday said that Washington should stay out of the business of ensuring equal pay because "what women want" is just to be "recognized."<\/p>\n

During a panel discussion on NBC about a recent Pew report<\/a> that found women had become primary source of income in 40 percent of U.S. households, Blackburn said that it was "up to companies to make sure there is a level playing field and that women are not shortchanged as they try to get on that latter to success."<\/p>\n

 <\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

It’s up to companies to ensure equal pay for equal work, just like it’s up to foxes to ensure safety for the residents of hen houses. She says that recognition is more important for women that equal pay. TEAbuggery!! Companies recognize the value of workers through pay and benefits, because the only language spoken in corporate America is $$$.<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

\"3Cartoon\"<\/p>\n

Republicans are already trying to ban what they consider degenerate art.  Notice any similarities with how Republicans portray Obama?<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ARGH!  The best laid plans of mice and men.  Before leaving to my doctor\u2019s appointment, I swapped in my last unused O2 bottle to meet my needs during the trip.  It was empty, and with no oxygen  I cannot go.  I called and left a message.  I just hope I don\u2019t have to pay for […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-thread","category-personal","category-politics","category-35-id","category-3-id","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}