{"id":35498,"date":"2019-01-30T10:53:22","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T18:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=35498"},"modified":"2019-01-30T10:53:22","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T18:53:22","slug":"open-thread-1-30-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/30\/open-thread-1-30-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread &#8211; 1\/30\/2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">It&#8217;s a very busy day here in the CatBox.&#160; Store to Door will be delivering groceries, and I have to unpack and put them away.&#160; Later WWWendy comes fumigate the mangy TomCat and help with chores.&#160; Last night, at 2 AM, a fire alarm blasted me from a sound sleep.&#160; The fire department came and found no fire, but by that time I was up, dressed, ready to be evacuated, and wide awake.&#160; I could not get back to sleep.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">Today&#8217;s took me 5:46 (average 8:18).&#160; To do it, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jigzone.com\/puzzles\/2019-01-30-CE2504A965A9\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.&#160; How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DJ7C5xx5qbU\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SenatorJeffMerkley\/videos\" target=\"_blank\">Jeff Merkley Channel<\/a>): <\/font><font color=\"#000000\">Senator Jeff Merkley on CNN New Day<\/font><\/p>\n<p>&#160;<iframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/DJ7C5xx5qbU\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"640\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">I fully agree with my senator, Jeff Merkley. Oregon leads the way! <strong>RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/science\/environment\/extreme-cold-gripping-midwest-does-not-debunk-global-warming-experts-n964366\" target=\"_blank\">NBC News<\/a>: <\/font>The massive cold weather front descending over the Midwest this week has commentators straining for analogies (\u201cDeep Freeze,\u201d \u201cArctic Outbreak\u201d and \u201cIce Age\u201d) and at least some people wondering what has become of global warming.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump and radio provocateur Rush Limbaugh seemed bemused by the notion that the climate is warming at a time when most of America will be hunkering down against sub-freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>But climate authorities, including those inside Trump\u2019s government, said the record-setting cold does nothing to contradict the consensus on climate change. According to a tweet Tuesday morning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: \u201cWinter storms don&#8217;t prove that global warming isn&#8217;t happening.\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2026The discussion of climate and weather, and how much one influences the other, has become politically charged at a time when some political conservatives have rejected the scientific consensus about climate change: that greenhouse gases have warmed Earth\u2019s atmosphere and helped fuel heat waves, extreme storms, droughts and extreme wildfires.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s blast of cold air has been linked to a familiar phenomenon \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/weather.com\/forecast\/national\/news\/2019-01-28-polar-vortex-midwest-arctic-air-coldest-two-decades\" target=\"_blank\">the polar vortex<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">If you don&#8217;t understand the connection between polar vortices and global warming, watch this excellent movie: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0319262\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Day After Tomorrow<\/a>. <strong>RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2019\/01\/greed-has-no-limit-for-gop-mcconnell-estate-tax-repeal-would-hand-tens-of-billions-to-walton-and-koch-families\/\" target=\"_blank\">Alternet<\/a>: <\/font>Just over a year after the GOP rammed through its $1.5 trillion tax plan\u2014which has predictably <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2018\/12\/19\/tax-scam-turns-one-critics-say-law-one-biggest-transfers-wealth-richest-1-us-history\" target=\"_blank\">rewarded the ultra-rich<\/a> while doing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2019\/01\/28\/year-after-one-greatest-heists-us-history-survey-confirms-corporate-tax-cuts-didnt\" target=\"_blank\">virtually nothing for workers\u2014<\/a>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his Republican colleagues were condemned for pushing yet another \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PatrioticMills\/status\/1090273215799353344\" target=\"_blank\">blatant giveaway to their wealthy donors<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/us-policy\/2019\/01\/28\/top-gop-senators-propose-repealing-estate-tax-which-is-expected-be-paid-by-fewer-than-americans-year\/\" target=\"_blank\">introducing a bill<\/a> on Monday that would permanently repeal the estate tax.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt a time of record inequality, the very last thing we should do is line the pockets of the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreed has no limit for the GOP,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/clemente_frank\/status\/1090034327650484224\" target=\"_blank\">declared<\/a> Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness. \u201cWe need to reverse direction\u2014not allow the GOP to hand the rich even more tax cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deeply unpopular Republican tax law already significantly weakened the estate tax by doubling the exemption, allowing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbpp.org\/research\/federal-tax\/2017-tax-law-weakens-estate-tax-benefiting-wealthiest-and-expanding-avoidance\" target=\"_blank\">couples with up to $22 million<\/a> to pass on their fortunes tax-free.<\/p>\n<p>If it passes Congress, the plan introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Thune (R-S.D.), and McConnell\u2014and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thune.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/press-releases?ID=1A7AA395-2D0D-46C7-B33A-983B72211368\" target=\"_blank\">co-sponsored by dozens<\/a> of Senate Republicans\u2014would accomplish the longstanding GOP goal of completely eliminating the estate tax.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnding the estate tax would give a tax break of up to $63 billion to the Walton family and $39 billion to the Kochs\u2014but $0 to 99.8% of Americans,\u201d Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) noted in a tweet on Tuesday. \u201cAt a time of record inequality, the very last thing we should do is line the pockets of the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">I bet Trump&#8217;s new election Aide, Howard $chultz, is all for this one. <strong>RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Cartoons<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/0130Cartoon.jpg\" \/><\/font><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/0130Cartoon.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">He had a great influence on Dr. MLK.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a very busy day here in the CatBox.&#160; Store to Door will be delivering groceries, and I have to unpack and put them away.&#160; Later WWWendy comes fumigate the mangy TomCat and help with chores.&#160; Last night, at 2 AM, a fire alarm blasted me from a sound sleep.&#160; The fire department came and <a href='https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/30\/open-thread-1-30-2019\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35498","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\/35498","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=35498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}