Open Thread–1/14/2012

 Posted by at 4:23 am  Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics
Jan 142013
 

Today I go to the doctor.  It is a hardship, because I will have to leave before 8:00 AM to make it to a 10:00 AM appointment.  In addition, On the way home I’ll have to stand for up to 40 minutes in 33° weather at a bus stop with no shelter.  I hate going since she moved, but she’s been my doctor for so many years, that I have her trained in how my body works.  Training a new one could take years, so I’ll keep her.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I’m likely to be tired.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:57 (average 5:05).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Public Service:

We can thank Nameless for alerting us yesterday that Java has a serious security flaw, sufficient to warrant disabling it.  Oracle has now released a patched version that fixes the defect.  I used Revo Uninstaller (free) to remove all traces of the old Java from my computer before installing the new Java, and recommend that you do likewise.  You can download the new version of Java here.

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: WELL PLAYED: This Red Lobster Spoof Begs You To Ask Yourself An Important Question

 

That any American workers are forced to endure such conditions is shameful. That this is the Republican goal for the majority of Americans is criminal.

From NY Times: The 14th Amendment states that “the validity of the public debt of the United States… shall not be questioned.’’ If the debt ceiling were to prevent the president from borrowing enough to cover legally required spending, the resulting default might prevent payments on the debt from being made as required, clearly bringing the validity of the debt into question. Even so, the White House has said the president will not override the debt ceiling by relying on that provision…

…Republicans believe, and the President seems to agree, that his only choice would be to cut spending, rather than raising taxes or issuing debt. That is simply wrong. Consider what cutting spending means. Different members of Congress have voted to approve a balance of spending, setting priorities for medical spending, military spending, infrastructure spending, anti-poverty measures, and so on. If the president were to cut spending, he would be doing what the Constitution (and the Supreme Court) says that only Congress can do: decide how much money to spend (no more and no less), and for what.

We know that the president cannot simply enact across-the-board cuts. He will be forced to fully fund “emergency operations” of the federal government. To protect the government’s credit rating from further damage, he would almost certainly pay principal and interest in full on all bonds. The spending cuts, therefore, would have to come elsewhere. Nothing in the law gives the president guidance on how to make those decisions, because Congress expressed its priorities in the spending bills that it passed (but now will not finance).

Issuing more debt, on the other hand, is both modest and easily reversible. The president would not be upsetting Congress’s spending and taxing priorities, but would instruct Treasury to sell securities, as it always does. If, in its next budget, Congress wants to reduce the debt, it can do so. Until then, the president must do the least damage, and that is by issuing enough debt to tax and spend as Congress ordered him to do.

This is the most powerful argument I have seen to date in support of the Constitutional option, which I have favored since before the news was talking about it.

From MSNBC: A Reasonable Republican View

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I agree with almost everything Colin Powell said. However, I do not share his hope that the Republican Party can recover. In my opinion, they have reached the point of no return, and only a complete reorganization, following virtual elimination can save them in name only.

Cartoon:

14Cartoon

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  26 Responses to “Open Thread–1/14/2012”

  1. SoINeedAName says:
    January 14, 2013 at 8:34 am

    Given Java's poor track record on security, I'm personally keeping my Java disabled for a bit.  And I also think I'm going to stick with my Version 6.Something, since those versions were not involved:

    http://blogs.computerworld.com/cybercrime-and-hacking/21627/oracle-patches-java-7-security-flaw-update-11

     

    And on a related note, you can rest easy WRT smartphones running Android – they weren't involved, either:

    http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14298116/how-do-the-recent-java-vulnerabilities-affect-android-and-programming

     

  2. Jim Phillips says:
    January 14, 2013 at 10:39 am

    US-CERT: Disable Java in browsers because of exploit
    No other 'practical solution' to the Java vulnerability exists, the cybersecurity agency says

    LINK:   http://www.csoonline.com/article/726380/us-cert-disable-java-in-browsers-because-of-exploit?source=rss_data_protection

    Live link in the following paragraph within the article:   

    "Sorin Mustaca, a security expert for security vendor Avira wrote a blog post Friday on how to deactivate Java in browsers."

    .

  3. Lynn Squance says:
    January 14, 2013 at 11:47 am

    3:30  I hope that turtle has paid up life insurance because he can't move fast enough to get away from chomps, even a baby chomps!

  4. Lynn Squance says:
    January 14, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    Puzzle — 3:30 I hope that turtle has paid up life insurance because he can't move fast enough to get away from chomps, even a baby chomps!

    MoveOn — Attrocious!  Here is a fact sheet about wages etc for BC restaurant workers.  More equitable wouldn't you say?  And right now, BC has a pro business government.  Wouldn't Republican/Teabaggers just love it here!  http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/restaurant_emp.htm

    NY Times — And so the Republican/Teabagger dominated Congress want to go down in history as 'welchers' all for political, not fiscal, antics.  In contract law (at least here), this would be a breach of contract with the American people.

    … because Congress expressed its priorities in the spending bills that it passed (but now will not finance).

    In a perfect world, this issue would not occur because politicans would be honourable and stand by their documented decisions.  But 'honourable' and 'Republican/Teabaggers' is an oxymoron.

    Last year, Congress appropriated spending by the government through March 27, 2013. It has also amended the tax laws, most recently on Jan. 2. Those laws together would require the President to borrow more than the current debt limit, starting next month. The President will then face a “trilemma,” having to choose which power of Congress – spending, taxing, or borrowing – to usurp, in order to fulfill his duty to respect Congress’s other powers.

    Neil Buchanan makes an excellent case.  Mr Obama might want to have the blessings of the Congress, but he will not get it — from that point nothing has changed from his first term.  And he must not waiver from his stated position of "no negotiating" on the debt ceiling.  Either Congress comes to its senses (if it has any) or the president increases the debt.  I hope Mr Obama has the balls to stick to his position of 'no negotiating'.

    MSNBC — The Republican/Teabaggers have declared war on minorities, on women, on the poor, on healthcare, on American workers, on . . . etc that they have no credibility and no future.  It is the fanatical right-wing that has sunk their ship beyond salvagability.

    Cartoon — I love it!  Wouldn't it be fun to paste that on Boehner's office door?!

    • TomCat says:
      January 15, 2013 at 2:59 am

      Will you survive being critter crunched or monster mangled?

      You have an unfair advantaged.  Canada is still a Republic, if you can keep it.

      It's all about politics.  It's do what I want or I'll hurt the country.

      Bingo

      I debated between hem and Bought Bitch Mitch, but the guilty party here is the party.

      • Lynn Squance says:
        January 15, 2013 at 3:04 am

        Hate to tell you Chuckles, we're not a Republic.  We're a Dominion or a Confederation.  The only time we will be a Republic is if the Rt disHonourable PM Twit Stephen Harper sells us off completely to the US or The Peoples Republic of China

        • TomCat says:
          January 16, 2013 at 2:04 am

          Dang!  I learn something new every day.  We are supposed to be a Republic, and even though you are not, you are closer to being one than we are.

  5. SoINeedAName says:
    January 14, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    OK – I'm really, truly NOT going for the "Big Mouth Award" here … it's just the second Manhattan of the evening talking.

     

    Today, in Pres. Obama's press conference, he told the Repubicans (in as close to their required monosyllables as possible):

    "We are NOT a deadbeat nation."

     

    To make the debt ceiling for honoring MONEY BILLS ALREADY PASSED as clear as possible, according to our Constitution (Article I, Section 7, clause 1), all appropriation bills must originate in the House of Representatives.

    The House has been controlled by REPUBLICANS – so all expenditures/money bills have originated in the REPUBLICAN-controlled House and been APPROVED by REPUBLICANS.

     

    Buyer’s remorse is NOT a justification for Repubicans to welch on their obligations and turn to extortion by holding America as hostage to demand a ransom.

     

    Taking one person hostage is kidnapping.

    Taking one hundred people hostage is terrorism.

    Taking an entire country – and now the world along with it – hostage is just day-to-day right-wing Repubican politics.

     

    QUIT IT!  Honor your Oath to our Constitution and raise the debt ceiling!

    • Lynn Squance says:
      January 14, 2013 at 8:36 pm

      If that is 2 manhattans talking, have a 3rd and 4th!  You're on a roll and doing well!  Completely agree, and so does Primo my cat.  He keeps tapping the computer screen by your name.

    • TomCat says:
      January 15, 2013 at 3:02 am

      You're safe for now.  Another thousand comments will take time.

      He certainly analyzed and presented it perfectly

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