Have you ever felt so tired that you could not sleep? That was me yesterday. Nevertheless, I have three articles for you. I’m current with replies, and assuming I can sleep today, will be back tomorrow.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:57 (average 4:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From MoveOn: The NRA Is On Thin Ice, And Here's How You Can Tell
Sadly, telling a Congress Critter (no relation) not to take money is like telling a bear not to shit in the woods.
From NY Times: House Republicans, shrugging off rising pressure from President Obama, are resolutely opposing new tax increases to head off $85 billion in across-the-board spending reductions, all but ensuring the cuts will go into force March 1 and probably remain in place for months, if not longer.\Despite new calls from the White House on Wednesday to enact a combination of tax increases and cuts to postpone the so-called sequester, the House is moving forward on a legislative agenda that assumes deep and arbitrary cuts to defense and domestic programs — once considered unthinkable — will remain in place through the end of the year.
Republicans claim to want a 'balanced' solution between tax increases and spending cuts. They say we have already enacted the tax increases. However, they want more spending cuts right now that the level of the recent tax increases. Further more, for the last two years, we have had nothing but spending cuts. Thus the Republican notion of 'balanced' is an elephant on one of a teeter-totter, and an ant on the other.
From MSNBC: Junk in the trunk
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Because they could not survive as just the party of the rich, the Republican Party sowed the wind. They opened their arms and welcomed extremists of all sorts, no matter how violent, no matter how hateful, no matter how bigoted, and no matter how well suited for a tinfoil hat. Now they are reaping the whirlwind, because the miscreants they sought to use and control have become the party's base, and they are nominating, and in many cases, electing their own instead of the establishment Republicans. Furthermore. Those establishment Republicans who remain are doing so only as long as they do the will of their rabid base. In my opinion, the party cannot survive in the long term, unless they abandon both their base and their billionaires and start fresh, a process that would put them out of power for several election cycles.
Cartoon:
13 Responses to “Open Thread–2/21/2013”
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3:38 Did I ring the temple bell, or is someone going to ring my bell?
4:46 I certainly didn't ring any bells today.
I kept dropping the pieces. Still getting used to this new laptop. You all just wait! The monster will return!
3:37 Well Lynn, I didn't really ring your bell. I think I just very lightly tapped it.
You rang it ok! Have you heard the sound that these temple bells make? Even a light tap is a reverberating ring! I briefly did some work with singing bowls and bells, and the slightest tap does ring. Actually, the sound is beautiful. Singing bowls are often used in meditations if done correctly. Now having said that, we are still friends Critter.
Thank you, Lynn…otherwise beating you would not be worth it.
I'm amazed I wasn't last!
Re the 'Panda/er' episode – what kind of perverted twisted gits are these???!!!!!!!!! To say that I feel sick is to understate the case! Arrghhhh!
I can't believe the Tea Party sent out an email showing Karl Rove as a Nazi – but I can believe they grovelled about it! Drat the sound went off half way through Rachel Maddow's excellent analysis of the state the GOP are in – they all seem to be turning on each other – quite fitting considering the savagery with which they treat the rest of the world!
They have no lower limit.
See today's cartoon. 🙂
Two "Good News" (or at least uplifting) comments:
[1] How does The Onion stay in business when there are REAL headlines like this:
The picture of him wearing the strainer is alone worth the click. The Comments are just icing on the cake! ("I thought the U.S. already recognized the Pastafarians as a legitimate religion.")
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/20/police-called-after-man-refuses-to-remove-pasta-strainer-from-head/
[2] The latest Bloomberg Poll shows Pres. Obama stomping all over the repubicans:
Pastafarians indeed! I thought the funniest quote was from George Washington who told everyone to lighten up because they were getting too serious. Maybe it's me, but I thought they were already having fun
Nameless, I don't know how you manage to find all the stuff you do, but keep it up my friend. The world needs to laugh more!
As to Bloomberg's poll, let the good times roll! I wonder what the poll would show if they divided the Republicans from the Teabaggers? Not that it would matter in one sense — the moderate Republicans let it happen. Play with fire and one tends to get burned.
Amazing, Nameless!
Puzzle — 3:38 Did I ring the temple bell, or is someone going to ring my bell?
MoveOn — I saw this on Care2 a few days ago. All I can say is "AMEN!!!!!" The NRA should heed the words of Mahatma Gandhi who said "An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. "
NY Times — TC: "…for the last two years, we have had nothing but spending cuts. Thus the Republican notion of 'balanced' is an elephant on one of a teeter-totter, and an ant on the other." An excellent analogy! As I recall, but I could be wrong, the sequester came as a result of a joint committee being unable to come to terms with the 'budget'. As I recall, it was the Republican/Teabaggers, the party of 'NO', in their usual obstructionist style that proposed the sequester.
MSNBC — A Biblical quote comes to mind regarding the Republican/Teabaggers, which is rather appropriate considering their ties to the fanatical evangelical pseudo Christians. From Paul's letter to the Galatians "As you sow, so shall you reap.". The Republicans courted and embraced the conservative radicals and as such are now reaping their rewards — a fractious split in the party that will likely, at some time, be the death of the party.
Did I understand correctly that even some of their prominent billionaires are putting away their cheque books?
Cartoon — I read the Communist Manifesto in Grade 13. It was heavy reading but nonetheless, interesting. What is also interesting, is that what the USSR became significantly differs from what Marx and Engels theorised. They would both be rolling in their graves could they hear the comments about Mr Obama being a socialist and a communist. People use these words but they don't understand them at all, and what's more, don't understand that socialism and communism are not the same.
Critter Crunched!
Well said.
As usual, you are indeed correct.
It's too early to tell, but the Koch Brother clearly fear that will be the case.
I agree. Das Kapital is heavier. For a brief time they did follow Marx, after the first revolution. The Leninists, the Teabaggers of that day, were a minority party, but they called themselves Bolsheviks, which means majority, overthrew the government by force and extablished a totalitarian regime.