On the plus side, yesterday’s medical appointments went well. My urologist said to come back and fill another cup in a year, and the pain from my podiatrist cutting the growth for my foot is almost gone. On the minus side, the day wiped me out. My first bus did not come, because the driver made wrong turn and skipped my stop. I had to wait for the next bus. That kept me late all day, so I had to push myself much too hard, just to stay close enough to avoid being charged for missed appointments. (Medicare does not cover missed appointments.) Two miles walking stretches my limits, as it is, but two miles speed walking exhausted me and left my legs too sore and cramping to sleep, so this article will have to be it for today. I’m current with replies. I have an early morning appointment, related to my volunteer work, that may last most of the day, so tomorrow I shall have an Open Thread, at most. I should be all the way back on Thursday.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:09 (average 5:07). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: Oberlin College [Oberlin Ohio], known as much for ardent liberalism as for academic excellence, canceled classes on Monday and convened a “day of solidarity” after the latest in a monthlong [sic] string of what it called hate-related incidents and vandalism…
…In the last month, racist, anti-Semitic and antigay messages have been left around campus, a jarring incongruity in a place with the liberal political leanings and traditions of Oberlin, a school of 2,800 students in Ohio, about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland. Guides to colleges routinely list it as among the most progressive, activist and gay-friendly schools in the country.
The incidents included slurs written on Black History Month posters, drawings of swastikas and the message “Whites Only” scrawled above a water fountain. After midnight on Sunday, someone reported seeing a person dressed in a white robe and hood near the Afrikan Heritage House.
Evidently, liberal thought is too great a challenge for Ohio Republicans to tolerate.
From Reuters: Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Monday cautioned airline passengers to get to the airport extra early because U.S. spending cuts have already led to long lines at some security checkpoints, and said the coming furloughs will only make the situation worse.
This is one of the few areas where pain from the Republican sequester will move beyond hurting the poor.
From WHEC: Republicans controlling the House are moving to take the roughest edges off across-the-board spending cuts that are just starting to take effect.
Even as the military would bear a $43 billion cut over just seven months, the new GOP measure released Monday would give the Pentagon much-needed money for readiness. It also would ease the pain felt by critical agencies like the FBI and the Border Patrol.
I said they would do this. I’m all for easing the pain of the sequester, across the board, but Republicans are trying to shove more of the burden onto domestic spending to free up more money for military industrial complex profits. There is no combination of cuts that will work, without revenue.
Cartoon:
What a Republican idea!
15 Responses to “Open Thread–3/5/2013”
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3:35 Will I be frozen out here?
3:42 I'm running, but obviously not fast enough!
4:16 I guess order has been restored to the universe. TomCat and I are 3 and 4 once again.
I'm amazed that I am the 3.
Too bad about Wrong-way, the bus driver leaving you out in the cold. Take time to recuperate and rest today. We'll still be here. I have a Doc's appt. at 8 this AM. Not looking forward to the drive. Just routine though. They think they have my blood thinners under control now so that they will stop clots and not make me bleed to death. No ore coumadin, just Plavix and Xarelto. Not too bad so far. We'll see.
Now, to the news!
NY Times ~ Do I smell the money of the Koch brothers? I wonder if they bussed the vandals in. Or is it just too many imbeciles listening to FAUX Noise?
Reuters ~ This will anger the business community. They rely heavily on getting from one place to another swiftly. Maybe they will all switch to internet meetings and save some fossil fuels by reducing flights.
What will MSM do when a new story breaks? Can they get to the new destination fast enough to harrass victims?
WHEC ~ They are forgetting about meals for the hungry and shelter for the homeless. Never mind Head Start for the poor children.
Let them eat cake! Our Military-Industrial Complex must not suffer even one day!
Cartoon ~ So these guys can't be whipped in public?
Rob Wittman (R-VA-1)
Scott Rigell (R-VA-2)
J. Randy Forbes (R-VA-4)
Robert Hurt (R-VA-5)
Robert Goodlatte (R-VA-6)
Eric Cantor (R-VA-7)
Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9)
Frank Wolf (R-VA-10)
Thanks Patty.
Maybe.
Some have their own jets.
I thought it was, "Let them eat Koch."
No, damn it!
You probably all have read about this idiotic Washington state Repubican lawmaker who defends a bike tax because he thinks bicycling is more harmful to the environment than driving a car:
Now technically what he said is accurate – you WOULD give off more CO2 while you're biking than while you're driving. But the car itself would MORE than make up for the difference.
But since he thinks biking is more harmful thank driving, I propose a simple experiment to see which one actually is more harmful:
I'll go in my garage, shut the doors and bike madly in circles for an hour. He'll go in his garage, shut the doors, start the engine and rev it up for an hour.
Then after that hour we can get together and compare notes on which one is actually more harmful.
(OK – just kidding)
I really like the idea. You always come up with the best ideas!
I'm with Patty!
Oh Nameless – that is the most brilliant solution to a horrid problem – and it would also have the side benefit to stopping the methane coming out from that demented Repuglicon's mouth…. or do I/they have the wrong organ that he is talking with?
Thanks TC for this – by the way – when your poor foot is healed – have you tried/do you want to try putting iodine (Lugol's solution) on the skin over the cyst when it reforms? Apparently lack of Iodine is beyond a lot of cysts in our bodies – and I have seen testimony from many people that Iodine has helped in this way. Also lack of Magnesium makes our muscles cramp – most often seen in the legs (other things can do it too, such as Iodine, but lack of Mg is the most common). Just add some Magnesium Chloride crystals to water and put on the skin and wait for them to be absorbed – it the solution should sting then either dilute the solution or put a barrier cream or oil on the skin first (recipes for 'Magnesium Oil' can be found on the net – or you could buy an expensive spray from a shop – but it will have preservatives and perfumes in too).
I agree.
Thatks. I'll pry the iodine, but my skin is so sensitive that I hesitate to try the Magnesium.
Puzzle — 3:42 I'm running, but obviously not fast enough!
NY Times — Yesterday's words of FDR come to mind: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." No doubt, these fearmongers are intent on creating a climate of irrationality. I think the school did the right thing and having campus groups come together is good. The campus must not fall prey to the scare tactics of bigoted miscreants and misanthropes who hide behind white robes in the shadows. Does sound suspiciously like Republican/Teabaggers!
Reuters — Long lines made longer by the sequestration. In the land of instant this, instant that, and drive-thrus, this will likely raise temperatures more than climate change! I sure hope that politicians don't get a free ride past the long line-ups! My guess is that they will resort to private flights to avoid any line-ups but they should not be allowed to increase their costs.
WHEC — "There is no combination of cuts that will work, without revenue." — AMEN!!!!!
Cartoon — I think there is an old law that desparately needs to be rescinded.Republican/Teabaggers definitely should either be whipped into sensibility, or put in stocks for public ridicule.
Monster Mashed.
Very much so.
Good point! Strangely inconvenience riles US folk more thasn pending death.
Thanks!
If they reinstate the stocks for Republicans, I'll come out of retirement and become a rotten fruit vendor. Within two weeks I'll be in the 1%.
Cartoon — Good thing the republicans are only lower class citizens.
Culturally, yes. Financially, I wish!