Late last night, my fever broke. I am still out of it, but should come back quickly now. I’m still not current with replies, and will catch up when I can. Tomorrow would be nice.
Jig Zone Puzzles:
Saturday’s took me 3:43 (average 4:19. To do it, click here. Yesterday’s took me 5:17 (average 7:26). To do it, click here. Today’s took me 3:13 (average 5:33). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From MoveOn: Every $1 We Invest In This Could Save $6 On Housing, Healthcare, And Public Services
When it comes to foreign aid, Republicans oppose it, except for providing guns to totalitarians that goose-step with Republican conquest objectives and economic imperialism. Domestically, Republicans defund contraception as part of their ongoing War on Women.
From NY Times: What we should have learned from the Iraq debacle was that you should always be skeptical and that you should never rely on supposed authority. If you hear that “everyone” supports a policy, whether it’s a war of choice or fiscal austerity, you should ask whether “everyone” has been defined to exclude anyone expressing a different opinion. And policy arguments should be evaluated on the merits, not by who expresses them; remember when Colin Powell assured us about those Iraqi W.M.D.’s?
Unfortunately, as I said, we don’t seem to have learned those lessons. Will we ever?
This Krugman editorial is too good not to read in it’s entirety. Click through.
From The New Yorker: The decision of Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to support same-sex marriage after learning that his son was gay has inspired hundreds of other Republican lawmakers to stop speaking to their children immediately, G.O.P. leaders confirmed today.
“I have gathered my caucus and told them, if your kids are going to tell you something that’s going to cost you the next election, it’s better to nip that situation in the bud,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “Just stop talking to them altogether, for heaven’s sakes.”
Speaker Boehner said he was advising his fellow Republicans who were “hell bent on speaking to their children” to keep things superficial: “You can talk about sports. You can talk about the weather. But anything beyond that, your policy should be, ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’”
But even as Mr. Boehner laid down the new guidelines for not speaking to one’s children, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) said that the policy “doesn’t go far enough.”
Of course this is satire, but what a thoroughly Republican response it is.
Cartoon:
St. Patty knew all about snakes!
8 Responses to “Open Thread–3/18/2013”
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Saturday ~ 3:53 Someone put a stopper in the bottle before I got there.
Sunday ~ 4:19 Do I win any green?
3:59 ~ The disguise fooled me.
Saturday ~ 3:13 I was in free flow.
Sunday ~ 5:20 No green for me.
Today ~ 3:59 I got fooled too.
Saturday — 3:26 Is that nectar of the gods I taste?
Sunday — 5:06 Obviously I'm not Irish!
Monday — 3:44 That's the mask I wore after all the green beer I drank! Couldn't show my true self at church yesterday.
Hi TC…
Hope your feeling better. Looks like I have too have surgery soon. I have had a hernia for some time and now I can no longer put off seeing a doctor since I now get a gurgling sound when I cough. I have a doctors appointment later today and I expect that after he sends me to see a doctor that does hernia's surgery will follow soon.
Take care and get better. I'll let you know how things go after I see the doctors. Take care and …
Have a great day.
Good luck with the surgery. I hope you heal quickly.
MoveOn ~ Since it's a no-brainer, RepublicanTs can't grasp the importance of it.
NY Times ~ "Unfortunately, as I said, we don’t seem to have learned those lessons. Will we ever?" We were called traitors and unpatriotic for opposing the war. There was never solid evidence of WMDs. It was all to avenge Daddy Bush so that GW would have stature in his eyes. Too bad for him most people think of him as a war criminal along with his vile friends. We will be paying for their "mistake" for many more years.
New Yorker ~ This is a perfect example of satire. Andy both ridules and scorns these jerks. Satire- a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.
Cartoon ~ Where's St. Patrick when you really need him? I guess we have to do his job for him this time.
Puzzles —
Saturday — 3:26 Is that nectar of the gods I taste?
Sunday — 5:06 Obviously I'm not Irish!
Monday — 3:44 That's the mask I wore after all the green beer I drank! Couldn't show my true self at church yesterday.
MoveOn — "Where's the Controversy in Saving Lives?" — They're not Republican/Teabagger lives! They're women who's only function is to be available to men.
I knew little of Melinda Gates until a few years ago, but I have respect for her and her advocacy work now. Fortunately, some of the 1% can and do make positive contributions to the world's society. Thank you Bill and Melinda Gates and your Foundation.
NY Times — "What we should have learned from the Iraq debacle was that you should always be skeptical and that you should never rely on supposed authority. " — As a manager, I use to say to the staff "I want your ideas because I don't have all the answers; I don't do the job day in and day out." I truly believe that you have to listen to all approaches to a problem, not just what you think you want to hear.
The New Yorker — Love Andy Borowitz. He really knows how to nail them in a few simple words.
Cartoon — OK, St Patrick started the movement by getting rid of the snakes! Since Republican/Teabaggers are lower than a snake's belly, this exposes them. OK America, it is up to you to vote the Republican/Teabaggers out of office and into the unemployment line! . . . PERMANENTLY!!!!!
Loved the cartoon – and the New Yorker satire – it came within one millimetre of being believable – heck – it WAS believable!