I’ve spent so much time in bed, lately, that I could not get comfortable in bed yesterday, so I have not slept at all and feel completely pooped.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:04 (average 4:38). To do it click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: The effort over many years to forge an international treaty regulating the booming $70 billion annual trade in conventional weapons headed toward fruition on Wednesday with a final draft sent to the governments of all United Nations member states for approval.
Supporters, including a majority of member states, hope that the Arms Trade Treaty will be approved by consensus at a final negotiation session here on Thursday. The treaty would for the first time set international standards for conventional weapons sales, tying them to respect for human rights, the prevention of war crimes and the protection of civilians. Rights advocates have called the treaty the most ambitious attempt to stop the illicit spread of weapons that fuel deadly conflicts around the world.
I fully support international oversight of conventional weapons sales, but see little chance of ratification here, because ratifying treaties requires 2/3 of the Senate. With Republicans goose-stepping behind Wayne LaPierre and the gun industry, that isn’t happening anytime soon.
From The New Yorker: In an outburst that shocked many onlookers at the Supreme Court today, Justice Antonin Scalia said that it made him “angry beyond belief” that he had to listen to people talking about gay couples all week…
…“O.K., could we just stop talking about this stuff right now?” Justice Scalia snapped at Justice Kennedy. “I’ve told you all how I feel about this topic, and I don’t understand why we’re going on and on about it unless you all hate me.”
As the courtroom froze in dead silence, Justice Scalia seemed to gather steam, shouting, “For two days, it’s been gay this, gay that. You’re all just talking about this stuff as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. Well, it’s not, O.K.? It’s weird and it’s wrong. And just talking about it like it’s O.K. and whatnot is making me angry beyond belief.”
Although this is satire, Scalia is a walking hate crime. I wonder if he escaped from Nuremberg.
From Think Progress: During oral arguments this morning, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to at least entertain the argument by House Republicans that gays and lesbians are too politically powerful for constitutional protection.
Roberts suggested that gays and lesbians must be “politically powerful” because politicians are “falling all over themselves” to endorse gay marriage, according to a tweet by Mother Jones’ Adam Serwer. The brief by Paul Clement, who represented the House of Representatives in defending DOMA, had reasoned that gays and lesbians are winning political battles and “have the attention of lawmakers.”
You can fertilize your veggies with that lie. The LGBT community is so powerful that states have passed amendments to deny them equal rights. Just ten years ago their sexual relations were a crime in many states. If they seem to enjoy popular support now, it is only because of a public reaction to the extremity of the discrimination leveled against them.
Cartoon:
8 Responses to “Open Thread–3/28/2013”
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3:57 I barely beat you to the breakfast table this AM. Who's going to chomp down on all the goodies today?
2:54 Yum yum yum. I pounced!
You were like the Flash! Zoom zoom!
3:16 Jerry, you didn't pounce . . . you hoovered from a distance! Pouncing would have taken more time!
NY Times ~ The NRA will never let their lackeys agree to the treaty. So, like you said they will block it with rheir obstinance.
New Yorker ~ “Remember, when the framers wrote the Constitution, there were no gays in America,” he said. “They didn’t come here until the nineteen-sixties.” – LOL – They must have come here with the rest of those commie pinko fags. I could almost hear Archie Bunker saying this up in heaven, mockingly of course.. Thanks for the laughs today.
Think Progress ~ It is only because so many bigots are dying off and the younger generation is much more liberal and accepting of others.
Cartoon ~ And, some people learned to enjoy their glow.
Scalia has a long and ignominious history of saying hateful things about gays – so for a reference record:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/scalia-worst-things-said-written-about-homosexuality-court
CJ Roberts incredulously tried to mock Pres. Obama when Roberts opined:
But then if Chief Justice Roberts is proposing that Presidents are the arbiters of Constitutionality, then why do we need a Supreme Court?
I think he was doing an oral argument for retirement!
Puzzle — 3:16 Jerry, you didn't pounce . . . you hoovered from a distance! Pouncing would have taken more time!
NY Times — I've been thinking about the negotiations this week and wondering what kind of havoc Canada's representative, with I might add his NRA backing, has wrought!
I don't know if the NRA is a registered lobbyist here, but if not, they should be prosecuted. Asshat Harper wouldn't do that though because he fancies himself one of the good ol' boys. Hell, Canada was legally bound by the Convention on Terror and Torture to arrest Baby Bush when he was here, but Harper didn't do it.
The New Yorker — Three women Justices and they all kicked butt during the oral arguments. Kennedy had some fun too. Scalia was his usual asinine self, talking over Kagan and being irrelevant.
Oh crap, as I was writing 'oral' I almost put 'Roberts' behind it. Now wouldn't that be the day the earth died — Oral Roberts in SCOTUS!
Think Progress — That load of bull will poison the veggies! . . . just like it has poisoned the "minds" of people like the Foxettes (people who only watch Faux Noise) who gobble up the bigotry and religious fanaticism. This fight won't be over until all people are truly equal. It is 'déjà vu' all over again from the 1960's with the civil rights movement.
Cartoon — Three Mile Island. . . I remember it well. Why do think I can see in the dark, even to this day? Turn out the lights and my eyes glow!