The low temperature at my desk last night was 84°. At 11:45 AM, it is now 96°. The Weather Service Dangerous Heat Advisory has been extended until Tuesday 9 PM. I have collected the data for a Monthly Report, but am too wrung out to write it, so this will be tomorrow’s only article.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:49 (average 4:32). To do it. click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: Is life too easy for the unemployed? You may not think so, and I certainly don’t think so. But that, remarkably, is what many and perhaps most Republicans believe. And they’re acting on that belief: there’s a nationwide movement under way to punish the unemployed, based on the proposition that we can cure unemployment by making the jobless even more miserable.
Consider, for example, the case of North Carolina. The state was hit hard by the Great Recession, and its unemployment rate, at 8.8 percent, is among the highest in the nation, higher than in long-suffering California or Michigan. As is the case everywhere, many of the jobless have been out of work for six months or more, thanks to a national environment in which there are three times as many people seeking work as there are job openings.
Nonetheless, the state’s government has just sharply cut aid to the unemployed. In fact, the Republicans controlling that government were so eager to cut off aid that they didn’t just reduce the duration of benefits; they also reduced the average weekly benefit, making the state ineligible for about $700 million in federal aid to the long-term unemployed.
As usual, Paul Krugman could not be more spot-on.
From Alternet: A Belgian diplomat told the New York Post [Murdock delinked] that he and his family were kicked out of the Metropolis Country Club in White Plains, New York after his wife was breast-feeding their child. He said they were treated like “terrorists.”
36-year-old Tom Neijens, the first secretary of the Belgium Mission to the UN, went to the country club in June with his wife, 34-year-old Roseline Remans. They arrived for lunch, even though they weren’t members of the club. They were nonetheless granted permission to dine there.
But when Remans began to breast-feed her her daughter Luka, the trouble began. A female manager allegedly came up to the family and reportedly said, “Please leave immediately, you are disturbing the members.” Remans was told to finish breastfeeding in the bathroom.
Dang! If Republicans are so offended by breasts, than why do they keep watching the low-cut blondes at Faux Noise? Exploitation must make breasts OK for them.
From Crooks and Liars: According to troglodyte Heritage Foundation President and former Sen. Jim DeMint, lots of women are just thrilled to be forced to have an ultrasound prior to being allowed to have an abortion. And in wingnut world, they’re totally free as well. What a deal! What woman would want to pass that up?
Apparently you’re not allowed to have a discussion on cable television about either gay marriage or abortion without letting the likes of right-wing hate mongers like DeMint and his buddy, con-artist Ralph Reed come on the air and lie to the viewers as they did here.
The deaths to which DeMint refers are not happening now, but will if Republicans are allowed to return women to the coat hanger days. DeMint is also lying that they are free. This is like telling black people that taking away their right to vote is doing them a favor.
Cartoon:
13 Responses to “Open Thread–7/2/2013”
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3:45 I'm fruit salad right now from the heat. It was 35 C outside, and at my desk it was 40 C (that's 95 F and 104 F) which is bloody awful! See you tomorrow. I'm off for a cooling shower and hopefully some sleep. Even my cats are sleeping either downstairs or in the bathtub.
3:24 That fruit salad really got TomCat going. Must be all the fiber.
Well I had th get out of there, before all that fruit caused liquid in my cat box, but can I survive Patty Monster?
3:51 I wilted.
😀
Puzzle — 3:45 I'm fruit salad right now from the heat. It was 35 C outside, and at my desk it was 40 C (that's 95 F and 104 F) which is bloody awful!
NY Times — Krugman is spot on as usual!
Republican/Teabaggers = meanspiritedness and cruelty. As far as economic analysis, they haven't a clue.
Alternet — What a natural place to feed the little one, a food establishment! Golf Clubs and golf club facilities can be so hoitty-toitty. I hope whoever lodged the complaint chokes on their meal.
Crooks and Liars — DeMint mentioned Kermit Gosnell (I won't digify him with appellation Dr). If Planned Parenthood were not constantly under attack by the GOP and people like Reed and DeMint, there would be no Gosnells. Further, I heard that women had to pay at least $75 for these ultrasounds, probably more. That's not free. To hear he and Reed say that so many women want this is just in their dreams.
Cartoon — A very interesting short history of Vietnam and some of the dynamics of colonialism etc can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam . What happens when multiple entities say "My way or the highway" all at the same time. Tragedy!
Dang, That sounds like home, but my apartment has now cooled to 30° C .
Perhapos they have more opd a clue than they let on, but think we don't.
Amen!
Republicans have a unique ability to turn a single incident into a propaganda epidemic.
Lynn, the averahe cost in major cities across the country varies from $490 to $700.
Actually, that accounr downplays the US role It make no mention of the the agreement between the OSS and the Viet Minh that, in retirn for them tying up Japanese troops, the US would support Vietnamese independence after WWII. It does not mention that US financed the French until their defeat in 1954. It does not mention that CIA engineered the coup that installed Ngo Dinh Diem, who had been groomed in the US for that purpose, because Bao Dai intended to abide by the Geneva Accords and hold free elections for a reunified Vietnam in 1956. It does not mention that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was as accurate as Saddam's WMD,
Eeeek! Very whitewashed!
Indeed. As an 18 year old, one of the things I did for SDS was to debate Vietnam, usually against profs, at eastern colleges. It eas easy, because they parroted the same lies.
I am totally disgusted with North Carolina. This was done to prevent an increase in taxes for their corporations, who are all outsourcing jobs as rapidly as they can.
I wish Demint could have a vaginal ultrasound forced on him by the state! Free? Where? Yuck.
All America ought to join you in that, Edie.
Thought I would share this AVAAZ petition with anyone who hasn't seen it.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/we_said_never_again_en/?bfRGrab&v=26526
From my e-mail:
Most people didn't know who the Rwandans were until it was too late, and 800,000 of them were dead. Right now, the fate of Burma's Rohingya people is hanging by a thread. Racist thugs have distributed leaflets threatening to wipe out this small Burmese minority. Already children have been hacked to death and unspeakable murders committed. All signs are pointing to a coming horror, unless we act.
Genocides happen because we don't get concerned enough until the crime is committed. The Rohingya are a peaceful and very poor people. They're hated because their skin is darker and the majority fear they’re 'taking jobs away'. There are 800,000 of them, and they could be gone if we don't act. We've failed too many peoples, let's not fail the Rohingya.
Burmese President Thein Sein has the power, personnel and resources to protect the Rohingya, all he has to do is give the word to make it happen. In days, he’ll arrive in Europe to sell his country’s new openness to trade. If EU leaders greet him with a strong request to protect the Rohingya, he’s likely to do it. Let’s get 1 million voices and plaster images of what’s happening in Burma outside his meetings with key EU heads of state:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/we_said_never_again_en/?bfRGrab&v=26526
Torture, gang rape, execution style killings — human rights groups are using the term "ethnic cleansing" to describe the brutality in Burma. Already more than 120,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee, many to makeshift camps near the border, while others have fled in boats only to drown, starve, or be shot at by coastguards from neighboring countries. Reports show that violence is escalating — earlier this year President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency after another round of deadly attacks, and it’s just a matter of time until there is a large scale massacre.
Genocides don’t happen when governments oppose them, but the Burmese regime has been leaning the wrong way. Recently, a government spokesperson admitted that authorities were enforcing a rule that limits the Rohingya population to having only two children and forces couples seeking to get married to obtain special permission. And experts report that government authorities have stood by or even participated in acts of “ethnic cleansing.” President Sein has finally been forced to acknowledge what’s happening to the Rohingya, but he has so far refused to implement plans to stop the violence and protect those at risk.
Until he does, the risk of genocide hovers like a dark cloud over not just Burma, but the world. Through their trade relations, UK PM Cameron and French President Hollande have massive leverage with Sein — if they press him to act when he meets with them this month, it could save lives. Let’s make sure they do. We've failed too many peoples, let's not fail the Rohingya. Join the call now and share this with everyone:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/we_said_never_again_en/?bfRGrab&v=26526
Time and again, the Avaaz community has stood with the people of Burma in their fight for democracy. When the regime brutally cracked down on Buddhist monks in 2007, Avaazers donated hundreds of thousands of dollars/euros/pounds to provide technical support and training to activists to fight a communications blackout. In 2008, when a devastating cyclone killed at least 100,000 Burmese, but the venal military regime stopped all official international aid from coming in, our community donated millions directly to monks on the front line of the aid effort.
Our community didn’t exist when genocide was committed in Rwanda, 20 years ago. Would we have done enough to stop it? Let’s show the Rohingya our answer to that question.
Thanks Lynn. Signed, but recommend that people use an email address held only for receiving SPAM. AVAAZ is horrid in that respect.