I’m writing for tomorrow, day 92, and the semi-day off helped. Yesterday was not quite as hot. Today will be, because the sun just hit the breezeway. Sunday can’t come soon enough!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:10 (average 5:16). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: A group of thousands of "patriots" was planning on taking over Washington, DC yesterday, by force if necessary. According to their Facebook page [Seditionists delinked],
We are NOT going to ask congress to Impeach Obama And HIS Administration,
We ARE going to DEMAND it!
They were planning on using tractor-trailers to block the roads into and out of the city. The trailers would also serve as temporary jail facilities in which to hold members of Congress and other officials who didn’t comply with their demands. They were not going to be armed themselves, but planned to have an armed citizen’s militia waiting in the wings in Virginia to come and save them if authorities in DC became violent. Some of the planners envisioned this as a multi-day event.
This was the gathering that was so nuts that even angry wingnut lunatic Police Chief Mark Kessler of Gilberton, PA distanced himself from it.
They had it all planned out. They were pissed and they weren’t going to take it anymore…
Nobody showed up! 😀
From NY Times: A few days ago, The Times published a report on a society that is being undermined by extreme inequality. This society claims to reward the best and brightest regardless of family background. In practice, however, the children of the wealthy benefit from opportunities and connections unavailable to children of the middle and working classes. And it was clear from the article that the gap between the society’s meritocratic ideology and its increasingly oligarchic reality is having a deeply demoralizing effect.
The report illustrated in a nutshell why extreme inequality is destructive, why claims ring hollow that inequality of outcomes doesn’t matter as long as there is equality of opportunity. If the rich are so much richer than the rest that they live in a different social and material universe, that fact in itself makes nonsense of any notion of equal opportunity…
Click through for an excellent editorial by Paul Krugman. Republicans are working hard to replace the class system with a caste system.
From MSNBC: Rachel Maddow examines the racist Republican "white vote" strategy.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Ted Cruz is different from many other Republicans. He does not hide his racism in what he says or does. Most Republican politicians speak of equality, but act as racists. Once even the Republican Party would have condemned Ted Cruz. Now they may nominate him for President.
Cartoon:
20 Responses to “Open Thread–9/14/2013”
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Thanks for the Daily Kos article TC – I LOVED that! As for the NYT article – numerous amounts of research have shown over the years that the happiest places on earth are those where there is little disparity in income levels – such as (I think) Bhutan.
Thanks Pat. I think what we're missing in the US is the sense of community we once had.
4:04 Holy Mokes! I beat TomCat. Stomped or Crunched? Or will I be Rocked today?
3:29 My kind of fun, but I'd have to have special seatbelts made for the kids so that I didn't lose them on the corners!
Cruising for last! Will you be Crunched?
3:28 I got that ol' Moke moving!
Yup!
Daily Kos ~ I am so glad you posted this. If you hadn't, I would have inserted the link today. I thought it was hilarious. They gthrew a demonstration to take over DC and nobody came. Can't you just see those few who did wandering around thinking they were the last left on Earth? They must have though everyone was arrested or abducted by aliens vbecause they forgot to wear their tin foil hats.
NY Times ~ In the 1970's these flaunters of wealth would have been jeered at. It should be that way now. Sadly, others look at them with envy instead. Maybe there should be limits on the types of extracurricular activities in which students engage.
MSNBC ~ Ted Cruz is an embarrassment to the human race.
Cartoon ~ Thanks for the interesting factoid.
Tin foil hats indeed!
I think the elite secret societies, like Skull and Bones are bad for the country.
I'm not embarrassed! His birth certificate is fake! He's really an alien fron the planet Dingbat!
Thanks!
How did you do? 6:46 – – – Rocked em like a nurf ball…. 🙂
Snicker….
I like nerf balls . . . their still in the game!
Not bad, but you've done better.
I love those empty spaces!
Puzzle — 3:29 My kind of fun, but I'd have to have special seat belts made for the kids so that I didn't lose them on the corners!
Daily Kos — Well, I guess it is safe to say that optimal planning is not their forte! According to the FB page, 2 million bikers were on their way from across the country. And I had to laugh at a picture of two stones on a 'Lost' poster with "In Washington, DC call John Boehner 202-225-0600". They obviously don't like 'libtards' and don't have any respect for Boehner either! Threw a party and nobody came! Love it! 😆
NY Times — So much for equal opportunity!
Klugman summarises "…extreme inequality is still on the rise — and it’s poisoning our society."
Excellent article from Paul Klugman as usual!
MSNBC — You'll never find a Republicanus/Teabagger support group for 'Racists Anonymous'! It is more like 'Racists 'r Us'! Sad, very sad.
Cartoon — With all the bear scat coming from the right wing nut jobs, 'The Star Spangeled Banner' is not so starry or spangeled anymore.
But will you be Crunched?
Me too!
Amen!
Anymore they aren't even anonymous about it.
There's nothing wrong with the flag, just the pigs that wrap themselves in it.
All you need is Love, I mean Money..uhmm, Love of Money? Harvard Business School knows how to build that Elitist Attitude!;) "To help bring the school’s culture back down to earth, Thomas J. Peters, a co-author of “In Search of Excellence” who has spoken at the Harvard Business School and has been a frequent critic of business education, suggested that the school apply a simple admissions rule: anyone from an ultraprivileged background needs to have done something of significant social value to be admitted.
“If you’re 27 years old and you’ve been given a lot of money, that’s plenty of time to have done something,” he said, adding that he and many of his friends at Stanford Business School in the 1970s were veterans. “Why can’t that be in the admissions criteria flat out?”
There goes most of the Business School's student body!
Two million bikers found a better way to spend their time. Hilarious.
Krugman always gets it right. Harvard is and has always been an elitist school but egalatarianism is rampant everywhere these days, not surprised that the richest at the school are flaunting it.
Cruz , I am almost speechless. He should be fighting for minorities instead of against them.
Amen!
I tend to didagree with him about once or twice a year. That's tiny!
I have more poignent disrespect for people who have sold their community down the river for personal gain. Cruz is a prime example as is Teabag Thomas. A Black Republican acquaintance once told me, "I knowq what you're saying is true. However, as a Democrat, I'm just one of millions. As a Republican, I'm in demand." I told him he should be ashamed to allow himszelf to be the token black guy.
In some ways, I understand, as I am the token hillbilly.
As a hillbilly, you still run no risk of InsaniTEA, unless you need to use your toes to cipher. 😉