Open Thread–1/12/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:18 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 122014

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I still feel horrible. Tomorrow my Broncos will be worshiping, and I shall be meditating.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:50 (average 5:29). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: There is nothing good to say about the December employment report, which showed that only 74,000 jobs were added last month. But dismal as it was, the report came at an opportune political moment. The new numbers rebut the Republican arguments that jobless benefits need not be renewed, and that the current minimum wage is adequate. At the same time, they underscore the need, only recently raised to the top of the political agenda, to combat poverty and inequality.

The report showed that average monthly job growth in 2013 was 182,000, basically unchanged from 2012. Even the decline in the jobless rate last month, from 7 percent in November to 6.7 percent, was a sign of weakness: It mainly reflects a shrinking labor force — not new hiring — as the share of workers employed or looking for work fell to the lowest level since 1978. That’s a tragic waste of human capital. It would be comforting to ascribe the dwindling labor force mainly to retirements or other long-term changes, but most of the decline is due to weak job opportunities and weak labor demand since the Great Recession.

One result is that the share of jobless workers who have been unemployed for six months or longer has remained stubbornly high. In December, it was nearly 38 percent, still higher by far than at any time before the Great Recession, in records going back to 1948.

This is the fruit of Republican sabotage, preventing the passage of needed jobs programs. The private sector did improve, but the Republican-forced loss of public sector jobs, continues to hurt the economy. The Republican plan is still to destroy the economy and project the blame they have earned onto Democrats.

From Alternet: The White House is poised to sign a year-long contract with global consulting firm Accenture, worth roughly $90 million, to maintain the government’s trouble-plagued health insurance website, a report said.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, said the administration of US President Barack Obama has decided to part ways with CGI Federal, the main contractor that built HealthCare.gov and worked to solve the litany of problems since its October 1 rollout.

The Post said the contract with Accenture could be signed early next week. It also said the government believed CGI had not repaired the problems with the website as well as it could have.

While I can’t say anything about Accenture, one way or the other, firing CGI is way past due!

From Crooks and Liars: The hosts and guests of MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday offered their usual spin on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s marathon press conference regarding the apparently vindictive lane closures on the George Washington Bridge which emails have revealed were aimed at causing headaches for the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee. Host Joe Scarborough said it was hypocritical to attack Christie for fostering a "culture" that permitted this behavior from his subordinates and not attack President Barack Obama for the same thing.

I often hear Republicans claim that MSNBC is biased to the left, but it is not. While MSNBC has some excellent progressive commentators like Ed, Chris, Rachel and Lawrence, they also have three solid hours of dishonest Republican propaganda like this every morning. Note how they elevated the IRS Scandal, long since proven false, to a higher level of culpability than Bridgeghazi.

Cartoon:

Fortunately for Julius, Chris Christie had no bridge there.

Open Thread–1/11/2013

Posted by TomCat at 12:49 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 112014

I’m writing for tomorrow and still feel like something to be buried in the deep end of my kitty box. My Broncos do not worship the Ellipsoid Orb until Sunday, so tomorrow, may its divine light shine upon your team.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:09 (average 5:28). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie lashed out at the media today, saying that it had “failed to focus on the single most important issue regarding me, which is my weight.”

At a press conference in Trenton, Christie yelled at a room full of reporters, accusing them of doing the public a disservice by not devoting all of their coverage of him to the issue of his body mass.

“How much I’ve weighed in the past, how much I weigh now, and how much I’m eating—that’s all you clowns should be writing about,” he yelled. “Anything else is just a distraction.”

LOL Andy. That Republican criminal would do anything to switch the focus to anything but Bridgeghazi.

From NY Times: With his strong-armed change to the filibuster rule and an iron-fisted control of the Senate floor, Senator Harry Reid has engaged in the greatest consolidation of congressional power since Newt Gingrich ruled the House, unleashing a bitterness that may derail efforts to extend unemployment insurance.

Mr. Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, on Thursday dismissed all proposed Republican amendments to the unemployment extension, even those drafted by Republicans who had handed Democrats a victory on Tuesday by voting to take up the bill.

“We get nowhere with dueling amendments,” Mr. Reid declared.

A Republican effort to try to reopen the amendment process failed on a party-line vote, 42 to 54, setting up a showdown next week that is likely to end in the bill’s demise, Democrats conceded.

To Democrats, it was a typical Reid show of force in the face of unfair Republican amendments. To Republicans, it was only the latest — and one of the boldest — slaps in the face.

The Republicans’ amendments had nothing to do with either helping the unemployed or promoting job growth, contrary to Republican lies on the matter. Each was a poison pill, designed to kill the bill in a way that they could deceptively claim to have supported it. Reid was spot on to insist that Republicans kill it directly, if they’re going to kill it anyway, so at least they can take credit for their greed and heartlessness.

From YouTube: RACHEL MADDOW: An Alternate Theory Of The Christie Scandal

While not proven, Rachel’s theory makes more sense than everything I have heard so far, so I decided you should get an opportunity to learn it and decide for yourselves.

Cartoon:

0111Cartoon

Open Thread–1/10/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:37 am Open Thread, Plus, Politics

Jan 102014

I’m writing for tomorrow and feeling like what the elephant in today’s cartoon did, so this Open Thread will deal with just one issue. I bet you can guess which one it is.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:04 (average 4:54). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: All lanes of traffic on the George Washington Bridge were blocked this afternoon by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s ego, traffic reports said.

Aerial images of the bridge showed traffic snarling for miles as Mr. Christie’s massive self-regard shut down all lanes on the upper and lower roadways. Tracy Klugian, a frustrated motorist attempting to head back to his home in Montclair, New Jersey, echoed the feelings of many drivers whose passage was blocked by the gargantuan ego: “First the polar vortex, and now this.”

A spokesman for the New York City Department of Transportation advised motorists to avoid the Governor’s ego by using the Lincoln and Holland tunnels “before Chris Christie remembers they’re there.”

Bridgeghazi!

From NY Times:

The mystery of who closed two lanes onto the George Washington Bridge — turning the borough of Fort Lee, N.J., into a parking lot for four days in September — exploded into a full-bore political scandal for Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday. Emails and texts revealed that a top aide had ordered the closings to punish the town’s mayor after he did not endorse the governor for re-election.

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, emailed David Wildstein, a high school friend of the governor who worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge.

Later text messages mocked concerns that school buses filled with students were stuck in gridlock: “They are the children of Buono voters,” Mr. Wildstein wrote, referring to Mr. Christie’s opponent Barbara Buono.

The emails are striking in their political maneuvering, showing Christie aides gleeful about some of the chaos that resulted. Emergency vehicles were delayed in responding to three people with heart problems and a missing toddler, and commuters were left fuming. One of the governor’s associates refers to the mayor of Fort Lee as “this little Serbian,” and Ms. Kelly exchanges messages about the plan while she is in line to pay her respects at a wake.

Bridgeghazi!!

From YouTube and YouTube: ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES 1/8/14. PART I

PART II

Bridgeghazi!!!

H/T and kudos to SoINeedsAName (aka Nameless) for the term Bridgeghazi. 🙂

Cartoon:

0110Cartoon

Open Thread–1/9/2013

Posted by TomCat at 1:07 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 092014

I’m writing for tomorrow. I feel like crap. Here’s something unusual.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:42 (average 4:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube: The Republicans’ Poverty Agenda: To Make More People Poor

Republicans love poverty almost as much as they hate Obama.

From YouTube: Oops? Tax Increases & the Economy SOARED!

As long as most media parrot Republican lies, without documenting the proof they are lies, far too many voters are deceived.

From YouTube: Senate Democrats Push For Help To Unemployed

The war on poverty was an overwhelming success, decreasing poverty 43%, until Republicans defunded the programs and made increasing poverty a key part of their national agenda. You won’t find a better explanation of this issue than this video. Kudos to Jeff Merkley. Oregon leads the way.

Cartoon:

0109Cartoon

Idiot Lied About ObamaCare

Posted by TomCat at 12:05 am Politics

Jan 082014

Perhaps I’m being too familiar to address this Republican by his first name only. Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot (R-KY) has been caught in a major scam, trying to misrepresent his so-called experience with ObamaCare. He may have fraudulently obtained a bogus Medicaid Card for his son. Lets start with the video:

What he said, however, is completely unrelated to the facts.

Sunday, during an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told a wild tale about his son’s trouble with Obamacare. Paul claimed that one of his sons (the Pauls have three—William, Duncan, and Robert) was enrolled in Medicaid in Kentucky against his will. The senator briefly flashed a blue-and-white insurance card before launching into a diatribe about his son’s travails: "We didn’t try to get him Medicaid…They automatically enrolled him in Medicaid," Paul said. "For a month they wouldn’t talk to us because they said they weren’t sure he existed. He had to go down to the welfare office, prove his existence, then, next thing we know, we get a Medicaid card."

Paul then extrapolated from his son’s experience to make a general point about Kentucky’s health exchange: "Most of the people in Kentucky are getting automatically enrolled in Medicaid."

Conservative websites [Faux Noise delinked] latched [Propaganda delinked] onto [propaganda delinked] Paul’s claim as the latest example of Obamacare’s failures. There’s one problem, though: Paul’s story doesn’t make sense. No one is being automatically enrolled for Medicaid in Kentucky, says Jill Midkiff, communications director for the state’s health department. "We’re not automatically enrolling people," Midkiff explains. "People have to actually go and apply." The Affordable Care Act allowed states to automatically add residents who already receive other social services, such as food stamps and other health programs, to the Medicaid rolls. But Kentucky chose not to take advantage of that provision of the law. The state is notifying some residents of their eligibility for Medicaid, but Paul’s son would have needed to actually apply for Medicaid in order to receive a Medicaid card… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Mother Jones>

That leaves us two possibilities. One is that the card Paul flashed, claiming it is a Medicaid card, is something else. If that is the case, he should be recalled for committing fraud against voters. The other possibility is that it is a Medicaid card, for which a privileged scion of the millionaire Idiot family could not quality. If that is the case he should be criminally charged for fraud, and be recalled. Either way, he has proven that he is not fit to hold office.

Open Thread–1/8/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 082014

I’m writing for tomorrow, working on the apartment, and getting ready to go out and run a couple errands. Nothing really exciting is happening on the home front, and that’s a good thing, because this space used to be filled with heat failures, power failures, and raving idiots roaming the halls. I Like the change.

Late update: Later in the day I came down with a cold/flu and feel just awful Today’s articles are already written, but expect a lull for a day or three.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:35 (average 4:35). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The so-called polar vortex caused hundreds of injuries across the Midwest today, as people who said “so much for global warming” and similar comments were punched in the face.

Authorities in several states said that residents who had made ignorant comments erroneously citing the brutally cold temperatures as proof that climate change did not exist were reporting a sharp increase in injuries to the face and head regions.

In an emergency room in St. Paul, Harland Dorrinson, forty-one, was waiting to be treated for bruising to the facial area after he made a crack about how the below-freezing temperatures meant that climate-change activists were full of shit.

What an excellent parody Andy has made of how dishonest Republicans claim that every winter day negates the vast body of evidence supporting global increases in mean temperature and the more frequent catastrophic freak-weather that results from it.

From NY Times: Representative Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, a perennial target for Democrats who covet his suburban district, announced on Monday that he will retire from the House after six terms.

Mr. Gerlach joined a steady trickle of Republican retirements and resignations, including Representatives Jon Runyan of New Jersey, Tom Latham of Iowa, Frank R. Wolf of Virginia and Tim Griffin of Arkansas, whose seats could now be in play. In all, 12 House Republicans have announced that they are stepping down, either immediately or at the end of the year. Democrats have seen just one, Jim Matheson of Utah, announce his retirement; Mr. Matheson’s district is so Republican, his departure is tantamount to ceding a seat.

In a midterm election where the battlefield was expected to be extremely narrow, the fight for control of the House is opening up slightly.

Here is one more Republican from the so-called "moderate" wing (lightly less insane than TEAbaggers) that has come to realize there is no place for serious politicians in today’s Republican Party.

From Daily Kos: The Federal Reserve officially has a new chair. The Senate, slightly diminished by the polar vortex, voted to confirm Janet Yellen Monday evening, 56-26.

It’s about time! It would never have happened, had Democrats not nuked the Republican filibastards. I’m yellin’ for Yellen!!

Cartoon:

0108Cartoon

This is the best thing any Republican President has done since IKE left office. 🙂

Republicans Want to Make America Stupid

Posted by TomCat at 2:47 am Politics

Jan 072014

Republicans have different reasons for their wars. Their Ear on Women, for example, is to subjugate them at home. Their War on the Environment is to increase profits for criminal corporations. Their War on Voting is to steal elections that they cannot win in a fair contest. Their Wars on Minorities and LGBT people are to tap the hatred of their rabid base and energize them to activism. Now, their War on Education is to make America stupid. Why?

Among the many visionary goals of our nation’s right wing—impoverish older people, starve the poor, deny climate change, outlaw abortion and contraception, eliminate healthcare for millions—few are more foundational than defunding education in general and higher education in particular. Public colleges and universities nationwide have seen significant funding cuts over the past five years, and while the recession is usually blamed, the Right keeps the fiscal screws tight by cutting taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Here in Michigan, in Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s first budget, there was a 15 percent cut in state aid to universities and a $1.8 billion tax cut for businesses. This equals a win-win for the Right: Keep the fat cats in your corner, and constrain the opportunity for young people to learn a host of things that might, well, make them interrogate right-wing policies. The Pew Research Center and others have found that lower income and less-educated whites are becoming more likely to vote Republican than Democrat, with 54 percent of those without a college degree identifying as Republican in 2012; only 37 percent identified as Democratic, so the gap is, well, quite wide.

And here’s the ideological bonus: Public universities, clobbered by defunding, raise tuition. Then conservative pundits like S.E. Cupp can scream about the outrageous unaffordability (and elitism, of course) of a college degree and claim that it’s money down a rat hole. As she put it, colleges are “not meeting the demand of manufacturers and employers who want people who can’t just, you know, read Freud and Nietzsche … but who can actually read a business plan.” She’s hardly alone— stories asking “Is College Worth It?” are everywhere now. Few put two and two together: that the government cuts have to be made up somehow… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

Most people are shocked, when I tell them, I do not have a four year degree, just an AA. I come across ads better educated, because I received a better and more rounded high school education in 1960s than many degrees individuals have today. In those days the focus was on learning how to think, not what to think, and it instilled in me a thirst for knowledge that still demands I keep learning learning, as I have since my formal education ended.

Unless we produce a generation of Americans smart enough to find new innovations to succeed in a competitive world economy, America will become a third world, totalitarian nation under rigid Republican rule. However, we have teachers that are good enough and students capable of learning. The only thing preventing us from giving those students what they need to lead the world into a better future for all is the Republican Party. Removing them from power is a national imperative.

Republicans on Parade–1/7/2014

Posted by TomCat at 2:46 am Politics

Jan 072014

RepublicansOnParade3

Here is the thirty-seventh article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is retired Colonel Paul Harry Tiley. He is so honored for proposing treason.

The organizer of a May 16 rally calling for President Obama’s overthrow claims that he has the support of “a number of high ranking military leaders” who will assist in “a gigantic ‘movement to action’ in D.C.”

Col. Harry Riley, who is putting on the event with the backing of Jim Garrow and former general Paul Vallely, wouldn’t be the first conservative activist to call for military action against Obama.

Riley told [propaganda delinked] Renew America’s Sher Zieve that he hopes for an Egyptian-style uprising to bring an end to “the tyrannical, dictator like regime that is taking American into the abyss.”…

Inserted from <Right Wing Watch>

I chased down a recent 31 minute interview with this seditionist. Be warned! BARF BAG ALERT!!! This is Republican propaganda in it’s vilest most treacherous form. It leaves no doubt that this Republican has crossed the line to sedition, and if he follows through on his threats, will have committed treason by trying to organize military personnel to betray their oath in outright rebellion.

I forgot to mention that this nut-job is as boring as he is deranged, making him VERY Republican.

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