I’m writing for tomorrow, and tomorrow is almost here, so I shall be brief. The volunteer corporate paperwork took me about eight hours to complete. ARGH! Fortunately, I took some time for political research, before I started. Day 18.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:33 (average 5:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: Traffic getting you down? Smog in the air?
This photograph taken in 1991 shows how much road space 72 people would need if they used bicycles vs. cars vs. a bus.
Now I have no choice, but even when I could drive, I opted to travel via public transit to reduce my carbon footprint. I realize that not all have that option, but we need to redesign our cities so that more do.
From Daily Kos: The New York Daily News reported today that Dutchess County controller Jim Coughlan, a Republican candidate for the New York State Senate, tweeted the following about MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry:
Keep your stinking paws off my kid, you damned dirty ape.
According to the report in the Daily News Coughlan denies knowing that Harris-Perry is African American and instead was simply quoting the famous line from the original Planet of the Apes. Sure, not racist at all. It is so believable.
And what did Harris-Perry say to set Coughlan off?
“We have never invested as much in public education as we should have,” Harris-Perry said, “because we’ve always had kind of a private notion of children: ‘Your kid is yours, and totally your responsibility.’”
Right! The typically racist Republican did not know she is black. He also does not know the Pope is Catholic and has no idea where bears shit!. Whatever happened to: "It takes a village to raise a child?" Republicans love that one, when they are using it as a rationalization to keep children from adoption by gay parents.
From NY Times: Americans are less worried about climate change than the residents of any other high-income country, as my colleague Megan Thee-Brennan wrote Tuesday. When you look at the details of these polls, you see that American exceptionalism on the climate stems almost entirely from Republicans. Democrats and independents don’t look so different from people in Japan, Australia, Canada and across Europe.
According to Pew Research Center surveys conducted last year, 25 percent of self-identified Republicans said they considered global climate change to be “a major threat.” The only countries with such low levels of climate concern are Egypt, where 16 percent of respondents called climate change a major threat, and Pakistan, where 15 percent did.
Click through for much more data. Democrats certainly need to improve, but the next time some fool tells you there is no difference between the two parties on climate change, remember this.
Cartoon:
18 Responses to “Open Thread–5/9/2014”
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3:17 This looks like a little weed that grows all over my garden.
4:08 I couldn't fight my way through the leaves. I seem to be getting slower ever since I started playing a jigsaw puzzle on my iPad.
3:18 Pretty little thing, weed or not.
Mashed!
Keep up the good work! 18 days is great!
Upworthy ~ When I lived in the little city of Utica, NY I walked or bicycled to most places because I enjoyed it. I had to drive for work. Hospice had me driving almost 1,000 miles a week for home care. Oil changes every 3 weeks, new brakes every year. Now, rural living suits me just fine. I drive less than 5,000 miles per year. Auto emissions need to be curtailed. The best way to do it is by more people using public transportation. I always admired NYC subways and enjoyed riding them when in the city. More cities need to have better public transport.
Daily Kos ~ His explanation was too lame. The line from Planet of the Apes is "Take your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" Get it right Coughlan.
NY Times ~ Pakistan and Egypt are largely Muslim. They reject climate change for the most part. So accoring to TeapublicanT logic, most Republicans are Muslim. Right?
Cartoon ~ Say it isn't so, TC. come back from the Dark Side!
Patty, you musundertook me. 😉 I inspect Republicans for InsaniTEA. It's an easy job, as finding it is virtually assured.
Time – 3:42
Melissa Harris Perry is very well known and we know that just as liberals must take notes from what the right is thinking or doing, often from Fox the right takes a look at MsNBC to see what the liberals are chatting about. Yep, the Pope is catholic, bears do not build indoor plumbing and Melissa Harris Perry is black. That is known and if there was any doubt, why use the one comparison that in the US has a universal meaning? The very ugly comparison of blacks and apes is done for only one reason, and we all know what that is, not a racist? That it rolls around in his head is proof of how this nincompoop thinks. The US has had public schools in every state since 1870 and long before that in many states. That does mean that children have been a part of the greater village for most of the history of our country.
If we pay any attention at all, then we all know that Greenland is gone, the arctic is gone with each a massive and steady increase in ocean levels. The Antarctic is now not guess work or a potential problem but is also in process of melting. All coastal cities will need to find ways to build massive sea walls, should you live in a country that can not afford to do that, the city will have to move inland. Any thoughts on what happens to public health or the very poor?
As the Arctic and Greenland ice has retracted it has opened areas for drilling, and that is our swan song. The drilling will continue, there will be continued efforts to stop and block the moves to sustainable technology. Lies and denial of climatic changes will continue and those who need to believe the lies will do so. As the old adage says, "You can lead a horse to water….". If you took your child to the doctor for help and 98 doctors said this the problem and this the solution but 2 doctors said no problem time will fix this. What would you do?
We must cut back carbon by at least 50% in the next ten years, but with deforestation continuing at the current rate, the reduction of carbon alone will not make a difference. Every prediction has been balanced for the safest of all possible out comes, each scientific study has made one tragic mistake. The scientists all believed for the past 40 years that no one would be able to ignore the coming drastic changes. The result of that is any thing that says in 100 years this could happen, must be now changed to in a hundred years this will be the state of things to come. Scientists do not like to make dire predictions, but now what possible choice is there?
Those who want to believe that god would not let this happen or will sudden repair the earth, god gave you a brain and the ability to make choices. Our choices have all been toward building and supplementing the growth of corporations, not people. Corporations exist to make a profit, they have no sense of community no personal conscience. We can not change what is, but we can make changes to ameliorate the rapid and growing death knell for this planet, if we have the will.
Thanks TC and best wishes for a great weekend. Happy Mother's day to all mom's and of course all grannies.
Enjoy your family time. 🙂
Actually, in terms of the Arctic anyway, global warming has hindered drilling at least on land. The drilling is done during the winter when ice roads could be built and there is less danger of damaging the permafrost.
A fun diversion: The 100 Most Important Cat Picturs of All Time:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/best-cat-pictures
Purrrfect!!
Thanks, Nameless, I enjoyed all of these.
RE. Climate change. Scientist on BBC this am. stated that the American public needs educating re. the fact that Climate change IS JUST THAT, A FACT. I amost dropped my morning coffee at the thought of educating the American people. . LOTS OF LUCK WITH THAT!
Also study re. World wide education . Number one globally ,South Korea!
Have a good day all.
Upworthy: Here in my rural area, there is no public transit and no roads safe enough for a bike. I could no longer use a bike for transportation anyway. hahaha
Daily Kos: I hope that tweet costs him the election!
NY Times: How sad for our country that so many are so ignorant about climate change. I fear that my granddaughter will not have a very pleasant world to live in.
Cartoon: I wish there were an inspector for those lunatics.
There is… ME!! 😀
And we are soooo thankful you are there.
Puzzle — 3:18 Pretty little thing, weed or not.
Upworthy — I drive most places but if I don't have to go out, I don't. And I try to combine tasks so that I am not wasting gas and time. I fill up about every 5 weeks and it costs about $50. And if I am stuck in traffic or in line for gas etc, I turn off my ignition. Part of the problem with transit here is that it isn't efficient for the places I need to go. For example, visiting my mother because I leave there about 9 or 10 pm. By bus, it would take me at least an hour and it is only 20 km.
Daily Kos — What a load of bull manure! As you said TC "He also does not know the Pope is Catholic and has no idea where bears shit!. " Check his shorts. I bet he has KKK written in them so he knows who he is.
NY Times — Where there is a will to change our outlook on climate change, there is a way. But do we have the will? What is more important . . . a place to live and food to eat, or excess profits which you can't take with you when you die in the floods, storms and rising seas?
Cartoons — When you think about it, the Republicanus/Teabaggers should be charged with littering for all the crap they leave in their wake.
Thanks everyone. Like I said, nit everyoned can throw away the car keys like I did, but we must all do what we can.