I’m writing for tomorrow, the beginning of a new and busy month. I’m feeling quite tired and have pain in my back, leg and shoulder. It took physical therapy to get all three going at once. ARGH! Day 41.
Late Update:
I missed an entire sleep cycle tonight. I did not attend the Starlight Parade. It attended me. From my window: (Inside to outside at night gives horrid quality).
Parades tend to be a bit noisy. I never knew that above a parade is much louder than at it. The people got noisy with fireworks and air horns before 6:00 PM. It started at 8:30. It lasted until after 11:00.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:03 (average 4:19). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: After a report from the Yale Center on Climate Change Communication showed that the term “climate change” elicits relatively little concern from the American public, leading scientists are recommending replacing it with a new term: “You will be burnt to a crisp and die.”
Other terms under consideration by the scientists include “your cities will be ravaged by tsunamis and floods” and “earth will be a fiery hellhole incapable of supporting human life.”
Scientists were generally supportive of the suggestions, with many favoring the term “your future will involve rowing a boat down a river of rotting corpses.”
Has Andy understated what it will take for Republicans to give up their Koch-sucking denial?
From Daily Kos: On May 22, The Campaign for America’s Future gave a conference on The New Populist Majority. The keynote speaker was Elizabeth Warren. The conference confronted the meme that the US is a "center-right" country.
Most interesting to me was the fact that they obtained poll results from "the 1%."
If you didn’t think Republicans are waging class warfare, think again.
From Alternet: This week, Bill [Moyers] speaks to Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, who argues that we must reform the tax code and stop subsidizing tax dodgers. A recent report by Americans for Tax Fairness suggests that corporate taxes are near a 60-year low — and that’s partially because corporations have become adept at not paying their share.
Here’s a list of 10 tax-dodging corporations excerpted from the Americans for Tax Fairness report.
Bank of America runs its business through more than 300 offshore tax-haven subsidiaries. It reported $17.2 billion in accumulated offshore profits in 2012. It would owe $4.3 billion in U.S. taxes if these funds were brought back to the U.S.
Citigroup had $42.6 billion in foreign profits parked offshore in 2012 on which it paid no U.S. taxes. It reported that it would owe $11.5 billion if it brings these funds back to the U.S. A significant chunk is being held in tax-haven countries.
ExxonMobil had a three-year federal income tax rate of just 15 percent. This gave the company a tax subsidy worth $6.2 billion from 2010-2012. It had $43 billion in offshore profits at the end of 2012, on which it paid no U.S. taxes.
I just gave you the top three corporate criminals. Click through for the other seven.
Cartoon:
18 Responses to “Open Thread–6/1/2014”
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My internet connection keeps dropping out today, must be brief(!) – good luck on your training days, TC, though I think they will have more to learn from you than you from them – but to please the authorities you must go through the course, I suppose!
Andy's article was a bit eye-watering – the Reich wing will sadly never believe it will happen near them though, until it does, then they will blame everyone else. I do hope we stop it before it gets anywhere near that bad!
Alternet – what on earth will make these horrible weasels pay their taxes (every country on earth has them) instead of taking, taking, taking and taking till we drop?!
Faith.
3:29 Not fluttering fast enough today.
3:03 I flit, I float . . . but I managed to keep up to dat puddy tat!
Bigfooted!
No, well at least not you! We were tied.
I was in great company!
Update ~ It looks like a lovely parade. Too bad it disturbed your rest.
New Yorker ~ If anything, Andy probably understated what it will take for TeapublicanTs to admit they are wrong. The Koch's money will have to disappear for that to happen.
Daily Kos ~ I saw the poll result earlier in the week and was not surprised at all. If anything, I was shocked that they got a copy of it. Oh no. There is no class warfare. Just ask them.
Alternet ~ Corporate Welfare at its worst!
Cartoon ~ LOL
4:28 I think I prefer the name "Paper Kite" myself.
The New Yorker – These are great – but, considering how long it took to get people to "believe" in climate change (not that many still don't), by the time we got people to grasp any of these, everyone would be dead. As Tom the Dancing Bug says …. http://boingboing.net/2014/05/28/tom-the-dancing-bug-what-will-2.html
Daily Kos – Aside from coming out of Fox'a posterior, I suspect the meme has two sources: 1) Americam legislators are a center-right group, and 2) people who consistently vote in midterm elections are a center-right group. Unfortunately both are true, but that doesn't mean it holds true for the peop;e as a whole, as the Russell Sage Foundation demonstrates. Now. We have to change (2) in order to change (1). Do you suppose Andy could come up with a set of descriptive terms to use instead of "Republican Majority" that might help? We only need to get through to people who already "believe in" climate change, which should help.
Alternet – Nothing new here. Just Move On (dot org).
Cartoon – Tesla would have given it away. In this case, though, that might have made it even easier to rog. Everything has the defects of its qualities.
Republican Reich!
4:32 – Puzzle – 🙄
🙄
This makes me extremely angry…
Boy, that Starlight Parade looks like a LOT of FUN!
At least you were relatively close to the beginning of the parade, rather than the tail end.
Happy Roses! (But I have to admit that my Mom has a rose bush in the backyard that I HATE … because it always scratched me up when mowing the lawn.)
Puzzle — 3:03 I flit, I float . . . but I managed to keep up to dat puddy tat!
The New Yorker — Yup, he understated what it will take the Republicanus/Teabaggers to give up their Koch-sucking denial. Their responses to some of the new terms.
“You will be burnt to a crisp and die.” — "Good, no funeral or burial needed. Saves money and the cemetery will be available for my dog."
“your cities will be ravaged by tsunamis and floods” — "Ah, an opportunity to clean out the riff-raff from the city and start rebuilding bigger and better . . . in our own image."
“your future will involve rowing a boat down a river of rotting corpses.” — "I have always wanted to have waterfront property and own a marina. What a cash cow!"
And if you are not part of the 1% but are very skeptical, don't worry . . . “earth will be a fiery hellhole incapable of supporting human life.”
Daily Kos — I was actually quite surprised at some of the percentages.
"Our government should redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich." — 17% elites, 52% public. I would have expected a higher public percentage. Republicanus/Teabaggers really have pulled the wool over people's eyes.
"Cutting Social Security" — 33% elites, 10% public. On this one, I would have expected the percentage from elites to be higher.
"The federal government should spend whatever is necessary to ensure that all children have really good public schools they can go to. — 35% elites, 87% public. Just like the Republicanus/Teabaggers to want the children of "lesser beings" to remain under educated so thay can be controlled more easily.
Alternet — With some of the reading I have done lately, I am quite certain that Paul Krugman and Robert Reich would agree.
Of the list of 10 tax-dodging corporations, I am surprised that the Kochs aren't on there. But I suppose that may be a result of being a private corporation and not being required to file financial statements other than with the IRS.
Cartoon — Indeed, no doubt!
Stiglitz, Reich and Krugman at Treasury, FED Chair and Chief Financial Advisor, in any mix.
So, I love a parade is not your favorite phrase?
The New Yorker: Andy is so right. Their houses will have to implode from heat before they will admit to global warming.
Daily Kos: This graph shows exactly what is wrong with our economy. Since the rebound, the wealthy have had most of their losses restored, the poor and middle class are no where near catching up. Mu sister has friends who are very wealthy for this area. They own three homes, which I would classify as mansions, have multiple luxury cars, travel all over the world on a regular basis. They are screaming about having the minimum wage raised, saying it will bankrupt them. I am sure some of their employees would like to have one small home to call their own, and one serviceable car to drive. There are no more Henry Fords, who wanted his employees to be able to afford the product they produced.
Alternet: I clicked through this tax dodger list, and my blood is boiling. We have the best government money can buy. All these companies should be on the wall of shame and should be forced to pay taxes. Why on earth are any of them getting tax subsidies, or tax rebates? Contributions to Congress, that is why. Disgusting.
Cartoon: No doubt this is true.
Thanks all. No more parades till Saturday. The Grand Floral Parade will pass inder my window when I'm trying to rest the day after returning from Salem. This time I get the end of the parade.