I’m writing for tomorrow, day 138. Last night I fell asleep while meditating on the Holy Ellipsoid Orb on the Day of Blessed Illumination Return. As penance I shall have to watch Faux Noise. Woe is me!! :-( I leave for physical therapy shortly, and I’m writing now, so I will have this Open Thread to post. The next few days will be busy. Sunday is a Holy day. Monday is a Holy night. Tuesday is a prison volunteer day. I need to complete the dreaded chore between now and then, because nekkid is not included in the volunteer dress code.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:57 (average 4:38). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: There are 45,000 wildfires per year in the southeastern U.S. alone, and since 2000, we’ve had eight of the worst years for wildfires. Now, of course, it’s not just climate change that’s causing this, but after you watch this video, you’ll understand reason number gazillion for us needing to do something about what’s happening to our planet.
Since Republicans represent the polluters that exacerbate this problem, they must be removed from office. Get out the vote!
From NY Times: Former Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia and his wife, Maureen, were convicted of corruption in federal court on Thursday, after a trial that shattered the political career of the onetime Republican star and peeled back the couple’s private life to the bone.
As he was pronounced guilty on 11 counts of conspiracy, bribery and extortion, Mr. McDonnell covered his face with his hands and his head fell nearly to the defense table. His wife, convicted on nine counts, looked straight ahead. There were sobs from the seats behind them where their five adult children and other family members sat.
Isn’t it ironic that this Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian hypocrite, who campaigned on the sanctity of his family, tried to save his own cowardly butt by trashing his wife. May he be probed with his own internal ultrasound wand!
From AlterNet: Obscene Device Laws in Alabama and Sandy Springs, Georgia
The sale of sex toys is legal in most of the U.S.: any local politician who tried to outlaw the sale of vibrators in Seattle, Philadelphia or Los Angeles would be laughed out of office. But parts of the Bible Belt still have so-called “obscene device” laws, including Alabama (where the sale of sex toys was outlawed in 1998 and Christian fundamentalists continue to defend that law). Texas had a ban on the sale of sex toys, but it was rendered unenforceable when a 5th Circuit ruling declared the law unconstitutional in 2008. In Sandy Springs, Georgia, a city ordinance has stated, in effect, that one needs a doctor’s prescription to acquire a sex toy. In May, a local woman named Melissa Davenport filed a lawsuit against the city of Sandy Springs on the grounds that the law was unconstitutional.
Bubba Bagger knows that, if a gal has a toy, she has no reason to mate with him. This is just one of ten Inhumane Republican Laws. Click through for the other nine.
Cartoon:
13 Responses to “Open Thread–9/6/2014”
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Love your photo TC – am very glad you are getting so strong!
NY Times – good to hear the verdict on this corrupt couple – but it remains to be seen if the judge will let them off with a slap on the wrist or properly sentence them to jail time – and a lot of it!
They were just 1 oz bags, Pat.
NY Times:
RACHEL MADDOW 09/05/14
Guidelines suggest 8-10 years for Bob McDonnell
Rachel Maddow uses the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual to look up the potential sentence (pending the judge’s discretion) former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will receive when he and his wife are sentenced in January.
See explanation and VIDEO: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
Thanks Jim!
4:37 No one seems to know why it is called a cardinalfish. Most are not red (although some are, so it might have started with them), they don't resemble hinges, and at 4" max, arrogant humans would not have considered them pivotally important. Now this one in the puzzle, if you go bacl earlier than "cardinal" to "carduus," which can mean "thiistle," I can see that; but I doubt it, because most don't look like this, they're just fish. Great colors BTW.
Upworthy – Living as I do in an area that has seen a wildfire or two (though not this year, and that's another story), and having at least some brains, I was familiar with most of this. But I also understand the Republican resistance, up to a point. What I don't understand is how they see any political benefit from refusing to fund firefighters! As TC says, Get Out The Vote!
NY Times – McDonnell – real presidential material – NOT.
AlterNet – No gal needs a sex toy to not want to sleep with Bubba Bagger. Yeccchh! I note that of ten laws (or groups of laws), 8 are related to sex, 2 to religion, and 1 to voting. Yes, that makes 11. One of the geoup of laws explicitly ties sex to religion so I had to count it twice.
Cartoon – Looks like therapy went better than it has been, sounds like a good thing. Unless of course by "bench press" you mean "put onto a bench and sleep on." Good on you for the counter too. I wish you much strength for the laundry!
2:55 Can't say why it is called a cardinal fish, but perhaps it broke a cardinal rule! During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Portugese were big in the western Pacific from Japan on down. And where there was a Portugese ship of discovery, there were many priests . . . they were the administrators of outposts and carried great authority in ecclesiastical and secular matters. Perhaps one of the cardinals "discovered" the fish and so it was named. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.
Some species of cardinal fish are bright red.
3:21 ~ I was looking for Nemo instead of this fish. I would've thought a cardinal fish would be red too.
Made my day to see the McDonnells convicted. (Just wished it hadn't happened on the day Joan Rivers [RIP] passed, because I would have liked to see it get more air-time.)
I may be repeating something already covered, but 2-3 days ago the McCollum brothers, who are mentally disabled, were exonerated by DNA evidence for a murder they never committed – but served 30 years on death row
It's bad enough that "Justice" Antonin Scalia has repeatedly opined that he has no problem w/ executing innocent people as long as there was no "procedural errors" at trial – but he repeatedly cited this very case to justify his lust for the death penalty.
If there's a God, he'll grant Pres. Obama to nominate a true Justice to replace the either impeached or deceased Scalia – because he is Pure Evil!
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/09/henry_lee_mccollum_cleared_by_dna_evidence_in_north_carolina_after_spending.html
Welcome home!
Amen to that prayer!
From your keyboard to God's monitor, in a screen-filling font!
Puzzle — 2:55 Can't say why it is called a cardinal fish, but perhaps it broke a cardinal rule! During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Portugese were big in the western Pacific from Japan on down. And where there was a Portugese ship of discovery, there were many priests . . . they were the administrators of outposts and carried great authority in ecclesiastical and secular matters. Perhaps one of the cardinals "discovered" the fish and so it was named. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.
Upworthy — Here in BC, wildfires are a big problem and cost a fortune to fight. Everything Dr John Holdren said is true. One thing he didn't mention which causes wildfires is lightning. With the change in weather patterns etc, the hot summer thunderstorms produce significant lightning strikes which ignite the tinder dry forests. Many of these are in remote areas so they are able to get a foothold before forestry officials can act. One thing that I am very happy about is the "hands across the border" approach when it comes to fighting forest fires. Now if people, which in the broadest sense includes Republicanus/Teabaggers, would do their part.
NY Times — So much for Republicanus/Teabagger family values. I usually feel a certain sympathy with people that have to go through all this stuff, whether they are declared innocent or guilty. But for McDonnell, that sympathy is not there. He says he will appeal but how is he going to pay his attorneys etc when he was already in debt? It will interesting to see this unfold more. What will also be interesting to see is how the indictement of Perry, and investigations of Walker and Christie playout. All Republicanus/Teabaggers and all in deep doo-doo.
Alternet — I really do not know how progressives in these states manage not to explode with rage at these insaniTea laws. GET OUT THE VOTE and send ALL Republicanus/Teabaggers to the unemployment line.
Cartoon — Bench press 50 bags of catnip? How? You'd be rolling in it before you even got to the press! Hope physio went well. Mine did — did another 45 minutes of cycling (non stop) plus I am about 2.55 cm taller after the traction.
I didn't roll until they were open.