I’m writing for tomorrow, day 35. I’m still down. Today was a prison volunteer day. I felt unhappy that I could not go. Tomorrow is a grocery delivery day.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 5:02 (average 5:57). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fantasy Football Report:
Here’s the latest from our own fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.
Scores:
Standings:
Congrats and kudos to Lynn for winning the regular season. Now come the playoffs. Will I be Monster Mashed by Patty Monster in the first round?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: The Saturday Night Live clip below was "cut for time" from Saturday’s broadcast, but is going viral from their YouTube page.
I’m guessing it was cut, because the network thought it too soon to find humor in recent events. I disagree. Humor is how we survive injustice, oppression and Republicans in office.
From The New Yorker: President Barack Obama spent several hours on Monday in a closed-door Oval Office meeting seeking advice on how to establish a monarchy, Fox News reports.
According to Fox, the President peppered his Oval Office guest with detailed questions about the mechanics of setting up a monarchy and was curious about the perks and powers that go along with it.
Obama’s guest advised him that establishing a monarchy would probably require rewriting or even replacing the Constitution, an option that Obama reportedly said would be “difficult, but doable.”
I think Andy is overcome by Faux Noise projection. An American monarchy has already been established under King George I and his idiot son, King George II. The later replaced the Constitution with the "Unilateral Executive".
From ABC: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released an exhaustive and explosive report today on the CIA’s interrogation practices, saying the agency repeatedly misled Americans and deeply mismanaged the program that was secretly put into place after the 9/11 terror attacks.
The controversial, five-year study by the committee, which was conducted after reviewing more than 6 million pages of internal CIA records, found that the interrogation techniques used on more than 100 detainees “were not effective” and the management of the program “was inadequate and deeply flawed.”
The report also indicates the techniques used in the CIA program were “far more brutal” than was relayed to lawmakers and the public.
“It shows that the CIA’s actions a decade ago are a stain on our value and on our history," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on the Senate floor. "The release of this 500 page summary cannot remove that stain but it can and does say to our people and the world that America is big enough to admit when it’s wrong and confident enough to learn from its mistakes. Releasing this report is an important step to restore our values and show the world that we are in fact a just and lawful society.”
Click through for more information about how much more brutal Republican torture was than we were led to believe, and how the Republican Party opposes releasing even the heavily redacted summary. It did not go far enough, because it does not release the names of those who authorized and defended torture: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Libby, Gonzales, Yoo, etc.
Cartoon:
No wonder Republicans hate the UN.
12 Responses to “Open Thread–12/10/2014”
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5:59 average up to 6:07. Nothing to eat unless you're a termite. Nice climbing contours but who has energy for that?
Daily Kos – Very funny, so funny it was painful to watch. You're right, humor is how we survivie, and you're right, it shouldn't have been cut.
New Yorker – Don't do it, Barack! In a constitutionsl monarchy the sovereign has no real power – that is held by the senior leader of the party who ended up with the most legislative seats – and that would be – Mitch McConnell!??!1!11!!?????
ABC – Yes, we certainly didn't learn anything. Dick Cheney is a liar? We knew that. The torture was more brulat than we were told? We knew that. The torture was ineffective? We knew that. Even the names you mention would not be anything we didn't know. It would just make it official.
Cartoon – It should be printed in little booklets like the US Constitution and be readily and inexpensively available. Until that day, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=eng Note in the left bar you can look it up by translation.
Note to Cheney et al:
What you authorized was NOT "24"
And you are NOT Kiefer Sutherland!
And I hope you all ROT IN HELL!
Satan would say, "Thanks, son! Good job!"
All issues can be found related here and either compliant or not; on this day the full should always get read for the reminders to our heads and hearts.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
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Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
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Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
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Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
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Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
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Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
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Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
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Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
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Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
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Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
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Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
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Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
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Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
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Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
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Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
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Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
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Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
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Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
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Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
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Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
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Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
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Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
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Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
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Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
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Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
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Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
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Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
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Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
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Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
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Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
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Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
Start with program titled: CIA ignores own lessons in developing torture program under Bush
Rachel Maddow tells the history of Yuri Yosenko, former KGB spy, to whom the United States apologized for torturing him when he tried to defect, and other examples of how the CIA learned that torture interrogations, while tempting, are counterproductive.
Thanks for the link, Jim.
Wow! Tom At! Are you OK? You haven’t been on in a long time!
All the topics were spot on!
Take care, TC. Keeping you in mind!
V. B.
I hope you feel better soon, will someone help you put away the groceries?
Daily Kos: It was humerous but I have to admit that I was uncomfortable watching. We do need humor to help us survive but maybe this was a little too soon.
The New Yorker: I think you are right, TC. Now another of his majesties may be running for Prez.
ABC: I didn't click through. I was in my car yesterday and listened to the whole statement by Feinstein. I was sickened, but not surprised. This is not our country, not the values we learned about it or what we represent. I read that the only person to be prosecuted was the whistle blower. I am certain that those who were responsible will never be prosecuted. If this happened in another country we would be hell bent to bring the guilty to trial. I do not believe that will happen here.
cartoon: And now our country has no knowledge of basic human rights. This scares me.
Thanks all. Kudos to JL. Still sick.
That video had me watching it from behind my hands as everything went so, so, so wrong! It was very well done – and we do need humour to help us cope with and ultimately (please God) recover from tragedies, but perhaps it may have been released a little too soon.
New Yorker – oh help TC, that photo is terrifying – and I bet he has one like it at home!
ABC article – Cheney is screeching in the media how they all did the right things and look at the wonderful things that resulted. Well, just to comment about one of the things that resulted from their actions, without Bush and Cheney IS/ISIL/ISIS would never have leapt to psychopathic prominence – and people are still dying and being tortured as a result and sadly probably still will for many years to come. (Nice to see someone like Cheney who is proud of their work [deepest sarcasm]).
Thanks JL A for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a salutory read.
Hi All, I have been having some health issues also, but manage to head for my Inbox to see if TomCat is there. You all know my dissapointment Some surgery scheduled for 12/23, just in time to ruin my desire for some good eggnog ! Oh well. Have missed some B'days (Jim and others). Will do better in 2015.
Puzzle — 4:13 That is one dried out old stick!
FF — May you win your playoff against the Monster Masher! I would rather play you than Patty. She beat me both times this year while I beat you.
Daily Kos — The video is not available in Canada unfortunately.
The New Yorker — "…Obama’s guest advised him that establishing a monarchy would probably require rewriting or even replacing the Constitution, " — What the hell, Republicanus/Teabaggers regularly rewrite the constitution, or totally ignore it, depending upon their needs. Their folly goes back decades upon decades.
ABC — Cheney et al, boils on the ass of the US!
Cartoon — Every day should be Human Rights day.