I’m writing for tomorrow, day 38. My paid helper-friend visited today and did some heavy cleaning and the dreaded task. While I missed sleep, it’s better than having it pile up.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:11 (average 5:07). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blasted his Democratic colleagues in the Senate on Thursday, telling reporters, “I’m sick and tired of people blaming George W. Bush for things he did.”
In the aftermath of the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on torture, Cruz said, “Democrats have been busy with their favorite game again: bringing up catastrophic things that President Bush did and then blaming him for them.”
The Texas Senator raised the invasion of Iraq as an example of something that “Bush gets blamed for simply because he did it.”
Andy I’m still looking for the satire here. I wonder where we can buy Cruz control pesticides.
From Upworthy: It’s The 4th-Biggest Illegal Industry In The World, And In 11 Years, It Will Destroy Itself
The only elephant that should not be protected is part of the problem.
From Washington Post: The federal agency that will play a pivotal role in guiding the sentence of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has recommended that the onetime Republican rising star spend at least 10 years and a month in prison and 12 years and 7 months at most, according to several people familiar with the matter.
The guidelines recommended by the U.S. probation office are preliminary ones, and even if finalized, U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer is not required to follow them.
Unless Governor Ultrasound does time for his crimes, there is little chance that he will learn to rehabilitate himself.
Cartoon:
25 Responses to “Open Thread–12/13/2014”
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Sorry but I have another migraine, have read all but lost the ability to comment….
Feel better, Pat!
Ted Cruz is simply a doofus in my mind…….very sad video, we need to work to save all elephants unless they are the ones in the USA called GOP……..cartoon is incorrect, in a Republican wet dream the woman would either not be present, just the money, or would be "barefoot, pregnant, and bowing to her spouse" — yuck just thinking this…
You are sooo right!
4th biggest industry…illegal that is–is it 4th because buying elections is now legal? Did Walker choose Adelson because he has nothing left in WI to give the Kochs that they want? Can justice get him like McDonnell before the election? Only the shadow of dark money knows…
Is Cruz's talking point to distance from Bush because that's so passe and the new party will make it look like small potatoes?
Glad you got some help.
3:38 ~ I'm as slow as a snail.
3:12 TC, the esgarot are all your's unless Jerry is going to make an exception to his vegetarian diet. Don't forget the butter and garlic, although, puddy tat's are not supposed to eat garlic.
When I was a child of about 5-8 years, we had an aquarium with fish, turtles and snails. The snails would always get out at night and it was crunch, crunch as we walked across the threadbare livingroom rug. I guess they recognised the large cabbage roses of the carpet and wanted food! I do not like snails ever since.
This kitty LUVS garlix!
6:44 average up to 7:51(!). Apparently a lot of people believe to catch a snail you must be the snail.
New Yorker – Yeah, he really is that dumb. The picture Andy found is great. And the punch line is priceless.
Upworthy – From time to time I wonder what the GOP will do for a mascot when elephants are gone. Keeping it then would certainly lead to all sorts of comments they wouldn't like, about being dead as the dodo, for example Maybe we, or one of the big animal welfare organizations, should hold a contest for suggestions. Not that there is any animal as two-faced as a Republican. But it might become outrageous enough to even get their attention.
WaPo – I did read that most judges follow guidelines like this pretty closely. I know nothing about Spencer, and I don't know how the case being so high profile will affect his decision.
Cartoons – Dave C may be right. My first though was that it is a female Republican's wet dream, but then I realized female Republicans aren't allowed to have wet dreams.
So Very Sad.
Mark your calendars – McDonnell's sentencing date is January 6, 2015.
Speaking of dates, while I noted that yesterday was Krispy Kreme's "Day of Dozens" (12-12-14) I forgot to note that to all you numerology wanks out there, today is even MORE significant – because today is …
12-13-14
So I hope you did something epically significant (like buy a Powerball ticket) at eleven minutes past ten this morning, because then it would be ….
10:11:12-13-14
You'll have to wait ~ 20 years for this to reoccur in January, when it will be 1-2-34
(And all you European folks who actually post dates with some common sense [today would be 13-12-14], you can ignore this.)
Not just Europeans, Canadians too. Some Canadians have gone to 14/12/13 which is referred to the metric version, or something like that.
Hmmm… Republicans sould not be elected until the next timew this happens: 13/14/15
√ – Checked…
Puzzle — 3:12 TC, the esgarot are all your's unless Jerry is going to make an exception to his vegetarian diet. Don't forget the butter and garlic, although, puddy tat's are not supposed to eat garlic.
When I was a child of about 5-8 years, we had an aquarium with fish, turtles and snails. The snails would always get out at night and it was crunch, crunch as we walked across the threadbare livingroom rug. I guess they recognised the large cabbage roses of the carpet and wanted food! I do not like snails ever since.
The New Yorker — "Teddy, darling, look in the mirror. Does the word 'Benghazi!' ring any bells for you?" What a great piece of projection!
Upworthy — Sad, so very sad! Each time I read about poaching, I find myself feeling guilty. When I was about 14 years old, a penpal in India sent me a necklace of carved ivory elephants which I treasured. That was 50 years ago and I still have it. Now all I see is the pain and death that this "trinket" evokes. For that reason, I keep it. Posted to FB.
"The only elephant that should not be protected is part of the problem." — Isn't that the truth! This is one elephant that I will never wear around my neck for fear it will pull me down beyond the sunllight!
Washington Post — "Unless Governor Ultrasound does time for his crimes, there is little chance that he will learn to rehabilitate himself." — Is he smart enough to know that he needs to rehabilitate himself? After all, he is a Republicanus/Teabagger. I hope he is incarcerated for the longest time possible, not just for the charges he was found guilty of, but also because of the damage he did to the people of Virginia, especially the women, the children and the poor. I dearly hope the judge does not use his "good" deeds to mitigate his sentence.
Cartoon — Since the Republicanus/Teabaggers are generally classified as "angry old white males", their wet dreams are "…0.15 times per week (about once every two months) for 50-year-old married males." (wikipedia) That has to really put a crimp in things for Republicanus/Teabaggers to achieve their goals of excessive wealth and trophy wives.
I have a question for you TC, or anyone who knows the answer . . .
I was searching for something on the internet and came across some "birther" articles regarding Ted Cruz and the possibility he wants to run for POTUS. As a result, I thought of 3 similar situations, with a few twists.
Arnold Schwarzenegger — born in Austria to Austrian nationals; US citizen effective 1983; previously elected governor of California; Republicanus/Teabagger
Ted Cruz — born in Canada (which is not yet a US possession thankfully) to American mother and Cuban father; currently federal junior senator from Texas who has suggested he wants to be POTUS; Republicanus/Teabagger
Baraka Obama — born in the US (Hawaii) to American mother and Kenyan father; currently POTUS; Democrat
Schwarzenegger and others have said he is ineligible to be POTUS.
Cruz, like Schwarzenegger is foreign born, but one parent is American which distinguishes him from Schwarzenegger. He held dual Canadian/American citizenship (courtesy of his mother) but applied to renounce his Canadian citizenship and according to wikipedia, ceased to be a Canadian citizen 14/05/14.
Obama, unlike Cruz, was born in the US, but like Cruz, one parent is American.
It is obvious to me that Schwarzenegger is NOT a natural-born citizen and therefore ineligible to be POTUS. However, how can Cruz claim to be a natural-born American citizen when he was born in Canada? It should not matter that his mother was ignorant of the law at the time. And don't get me wrong, the US can have him!
By this, I could be declared a natural-born American because my mother was an American living in the US for almost 20 years. She did not take Canadian citizenship until the late 1970s (exact date unknown) and I don't think she renounced her American citizenship. Does this mean that I could technically move to the US, start up a political career and eventually become POTUS, if I was crazy enough to want this?
BTW. if I were that crazy, the US would get universal healthcare, Republicanus/Teabaggers be damned! LOL!!!
I'll take a crack at it. (Well, not me – but people who actually know something about this arcana stuff.)
SOURCE:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/yes-ted-cruz-can-be-born-in-canada-and-still-become-president-of-the-us/275469/
NOTE: There are some really good hyperlinks in the second paragraph – but I formatted them out to avoid the "Two Links Limit" threshold
…BUT I will post one of them here because it's quite a detailed PDF:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42097.pdf
That said, what I demand to see is his MOTHER'S LONG-FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE! Why should we take his word that his mother was an American? For all we know she could be a Kenyan-born furriner. I DEMAND PROOF – and I'm sure Orly Tait has my back on this one!
Of course Cruz does hold the trump card of having very little melanin in his skin pigment – and as we ALL know, white people are most assuredly the "Real 'Merikans"
On the serious side, Teddy may have ONE problem: How EXACTLY did he fill out his form WRT dual citizenship? Did he, in fact, commit PERJURY?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/background-check-likely-asked-cruz-about-dual-citizenship?ref=fpblg
Probably doesn't matter given his media-whore's grandstanding WRT the spending bill and immigration and government shutdown potential. He's even pissed off his own Rethuglicans.
He's TOAST! (Thank God!)
In a Nut-Shell.
Nameless is spoy on. Cruz shpuld be depor6ted to his country!!
Glad your helper friend showed up!
The New Yorker: Andy is getting closer and closer to reporting facts instead of doing satire all the time..This sounds like something Cruz would actually say!
Upworthy: I shared this one on Facebook. Maybe the threat of funding terrorism will affect those who are not worried about elephants becoming extinct.
Cartoon: I agree with Dave C.'s assessment.
I clicked reply too soon. I hope the Washington Post is correct and he gets the full sentence. Many other politicians are just as guilty, just have not been caught yet.
Thanks all. On the cartoon. Fiorst the Republican wants her to have a scent he loves. Then he'll take her shoes and knock her op.
Still down. Please carry on.
Hope you get to feeling better, TC! I am in the same shape. Not able to type much and neck is out.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!