It’s day 82. Here goes the new schedule. I tried to watch the Pro Bowl last night. I forgot how badly they have screwed it up and turned it off before the first quarter was over. I feels very strange to have slept part of last night.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:51 (average 5:32). To do it click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: Republican Presidential candidates descended on Iowa over the weekend, giving Iowans a rare opportunity to evaluate all thirty thousand hopefuls in one place.
The candidates were a big hit with their G.O.P. audience, who attempted to determine which of the thirty thousand would do the best job of eviscerating Obamacare and deporting college students.
Andy always has been a master of understatement.
From NY Times: Alexis Tsipras, leader of the left-wing Syriza coalition, is about to become prime minister of Greece. He will be the first European leader elected on an explicit promise to challenge the austerity policies that have prevailed since 2010. And there will, of course, be many people warning him to abandon that promise, to behave “responsibly.”
So how has that responsibility thing worked out so far?
To understand the political earthquake in Greece, it helps to look at Greece’s May 2010 “standby arrangement” with the International Monetary Fund, under which the so-called troika — the I.M.F., the European Central Bank and the European Commission — extended loans to the country in return for a combination of austerity and reform. It’s a remarkable document, in the worst way. The troika, while pretending to be hardheaded and realistic, was peddling an economic fantasy. And the Greek people have been paying the price for those elite delusions.
Click through for the remainder of this Paul Krugman Editorial. Austerity work for the super rich only. That’s why Republicans love it so.
From USA Today: Thousands of flights were canceled, schools were closing early and snow trucks were rolling Monday in anticipation of a monster storm expected to roar across a wide swath of the Northeast with up to 3 feet of snow and near-hurricane force winds.
A blizzard warning was issued for the New York and Boston areas and more than 5,200 flights had been canceled before the storm cranked up. The storm will impact more than 40 million people, according to the National Weather Service.
The treacherous, 24-hour-plus snow odyssey was expected to be most severe late Monday and deep into Tuesday. AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines said Philadelphia, New York City and much of New England could see 1-2 feet of snow. Parts of central Massachusetts and central Connecticut could be in the 2-3 foot range, he said.
feel so sorry for you guys! Please take extra precautions to keep yourselves warm and safe. Here, when the sun burns through the fog, and it warms up, I’ll go bask my kitty butt in 58°.
Cartoon:
23 Responses to “Open Thread–1/26/2014”
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And from Iowa they headed to Palm Springs, CA to make their commitments to the Koch Brothers.
I hope the power brokers in the EU take the Greek election as an opportunity to change course for the sake of all their countries.
CA has had some flights cancelled by fog of late–primarily flights between CA cities. I hope all are prepared for power outages and to avoid travel/driving during the blizzard.
Perhaps they compromised on the turkey vulture?
4:16 average same. Hmmm. Well, nothing to eat. Maybe if we actually had the token ….
New Yorker – Yes. Will try a different computer to see the tail end.
NY Times – Petition here:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/obama-respect-anti-austerity?source=c.url&r_by=1135580
Sorry it's felt to be necessary.
USA Today – Been there, done that, it's no fun. Do take care, those of you who are in for it. We are expecting a high of 65 here. Of course we are only at about 6000 feet. It will be colder higher.
Cartoon – Oh, I don't know. I think the Republicans got exactly the right bird – one whose appearance diverts attention from what a vicious predator it actually is. Vultures are actually kind of sweet. And they don't kill. They just clean up after those who do. Maybe an oversimplification, but basically correct.
MoveOn petition in Joanne's box signed.
Jim, thanks.
Fortunately the New Yorker thinks my two desktops are different people, even though they share a modem. I particularly liked the last two paragraphs RE Scott Walker (M[urderer]-FW).
I signed the petition and shared it on Facebook.
Petition signed. Thanks JD.
Signed the petition.
Now that you have signed, help it grow by asking your friends, family, colleagues to sign.
A balmy 59 here in KCMO. In fact I'm having a little roof work done.
But of course we all know that the snow out East absolutely proves that Climate Change is a HOAX!
3:47 Good time, Joanne D. You beat TomCat!
3:41 You did too Jerry! But I beat all 3 of you. I wonder if Patty is out shoveling snow rather than doing the puzzle?
4:04 No snow to shovel up here. Just a light disting. I'm too far inland. I do however have a cat on my lap alonside my laptop hindering my speed.
I'm liking your new "schedule" – seems much more spontaneous.
But it'll probably take a bit getting used to on my part. I stop by in the morning, and the evening (and sometimes in the afternoon if I got time) – so I'll have to learn to coordinate w/ the new posting times.
BUT I'm tickled-pink if it's not only easier for you – but also adds to your ZZZZ hours.
Coordinating will be hard, as they will vary from day to day. 🙂
The New Yorker:
"Thirty thousand hopefuls all vying for the nomination as Republican Presidential candidates. Oh woe are the Iowans to have to try to figure out who is what. There is a perfectly good solution: dump them all as excessive garbage and throw them away – every stinking one of them. Who needs them?
NY Times:
The best action for Greece and Alexis Tsipras to do is dump this "Troika" — the I.M.F., the European Central Bank and the European Commission and restore its programs that were in place before the austerity plans were forced upon Greece.
USA Today:
Big storm back East. Will need to keep in touch with relatives and their families living in those areas. I do know that they all have stockpiled food and other essentials. They could not get out of their houses for a few days because of the heavy snowfall.
Cartoon:
I like vultures and they do a marvelous job in cleaning up the fallen animals. By the way, some species of vultures are severely endangered as their numbers are dwindling each year. I wish the real bird vultures would help clean-up the GOP/TP/Koch Party and put them out of their misery.
Ny Times: I read the whole article. What Greece has done is what the Republicans wanted the USA to do. If they had been successful, we would be in even worse shape. The WPA worked after the Great depression, and it is called for again since most of our infrastructure is crumbling. It would be a boost to the economy, too, because more people would have money to spend. I am delerious, I know it will never happen with our current Congress.
USA Today: I feel so sorry for those folks caught in the horrible weather conditions. We are getting the tail end of the storm, but very little snow expected, just exceptionally cold weather.
The New Yorker: I read the whole thing before I realized it was Andy. He is getting closer and closer to fact with each article.
Cartoon: They are on their way to eviscerating the entire country except for their beloved one percent.
Do the GOP/TP/Koch Party members (congresscritters) enjoy being slaves to the 1%ers…
Puzzle — 3:41 You did too Jerry! But I beat all 3 of you. I wonder if Patty is out shoveling snow rather than doing the puzzle?
The New Yorker — Well I hit the wall on free articles. But I did catch a glimpse of something on the TV at physio . . . just don't know if it was Iowa or the 2012 cycle. There was Bachmann, Perry, Santorum, Rmoney that I remember and a few others. I didn't catch it all and there was no sound. Just as well . . . they're all lunatics!
NY Times — Austerity in France under Sarkoza didn't work well. There have been some modest reforms, but François Hollande is reeling in scandal and problems as the reforms are taking too long to be approved and implemented. Greece, if I recall correctly, has always had issues. But the austerity programme has not worked. It seems that austerity is almost like a cancer, feeding on the body, Greece.
USA Today — And to think that climate change deniers say there is no such thing as global warming or climate change! A bunch of putzes! We've been hearing about the storms all day. Atlantic Canada is scheduled to be hit too! Here, it was17 C and sunny today. The crocuses are about an 2 cm high and I saw some daffodils or narcissus up about 5 cm. Lot's of people sitting on the Starbuck's patio. We had several days of torrential rain last Friday/Saturday but it dried up for the Walk for Memories I did on Sunday. Back to heavy rain tomorrow through Thursday.
Cartoon — Well old Ben wasn't the brightest bulb on the block. After all, wasn't he the one who tried a key onto a balloon and string because he was afraid he'd lose the key during the storm? No matter what Ben says, stick with the eagle . . . they fly higher and better than vultures!
Ben was confused. When he was flying the, kite his wife was yellin out the window that he needed more tail, so he added the key. Just then night before, she had told him to go fly a kite.
There seems to be only one thing that unites the Right – what whatever lunacy they predict is FACT – hence this from the NY Times article by Paul Krugman "Both the European Commission and the European Central Bank decided to believe in the confidence fairy — that is, to claim that the direct job-destroying effects of spending cuts would be more than made up for by a surge in private-sector optimism. " – who, had they ever studied human behavior or studied history would have ever thought that?! I know we didn't; poor Greece.
So glad the new system is working for you TC!
Just listened to some of the REPUG.Wanabee,s at the convention. .Holy Cow.they are scarey,and what is worse is that the Ammerican public would considerANY of them as Leader of the USA.!.
I have NEVER heard such incoherent drivel in a very long time.,Palin totally lost it!(I wish that we could lose the whole lot of them and start again).Make the criteria ,Must have an IQ. and know the difference betweeen truth and fiction!
This current gang is the stuff of nightmares! God Help America
I agree. Europe has a cpuple zingers too.
Thanks all!