I’m rushing to kitty sun bask early, because we’re looking at another 95° day. Tomorrow will be about 10° cooler, and even that is inordinately hot for Portland at this time of year. Fortunately I have nothing major on tap.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:44 (average 5:14). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:From Daily Kos (classic: 2/2015):
When Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton took office in 2011, Minnesota had more than a $6 billion dollar deficit and an unemployment rate of 7%. Today, Minnesota’s unemployment rate is now below 4% and they have a budget surplus of over $1.2 billion dollars. How did Mark Dayton do this? Did he heed his Republican opponent Tom Emmer’s advice?
Make no mistake, government cannot create the jobs we need to turn our economy around, but private business people can. State government can either help improve the necessary business climate – as I will do if elected governor – or it can hurt job development, as my opponents’ proposals to maintain the status quo would do.
No. No, he didn’t.
During his first four years in office, Gov. Dayton raised the state income tax from 7.85 to 9.85 percent on individuals earning over $150,000, and on couples earning over $250,000 when filing jointly — a tax increase of $2.1 billion. He’s also agreed to raise Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2018, and passed a state law guaranteeing equal pay for women.
For a healthy economy, list Republican plans, and do the opposite.
From Upworthy: In 2016, "the longest floating structure in world history" will be placed in the ocean.
Don’t worry — it’s not another super yacht or party barge or some other contraption that will further pollute the ocean
It’s called The Ocean Cleanup, and it’s a 1.2-mile-long system designed to collect and remove plastic from the ocean.
For two years, it will hang out in the ocean hopefully to begin undoing what we’ve done for decades: polluted the heck out of the water with plastic trash.
It’s basically a stationary array of barriers that uses the ocean’s natural currents to collect the plastic at a central location.
What can I say? Kudos to Ocean cleanup. I’m sure Republicans will fight it.
From NY Times: They arrived wearing whiskers and ears. They purred over new litter fragrances, and pawed through the cat clothes. Hissing? Well, the line was long for that keynote speech: “Photographing Cats — It Looks Easy, but It’s Not.”
Debunking the cat lady myth, it turns out, is easier said than done.
This was the first CatCon, billed as a celebration of the stylish side of cat fancying. More than 10,000 people crowded into a downtown convention hall here over the weekend to shop for cat-centric merchandise (for people, mostly), have their pictures taken with celebrity Internet cats (such as Lil Bub, famous for her dwarfism), and attend cat-focused panels and speeches.
Nip Bag Alert!!
CAT is where it’s AT!!
Cartoon:
34 Responses to “Open Thread–6/8/2015”
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3:57 average 5:14. Ah yes – hockey (soccer, rugby) with horses – or, in other words, hockey (soccer, rugby) with money. One of the world's oldest sports – making the poor look bad. Polo has been around for 2615 years to our documented knowledge. Making the poor look bad has surely been around for longer than that, though.
DKos (also in HuffPo) – Yes, indeed. Beyond that, I bow to Gene.
Upworthy – Splendid idea. And how exactly are we going to turn the plastic we collect with it into alternate energy?? Just asking.
NY Times – And Simon (of Simon's Cat) was there too. But no actual cats except the celebs were allowed. Makes sense to me. They would have hated it anyway.
Cartoon – Seeing as I was on active duty in the MArine Corps at the time, you would think I would remember it better. But no.
When I told my cat, Nike, that they just had a "Cat Convention" in LA, he said:
No, really … he actually said that to me!
I believe you.
I believe you Nameless, thousands wouldn't!
ARGH!!
I'm inclined not to believe you, having a suspicion he actually said something MUCH smarter and more sophisti-cat-ed. But I'm not calling you a liar without actual evidence.
Sadly Dayton's success hasn't ensured a budget and lots of state employees in disputed areas have received lay-off notices effective 7/1 if the areas of budget for their jobs don't get agreement before then.
I'm sorry to learn that, JL.
Marco Rubio is apparently running for "Straight Man In Chief" by setting them up while unbelievably trying to channel one of John F. Kennedy's most famous quotes.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/marco-rubio-is-now-channeling-jfk-explicitly-20150606
Channeling Sen. Lloyd Bentsen:
"Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy."
No Jack Kennedy is right! This man, and I use the term very loosely, will say absolutely anything to get elected, like the last Reprobate President we had. Fools no one…and the clown train keeps filling…
How unbelievable prescient!
Workers in Oklahoma City discovered slate blackboards at Emerson High School w/ the writing still on them dating back to just shy of 100 years!
http://newsok.com/workers-discover-preserved-writings-drawings-on-slate-blackboards-at-okc-high-school/article/5425449
Now if you scroll through the photos provided and look closely, you'll see that one student (or teacher) wrote:
"Two Bushes are ___ Pricks"
How Clairvoyant!
Now I know some of you are going to try to claim that it actually says
"Two Bushels are ___ Pecks"
But you would be WRONG!
I would never try to claim that "Two Bushels are ___ Pecks", but I would claim and continue to maintain that it says:
"2 bushels are ___ pecks?"
Having said that, I do like your version!
It should have been 3 Bushes!
Maybe four Bushes including George H W's daddy.
I hope you get a break from the heat. We had thunderstorms, complete with wind and lightening today. I drove to Lexington 2 1/2 hrs away for hubby to have dental surgery. Rough day.
Daily Kos: Every Democratic candidate should use Gov. Dayton as an example of why Dems. need to be elected.
Upworthy: I hope the Ocean Cleanup works.. Of course the Republicans will be against it, they will probably decide to pray away the problem, if they even admit it is a problem.
NY Times: Wish I had been there. Cats are where its at. I like dogs, too, but they are so needy. Cats are independent and don't take any crap, but they can also be very living. I have four and have promised not to take any more permanently, but I didn't promise not to rescue and foster.
I hope your Hubby is recovering well.
2:47 Giddyup horsey! Don't let that old Puddy Tat bring catnip sauce near you! Remember, you're much, much bigger and faster than Puddy Tat!
3:22 I'm still in the paddock.
3:58 I'm still in the stall.
BURP!!
I'd love some warmth to dry my washing as I have just had to put the heating on so I can put it on the radiators…
Oh help – wrote a comment but then pressed two keys at once and the whole flipping thing got deleted – argh!
I hate doing that!
Puzzle — 2:47 Giddyup horsey! Don't let that old Puddy Tat bring catnip sauce near you! Remember, you're much, much bigger and faster than Puddy Tat!
Daily Kos — And impressive feat given the political climate in the US! When Dayton leaves office, will the Republicanus/Teabaggerum take office and squander the $1.2 billion surplus like Baby Bush squandered the surplus left by Clinton? There certainly is precedence to believe so!
Upworthy — Very cool! We messed up the oceans (and the entire earth) with our garbage. This gives me hope that we may be able to undo, or at least remediate some of the damage. Kudos to this teenager, Boyan Slat.
NY Times — There is no doubt in my mind, cats rule! At one time, I estimated I had almost 200 cat related items . . . cat pillows, decorator plates, door stoppers made by my father, pictures (not including those on my computer), figurines, salt and pepper shakers, etc
Cartoon — The Liberty has come up several times before. An interesting "blow by blow" account is in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
So, did Israel buy itself a reprieve of guilt with US aid? Or did the substantial and on going US aid start later?
I think the Israeli attack on our USS Liberty was a prequel to Rick Perry's "OOPS!" moment.
It started later. The Attack, in my opinion, was to keep us from observing their war crimes.
Enjoy the basking while it lasts, TomCat, and don't forget to turn over when basking becomes baking. We had one heat wave day last Friday (33° C, 92° F but it collapsed the same day with thunderstorms and after two nice days with gentle temperatures, we're back to below average again and shivering.
Daily Kos: Well, Mark Dayton is still Minnesota's Governor and rich people haven't left the state in droves, so he must be doing something right. Apparently he gets the same opposition Obama gets from Republicans in Minnesota's Congress, because according to JLA he hasn't secured a budget yet and they're using the same federal tactics: lay-off state employees to put the pressure on. That's a shame.
Upworthy The Ocean Cleanup is an invention by a Dutch teenager and apparently he's got enough crowd funding together to get the real deal out there after his prototype was tested and worked. Young people coming up with ecological sound ideas like that and then getting it to work without the help of big banks or selling it to the highest bidder, really make me happy. Boyan Slat is a splendid example of new entrepreneurship and I don't think I've ever donated to a cause more promising than this.
NY Times: A CatCon? No thanks, nor for me, I'll just stay a cat lady old style. No fancy gadgets for me and definitely no selfies with a celebrity cat either, just love and care and a long discussion with my hubby on the incredible bill we have to cough up if my own lil Bub, who had adopted me, has all of her remaining teeth extracted by a vet-orthodontist because of her terrible gingivitis which won't abate otherwise. She's only approximately 4 years old, so what else can I do.
Cartoon: It's amazing the pro-Israel trolls haven't found this one yet and aren't harassing your site or the Care2 post.
Lona. most of the budget is passed. He still wants to spend more of the surplus on education (he originally wanted universal pre-K) than the GOP legislature is willing to support and a couple of smaller agencies budgets–most of it is passed so not as global as a couple years ago (MN has two year budgets not annual).
It reached 95° here.
Daily Kos ~ I've posted this article on FB twice now. I just like to keep reminding people about what can be accomplished.
Upworthy ~ Splendid idea. I'm worried about whether or not marine life will get caught up in the device.
Ny Times ~ Thank goodness no dogs showed up. That would have been Cat-astrophic!
Cartoon ~ I can't believe we let it go and continue to give them aid. Any other country would have been sanctioned at the very least.
Upworthy: The Ocean Cleanup sounds very much like an awesome invention and I do want it to succeed. Big "KUDOS" to the teen, Boyan Slat, who invented this concept.
Maybe the best idea of all would be to eliminate the use of plastic. Guess the oil and coal companies would not like this idea.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is bigger than the State of Texas.
View this link:
Victim of the great garbage patch: Turtle is just one of thousands left deformed or dead by Pacific Ocean plastic: and Mosaic: These countless items of plastic were discovered in the stomach of a turtle who was found dead in Hawaii – unbelievable.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2014849/Victim-great-garbage-patch.html
Thanks Jim.
Upworthy, additional info –
Boyan Slat: Why would you move through the oceans if the oceans can move through you?
Boyan Slat, founder and president The Ocean Cleanup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGqP8wjfiU&feature=player_embedded
Thanks all. Hugs!
THE OCEAN CLEANUP – What We Do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IjaZ2g-21E
On june 3rd, 19-year-old Boyan Slat unveiled the results of the feasibillity study, proving that we can likely clean our oceans. For more information and to support the next phase, please visit https://fund.theoceancleanup.com
On TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROW9F-c0kIQ&feature=player_detailpage