I actually made it out for a few minutes this morning to visit the corner store and pick up some staples, and I actually managed some kitty solar basking. I left at 8:00 AM, and by 8:30 the heat had driven me back inside. Even in the coolest part of the day, the hallway temperature outside my door stays over 90°. This heat wave is getting really frustrating!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:45 (average 6:28). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fantasy Football Recruiting:
We still need one or two new player for Lefty Blog Friends, our fantasy football league. Viv and her Hillbilly Lefties are now onboard. Welcome!! How about you? For more information, click here.
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: Amanda Monroe testified at a hearing about raising the minimum wage to show why $15 per hour would make all the difference in the lives of her and her son.
Very well said!
From Alternet: Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been described as radical or fringe by some but many of Sanders’ views and policy proposals are supported by Americans, according to public opinion surveys.
1. Health Care For All
Sanders is critic of the Affordable Care Act, arguing that it doesn’t go far enough and calling for a “Medicare-for-all” single-payer healthcare plan, similar to programs in most developed democratic nations.
“We are the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee healthcare to all people as a right and yet we end up spending much more than they do. So I do believe that we have to move toward a Medicare for all, single-payer system,” Sanders told ABC News.
The idea is extremely popular among Democrats, with nearly 80 percent in support according to a January 2015 poll by the Progressive Change Institute. The poll found that a majority of Americans overall supported a Medicare-for-all insurance option.
And seven in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents agreed with the statement, “it is the responsibility of the government in Washington to see to it that people have help in paying for doctors and hospital bills.” Three-quarters of Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents disagreed according to the most recent Gallup survey.
I shared one of five listed. Click through for the other four.
From Crooks and Liars:
As an untrained observer watching events unfold in Greece from afar, it certainly appeared to me that the IMF was doing its very best to nullify Greece's government with its demands for austerity measures in a country already dealing with a deep economic crisis.
Evidently it appeared that way to Greeks, too, who soundly rejected the IMF austerity plan in favor of something else. What that something else is, exactly, is yet to be determined.
Tsipras and Syriza have won big in the referendum, strengthening their hand for whatever comes next. But they’re not the only winners: I would argue that Europe, and the European idea, just won big — at least in the sense of dodging a bullet.
I know that’s not how most people see it. But think of it this way: we have just witnessed Greece stand up to a truly vile campaign of bullying and intimidation, an attempt to scare the Greek public, not just into accepting creditor demands, but into getting rid of their government. It was a shameful moment in modern European history, and would have set a truly ugly precedent if it had succeeded.
But it didn’t. You don’t have to love Syriza, or believe that they know what they’re doing — it’s not clear that they do, although the troika has been even worse — to believe that European institutions have just been saved from their own worst instincts. If Greece had been forced into line by financial fear mongering, Europe would have sinned in a way that would sully its reputation for generations. Instead, it’s something we can, perhaps, eventually regard as an aberration.
And if Greece ends up exiting the euro? There’s actually a pretty good case for Grexit now — and in any case, democracy matters more than any currency arrangement.
Click through for more detail. It is sad that some (very few) Europeans have made a point of badmouthing the US. While most of the criticism leveled against this country is deserved, perhaps these folks should focus some of their attentions inward. I am NOT referring to the excellent constructive criticism from folks like Lona and Pat.
Cartoon:
26 Responses to “Open Thread–7/6/2015”
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6:56 (average 6:28). You'd never believe I have any mechanical aptitude at all.
First ir was Stephen Kim, then John Kiriakou, and now it is Jeffrey Sterling
http://firedoglake.com/2015/06/15/bureau-of-prisons-puts-cia-whistleblower-jeffrey-sterling-in-prison-around-900-miles-from-wife-family/
He does have a Go Fund Me page (far more worth while than Amber Roof – I guess I should bite my tongue for that) http://www.gofundme.com/lg8xxs This page has an address for postcards and letters (nothing else is allowed).
And Iran is having issues with a teacher who is also a labor leader. When will governments (including ours!) realize that this kind of action broadcasts their weakness? If their policies could stand up to public scrutiny, they would have nothing to fear from teachers, or labor leaders – or for that matter whistleblowers.
http://www.labourstart.org/go/esmail
Upworthy – I hope just one or two Republicans can hear past the "single mom…five months pregnant." I am not, alas, holding my breath.
Alternet – I have already used my three links and I need more for Greece – but if you google "David Horsey," go to "Top of the Tivket," acroll down to May 6, then click on "read more" so you can see the full cartoon, you will see the bame message as this article expressed in a picture worth at least a thousand words.
Greece – see my response to myself.
Cartoon – Or when little boys give little girls their lunch money in order to seduce them but get spurned, and then claim to have been beaten up. Clarence Thomas comes to mind except I think he was too cheap to offer lunch money.
I posted an article – this article – on Care2:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/bernie-sanders-will-end-the-imfs-economic-violence-in-greece-and-africa_b_7723284.html
and then found I had to cite these two in my comments on my own article to cover more angles –
http://www.iuf.org/w/?q=node/4328
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/inside-the-ticker/10-things-the-media-arent-telling-you-about-the-greece-crisis/ar-AAcpiv0
Credit for the last one to Infidel753.
Thanks Joanne–glad to know both are also addressing the problem in Africa
Thanks Joanne–already signed the petition for the teacher
4:54 The tension got to me, slowed me down too much.
3:36 No tension here!
4:00 A little tense over here.
I'm glad Greece is standing up to its rights in the face of bullying and pressure to stay with what doesn't work. CFSB is one US Agency that helps consumers do that with huge corporations that bully, etc., too.
I hope this is a sign that the people in many countries will not tolerate such things any more.
Happy to be in the Fantasy Football League! Can’t wait to see how it shakes out!
A little repukkklican is spawned every day for three Liberals! We will make this country great again, (borrowing from Krump), if allowed to make the changes that are needed!
Go, Bernie, GO to the White House!
Welcome aboard, Viv! We do have fun,
Trump update: “Serta values diversity and does not agree with nor endorse the recent statements made by Mr. Trump,” the company said in a statement, declaring that it would not renew its contract with Trump at the end of the year. Per Bloomberg, the mattresses — part of, I shit you not, the Trump Home Collection — sold between $1,299 and $2,999."
Oops! Forgot the source of the quote:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/02/1398640/-Serta-Mattresses-Fires-Trump?detail=email
Are there seat belts in school buses?
Nope! And the reason(s) why there aren't any seatbelts in buses. "The National Highway Transportation Administration (NHTSA) has issued a position statement on seat belts on school buses, concluding that "there is insufficient reason for a Federal mandate for seat belts on large school buses." The statement points out that: (Read the rest of the article in the link below) :
http://www.nea.org/home/19085.htm
After reading the article, I have to agree with the NHTSA. For now.
Upworthy: She is right, anyone who works hard deserves respect and a living wage!
Alternet: I seethe when I read about mega million dollar corporations paying no taxes and receiving tax refunds while my mother has to pay taxes on her Social Security and meager pension. If my sister and I could not help her financially, she would not be able to stay in her own home. This is WRONG!
Krugman: Didn't Greece's troubles start with their austerity program? Kind of like the one the Repubs want us to be on? I hope all goes well for them.
Cartoon: I am not sure I like this one. I was a little girl who beat up little boys who were being mean to those smaller than them. I hope all of them did not become Republicans.
Edie – Social Security payments, up to a certain point, are NOT TAXABLE for Federal Income Tax. If your Mom is paying Federal Income Tax on Social Security, she is either getting a whole lot more than I am, or she needs a new accountant. If Kentucky charges State Income Tax on Social security payments, that is a different matter. Also, private pensions are indeed taxable for Federal IncomeTax in theory, but if one doesn't receive more in private pensions than the standard deduction, it shouldn't be taxable in practice. PM me on C2 if i can help at all.
TY TC. I am very glad (relieved, indeed!) that Paul Krugman has written that article – as I thought the same, but what I know about economics could be written on the head of a pin. Also as others (though not enough) have pointed out, after WWII, Germany's vast debts were largely forgiven, and Germany then went on to forge one of the world's strongest economies – had those debts not been forgiven, they would probably still be in debt. The only people that these insane government debts seem to benefit are the billionaires at the top – and I do think that the interest should be stopped, and only the principle repayed.
[There was a programme on Channel Four last night about how our local councils are mostly in debt – and paying at least 7% OVER the base rate in interest, having signed contracts that are only possible to get out of if they pay back the principle and then 40% above the principle too, all in one go. These sums are up to half a million pounds per council (obviously they vary). None of these agreements were made public (I wonder why!) – but careful accounting has spotted them – and these people are the ones who tell us what to do! Heaven help us. It makes me wonder how many other places in the world are doing this kind of thing].
Typo – it was the principle and 60% in addition, not 40%, to pay back those council loans.
Puzzle — 3:36 No tension here!
Fantasy Football — Welcome aboard Viv!
Upworthy — Every worker deserves a fair and living wage. I hope that Amanda Monroe's words, and those of others who take the time and energy to testify, are heard. I agree JD, "I hope just one or two Republicans can hear past the "single mom…five months pregnant.""
Alternet — This says it all:
Add to this his unabashed plain, direct talk which people appreciate.
Crooks and Liars — Like usual, Krugman is correct and he makes perfect sense.
And the last sentence says a lot . . . "At this point, the only thing we know for sure is that there are some angry oligarchs today."
Cartoon — Ain't that the truth! Seems these little girls made these little Republicanus/Teabaggerum into misogynists! I was teaching English again today, concentrating on the sounds of vowels. 'Y' can be a vowel having 3 distinct sounds . . . short i, long i, and long e. My pupil likes giving me examples for these and uses misogynist as an example of the short i sound. Her husband was physically, mentally and verbally abusive so it has a very personal meaning for her and we laugh at it.
Tomorrow, I take my mother for botox shots that are suppose to relax her contracting muscles in her right arm and leg. I don't know if the shots will hurt but I'm hoping she won't "reach out and touch someone" with a left hook. The muscle contractions and spasticity are a result of the dementia and very painful. The other thing as I have previously mentioned, it is still very hot (33 C or 92 F) but now we have smoke from the forest fires around Pemberton in the Whistler/Faser Canyon area. When I was out today, I could feel the stinging in my eyes, throat and nose. The smoke is so bad that authorities are comparing Vancouver's current air quality to that of New Delhi, India. The big difference though is that our's is smoke from forest fires while New Delhi's is pollution. We need some heavy rain and wind to clear it up which isn't likely for a week to 10 days.
Late getting to your articles again,Tom. Good excuse this time. No cable, no internet, no land line phone for a few hours and was near dying of the heat. Then my nose started to bleed. When things came back on, the phone rang. It was my ex-husband (that would be #1) wishing me a belated Happy Birthday. What did we do before computerts, etc ??. I would give it all up for an A/C
You poor TomCat; come over here and lay yourself down next to my cats in the shade of the trees or bask a bit in the sun that shines warmly, but not hot. For as long as it lasts, that is, because there's absolutely no way of telling what the weather is going to be like in a couple of hours. The weather men are driving us mad with their false predictions. That's climate change for you too, there's no way of telling what's going to happen next anymore.
Upworthy: Amanda Monroe is absolutely right: Americans are entitled to earn a livable wage with their hard work NOW and not later. Amanda knows what so many Republicans hope: if it isn't decided on now, there will never be a later.
Alternet: Bernie is a true Socialist Democrat and the best thing that could happen to America and the rest of the mayor countries. But it would be absolutely useless to have Bernie for president if the American people don't give him a back-up of (Socialist) Democrats in Congress with which he can get things changed. If he's not given a majority of progressive Democrats in Congress to work with, America will see a continuation of a president rendered powerless by an oligarchy.
Crooks and Liars and Paul Krugmann: Thanks for the compliment, TomCat, but for now things are so much in a turmoil in Europe because of Greece, I'll refrain from commenting and wait until the dust has settled, emotions have calmed, people, including heads of states, can think clearly again and it is clear if this ends in a Grexit or in less austerity not just for Greece but for all of us. I'm rooting for the last one of course, but I wouldn't give a Drachmae for it.
Cartoon: Actually I think it's genetic 😉
Surely I'm not the only one worried. Hope you're just sleeping the day away.
I'm worried too, Nancy. This is uncommonly late for TomCat.
I hope you are well, my friend.
Surely someone has his phone number. It's going to be real hot again today.
I'm OK
The Greeksfound out a great truth.Austerity DOES NOT WORK.Let us hope that the tea baggers,, repugs etc. listen,as they preached austerity to "fix" America. Mr keynes had it right. and bear in mind the fact that the USA. is now considered an OLIGARCHY no longer democracy! Oh DEAR!Suprise!..