Because tasks here have given me a very late start, and because the news seems dominated by only two stories, I’m going to take an easy day and make this the todays only article, so I will not be sending links today on Care2. After today we have several day’s of cool weather and forecast, and we may have something called “rain”, whatever that is.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:44 (average 4:15). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Beth Clarkson has extensively studied voting patterns in Kansas and noted several troubling statistical anomalies, ones that always benefited Republican candidates. She pressed for further transparency and was consistently rebuffed. She decided to sue Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Sedgwick County Elections Commissioner Tabitha Lehman:
While it is well-recognized that smaller, rural precincts tend to lean Republican, statisticians have been unable to explain the consistent pattern favoring Republicans that trends upward as the number of votes cast in a precinct or other voting unit goes up. In primaries, the favored candidate appears to always be the Republican establishment candidate, above a tea party challenger. And the upward trend for Republicans occurs once a voting unit reaches roughly 500 votes.
“This is not just an anomaly that occurred in one place,” Clarkson said. “It is a pattern that has occurred repeatedly in elections across the United States.”
The pattern could be voter fraud or a demographic trend that has not been picked up by extensive polling, she said.
She wants to look over the hard copies to check the error rate. You’d think in America, the heart of democracy, this would be a fairly simple request. But, no. Last night, Kris Kobach asked a judge to block the release:
In areas where Republicans control voting machines with no paper trail, such statistical anomalies are especially common nationwide, and they always favor the Republican candidate. At times, to ensure a Republican win, they even count more votes than a precinct has voters. So the reason Kobitch wants to block the release is obvious.
From Vox: America is an exceptional country when it comes to guns. It’s one of the few countries in which the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected, and presidential candidates in other nations don’t cook bacon with guns. But America’s relationship with guns is unique in another crucial way: Among developed nations, the US is far and away the most violent — in large part due to the easy access many Americans have to firearms. These charts and maps show what that violence looks like compared with the rest of the world, why it happens, and why it’s such a tough problem to fix.
The article has 17 excellent maps and charts. I shared 1. Click through for the other 16.
From Raw Story: One of the Kentucky county clerks who is defying court orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples said his religious faith requires him to notify LGBT people that they’re going to Hell…
…He argued that the U.S. Supreme Court lacked the authority to overturn Kentucky laws that were approved by a majority of voters — and he said he was willing to become a martyr over this “travesty.”
“Our law says ‘one man and one woman’ and that is what I held my hand up and took an oath to and that is what I expected,” Davis said. “If it takes it, I will go to jail over — if it takes my life, I will die for because I believe I owe that to the people that fought so I can have the freedom that I have. I owe that to them today, and you do, we all do. They fought and died so we could have this freedom and I’m going to fight and die for my kids and your kids can keep it.” [emphasis added]
If this Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian is willing to die for his assumed right to harass LGBT couples, he certainly has my permission to do so. 
Cartoon:
28 Responses to “Open Thread–8/27/2015”
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2:49 I took a quick nap on the beach.
2:43 I staked out a nicely shaded spot for me and my SPF 60 sunscreen! I left my babes at home. Don't want them hiding anything in the sand!
3:11 You guys can run around in the sun all you want. I am finding a shady spot and resting.
{{{TC squats, squats, squats and digs like crazy, until he has buried the Big Feet in USED sand.}}}
Funny!! Wouldn't be the first time.
Daily Kos ~ They will go to any lengths to win an election. Georgia just admitted that they disenfranchised votes in 2008 and 2012. My, my! I'm getting the vapors.
Vox ~ We're Number 1 in the wrong thing. We have surpassed one mass murder a day this year. What a fact of which to be proud.
Raw Story ~ This is the kind of lunatic who carries a weapon.
Cartoon ~ Chuckle…
CA banned those voting machines a few elections back due to unacceptable error rates. I hope Beth prevails and that others look into it in other states like she is before 2016.
Another horrible statistic I read is that this year we are averaging more than one multiple victims shooting per day–mass shootings.
The KY moron needs to be terminated from his job for failing to obey the law–like yesterday or earlier.
I would've put a FEMA trailer forbidden to be used as housing in the cartoon.
Just a small note WRT the Kentucky County Clerk: Unfortunately, she can NOT be fired because she's an elected official.
She says she'll refuse to ever resign because the Bible tells us marriage is between a man and a woman & we're to honor those marriage vows (says the gal who has been married FOUR TIMES) – but she CAN be impeached.
More likely is that she'll be held in Contempt, spend some time in the slammer (much deserved) and pay a substantial fine if she continues her hate-mongering bigotry.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-kentucky-clerk-gay-marriage-20150827-story.html
Our governor told her to do her job or resign. She didn't do either. I hopeshe does spend some time in the slammer. There are two others acting the same way. Makes me ill and ashamed.
Thanks for the details that make a difference on the options!
Sharing some good news:"New ruling could give fast-food workers more power to unionize.
Christian Science Monitor: “A major ruling handed down on Thursday by the US National Labor Relations Board could give unions greater bargaining power by enabling them to negotiate directly with large parent companies like McDonald’s that rely heavily on franchisees and contractors. The board in a 3-2 decision ruled that an existing standard that said companies only qualify as “joint employers” of workers hired by another business if they had “direct and immediate” control over employment matters was outdated and did not reflect the realities of the 21st century workforce. The ruling said parent companies can be held liable for labor violations committed by franchisees and contractors even when they have only indirect control. It is expected to impact a broad range of US industries built on franchising and contract labor, from fast food and hospitality to security and construction."
Source:
Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America's Future.
3:50 (4:15) If you can't find any fish, maybe one of those nice people would throw a crumb to a starving kitty.
Barf bag alert!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/118/947/118/keep-donald-trumps-name-off-this-taxpayer-owned-property/
Another condolence, this time addressed to co-workers of the deceased: http://action.americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/page/s/WDBJ7
Did everyone see this? O.M.G. I did think I had seen it all, but no. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/how-companies-make-millions-off-lead-poisoned-poor-blacks/2015/08/25/7460c1de-0d8c-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html
Daily Kos – So, in Cordovan (darker than burgundy) Kansas, they are still cheating? For practice? Well, if one judge blocks the release, a higher judge can be asked to overturn it. I hope. And I hope it doesn;t get destroyed in the interim. Or that someone has records. Speaking of whistleblowers, I see scientists have named an Asian crayfish after Snowden. No, I don't know why a crayfish. I didn't see anything particularly Snowdenian in the pix.
Vox – Switzerland has as many as 7.7? That's more than a quarter of the US's ratio! Shocking! Must be seething rage over those secret Swiss banks.
Raw Story – Yeah. This was cited on Daily Kos, where the diarist suggested that clerk Davis had uncovered the answer to THE toughest question – "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Answer: "Turns out, God is pretty busy doing paperwork." I almost choked on that one, I was laughing so hard.
Cartoon – Am I seeing this wrong? They have a PortaPotty? I thought they just eliminated wherever they felt like it.
Keep it because it is the closest thing, that is portable, to a cesspool for inspiration?
Sounds like Rose wasn't competant to enter into that contract so it should be null and void.
Disgusting! I agree with JL.
Thanks TC!
The Swiss don't buy many guns for personal use, however Swiss men keep their rifle and army gear after they leave army service in case of an invasion, Joanne. That is why most Swiss men above 20 who have served, still have it tucked away somewhere. But apparently Swiss men do adhere to the rule of thumb that the more guns there are in a country the more they are used for killing oneanother and get their army gun out for that on occassion.
Good point.
"The New York Times" has a very interesting ranking of GOP candidates based on Endorsements, Polling & Money Raised.
They contend that this far out, Endorsements and Money Raised are much better predictors of who will be the likely nominee. (Currently it's Bush – Rubio – Trump – Walker – Kasich – Cruz)
AND they're going to update it daily. I've met my 10/month quota a while back, and found the link through Google w/ no problem. Since it's a Dashboard posting, I'm not sure if it'll count against the quota limit – guess I'll find out come September.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/06/upshot/2016-republican-presidential-candidates-dashboard.html
Thanks–some data worth paying attention to…makes me wonder how much of the money came from the same source giving to multiple candidates…and how much of Trump and Carly's is their own fortune…
Excellent idea to take it easy for a day, TomCat. After the week you had, you certainly deserve some rest.
Daily Kos: The very fact Beth Clarkson has to sue Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Sedgwick County Elections Commissioner Tabitha Lehman for more information and transparency and Kris Kobach now has asked a judge to block the release of this information shows that there is something amiss in the state of Kansas. Something needs to be done quickly to lay all of it bare so Kansas doesn't end up with only Republicans in Congress or even White House even if many of them remember having voted otherwise.
Vox: These charts speak for themselves: where there are more guns, more people get killed (by guns) and more people kill themselves (with guns) and America is at a very sad and lonely top of the list of percentage gun ownership. And yet the number of people in favor of protecting the right to own a gun is steadily growing too. Too bad this article didn't compare the number of Americans shot by the police to numbers in other countries, but I think the US will be very lonely at a very high top again. On the basis of these figures Canada and Mexico may be willing to contribute to building Donald Trump's wall(s) across the border(s), this time to keep all the Americans in until all the gun-nuts have shot eachother and the sane ones left have finally come up with some decent gun control laws 😉
Raw Story: It's a shame that even supply-side pseudo-Christians don't think they can become a martyr and end up in heaven when they kill themselves, so this clerk will have to wait until his lord calls him to him, which may give him a very long time to be obliged to harass LGBT people yet. So let's help this poor fellow and put him in jail for his persistence and let him feel a little bit of a martyr. And give the Talibangelists one reason at last to moan about the way Christians are persecuted in America.
Cartoon: The TP-women have to travel in the blue thing stuck in between.
lol
I hope you get your cool weather and rain!
Daily Kos: Looks to me that she has a valid reason for requesting the documents and should get them, but we all know judges are not always "honorable"
Vox: I clicked through and the stats are shocking. One reason for the increase in gun ownership is the non relenting NRA telling people the government wants your guns so they can control you. Many many people believe this. I grew up around guns, my dad loved them, although he didn't hunt and never fired a shot at anyone. He taught both my brothers how to shoot but I was never interested. He liked to target shoot. We desperately need gun control in this country because not every gun owner only wants to target shoot. They want to Kill. We need to be sure that mentally ill people don't have access to guns. That would stop many of the mass killings we have had recently.
Raw Story: He has my permission,too, TC. Our governor has told all three of the clerks who are doing this to go back to work and do their jobs or resign. They, instead are taking to the courts and public opinion. This is the Bible belt so public opinion is largely on their side. Our local tv station ran a poll about this and I was pleasantly surprised that 42% of the voters thought they should resign. There is hope after all.
Cartoon: Perfect!
Thanks for sharing the resignation poll numbers–suggests lots of folks don't think you should be allowed to ignore the laws you don't like–especially if you are part of government.
I really was surprised that 42% agreed with me!
Puzzle — 2:43 I staked out a nicely shaded spot for me and my SPF 60 sunscreen! I left my babes at home. Don't want them hiding anything in the sand!
Daily Kos — "…but a key cornerstone of a working democracy would seem to include the ability to audit the vote." Amen! If I didn't think it would confuse people, I might refer to the US as a DINO nation (democracy in name only). This is in no way a reflection on the American people directly, but rather a reflection on a political system that is rife with abuses, and on the Republicanus/Teabaggerum who believe that the end justifies the means providing the end is a strong Republicanus/Teabaggerum government. Kobach must not be allowed any longer to be the poster boy of the American oligarchy in Kansas! Beth Clarkson must persevere in her request for documents. My guess, if she wins the court battle, some or all of those documents will be "lost".
Further, the electoral system must be streamlined and standardised so that 1) the election administration for federal elections is not in the hands of any political party (Canada has this although Herr Harper has managed to prune the wings of the Chief Electoral Officer to a degree — still much better than the US system); 2) all voting machines are the same, or at least the same in how they function; 3) all voting machines are maintained and certified by independent 3rd parties.
Vox — I am appalled at the rate for Canada of 5.1 per 1 million people. There is more gun violence here than ever before. Here in Metro Vancouver, it seems the South Asian community is suffering from increased gun violence, much of it related to drugs and gangs. Most of the hand guns are brought into the country from the US. The government's (Herr Harper's) plan is to build more prisons. Where have we heard that one before? But even scarier to me is the US rate. The NRA probably sees the US rate as good for the economy . . . keeps prisons operating, police officers working, medical staff employed, lawyers and court workers employed, undertakers busy, and arms manufacturers selling. Did I miss anyone? If I seem a little picqued at the gun issue I am!
Raw Story — "…They fought and died so we could have this freedom and I’m going to fight and die for my kids and your kids can keep it.” " All extremists seem to think that being a martyr is just dandy. I really wish these pseudo Christians would actually read the Bible, the full version, not the Reader's Digest abridged version for idiots.
Cartoon — Tour bus?? I thought that was Teabaggerum trailer park trash!
Thanks all! YGIF hugs!
That county clerk has been told by SCOTUS to stop being an a$$hole. I hope he does! But my bet is on him still being one when the SCOTUS comes to take away HIS LICENSE!