Just a quicky one of "Cat Attacks!"
I've read from several sources that the notorious "Cat Butt Wiggle" prior to the pounce is to warm up their muscles, and make sure they have good footing for the pounce. Kind of like a track star setting his/her feet in the blocks.
Anyone have any other ideas?
Today has been somewhat relaxing. I even managed to cut the nails of my three furbabes and watched a movie for my "me time"! Tomorrow is my busy day with physio, teaching and a few errands. TGIF!!!
Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:27 (average 5:29). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.
Short Takes
The New Yorker — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has entered rehab to deal with his “struggles with nouns and verbs,” an aide to the congressman has confirmed.
According to the aide, McCarthy abruptly dropped out of the race for Speaker of the House because his difficulties with those two parts of speech had “spiralled out of control.”
Well McCarthy certainly did spill the Republican beans, didn't he! And now out of the race for Speaker. Was it the beans really?
NOLA.com — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's surprise decision Thursday (Oct. 8) to drop out of the race for speaker likely puts an end to Rep. Steve Scalise's run for the No. 2 House leadership post.
McCarthy announced that he plans to stay on as majority leader. McCarthy, a California Republican made his announcements to a GOP caucus meeting that had been expected to vote him the members' choice to be elected speaker during a full House vote slated for Oct. 29.
McCarthy said it's important the GOP caucus be "100 percent united," and that "if we're going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to do that."
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said McCarthy dropped out because he didn't think he could get the 218 votes needed in the House to replace John Boehner as speaker. Issa said neither of the other candidates – Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, could, either, although McCarthy had the backing of a majority of the GOP caucus.
Continue reading about these GOP follies at NOLA.com. It would seem that there is a lot of confusion and the issue of the ultra conservatives vs the conservatives is shredding the party right now.
Prompted by an e-mail I received, I looked into the Constitution to see who could be the next Speaker. The Speaker need not be a sitting member of the House and "…based on tradition and practice from the earliest days of the nation, to be elected speaker a candidate must receive an absolute majority of all votes cast for individuals, i.e. excluding those who abstain. If no candidate wins such a majority, then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected." (from Wikipedia)
Huffington Post — Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Thursday that the GOP's investigation into Planned Parenthood's use of federal funds hasn't turned up anything.
"Did I look at the finances and have a hearing specifically as to the revenue portion and how they spend? Yes. Was there any wrongdoing? I didn't find any," he said during a Judiciary Committee hearing on the family planning provider. …
Chaffetz said Thursday that he still supports digging into Planned Parenthood's activities, even if they're using their money appropriately.
"I think there will continue to be investigations," he said.
Read the rest at Huffington Post. Enough already!!! How many tax payer dollars are going to be misappropriated for what in my mind, should be classified as partisan politics? I would say the same about Benghazi and the ACA too.
My Universe — It's Carnivale for these two energetic Bengals!
From Think Progress
Tennessee’s first year of drug testing welfare recipients uncovered drug use by less than 0.2 percent of all applicants for the state’s public assistance system.
The state implemented the testing regime in the summer of 2014, adding three questions about narcotics use to the application form for aid. Anyone who answers “yes” to any of the three drug questions must take a urine test or have their application thrown away immediately. Anyone who fails a urine test must complete drug treatment and pass a second test, or have their benefits cut off for six months.
In total, just 1.6 percent of the 28,559 people who applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits in the first year of testing answered one of the three screening questions positively. Out of the 468 people who peed in a state-funded cup, 11.7 percent flunked the test.
You can read the rest of the article HERE. In an earlier Think Progress article, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arizona were examined for the costs-benefits of their programmes.
As state legislatures convene across the country, proposals keep cropping up to drug test applicants to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, or welfare. …
Proponents of these bills claim they will save money by getting drug users off the dole and thus reduce spending on benefits. But states that are looking at bills of their own may want to consider the fact that the drug testing programs that are already up and running haven’t seen such results. …
The drug-testing regimes in the seven states all differ slightly, but the lack of effectiveness is widespread.
In 2011, Missouri adopted a law to require screening and testing for all TANF applicants, and the testing began in March 2013. In 2014, 446 of the state’s 38,970 applicants were tested. Just 48 tested positive.
The budgeted cost for that year’s testing program was $336,297. And, according to numbers provided to ThinkProgress by a Missouri Department of Social Services spokeswoman, the first three years of the program will likely cost the state more than $1.35 million, including start-up costs. …
In 2011, Florida passed a law to require every single applicant for TANF to pass a urine drug test, at his or her own expense (not just those for whom there was a reasonable suspicion). In four month of implementation,108 out of 4,086 applicants tested positive at a cost of $118,140. Applicants who tested negative would be reimbursed by the state. A federal courtstopped the requirement as a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s “unreasonable search and seizures” clause in 2013 — a ruling upheld in December by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The three-judge panel noted that Florida had “not demonstrated a more prevalent, unique or different drug problem among TANF applicants than in the general population.” A 2012 Georgia law like Florida’s, was revised in 2014 to include a “reasonable suspicion” requirement. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Division of Family and Children’s Services told ThinkProgress that the program is “currently on hold, pending a case in the U.S. District Court.” Its ultimate result could determine the constitutionality of the requirements in other states.
Read the rest of the ARTICLE to see how the other states fared.
Too many states are seeing drug testing as a panacea for high welfare costs. Unfortunately, the costs far out weigh the benefits. And the causes of job loss or welfare assistance are not uniquely the fault of applicants. But in addition, there are other costs like the affront to a person's dignity. I can remember the first time I had to go on Unemployment benefits. I stood at the counter, dressed as if I were going to work, in full blown panic attack mode, shaking like a leaf in a strong wind. I had to fill out papers but I could not write. With no one at home to assist me, the clerked filled it out as I mumbled answers to her questions. My face was beet red, my legs like jello. I finally signed it but the signature didn't resemble my usual signature. Had I been required to "pee in a cup", I think I would have totally lost my mind.
Is it right to ask people to "pee in a cup" when they are already down, especially when the testing lacks effectiveness?
The up-and-coming GOP star, Ben Carson, got embroiled in a heap of self-inflicted umbrage when he heartlessly berated the dead victims of the recent Oregon killings for not defending themselves like HE would. His words:
CARSON: “I would not just stand there and let him shoot me”
He even felt obliged to gratuitously add his “staunch defense” of the NRA:
CARSON: “I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away”
[Well, of course! I mean who among us wouldn't prefer that the US look more like Afghanistan or Iraq than like Sweden, Norway or Denmark?]
Well, as the adage goes – talk is cheap.
Carson today tells the story how he was personally accosted by a gun-toting burglar. And his admitted response is priceless – and led to some great Twitter rejoinders.
CARSON: "I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeyes in Baltimore.
"[A] guy comes in, puts the gun in my ribs. And I just said,
'I believe you want the guy behind the counter.'"
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-gunpoint-popeyes
Well, now there's a model of heroic bravery … NOT!
Like the Twitter universe, I’m going with “The Cowardly Lion!”
BEN CARSON AT THE OREGON SHOOTING: "I believe you want the principal."
— Drew Magary (@drewmagary) October 8, 2015
@drewmagary Ben Carson at Ford's Theater: "HE'S the President Mr. Booth"
— Steak Knives (@Josh1938) October 8, 2015
The Nation — h/t JL
In July 29, 2013, a Latina mother in Illinois named Natasha Felix sent her three sons, ages 11, 9, and 5, out to play with a visiting cousin, a young girl, in a fenced park right next to her apartment building. The oldest boy was charged with keeping an eye on his siblings, while Felix watched them all from the window. While they were outside, a local preschool teacher showed up at the park with her class. She saw the 9-year-old climb a tree. Felix’s youngest son fought with his cousin over a scooter and, at one point, ran with it into the street. Based on this, the teacher called the child-abuse hotline, and Felix received a visit from the Department of Children and Family Services.
However, when Rodriguez asked Felix if the boys had any special needs, Felix replied that the 11-year-old and the 9-year-old had been diagnosed with ADHD. On the advice of their doctor, they were off their medications for the summer. Rodriguez later wrote that “based on the mother not knowing that the kids were running into the street with the scooter, based on the children having ADHD,” she recommended that Felix be cited for “Inadequate Supervision” under the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. As a result, Felix was placed on the state’s child-abuse registry, which led to her losing her job as a home healthcare aide and ended her dreams of becoming a licensed practical nurse. …
“Certainly, prior to this, I don’t think most white people knew very much about the child-welfare system, or were afraid that someone was going to knock on their door and say, ‘Let me see your kids,’” says Dorothy Roberts, a University of Pennsylvania law professor and the author ofShattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare. “Whereas in black neighborhoods, especially poor black neighborhoods, child-welfare-agency involvement is concentrated, so everybody is familiar with it.” …
Whatever you think of parents who use drugs, it’s clear that poor parents and parents of color are held to a very different standard than middle-class white parents. “My daughter broke her collarbone twice when she was a young child,” says Guggenheim. “I took her to the same hospital, and the second time I brought her they treated me with great dignity and respect. If I were in Bed-Stuy and a single parent, [CPS] might have come to my door, they might have found some joints on my nightstand and taken my child, and I would be lucky if, 12 months later, I got her back in my custody. That’s how I live my white privilege every day. And they would have found joints on my night table, let’s be clear about that.” …
Read the remainder of this article at The Nation.
This is not just a US problem. There are the same types of issues in Canada, the UK, Australia and other so called developed countries. As reported at News 1130,
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says the province has fewer social workers now compared to 13 years ago and that the government must hire more by boosting funding for the Children’s Ministry.
Turpel-Lafond concludes in a report that consistent failures within the ministry mean it has failed to meet its own standards to protect children.
A woman I know had 4 children with her spouse. She had a minimum wage job in agriculture, while he was not working because when he did have one, he was chronically late and unreliable. She went to work one day leaving the children ages 3, 5, 8 and 11 in the safe keeping of her husband. Later in the day, she received a call from police to get home immediately. When she arrived home, she discovered that the children had been running loose, the youngest literally playing on the street. The children had been left in the care of her husband but he was nowhere to be found. She had a choice to make . . . quit her job to look after her children or lose them to CPS. She quit her job. She would not abandon her kids. It turned out that her husband was bored so took off to be with friends, either drinking or gambling, rather than honour his obligation as a father. She is a loving mother who is loved by her kids in return.
This situation is all too common, especially if the family is poor or a minority. In this case, they are both. Now the father is gone and a community has come to the aid of the mother and kids to support them in all sorts of ways. I am part of that community.
I think that a family's culture is also important to consider. People have different ways of bringing up their children depending on circumstances. For example, refugee children may almost be "adults" in certain ways because of what they have endured. The full story of a family should be listened to. Social workers should not be saying "this is how we do things here" and leave it at that. But I am also concerned that the caseload for an individual social worker is too high, and possibly contributes to a "get them through" mentality.
Look at First Nations families that have historically been ripped apart, the community ignored.
There are no cookie-cutter solutions or quick fixes, but some respect is a good place to start along with ensuring that children are in no immediate danger. What do you think? How has this impacted your life, if at all?
It takes a village to raise a child.
Man, did it ever rain today . . . enough that I got soaked going from my car to a building! Mind, I wasn't moving very fast. Seems I have done something to my good knee and put the cartilage out of place. At least when I dried out, my hair was "rain barrel" soft. And of course, all the windows in our complex were washed today . . . great timing! My three furbabes were so frantic at the sight of water and brushes on the windows that they went under the bed for much of the day! Ah life!
Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:46 (average 6:05). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.
Short Takes
Daily Kos — Drudge: Obama named ISIS that so it would 'be confused with Darrell Issa'. Dear conservatives: Your entire movement is an exercise in self-parody.[right wing conspiracy theorist delinked]
Read this very short piece at Daily Kos. If there weren't so many gullible people, this might actually be funny. But there is no place for such BS in a modern society.
Alternet — Three Harvard debate team members faced off against three men incarcerated for violent crimes. This was two weeks ago.
After an hour of fast-moving debate on Friday, the judges rendered their verdict.
The inmates won.
Read the rest of this story at Alternet. Rehabilitation through education to prevent recidivism. What a great programme!
The New Yorker — Citizens of the Roman town of Pompeii who were victims of Mt. Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 A.D. could have survived if they had “just outrun the lava,” the neurosurgeon Ben Carson told Fox News on Wednesday.
“Most of the plaster casts we have of Pompeii victims show them basically just lying down and whatnot,” he said. “If I had been in Pompeii and I heard Mt. Vesuvius erupting, you can bet I would have made a run for it.”
Read the remainder at The New Yorker. Old Ben proves that not only is he ignorant about science and volcanology, but he isn't any smarter in medicine either. Good shot Andy!
Alternet — In July, Barack Obama announced that he would issue presidential clemency to approximately 80 non-violent drug offenders. This news was great, but 80 prisoners doesn’t even come close to being a drop in the bucket that is the prison industrial complex.
However, all of that is about to change. On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that they will release about 6,000 inmates between October 30 and November 2. This will be the largest ever one-time release of federal prisoners in the history of the United States.
The early release comes on the heels of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent agency that sets sentencing policies for federal crimes, lowering the penalties for drug offenders.
Read the rest of the article at Alternet. There are too many non violent offenders incarcerated in the federal system. I dare say that there will be much nashing of teeth as the prisons see their revenues drop.
My Universe —
Now isn't THAT the truth!
And the good news from the four of us (Lynn [aka “Squatch”], JLA, Joanne D, and myself, SoINeedAName) just keeps rolling along.
I’ll begin with our routine Disclaimer: We share your desire for as much information on TC as possible. But we will continue to respect his privacy, and recognize the hospital has an ethical and legal obligation as directed by HIPAA guidelines to also protect his privacy.
Today I had the chance to speak with his nurse at his NEW LOCATION!
Yep, TC had a successful transfer over the weekend and is now in the process of settling in at his new (hopefully fairly short-term) abode! He’s continuing multiple therapy regimens – ones that anyone would anticipate after facing several very major medical problems.
The new nurse was very pleasant, but more circumspect than the ones at the previous hospitals, with whom I had the chance to speak with on multiple occasions. She was clearly intent on protecting his privacy – which is only appropriate (just frustrating for someone snoopy like myself). But she did a good job in the regard, so I really don’t have much more to share, other than he’s settling in and working on getting better.
None of us are “designated contacts” which allows medical personnel to provide a fuller update – so we’ll have to wait and see what we can learn from some friends in the Portland area who are and have had the chance to visit him at his previous institutions. They have been kind enough to share updates with us in the past; but so far, according to the nurse today, they’ve not had the chance to get to the new location yet.
So we’re all glad to see that he’s continuing to make progress, and ask you to keep him in your thoughts and prayers – AND keep those cards and letters coming, addressed as follows …
"TomCat"
c/o Lynn Squance,
436 Lehman Place,
Port Moody, BC
Canada
V3H 3Z6
For US residents: Please note: International Postage required!
http://www.stamps.com/usps/postage-rate-increase/
For other International residents: please check locally for stamp rates
For Canadian residents: please use “oversize” letter rates if applicable (applies to many but not all cards):https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/farLetter?execution=e5s1
Well, well . . . Lona was here earlier! But despite her presence, I did manage to get 3 loads of laundry finished. That's good so now I can go out in public without fear. Most of the day was reasonably nice weather wise, but this evening we had lightning, thunder and some rain. News had it that this little storm came in from Hawaii. Now that is quite a trip.
Fantasy Football —
| Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W-L-T | Pct | Stk | Waiver | For | Against |
| 1 | 4-0-0 | 1.000 | W4 | 9 | 438.36 | 302.68 | |
| 2 | 3-1-0 | .750 | W1 | 8 | 398.90 | 331.08 | |
| 3+2 | 3-1-0 | .750 | W2 | 10 | 348.98 | 275.34 | |
| 4-1 | 2-2-0 | .500 | L1 | 7 | 334.16 | 331.26 | |
| 5+2 | 2-2-0 | .500 | W1 | 6 | 329.94 | 308.62 | |
| 6-2 | 2-2-0 | .500 | L1 | 5 | 381.82 | 404.42 | |
| 7+2 | 2-2-0 | .500 | W2 | 4 | 327.16 | 313.82 | |
| 8 | 1-3-0 | .250 | L3 | 3 | 351.34 | 486.68 | |
| 9-3 | 1-3-0 | .250 | L3 | 2 | 323.48 | 405.00 | |
| 10 | 0-4-0 | .000 | L4 | 1 | 333.54 | 408.78 | |
Well here we are, 4 weeks down. TC has a player with a bye week this coming session so I will try to fix that, but I don't know if I am able to.
Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:35 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. Do you know how difficult it was to do this puzzle while I was relaxing in the hammock? How did you do?
Common Dreams — America's Fortune 500 companies are "playing by different rules" when it comes to the federal tax system and, according to a new report out Tuesday, are stashing $2.1 trillion in offshore tax havens—with as much as $620 billion owed to the U.S. taxpayers who are left footing the bill.
The report, Offshore Shell Games 2015: The Use of Offshore Tax Havens by Fortune 500 Companies (pdf), examines the accounting tricks that have enabled the country's most profitable companies to hide their earnings.
"The American multinationals that take advantage of tax havens use our roads, benefit from our education system and large consumer market, and enjoy the security we have here, but are ultimately taking a free ride at the expense of other taxpayers." —Michelle Surka, US PIRG"U.S.-based multinational corporations are allowed to play by a different set of rules than small and domestic businesses or individuals when it comes to the tax code," wrote advocacy organizations Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), which together authored the study.
Read the rest of the article at Common Dreams and take a look at the report. If you don't want to read the entire report, the 3 page Executive Summary by itself should make your blood boil. Here is an excerpt:
Most of America’s largest corporations maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens. At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014.
• All told, these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries.
• The 30 companies with the most money officially booked offshore for tax purposes collectively operate 1,225 tax haven subsidiaries.
Approximately 60 percent of companies with tax haven subsidiaries have set up at least one in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands — two particularly notorious tax havens. Furthermore, the profits that all American multinationals — not just Fortune 500 companies — collectively claimed they earned in these two island nations in 2010 totaled 1,643 percent and 1,600 percent of each country’s entire yearly economic output, respectively. Fortune 500 companies are holding more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore for tax purposes. Just 30 Fortune 500 companies account for 65 percent of these offshore profits. These 30 companies with the most money offshore have booked $1.4 trillion overseas for tax purposes. … If we apply that average tax rate of 6.0 percent to the entirety of Fortune 500 companies, they would collectively owe $620 billion in additional federal taxes. Some of the worst offenders include:
• Apple: Apple has booked $181.1 billion offshore …
• American Express: The credit card company officially reports $9.7 billion offshore for tax purposes …
• Nike: The sneaker giant officially holds $8.3 billion offshore for tax purposes …
Read on in the report. With so many large corporations forgoing their responsibilities as American corporate citizens, is it any wonder that average citizens are tired of such shenanigans? Add the tax perks on their declared American income, and you get a full scale ripoff of ordinary American tax payers.
Alternet — Doctors Without Borders says it is under “the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed” after a U.S.-led NATO coalition bombed its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.
The aid organization, referred to internationally in French as Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF), asserted that it “condemn[s] this attack, which constitutes a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law.”
The U.S. military’s version of the story behind the bombing is full of holes, and constantly changing. After launching airstrikes on Kunduz, which has recently seen an insurgency by the Taliban, on Saturday morning, NATO said its bombing “may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility.”
Read the rest of this story at Alternet. Official US response has rocked back and forth from "Oops, sorry." to "Who cares?" (my words based on reading). But one historical fact has come up . . . this has happened before some 45 years ago. From The Nation,
In direct testimony and in letters, the veterans said hospitals often were considered targets rather than areas to be avoided as required by the Geneva convention on warfare.…
Is this policy still? If so, then the US is apparently guilty of war crimes as MSF maintains.
Raw Story — Fox News host Bill O’Reilly dismissed the idea on Tuesday that children can be poor in the US during a discussion with contributor Kirsten Powers, Media Matters reported.
“If you look at the studies of poverty, most poor people in this country have computers, have big screen TVs, have cars, have air conditioning,” O’Reilly said. “This myth that there are kids who don’t have anything to eat is a total lie.”
If I were classifying this article, I'd put it under "humour". Bill O’Reilly is a jackass! Read the rest and see the video at Raw Story.
My Universe — The teacher was talking about Republicans . . .
