I have bearly had any sleep for the past 2 nights so I am extraordinarily tired. Today I had physio and am told I fell asleep on the recumbent bicycle as I pedalled away. I prefer to think that I was in deep meditation as my legs kept going for 45 minutes. Then I was on the traction bed for about 30 minutes and I did fall asleep. After doing a few quick errands, I availed myself of one of Lona's catnaps. Thanks Lona! I plan to have a really good sleep tonight.
Short Takes
Think Progress — Despite a complete lack of evidence that Planned Parenthood is breaking any laws, Republican lawmakers are pressing ahead with their relentless crusade against the national women’s health organization.
A series of heavily edited videos accusing Planned Parenthood of selling aborted baby parts continues to influence the national debate, even though it’s become clear those claims aren’t based in fact. Last month, a Houston grand jury concluded that Planned Parenthood hasn’t done anything wrong. Every state-level investigation into the group has come up empty.
But that’s made no difference to the GOP politicians who are insistent on using this discredited information to attack Planned Parenthood. It’s working. In several states this week, Republican leaders successfully advanced their efforts to undermine the organization’s work.
As noted by NBC News, Gov John Kasich of Ohio signed a bill that effectively strips $1.3 million in funding from PP. The legislation targets ""any entity that performs or promotes nontherapeutic abortions"" and means no funds to "support screenings for breast cancer, STD testing, programs working to prevent violence against women, and more.". If this is what Kasich calls 'support for women's health', he needs a good dictionary! And Republicans say there is no war on women and no war on the poor? I say PROVE IT!
CBC — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] issued a notice Dec.14 last year warning private pilots that all foreign private planes now had to obtain diplomatic clearance from the secretary of state before entering U.S. airspace.
The situation persisted for a month and cost thousands of dollars in increased fuel as planes had to be diverted.
Bernard Gervais president of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association [COPA] worries the situation could reoccur.
"I don't want this to happen again," Gervais told CBC News. "It's a big issue for us. We need overfly there. There's no wall between our countries. It's always been that way."
Well the situation has been rectified for now, but my guess, this is in retaliation for sending Ted Cruz stateside and agreeing to his renunciation of his Canadian citizenship. LOL!!!
The New Yorker — Antonin Scalia, who died this month, after nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. Fortunately, he mostly failed. …
But it was in his jurisprudence that Scalia most self-consciously looked to the past. He pioneered “originalism,” a theory holding that the Constitution should be interpreted in line with the beliefs of the white men, many of them slave owners, who ratified it in the late eighteenth century.
To be a constitution originalist, one must surely believe that the earth is flat and there is no such thing as change. I believe neither, but Scalia must certainly believe it. As we gain knowledge and develop wisdom, our perceptions change. With that, the constitution takes on nuances of interpretation that did not previously exist. The framers could not know what lay 227 years in the future.
Huffington Post — Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, finished sixth in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary … But Carson offered some interesting spin to explain the result:
Carson statement for the ages!
he "received as many delegates in South Carolina as all other candidates but the winner"
I think it is past time that Carson pulled the plug on his campaign.
My Universe —
9 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 22/02/2016”
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Love both of your "My Universe" GIFs – but what is that second cat doing?
Looks like s/he smacked the little kitten then celebrates like a boxer would.
I did find it, but it really doesn't add any details:
http://www.catgifs.org/2014/08/16/like-funny-cats-gif/
Actually, the white cat is momma and the 2 little ones her kittens. The version I saw on Care2 I think, has one kitten climbing over the other (and almost getting stuck on his brother's back). Then we see what is here. I think momma might be admonishing the babe to be nice and careful.
TP – Reading an update this morning into the Republican attempt to crucify Hillary's private server, it occurred to me we may be fighting the wrong battle on these things. Instead of demanding the Republicans back off, perhaps we should be demanding they put Trey Gowdy in charge of all investigations regarding Democraic issues.
CBC – Sounds more like a Trump plot than a Cruz plot to me, but whatever.
New Yorker – "Fortunately, he mostly failed. …" Really? What universe does Toobin live in? He mostly succeeded in my book!
HuffPo – Ben Who? (Not to be confused with Ben Huh.)
Universe – 1. Pole dancing? How risque! 2. Are those kittens? At first I thought the one moving was a squirrel and the one not moving was its tail…
Yeah, definitely two kittens. (And a dog that comes in from the right close to the end.)
Personally, I think the dog is jealous.
The war that is not the war on women, IS the war on women, regardless of the BS the GOPigs, and Kasich claim!
I have to agree with Joanne: Scalia was a huge part of the unwinding of democracy, here!
Ben Carson needs to find another source of revenue, needs to stop picking the pockets of the imbeciles who would be dumb enough to help fund his excuse for a campaign. Either that, or he needs to go on Prolixin, or some other anti-psychotic drug!
Catnaps on their way, Lynn. I'm sure you'll be alright tonight..
Think Progress: This is so bad. I think all Republicans are born with a Janus face and as soon as they learn to talk they learn to do that out of both sides at once. Those who can do that the best become politicians, and Kasich was one of them. You can hardly blame Kasich for doing what comes so naturally to him and which is so stimulated by his party, blame his mother for having him and above all blame the people who see and hear politicians like him talk out of both sides of their face but vote for them anyway.
CBC: After reading the whole article I'm none the wiser why the FAA put up this ban for Canadian private airplanes from US air space ("a perceived loophole" in what?, leading to what?) and I'm still completely in the dark why Transport Canada was not told this was about to happen. And I gather so are most Canadians. This seems to have been a very costly blunder of the FAA; costly to them as I'm sure America will be made to cough up some compensation for it. Isn't it amazing what kind of consequences the Republican Reign of Fear (of Muslim terrorist attacks) can have?
The New Yorker: Jeffry Toobin believes that Scalia has mostly failed in making making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. I disagree. OK, Scallia needed the other 4 Republican Justices to wreak most of his havoc, but wreak he did. Not only with his "originalism" where his interpretation of the Constitution was concerned – well, it was original, I'll give you that – but also with his zealotry based on a very personal and dark interpretation of the bible, i.e. the old testament. These interpretations became darker the more his mind clouded over as he advanced in years. Scalia was inimitable, the likes of him will not be found soon. Thank goodness for that. From here on SCOTUS can only go forward.
HuPo: America would do well to get rid of this delegate system, even a candidate like Ben Carson knows how to spin it to his advantage 😉
My Universe: I can see the bug the first cat is playing with. My cats make the same weird dance around a spider sometimes. But what is that second cat doing to that defenseless kitten?
See my reply to Nameless re the white cat and kittens.
Thanks everyone!