Yesterday and today have been unseasonably warm and quite humid with highs in the 80°s. That has interfered with my sleep, as I still have not gotten used to the loud A/C next to my head. In addition to that,. I missed a nap yesterday, collecting the data for today’s Monthly Report. After doing my research this morning, I felt so tired that I uncorked a Lona-nap, so I’m running late today.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:38 (average 4:39). To do it click here, How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: It is an old congressional ritual: loading up vital spending bills that are meant to keep the government running with dangerous amendments aimed at satisfying ideological causes and benefiting special interests.
The Republicans have become adept at this practice in recent years, and this year is no different. Legislative riders attached to appropriations bills would undermine the Iran nuclear deal, weaken highway safety and reduce the Food and Drug Administration’s authority over tobacco products.
These measures would be unlikely to succeed as stand-alone bills, either because they could not get enough votes on their own or because President Obama would veto them. So better to sneak them in without even holding hearings to make a case on their behalf.
Thankfully, Democratic lawmakers and public interest groups are calling attention to these stealth attacks. In the Senate, Democrats managed on Wednesday to block a vote on a water and energy spending bill after Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, tried to attach a provision that would have dealt a severe blow to the Iran nuclear deal. Mr. Cotton’s measure would have blocked the administration from purchasing heavy water used in Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran has to get rid of the water to comply with the deal. By denying Iran an American market, Mr. Cotton and other Republicans hoped to undermine the deal, which they hate.
Click through for more. One big irony here is that by trying to block Iran’s sale of heavy water to the US, Republicans are actually helping to enable the development of an Iranian nuke.
From Think Progress: Teachers across Detroit called in sick to work on Monday — a “sick-out” protest that ultimately shut down all but three public schools in the city because there weren’t enough teachers in class.
The coordinated protest, which was organized by the Detroit Federation of Teachers, came soon after the school district’s emergency manager, Judge Steven Rhodes, announced that there won’t be enough money to pay teachers after June 30.
“Detroit teachers deserve to be paid fairly for their work like every other working person… But Detroit Public Schools has just informed us that it cannot guarantee to pay these dedicated men and women for their work. This isn’t right. It isn’t fair,” the president of the teachers union, Ivy Bailey, told the Detroit News.
In January, in an effort to bring attention to the condition of Detroit schools, teachers used the same “sick-out” tactic to shut down many schools. They posted photos to social media of inedible food, dead rodents, and cracks in the floors, among other problems. After the sick-outs, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) called for inspections of all of the schools and found evidence of many of the same problems teachers cited.
Detroit Public Schools is in major financial distress, and lawmakers and educators have been concerned the school system will go bankrupt. After being sued by the teachers union and dealing with weeks of sick-outs, DPS filed a lawsuit against the state last month, claiming that the state violated the civil rights of students through its emergency manager law.
How many more examples do we need before American voters know that the mix of greed and incompetence Republicans bring to public office invariably spells tragic deprivation for those they govern.
From Liberals Unite: Wayne Simmons, a frequent Fox News “CIA expert,” pleaded guilty on Friday after being indicted last October by a federal grand jury on charges lied about his service with the CIA.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a press release announcing the plea:
Simmons, 62, of Annapolis, Maryland, a former Fox News commentator who has falsely claimed he spent 27 years working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), pleaded guilty today to major fraud against the government, wire fraud, and a firearms offense.
“Wayne Simmons is a convicted felon with no military or intelligence experience,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Simmons admitted he attempted to con his way into a position where he would have been called on to give real intelligence advice in a war zone. His fraud cost the government money, could have put American lives at risk, and was an insult to the real men and women of the intelligence community who provide tireless service to this country. This case is a prime example of this office’s ongoing commitment to vigorously prosecute government fraud and threats to national security.”
“Mr. Simmons lied about his criminal history and CIA employment in order to fraudulently obtain government contracts, and separately, defrauded a victim through a phony real estate investment deal,” said Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “With these criminal actions, Mr. Simmons abused the trust of others, both in and outside of government, for his own personal financial gain. I commend the work of the talented FBI personnel and prosecutors who vigorously pursued this case and brought about today’s guilty plea.”
Nevertheless Simmons still met the standards needed for employment by the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, and for them to present him to their sheeple as an expert.
Cartoon:
17 Responses to “Open Thread–5/2/2016”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Puzzle — 3:08 Seems the eel is not toxic so happy munching Puddy Tat, but that lionfish is poisonous and not edible!
Liberals Unite — The US should have something like the Canadian Radio Act (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/fox-news-will-not-be-moving-into-canada-after-all_b_829473.html) which does not permit lying in news casts etc. That would certainly tie up Faux Noise! I'd like to see Simmons behind bars for an extended period and totally discredited publically. The Act isn't perfect but it worked to keep Faux Noise and another Canadian Faux-like network out.
Think Progress — Snyder and the Republicans are really getting it in the neck . . . deservedly so! Republicans, "As you sow, so shall you reap!". A bunch of incompetent idiots that don't give a rat's ass about the average American.
NY Times — Personally, I think that bills with often, even usually, unrelated riders should be banned. Such omnibus bills are a distraction from the real work of the bill and only serve to delay passage of important bills. As the article noted, these are ideological ploys.
Cartoon — Yet another ideological connection of the Republicans to Herr Hitler.
Yummy eel fishie!!
TP: Good for them!! It's such a tragedy, imho. Teachers deserve a pay raise, the schools are atrocious! Dangerous, and unhealthy for teachers as well as the students.
Your comment says it best, Tom!
LU: Boy, this took some major acting on his part to act this out. He should be ashamed of himself. The only thing 'Federal' he'll see is a view of a cell.
Cartoon: They sure did. And they don't care, either!! "Trade unions were banned in Nazi Germany and the state took over the role of looking after the working class." "Police units occupied all trade unions headquarters and union officials and leaders were arrested. The funds that belonged to the trade unions – effectively this was workers money – were confiscated." *history
Get all the rest you need, I like naps. I don't get enough of them, though. Have a great evening, relax, and take good care, and Thanks, Tom.
4:48 I totally remember having done ths one before, because I remember making a labored lyrics joke about "That's a moray." I'll spare everyone this time around. Carly Fiorina has done enough for one week (if not for the whole year.) [I note she added a little extra irony by choosing a tune, by Irving Berlin, which goes to a song about hallucinations. And here is a most unusual cover of it.] NY Times – All the time. They do it all the time. You have to watch the like hawks.
And they don't even grasp that it's dishonest (I suppose that's because they word "honesty" is not in their dictionary to begin with.) Just politics. It also explains why many honest people don't pay attention to politics. Yet we need every honest person in the country watching.
Think Progress – I'm so sorry that it is the students who have to suffer the most. But I am behind these teachers all the way. It's going to take everything they can do, plus outside help, to fix this, and if outsiders don't know, they can't help. Liberals Unite – Yes, he was PERFECT for Fox. I'm sure they will all cry "Framed!" Cartoon – More irony, since Germany was so influential in creating the Trade Guilds of the Middle Ages which basically created the Middle Class. It goes to show something – I'm not sure what – other than that all Republicans are alike, whatever name, in every age.
JD, that firswt link is setting off securuty alarms frommy Adguard, Emisoft (my AV), and Firefox as a phishing site.
I repaired the link.
Thanks – so sorry.
YVW – No problem!!
Glad someone is watching them and blocking at least some.
Detroit's teachers are entitled to the rest of their pay during summer months since they will have already earned it==that's a federal violation I believe.
Glad Simmons got justice.
You need a Lona nap every day until you have fully recuperated. Be good to yourself, you deserve it..
Ny Times: These "riders" have pulled more than one dirty trick on the American public. I am glad the Dems stopped this one.
Think Progress: Detroit, a once proud and beautiful city, is going down the drain rapidly. The politicians who caused this should all be prosecuted. The auto makers and their suppliers, who were the main source of employment should be called to task, too, since they have sent so much of their work to other countries. The school teachers, and no one else, should be expected to work without pay. There was also a report on the news tonite that thousands would have their water service disconnected tomorrow because they didn't pay the bill. If that happened in another country, Americans would issue a loud outcry and try to remedy the situation. Why don't we do the same for our own?
Liberals Unite: Isn't dishonesty and bigotry a main criteria for being hired at Faux news?
Cartoon: The trade unions were as much a threat to Hitler as they are to the 1% here. I am sure they want them all banned, too. Saint Ronnie began the process of destroying them.
Our temperatures are finally picking up a little too, just when we thought we were stuck in winter for the rest of the year. It's dry and sunny, but not very warm, and the birds are going berserk trying to find food for their young which nearly perished in the cold. It's no longer unusual for weather to jump from one extreme to the other, like yours has done in Portland, TomCat. Good thing you had your A/C installed in time, now you only have to get used to it Have you tried earplugs yet. They're uncomfortable as well, I know, and perhaps you wouldn't be able to hear alarms in your building either, so they might not suit you.
NYT: After all these years I'm still gob smacked whenever such amendments are added to a bill that absolutely needs to pass in the hope that either nobody notices and will be voted through unseen or everyone is so much under pressure by a deadline that they let it pass. I really wonder if this, in my opinion, undemocratic practice isn't unique to America. It's something very much like gerrymandering, which works in favor of the largest party and therefore never will be changed unless a truly democratic and integer party comes to power. This rider sneaked in to prevent Iran from selling heavy water to America is just one of the many that either get blocked or passes unseen or under pressure. I can only hope all riders are spotted in time and blocked in the same way, but it's an awful waste of time and money to have to do so.
NYT: My mind is boggled by this one too. How can a school system possibly go bankrupt? We're not talking some privatized special education colleges here, are we, but primary and secondary schools that children have the right to attend? America has compulsory education from about 6-17 years of age like almost any country, so this would imply they would have the right of being educated which would also imply that there can't be a schooling system that goes bankrupt and stops functioning. Detroit's school environments are already hazardous to children and staff, now the teachers aren't going to be paid for the good job they've been doing despite these circumstances and there's no solution in sight. I do hope that DPS wins it lawsuit against the state for violating the civil rights of students and the Republicans are forced to fund schools again and better or the Democratic mayor Mike Duggan will have riots on his hands soon he's not having the resources and money for to answer.
LU: Any "news" on Faux News about on their CIA expert pleading guilty to charges of lying about his employment as a CIA agent and the fact that he was a convicted felon which seemed to have escaped their rigorous scrutiny when they employed him as CIA expert? No? Didn't really expect it.
Cartoon: The Republicans may take a little longer than Herr Hitler, but they're getting there…
NYTimes: What a broken political system we have built!
TP: "How many more examples do we need before American voters know that the mix of greed and incompetence Republicans bring to public office invariably spells tragic deprivation for those they govern?" How many stars are in the sky? People just do not want to use their cognitive capacities, will perhaps, never, realize tht the GOPigs can not govern! People are so caught iup in their short term greed, that if having a bit more in "my" pocket, now, means that the school, or some other sector of culture goes down the tubes, they will still vote for the clown who tells them what St. Reagan told them, "You can have it all!"
Wayne Simmons: Thanks, Tom, for this update. I've been onto this story for some time, now, and hope this jackass gets it in the scrotum! No, there is no way Faux news will run anyhting about this story, or, more accurately, nothing accurate about it, if they do. As I was leaving the gym, last night, I noticed a fellow watching Faux News as he ran on a treadmill, a fellow who had previously seemed like an ordinary guy, now I see him quite diffrently. My wife took the local Seniior Bus to an activity, yeaterday, and called me to say that the driver was listening, loudly, to Bill O'Lielly. On the way home the fool was listening to Rush Limpface! How do these people manage to even put their shoes on the correct feet?!
Hitler, and Scott Walker, Rick Scott, and on, and on!!!!
Ignorance qand apathy are bigger threats to America than the Republicans.
AMEN!
Thanks!!
Thanks all! Hugs!!
What a cornucopia of news! RepukkklicanTs and others are just trying to take the country down the drain! What for? Never know!