I’m getting another late start today. When I finally finished with all yesterday’s tasks, I could not sleep, because the battery in my smoke detector ran low, and the damn thing started chirping at me every 30 seconds. We have very high ceilings, and the desk clerk on duty was very short. She could not reach it, even though she climbed onto mu desk. I had to wait for shift change at 9:00 AM, when a tall guy came on, and he changed it. However, I got almost no sleep. This mourning I did research and took a Lona cat nap. Tomorrow, please expect no more that a Personal Update. I have a five hour appointment with my Ocular Oncologist to determine the best way forward for the probable melanoma in my right eye.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:47 (average 5:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos:
“The last time you signed a contract for a cell phone plan, a bank account, or a credit card, you probably signed away your right to go to court if that company cheated you. That’s because most contracts for financial products contain forced arbitration clauses buried deep in the fine print. These clauses prohibit consumers from protecting themselves in court, and they make it a lot easier for financial institutions to get away with cheating their customers.” —Sen. Elizabeth Warren, October 2015.
In a move The New York Times calls “the biggest that the agency has made since its inception in 2010,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Thursday proposed a rule that would bar mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts with financial firms. Since it requires no congressional approval, the rule quite likely will go into effect after a 90-day public comment period in which opposition from business groups will no doubt be extensive, loud and bullshitty. (If you’d like to comment, you can choose a method here.) Foes of the rule, which could cost firms billions, include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce…
Thank God for Elizabeth Warren for championing the CFPB! I love this rule, but we need such a rule, banning forced mandatory arbitration for all companies!
From NY Times: Last November, Meg Muñoz went to Los Angeles to speak at the annual West Coast conference of Amnesty International. She was nervous. Three months earlier, at a meeting attended by about 500 delegates from 80 countries, Amnesty voted to adopt a proposal in favor of the “full decriminalization of consensual sex work,” sparking a storm of controversy. Members of the human rights group in Norway and Sweden resigned en masse, saying the organization’s goal should be to end demand for prostitution, not condone it. Around the world, on social media and in the press, opponents blasted Amnesty. In Los Angeles, protesters ringed the lobby of the Sheraton where the conference was being held, and as Muñoz tried to enter, a woman confronted her and became upset as Muñoz explained that, as a former sex worker, she supported Amnesty’s position. “She agreed to respect my time at the microphone,” Muñoz told me. “That didn’t exactly happen” — the woman and other critics yelled out during her panel — “but I understand why it was so hard for her.”
Muñoz was in the middle of a pitched battle over the terms, and even the meaning, of sex work. In the United States and around the globe, many sex workers (the term activists prefer to “prostitute”) are trying to change how they are perceived and policed. They are fighting the legal status quo, social mores and also mainstream feminism, which has typically focused on saving women from the sex trade rather than supporting sex workers who demand greater rights. But in the last decade, sex-worker activists have gained new allies. If Amnesty’s international board approves a final policy in favor of decriminalization in the next month, it will join forces with public-health organizations that have successfully worked for years with groups of sex workers to halt the spread of H.I.V. and AIDS, especially in developing countries.
In my opinion, prostitution should be decriminalized. Attempts to outlaw it over the last 5,000+ years have always been unsuccessful, as they always will be. Income from legal prostitution can be taxed. Legal prostitution can be licensed and regulated to protect sex workers from abuse and protect public health. Legal prostitution can be separated from the illegal drug trade. While I don’t encourage it, it’s past time to end the exploitation and criminalization of sex workers.
From Huffington Post: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would not use nuclear weapons unless its sovereignty is infringed by others with nuclear arms, in a speech broadcast on Sunday, and set a five-year plan to boost the secretive state’s moribund economy.
He has all the qualifications needed for Rump Dump Trump to want him as a VP candidate.
Cartoon:
Free Leonard Peltier!
10 Responses to “Open Thread–5/8/2016”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
5:01 Symmetry does make for real challenges (including, apparently, for JigZone to spell it on the home page).
Prayers going out to you for the eye. Probably from all over the world, actually.
DKos – For all companies, and not just for customers, but for employees. I can see potential benefits to arbitration sometimes – but the way to make it useful is NOT to make it mandatory, but to make it attractive.
NYTimes – Drawing the line between prostitution and the illegal drug trade is important, of course, but will probably be easier than drawing the line between voluntary sex work and human trafficking, which also needs to be drawn. And one reason is known as the Stockholm Syndrome. Which also shows up in domestic violence cases. It's tough to help someone who for one reason or another isn't able to do anything but deny that help is needed. It's easy enough to talk about drawing these lines. But you can see why people who are close to it or caught up in it are so emotionally invested.
HuffPo – LOL! All the qualifications except being a natural born citizen of the US! which I assume the VP would have to be since the President does.
Cartoon – Yes, Leonard Peltier needs to be OUT.
I do hope and pray that everything goes well for you, Tom, during your eye appointment. I'll pray for good news, and hope for the very, very best for good results.
Do get some much needed rest too. Take care, and Thanks!!
*Gotta run as the 'kids' are taking me out for a special dinner and movie for Mother's Day.
I also signed, and signed petitions re: Mr. Peltier. I hope he gets released, period!!
It's nearly 1:00 AM and I thought I'd check in on your blog before going to bed, TomCat, knowing you have an appointment with the ocular oncologist tomorrow. I hope you sleep well tonight after the sleepless night before and you'll be able to lay your worries to rest too. Know that our thoughts and prayers are with you, and we're all hoping for the best possible outcome tomorrow.
I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to comment on your articles. Good night for now.
I agree with JD and am praying for good eye solutions (pun intended)
Back in the days of hearing, I remember how ANNOYING those alarm chirpings are.
At the same time, got to say "THANK HEAVENS THEY DO IT – Lives Are Saved!" – but changing those batteries is a pain in the arse!
Puzzle — 3:48 Salad?
Daily Kos — Any consumer agreement that one sided should not be allowed. One should not have to feel like they sold their soul to the company store. Go Lizzie!
NY Times — The sex trade worker is a member of the "oldest profession". It goes without saying, in my mind at least, that the industry has a firm hold in the human psyche and will never go away. After all, family values Republicans (and others) prove that mores are not the big issue they have been in the past. Why not legalise it, tax and regulate it (consensual and no minors) to remove the mystique and improve health and safety.
Huff Post — I've read several articles about Kim's announcement and I just don't trust him. I don't trust Drumpf either. Neither of them knows a sou's worth about diplomacy.
Cartoon — And the injustices keeps on on both sides of the 49th.
I hope all goes well at the oncologist's tomorrow. Lit a candle for you at church this morning.
May the eye be healed and TC full of spunk…
Back again as promised.
DK: There's your Liz again, doing her job like few other senators and protecting the people from harm. No, she's not building shelters against the storm, but actively taking on greedy cheaters in the financial and corporate world. This time she's endorsing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule to effectively bar mandatory arbitration clauses in financial contracts. A first step and knowing Elizabeth Warren she'll be working with the CFPB to have this turn into a bill for all companies.
NYT: Unlike Norway and Sweden, The Netherlands has decriminalized prostitution in 2000 and it is legal as long as it comes down to voluntary sex between adults. Forced prostitution, prostitution by minors (they're in the process of taking the age up to 21) and unsafe working conditions are illegal however, which means the punter is indicted if he ignores the signs that the woman is forced or under age or her health is endangered. But with open borders and almost half of the prostitutes born elsewhere, there is an increasing problem with women trafficking and forced prostitution for which the government is looking to eradicate. Prostitution is also a nuisance in the older towns and cities where the red light districts are met with more and more opposition by people living there or nearby and councils have , unsuccessfully, trying to drive out prostitution to the edges of town, usually to the industrial areas. I don't think the government will make it illegal again soon as some (religious) parties demand; it'll have to forgo too much income as prostitutes have to pay their taxes like every other worker.
HP: Apparently "emperor" Kim Jong Un has some of his officials talking back to him and pointing out that he's spending far more than the country can provide him with and all on his nuclear dream. The only reason this dictator is willing to spend a little to boost the economy of his starving nation is the prospect of having more money to play with in five years and keep his people subdued in the meantime. His plan is unlikely to succeed and I feel very sorry for his sorely abused subjects.
Cartoon: After more than 40 years, can you still expect to see justice done? I think authorities hope to see the "problem Peltier" resolve itself "naturally" and then it's back to business and some old fashioned injustice for all indigenous people on the continent.
Thanks all!! Hugs!