I’m writing for tomorrow, day 86. Last night I lay down for what was supposed to be a short catnap,. and I was out for hours. I’m feeling tired, still, but my groceries are unpacked and stowed, my research is done, and I just have to write tomorrow’s articles. Cravings are severe, and I think that getting off Chantix may be behind the sleep irregularity. 
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:08 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Oklahoma had a very busy weekend, at least according to the richter scale.
GUTHRIE, Okla. (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded seven small earthquakes shaking central Oklahoma in a span of about 14 hours.
The temblors are part of an increase in earthquakes across Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas that some scientists say could be connected to the oil and gas drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, and especially the wells in which the industry disposes of its wastewater.
Sunday’s quakes ranged from magnitude 2.6 to 2.9 and were centered in the Guthrie, Jones and Langston areas, 15 miles to 30 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. The USGS said the quakes were recorded between 7:57 p.m. Saturday and 9:51 a.m. Sunday. No injuries or damage were reported.
Those follow four other quakes, including a 4.3-magnitude temblor near Langston recorded shortly after noon Saturday. The other Saturday morning quakes ranged in magnitude from 2.9 to 3.2.
Prior to fracking, this part of the country used to be geologically stable. While Republicans may call this the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, the many occurrences of temblors in other tectonically stable areas after fracking help form an inductive basis for cause.
From The New Yorker: The Church of England, an institution whose origins date back to the sixth century A.D., has far more modern views about the rights of women than Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, experts said today.
“In recognizing that women are the equals of men, the Church of England has embraced a position that is centuries ahead of Scalia’s,” Davis Logsdon, a professor of religion at the University of Minnesota, said. “This is a remarkable achievement, given that Scalia was born in 1936 and the Church began in the late five hundreds.”
But Dr. Carol Foyler, a history professor at the University of Sussex, took issue with that assessment. “I date the beginning of the Church of England to 1534, when it was officially established under Henry VIII,” she said. “But regardless of whether the Church is fourteen centuries old or five centuries old, it’s unquestionably more modern than Scalia.”
Amen Andy! To find view’s on women’s rights worse than Scalia’s, one must eclipse the dawn of recorded history! 
From NY Times: Two Texas lawmakers say they plan to introduce a bipartisan bill on Tuesday intended to combat the humanitarian crisis at the nation’s southern border and make it easier to send migrant children from Central America back to their home countries.
The legislation is expected to encounter resistance from some congressional Democrats. It comes as the White House has signaled a willingness to work with Republicans to win passage of President Obama’s request for $3.7 billion in emergency funds to confront the surge of Central American migrants into the United States, with a heavy concentration of them in Texas.
The legislation by the two Texas lawmakers — Senator John Cornyn, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, and Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat — would amend a 2008 law intended to stop sex trafficking that grants migrant children from Central America extra legal protections when they cross the border, protections that Mr. Obama has said make it harder to return the children quickly to their home countries.
Those protections for refugee children need to stay right where they are. Furthermore, calling the bill bipartisan is a crock. Cuellar is a virtual Republican, a perennial traitor to his both party and his people. He endorsed Bush over Gore in 2000, and he is the reddest Bush Dog DINO in Congress.
Cartoon:
17 Responses to “Open Thread–7/16/2014”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
3:34 I didn't get alll tied up in knots today.
4:13 I did!
3:54 I feel like I didn`t even get to the dock!
Mashed!
With all the compassion you'd expect from a Rethuglican, an Arizona GOP congressional candidate raced around the state to protest a busload of kids he wants to send back to Central America.
While there was a bus and it was loaded with kids, the problem was they weren't refugees – but kids headed to a YMCA Camp!
God, Rethuglicans are fricking idiots driven by hate!
http://www.azcentral.com/story/brahm-resnik/2014/07/15/arizona-politician-mistakes-campers-for-migrant-children/12701279/
I almost expected the politician to be John McConJob. that would have been hilarious.
What an asswipe! I certainly wouldn`t want him stuck to the bottom of my shoe! . . . although maybe with my size 9s I could stamp him out!
Trust a Republicanus/Teabagger to see an opportunity to score some easy political points so he jumps on the bus, no pun intended. His problem, he embarrassed himself and couldn`t even extricate himself because he didn`t want to say he made a mistake.
OOPS. Great minds fall in thed same ditch. I'm giving him a parade.
4:40 I feel like I am all tied up myself. I used to know all that stuff, but now I'm doing well to remember a square knot. I cannot tell you how sorry I am about the cravings. Any time I don't mention iy, it's not because I don't care.
Daily Kos – The article mentions Oklahoma Kansas, amd Texas, and you can add Colorado to that. 179 since fracking started, measurable ones; we used to have many that were too small to notice, and barely measurable, but these are different. I'm thinkng they are experiencing some in Pennsylvania and Ohio too. But no one in the GOP is going to accept that their beloved fracking may be implicated. I'm glad I'm retired because as an insurance professional I would not want to be dealing with re-learning everything I know abou US earthquakes. One thing, though, the most destructive one in US history happened in – wai for it – Memphis, TN in the early 1800's. It's been quiet since, but if I were in Tennessee now and they were fracking near me, I think I'd do anything I could to get out.
New Yorker – I consider the Church of England to have been established in 1533 – specifically to override the rights of ONE woman – Catherine of Aragon. But I don't think you have to go all the way to the dawn of recorded history to find views worse than Scalia's – just to the websites Elliot Rodger was reading and posting on.
NY Times – You'll never convince Republicans there is any difference between refugees and illegal immigrants.
Cartoon: ".. and NOBODY else."
I was continuing the satire. 🙂
This website may help you with your nicotine cravings. I know I ate a lot of sunflower seeds and nuts when I was quitting. They still help satisfy cravings as do raw fruits and veggies. Avoid highly spiced foods for a while because it increases your cravings. http://www.myfoodmyhealth.com/Meal-Plans-Diets/Conditions/Quit-Smoking.php
Daily Kos ~ Where's "Drill, Baby, Drill" Sarah? She hasn't spoken out against the USGS yet. It's obvious that when you change the pressure under the surface of the earth, something has to give. I've been saying this for years because to me it was common sense or basic phisics.
New Yorker ~ Women have rights in Scalia's world? Yes they do. The right to be a Stepford Wife. good dig, Andy.
NY Times ~ I agree, Tom. A DINO is not a Democrat. This bill is by no stretch of the imagination bipartisan.
Cartoon ~ That's the only welfare they believe in.
Thanks Patty!
My nephew used Chantix and he said it was harder to give up than the cigarettes.
Daily Kos: The Republicans are too far in the pockets of the gas and oil companies to ever admit any of their actions are harmful.
The NewYorker: Andy is great. There is evidence that women held positions in the churches in their infancy. Some places even had a few matriarchal societies, How in the heck did we women let this become a male dominated world? Scalia fits the mold for the Republican Party, they are working so hard to push women back to the bare foot and pregnant days.
NY Times: I agree with you, TC. A Dino is not a real democrat.
Cartoon: True for our country at present.
I think he's right.
Puzzle — 3:54 I feel like I didn`t even get to the dock!
Daily Kos — I think this fellow needs to read "Earthquakes 101" because his knowledge sucks!
This is a shallow quake (under 70 km down) and of the kind that does the most damage. From "Earthquakes 101" aka Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake
Doesn`t that sound like fracking?!
When will these non science idiots learn to shut their mouths about things that they know nothing about. Time for a grand education plan for the people in the affected states. … and Pickens, well let`s just say the pickens are slim! (No offence intended to the actor Slim Pickens, RIP).
The New Yorker — Dr. Carol Foyler is correct that The Church of England started in 1534 (when Henry VIII decided to separate from the Vatican over the Pope`s refusal to grant a divorce or annulment) after the Protestant Reformation started in 1517. So no matter these dates, Scalia comes at minimum 400 years after the beginning of The Church of England, yet his attitudes about women`s rights are at least a millenia older than The Church of England. What a putz!
NY Times — These kids are often fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries, conditions that include rape, sexploitation and murder.
Tell me again, aren`t these the kinds of things that that Republican/Teabagger former president wanted to protect kids from? Seems like their former chief`s policies have fallen from grace now that Democrats hold the White House. Just one more way to create havoc and push the buttons of haters in an election year.
Cartoon — Maybe in an alternate reality, but not here, not this time!
That's a whole lot of links. 🙂
Yea! I was pissed off at my own stupidity when the moderation came up. Sometimes, if my eyes are really tired like tonight, I can't always see the colour change (black to blue) in the text. Sorry about that.