Yesterday the heat here was worse than the day before. Near dawn, when it is cooler outside the walls of the building still radiate heat from the day before. I’m current with comments on yesterday’s articles. Tomorrow the heat is forecast to be worse, and it’s a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:08 (average 4:45). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Common Dreams: A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that sought government information about the reported use of unmanned drones to kill suspected terrorists.
The CIA turned down a Freedom of Information Act request from the American Civil Liberties Union. The spy agency refused to admit or deny that it had any relevant records and said that merely confirming the existence of material would reveal classified information.
This is not the transparency Obama promised. It’s not as though this is secret. Hell, it’s on the nightly news.
From Huffington Post: This week, 9/11 firefighters and police chiefs rallied to demand changes to the rules governing compensation for health problems tied to poisonous air and debris at ground zero. They want federal funds to support treatment for cancer, which is currently omitted from the primary legislation covering ground zero-related medical needs. For years, researchers have been uncovering fresh evidence of widespread and devastating illnesses afflicting a large portion of people exposed to the aftermath; ongoing health issues range from crippling lung and breathing problems to post-traumatic stress disorder. But adequate funding for 9/11 workers has often been ensnared in political gridlock.
These are the most deserving of the 9/11 victims. The people in the towers just happened to be there, but these people knowingly put themselves in harm’s way. Political gridlock means Republican obstruction. What hypocrites, because they pseudo=patriotically capitalize on 9/11, every chance they get.
From Raw Story: Skeptics of climate change will have to deal with more evidence contrasting their disbelief.
The U.S. has experienced its hottest summer in 75 years, according to USA Today and the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. This latest summer season, with an average temperature of 74.5 degrees, has also been recorded as the second hottest ever. Only the Dust Bowl year of 1936, at 74.6 degrees, was warmer.
And you folks back East are about to get what I’ve been getting. God help you!
Cartoon:
12 Responses to “Open Thread–9/11/2011”
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They shall not be forgotten or GW Bush who as head of CIA trained Bin Laden
Never again let a Republican make mortal enemies… of the world
Stew
Welcome, Stew! 🙂
I agree with one correction. It was GHW Bush, not GW, that trained Osama.
Amen!
I’m sorry you are uncomfortable in the heat, Tom. I’m trying to get some outside painting done. If you send us heat I don’t mine, but I hope you won’t be sending rain any time soon. Wishing you all good things, Tom. Now, tell me, what is the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. Perhaps I haven’t looked around enough on your site yet. There are so many orbs I can think of that I need more info on this mystery.
Catlin, yesterday was the last horrible day. It will take a few days for my building to bleed off the heat. Good luck painting. An ellipsoid orb is like a sphere, but pointed at both ends. If you’re still confused, the cartoon in tomorrow’s Open Thread will make it clear.
The US government under Baby Bush declared a ‘war on terrorism’ after the 9/11 attacks. As we know, post traumatic stress is part of the fall out for soldiers coming home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why would there not be adequate coverage for those who served at home as first responders? Reading a story on Freekibble this morning about a search dog, a firefighter who was there heard that his firefighter friend had been killed just as the dog was going by on her way to do her job. He reached out to the dog and hugged that dog sobbing until he was able to regain a measure of composure. Now tell me that couldn’t end in post traumatic stress! And cancer — not enough evidence! How many dead bodies of first responders will it take to convince government and insurers that this is a BIG issue? Asbestos is a known carcinogen, otherwise why is there such an out cry about the export of asbestos? Lead is a known deadly poison otherwise why has it been regulated out of paints? Dust, and not just a little bit of household dust, but the massive amounts of cement, glass, and other fibres that were filled with all sorts of other chemicals, some uncovered, many not, that hung in the air for a long time after the collapse of the WTC — why would we doubt that there would be carcinogens in it? This dust also chokes the lungs. Ask any asthmatic what it is like trying to breathe when their airways are cut off with mucous and you’ll have an idea what it might be like having so much dust entering your lungs. Since the treatment provisions were put in place immediately following the attack, that was on Baby Bush’s watch, a Republican watch that failed to protect the peole that it is supposed tp represent and protect.
First responders are very much the victims of 9/11 as were the dead, peace be upon them! Only they survived! They saw dead bodies, body parts, destruction on home turf, friends killed doing the job they thought they were trained for. No one is adequately trained to deal with a calamnity of this magnitude. A first responder might very well have been the last person that a dead victim saw before succumbing to their injuries. And these first responders will carry those sights, sounds, smells and memories for the rest of their lives. Not only should they be given medical care commensurate with the job they were called on to do, they should have been included in the 10th anniversary remembrance at ground zero. The 3,000 victims that lost their lives in the WTC were innocent civilians and so are the first responders. They were brothers and sisters to those first responders who died at ground zero.
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“The spy agency refused to admit or deny that it had any relevant records and said that merely confirming the existence of material would reveal classified information.”
Bull! As TC says, it’s all over the nightly news. So what is the CIA trying to hide — what information is there that hasn’t been redacted to prevent undue knowledge? What are they trying to whitewash before publication? Tom Sawyer used whitewash for a fence. I don’t expect the government to use whitewash on its own people.
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Hey TC, did you see the line in the article that goes “Oregon and Washington had their coolest summers in history”? Guess they forgot to check Portland, eh! The climate change naysayers should check with the indigineous peoples of the Arctic and ask about the state of their natural hunting grounds. Look at the polar bears having to swim further, some dying in the process. Look at the big chunk of the Antarctica ice shelf that broke away because of melting and structural weaknesses. Look at the fish that are moving north out of their traditional habitation because the oceans are getting too warm. With them, they bring different predators and plant life which can suplant the indigineous plant life of their new habitats. I wonder what the climate change deniers would say if sunlight was so blocked from the earth that it became colder and glaciers started moving forward towards populated areas, like during the last ice age.
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Great cartoon, just needs to have Celsius on it too!
Like the jigsaw but as usual, my time sucks. You’d never know that I did puzzles religiously with my grandfather for years. Those were some of my happiest days.
Amen.
I think they are trying to avoid the publicity that publishing the data would bring.
It’s true. In a typical summer there are four or five heat waves in Portland. This year there were two.
Celsius is the better system, but I’ve been thinking in Fahrenheit for 55+ years.
With your grandfather you were not doing them for time. 🙂
Looks like today is the last day of your heat wave (and here I thought Portland was supposed to be pleasant year-round.) We’ve had a record number of over 100 Heat Index days here in the KCMO metro, so I can understand how you’re looking forward to a break in the weather. I’ll keep thinking cool thoughts for you.
It will still take a couple days to cool down, but by Wednesday my desk might see the 70s again. In recent years, Portland has had more extremes. Thanks!
3:38 🙂 I am 80 out of 254 (315).
Good one Jerry! Two coming tomorrow.
4:13
Almost got me!