Yesterday I spent most of my free time collecting the data for today’s Monthly Report. In addition, I did housework, prepared a keyboard for RMA, and catching up on business on the phone. I’m current with replies. Tomorrow I’ll be home most of the day waiting for an O2 delivery and a UPS pickup.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:08 (average 4:49). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fantasy Football Report:
Here’s the latest from out fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.
Scores:
TomCat Teabag Trashers
hugos renegades
113.50
100.66
ManOnDogSantorum
Playing without a helmet
33.90
109.56
Texans Will Rise Again
Progressive Underdogs
48.86
116.22
Standings:
Points
Rank
Team Name
W-L-T
Pct
Streak
Waiver
For
Against
1 (1)
Progressive Underdogs
7-1-0
.875
W3
6
968.66
805.76
2 (2)
ManOnDogSantorum
5-3-0
.625
L1
5
902.44
825.44
3 (3)
TomCat Teabag Trashers
4-4-0
.500
W2
4
959.00
875.48
4 (4)
hugos renegades
4-4-0
.500
L2
3
916.34
877.16
5 (5)
Playing without a helmet
4-4-0
.500
W1
2
857.24
822.98
6 (6)
Texans Will Rise Again
0-8-0
.000
L8
1
613.88
1010.74
I’m coming up in the world.
Short Takes:
From Reuters: After Oakland emerged as a new center for the Occupy Wall Street movement — largely because an Iraq war veteran was seriously injured in a clash with police — local protest leaders decided on a tactic with a storied history in the city: a general strike.
The strike, scheduled for Wednesday, aims to disrupt commerce, with a special focus on banks and other symbols of corporate America. Protesters will also try to shut the city’s port, one of the nation’s largest, in the late afternoon.
Local labor leaders, although generally sympathetic to the Occupy movement, say their contracts prohibit them from proclaiming an official strike. City officials say government offices are scheduled to be open; it’s unclear whether many businesses will heed the call to close down for the day.
I fear that they may have called a general strike too soon to get the participation needed to be effective. Nevertheless, I support them 100% and pray that I have to admit I was wrong.
From Think Progress: A favorite conservative pastime since the financial crisis of 2008 struck is to try and deflect blame away from Wall Street and its excesses and onto Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and government housing policy. No matter how many times the theory that the government mortgage giants caused the crisis gets debunked, it keeps on coming back to life.
The latest political figure to join this parade was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), who responded to a question about the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests by saying that the protesters’ grievances are “unfounded,” since “it was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis“.
Horse feathers! What are we supposed to think, that the mortgage crisis was caused by Obama’s great-great-great grandparents’ Kenyan conspiracy, hatched before the South won the war?
From AP/Google: Canada is joining the U.S. in cutting off funding for the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO because it approved a Palestinian bid for full membership.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Tuesday the decision is not in the best interests of peace in the Middle East, so Canada is freezing all future voluntary contributions to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Canada contributes about $10 million a year to the agency.
Canada is supposed to follow the the US when we do something right, not when we screw up, big time!
Cartoon:
8 Responses to “Open Thread–11/2/2011”
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6:16 It’s a good thing Rick Perry has a driver! He’d never find the car keys! 😈
LOL!
3:42 I did good with the fish.
Perry isn’t all there most of the time.
Good one Patty. You’re top cat today.
3:58 It is a win for me, but Patty gets the top spot. I am 99 out of 306 (324).
Next, it’s a wide open door.
Oakland — It will be interesting to see what support they receive, but more importantly, whether they end up alienating themselves or whether they succeed in drawing more attention to the cause and advance it forward. A general strike by unionised labour is a dicey thing, or at least it is in Canada. It has to be well planned to ensureno repercussions to workers. Having said that, there is always mass sick outs. With Canadian unions, there is always the threat of being ordeered back to work as the postal workers were and Air Canada was threatened with.
Palestine — Palestine was admitted to UNESCO by a vote of 107 for and 14 against of which the US, Israel, Canada, and Germany were part, out of a total of 173 members. Now the US has pulled its funding of $60 million from UNESCO as has Canada $10 million. What are the US and Canada trying to accomplish? Israel has now announced a ‘green light’ on further settlements, a probable invasion of Gaza and quite definitely sanctions. Additionally, this support for Israel may have emboldened Israel to a unilateral attack on Iran which would plunge the entire Middle East into darkness. And according to one article, Israel is trying to get the US to support that invasion. Well if the US military industrial complex gets their fingers in this pie, if they aren’t already, they will be reaping big profits at the expense of incident civilian lives.
As a Canadian, I am extremely angered by the actions of this Canadian government which feels it can act with impunity because it has a majority in the House (I might add that the popular vote was only 36.4% for Harper and his Conservatives). The Canadian government lead by Harper (no it is not the Harper Government — as citizens we all bear the responsibility for decisions) has disgraced our reputation and good standing as peacekeepers once again. Mr Harper, quit kissing the US’s ass and let Canada stand on its own 2 feet. The US may be our biggest trading partner, but that doesn’t mean we have to do everything it does nor agree with everything it says.
And governments around the world wonder why there are demonstrations and protests. Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement — it is a Human Spring! It is a general dissatisfaction with all governments that repress their own people and seek to repress others; a general dissatisfaction with economic injustices, human rights injustices, government actions.
TC, you said yesterday that I would be pissed about something in the Open Thread and you’re right, yet again. This is one time I wish you weren’t right!
The Financial Crisis — “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), who responded to a question about the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests by saying that the protesters’ grievances are “unfounded,” since “it was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis“.”
Mayor Bloomberg, it was the unbridled greed of Wall Street and a complicit American government that caused the financial crisis, not Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. Listen to Elizabeth Warren’s history lesson and you’ll soon discover that the financial crisis was created by the banks! They convinced the Republicans (that wasn’t hard to do with all the bribes and campaign contributions they made) to repeal Glass-Steagall. And they continue to influence an obstructionist Republican/Teabagger dominated Congress to do their bidding, not for the benefit of the American people, but for the benefit of the wealthiest, the 1%. Get your head out of that very dark place at the other end of your anatomy and take an honest look around you.
Cartoon — Well, he’s partially right! He wasn’t there. He was so far gone that he left the campaign trail, permanently! It must have been a doozie of a hangover to give him steamer trunks under his eyes like the ones in the picture. He doesn’t look any too happy either. Take that 6 gun away from him now before he shoots someone else instead of just himself in the foot!
It looks like I have to eat my words. 🙂
I hear you, and that is what I meant. I’m as pissed about mine as you are about yours.
Amen!
LOL!