Yesterday I spent most of the day resting and napping, because I’m still well short of 100%. I’m current with replies. Today is a holy day for the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. Sadly, the service between the Broncos and Chargers won’t be televised here.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 3:49 (average 4:38). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From MoveOn.org: Robert Reich: The real public nuisance!
Amen! Occupy our Democracy!
From CNN: Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of Texas and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will forgo seeking an eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
That’s a sad thing for Texas, because Charlie has been a champion for voting rights.
From Common Dreams: Turkey sees no possibility of resuming full diplomatic relations with Israel unless Israel apologizes and pays damages for the deaths its commandos caused last year aboard a Turkish ship that was trying to run Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, Turkey’s foreign minister said Friday.
“Israel buried our friendship in the deep waters of the Mediterranean,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in response to a question on whether Turkish-Israeli relations would recover in the near future.
I commend our NATO ally for taking a stand that this country should be supporting.
Cartoon:
15 Responses to “Open Thread–11/27/2011”
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Robert is 1% on target with his commentary – our democracy is being corrupted by big money or the 1%’s.
Israel should pay damages and apologize to Turkey. One man was shot before they even landed on the unarmed ship and killed instantly. And why are they defending Gaza? It doesn’t even belong to them.
Cute pic!
Lisa, did you mean “Robert is 100% on target with his commentary. . . “?
What Lynn said.
I completely agree.
Thanks, Lisa!
Robert Reich is BRILLIANT and a true PATRIOT!!!
I have to agree with that!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/25/shocking-truth-about-crackdown-occupy?INTCMP=SRCH
You see this?
I did, Mark. I’m looking into it. I don’t consider Kwan a reliable source. So many have called for her resignation that she would say anything to shift blame. I talked to one of Adams’ Aides, and he said he thought DHS had been invited to, but did not organize it, and was a minor participant. there just to answer questions. He said he will did a little deeper and get back this week. I don’t think Obama is the one trying to shut it down, because DOJ is actively investigating police abuse at his instructions. Also, I take Wolf with a grain of salt, because she has priors as a conspiracy theorist.
I think Robert Reich tells it like it is, without over dramatizing it to the point no one would listen to him. He explains it in a concise and honest way without getting angry. This makes it believable.
Welcome Mary! 🙂
Very well said.
Some of us “Turkeys” tried to escape to warmer climes and soak up some sun for Thanksgiving. Fortunately we were successful – UNfortunately it was short-lived …
Welcome back, Nameless. 🙂
If that’s a self portrait, when did you start cross dressing? 😉
Robert Reich: The real public nuisance! fromMoveOn.org — “We keep seeing images like these (images of OWS protesters being arrested and/or pepper sprayed) — Americans exercising their rights to free speech and assembly but meeting police weilding batons, forced evictons, pepper spray, brute force used even against former police officers who were protesting, and elderly Americans. The first Amendent is being stood on its head. According to the Supreme Court, money is now speech and corporations are now people. As a result, our democracy is being engulfed in big money. But when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with the political consequences of this, they’re treated as public nuisances and evicted. It is the Supreme Court’s rulings [that] have created the public nuisance, opening the floodgates to unlimited and often secret contributions for millionaires and billionaires. These millionaires and billionaires aren’t contributing their money out of sheer love of country. Their political spending is analagous to their other investments. Mostly they want low tax rates and friendly regualtions.
Now some public officials say occupiers are public nuisances. Well it’s true. Peaceful, non-violent protests including encampments can be inconvenient. But the real public nuisance is the tsunami of big money into politics, making it almost impossible for the voices of average Americans to be heard because most of us don’t have the dough to break through. And that’s exactly what occupiers and others like them are protesting.
We don’t have the money to influence politicans directly.
We are not Wall Street or big corporations that can spend unlimited sums corrupting our democracy.
We are the people and all we have is the ability to peacefully assemble and make our voices heard loudly and clearly.
You see, our democracy is increasingly being taken over by big money and that ‘s wrong. Demonstrating to take it back is the essence of free speech in a democratic society. We need to occupy our democracy.”
When I first listened to Reich, not only did I find his presentation compelling, such that I have pinned a copy on a bulletin board at my desk, but I realised he was talking about Canada. All you have to do is change America to Canada and Americans to Canadians. Now, in Canada there is less big money in politics as there are limitation laws and there are public funds for each party. However, the more I look at our own government, it is the Canadian version of a Republican government. Where once the Conservative party was known as the Progressive Conservative party, that was changed when they amalgamated with the Alliance party, an ultra conservative party without the religious element, and became the Conservative party, no longer progressive.
Our PM feels now that he has a majority government, he pretty much can do what he wants. Case at point, he has said that with the majority he has in government, a bill will be passed to dissolve the Canadian Wheat Board. The prairie farmers who voted for Harper are angry because they don’t want this. This move will open the door to multi-national farm firms and the decline of the family wheat farm, putting many farmers completely out of work. This will lead to increased costs across the board.
This is why what Reich says is so important. Politicians need to know that there are consequences to abusing our democracy. We, the people, need to occupy our democracy.
Rep Gonzalez — That’s too bad because with all the Republican state shenanigans around the suppression of voter rights and gerrymandering the electoral districts, there needs to be a champion for voter rights.
Turkey — I’m with Turkey. If Israel can’t play fair in the school yard, then it is detention time. Every country needs to stand up and take responsibility for their actions. Israel has shown its irresponsibility towards the Palestinians time and time again. Now towards the Turks who are trying to bring humanitarian relief to the Palestinians. When Israel needed help in their early days, they received help in various ways. Now the Palestinians need humanitarian aid and Israel should recognise this. Turkey was coming to the aid of the Palestinians and should be compensated for the loss of life, not that money can adequately compensate for the loss of life.
Cartoon — Cheating is as cheating does. Must be in the ‘Voter redistribution’ class.
Speaking about the divine, did you catch the CFL Grey Cup game on TV today? Don’t know if you are able to get it but the BC Lions (nice little pussy cats) beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (the nasties) 31-23. We get to keep the cup for the year!
Thanks for the transcript.
See tomorrow’s article on that very subject.
So am I.
LOL!
Congrats to the Lions! Your CFL is a fast paced game.
3:34
Beat me! 🙂