Lynn Squance

Squatch’s Open Thread 08/10/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 1:57 pm Open Thread, Politics

Oct 082015

Man, did it ever rain today . . . enough that I got soaked going from my car to a building! Mind, I wasn't moving very fast. Seems I have done something to my good knee and put the cartilage out of place. At least when I dried out, my hair was "rain barrel" soft. And of course, all the windows in our complex were washed today . . . great timing! My three furbabes were so frantic at the sight of water and brushes on the windows that they went under the bed for much of the day! Ah life!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:46 (average 6:05). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes

Daily Kos — Drudge: Obama named ISIS that so it would 'be confused with Darrell Issa'. Dear conservatives: Your entire movement is an exercise in self-parody.[right wing conspiracy theorist delinked]

Read this very short piece at Daily Kos. If there weren't so many gullible people, this might actually be funny. But there is no place for such BS in a modern society.

Alternet — Three Harvard debate team members faced off against three men incarcerated for violent crimes. This was two weeks ago.

After an hour of fast-moving debate on Friday, the judges rendered their verdict.

The inmates won.

Read the rest of this story at Alternet. Rehabilitation through education to prevent recidivism. What a great programme!

The New Yorker — Citizens of the Roman town of Pompeii who were victims of Mt. Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 A.D. could have survived if they had “just outrun the lava,” the neurosurgeon Ben Carson told Fox News on Wednesday.

“Most of the plaster casts we have of Pompeii victims show them basically just lying down and whatnot,” he said. “If I had been in Pompeii and I heard Mt. Vesuvius erupting, you can bet I would have made a run for it.”

Read the remainder at The New Yorker. Old Ben proves that not only is he ignorant about science and volcanology, but he isn't any smarter in medicine either. Good shot Andy!

Alternet — In July, Barack Obama announced that he would issue presidential clemency to approximately 80 non-violent drug offenders. This news was great, but 80 prisoners doesn’t even come close to being a drop in the bucket that is the prison industrial complex.

However, all of that is about to change. On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that they will release about 6,000 inmates between October 30 and November 2. This will be the largest ever one-time release of federal prisoners in the history of the United States.

The early release comes on the heels of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent agency that sets sentencing policies for federal crimes, lowering the penalties for drug offenders.

Read the rest of the article at Alternet. There are too many non violent offenders incarcerated in the federal system. I dare say that there will be much nashing of teeth as the prisons see their revenues drop.

My Universe —

Now isn't THAT the truth!

Squatch’s Open Thread 07/10/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 2:42 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 072015

Well, well . . . Lona was here earlier! But despite her presence, I did manage to get 3 loads of laundry finished. That's good so now I can go out in public without fear. Most of the day was reasonably nice weather wise, but this evening we had lightning, thunder and some rain. News had it that this little storm came in from Hawaii. Now that is quite a trip.

Fantasy Football —

						Points
Rank	Team	W-L-T	Pct	Stk	Waiver	For	Against
1	MittsMagicJock	4-0-0	1.000	W4	9	438.36	302.68
2	Progressive Underdogs	3-1-0	.750	W1	8	398.90	331.08
3+2	Monster Mashers	3-1-0	.750	W2	10	348.98	275.34
4-1	Size 9 Stompers	2-2-0	.500	L1	7	334.16	331.26
5+2	Lefty Hillbillies	2-2-0	.500	W1	6	329.94	308.62
6-2	TomCat Teabag Trashers	2-2-0	.500	L1	5	381.82	404.42
7+2	BALCO Bombers	2-2-0	.500	W2	4	327.16	313.82
8	Playing without a helmet	1-3-0	.250	L3	3	351.34	486.68
9-3	endthegop	1-3-0	.250	L3	2	323.48	405.00
10	Purple Demon	0-4-0	.000	L4	1	333.54	408.78

Well here we are, 4 weeks down. TC has a player with a bye week this coming session so I will try to fix that, but I don't know if I am able to.

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:35 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. Do you know how difficult it was to do this puzzle while I was relaxing in the hammock? How did you do?

Common Dreams — America's Fortune 500 companies are "playing by different rules" when it comes to the federal tax system and, according to a new report out Tuesday, are stashing $2.1 trillion in offshore tax havens—with as much as $620 billion owed to the U.S. taxpayers who are left footing the bill.

The report, Offshore Shell Games 2015: The Use of Offshore Tax Havens by Fortune 500 Companies (pdf), examines the accounting tricks that have enabled the country's most profitable companies to hide their earnings.

"The American multinationals that take advantage of tax havens use our roads, benefit from our education system and large consumer market, and enjoy the security we have here, but are ultimately taking a free ride at the expense of other taxpayers." —Michelle Surka, US PIRG"U.S.-based multinational corporations are allowed to play by a different set of rules than small and domestic businesses or individuals when it comes to the tax code," wrote advocacy organizations Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), which together authored the study.

Read the rest of the article at Common Dreams and take a look at the report. If you don't want to read the entire report, the 3 page Executive Summary by itself should make your blood boil. Here is an excerpt:

Most of America’s largest corporations maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens. At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014.

• All told, these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries.

• The 30 companies with the most money officially booked offshore for tax purposes collectively operate 1,225 tax haven subsidiaries.

Approximately 60 percent of companies with tax haven subsidiaries have set up at least one in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands — two particularly notorious tax havens. Furthermore, the profits that all American multinationals — not just Fortune 500 companies — collectively claimed they earned in these two island nations in 2010 totaled 1,643 percent and 1,600 percent of each country’s entire yearly economic output, respectively. Fortune 500 companies are holding more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore for tax purposes. Just 30 Fortune 500 companies account for 65 percent of these offshore profits. These 30 companies with the most money offshore have booked $1.4 trillion overseas for tax purposes. … If we apply that average tax rate of 6.0 percent to the entirety of Fortune 500 companies, they would collectively owe $620 billion in additional federal taxes. Some of the worst offenders include:

• Apple: Apple has booked $181.1 billion offshore …

• American Express: The credit card company officially reports $9.7 billion offshore for tax purposes …

• Nike: The sneaker giant officially holds $8.3 billion offshore for tax purposes …

Read on in the report. With so many large corporations forgoing their responsibilities as American corporate citizens, is it any wonder that average citizens are tired of such shenanigans? Add the tax perks on their declared American income, and you get a full scale ripoff of ordinary American tax payers.

Alternet — Doctors Without Borders says it is under “the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed” after a U.S.-led NATO coalition bombed its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

The aid organization, referred to internationally in French as Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF), asserted that it “condemn[s] this attack, which constitutes a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law.”

The U.S. military’s version of the story behind the bombing is full of holes, and constantly changing. After launching airstrikes on Kunduz, which has recently seen an insurgency by the Taliban, on Saturday morning, NATO said its bombing “may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility.”

Read the rest of this story at Alternet. Official US response has rocked back and forth from "Oops, sorry." to "Who cares?" (my words based on reading). But one historical fact has come up . . . this has happened before some 45 years ago. From The Nation,

In direct testimony and in letters, the veterans said hospitals often were considered targets rather than areas to be avoided as required by the Geneva convention on warfare.…

Is this policy still? If so, then the US is apparently guilty of war crimes as MSF maintains.

Raw Story — Fox News host Bill O’Reilly dismissed the idea on Tuesday that children can be poor in the US during a discussion with contributor Kirsten Powers, Media Matters reported.

“If you look at the studies of poverty, most poor people in this country have computers, have big screen TVs, have cars, have air conditioning,” O’Reilly said. “This myth that there are kids who don’t have anything to eat is a total lie.”

If I were classifying this article, I'd put it under "humour". Bill O’Reilly is a jackass! Read the rest and see the video at Raw Story.

My Universe — The teacher was talking about Republicans . . .

Squatch’s Open Thread 06/10/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 11:28 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 062015

It has been a busy day with over 2 hours of physiotherapy and then 3 hours of teaching. After a quick trip for a loaf of bread — yum, cinnamon bread (has shaved cinnamon in it!) — I arrived home. No cat nap today, although I would have loved one!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 4:03 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes

Alternet — Bill Maher took some time out on Friday night's Real Time to point out the modern GOP was currently worshiping a totally fantastical Jesus. One who's contemptuous of the poor, greedy, and less about values and more about maximizing shareholder value.

Read the remainder of this short Alternet article and watch the video above. Bill is always entertaining.

ABC News — South Carolina is enduring its worst rains "in 1,000 years," Gov. Nikki Haley said Sunday, urging residents to stay off the roads as conditions were "changing by the minute," with roads flooding and rivers at their highest levels in decades.

According to the National Weather Service, one area of downtown Columbia, the South Carolina capital, received nearly 17 inches of rain in 17 hours, and it was still raining.

Consensus has it that this large and powerful storm is not part of Hurricane Joaquin but certainly influenced by Joaquin. Read the rest and see the live reporting at ABC News. There will be more and more extreme weather unless we learn to effectively deal with global warming and climate change. That is not a Democratic thing or a Republican thing. . . that is a human thing. Please keep the people of the affected areas and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Mother Jones — "It seems like there is nothing like a mass shooting to suddenly spark political interest in mental health," Oliver said, while featuring the talking points of Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Mike Huckabee—all of whom steered away from discussing increased gun control legislation after the shooting in Oregon, to tout the need for better mental health programs.

John Oliver makes some very salient points about mental health and gun control. Society needs to look seriously at how we deal with mental illness , but it also needs to deal with gun control.

My Universe — I love me some Simon's Cat. What cat parent has not had to deal with this?

The Fall of King Coal

Posted by Lynn Squance at 1:23 am Politics

Oct 052015

Mother Jones has an excellent article about the coal industry and one of its big players, Don Blankenship. As the former CEO of Massey Energy Co., Blankenship is charged with conspiracy to violate safety laws, defrauding the federal government, securities fraud and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission. If convicted in this corporate accountability case, he could face 31 years in prison. Not enough in my opinion for the misery and death he created and left in his wake. Perhaps his golden parachute, nay platinum parachute he received from Massey Energy Co in 2010 when he left, will be taken back and distributed to the families of miners killed at a Blankenship operation. That would be an attempt at justice for those families.

…he was a harsh taskmaster whose cutthroat management style transformed what was once a modest family business into the region's largest coal producer. …

Blankenship cultivated an image as a Mingo County son made good—a good ol' boy who ran a multibillion-dollar company from a double-wide trailer. And he saw himself as a heroic figure who brought jobs to the depressed enclaves of his native West Virginia. But with his gaze fixed on the bottom line, Blankenship crushed the mine workers union that was baptized in his backyard. Voluminous court records and government investigations show that he presided over a company that padded its profits by running some of themost dangerous workplaces in the country. Massey polluted the waterwaysthat had sustained Blankenship's forebears, rained coal dust on the schoolyards where his miners' children played, and subjected the men he grew up with in southern West Virginia to unsafe working conditions.

A mascot of the coal industry's worst excesses, Blankenship pumped millions of dollars into West Virginia's political system to promote an anti-regulatory agenda and curry favor with state lawmakers and officials. …

The irony is that, even at the nadir of Blankenship's power, his ideology is ascendant. He transformed West Virginia not just physically (entire towns have been wiped out by Massey's footprint), but politically. Now, by playing off fears of creeping government involvement, the coal industry has strengthened its grip on state politics. Lawmakers friendly to the industry, with financial support from Blankenship, have won sweeping victories at the ballot box and used their mandate to roll back health and safety regulations while trumpeting the survival-of-the-fittest capitalism that was Blankenship's gospel. The man on the mountaintop may have fallen, but the widespread impact of his legacy shows no signs of diminishing. …

Down the road from Upper Big Branch, a memorial funded in part by Alpha touted the job-creating legacy of the coal industry. By a back entrance to the now-shuttered mine was a more informal installation—29 hard hats and two mourning angels. Their wings were solar powered. …

These are pictures of mountain top removal . . . from lush forested mountain tops to wastelands that resemble tar sands mines like those in Alberta.

From Alternet

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had this to say about Blankenship in a report on EcoWatch last fall:

Don Blankenship once boasted to me that it was impossible to conduct mountaintop removal mining without violating the law. He prided himself on his cold-blooded capacity for turning America’s purple mountains majesty into coal company cash. His criminal mind allowed him to view the human beings of Appalachia as disposable production units. He is a sociopath and gangster whose gift was felonious greed and a stone-cold heart that allowed him to put his yearning for money and power ahead of human lives. Those qualities had great value to his friends and investors: the Wall Street robber barons. But they were poison and destruction to the noble communities of coal country. We can’t bring back the towns he destroyed, the lives he took, the mountains he flattened, the rivers he poisoned, but there is some consolation in knowing that he’s getting what he deserves: three hots and a cot and long days in the company of fellow criminals of lesser appetites and lesser distinction.

Blankenship's trial has begun with the jury selection expected to be completed by today. I understand that he has top notch counsel and is pleading innocent to all charges. I wonder how far his cultivated political connections will get him? Any doubt that he is a Republican!

Please sign the Protect Communities from Hazardous Coal Mining Waste prepared by the Sierra Club.

Squatch’s Open Thread 05/10/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 1:23 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 052015

That Lona has been at it again . . . I had an extended cat nap again this afternoon, but it was glorious! Me and my 3 furbabes snuggled together. I had spent the morning and early afternoon working on today's second article when my eyes started getting heavy. I gave up resisting the allure of my pillow and I was gone! I might have been gone but the laundry wasn't! Tomorrow is a must on the laundry scene after physio and teaching ESL!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:23 (average 5:13). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes

Raw Story — US Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House oversight panel, announced on Sunday he was running for speaker, a bid seen as a long shot that could still stir up the contest to replace John Boehner. …

Representative Daniel Webster, former speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives, has also challenged McCarthy for House of Representatives speaker.

Chaffetz said many Republican lawmakers wanted a change in leadership. Republicans currently hold a majority in both houses of Congress.

The House Republican conference is set to start on Thursday, and by the end, a new Speaker of the House will be announced. We know that Kevin McCarthy was anointed by Boehner to take over. However he is now challenged by Jason Chavetz, the idiot who was caught with "his pants down" during the inquisition of Planned Parenthood's CEO, Cecile Richards, and Daniel Webster from Florida. See The Daily Signal for a short article on Webster. I wonder if any more Republicans will come out of the woodwork for the top job?

The New Yorker — Americans who are opposed to being shot, a constituency that has historically failed to find representation in Washington, are making a new effort to make its controversial ideas heard in the nation’s capital.

“When you bring up the idea of not wanting to be shot with members of Congress, there’s always been pushback,” Carol Foyler, founder of the lobbying group Americans Opposed to Being Shot, said. “Their reaction has been, basically, ‘Not being shot: who’s going to support something like that?’”

Foyler, however, believes that the right to not be shot, much like women’s right to vote, the right to same-sex marriage, and other rights that were deemed controversial in their day, may be an idea whose time has finally come.

IMO, Andy has hit on something, albeit a little late. Perhaps the 4th amendment of the US Constitution could be amended such as "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, and being shot when not in the commission of a crime, shall not be violated, …". That might affect stand your ground laws, but . . .

Alternet — A 2015 study found that when guns are used to kill people in the United States, they are overwhelmingly used for murder rather than self-defense. That study found that in 2012, there were only 259 justifiable homicides, or what is commonly referred to as self-defense, compared to 8,342 criminal firearm homicides. In 2008-2012, the report says, guns were used in 42,419 criminal homicides and only 1,108 justifiable homicides.

So if Americans aren’t using their guns for self-defense, does it make sense to do away with the charade of “sensible gun restrictions” talk and just get real about banning at least some guns outright?

The gun lobby is hanging its hat on the 2nd amendment, an amendment that was written in a different time under different conditions. Its unwillingness to support stricter gun regulations is, IMO, an indication that it does not care one iota for the innocent lives lost, only for the profits of the gun and ammunition manufacturers.

Raw Story — In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) declined to endorse any of the candidates currently running, in spite of Tapper’s badgering.

“Do you want to ask this six different ways?” she asked the CNN anchor as he attempted to get her to praise Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) over former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Image: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, at the Atlantic Washington Ideas Forum via screencap

… She went on to slam Republicans for trying to shut down Planned Parenthood on the basis of anti-choice zealots the Center for Medical Progress’ phony video smear campaign.

You really need to go to Raw Story to view a video of a feisty Elizabeth Warren speaking on women's health, Planned Parenthood and financial reforms. She is so passionate, so spot on. Go Lizzie!

My Universe — Love me some Simon's Cat

5 Right-Wing Idiocies this Week: O’Reilly’s Dangerous Gun Violence Delusion

Posted by Lynn Squance at 11:33 am Politics

Oct 042015

It must be the weekend because the summary of the ravings of the lunatic fringe, aka Republicans and their media cohorts, are "rolling off the presses" so to speak. But nothing the rabid right says or does is cogent, nor truthful.

BARF BAG ALERT!

The week began with an attempted massacre of Planned Parenthood and ended with another horrific mass shooting. Conservatives grilled the head of a organization that provides healthcare to poor women as if she were a criminal, and then threw up their hands saying nothing can be done about gun violence. Poor healthcare and random gun deaths are just the price you pay for freedom, they say. Or as Jeb Bush so brilliantly articulated: "Stuff happens." Here are five low-lights from the week that was:

5. Republican Congressman: Planned Parenthood is not necessary, because as a guy with great health insurance from the taxpayers, I have plenty of healthcare options.

During this week’s Planned Parenthood hearings, the tin-eared award goes to Republican Congressman Glenn Grothman, a Republican congressman who told the CEO of the women’s healthcare provider that he just does not find her organization necessary. As a man enjoying great government-funded health insurance, he has plenty of other options. Bully for him.

When I look at cities around me that have a Planned Parenthood clinic … usually in those cities, as a guy, I could go to many clinics locally that have all the machines that one would need, all these clinics as far as I know take Medicaid dollars, so you could go to any of those clinics to get any medical service you could. . . . I guess what I’m getting at is if Planned Parenthood disappeared tomorrow in those towns, there would still be three or four or five clinics or hospitals providing all the … medical care you would want.

Grothman's general outlook on Medicaid is almost as dim as his view of Planned Parenthood. He has then claimed in the past that people who use the public safety net are fleecing taxpayers by living high on the hog, and not having to pay deductibles like those with private insurance do.

Women and poor people have all the luck!

Read about the other four Right Wing Idiocies in Alternet. I'd say they'd amaze you, but I don't think anything that Republicans or Faux say or do amazes anyone anymore. It is SSDD . . . Stupid is as stupid does!

Squatch’s Open Thread 04/10/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 11:32 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 042015

I thought today would be a generally laid back day. Yeh, right! After finishing a doctor's appointment and one other short errand, I thought I would play with my kids for a bit and then get down to doing some research for the coming days. Things didn't unfold like that. A call from my student, Lucia, had me at her house helping with some paperwork. I didn't arrive home until after 7 pm and I was tired. I did however get some research done, but that other chore . . . laundry . . . never got done. I must get it done tomorrow!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 3:23 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Short Takes

Foreign Policy — I suspect it is because we mistakenly confuse a desire for peace with weakness and we assume anyone who exhibits a passionate commitment to peace is some sort of “Kumbaya”-singing idealist who just doesn’t understand how the world works and is therefore not tough enough for the Big Job. As Leslie Gelb, the former president of the Council on Foreign Relations and an experienced national security professional, admitted a few years ago that preserving one’s credibility in the foreign-policy establishment requires a certain enthusiasm for the use of military power. Even Obama felt compelled to give a rather hawkish speech when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize (!), lest anyone infer he wasn’t tough enough to be the Leader of the Free World.

The current veneration of all things military reinforces this problem, to the point that hardly any politicians or ordinary citizens will utter a critical word about “the troops” or their commanders. The United States has become better at starting wars than at winning or finishing them, yet it still treats unsuccessful generals with enormous deference and punctuates sporting contests with aerial flybys and other displays of martial fervor. I’m all for thanking veterans for their service and respecting their sacrifices, but I’d rather show it by providing better medical treatment for veterans afterward than by giving the Pentagon a free pass.

Read the rest of this interesting article at Foreign Policy. What should peace look like? Should it be just the cessation of hostilities, or should it be deeper, more profound?

Upworthy — Right now, in the small village of Deh'Subz, Afghanistan, the first private, free, rural women's college in the nation's history is being built.

The pioneer behind the project?

Photo courtesy of Razia's Ray of Hope Foundation.

71-year-old Razia Jan, an educator who grew up in a more liberal Afghanistan before Taliban occupation. She later moved to the U.S. to attend Harvard University and then settled in Massachusetts.

Read more about how Razia Jan is changing the lives of girl's, their parents and their villages. About a month ago, I posted Get Girls Back in the Classroom in Care2. If you did not have a chance to sign it then, please consider it today. An educated girl makes a big difference to herself, her family and her community. and let us not forget Malala Yousafzai who said "I truly believe the only way we can create global peace is through not only educating our minds, but our hearts and our souls."

Foreign Policy — On Thursday afternoon, the world received its answer. After months of speculation, India finally released its formal greenhouse gas emissions plan for the COP 21 conference. And the answer is promising.

Fossil fuels will still make up a large percentage of the global energy mix until at least 2040 — even with robust growth of renewables. This is particularly true of India. The Indian INDC partially acknowledges this, to the extent that, while promising action on climate change, it also asks the developed world for “equitable carbon and development space” — in essence, arguing that since India has been responsible for a historically low proportion of emissions activity, it cannot be asked to make drastic emissions cuts at a time when it needs as much effort as possible directed at fighting endemic poverty. If developed nations wish India to be a responsible player on climate change, this plan argues, the country needs assistance, especially financial, in aggressively adopting new low- and zero-carbon technologies.

Read the whole article at Foreign Policy. India has some doable goals for emissions, but with so many of her people caught in profound poverty, it won't be easy, nor will it be short term.

My Universe —

Thanks to Ted W and Carol B @ Care2 for finding this gem.

Having lived in the north, I can relate!

Squatch’s Open Thread 03/10/2015

Posted by Lynn Squance at 9:50 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 032015

It has been a busy day! I did two hours of physiotherapy followed by 3 hours of teaching ESL. Once I arrived home, it was straight to the computer to get the 02/10/15 articles posted to Care2 and links distributed. I took advantage of one of Lona's cat naps . . . soooooooo relaxing! and then had a late dinner. As a result, this is today's only article. Tomorrow won't be so busy outside the house, but I need to do laundry before I start scaring the neighbourhood!

Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:31 (average 4:24). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.

Upworthy — Female genital mutilation, also known as FGM or FGC (female genital cutting), is performed in several African countries and parts of the Middle East, and less frequently in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. It also occurs in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Europe — despite being illegal in many places.

FGM is barbaric, inhuman and a violation of human rights and dignity. Please sign this petition to end FGM.

Read the rest of the article and see how five young men react to this proceedure.

Rachel Maddow — h/t Jim Phillips — A look at Kevin McCarthy, poised to be the new Speaker of the House when Congressional Republicans vote next week.

As things sit now, the Speaker, 2nd in succession to the White House behind the Vice President should something happen to the President, is elected by only 247 members of the House of Representatives. Scary! Does Kevin McCarthy represent the level of competence that the Republicans, or more specifically the Teabaggers, bring to the Congress? Even scarier!! If so, then God help the US.

NY Times — Ever since it became public that Pope Francis met in Washington with Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples, the questions have been swirling: Why did he meet with her, and was it meant as a political statement?

As it turns out, the Vatican said on Friday, the pope did not mean to endorse Ms. Davis’s views. It also said he gave her no more than a typical brief greeting, despite what her lawyer described.

Instead, the Vatican said that Francis gave only one “real audience”: to someone later identified as one of his former students, Yayo Grassi, a gay man in Washington who says he brought his partner of 19 years to the Vatican’s embassy in Washington for a reunion. They even shot video.

This is a portion of a Faithful America e-mail that Joanne brought to my attention:

After days of speculation, the truth has finally come out: Pope Francis did not hold a private meeting to express his support for Kim Davis's efforts to block gay marriage licenses.

According to an official Vatican statement, Kim Davis was among "several dozen persons" attending a reception at the Vatican embassy, "the pope did not enter into the details of the situation," and "his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support."

Moreover, it seems that the pope did not request Kim Davis be invited.

According to press reports, one man was likely responsible for Davis's invitation: Carlo Maria Vigano, a conservative church official who was appointed by Pope Benedict as Vatican ambassador to the United States (formally called the "apostolic nuncio").

Having created an opportunity for right-wing evangelicals to dishonestly hijack the message of the pope's visit to the United States, Vigano must now resign.

If you are interested in the Faithful America petition, you can find it HERE.

I believe that Kim Davis is being used as a political bullet within the Vatican in a dispute between the very conservative factions and the more liberal Pope Francis. I have no sympathy for her whatsoever. Davis has a job to do . . . act in accordance with the laws of the land . . . and if she cannot do that for any reason, she should resign.

Mother Jones — While speaking to reporters during a campaign stop in Greenville, South Carolina, on Friday, Jeb Bush weighed in on the latest school shooting to take place in the United States, this time in Oregon, just a day before.

You can read a transcript of his comment HERE. Mr Compassionate speaks out . . . what a farce!

My Universe —

Give these boys a remote control and they will be attending services

at the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb!

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