Is it the middle of November already? Here’s a new open thread to start off the week.
112 Thoughts to “Open Thread Monday, November 15”
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Apparently I really don’t have anything better to do….First!
Anyone else watching The Walking Dead?
And the Westboro Baptist Asylum got its tires slashed while they were away picketing a funeral……that’s sssoooooosad….. 🙁 that I wasn’t there to see it. 🙂
http://www.hapblog.com/2010/11/westboro-baptist-protesters-get-tires.html
Shortly after finishing their protest at the funeral of Army Sgt. Jason James McCluskey of McAlester, a half-dozen protesters from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., headed to their minivan, only to discover that its front and rear passenger-side tires had been slashed.
To make matters worse, as their minivan slowly hobbled away on two flat tires, with a McAlester police car following behind, the protesters were unable to find anyone in town who would repair their vehicle, according to police.
Social Security judges facing more violent threats
By SAM HANANEL, Associated Press Sam Hananel, Associated Press – 2 hrs 37 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Judges who hear Social Security disability cases are facing a growing number of violent threats from claimants angry over being denied benefits or frustrated at lengthy delays in processing claims.
There were at least 80 threats to kill or harm administrative law judges or staff over the past year — an 18 percent increase over the previous reporting period, according to data collected by the Social Security Administration.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101115/ap_on_go_ot/us_judges_threats
If the Repugs want to abolish social security, they’re going to find some very stiff opposition.
Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich?
By FRANK RICH
Published: November 13, 2010
That’s a good question, all right, but it’s not the question. The bigger issue is whether the country can afford the systemic damage being done by the ever-growing income inequality between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else, whether poor, middle class or even rich. That burden is inflicted not just on the debt but on the very idea of America — our Horatio Alger faith in social mobility over plutocracy, our belief that our brand of can-do capitalism brings about innovation and growth, and our fundamental sense of fairness. Incredibly, the top 1 percent of Americans now have tax rates a third lower than the same top percentile had in 1970.
“How can hedge-fund managers who are pulling down billions sometimes pay a lower tax rate than do their secretaries?” ask the political scientists Jacob S. Hacker (of Yale) and Paul Pierson (University of California, Berkeley) in their deservedly lauded new book, “Winner-Take-All Politics.” If you want to cry real tears about the American dream — as opposed to the self-canonizing tears of John Boehner — read this book and weep. The authors’ answer to that question and others amounts to a devastating indictment of both parties.
Their ample empirical evidence, some of which I’m citing here, proves that America’s ever-widening income inequality was not an inevitable by-product of the modern megacorporation, or of globalization, or of the advent of the new tech-driven economy, or of a growing education gap. (Yes, the very rich often have fancy degrees, but so do those in many income levels below them.) Inequality is instead the result of specific policies, including tax policies, championed by Washington Democrats and Republicans alike as they conducted a bidding war for high-rolling donors in election after election.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/opinion/14rich.html?ref=todayspaper
At the rate things are going, I fear for the future of my country.
@Cargosquid
That story just made my day! Thanks Cargo.
I suppose that Westboro has left WSHS and moved on down the road to the Coast Guard recruitment center. Anyone heard anything?
If they did, they have two brand new tires and two old ones. Lets make them match.
bwaaahahahaaha I would love to hear about that happening?
Why are the most vocal supporters of Obamacare (labor unions, mainly the SEIU) now getting Obamacare waivers? Here are some of the unions currently on the list that have been granted waivers:
#12– UFCW Allied Trade Health & Welfare Trust
#14– IBEW No.915
#19– Asbestos Workers Local 53 Welfare Fund
#33– Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 123 Welfare Fund
#35– UFCW Local 227
#52– UFCW Maximus Local 455
#55– Local 25 SEIU
#60– UFCW Local 1262
#78– Local 802 Musicians Health Fund
#83– Local 17 Hospitality Benefit Fund
#89– International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT)
#91– Transport Workers
#92– UFT Welfare Fund (United Federation of Teachers)
On October 7th there were only 30, a little over a month later there are 111 companies that have been granted waivers. I can only imagine that list will grow significantly in the near future. Something to keep an eye on I suppose.
@Hello
Research that and get back with a biased opinion, por favor.
Check in to why McDonalds is exempt too while you are at it.
@Starryflights
For me, this is the most worrisome happening in the US. For a start, look at how much it costs to run for office, even in small towns. How can we expect to get the best people to risk getting deep into debt, should they decide to run?
We already have seen the danger when it comes to schools. More and more the rich send their children to expensive private schools, while public schools are forced to drop classes in art, music, sports, etc.
From everything I have been able to find Moon the gist of it is these companies and unions simply can’t afford it. It’s just odd that you have someone like the SEIU and the united federation of teachers promoting and pushing Obamacare only to then apply for and get a waivers to not be a part of it.
I took a look at SEIU’s site and found SEVERAL articles where they are pushing Obamacare:
http://www.seiu.org/2009/11/remember-those-who-wait-for-health-care-reform.php
http://www.seiu.org/2008/12/health-care-reform-were-ready-now.php
http://www.seiu.org/2009/11/whipping-votes-for-healthcare.php
http://www.seiu.org/a/healthcare/health-care-reform-central.php
There are PAGES and PAGES of links on their site of them pushing Health Care Reform, but can’t seem to find a single link on their site talking about why they applied for and got a waiver to not be a part of it…
Some background on Phelps, the “pastor” of the WBC (which isn’t affiliated with any of the US Baptist Church Conventions):
“Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (born November 13, 1929) is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas. The church is monitored as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center.[1][2][3] Phelps is a disbarred lawyer, founder of the Phelps Chartered law firm, a past civil rights activist in Kansas, and a Democrat who has five times been a candidate for political office in Kansas Democratic Party primaries. He and his daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, are banned from entering the United Kingdom.”
What I find odd is Phelps had a long track record of fighting for racial minorities, challenging Kanasan Jim Crow Laws, yet he advocates nothing but hatred for gays. Suffice it to say, his “church” is a fringe group at best, rejected by all mainstream protestant conventions, and made up primarily of his extended family. Only thing missing here are Elvis Sideburns and a pitcher of arsenic spiced flav-o-aid, and we’d have Jim Jones all over again.
with a biased opinion, por favor. – Moon – I thought you would have wanted an un-biased opinion ;).
McDonalds wanted a waiver due to the Medical Loss Ratio provision – in layman terms – the amount of money spent on healthcare vs overhead – the HCR requires a loss ratio of 80% or better, while McDonalds claims that its high deductible plan has high overhead due to the number of part timers, and constant changes in the work force – causes its overhead to be over 20% of payments. I am not sure of the other waiver applicants.
@Cargosquid
I agree with Moon–made my day!
“Anyone else watching The Walking Dead?”
Cargo, I have watched every episode. I am a big fan of any zombie-related entertainment. Movies, TV, literature… This series is very well put-together.
@ Pat, I was considering the source and expect no less than biased. 😉
Steve, thanks for updating us on that vile ‘Rev. Phelps.’ I was going on memory and said Witchita…I will correct.
What is the Walking Dead and where can we see it? I am heavily into Irish gangsters these days. I love Boardwalk Empire.
This disgusts me.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/40192314#40192314
The terrosists win with this.
According to the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, Americans are about evenly divided on the health care reform law. When they are asked about the major provisions of the law, the only part a majority believes should be repealed is the part that imposes penalties for those who fail to acquire insurance (a provision the insurance industry likes since it means young healthy people have to join the insurance pool, too). The other major provisions are supported by a majority of Americans and in some cases, like tax breaks for companies that provide insurance, the percentage in favor is substantial. You have to give credit to the radical right for a successful psyops campaign (socialism, death panels, etc) that manipulated a sizeable group and enflamed them to strike out against their own interests. http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/8120-F.pdf It’s like when Karl Rove planted the rumor prior to the South Carolina primary in 2000 that John McCain fathered a black child … the fact it was a lie didn’t matter so long as the message stuck in the minds of enough voters, which it did. Measured by results, the value of truth and integrity are vastly overrated.
Clarence Thomas’ wife has stepped down as the head of the right-wing group she founded.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/15/AR2010111502982.html?hpid=artslot
McDonalds got a waiver because they stated that they would drop 30,000 employees insurance. That would make the administration look bad. So, those with enough money or connections get waivers.
Oh, and just in time for Thanksgiving: Bacon Bourbon
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/11/12/make-bacon-whiskey-flavorful-spirits/
scroll down past the Pineapple infused vodka…..
@punchak
I agree. The ever-widening gap between have’s and have-nots will be the death of us all.
“Michele Bachmann has a lot of critics, but they miss the genius of her political act. Even as she spends every day publicly flubbing political SAT questions, she’s always dead-on when it comes to her basic message, which is that government is always the problem and there are no issues the country has that can’t be worked out with basic common sense (there’s a reason why many Tea Party groups are called “Common Sense Patriots” and rally behind “common sense campaigns”).
Common sense sounds great, but if you’re too freaking lazy to penetrate the mysteries of carbon dioxide — if you haven’t mastered the whole concept of breathing by the time you’re old enough to serve in the U.S. Congress — you’re not going to get the credit default swap, the synthetic collateralized debt obligation, the interest rate swap, etc. And understanding these instruments and how they were used (or misused) is the difference between perceiving how Wall Street made its money in the last decades as normal capitalist business and seeing the truth of what it often was instead, which was simple fraud and crime. It’s not an accident that Bachmann emerged in the summer of 2010 (right as she was forming the House of Tea Party Caucus) as one of the fiercest opponents of financial regulatory reform; her primary complaint with the deeply flawed reform bill sponsored by Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank was that it would “end free checking accounts.”
Our world isn’t about ideology anymore. It’s about complexity. We live in a complex bureaucratic state with complex laws and complex business practices, and the few organizations with the corporate will power to master these complexities will inevitably own the political power. On the other hand, movements like the Tea Party more than anything else reflect a widespread longing for simpler times and simple solutions — just throw the U.S. Constitution at the whole mess and everything will be jake. For immigration, build a big fence. Abolish the Federal Reserve, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education. At times the overt longing for simple answers that you get from Tea Party leaders is so earnest and touching, it almost makes you forget how insane most of them are.”
http://www.alternet.org/story/148855/taibbi% 3A_the_tea_party_moron_complex?page=2
The tea party’s feel-good solutions to highly complicated problems will solve nothing.
Above is from:
http://www.alternet.org/story/148855/taibbi%3A_the_tea_party_moron_complex?page=2
This disgusts me also. To think that someone who seems educated cannot see that the terrorists will win (ie, be able to get past our security screening) because he does not want to subject himself to the security screening himself. OK, so he does not want to be patted down, but he does not have to fly. He can drive himself. Maybe the increased screening would have found the 9/11 hijackers to be carrying the box cutters. I travel quite a bit, and am inconvenienced, but yes, it is worth the cost (my embarrassment) over the chance of them catching another underwear bomber. And, the screening is done in a professional manner, and in private upon request.
Moon, took at look at the UFT union site to report back on an unbiased look as to why they would push for Health Care Reform but then apply and get a waiver to NOT be a part of it. This is what I found on their site when I did a search on Health Care Reform: (395 pro-Health Care Reform articles)
http://www.uft.org/search/apachesolr_search/health%20care%20reform
Did a search on why they applied for and got a waiver for Health Care reform, couldn’t find a single one.
Look, I’m doing my best here, been looking for quite some time to go straight to the source and have found nothing but literally 100’s of PRO-Obamacare links v.s. ZERO talking about them getting waivers.
“What is the Walking Dead and where can we see it?”
It’s on AMC at 10pm on Sundays, with an encore of the evenings episode at 11pm. It’s a series based on a graphic novel (graphic in the sense it’s a grownup comic book), set in the immediate aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. The hero is a small-town deputy sheriff, who awakens from a gun-shot induced coma, to find society has completely collapsed, and zombies roam the world. He searches for his wife and son, links up with a group of survivors, and has to deal with the societal frictions caused by the diverse backgrounds of the survivors…plus the zombies. He does so by clinging to his humanity and sense of right and wrong, even when dealing with the undead. Great stuff.
Pat, I hate quoting the biased left wing NPR but they ran a decent story on the scanners inability to detected certain weapons (possibly the same as used by the underwear bomber)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122499686
NPR also points out that since terrorists can just put weapons into a body cavity and the scanners won’t pick that up — what are we gaining? Well, of course MORE scanners to search our body cavities.
It’s amusing that you think a pat down of a 12 year old or the invasive scan of an adult naked body will somehow improve things when laptops are allowed through an x-ray machine and then only ocassionally turned on to verify that the battery isn’t an explosive or that 4 carry on bags don’t have parts that when combined become a weapon.
Think less about what people have on their bodies and more about what they carry onto a plane on those massive bags of carry on.
I’m all for security. Not for security theatre.
@Pat.Herve
So what happens to the McDonald’s employees? Do they just buy their own, do nothing or what?
@Morris Davis
Good. Ginni should have stepped down. In the first place, she should not be politically active. Tradition dictates her role as a Supreme Court spouse. She needs to abide by that. And as for her phone call to Anita Hill, that showed such poor judgement it is hard to even address it.
There were people calling for his resignation. I expect his peers told him to have her knock it off.
This incident reminds me of why I never really vote for a president. I vote for a supreme court nominee.
Cato, are there ever stock splits any more? After BRk.b I don’t think I have seen any.
@Steve Thomas
Thanks, Steve, I will have to check it out. It comes on right after my Irish gangster show.
Is it more of a guy thing?
More and more good shows are coming on the non network cable shows. This is a good thing because the networks stink more and more each year.
Moon,
Nope, got plenty of strong female characters. Not the Sarah Connor kick-but types. Rather they are Mom’s trying to care for their kids, former professionals resisting being pushed into “womans work”, etc. Right now, it
@Pat.Herve
Actually, the screening now takes place in public after the TSA annouces, “We have an Opt Out! Opt Out!” Now, instead of a professional search, they have admitted that the “pat down” is intrusive groping and is being used to intimidate people into using the scanners. Many have objections to the scanners because they do not want to be exposed to more radiation.
The TSA does not treat people with respect. It does not seem to take the threat seriously. They used to search only those that they thought were safe, ie, any person using a military ID, because they knew that those being singled out would not complain. The scanners show more than what is being stated. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=972_1262283908
and http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/350/bodyscanpic.jpg (graphic, possibly NSFW)
I have not seen a third party verification that the radiation is safe. Michael Chertikoff holds an interest in the company that makes the scanners.
They put the pilots through the same thing everyday. And now, if one objects to the scanner or the way they are being groped and decides to leave the airport and not fly, they might be liable for charges. How much radiation are they getting? And isn’t it ludicrous that the pilots are being subjected to such insane crap?
There may be some respectable TSA personnel and managers. I’ve yet to hear or see them speak out about the abuses that many citizens have endured.
These procedures may have been more acceptable if the TSA had treated travelers with a bit more respect than “DO THIS OR DON’T FLY. WE DON’T HAVE TO EXPLAIN OURSELVES.”
Their argument of “implied consent” to the giving up our right against search basically implies that if you travel by any means that includes other persons, you have no rights. Where does this authority stop? What happens when, not if, but when a terrorist detonates from a body cavity explosive? Do we all get cavity searched? How about if it happens on ground transportation? Will we be limited to traveling by car? Of course, if we carry passengers…….
I think we are safer saying that some members of TSA don’t treat passengers with respect. Those employees, like any place else, has good people and bad people. And those people all have bosses.
Remember the private companies before 9-11? Most of them didn’t speak enough English to communicate with you are were incredibly rude.
I have mixed feelings about all this. there are also mechnical sniffers for explosives that oculd be used…and aren’t being used.
@Moon-howler
Speaking of poor judgement – Rush Limbaug’s third wedding (like in: to have and to hold until death do us part) took place in the home of Clarence and Ginni Thomas.
Rush is on his fourth “have and hold” at present.
it’s the only non-educational show I watch. I really only have time for investing in one drama or comedy at a time. Mostly I watch Discovery, History, ID, and Military channels. Love that “true crime” show “Deadly Women” on ID. Watched a marathon a while back. Lot’s of women who killed their husbands, ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends and such for a myriad of reasons. Mrs. T sat down next to me and asked, “Watcha Watching?” My response: “You…I am watching you. People know I’m here. I’ll be missed if something happens to me…just remember that, and don’t get any ideas…”
Yep: http://biz.yahoo.com/c/10/s11.html
marin – yes, I see the difficulty in detecting who the terrorist is, and what it means to me. Would it satisfy you if there were no screening at all?
How do they currently detect parts distributed in several carry on’s, and assembled later? I guess the only proposal out there, is no carry-ons at all.
Moon – McDonalds offers insurance to the many (not all) part time employees – basically, for $32 per week, a part timer gets up to $10,000 per year in benefits. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703431604575522413101063070.html If my employer were offering this, I would not call it a health plan, I would call it a rip off, but that is what you get for buying off the Dollar Menu.
Councilman Randolph is reporting on Andy H’s blog that Cindy Brookshire has won “Woman of the Year” by the Greater Manassas Christmas Parade organizers.
Congratulations, Cindy!! You are most deserving of this award for all of your efforts in our community(CoM and PWC). Thank you for all you do.
Here’s the link for Woman of the Year. Go to the lower right hand corner.
http://www.gmchristmasparade.org/index.html
@punchak
It appears that Associate Justice Thomas is just Mr. Conflict of Interest all over the place, doesn’t it?
Pat, I think there is a way we can still maintain a level of security without having to watch 12 year old kids being groped in public by a government worker.
The solution for the carry on problem is to not allow electronics or any other luggage/baggage in the cabin. An allowance can be made for food/drinks and medicines. Everything else is non-essential and can compromise safety of flight.
Do we want security or do we want to THINK we have security.
Tomorrow’s could be really ugly Moon. Better stock up on Tylenol and Alka Seltzer.
Hey Moon,
Since you were talking about joining the Tea Party movement, I thought that you would be heartened by this:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Election-2010/Tea-Party-Tally/2010/1115/Tea-party-groups-push-GOP-to-quit-culture-wars-focus-on-deficit
and
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45110.html
Welcome to the Tea Party.
Am I the only person that remembers leaving Berlin on a Pan Am flight in 1974 at the age of 6 and being thoroughly frisked by the German airport guard who also removed my baby doll’s head? and handed me a body and head but didn’t bother to reattach the two. Am I the only person that watched the German authorities insist that my mom remove my toddler brother’s diaper for inspection? Am I the only person that remembers when the airport security people opened up every single suitcase and shook out every single piece of clothing and sliced open the lining? Am I the only person that remembers that the German authorities removed my mom’s hair scissors from the checked baggage, and insisted that our huge cat be put in a cardboard box rather than the wooden carrier created to contain him? (btw he broke out mid atlantic:) but was fortunately recaptured by some wiley flight attendants. In all my years of travels I’ll have to say that was the most thorough security search I’ve ever been thru (except for the air puff required to visit the Statue of Liberty). Still pissed that my doll’s head could never be re attached however.
a very interesting op-ed from Ted Koppel – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111202857.html
@DB
When was this, DB?
Do you really think they can help themselves, Cargo? I don’t.
I don’t think the tea party wants me.
Pat, that was an interesting op-ed for sure. Ted Koppel was a gentleman and a truly nice person who wasn’t too busy for people who weren’t big shots.
One of my baby sitters was a grandmother who had informally adopted the child of one of his employees. Ted Koppel periodically looked in on these people and tried to help the mother who was a talented employee but a screwed up human being. He was very decent to this grandmother.
And he is right about the state of journalism nowadays.
Ha! Regarding body scans, check this out: “Concerns about both procedures are not limited to the U.S. In Germany over the weekend, organized protesters stripped off their clothes in airports to voice their opposition to full-body scans.”
They don’t want to be seen naked through a scan so they whip off their clothes in public instead? LOL!
Time for a whopper fraud story. In July, the city of Tokyo decided to honor its oldest resident, said to have reached the age of 111. They went to the man’s home and were refused admittance. The police were called. They found the man’s remains. He had been dead for almost 30 years. The family is being questioned about collecting his pension all those years.
Now it turns out that this might not be an isolated incident. According to the Japanese Justice Ministry, there are 234,354 centenarians in Japan who are listed as “alive” in the family registries. The Japanese family registries had not be updated in decades. No one is ready yet to claim fraud on a massive scale, but people are certainly wondering where all those uber-senior citizens may actually be. Sounds like a possibility that Alfred Hitchcock would have loved.
Goldman Sachs Boss Complains About ‘Only’ Making $9 Million — If Only We Had Problems Like That
The annual bonuses paid to Wall Street’s top bankers keep rising, even with the economy in the tank.
November 13, 2010
Their claim is: “We deserve it, for we took low pay during the crash of 2008-2009.” For example, Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs’ boss, was paid a mere $9 million last year, so now he wants that “sacrifice” made up to him.
Lest you worry that poor Lloyd’s family had to resort to food stamps to make ends meet with that tough $9 million year, note that he had a bit of a cushion, having pocketed a record Wall Street payday of $68 million in 2007 — even as his the financial condition of his bank was crumbling.
While Wall Street bonuses to top bankers keep going up, up, up, guess what keeps going down, down, down? Hint: A recent New York Times headline used the word “soft” to describe it. Give up? It’s our economy. Of course, the wordsmith that used the term “soft” to describe today’s economy clearly doesn’t live on our planet. Soft implies cushions and comfort, while the economic reality that most Americans are experiencing is one of unrelenting hard times.
Tens of millions of people remain unemployed or underemployed, with millions of them having been mired in joblessness for nearly two years.
http://www.alternet.org/news/148821/goldman_sachs_boss_complains_about_%27only%27_making_%249_million_–_if_only_we_had_problems_like_that
Utterly outrageous, a guy complaining about only making $9 million a year whilst his fellow Americans are struggling to make ends meet.