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Jul. 14th, 2011 03:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* I'm supposed to be reading the books to go back Monday. What am I actually doing? Reading Walking Dead graphic novels. *hangs head* I thought I was getting better, but the flu is kicking my ass again.
* Apparently Rupert Murdoch's organization also tried to suborn a NY city police officer to get at 9-11 victim phone records. (The cop said no, but how many others did they approach?) let's hope they start pressing charges over here as well. In both the senate and the Congress there are calls for official investigation over here. If it can be proved news corp employees bribed members of Scotland Yard, that actually violates the US corrupt practices law against companies that trade here bribing officials abroad. I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see this treated as a large scale criminal enterprise case. I'd love to see charges rise to the top. As Huey of Boondocks says, "Sometimes it's nice to dream."
* Given the damage Republican economic policies (firing government employees, tax cuts for the rich, threats to close down the government) and the refusal to raise the debt ceiling last spring when it really needed to be raised for the health of financial markets, economists think we need another stimulus package. No duh. Too bad, the republicans are categorically opposed to anything that helps middle or working class Americans, so odds are they are likely going to succeed in creating that double dip recession they wanted as part of John Boehner's stated plan to "take out Obama by any means necessary" which he stated was his first priority for this legislative session. Given this is and has been their stated goal, I'm confused as to why working and middle class Republican voters are surprised Republicans have taken no steps at all to create jobs and are putting all their energy into destroying the us economy likely for generations to come. I took them at their word; why don't Republican voters?
Similarly, Republicans have had abolishing social security as a core belief since FDR passed it and have been against Medicare since it passed in the early 1960's. Again, I am confused as to why working and middle class Republicans are surprised by them trying to do that this year. Again, Republicans have been fundamentally against unions since they started making them. Whence all this surprise that they are outlawing unions. These are fundamental principles, folks, much longer held and openly professed than the Religious ones that stand at the forefront these days.
* In Wisconsin, the fake Democrats the Republicans ran to force an unnecessary primary, the real democrats all won. congratulations to the Republicans for unnecessarily wasting tax payer money for partisan political reasons.
* Minnesota bars and restaurants are running out of beer because the government shut down means they can't get license renewal, along with Miller/Coors because their label licenses didn't get renewed either. There is a similar problem with cigarettes. If this goes on much longer, there will be no beer or cigarettes in Minnesota. O.o. Somehow, I'm doubting that all the small businesses that are about to lose their summer beer sales are not going to be comforted that their financial sacrifice is for the sake of ultra conservative ideology in it's struggle against reality. I'm not a fan of either beer or cigarettes myself, but it doesn't take a psychic to guess how unpopular this is going to be with ordinary folks.
* Look, the size of the Debt in itself isn't a crisis right now. Neither is Social Security. We aren't in real trouble there until 2037. Both these problems could be addressed with no harm to the economy by simply repealing the Bush tax cuts for the rich, or better yet, returning to Eisenhower rates for the rich. This is a manufactured crisis made specifically so the republicans can take down social security and medicare.
No, the immediate crisis is the Recession. To actually solve that, we need government spending. We need to be hiring people for well paying government jobs, not firing them in order to create demand again, which will fire up the private sector. We know that works. I realize that the Republican plan to dig the hole deeper by continuing the very policies that created the Recession (downsizing, out sourcing, deregulation) is presented as the "grown-up' option, but it's not reality based, and in a crisis, things really need to be reality based. I've got a hundred years of economic data on my side, all they have is ideology. Ideology isn't good enough when people need jobs.
* Congratulations to the US Women's soccer team for making it to the World cup finals.
* Because of cuts to the NASA budget, we won't be able to build the James Webb Space Telescope. It is meant to be a replacement for the infrared observing Spitzer Space Telescope, which has been out of coolant 2.5 years and will fall out of useful alignment in about a year.
* Swinton slideshow: http://gofugyourself.com/fab-the-coverfab-the-swinton-swinton-07-2011/swinton_wcover
* Hate speech round up, includes Katy Perry's latest obnoxious comments about trans folk: http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2011/07/casual-hate-speech-allover-place.html
* The Clutch:
* Apparently Rupert Murdoch's organization also tried to suborn a NY city police officer to get at 9-11 victim phone records. (The cop said no, but how many others did they approach?) let's hope they start pressing charges over here as well. In both the senate and the Congress there are calls for official investigation over here. If it can be proved news corp employees bribed members of Scotland Yard, that actually violates the US corrupt practices law against companies that trade here bribing officials abroad. I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see this treated as a large scale criminal enterprise case. I'd love to see charges rise to the top. As Huey of Boondocks says, "Sometimes it's nice to dream."
* Given the damage Republican economic policies (firing government employees, tax cuts for the rich, threats to close down the government) and the refusal to raise the debt ceiling last spring when it really needed to be raised for the health of financial markets, economists think we need another stimulus package. No duh. Too bad, the republicans are categorically opposed to anything that helps middle or working class Americans, so odds are they are likely going to succeed in creating that double dip recession they wanted as part of John Boehner's stated plan to "take out Obama by any means necessary" which he stated was his first priority for this legislative session. Given this is and has been their stated goal, I'm confused as to why working and middle class Republican voters are surprised Republicans have taken no steps at all to create jobs and are putting all their energy into destroying the us economy likely for generations to come. I took them at their word; why don't Republican voters?
Similarly, Republicans have had abolishing social security as a core belief since FDR passed it and have been against Medicare since it passed in the early 1960's. Again, I am confused as to why working and middle class Republicans are surprised by them trying to do that this year. Again, Republicans have been fundamentally against unions since they started making them. Whence all this surprise that they are outlawing unions. These are fundamental principles, folks, much longer held and openly professed than the Religious ones that stand at the forefront these days.
* In Wisconsin, the fake Democrats the Republicans ran to force an unnecessary primary, the real democrats all won. congratulations to the Republicans for unnecessarily wasting tax payer money for partisan political reasons.
* Minnesota bars and restaurants are running out of beer because the government shut down means they can't get license renewal, along with Miller/Coors because their label licenses didn't get renewed either. There is a similar problem with cigarettes. If this goes on much longer, there will be no beer or cigarettes in Minnesota. O.o. Somehow, I'm doubting that all the small businesses that are about to lose their summer beer sales are not going to be comforted that their financial sacrifice is for the sake of ultra conservative ideology in it's struggle against reality. I'm not a fan of either beer or cigarettes myself, but it doesn't take a psychic to guess how unpopular this is going to be with ordinary folks.
* Look, the size of the Debt in itself isn't a crisis right now. Neither is Social Security. We aren't in real trouble there until 2037. Both these problems could be addressed with no harm to the economy by simply repealing the Bush tax cuts for the rich, or better yet, returning to Eisenhower rates for the rich. This is a manufactured crisis made specifically so the republicans can take down social security and medicare.
No, the immediate crisis is the Recession. To actually solve that, we need government spending. We need to be hiring people for well paying government jobs, not firing them in order to create demand again, which will fire up the private sector. We know that works. I realize that the Republican plan to dig the hole deeper by continuing the very policies that created the Recession (downsizing, out sourcing, deregulation) is presented as the "grown-up' option, but it's not reality based, and in a crisis, things really need to be reality based. I've got a hundred years of economic data on my side, all they have is ideology. Ideology isn't good enough when people need jobs.
* Congratulations to the US Women's soccer team for making it to the World cup finals.
* Because of cuts to the NASA budget, we won't be able to build the James Webb Space Telescope. It is meant to be a replacement for the infrared observing Spitzer Space Telescope, which has been out of coolant 2.5 years and will fall out of useful alignment in about a year.
* Swinton slideshow: http://gofugyourself.com/fab-the-coverfab-the-swinton-swinton-07-2011/swinton_wcover
* Hate speech round up, includes Katy Perry's latest obnoxious comments about trans folk: http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2011/07/casual-hate-speech-allover-place.html
* The Clutch: