Posts from — November 2009

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot.

The British are celebrating the anniversary of the thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot.

A group of English Catholic conspirators including an explosives expert, Guy Fawkes, stashed 36 barrels of gunpowder in the basement of the Parliament building with the intent of blowing up the members of Parliament and King James I during the official opening of Parliament on November 5^th, 1605.

Bonfire Night is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and occasionally the Pope, are traditionally thrown on the fires. Effigies of modern politicians have made their appearances at the celebration.

As Robert Cecil was involved, I doubt anyone will ever know the truth about the plot.

The same winning team of teabaggers and nine-twelvers that provided the recent entertainment in the 23^rd Congressional district of New York are talking about helping out in the Florida Senate race.

Kendrick Meek would have a very hard slog in the general election against Charlie Crist, so if the TB/9-12 whackos can take Charlie out, Florida might have two Senators who call themselves Democrats.

You have to admit that getting a Democrat elected for the the first time in the area’s history, a history that goes back to the founding of the United States, an area that has voted solid Republican since the Republican Party was founded from the remnants of the Whigs, is quite an accomplishment. After doing that, electing a Democrat to the Senate in Florida should be easy. 😈

Update: Republican Party officials are now saying they won’t be supporting candidates in primaries with any money. While the GOP is hurting in the fund-raising area, I don’t think it is a coincidence that they announced this the day after the mess in NY.

Position: 12.5 N 83.1 W [ 9 PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [315°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 75 mph [115 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 50 miles [80 km].
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb ↓.

It is 60 miles [ 95 km] East of Bluefields, Nicaragua.

Nicaragua has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the entire eastern coast of Nicaragua and a Hurricane Watch is in effect for the eastern coast of Nicaragua from Bluefields northward to the Honduras/Nicaragua border.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

I have been spending a lot of time at Corrente because they have a number of people digging out information on the health care reform process. It is not a reassuring place to go right now.

Lambert found more on what women will not get under the bills:

None of the bills emerging from the House and Senate require insurers to cover all the elements of a standard gynecological “well visit,” leaving essential care such as pelvic exams, domestic violence screening, counseling about sexually transmitted diseases, and, perhaps most startlingly, the provision of birth control off the list of basic benefits all insurers must cover.

BDBlue found a very odd treatment that the Senate bill covers:

Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.

The longer this goes on, the less serious Congress seems to be in actually helping people and fixing the broken health care system in the US. Congress should not be deciding what procedures should be covered, any more than insurance companies. Accepted medical procedures and practices should be covered.

This a screen shot from CNN’s results page.

For some reason whoever is writing the blurbs isn’t reading the results, or doesn’t understand that larger numbers are better than smaller numbers.

When I checked a little later, 21% of the precincts reporting and the percentages were: Hoffman 43%, Owens 52%, and Scozzafava 5%.

It makes a lot of difference where the results are from, as the more rural districts tend to be more conservative than the towns.

Update: It looks like Obama lost in New Jersey and Virginia, but the special election in NY was a matter of local issues. It must be that way, because all of the pundits are saying it. 😈

As this is an off year election which normally means low voter turn out, it is a prime opportunity to sneak bad ideas onto the ballots.

In Washington state there is Referendum 71 which is a law already passed by the state legislature, but opponents of the law have put it on the ballot in order to defeat it. Referendum 71 extends some rights already given to married couples, to people who have domestic partnerships. It isn’t a “gay marriage law”, it simply covers issues like probate that are already given to married couples.

A “yes” vote means the extra rights are extended to a new group of people. A “no” vote IMHO means that you want to discriminate.

In the state of Maine, there is Question 1, which is an attempt to repeal the existing law on same-sex marriages. A “yes” vote IMHO means that you want to discriminate. A “no” vote means you want all of the income generated by marriages, or you don’t think that the state should tell people who they can marry.

Maine also has Question 4. Before anyone considers voting “yes” on Question 4, they should take a good, hard look at the shape the state of California is in. Look at the mess that has been created by tying the hands of the legislature when attempting to fashion a budget, and ask yourself “Is this what I want for Maine?”

If you have elections tomorrow, vote. Let the politicians know you are paying attention.

should be recalled and fed the Congress all 2000 pages.

Lambert at Corrente notes in Nancy’s band-aid the preliminary analysis of the bill by letsgetitdone at FDL. He’s right, the main reason that nothing really happens until 2013 is because none of the people in charge want to run on what is going to happen.

Jack at the Grumpy Forester notes in Reform And My Half A Loaf that it’s probably better than nothing, but not much for his son with diabetes. Jack also coins the term “Beaten Dog Democrat™” to described the current leadership in Congress.

George at skippy’s notes that the Democrats offer him nothing after all his support. There is no help for his child with autism in this mess.

Digby notes that the Democrats are throwing women under the bus in catering to the Blue Dogs. This bill may extend the reach of the Hyde amendment even to private insurance if there are any subsidies.

Let’s be clear: the Republicans and Blue Dogs can’t stop a bill unless they are aided and abetted by the Beaten Dog Democrats™. If they aren’t going to pass a bill that will actually do more good than harm, there is no point in continuing to waste time on this mess.

If the Democrats won’t help the people who voted for them, there isn’t much point in voting for them again. Pick your favorite third party and give them your support, because the top two parties don’t care if you live or die.

Government appoint Drugs Rasputin to make drugs seem really really sinister

Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, has appointed an evil Russian mystic as the government’s new drugs adviser. His role will be to tell the government exactly what they want to hear and to make drugs seem far more dangerous than they actually are.

Jehovah’s Witness kept talking all evening after making mistake of opening door to trick-or-treaters

The family of Mark Loveday, a 38-year-old Jehovah’s Witness from Lewisham, South London, was today regretting his ever having opened the front door to trick-or-treaters after he became embroiled in a painful three-hour discussion about the true meaning of the festival and its significance to modern society.

It makes as much sense as anything in the media, and they have better proofreaders.

From CNN’s Ticker: GOP nominee endorses Democrat

(CNN) – The Republican Party nominee in this week’s special congressional election in New York endorsed her Democratic opponent Sunday, one day after releasing supporters from their commitment to support her, the Watertown Daily Times reported on its Web site.

New York Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava said she was backing Democrat Bill Owens over Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the special election for ex-GOP Rep. John McHugh’ seat in this northern New York congressional district. McHugh resigned to become Secretary of the Army.

One of the things people don’t realize is that Doug Hoffman doesn’t actually live in the district. He lives and has a business in Lake Placid, which is in the 20^th district. That was probably a major factor in his not being selected as the Republican candidate along with the fact that he has never been elected to office. Ms Scozzafava not only lives in the district, she has won election to the state legislature from within the district. She was the better candidate, and shares the political views of John McHugh.

If I were the local Democratic Party chair in her county, I would certainly make her aware that the welcome mat was out. If I were the Republican chair, I would be worried.

This Tuesday the pundits will be watching the governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as the special Congressional election in New York. If you want to be a media pundit here’s how you respond to the results:

Democratic win: “The race was decided on local issues.”

Democratic loss: “This was obviously a referendum on the Obama administration.”

Looking at the governors’ races I think I could have come up with four better candidates at a homeless shelter, or from among WalMart greeters. The process for selecting candidates has obviously bottomed out. Next time the “party leaders” should look behind cash registers at convenience stores – those people have a better command of English, a better feel for the economic reality, and they can accurately count money. Try the late shift if you are looking for someone who will be tough on crime. 😈

Turn back your clocks and check the batteries in your smoke detectors.