Monthly Archives: October 2010

The Watering Hole: Thursday, October 7, 2010 – Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

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Today marks the 9-year Anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. Has it really been that long? It seems like only yesterday Bush announced we were invading Afghanistan to capture Bin Laden because he was responsible for 9/11.

But Bush didn’t capture Bin Laden. Bush didn’t even allow a criminal investigation into the events of 9/11. (Congress’ investigation was limited to the supposed failures of intelligence.) Bush didn’t seek extradition. He invaded a sovereign nation to capture one criminal suspect. He toppled a country’s government and instilled a puppet ruler. He didn’t get Bin Laden, but he did get an oil pipeline contract for a U.S. company.

Over 1,300 U.S. service men and women died in the effort to capture this one suspect. Thousands of Afghanistani children, men and women have also been killed in the conflict.

Obama may have had no choice but to continue the conflict in the short run. But he did and does have a choice whether or not to investigate the rationale behind the invasion. His failure to do so may be the biggest failure of his presidency.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 – Hump Day

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12/21/2012 has long been touted by some as the end of the world; Armageddon; the Day Christ Comes and Claims His Kingdom On Earth.

Really.

Really?

If so, where the heck are the two witnesses?

3And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. (Book of Revelations, Chapter 11, verses 3-6)

These two witnesses are supposed to prophesy for 3 1/2 years before God calls the game. That means we should have been hearing from them starting back in the summer of 2009. But we’ve continued to have rain, and no one’s been accused of turing water into blood, or calling forth all kinds of plagues.

So, either this part of the Book of Revelations is wrong, or those who predict the end of the world in 2012 are wrong. Something to keep in mind as certain Chrisians approach the end of the Mayan Calendar.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.

Good News: Sometimes, the System Works

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California has adopted an Alert System to aggressively post information about suspects vehicles when a child is kidnapped. That system was put to use today when an 8 year-old girl was kidnapped in Fresno. Signs on the freeways alerted drivers to the description of the suspect vehicle, and TV stations included it in their broadcasts. Today, it paid off:

An 8-year-old girl who was abducted by a stranger while playing outside a Fresno home escaped from her captor Tuesday morning after a driver recognized the suspect’s vehicle and cut it off, police said. … Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the driver recognized the red pickup truck from media reports that showed surveillance video of the kidnapper’s vehicle.

So, Kudos to the driver, Victor Perez, for taking action. He may well have saved the girl’s life.

The High Price of Low Taxes

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By now, most of us are aware of the story out of Obion, Tennessee where the firefighters watched as the family home, 3 dogs and a cat burned.

The family had a choice, pay a “subscription fee” of $75.00 per year or do without fire protection. In this sense, taxes for firefighting were made voluntary. Their taxes were lowered. And they, and their pets, paid a dear price for their choice to forego fire protection. One can only imagine the horror had people been in the house while the firefighters stood by, ready to protect…the neighbor’s property should the fire spread to the lands of someone who paid the $75.00!

But let’s take a closer look at that $75.00 voluntary fee for firefighting services. Apparently, the entire county could be covered for a 0.13% increase in their property taxes. That means, for houses valued less than about $57,000, they would be paying less than $75.00 per year, while those whose houses were valued at more than $57,000, would pay more.

So, what’s the median house prices in Obion, Tennessee, you ask?

I’m glad you asked:

As the chart shows, the current median price of homes in Obion is about $10,000 more than the $57,000 break-even point on the “subscription fee.” But this shows that roughly half the homeowners in the county pay too much for fire protection, while those with pricier homes get a break.

The High Price of Low Taxes.

This worked so well, the powers that be want to expand the program. It’s a good deal for the folks with the more expensive homes. For the poor, not so good a deal. Left out of MainStreamMedia stories is how this “subscription service” is made available to renters, if at all. For all we know, they’re at the mercy of their landlords.

But there is one other thing we know: this time, the price was furnishings and pets. This time. Next time, it could well be someone’s children, wife, husband, father or mother.
Perhaps the firefighters could be equiped with violins, so they could at least fiddle while they watch houses burn.

The Watering Hole: October 5 – Vote!

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There are 4 weeks to go!

It is getting down to the wire. We worked hard in 2008, now it is time to carry the work forward in the current election cycle. While things did not always happen the way we wanted, it is not time to give up the struggle!

Without enthusiasm in the progressive base, this nation will lose everything gained since 2006.

Two years of retreat is the last thing that our people need. The Republican Pledge to America is empty on promise, but replete with hypocrisy.

This is our open thread. Please feel free to offer your own comments on this or any other topic.

Watering Hole – October 4, 2010 – Males Give Birth

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Seahorse males give birth. During mating, the females deposits eggs in a brood pouch on the males where they are fertilized and remain until hatched.

Seahorses are truly unique, and not just because of their unusual equine shape. Unlike most other fish, they are monogamous and mate for life. Rarer still, they are among the only animal species on Earth in which the male bears the unborn young.

Found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world, these upright-swimming relatives of the pipefish can range in size from 0.6 inches (1.5 centimeters) to 14 inches (35 centimeters) long.

Male seahorses are equipped with a brood pouch on their ventral, or front-facing, side. When mating, the female deposits her eggs into his pouch, and the male fertilizes them internally. He carries the eggs in his pouch until they hatch, then releases fully formed, miniature seahorses into the water.

From National Geographic.

This is our Open Thread. What’s on your mind? Speak Up!

Sunday Roast: Homeless Children in America

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Did you know there are over 1.6 homeless children in this country?  I sure as hell didn’t.  To say I’m shocked to the bone is an understatement.

Rich German has an article at Huffington Post that talks about this issue, and these are some of the stats:

  • Over 50% of youth in shelters and on the streets report that their parents told them to leave or knew they were leaving and did not care.
  • One IN four homeless youth come from the foster care system
  • 33% of heterosexual homeless youth have been sexually abused
  • Less than one in four homeless children will graduate from high school
  • Every day 12 kids die on the streets of America

Parents are throwing away their children — quite literally, throwing them away — and many of those children wind up abused, uneducated, and dead.  These children are part of the future of this country (minus the 12 who die on the streets everyday).

At the One Nation Working Together rally yesterday, a young man said, “If my neighbor is hungry, then I am hungry.  If my neighbor is homeless, then I am homeless.”

Regarding that same rally, Glenn Beck railed against the people and groups involved, saying “All of these groups, and the president of the United States, want nothing short of fundamental transformation of America.”

You’re damn right we do, Glenn Beck.  1.6 MILLION homeless children in this country is a deafening call for a fundamental transformation of this country.  The United States of America is one of the richest countries on the planet, and as long as our neighbors are sick, hungry, and homeless, ALL OF US are sick, hungry, and homeless.

This is our daily open thread.  What’s on your mind?

Citizens United

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How should Fox News cover White House hopefuls when so many are on the payroll?

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoonist and Animation Artist.
For Nick’s animations, visit Nick Anderson: Animation Archives.
For Nick’s cartoons, visit Nick Anderson.