Monday, April 29, 2013

SAR #13118

Despite appearances, there has been no net increase in craziness.

"Overstepping The Moral Bounds" : On Wednesday, April 24, a garment factory that employed almost three thousand workers collapsed. At least three hundred workers died, perhaps 1,000 and over 2,000 were injured. The death toll in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City of 1911 was one hundred and forty six. The Triangle fire was a turning point in US labor conditions. Don't hold your breath.

High Society: In converting Afghanistan to an American-stlye democracy, the CIA has been secretly giving Hamid Karzai tens of millions of dollars "each month for over a decade." Obviously, the CIA had watched K-Street lobbyists an copied the way it was done in DC. The difference is that all those suitcases, backpacks and garbage bags full of cash has not done the a bit of good in Kabul...

Prayer For Peace: “The real area of consensus: We could, and should, do more now, and we could, and should, couple that with policies that reduce deficits in the medium and, more to the point, long term.” Ezra Klein. Quod erat demonstrandum. Too bad it is not politically possible.

Operation Iraqi Fiefdom: In Iraq, politicians are acknowledging that the country may split into at least three partitions; the central and southern Shia dominated area, a Sunni controlled area to the North and West, and an independent Kurdish enclave from around Kirkuk to the Turkish and Iranian borders. In an attempt to calm unrest the government has “suspended” 10 satellite channels. What did you do in the war, Dubya?

Sad But True: Congress is more concerned about airport delays than dead kids.

Unenlightened Selfish Interest: Saudi Arabia wants all mention of climate change deleted from the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Fellow oil producers Venezuela and the UAE called for discussions of climate change to be separated from those on energy, because everybody knows that burning fossil fuels is in no way connected to producing the CO2 that leads to global warming. Well, almost everybody; Jim Hansen can't seem to drop the idea.

All Politics Is Local: Budget deficit hawk Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is keeping the nomination of Ernest Moniz to be Secretary of Energy from coming to a vote because the good senator wants funding cuts for a SC nuclear processing plant restored.

Clarification: For the last decade, the rate of heat build-up on Earth “is equivalent to detonating about 4 Hiroshima atomic bombs per second.” Read that again, slowly.

Playing Chicken: Sequestration was supposed to be so painful that both sides would work towards a deal on taxes and spending. How is that going to happen when the Democrats cave in at the first hurdle? If the programs that coddle the wealthy and politically connected are exempted, the Republicans win. If cuts to the programs that serve the poor and politically powerless continue, the Republicans win. No guts, no glory, and the Democrats have neither.

Separate But Unequal: Republicans in the Iowa state House intend to cut the pay of state Supreme Court Justices by around 80 percent — but only for the ones who voted to legalize same sex marriage in 2009.

Correction: Hopefully, Brit Hume forgot to put 'not' in his observation that : “The country may be ready for another Bush.” Neither the country nor the world need endure another one of them.

Porn O'Graph: Sweating the smaller stuff.

The Parting Shot:

130429

Virginia Bluebell. Mertensia virginica

6 comments:

jfwellspdx said...

High Society Actually, there is no difference between the CIA suitcases of cash in Afghanistan and K Street suitcases in DC. Neither do a damn bit of good when it comes to promoting Democracy.

HS said...

Actually, there is a key difference. If Karzai starts putting US corporations ahead of the interests of his people, he won't live to see the next election.

Anonymous said...

CKM don't you mean, senator graham wants to halt budget cuts to the nuclear processing plant in his state?

or am i misreading your byline

mach turtle

Anonymous said...

"For the last decade, the rate of heat build-up on Earth “is equivalent to detonating about 4 Hiroshima atomic bombs per second."

----

i once asked a global warming denier, " what would you accept as persuasive evidence that the burning of fossil fuels is boosting CO2 and warming the planet?"

and after a long pause he sadi, i wouldnt accept any scientific evidence cause its all a lie.."

and thats the illogical information processing obstacle that is making saving the planet so difficult

even when all hell breaks loose later this century, they will continue to deny, deny, deny...no evidence will ever be sufficient

this same person told me that 40 days and nights of rain, covered all the mountains of the earth ( everest is almost 6 miles above sea level)...and when i tried to point out that even at the worlds record rainfall of a 4 feet of rain in a day, everest couldnt be covered in a year, he answered...............and the grand canyon was carved out in a few days as the floods receded

there is no way to argue with this kind of non thinking

we are toast

an in fact there many on the evangelical right who WANT this apocalyptic future because they feel it fulfill scripture

in fact they are motivated to do destructive things to the planet as it makes things go the way they "believe"

God help us
mach turtle

Classof65 said...

Earth, the planet, will survive, although in what condition I can't predict. We, however, may not. I am pretty sure the planet will last through my lifetime, but I'm old and limited as to what I can do about global warming. I keep trying, though..

Charles Kingsley Michaelson, III said...

Anony 12.53 - Right, and I went and corrected the offending item. Thanks.