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Monday Open Thread

It's another week of moving preparations for me, as well as getting all my tax info to the accountant and my regular work.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    AN AXE LENGTH AWAY, vol. 149 (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by Dadler on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:18:08 AM EST
    Transitioning the elderly into affordable housing, Republican style. (link)

    Volume 148
    Volume 147

    Peace, my friends. I have a sick wife to nurse for the rest of the day.

    Yeah... (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:22:59 AM EST
    ...as if the republicans would let an old person get anything for free.

    Parent
    I am being optimistic... (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Dadler on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:27:51 AM EST
    ...I admit.

    Parent
    Just a Thought (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:40:30 AM EST
    Maybe Putin could come over and negotiate some sort of a solution for Congress.

    Boner has said they aren't backing down without some sort of concession to Obamacare.  It makes no sense, they want a concession to a legally passed law upheld by the SCOTUS.  As if the 1000 concession they got in the original bill weren't enough.

    Next they will want a concessions for abortions or not being able to put up paintings of Jesus in every classroom.

    D's ask for concessions for the Patriot Act and MMA, maybe even ask for them for Iraq.  If we are going to demand some sort of compromise for settled legislation, let's shoot for the stars.

    Putin, Take me Away...

    The Dems are weak as sh*t (5.00 / 3) (#5)
    by Dadler on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:46:54 AM EST
    They can't play hardball, or summon two cents of imagination, to save their phucking lives. Gonna take something viral to make a real difference. Viral as in online OR infectious. Seems we can choose which one. Sort of.

    That nuttiness aside, I really wish I lived in a nation that didn't feel like it was comfortable slitting its writs, as long as it did it very slowly.

    Parent

    The lack of imagination is the worst of it (5.00 / 4) (#6)
    by ruffian on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:50:51 AM EST
    And (5.00 / 3) (#10)
    by lentinel on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:55:54 AM EST
    lack of integrity. Lack of soul. Lack of compassion. Lack of human feeling.

    One big lack.

    Parent

    Lackety Lack... (5.00 / 2) (#13)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 12:43:57 PM EST
    Great idea. (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by lentinel on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:54:11 AM EST
    Let's change the Constitution so that someone from a foreign land can be elected president.

    God knows, the homegrown crop really sucks.

    Parent

    Yeah, that's the ticket, lentinel. (2.67 / 3) (#42)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:20:15 PM EST
    Let's praise Vladimir Putin.

    After all, here's a guy who's set such a wonderful example for everyone, by stuffing ballot boxes regularly, institutionalizing and codifying homophobia, arresting his political opposition and even threatening them with assassination, imprisoning members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot for daring to criticize him publicly, using his position to both enrich himself and empower his friends in the hopelessly corrupt Russian oligarchy, and unleashing his military to slaughter Russian Muslims by the hundreds of thousands.

    What a thoroughly repulsive statement to offer, even in irrational jest -- but admittedly, it's entirely consistent given your longstanding Obama H8red. And in your admiration of Mr. Putin, you and Pat Buchanan have something in common.

    :-P

    Parent

    It's (5.00 / 4) (#56)
    by lentinel on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:23:52 PM EST
    quite evident that you like to beat dead horses, Don. But I suggest you read what people write before imploding.

    Putin did, in fact, help to defuse a crisis.
    That is what Scott was referring to.

    What I wrote was to address the constitution - not Putin in particular. I guess you couldn't figure that out.

    In our country, people need to have been born here in order to become president.

    I think it would be good if we could reach out to anyone with brains and integrity - anywhere - from any country.

    I do think that our leadership on both sides of the aisle is for sh-t. I don't apologize for that.

    On a personal note, I must say that you are capable of some of the nastiest invective I have read on this good site.

    Parent

    Why is Donald Giving... (5.00 / 2) (#118)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 09:00:15 AM EST
    ...you credit, albeit negative, for my idea ?

    Seriously, I can't stop laughing at his response.  Why is he not imploding on me, not fair.

    Parent

    What is thoroughly repulsive is that, (5.00 / 2) (#120)
    by Anne on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 09:21:50 AM EST
    but for the specific references to Russia, you could have been describing some of the tactics and beliefs of Republicans.  

    Context is everything, Donald, and you really missed the boat on this one, probably because you saw a comment with lentinel's name and made assumptions that, sadly for you, proved that the old saying is true: it makes an a$$ out of the person doing the assuming.

    Now, I don't happen to agree that we should be looking to expand the qualifications for the presidency, but I think lentinel's - and Scott's - comments reflect the feeling a lot of us have: that the choices we're getting in the way of candidates are getting worse and worse.  And that the quality of governance that results is also getting worse and worse.

    I happen to believe that that is the result of both the current campaign finance system and the extremely low metric of voting for the least bad candidate.  We don't seem to be demanding that candidates be better, just that they not be as bad as their opponents.  And that is not a recipe for competent, responsive, representation, in my opinion.

    Is your support for Obama and for Democratic policy and performance because you love him?  I can see your back going up as you prepare to educate us on the ridiculousness of that - which should tell you that to accuse others of forming their opinions out of hate for Obama is just as ridiculous.


    Parent

    This is beneath you, Donald (5.00 / 1) (#121)
    by Zorba on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 10:04:45 AM EST
    We can all agree to disagree without flinging around words such as "repulsive" and "irrational."
    Perhaps your trip to Guam has not been going well.  That still would not excuse this type of invective.

    Parent
    It must (none / 0) (#52)
    by lentinel on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:13:37 PM EST
    be wonderful to be so wonderful, Don.

    Parent
    I don't know anyone praising the guy (none / 0) (#113)
    by Jane in CA on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 11:49:28 PM EST
    but that doesn't matter in the least. Really? What's the difference whether we're praising him or not? The bottom line is that he's dictating our foreign policy, isn't he?

    It would be laughable if it weren't so tragic.

    And what's really laughable, is that I'm pretty sure he outpolls any American politicians right at the moment.

    Parent

    Attention span tango. (5.00 / 4) (#7)
    by lentinel on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:52:54 AM EST
    It seems incredible, but there is barely a mention of the shutdown on the front page of the Times.

    The shutdown did not prevent us from mounting military strikes in Somalia and Libya.

    Possibility of no Social Security checks... but military strikes, thank god, go on unfettered. Plenty of money for that. Gotta love our priorities.

    Anyway - the NSA domestic spying - the absolutely essential fate-of-the-world-rests-upon-it bombing of Syria... All gone.

    My point is that the government winds us up - with the help of the frenzied media - and then, once we are pulling our hair and gnashing our teeth, they have a cocktail or something and go away. Until we start to relax - then comes the next crisis.

    This is not to say that each of the seemingly abandoned stories of interest are not important.. they are... but it does show to me that the interest in these by the government is primarily in distracting us from the fact that they are spending our money hand over fist to benefit themselves - that they have no solutions for anything - and that all they really care about is keeping themselves comfortable and in power.

    I don't think that the shutdown (none / 0) (#72)
    by desertswine on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 08:58:26 PM EST
    is the important point. I think the goal is to tank the stock market.  Say goodbye to what's left of your pension.  The whole country will be Detroit.

    Parent
    Charlie, how much do I love you? (5.00 / 5) (#9)
    by ruffian on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:55:42 AM EST
    A lot

    I am increasingly coming to believe that, for all the talk of how the conservatives have hurtled into a box canyon, it is the administration, bright people all, that may have been euchred into a situation that will truly damage it. After all, if the shutdown ended tomorrow, the sequester would still be in place. Austerity still would be the tacitly agreed upon program for both parties, and Paul Krugman likely still would be drinking before noon. The administration's brilliant eleventy-dimensional chess in 2010 looks more and more like a case of being too smart by half. It created a new reality in which both sides decided that what a country barely out of a devastating recession really needed was some belt-tightening and some fiscal discipline. If the administration really believed that the conservative monkeyhouse elected in 2010 wasn't going to be completely at home in this new reality, then somebody over there needs to be fired.


    Whatever they're paying him... (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by unitron on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 02:08:27 PM EST
    ...is it really enough for lines like--

    "In this case, I am speaking of those Republicans who can still reach sanity without asking for the area code."

    ?

    Parent

    Where's a government shutdown... (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:53:34 PM EST
    when you need one...Buffalo NY neighborhood to feds, "we want our crack queenpin granny back."

    More irascible than ever at age 76, ... (5.00 / 1) (#60)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:51:04 PM EST
    ... Seymour Hersh recently held court this summer at City University of London, regaling packed audiences with tales of his legendary past exploits, and lamenting the present state of investigative journalism in America.

    I don't always agree with Mr. Hersh, who sometimes seems almost a relic from a bygone era, and who is contemptuously dismissed by so many so-called journalists today, as though he were just some old guy yelling at the youngsters to get off his lawn.

    But I greatly admire Hersh's fearlessness when imparting his perception of truth to the powers that be, and I very much respect his past work. He's the type of no-nonsense journalist who'll keep taking names and kicking a$$ until the day he finally expires -- and even then, I wouldn't put it past him to leave a few posthumous bombshells to detonate in his wake, after he's laid six feet under.

    So, if Hersh demands that we pay attention, it would probably be in our best interest to listen. we may not like what he says, but odds are that we'll need to hear it nonetheless.

    Aloha.

    A new threat from the Taliban: (5.00 / 1) (#67)
    by oculus on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 07:15:10 PM EST
    Nearly a year after Malala was almost murdered by the Pakistan Taliban for defying a ban on female education, one of its leaders told the Daily Telegraph she's still not safe.

    "We are not against Malala herself but we are against her ideology," Shahidullah Shahid told The Telegraph by telephone from an unknown location.

    "Anyone who campaigns against our religion and criticizes Islam, like she is doing with her secular ideology, is our enemy and so we will target her again, and again," Shahid added.

    [Daily Telegraph.]

    In the Tsarnaev case today... (5.00 / 1) (#76)
    by TycheSD on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 09:52:18 PM EST
    The State of Massachusetts put out an arrest warrant for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and he was arraigned without being present.

    Defense counsel filed a Motion to Compel today in which they revealed that their client had requested a lawyer several times before or during his questioning by the FBI while in Beth Israel Deaconess hospital.

    Sure glad that we have a Democratic (5.00 / 3) (#80)
    by MO Blue on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 08:35:22 AM EST
    governor so that he can VOLUNTEER to cut people off of food stamps.

    JEFFERSON CITY -- Thousands of Missourians risk losing access to food stamps next year under a rule change proposed by Gov. Jay Nixon.

    But isn't it exciting MO will be first in something!

    If Missouri voluntarily allows the statewide waiver to expire, it would become the first state with a Democratic governor to do so.

    Missouri still qualifies for the statewide waiver and probably will until the end of 2015. However, the state's Department of Social Services has proposed changing eligibility rules to only allow the waiver of the work requirements in counties where unemployment is higher than 10 percent. That was the rule in place prior to the 2009 economic recession.

    According the state Department of Labor & Industrial Relations, only three rural counties had unemployment higher than 10 percent in August -- Caldwell in northwest Missouri, Reynolds in southeast Missouri and Shannon in south-central Missouri.

    Unemployment is 9.9 percent in the city of St. Louis. So an area with a very large population of extremely poor people will see food stamps discontinued because it falls .1 percent under the 10% criteria.

    "Cutting people off the program will not suddenly create jobs for unemployed adults in Missouri," Oxford said. "The inability to find work stems from high unemployment and the very slow recovery of the labor market."

    Source

    Throughly disgusted. Many so called MO Dem's should just be honest and run as Republicans.

    Republicans (5.00 / 1) (#92)
    by Edger on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:25:23 AM EST
    must've got to him and made him do this.

    @@

    Parent

    AN AXE LENGTH AWAY, vol. 150 (5.00 / 3) (#86)
    by Dadler on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 09:52:09 AM EST
    OMG that's one of your funniest yet. (none / 0) (#88)
    by Angel on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 09:55:00 AM EST
    Please keep 'em coming!

    Parent
    I am far too OCD not to keep it up (none / 0) (#101)
    by Dadler on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 11:33:40 AM EST
    And thanks for the props. ;-)

    Parent
    First Female Fed Chair (5.00 / 1) (#112)
    by CoralGables on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 06:15:25 PM EST
    to be nominated tomorrow afternoon.

    Same sh*t... (none / 0) (#117)
    by kdog on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 08:47:28 AM EST
    different gender.

    Anybody else jealous of the Icelandic way?  Putting your people first...imagine that.

    Parent

    AN AXE LENGTH AWAY, vol. 151 (5.00 / 1) (#116)
    by Dadler on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 08:09:09 AM EST
    Requiem for a rigged casino (link).

    Volume 150
    Volume 149

    Phuck the roof and raise the floor, my friends.

    Well, (5.00 / 1) (#123)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 11:55:13 AM EST
    there is a bright side to the continuing tea party crackpots ruling supreme in the congress. You get people like John Podhertz even calling them out. LOL.

    link

    That Picture of Boner... (5.00 / 2) (#124)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 12:32:12 PM EST
    ...is priceless.  Yeah, I used it, he reminds me of that clown from Growing Pains.

    I love this quote about the GOP if it were a car:

    It may not have been a very good vehicle in the first place, and you may think it couldn't drive worse, but oh man, could it ever. And it's the only one you've got.

    Do conservatives really view the GOP as something that couldn't be worse ?  While I agree, that is pretty damn funny.

    Parent

    We should have a caption contest for that photo. (none / 0) (#125)
    by Angel on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 12:52:10 PM EST
    Paging Dadler!

    Parent
    "Help! I've sucked so much Tea Party (5.00 / 1) (#126)
    by Anne on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 01:08:44 PM EST
    d!ck, my mouth is stuck."

    [sorry, that's pretty rude, but it was, I'm sad to say, the very first thing that popped into my head when I saw the picture]

    Parent

    Wow. (none / 0) (#127)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 01:11:36 PM EST
    Wow Indeed (none / 0) (#128)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 01:45:36 PM EST
    But fricken hilarious, especially when you consider the source isn't from this side of the aisle.

    Parent
    Yes, Ga6th: At this rate, the whole gang (none / 0) (#129)
    by christinep on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 03:01:02 PM EST
    --beginning with John P, then Wolfowitz and Kristol, maybe their patron Cheney even--will be having a neo-con battle of the pitchforks against the guys with teapots on their heads.  Quite a spectacle.

    And, with the Tea Party officially removing its earlier endorsement of Mitch McConnell today, where do they run for cover?  Yet, I'm still trying to figure out Boehner's endgame ... has he mostly wanted the pressure to build all around him to the point that a clean vote would be held with or without him and, in effect, forestall the Tea Party turning on him in the same way since he had nothing to do with it and tried to help them and etc. etc. etc.? (Update on "clean bill" Repub supporters in Colorado this a.m.: Cong Coffman, from the swing-district 6th, is calling for an open vote in writing and in a Denver Post op ed; two other Repubs -- Cong. Lamborn, rep from the military-laden CoSprgs, says we should focus on spending reductions and move on from ObamaCare focus in this dispute while Cong. Gardner, from a large district that includes part of the land hit & damaged by the floods out here where federal/state assistance provided essential relief then, is also echoing Lamborn.)

    Parent

    Well (5.00 / 1) (#130)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 03:22:11 PM EST
    the only endgame that I can see that remotely helps Boehner is for the pressure to build up so great from the populace that Boehner puts it up for a vote. More and more defections and he's going to be able to go back to the tea party and say look guys it just isn't gonna work. That's the only way I see that Boehner has a chance as surviving all this with his speaker ship.

    Parent
    Can you really call it a Shutdown (2.00 / 0) (#33)
    by Slado on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 02:44:58 PM EST
    yes (5.00 / 2) (#37)
    by sj on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:06:36 PM EST
    Ask all the people furloughed.

    Parent
    They're all gonna get paid right? (none / 0) (#47)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:46:55 PM EST
    Sounds like extra paid vacation to me (woo hoo!)...it just sucks for the lowest on the totem pole living check to check who have to wait.  The bank and the utility don't wanna hear nothing about no furlough.  In a just world, Boner would have to pay the late fees.  

    But at least they'll all get paid in full...could be worse.

    Parent

    Maybe, maybe not (5.00 / 1) (#57)
    by sj on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:30:30 PM EST
    It depends. Direct employees will get back pay. The many, many more federal contractors will not. In my case, my project is funded by the NSF, and due to good planning on the part of the company executives, we have funding through the end of October. If the shut down continues, we go on furlough, too. And, since we are not direct federal employees, we do not get back pay. Because of that, should the shut down continue, we are on strict orders not to work on company business during the furlough. Even if we can.

    Not every agency/company who is funded by federal contracts has planned that well and/or they may receive their funding differently.

    Many, many more workers other than federal workers are impacted by the shutdown.

    Parent

    And don't forget (5.00 / 2) (#78)
    by jbindc on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 06:58:00 AM EST
    All the secondary people affected by this who won't get back pay - "the little people".  Workers in stores and restaurants, delis and food trucks - all around government offices.  Or how about every other retail establishment where government employees and their families AREN'T spending money?

    Parent
    Absolutely right (5.00 / 1) (#97)
    by sj on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:59:49 AM EST
    This is a Big Deal.

    Parent
    Last night on the local news, they did (5.00 / 2) (#100)
    by Anne on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 11:33:04 AM EST
    a story about the economic ripple effect of the shutdown on the businesses in areas where there are heavy concentrations of federal employees -  in this case, in the area around the Social Security HQ complex in Woodlawn, MD.  They went to several restaurants around lunchtime, and they were virtually deserted - one owner said his business is down about 90%, and both said that where they usually would have people waiting to be served or seated, now they just sit there waiting for customers that never come.

    Now, the federal employees may be made whole again, if they ever get the deal done, but none of them are going to visit all the lunch places and dry cleaners and convenience stores and retailers and give them the money they would have spent if they had been working, so that's income that's just gone for these places, and they aren't going to be made whole.


    Parent

    Lessons on How to Kill a City (5.00 / 1) (#114)
    by Jane in CA on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 12:38:37 AM EST
    by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who in a fit of pique, because he could not get legislators or high level policy people or voters to agree with him, took the only retaliatory action he could take -- which was against the California State worker, furloughing them for three days a month for no discernible reason (the money saved was budget dust) except to "show' everyone who was in charge.

    In three long years of the Schwarzenegger bully pulpit furloughs, Sacramento went from a sleepy, quietly thriving little city, to one of the central valley slum-cities (think Stockton). Dozens of storefronts were nailed down. Businesses that had been here for fifty, a hundred years or more were shuttered. It was awful.

    The housing market, already teetering on the brink of insolvency tipped over into the sludge at the very bottom of the country's marketplace, as defined by industry standards. A couple years ago, one of these reports listed Sacramento as being in the final group of cities to recover from the mortgage crisis, citing 2029 as the year it would be fully recovered.

    The only good thing that came out of this is that virtually no Republican will likely ever hold office in this State again. I think it is only recently sinking in how badly Schwarzenegger blew an opportunity. You can talk all you want about how Latinos are a natural democratic constituency, but you're forgetting most Latino's strong reliance on the Church and its very conservative message.

    A republican for the people could have had a large chunk of that demographic. But it's hard to want to belong to a party whose governor who clearly despises the worker.

    California had learned its lesson, though. Meg Whitman spent millions of dollars on her vanity project governorship attempt, only to lose by nearly 11.5 percentage points to Jerry Brown (rhymes with God -- J/K!), who spent, like, $10.

    And the state and the city shows its resiliency every day under this incredible leader, as we swiftly move back into relevancy more quickly than anyone could have expected.

    But, yeah. That's what happens when you kill a city. People hurt. People lose their homes, their jobs, their businesses. Kids are hungry. Free meal counts go up, unemployment claims go up -- but there is no one there to process them. Cuz the workers are furloughed. But guess who gets blamed anyway?

    Parent

    Very astute of the fiscally conservative (none / 0) (#48)
    by ruffian on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:50:31 PM EST
    GOP to pay people to do nothing. Of course they don't care, since so many of them are DoD folks.

    Parent
    Depends (5.00 / 3) (#45)
    by Yman on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:28:32 PM EST
    Does it affect you personally?

    That's how most conservatives decide whether it's a crisis ...

    Parent

    BTW - "83% open"? (5.00 / 5) (#46)
    by Yman on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:40:02 PM EST
    Nice wingnut talking point.

    The government spending 83% of its "normal spending level (assuming that's true) does not mean that 83% of the government is "open".

    Parent

    It is a subjective number (2.00 / 3) (#62)
    by Slado on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 05:12:03 PM EST
    point being is "Shutdown" is just as ridiculous a claim if not more so.

    Parent
    Right (5.00 / 1) (#69)
    by Yman on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 08:14:50 PM EST
    point being is "Shutdown" is just as ridiculous a claim if not more so.

    ... because someone out there might get confused by the term "shutdown".  They might think that every government agency/employee is closed/furloughed.

    Heh.

    Parent

    If 800,000 People... (5.00 / 2) (#54)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:18:42 PM EST
    ...should be considered no big deal.

    Or that women and kids in poverty, WIC aren't getting help with food...

    Good example, yesterday a woman zookeeper for a private exotic tiger zoo got her arm ripped off by a tiger.  They were interviewing the owner who made a hilarious joke about the USDA not being around to police him because of the shutdown.

    LINK



    Parent

    Well (none / 0) (#41)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:17:02 PM EST
    it's been a boom for the Republicans bent on self destruction.

    Parent
    But they closed the (none / 0) (#84)
    by Amiss on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 09:23:12 AM EST
    churches on bases here.

    Parent
    It's Anarchy! (none / 0) (#131)
    by Char Char Binks on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 09:11:36 PM EST
    No government, no laws, every man for himself!

    Parent
    The CDC website states that, due to the shutdown, (none / 0) (#11)
    by oculus on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:57:52 AM EST


    Ebola escaped from the lab??? (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 12:42:19 PM EST
    Better bomb Cedar Creek!  

    Don't leave us hanging like the federal government like that oculus! ;)

    Parent

    Nah (none / 0) (#18)
    by Zorba on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:18:06 PM EST
    I think oculus meant this:
    Due to the lapse in government funding, only web sites supporting excepted functions will be updated unless otherwise funded. As a result, the information on this website may not be up to date, the transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

    Link.

    NIH website says pretty much the same.  I suspect that all .gov sites do, as well.

    Parent

    I did check it myself... (none / 0) (#19)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:22:19 PM EST
    just bustin' on oculus for her alarmist incomplete comment...she must be commenting on her not-so-smart phone again!

    I don't have one of them whipper-snapper do-hickeys, but I have tried to type on other people's...it's impossible!  Maybe I have caveman digits, I don't know...

    Parent

    Ah, I see what you mean! (none / 0) (#65)
    by oculus on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 06:48:49 PM EST
    BTW, did you survive rhe bachelor party?

    Parent
    I survived the B.P. (5.00 / 3) (#81)
    by kdog on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 08:35:43 AM EST
    better than the wedding reception...while taking a doobie walk on the golf course the freakin' sprinklers came on...a couple of my cousins and I got drenched.  It was like a scene out of Happy Gilmour.  Then we had to take the family photo sopping wet.  Classic.

    Father of the bride tried to institute a "no shots" rule, poor guy has no clue of what his daughter is marrying into...my uncle, the father of the groom, wasn't having it. We had our shots in rock glasses.

    Lots of laughs, good good times.

    Parent

    Says it all (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by NYShooter on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:47:40 PM EST
    The following comments, and links, I believe tells all one has to know about our current National Dilemma.  First of all, Paul Krugman is a National Treasure, His article today, and, the article he links to, are the best, condensed, explanations of what's taking place.
    Following those is an article by Jonathan Chait. If you read nothing else, please, please, read this one. It is the best, and scariest explanation of the coming Debt Ceiling disaster, and predictions.  

    The Boehner Bunglers
    By PAUL KRUGMAN
    Published: October 6, 2013

    A Synopsis:

    "..the G.O.P. has become "an insurgent outlier -- ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; When Ignorance Begets Confidence: The Classic Dunning-Kruger Effectunpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition."
    But there's one more important piece of the story. Conservative leaders are indeed ideologically extreme, but they're also deeply incompetent. So much so, in fact, that the Dunning-Kruger effect -- the truly incompetent can't even recognize their own incompetence -- reigns supreme

    When Ignorance Begets Confidence: The Classic Dunning-Kruger Effect

    Synopsis #2

    From Psychology Today

    "Fremdschämen describes embarrassment which is experienced in response to someone else's actions, but it is markedly different from simply being embarrassed for someone else. In particular it is different from being embarrassed because of how another person's actions reflect on us or because of how another person's actions make us look in the eyes of others.

    Instead, Fremdscham (the noun) describes the almost-horror you feel when you notice that somebody is oblivious to how embarrassing they truly are. Fremdscham occurs when someone who should feel embarrassed for themselves simply is not, and you start feeling embarrassment in their place. It is at the heart of beloved "mockumentaries" such as The Office, Modern Family, or Ricky Gervais' Extras."

    Parent

    This is (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 02:08:56 PM EST
    perhaps one of the best columns Krugman has ever written. Their combined ignorance AND incompetence is the thing that makes me understand where they are coming from.

    Anyway, I told a friend on facebook today that if the nuts bags blow up the GOP at this point I could care less. Congress is going to have to figure out a way to get around these nut bags.

    Parent

    If you read Chait's article (5.00 / 0) (#31)
    by NYShooter on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 02:17:50 PM EST
    the result from the Debt Ceiling showdown may change the rules about everything.....forever.

    It's not just the GOP that will suffer:

    "..if the nuts bags blow up the GOP at this point I could care less."

    Parent

    The worst part of this is the manufactured (5.00 / 3) (#39)
    by Anne on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:12:44 PM EST
    nature of the crisis...it's Shock Doctrine, for sure, getting people so terrified of economic catastrophe that they will be only too happy to accept the inevitable cuts to safety-net programs, the lowering of taxes for the wealthy, and more and deeper austerity measures that are going to disproportionately affect those at the bottom end of the economic spectrum, if that means we can save ourselves from doom.

    I've been trying to adopt an I've-just-decided-to-be-happy approach to life (which is really not so sparkly-pony as it sounds - it's really more about letting go of things I truly have no control over), and this kind of stuff just blows that whole effort to hell and back, mainly because it's losing to the I've-just-decided-I-like-being-stupid crowd - you know, all those people who still think the US budget is "just like" the family budget, who think the answer to all our woes is national ID cards and drug-testing all those welfare queens, and voter ID laws, and getting to the bottom, once and for all, of the question of Obama's birth certificate.  You can't reason with stupid, I'm afraid.

    Charlie Pierce calls it the Reign of the Morons...he needs to trademark that one.

    Parent

    "You can't reason with stupid" (5.00 / 2) (#59)
    by NYShooter on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:42:14 PM EST
    Unfortunately, The WH hasn't read that memo:

    "The bill that is being presented to end the government shutdown reflects Republican priorities," Obama said, addressing federal employees at FEMA in Washington. "It's the Republican budget. The funding levels of this short-term funding bill, called the CR, is far lower than what Democrats think it should be.

    "Nevertheless Democrats are prepared to put the majority of votes on it to fund the government," he added. "When you hear government not compromising, we're compromising so much we're willing to open the government at funding levels that reflect Republican wishes, that don't at all reflect our wishes."

    And, if you want to go completely Batsh!t
    read Digby:

    "Crazy like foxes"

    "What could be more telling than the fact that the numbers in Paul Ryan's budget are now considered the starting point in any new negotiations to end the shutdown.

     Who's being played here?"


    Parent

    Just try (none / 0) (#55)
    by Zorba on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:21:58 PM EST
    to enjoy your grand-baby, Grandma.  That, at least, should put a big smile on your face.   :-)

    Parent
    So they've (none / 0) (#38)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:09:06 PM EST
    already given up on winning in 2016 it seems. Actually what we are seeing is if the Dixiecrats had formed their own party back in 1964 instead of merging into the GOP. It seems they are running most everybody else off and would rather disband than change.

    Parent
    Who Cares if They Sit in the WH... (5.00 / 2) (#51)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:06:45 PM EST
    ...if they can simply hold the country hostage with what, 30 tea baggers in the house that the rest of the R's would rather follow then do what is best for the country ?

    Depending on the outcome, it might just prove that in America there really is no separation of power so long as a faction is willing to cut off the nose to spite the face.  And that legislation passed lawfully and upheld by the SCOTUS can be invalidated by the same 30 ideological bafoons.

    Parent

    Oh, (5.00 / 2) (#58)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:34:01 PM EST
    I agree and that is why they have to be defeated. Something has to be done to break them. But the people that are going along with them are also helping destroy the GOP. The good thing about all this is it shows that the GOP is completely beholden to the whack jobs with the exception of a few.

    Parent
    What I hope everyone realizes is (5.00 / 4) (#61)
    by NYShooter on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 05:10:58 PM EST
    that while the GOP is losing the PR war, it is winning the policy war.

    I know it's a little dry, and difficult to understand, but, if you read the links above you'll find that the GOP is not just a bunch of ignorant, suicidal morons. In every one of the public policy battles they've had with the Democrats, including the Presidential election, they've lost the PR game, but, have been winning the budget "game." With every loss they've had, they've lurched, counter intuitively, ever further to the Right. They realize they can't win at the ballot box, but, they know they can win negotiating (read: Blackmailing) with this Administration. And, it not only worked before, it's working now.

    Mark my words, before this episode is over, we'll think The Ryan Budget was a gift from a wide eyed Liberal Santa Claus. Gutting the Budget was always their end game, and, I believe Obama will give them what they want and call it a necessary compromise. The Government will stay "open," and we won't default on our debts.

    The public will applaud and cheer, and won't realize what happened to them.......until it's too late.

    Parent

    And Obama has lurched to the right as well, (5.00 / 4) (#64)
    by Anne on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 05:22:12 PM EST
    not to as extreme a degree, but he's definitely helping them move things where they want to go.

    Parent
    Oh, I realize it alright (none / 0) (#68)
    by sj on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 07:33:49 PM EST
    Some people think O's machinations are very wise, and that he excels at walking this tightrope, or something. It fair boggles the mind.

    I will concede that the machinations are smart. He gets his austerity without an overt Grand Bargain.

    Parent

    a centrists opinion (none / 0) (#74)
    by Jack203 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 09:15:03 PM EST
    I would rank Republican priorities

    1. Cutting taxes for the rich and super-rich.  Anyone below the top 1-2% can go to hell.  They don't care about your taxes (see the payroll tax cuts and how the Republicans wanted concessions from the Democrats to keep those in affect.)

    2. Becoming more entangled in the Middle East any way possible.  If there is a chance to bomb Muslims, they will want to take it.  (there is a gap growing between the neocons and teapartiers over #2)

    3. Cutting spending to the lower and middle classes.  They like talking about this more than actually doing this.  But having something to hate like the Afforable Care Act has been a godsend.  In the past, you could never get them to give you anything specific to cut.  The cowards would demand that the Democrats take the knife from them to "own" the spending cuts.  Once the poor lower class red-staters begin to use the Affordable Care Act, they know they are in trouble.

    Now, I see what you're saying about the Republicans winning the policy war.  They very well may "win" the debt ceiling/gov shutdown in the sense that Obama will concede SOMETHING to them (even if it's small)  Because the fact of the matter is Republicans are that crazy to do serious damage to this country just to spite Obama.  Their hatred runs that deep.  If Obama has to give something, it is a very dangerous precedent, but it's the price this country has to pay by electing such stupid and corrupt representatives.

    But we should keep in mind Obama won the previous budget battle as the Bush tax cuts to the ultra rich were finally removed.  And not to mention Obama won the Affordable Care Act.  Without a doubt, Obama should have won a lot more the first two years, but he wanted to play the moderate, please everyone.   Boy was that a mistake, and progressives have a right to be angry.  

    Parent

    Sorry, left off Chait's blockbuster: (none / 0) (#24)
    by NYShooter on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:52:24 PM EST
    Chait (5.00 / 1) (#75)
    by Jack203 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 09:44:51 PM EST
    I definitely liked the article NYShooter.

    "Bargaining his way through this crisis would do Obama no good, even if he could get through it by offering up a meager or even symbolic concession. Anything that allows Republicans to believe they can trade a debt-ceiling threat for policy concessions simply creates a new hostage crisis the next time the debt ceiling comes up."

    That is what this comes down too.  

    1. Meager/symbolic concession from Obama
    2. Debt default
    3. Republicans fold


    Parent
    Sure, (none / 0) (#89)
    by NYShooter on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:07:11 AM EST
    I don't see why our government's policy of "we don't negotiate with terrorists" shouldn't apply,

    Parent
    The Tea Party Republicans remind me ... (none / 0) (#50)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:59:16 PM EST
    ... of the Argentine military junta in early 1982, whose leaders recklessly sought to bolster their own public image and mute the ever-increasing criticism of their shortcomings by provoking an ill-advised military confrontation with Great Britain in the Falkland Islands.

    In the end, practically the entire world failed to dissuade junta leaders from their own foolhardiness, which inevitably led to the Argentina's crushing defeat at the hands of the Royal Navy and Marines, that country's international humiliation abroad, and the junta's own thorough political discreditation at home.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Hope that doesn't mean... (none / 0) (#63)
    by unitron on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 05:18:49 PM EST
    ...that the Grand Old Tea Party Banana Republicans will find a way to force us into another war so as to go out in a blaze of glory if they think they're going down.

    Parent
    No. This is their big stand.. (none / 0) (#111)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 02:12:30 PM EST
    No flu shots? I was going to start getting them! (none / 0) (#14)
    by ruffian on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 12:43:57 PM EST
    No flu shots could spell real trouble (5.00 / 0) (#15)
    by shoephone on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 12:59:47 PM EST
    Where I live people are already spreading colds like crazy. I and another friend have already gotten sick, recovered for a few days, then gotten sick again -- in less than three weeks. Once the flu starts, you'd better hope to dawg you've gotten your shot. If shots aren't made available (due to this pick-and-choose-which-federal-programs-to-defund shutdown) thousands will get the illness. And some will die. What would the charges be? Gross negligence? Endangerment? Seriously. These Tea Party shutdown fanatics are nothing but a bunch g*dd@mn fools. And dangerous fools at that.

    Parent
    I wouldn't worry... (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:17:59 PM EST
    the big pharma profit card trumps the government services that help people card.  I'm confident government assisted flu shot programs will not be a part of the shutdown...big pharma wouldn't stand for it.

    Parent
    The drug companies (none / 0) (#20)
    by Zorba on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:31:05 PM EST
    don't make much if any money on flu vaccines, kdog.  Other vaccines, yes.  Other vaccines are good for years.  New flu shots need to be developed every single year, since the strains of flu that they think (after taking a lot of things into consideration) will be prevalent each year changes, and flu itself mutates readily.

    Link.

    Parent

    I don't know Z... (none / 0) (#21)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:43:59 PM EST
    30-50% is a nice profit margin for retailers, even factoring in unsold doses.

    And manufacturers have a new 4 strain version with a higher price/margin.

    There may not be as much money in it as other big pharma offerings, but there is big money and big volume in it.

    Parent

    I'm not talking so much (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by Zorba on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:03:49 PM EST
    about the retailers such as CVS and Walgreen's.  They have huge mark-ups and can charge what the traffic will bear.
    I'm talking about the drug companies themselves.  They make great profits on a whole lot of drugs.  But historically, they have not made so much on flu vaccines.  You may remember some years ago when flu vaccines were in very short supply.  This was because many of the drug companies had bailed on making them, having decided that they could not make enough money on them.
    Now, I'm no big fan of the drug companies, and I think that they make huge amounts of money (and this is at least in part because they can charge Americans a whole lot more than they can other countries which have some form of Universal Health Care and which negotiate with the drug companies).  But they simply are not going to keep making stuff that does not seem to guarantee them these big profits.  Maybe this new four-in-one vaccine will make them some extra money.  If it works as they expect (and influenza is a very tricky virus).
    This is why I would like to see the federal government in charge of making and providing vaccines.  But in the current economic climate, it ain't gonna happen.  We can't even seem to feed poor pregnant women and their young children.  We're not going to be spending money on this.
    In actuality, what we really, really need is Universal Health Care.  And that ain't  gonna happen anytime soon, either.  :-(

    Parent
    All sounds good to me... (none / 0) (#43)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:20:45 PM EST
    preach on Sister!

    All I'm saying is even if there is a measley 5% margin in the flu vaccines for big pharma, the shutdown will not f8ck with that small part of what the CDC does.  The shutdown is exclusively for services that the little people might possibly use or need or enjoy....like tracking flu outbreaks.    

    Parent

    But of course (5.00 / 1) (#53)
    by Zorba on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 04:18:10 PM EST
    Poor people, pregnant women, children with cancer, and on and on and on.  These are not the people that our politicians care about.
    Health care research is pretty much shut down, too.  Most of the money for such research comes from the federal government.  In fact, drug companies and other for-profit medical companies depend upon the government-funded basic and clinical research before they even start their own clinical trials.  They don't do this type of early research themselves- it would cost them too much.  And if people think that the for-profit sector can provide all of this, they are deluding themselves.  The cost of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other health care items would go up way, way more.  If the companies even bothered doing research on something that did not promise huge returns.
    But hey, if you've got an idea for a new erectile-dysfunction drug, which they can make gazillions on, they're there!  

    Parent
    And outbreaks need to be tracked (none / 0) (#26)
    by shoephone on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:54:23 PM EST
    CDC is concerned.

    At the Centers for Disease Control [CDC], Dr. Tom Frieden is concerned because two-thirds of his employees have been furloughed at the start of the flu season.

    "What we won't know is what's happening with flu, where is it spreading, what types of flu are spreading, should we be using one medication or another, is it in nursing homes or elsewhere? This really interferes with our ability to protect people."

    The director of the CDC is wary of other outbreaks of illness or infectious disease, too.

    "An outbreak of something like legionella pneumonia, we may not detect it, we may not find it, we may not stop it. If there's an outbreak of foodborne illness that affects people in multiple states, we may not identify it promptly," said Dr. Frieden.

    Donn Moyer, at the Washington State Department of Health, says our state is prepared to take care of any problems, but what about other states? What about the red states? If flu shots go unavailable, there will absolutely be lots of people getting sick, and needlessly so.


    Parent

    And considering the whooping cough disaster (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by shoephone on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 02:03:36 PM EST
    that occurred here in WA this past year, I'm not too confident the DOH can handle everything as well as they think. And California had a huge outbreak of it among kids in 2010. Whadd'ya think the cause was? Yessiree Bob, it was the wacko anti-vaccine parents who refused to immunize their children, putting all those other kids at risk.

    Immunization shots matter.

    Parent

    Just keep hoping (5.00 / 0) (#34)
    by Zorba on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 02:46:07 PM EST
    that some kind of awful pandemic flu or other disease does not rear it's ugly head.  Yes, if worse comes to worst and this happens, I'm sure that the CDC will call back its furloughed employees in a state of emergency.  But they are under-staffed now, so they do not have enough employees there to track any new outbreaks at their inception, when it might be possible to head off or ameliorate some of the worst effects.
    As for the other states, yes.  Lots of people might well get sick needlessly, and some of the more vulnerable will die.  And if people in the more fortunate states think that this is no concern of theirs (I am not speaking about you, shoephone, because I know that you do care), they should stop to consider that people travel outside their states, and can spread infection.
    {{Sigh}}. This is what comes from being married to a molecular biologist whose particular specialty is viruses.  You don't even want to know the half of what is out there, or what could possibly happen in a worst-case scenario.

    Parent
    I heard here today via drunk (5.00 / 1) (#32)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 02:41:58 PM EST
    Local bible belt womenfolk my age staggering around parking lots that flu shots are being held up in order to put microchips in the vaccine.  Don't get one. It's the mark of the beast.

    Parent
    Silly ladies... (5.00 / 2) (#35)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:02:44 PM EST
    the microchip is in their phone, no need to implant under the skin when it is firmly implanted in the palm or purse at all times.

    Parent
    This (5.00 / 2) (#40)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:16:01 PM EST
    is another one of those talk radio/conservative conspiracy theories I have heard too about Obama planting a microchip into everybody via Obamacare. Which came first? Conservatism made people stupid or stupid people are conservatives already? Something to ponder.  

    Parent
    Cmon now (none / 0) (#70)
    by Jack203 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 08:43:51 PM EST
    Seriously?

    Parent
    Yes, sadly seriously (none / 0) (#79)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 08:00:15 AM EST
    Last year was the first year I got one, (none / 0) (#23)
    by Anne on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:50:40 PM EST
    mainly because with my daughter having her baby in December, she wanted those of us likely to be spending a lot of time with him to get the shot - that and the tetanus/diptheria/pertussis vaccine.  

    They offer the flu shots here at the office, and we're supposed to be getting them on Wednesday - so far, no indication that they won't have the vaccine, so given all the dire predictions about shortages, I'm glad I signed up to get one here this year.

    Parent

    I get one every year (none / 0) (#27)
    by shoephone on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:56:02 PM EST
    because I have asthma and other respiratory issues. Last time I actually got the flu, years ago, was horrible.

    Parent
    Flu shots are being administered as (none / 0) (#49)
    by MO Blue on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 03:54:24 PM EST
    usual in my neck of the woods. My city scheduled giving flu shots tomorrow at the community center. I checked, the shut down will have no affect on the event. Some companies and pharmacies are also giving them as usual.

     

    Parent

    Since I have been (none / 0) (#90)
    by Amiss on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:19:30 AM EST
    so I'll these past months, luckily both my husband and myself got them at our family doctor's insistence last month. We both commented that they were more painful than usual, just a warning if you get one. Suggestion is to take ibuprofen or your usual pain reliever beforehand.

    Parent
    Flu shots can be a bit (none / 0) (#105)
    by fishcamp on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 12:27:48 PM EST
    more painful if you receive the double dose version they give to people over 70 and other special cases.  My arm was sore and I felt achey for about 12 hours.  But it's still worth it as the flu is bad to the bone.

    Parent
    Christopher Titus... (none / 0) (#16)
    by ScottW714 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 01:12:03 PM EST
    ...has a comedy special on Comedy Central that has a bit about Titus meeting his hero, The Boss and his wife.  His impersonation of Springsteen and his interaction with him and his wife had me literally in tears laughing.

    Is our F.B.I. operating w/i its statutory (none / 0) (#66)
    by oculus on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 06:54:49 PM EST
    powers when it apprehends alleged terrorists in Africa?

    According to the agency website: (5.00 / 1) (#73)
    by oculus on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 09:01:39 PM EST
    What authority do FBI special agents have to make arrests in the United States, its territories, or on foreign soil?

    In the U.S. and its territories, FBI special agents may make arrests for any federal offense committed in their presence or when they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed, or is committing, a felony violation of U.S. laws. On foreign soil, FBI special agents generally do not have authority to make arrests except in certain cases where, with the consent of the host country, Congress has granted the FBI extraterritorial jurisdiction.



    Parent
    The Jets are winning!!... (none / 0) (#71)
    by desertswine on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 08:55:43 PM EST
    The Jets are winning and I thought that I was gonna have to watch an Antiques Roadshow re-run.

    Geno Smith... (none / 0) (#82)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 08:52:43 AM EST
    ...looked damn good last night.

    But I gotta say the Falcons deciding to go for it on 4th down in the 2Q was the game decider.

    Parent

    Great show... (none / 0) (#94)
    by kdog on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:42:11 AM EST
    the Falcons defense is a hurting unit, and Geno capitalized.  Pro Bowl throw on the touchdown to Jeff "Cumberland Mine".

    That was a panic move going for it...and if you're gonna go for it, don't run it!  The Jets, like everybody else, have no answer for the ageless Tony Gonzalez. The pass interference on the first 4th down try was a heads up play by Gang Green.

    Parent

    What Did they Call It... (none / 0) (#96)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:51:56 AM EST
    ...when they put two guys on Gonzalez, I call it the suffocation that can't last.  Just sucks the his hopes of a SB ring have pretty much left the building.

    If I was Sanchez I would be pretty pretty damn nervous after last night.  Geno got game.

    Parent

    So far so good... (none / 0) (#99)
    by kdog on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 11:18:12 AM EST
    Sanchez ain't sniffing any action unless Geno gets injured. He'll surely be backing somebody else up next year.

    I'll never figure the NFL out...Jets 3-2 and the Giants 0-5?  Who woulda thunk it.  And so much for my prediction that the AFC was weak this year, they're absolutely crushing the NFC so far.

    Parent

    No Kidding.. (none / 0) (#102)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 11:42:24 AM EST
    ...the funny thing is the 0-5 Giants are two games out of first place in the division, that is fricken craZy, they are in better position in their division that like 10 teams.


    Parent
    Even strippers ... (none / 0) (#104)
    by Yman on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 12:01:20 PM EST
    Was it "sandwiched?" (none / 0) (#103)
    by Anne on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 11:58:57 AM EST
    I remember two QBs who got their big breaks when their teams' #1s went down: Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger.

    If I'm not mistaken, the Patriots went on to the Super Bowl that year, and the Steelers went all the way to the AFC Championship game (they lost to the Patriots) in the year Ben had to step in to the #1 spot.  Not saying Jets are Super Bowl-bound or anything, but having the #2 guy get most of a season to shine can spell doom for the man he's filling in for.

    In Baltimore, injury/illness put Troy Smith and Kyle Boller on the bench and elevated Joe Flacco to the #1 spot and he's never relinquished it (not that anyone was all that sorry to see Smith and Boller hit the road - they were pretty much terrible - but had both those guys been forced to sit, I don't know what the outcome would have been - well, other than something much less than a winning season and a trip to the playoffs).

    [and as an aside, can I just say I was kind of taken aback by Sanchez and the hairband he was wearing?  What was up with that?  He looked like a teenage girl, for heaven's sake]

    Parent

    Regarding the much-maligned hairband... (none / 0) (#106)
    by kdog on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 12:33:45 PM EST
    Sanchez is growing his locks for charity, so we should cut him some slack...it does look ridiculous, but it's for a good cause;)

    The braintrust wanted Geno to win the job, the Sanchez injury just made it easy.  I kinda feel bad for Sanchez, the Jets set him up to fail.  He'd look a lot better than last year if he got to play with Marty Mornhinweg...we've got a pro offense installed now.

    Parent

    Didn't know about the charity thing, but (none / 0) (#108)
    by Anne on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 01:06:56 PM EST
    there has to be some way he can control his hair that doesn't involve a hairband from Claire's.

    Although this one might look cute...

    Parent

    You're mean... (none / 0) (#109)
    by kdog on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 01:17:27 PM EST
    in the best most hysterical way;)

    Parent
    Not Sandwiched... (none / 0) (#107)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 01:02:39 PM EST
    ...but that is what it is.  Gruden had an official name for the block and it made me laugh.  The gear block, or something as silly.

    You forgot the most recent and most relevant, Kaepernick replacing the injured Smith last year and ended up at the SB.

    But that is pretty much how quarterbacks are replaced in the NFL.  The old bull gets hurt and the young buck comes in and if they shine, they get the job.

    Parent

    Geno (none / 0) (#110)
    by Jack203 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 01:54:32 PM EST
    Just saw a stat from ESPN.  Highest completion rate in the NFL with passes over 15 yards.

    Showing unusual polish for a rookie.  Very impressive.

    EJ Manuel, Pryor, and Tannehill also doing better than expected for young QBs.

    Parent

    Dancing With the Stars judging (none / 0) (#77)
    by shoephone on Mon Oct 07, 2013 at 11:48:12 PM EST
    is not too great tonight. Len is out for some reason and Julianne Hough is taking his place. All I can say is...I hope Len comes back next week. But overall, it seems like they are really fudging it, just giving away higher scores to make contestants feel better. I really like Amber, but, c'mon. They all gave her 9's. Not even close to 9 in my book, especially since they gave Elizabeth Berkeley (the very best dancer of the contestants, IMO) all 9's. Berkeley's performance was so far above all the others, and the judging has gotten really questionable in the second hour of tonight's show.

    End of rant.

    Agreed (none / 0) (#91)
    by Amiss on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:23:15 AM EST
    Notice how Julianne and Bruno just voted the same as Carrie in every dance.

    Parent
    Second Largest Point Spread in NFL History (none / 0) (#83)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 09:08:51 AM EST
    Broncos -28 over Jaguars

    I would imagine it's going to change because right now that the way the Broncos are playing, seems like easy money.

    The largest spread in history before this week occurred Dec. 5, 1976 when the Steelers were -27 against the Buccaneers. Pittsburgh won that game 42-0.
     LINK

    Seems to me like the 28 points is more than 27...

    I live in Jax (none / 0) (#93)
    by Amiss on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:28:29 AM EST
    The Jags are horrid. Also their QB is injured. Maybe that will help if he is replaced, though.

    Parent
    First true polling test of Govt shutdown (none / 0) (#85)
    by CoralGables on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 09:51:35 AM EST
    Those polls with generic candidates are pretty meaningless. Also, polls blaming a particular party are pretty meaningless if no one is on the ballot.

    In Virginia however, in ten September polls for governor, McAuliffe (D) vs Cuccinelli (R), there was an average lead for McAuliffe of 4.6 pts. In two polls done since the start of the shutdown, the lead for McAuliffe has jumped to 9.5 pts.

    US adults score below average on worldwide (none / 0) (#87)
    by Angel on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 09:53:35 AM EST
    I Wonder... (5.00 / 2) (#95)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 10:46:23 AM EST
    ...where we would sit without the tea-baggers and half the republican party who seem to relish in their stooopidity.

    Last night I saw a segment on the nightly news with Brian Williams about Massachusetts kids scoring 6th in world(if it were a country) in math, and 2nd in science.  The are number one here.  

    It was noted that they did not have private school vouchers, no merit based pay for teachers, and no automatic shut down of under-performing schools.  They did direct money to focus on urban schools and require everyone to take algebra.

    LINK

    Parent

    I wonder that myself. (5.00 / 1) (#98)
    by Angel on Tue Oct 08, 2013 at 11:07:28 AM EST
    As far as those ignorant and stupid and proudly so, it's a defense mechanism to protect themselves because thinking is just too damn hard and risky.  

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    Ooh-boy (none / 0) (#115)
    by jbindc on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 06:55:53 AM EST
    The administration knew months ago that the healthcare website wasn't up to snuff - told everyone not to worry their pretty little heads about it.

    Major insurers, state health-care officials and Democratic allies repeatedly warned the Obama administration in recent months that the new federal health-insurance exchange had significant problems, according to people familiar with the conversations. Despite those warnings and intense criticism from Republicans, the White House proceeded with an Oct. 1 launch.

    A week after the federal Web site opened, technical problems continued to plague the system, and on Tuesday people were locked out until 10 a.m., although some applicants were able to sign up as the day went on. Officials said they were working 24 hours a day to improve the system and that they were confident it would soon be able to meet the demand. They added that there was ample time to correct the site to allow consumers to get insured by Jan. 1.

    SNIP

    Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-N.J.), who played a key role in passing the health-care law and has worked on its implementation, said he told White House officials early this summer he had been hearing from insurers that the online system had flaws.

    "Nothing I told them ever surprised them," Andrews said in an interview. "The White House has acknowledged all along something this massive was going to have implementation problems."

    Two allies of the administration, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the controversy surrounding the rollout, said they approached White House officials this year to raise concerns that the federal exchange was not ready to launch. In both cases, Obama officials assured them there was no cause for alarm.



    "Ooh-boy" is right (none / 0) (#122)
    by Zorba on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 10:17:36 AM EST
    What did they expect would happen?  Why did they not delay implemention until the bugs were worked out?  After all, the administration was willing (and did) delay the employer mandate for a year.  Were they actually working on the bugs after they were warned, or were they just crossing their fingers?
    I suppose that they figured things would miraculously just work themselves out.  Or they were so anxious for uninsured people to start signing up, they allowed "hope" to trump common sense.  But it does the uninsured no good if they cannot get signed up in the first place due to major glitches.
    They also could have delayed the individual mandate while still opening up the exchanges for those who wanted to or needed to get insurance even though not yet required to.  This might have at least reduced traffic somewhat, with those younger and healthier people perhaps opting to wait until they had to buy insurance.

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    Whose parks? Our parks! (none / 0) (#119)
    by kdog on Wed Oct 09, 2013 at 09:18:27 AM EST
    The civil disobedience is spreading...storm the barricades, move the cones, enjoy our national treasures.  

    It's our land, but it ain't our f*ckin' shutdown...536 arseholes in DC can own that sh*t all they want, but the parks are ours.

    It's got me thinking of what else we can re-open ourselves...I'll volunteer to head the International Joint Commission, that sounds like fun;)