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Friday Hummingbird Blogging – 13 March 2015

by ConcepcMacarthu Posted on March 13, 2015

Mother Jones

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My physical collapse this week prevented me from taking any new cat pictures, and today I have full day of workups in preparation for stage 2 of chemo. However, I did snap a new picture of our hummingbird babies yesterday. They seem to be growing nicely.

In the meantime, if you need a cat fix, my sister recommends this Daily Mail article about a human-cat translation device. Spoiler alert: it didn’t go well.

Link:

Friday Hummingbird Blogging – 13 March 2015

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Donald Trump Keeps Finding Bold, New Ways to Disgust Me

by CarltonDecosta Posted on March 6, 2015

Mother Jones

Here is a tweet.

Here is our year-long investigation into what those poor elephants were experiencing.

Draw from these two things whatever conclusions you may.

Source: 

Donald Trump Keeps Finding Bold, New Ways to Disgust Me

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Republicans Are Already Prepping for Possible Government Shutdown in the Fall

by MattieIAFiyce Posted on March 6, 2015

Mother Jones

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The Supreme Court will rule later this year on the question of whether Obamacare subsidies should be repealed in states that don’t run their own insurance exchanges. That would gut a major portion of the law, and Jonathan Weisman reports today that because of this, “the search for a replacement by Republican lawmakers is finally gaining momentum.”

I’m not quite sure how he could write that with a straight face, since I think we all know just how serious Republicans are about passing health care reform of their own. In any case, I think the real news comes a few paragraphs down:

Aides to senior House Republicans said Thursday that committee chairmen were meeting now to decide whether a budget plan — due out the week of March 16 — will include parliamentary language, known as reconciliation instructions, that would allow much of a Republican health care plan to pass the filibuster-prone Senate with a simple majority.

Representative Tom Price of Georgia, the House Budget Committee chairman, said that reconciliation language would be kept broad enough to allow Republican leaders to use it later in the year however they see fit, whether that is passing health care legislation over a Senate filibuster or focusing on taxes or other matters.

If this is true, it means that Republicans are prepping for yet another government shutdown over Obamacare. Any budget that tried to essentially repeal Obamacare in favor of a Republican “replacement” would obviously be met with a swift veto, and that would lead inevitably to the usual dreary standoff that we’ve seen so often over the past few years.

Of course, this will all be moot if the Supreme Court upholds Obamacare in the way common sense dictates. Still, it’s something of a sign of things to come. Shutdown politics is pretty clearly still alive and well in the GOP ranks.

From:  

Republicans Are Already Prepping for Possible Government Shutdown in the Fall

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Mitch McConnell Is Now Telling States To Ignore Obama’s Climate Rules

by YMKNildadcbtfzo Posted on March 4, 2015

Mother Jones

It’s no secret that Republicans leaders hate President Barack Obama’s flagship climate initiative, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. So far, the main opposition has been at the state level. The new rules require every state to submit a plan for cleaning up its power sector, and a host of bills have cropped up—primarily in coal-dependent Southern states—to screw with those plans. These bills tend to be backed by GOP state lawmakers, the coal industry, and the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

The thrust of much of this legislation is to effectively stonewall the Environmental Protection Agency and hope that the rules get killed by the Supreme Court. It’s a long shot, given the Court’s long history of siding with the EPA. And the longer states delay in coming up with their own plan, the more likely they’ll be to have one forced on them by the feds.

But in a column for Kentucky’s Lexington Herald-Leader yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threw his weight behind this obstructionist strategy:

This proposed regulation would have a negligible effect on global climate but a profoundly negative impact on countless American families already struggling…

Don’t be complicit in the administration’s attack on the middle class. Think twice before submitting a state plan—which could lock you in to federal enforcement and expose you to lawsuits—when the administration is standing on shaky legal ground and when, without your support, it won’t be able to demonstrate the capacity to carry out such political extremism.

Refusing to go along at this time with such an extreme proposed regulation would give the courts time to figure out if it is even legal, and it would give Congress more time to fight back. We’re devising strategies now to do just that.

There’s plenty to take issue with in McConnell’s analysis. For starters, the EPA rules are unlikely to cause any problems with blackouts or sky-high electric bills, as the senator implies. But I’m sure it’ll make good ammunition for state lawmakers and fossil fuel interests as battles over this thing play out this year.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/03/03/3725288_states-should-reject-obama-mandate.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/03/03/3725288_states-should-reject-obama-mandate.html#storylink=cpy

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Mitch McConnell Is Now Telling States To Ignore Obama’s Climate Rules

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“It’s Easier to Get Laid at CPAC Than on Spring Break”

by KerrieMcNaughta Posted on February 28, 2015

Mother Jones

While the annual Conservative Political Action Conference attracts right-wingers all stripes, there was one thing virtually all attendees could agree on: this year’s conference was young. Especially young. College and high school-aged conservatives packed the halls of CPAC, decked out in all manner of paraphernalia: retro Reagan-Bush ’84 campaign shirts, American flag shorts, buttons that declared “I Love Capitalism” and “Kill the Death Tax.” I spotted at least one “Barry Goldwater for President” button on a millennial’s lapel.

What were these fired-up young conservatives—many of whom traveled long distances to attend—here to see? Which would-be GOP candidate did they intend to support? Their responses were diverse, but if the Millennial Primary were held today, it would be a dead heat between Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), with Ben Carson running close behind.

Continue Reading »

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“It’s Easier to Get Laid at CPAC Than on Spring Break”

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "I Wasn’t 100 Percent Sober" During SOTU Address

by ArnetteSoderste Posted on February 13, 2015

Mother Jones

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Contrary to earlier speculation that she had power-napped through last month’s State of the Union Address because it was just so damn dull, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg revealed on Thursday it was actually due to the fact she wasn’t exactly “100 percent sober.”

The 81-year-old justice told a crowd of George Washington University students:

The audience for the most part is awake, because they’re bobbing up and down, and we sit there, stone-faced, sober judges. But we’re not, at least I wasn’t, 100 percent sober. Because before we went to the State of the Union, we had dinner together… Justice Kennedy brought in… it was an Opus something or other, very fine California wine, and I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine, but in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine.

According to Ginsburg, she was thankfully flanked by colleagues, who, like any good friends, casually nudged her awake when they noticed her dozing off. Watch below:

Link:  

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "I Wasn’t 100 Percent Sober" During SOTU Address

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Obama: Climate Change Is an "Urgent And Growing Threat" To National Security

by RogerCurry Posted on February 6, 2015

Mother Jones

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President Barack Obama listed climate change alongside international terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and infectious disease in a new national security strategy plan released today. The plan called climate change “an urgent and growing threat to our national security” and also called for the United States to diversify its energy sources to insulate the country from disruptions to foreign fossil fuel markets.

This isn’t the first time the Obama administration has singled out climate as a major national security risk: A Pentagon report in October said global warming has become a short-term priority for strategic military planning. But the issue gets much more airtime in today’s strategy than it did in the administration’s first, issued back in 2010, where it merited just a few passing references. Overall, the document is in line with the more aggressive climate message that has emerged this year from the White House. You can read it below:

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Document Gw 01 (PDF)

Document Gw 01 (Text)

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Obama: Climate Change Is an "Urgent And Growing Threat" To National Security

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As oil buyers pull out of Venezuela, condom prices swell to $755

by ElizabeARZL Posted on February 4, 2015

As oil buyers pull out of Venezuela, condom prices swell to $755

By on 4 Feb 2015commentsShare

A globalized economy is a wacky thing! Por ejemplo: The fact that you were able to fill up your gas tank for $20 this morning means that there’s a couple in Caracas that’s stewing in sexual frustration.

In Venezuela, where the highly oil-dependent economy shrunk by 2.8 percent in 2014 — and is expected to contract another 7 percent this year — inflation has skyrocketed and grocery store shelves are empty. All the essentials have become perilously scarce — like food, medicine, and contraceptives. Yes, ma’am — a pack of condoms in Caracas will now run you upwards of $700. I’ll wait while you contemplate which you would choose: safe sex or rent?

First of all: Can you imagine the performance anxiety that comes with that kind of price tag? I’m sweating just thinking about it. But it’s much more likely that couples will forego the protection than shell out for safety — can you blame them? — and that’s where the real problems lie. From Bloomberg:

The impact of reduced access to contraceptives is far graver than frustration over failed hookups. Venezuela has one of South America’s highest rates of HIV infection and teenage pregnancy. Abortion is illegal.

The cruel irony here is that Venezuela, the fourth-largest producer of imported crude oil and petroleum, has not a single factory to produce condoms, many of which are made from petroleum-based polymers — despite promises from President Nicolás Maduro to create a network of condom factories to “protect Venezuela’s youth from the effects of ‘capitalist pornography.’” All puns aside (I swear), this is fucked.

Source:
The $755 Condom Pack Is the Latest Indignity in Venezuela

, Bloomberg Business.

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As oil buyers pull out of Venezuela, condom prices swell to $755

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Look at how much greener California is

by GregorySchwartz Posted on February 3, 2015

Look at how much greener California is

By on 3 Feb 2015commentsShare

The first two weeks of December brought heavy rain and snowfall to California — and we could practically hear the state’s massive sigh of relief all the way up here in Seattle.

Satellite images from NOAA and NASA show that just a little rainfall across the Golden State has made it noticeably greener. But don’t be fooled: California is still in the throes of serious drought that began way back in 2011.

Snowpack in the Sierra Mountains is also still well below average, an alarming indicator that a fourth year of drought is afoot, too. According to California’s Department of Water Resources, the snowpack  just a quarter of the amount that it should be right now, an alarming statistic given that snowpack is responsible for a third of all the state’s water. Warren Cornwall for National Geographic reports:

It’s not just the amount of water in the snowpack that makes it important. It’s the way snow locks water in place during the winter like a giant natural reservoir, then gradually releases it as snowmelt in the spring and summer.

That release process helps keep man-made reservoirs filled during the hottest time of the year. Those reservoirs are already running well below their historic levels for this time of year. Shasta Lake, the state’s largest reservoir, is at 66 percent of normal. Lake Oroville, the second largest, is at 62 percent.

January is normally California’s wettest month, though for many cities across the state, this year marked the driest January on record. According to The Weather Channel, there was literally no rainfall reported in San Francisco — the first January without rainfall since the city started keeping records in 1850. Sacramento, the state’s capital, also experienced its driest January on record, with just one-hundredth of an inch of rain reported throughout the city’s downtown area.

Sorry, Californians. For a second we thought your state was off to greener pastures. Unfortunately, it looks like you still have a ways ahead of you yet.

Source:
California’s ‘Dismally Meager’ Snowpack Signals More Drought

, National Geographic.

It poured in California in December. Can we stop talking about the drought?

, Climate.gov.

San Francisco Sees Record-Dry January While Sierra Snowpack Dwindles

, The Weather Channel.

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Look at how much greener California is

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John Boehner Faces a Revolt of the Moderates

by GiaMcAuley Posted on January 23, 2015

Mother Jones

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Having awakened from my slumber, I see that John Boehner has a whole new problem on his hands. Apparently the rump moderate wing of the the Republican Party is starting to feel itchy:

Female lawmakers pushed the party to drop Thursday’s planned vote on legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, forcing leaders to abruptly switch course and pass a different antiabortion bill.

Last week, a surprisingly large group of 26 House Republicans refused to support an amendment that called for ending deportation deferrals of young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Those dissenters came within one vote of tanking the measure aimed at so-called Dreamers.

This comes from LA Times reporter Lisa Mascaro, who tells us these folks “bristle” at being called moderates. The prefer to be called pragmatists. Tomayto, tomahto, says me, though it’s telling that “moderate” is still a dirty word in GOP land. It’s also telling that all this fuss is over bills that everyone agrees are nothing more than the usual symbolic flotsam and jetsam that Republicans pass every year with no actual hope of any of them becoming law. This year, though, they’re having trouble even doing that.

Why? Is it because the bills are slightly less symbolic than in the past? There is, after all, just a bare chance that some of them could get through the Senate if sponsors line up a few Democrats to join in. They’d still get vetoed, but they’d nonetheless be a little less symbolic in the public’s mind. Or is it simply the fact that as Republican ranks grow, the party’s victories increasingly come in more moderate districts? As Democrats lose ground in moderate districts and become more solidly liberal, perhaps it’s inevitable that Republicans will become more like the Democrats of old.

In any case, John Boehner has his work cut out for him. He’s got tea partiers on one side, moderates on the other, and a president who has been very effectively throwing sand in the gears of Republican priorities ever since November. Boehner’s leadership skills, always a bit on the iffy side, are going to be sorely tested this year.

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John Boehner Faces a Revolt of the Moderates

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