I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

crazy4carrots

Wow, Rosemary.  Do you have pet insurance?  All of those tests and meds can really add up.  One of my former felines, a Siamese, also had stomatitis and had all his teeth removed, but it's endemic to orientals.  Even my semi-oriental Aby has had about 8 teeth removed.

Agreed, clean coal is both an oxymoron and a public relations lie. 

crazy4carrots

Jackie  - Amherstburg is in Ontario.  And yes, that tunnel is scary indeed!  I hate heights and bridges over water, but I've always preferred the bridge to the tunnel!

kad2kar

Sandy & Alexandria----Thank You for clarifing. That is exactly what I thought, but I was not sure, thought it might be something else.  I diffinitly get lost on anything past 2+ 2=5  ThankYou again.
We must all keep the faith and get out and VOTE!-----------kad2kar 

riley702

kad, not sure about #2, but clean coal is lower in sulphur than regular coal. Not making any comments on that one way or the other, just telling you what they mean when they say it.

IllinoisLady

Linda....thanks.  The minute I saw ( Ontario) I knew it to be right....in fact, Alberta is probably at the other end of Canada.  I tell you....after a very bad thyroid with long rehab period, stroke,with another long rehab, and then the awful C....I'm lucky I can remember how to get out of my drive-way.  My Canada ( O'Canada-My Canada )  days were back in the late 60's.  Amherstburg was pretty small, and coming from Detroit it looked so green and pretty and not nearly so much asphalt.  Thanks for setting me straight.

Riley, my early years our house was heated by coal, and then several years later, about 8th. grade or so we got a stoker coal furnace.  It was nicer as the one side had a hopper to fill and it was continious feed.  Meant the rotten chore of carrying coal did not have to happen every day anymore.  House smelled better....a little less primitive with the stoker.        

Jackie

riley702

I grew up in a coal-heated house, too! My Mom had to carry out the clinkers and ash every day. When I was 12 or so, we built a new house that had an electric furnace. We were living high then! We got indoor plumbing then, too - this was in 1973. No lie. We had running water by then, but earlier, we used the pump well out front.

QuinnCat

Lawrence O'Donnell had a segment tonite concerning the story of who was the "winner" of the debate.  He said he use to be one of those that "was for sure" who knew who won the debate.  He then went on to state this was a good night to try and understand "what it means to win a debate."  There are no judges in a POTUS debate, like in a high school debate contest, or where the audience might vote for real winners.  "No one got a trophy last night.  They were debating for votes and those votes won't be counted for another month, so all the talk is just guessing."  He then went on to talk about Court Reporters, who are smarter about this than pundits.  "They see brilliant closing arguments that make their opponents look like amateurs, but they don't say who won.  They wait for the jury.  Court Reporters see lawyers with the most engaging styles and sometimes the best argument, and they lose cases every day."

This reminded me of the time I sat as a juror on a civil suit involving a contract price disagreement.  My coworker and I were picked as jurors by the Plantiff's attorney.  When the jury convened, all agreed the Plantiff's lawyer was impressive and fun to watch.  "A great lawyer!"  I had even formed a connection with this lawyer (because she approached me about what years I was at Berkeley, after voir dire, in the Ladies Restroom - she has since apologized to me for this enquiry as we both knew it was not proper conduct and it made me extremely nervous, but none the less, we had a personal connection and after the trial became friends).  Within the confines of the jury room, we all thought the other lawyer was a bafoon.  Babbling incoherently, objecting without seeming to know the reason, etc. etc., but in the end, despite being impressed by the Plaintiff's lawyer, the facts of the case were on the Defendent's side and in the end, we the jury voted in favor of the Defendent, despite how poorly his case was presented...because ultimately, the facts were on his side.

Romney was the glitzy lawyer last night, but the jury will ultimately see his smoke and mirrors prosecution as the trial continues on another month until the votes that really count come in.  Nothing we say now about who won or who lost really counts until election day. 

Anonymous

I love Andrew Sullivan: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/10/the-master.html

Everyone I know, and I mean everyone, is still laughing with Helen& Margaret.  THANK YOU LINDA, boy, am I happy you "northerners" are holding our hands for this election.

Agree with HL - it's NOT paranoia when the election is STOLEN by the SC. Really. Thank all the Stars for the 2 Davids (Plouffe & Axelrod) watching over this election.

President Obama is VERY tough - as he has said, "I may be skinny, but I'm tough." Only read Nate Silver/538, and only thinking of the Electoral College, which still means just a few, damn, a very few, swing states.  We really DO have to change the way we elect folks in this country!  Starting with accurate machines, tho I LOVE the paper and pencil ballots we use in Western MA - have even helped count'em.  

Happy today everyone.

alexandria58

Andrew Sullivan has good stuff to say.

What is clear is that the Republican policies don't sell.  Nobody wants to buy yesterday's used garbage.  So, Romney is now trying to convince people - not everyone just enough  - that he's selling gold, not used garbage, but after they plunk down their credit cards, they'll get a wrapped package of  week old fish and stale coffee grounds.

 Stealing an election remains a concern for me, as well.  Think about that 47 percent comment, which reflects  the attitude of the Republican establishment.  That contempt for half the country translates into a belief that "those people" don't deserve to have a say in what happens in the country. The court rulings have helped, but there will still be actions on the ground to block voters.   

Anonymous

Learned a new phrase:  Gish Gallop, in case anyone interested in  description of how it is used in a "debate."

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop

Great diary on DailyKos on how it was used in the wednesday night debate, I still like Etch-A-Sketch description, but this is very informative

Anonymous

Learned a new phrase:  Gish Gallop, in case anyone interested in  description of how it is used in a "debate."

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop

Great diary on DailyKos on how it was used in the wednesday night debate, I still like Etch-A-Sketch description, but this is very informative

Urban Dictionary defines the Gish Gallop thusly:

Named for the debate tactic created by creationist shill Duane Gish, a Gish Gallop involves spewing so much bullshit in such a short span on that your opponent can’t address let alone counter all of it. To make matters worse a Gish Gallop will often have one or more 'talking points' that has a tiny core of truth to it, making the person rebutting it spend even more time debunking it in order to explain that, yes, it's not totally false but the Galloper is distorting/misusing/misstating the actual situation. A true Gish Gallop generally has two traits.

1) The factual and logical content of the Gish Gallop is pure bullshit and anybody knowledgeable and informed on the subject would recognize it as such almost instantly. That is, the Gish Gallop is designed to appeal to and deceive precisely those sorts of people who are most in need of honest factual education.

2) The points are all ones that the Galloper either knows, or damn well should know, are totally bullshit. With the slimier users of the Gish Gallop, like Gish himself, its a near certainty that the points are chosen not just because the Galloper knows that they're bullshit, but because the Galloper is deliberately trying to shovel as much bullshit into as small a space as possible in order to overwhelm his opponent with sheer volume and bamboozle any audience members with a facade of scholarly acumen and factual knowledge.

Radio ad - only for Muppet Lovershttp://soundcloud.com/kestrel9000/acn-sesamestreetantiromneyad

Belinda44

Funny radio ad, Sunflowers!

I like Andrew Sullivan, too.  And Paul Krugman!  Good piece by him in the NYT:

"Romney's Sick Joke"

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/opinion/krugman-romneys-sick-joke.html?hpw&_r=0

Belinda44

pupmom

Hahaha, Belinda! You find the best cartoons! 

208sandy

Belinda - love it!

IllinoisLady

Sunflower....quite an apt description...resonates to me really well.  Also heard the Ohio governor speaking last night about Etch-A-Sketch--Part II.  I guess Romney can back pedal 40 ways till Sunday and past....the damage to the 47% and his remark are here to stay.  I certainly don't feel less demeaned by his I didn't mean it.  We are all lucky in the sense that he says what he really feels as he feels it.  Gives a very honest picture for the most part.  Gulp-Gish-Gulp.

I too DEEPLY appreciate Helen and Margaret and the above cartoons.....it is good relief for having to be in the world with the Romney types who have no time for people like me.  I am not diminished...I just feel a little sad that there is a big man who lacks so much in love, soul and spirit.  It is not something his money can buy. 

Riley...memory lane.  Had a well over in the next door yard...no fences of course, and that was our water for everything.  Pumped so many, many buckets of water from that well....for laundry on the wringer washer, and drinking in the house from a galvanized bucket with galvanized dipper.  Everyone who came into the house knew where it always was should they be thirsty.  Had the one-holer way out in the back 40 and there was a three sided wooden bin where our trash was put....when it got full enough, someone would come and shovel it out ( who knows what was paid for that service ) and baths were in galvanized wash tub in the kitchen....behind the coal stove in winter when we were younger.  I loved my childhood, but it was a lot of work.  Probably just the thing that helped form who I am now...and it is not a moocher. 

Jackie

IllinoisLady

oops meant to say Sun that I loved who paid for the Muppet ad. 

Jackie

QuinnCat

LOL Belinda!!  Fantastic.

QuinnCat

Payrolls grew by 114,000 last month and the unemployment rate ticked down significantly to 7.8 percent, according to today's jobs report from the BLS. That's the lowest unemployment rate since January of 2009. Moreover, unlike last month's report, September's decline in the unemployment rate was due to more job seekers finding work, not giving up and leaving the labor market. Both July and August's jobs numbers were revised up significantly such that in the third quarter of the year, payrolls grew by 146,000 per month on average, a notable acceleration over the second quarter's growth pace of only 67,000 jobs per month. All told, this report and the revisions paint a considerably better labor market picture than the last few reports.  Watch for the spin! - Jack Welch has already accused Obama of cooking the books.  Aren't these BLS job numbers the R's have tried to nail Obama to the cross for??  They should be happy for America.  I guess the jobs report has now gone the way of the election polls - lol.

Wabbit

Maybe Obama and Biden should take 'The Count' with them to their next debates ...  Romney/Ryan need his help with their math.

Looking like it's going to storm here right now.  Last one went around us so maybe this one will too. 

Wouldn't you love to see Obama come out in the next debate and just start out by asking 'which Mitt is here tonight?'  He's the man of many faces ... none of them trustworthy or likeable IMO.

Glad to see the unemployment numbers are down.  I knew people in my little corner of the world are hiring and finding employment much better so I'm not surprised. 

gardengumby

I grew up in a coal heated house as well.  I used to shovel the coal into the grinder each day.  My dad removed the clinkers and filled the pot holes in the alley with them.  I also was extremely asthmatic and didn't realize (of course) until I was grown that it was almost undoubtedly due to the coal.  I wish there was such a thing as clean coal, as the US has huge deposits of the stuff, but I wouldn't again attempt to live in a house heated with it, nor would I be willing to live anywhere near a coal mine, as even the smallest amount of coal dust provokes an asthma attack for me.

pupmom

Another Republican anti-Obama meme shot down: unemployment now below 8%! 

gardengumby

 

RetiredLibby

Here is a good article by Ezra Klein about the unemployment numbers. 

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/10/05/september-jobs-report-debunking-the-jobs-report-conspiracy-theories/?hpid=z1

And another one, just in, from the Atlantic:

 http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/10/meet-the-incredible-incoherent-jobs-report-truthers/263285/

And dontcha just LOVE how every time FACTS are presented that contradict what some people wish, they cry foul, cooking the books, or just plain lies.  How do they even drive a car -- they're in a hurry so they just run red lights saying that they are green?    Hmmm.  Makes sense.

Belinda, love the cartoon!

And, as always, LOVE Krugman!  Heard a rumor the other day that he is under consideration in the next Obama administration for Chairman of the Council of Economic Affairs. That thought puts a smile on my face!

L

1Athena1

HL, that would be wonderful news - only sad part is that I would miss his colunms! But at least he would lend a powerful voice to the need for a second stimulus.

I am very concerned about budget sequestration. It is important that democrats win in both the house and senate - otherwise it will be impossible to add tax increases to the mixture of responsible but necessary fixes the economy needs.

ananda8

Obama made a big mistake in not taking Krugman in his first term. Instead he retained the Republicans on whose watch the fiscal disaster happened.  Krugman would have said that the stimulus should have been bigger and the bail out of Wall Street smaller and he would have been right.

Obama should have had his first effort at bringing real regulation back to Wall Street and restoring Glass Steagall.  He would have had the wind at his back on this.  Health Care would have passed anyway since it didn't receive even one Republican vote in the House.

1Athena1

That's what a second term is for, notself. I don't think Obama had a prayer at bringing back Glass Steagall under a do-nothing congress.

Enjoyful

Awwww now, they didn't do NOTHING. They spent time and money to pass a resolution reaffirming the country's motto. And thank the Gods of multiple religions that they did. Otherwise, we'd.....er....still have the same motto anyway?

gardengumby

Obama made a few very bad mistakes - as do all Presidents - though in my own personal opinion, his worst mistake was to take so long to understand(?) or at least deal with the fact that the Republicans were absolutely NOT going to work with him.  That the "R" goal was not what's best for the country, but rather what's best for their party.

1Athena1

That and his soft stance on Bush-era torture, GG.