October 16, 2015

Guess Who Else Is a Socialist?

One of the side benefits of a well-watched national political debate is the exposure it brings to something obscure and forgotten — like Denmark. Who doesn’t love a country that gave us a dish of frikadeller and rugbrod to go with paid parental leave and universal health care?

“I love Denmark,” said Hillary Clinton during Tuesday’s debate, by way of dismissing a quasi-socialist nation of 5.7 million mostly white people as not the best place to look for solving the problems of a multiethnic democracy of 322 million.

But in fact, the United States may be closer to Denmark than many think. In the reddest of red states — say, Idaho — you can find the kind of socialism, through publicly owned utilities or the federal dam that farmers rely on for their water, that would be right at home among aquavit-sipping Danes.

Once you label something socialist, it brings to mind dour Soviet types trotting out dreary worker clothing for the spring fashion line. Or, here at home, those insufferable parlor room Marxists who think it would be utopia if only we nationalized every Starbucks. In that sense, the worst thing about socialism is the socialists.

Free of the label, a hybrid economy where health care, education and pensions for the elderly are provided, side-by-side-by-side with creative capitalism, works pretty well in the Nordic countries, Britain and Canada. And most of the tenets of what is considered democratic socialism have majority support in the United States.

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/opinion/guess-who-else-is-a-socialist.html?_r=0

October 16, 2015

Friday TOON Roundup 3 - The Rest

Debate



The Issue





MH 17






Economy




Climate





USA

October 16, 2015

Friday TOON Roundup 2 -The Forever War

October 16, 2015

Friday TOON Roundup 1 - Random Republican Toons

October 16, 2015

Got a big smile this morning

On the way in to taking my kids to school, saw a "Feel the Bern" sticker on the car in front of me. Seeing more and more here in Savannah Georgia.

October 15, 2015

These are the faces of the Bernie Sanders grassroots army

By CHRISTINA BELLANTONI

They paint illegal murals in downtown Los Angeles. They collect email addresses they don’t know where to send. They organize their own meetups, hand out political fliers in multiple languages, and register voters.

In liberal precincts of California and like-minded enclaves scattered across the country, ardent Bernie Sanders supporters are taking matters into their own hands with little if any guidance from the Vermont senator’s official campaign.

"I was five feet away from him and he was saying, 'Nothing will change even with me running, so it’s about building the grass-roots army behind me,'" said Suzanne O'Keeffe, 52. "And I thought, ‘Yep, I can help build that army.’"

O'Keeffe, a Web developer, writer and filmmaker, met Sanders when he made an impromptu drop-in at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles following his appearance in June on "Real Time with Bill Maher." She was already part of a group of Sanders supporters, but the face-to-face interaction got her even more invested.

more
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-pol-prez-sanders-grassroots-htmlstory.html

October 15, 2015

Killer Whale Dies Following the Muddy Disaster at Marineland

19 year old Valentin. Photo by Liam Kotteburg courtesy of Orcahome.de

Born 19 years ago, the killer whale ‘Valentin’ lived his entire life in the confines of Marineland’s tanks – tanks which ultimately may have been the cause of his death. Recent flooding in the south of France overwhelmed Marineland’s filtration system causing the water quality to plummet. The mud and debris led to other animal deaths, including turtles, rays and fish.

Valentin’s mother, Freya, died four months ago of an undetermined illness and the stress of losing her may have played a part in Valentin’s death as well. According to an article at Orca Aware, in some populations in the wild male survival is linked to their mothers and once the mothers die their sons often don’t live long. Yet Valentin had displayed aggressive behavior to his mother along with a suite of abnormal behaviors including chewing on concrete and bumping his head on the tank, according to the Orca Aware article.



more
http://blog.seattlepi.com/candacewhiting/2015/10/12/killer-whale-dies-following-the-muddy-disaster-at-marineland/

October 15, 2015

Oscar Pistorius to be released from jail to house arrest on Tuesday

Source: ESPN

Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic runner who shot his girlfriend to death on Valentine's Day 2013, can leave prison and move to house arrest next week, South Africa's Department of Corrections said Thursday.

A parole board at the prison where Pistorius has served nearly a year of his five-year sentence for manslaughter made the decision. It came after an initial ruling to release the double-amputee athlete in August was canceled.

The board "approved the placement of offender Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision as from 20 October 2015," the corrections department said in Thursday's statement.

Pistorius was acquitted of murder last year for the shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp, but prosecutors have appealed that decision and will seek a murder conviction again at South Africa's Supreme Court on Nov. 3.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/13892212/oscar-pistorius-released-house-arrest-oct-20

October 15, 2015

Secret Jefferson-Era Chemistry Lab Discovered in UVa Rotunda

It was curiosity that lead Matt Schiedt to crawl into a brick hole in the Rotunda's wall.

Schiedt, a project manager for John G. Waite Associates, specializes in historic buildings. He is overseeing the renovation of the University of Virginia Rotunda and wanted to know how thick the walls were.

"I was laying on my back looking up inside this little space. I saw that there was a piece of cut stone which is very unusual to have in this location. You could see that there was a square cut in the stone and that there was a finished space around that with plaster and painted walls," Schiedt said.

Upon further investigation, he realized he uncovered a piece of history. A chemistry lab designed by Thomas Jefferson and built in the early 1820s, toward the end of the Rotunda's construction.

Two brick niches were uncovered during renovations in the 1970s, but researchers didn't realized there was more to the work space.

"The experiments would be done at the higher level where the stone is almost like a counter top, there may have been an iron plate or grill there," said Schiedt.

more

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/Secret-Jefferson-Era-Chemistry-Lab-Discovered-in-UVa-Rotunda-332966541.html?device=phone&c=y

October 15, 2015

Nearly two-thirds of GOP voters in NJ say Christie should end presidential campaign

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is losing support for his presidential bid in his home state as GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump commands an even bigger lead, according to a new poll.

Garden State voter support for Christie's White House bid has dropped by more than half in the past two months, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released Thursday, which puts his support at his run at just 5%. That's down from the 12% he enjoyed in the poll's August survey of registered Republican voters.

And nearly two-thirds of Republican voters in the state said Christie should end his presidential campaign, which has struggled to get off the ground and gain momentum.

Trump's support, meanwhile, has surged to 32% in New Jersey, up from 21% in August

more
http://www.abc17news.com/news/politics/poll-christie-losing-nj-support-for-campaign/35854314

Voters to Chrispie: Drop Dead