October 14, 2013

No, Trusty Elf, I have not learned to photoshop - I'm just pretending

I promised someone a print in payment for something, and as I was going through some of my sunset photos I found

this one, with a spider in the middle



and this one with a guy who put the horns on all by himself

October 13, 2013

The GOP's little rule change they hoped you wouldn't notice

Published on 12 Oct 2013
Late in the evening on September 30, 2013, the House Rules Committee Republicans changed the Rules of the House so that the ONLY Member allowed to call up the Senate's clean CR for a vote was Majority Leader Eric Cantor or his designee -- all but guaranteeing the government would shut down a few hours later and would stay shut down. Previously, any Member would have had the right to bring the CR up for a vote. Democracy has been suspended in the House of Representatives.


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October 12, 2013

On and on...... WASHINGTON — Budget negotiations broke down on Saturday

WASHINGTON — Budget negotiations broke down on Saturday — just days before the nation reaches its borrowing limit — as angry Republicans said that President Obama had rejected their latest offer.


“It’s now up to the Senate Republicans to stand up,” said Representative Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho after House Republicans left a closed-door meeting in the Capitol.
The message from Speaker John A. Boehner had been grim, Republicans said. Representative John Carter of Texas described Mr. Obama as “acting like a royal president.”
“He’s still ‘my way or the highway,’ ” Mr. Carter said.
With House Republicans insisting that they have all but run out of options, and the House not scheduled to meet again until Monday, attention turned to the Senate, where Republicans have spent the past several days trying to gin up Democratic support for a proposal they hope could reopen the government and extend the debt-ceiling through the end of January.
“The question is: What will Senate Republicans do, what will Senate Democrats do?” said Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois


source and more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/politics/budget-and-debt-limit-debate.html?emc=edit_na_20131012

October 12, 2013

I'm sitting up straight now: Mother Jones reveals "16 ways Default will Totally Screw Americans"

Economists say failure to raise the debt limit could lead to a financial apocalypse. Here's what it might look like.

By Dana Liebelson | Thu Oct. 10, 2013 7:50 AM PDT
Social Title:
16 ways default will totally screw Americans

Perhaps you've heard that if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by October 17 the United States will face an unprecedented financial default. The way some Republicans talk about the consequences of passing that threshold [1], you might think that hitting that limit might not be all that bad (Florida's Ted Yoho, in fact, thinks it would be beneficial). But sober-minded economists are describing the ramifications of a default with terms usually reserved Roland Emmerich flicks—like "apocalypse. [2]" The full economic fallout of defaulting are unknown. "It's a little like asking how many people will be killed if there's another terrorist attack," says Isabel Sawhill, a budget expert at the Brookings Institution. But we do know that as early as October 22 [3] the US government will run out of money to pay its bills and federal spending will have to be cut by about 32 percent, according to an estimate by the Bipartisan Policy Center [3] (BPC). That's when Americans of all stripes would start feeling the pain in many different ways. Here are 16 of them:

1. Social Security payments will be delayed, possibly cut. According to President Obama, in the event of a default the US government will have no choice but to delay Social Security checks [4]. The government owes $12 billion in Social Security payments on October 23 and an additional $25 billion on November 1. At some point between October 22 and November 1, the BPC predicts that the US government will have exhausted its borrowing power and will either have to start severely delaying its bills or sort through the millions [5] of different payments it makes each month—on everything from national parks to the FBI—to figure out which ones to stop paying. That's when Social Security could see sustained cuts.

2. Federal employees will be screwed…even more. Furloughed federal employees haven't been paid since the government shutdown began on October 1. Congress is unlikely to end the shutdown without raising the debt limit, meaning furloughed staffers would be unlikely to receive paychecks anytime soon.

3. Pay and benefits for military service members and veterans will be delayed, possibly cut. The US government owes $12 billion [5] in pay to active and retired military service members on November 1. Those payments will be delayed if the government runs out of money before then, and potentially cut, depending on which bills the US decides to pay.

4. Medicare and Medicaid checks will be delayed, possibly cut. The US government owes $2 billion [5] in Medicaid payments on October 30 and $18 billion in Medicare payments on November 1. Same deal: If the government runs out of cash before then, payments will be delayed, or put on the chopping block with everything else.

For the other dozen go to
Source URL: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/16-ways-not-raising-debt-ceiling-will-screw-americans

October 12, 2013

Have we seen the details? All the potential CONVERSATIONS offered that Republicans chose to reject

October 11, 2013

An Image re-defined. The story behind Steve McCurry's "The Afghan Girl"

We all know the photo
in the video clip the photographer tells the story behind the photograph, and the one that was almost chosen in it's stead (I ALMOST like it better)
4 min well worth listening to, after the ad

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/vp=532531691#53254088

October 11, 2013

Hostage-Takers Call Comparisons to Tea Party “Hurtful” - Andy Borowitz informs us

Photograph by Mark Wilson/Getty.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—A group representing America’s hostage-takers today blasted President Obama for his repeated comparisons between them and the Tea Party Republicans, calling his remarks “degrading and hurtful.”
The complaint came from the National Alliance of Hostage-Takers and Blackmailers, a watchdog group that monitors negative images of extortionists in the media.
“As professional hostage-takers, we never take hostages unless we have a well-thought-out plan, realistic demands, and a clear exit strategy,” read the group’s official statement. “Any comparison between what we do and these inane Tea Party antics are derogatory and unacceptable.”
The statement continued, “For years, our members have been subjected to offensive Hollywood stereotypes of hostage-takers as crazed madmen, cackling evildoers, and worse. The President’s hurtful remarks only reinforce those negative images.”
Later in the day, White House press spokesman Jay Carney offered an apology to the group: “As you can imagine, in the heat of a crisis we often say things we don’t mean. The President regrets any hurt his remarks may have caused.”
Mr. Carney said that in order to avoid offending other groups in the future, the President would resist the temptation to call the Tea Party Republicans terrorists, lunatics, or babies.

source: www.borowitzreport.com

October 11, 2013

Oh Boy Oh Boy- a visual for today's happenings. A Humpty Dumpty type cartoon

:large

October 10, 2013

Meeting going on now: Do you think President Obama will be appeased by this Republican Assurance???

October 10, 2013

Mark Fiori enlightens: Pete Peterson Exposed: The "Grand Bargain" Hoax

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