HorsesAss.Org

Open Thread 2/6

by — ,

Before it gets too stale, here are some Komen links:

– Erica C. Barnett has a good overview of the situation as of Friday.

– Joan Walsh and Rebecca Traister on how the decision woke the country up to an alarming rightward drift, and gave new life to women’s health advocacy

– Pondering breast cancer, politics, and the 2 percent

– 5 Important Lessons from the Komen/Planned Parenthood Fiasco (Don’t Mess With Women’s Health)

– In case you missed it, a strange local connection. Some of the sales from the pink gun were donated to the Seattle Branch of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. (h/t to Geov)

Non-Komen items:

– You’ll never believe this, but sometimes The Seattle Times’ Ed Board say dishonest things.

– Nearly 150 truck drivers effectively shut down shipping out of the Port of Seattle when they went to the state capitol in Olympia instead of the port, to protest dangerous work conditions in the trucking industry. Drivers were so concerned about the way the industry treats them that they risked their careers to make their voices heard.

– The thing is, highly publicized “boy meets girl” (and “boy meets boy”) stories are nice, but they’re not the reality for most riders. And (if I may keep it real for a moment) sometimes, they’re a bit gag inducing. What I find most romantic about buses (no disrespect to Smooth Jazz) is the possibility of meaningful connections with strangers–not the kind that lead to a subway platform proposal or a bus-themed wedding, but the kind that leave you energized, enriched, and educated. The kind that make a difference in your day.

– An unusual wasp

Comments

  1. 1

    The whole josh powell deal is horrible tragedy. Un-fing-believable.

    I can’t believe aholes like this guy feel the need to kill the kids too.

    Let’s hope his sick father at least gets a long long time behind bars….or a bullet.

  2. 2

    It looks like the 787 is still having some problems, traced back to the former Vought facilities in S. Carolina, now owned by Boeing. It looks like somebody didn’t know how much torque to apply after putting in the shims, apparantly. This is really going to mess up the delivery schedules, every airplane will have to be have to be re-inspected and fixed. For those with floors and interiors already installed, that means taking it all out again, making the fixes, and then re-installing. No word yet on what’s going to happen to the five 787’s already delivered to ANA.

    More 787 Problems

    Of course, guys on the factory floor in Everett have been complaining about quality problems coming out of the Vought facilities for several years now. They don’t complain much any more, they just shake their heads and fix the problem – they expect the assemblies to arrive in condition which requires major re-work.

    For the past two years Boeing was crowing about how “productive” the S. Carolina major assembly factory will be, implying that all the 787 delays were caused by union workers in Everett. I haven’t heard much such talk by management recently. Either somebody told them to shut up because it wasn’t helpful to get the IAM contract signed, or they’ve finally come to realize that it takes several years to train aerospace workers, and the S. Carolina folks there still have a ways to go. Nothing against them, they will eventually get there, but it’s just the way things are.

  3. 3

    Oh, and before anybody asks, I haven’t got the slightest idea how a Boeing worker on the Everett flight line ended up under the wheels of a 787. I’ve watched how they move airplanes up there, and I don’t have any explanation. For this to have happened, several levels of safety controls must have failed. I’m guessing the victim is the guy who’s connected to the airplane by line to a plug in the nose gear, which allows him to talk to the flight crew. But that’s just a guess.

  4. 4

    @2 rhp6033,

    More interesting in light of so many Republican legislatures and governors pushing anti-union bills. Pretty soon you too can enjoy the quality of a poorly paid laborer’s product in your own Republican led state.

  5. 5

    Here’s the urban/rural split on the GOP Nevada caucuses. There’s a bar graph if you click the link.

    Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the state Saturday with half the vote. He won 43.1 percent of the rural vote. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich came in second with 21.1% of the vote, winning 23.6 percent of the rural vote.
    http://www.dailyyonder.com/ron.....02/06/3744

  6. 6

    # 1: Want to bet how long it takes Dori Monson to try to profit from the tragedy by placing blame on Wash. C.P.S. and on state workers? Well, he comes on the air in about an hour and fifteen minutes, so I guess he’s polishing up his “outrage” to direct his vemon at them.

    Of course, to do so he has to ignore the fact that this was a supervised visit under court order, that it shows how much danger social workers are exposed to, and that perhaps it isn’t a good idea to claim that judges are being too hard on Dads in family court (as Un-Sound Politics has been claiming).

    No, not all Dads are capable of such atrocities. But judges have to make difficult decisions, balancing the children’s best interests with the rights of the parentsm often with nothing more than competing affidavits and physchologist reports from which to make a determination. Sometimes they get it wrong. But really, nobody could have expected this.

  7. 7

    One other thing to notice about the Nevada GOP vote-counting disaster: the officials are reporting that turnout was down because they had recently re-numbered the precincts, and folks didn’t know where to go for their caucus.

    Apparantly only the counties including Reno and Las Vagas are affected. I believe that those counties tend to go Democratic. I don’t know who was behind the change, but it seems that it would primarily affect a Democratic turnout in a general election. Did they pull the trigger too soon, with a resulting embarrasement to the GOP? Will Democratic voters have the same problems in November?

  8. 8

    “…delays were caused by union workers…”

    I don’t think being in a union or not has anything to do with product delays or product quality. Sometimes shit just happens.

  9. 9

    Oh, and by the way….

    The President didn’t cause this recession. He didn’t make it last longer, either. The Republicans hold the blame for that on both counts.

    But just as a refresher, remember three years ago when the American auto industry was gasping it’s last breathes of air? The lack of available financing, high unemployement, and uncertainty about future employment all contributed to auto sales near the bottom of the scale. It went beyond the Big Three, ans millions of jobs in parts manufacturing companies were at risk, as well.

    The Republican/Tea Party answer? Let them fail.

    The Obama administration, however, stepped in with a two-part emergency package: A cash rebate for old cars traded in, and a financial bailout of the auto industry. Unlike the previous TARP bailout of the financial industry under George W. Bush, Pres. Obama required the auto industry to make serious concessions: stock pledged as collateral for the government loan guarantees, and at least one CEO was forced to resign. It was a bitter medicine for both the President and the auto companies, neither wanted to be in that position. Presid. Obama didn’t cause the problem, but he was going to be enough of an adult to fix it.

    Republicans then cried that this was “socialism”.

    But now, the U.S. auto industry is doing quite well. Detroit, as a city, is recovering. And G.M. is poised to post record profits over a multi-year period:

    In remarkable turnaround, GM may post record profit

    It’s amazing what the American people can accomplish, when there is an adult in the White House.

  10. 10

    @2 As a Boeing shareholder, I’m annoyed that the company’s earnings and the value of my stock will be adversely affected by management’s stupid decision to hire non-union labor. You get what you pay for, and now people like me will pay the price for Boeing executives’ cheapism. Personally, I think the CEO should be fired!

  11. 11

    @8 And sometimes shit doesn’t just happen, it happens because of stupid shit like hiring inexperienced minimum-wage workers out of pique with union workers.

    What unions do, idiot, is provide employers with well-trained, experienced, competent workmen. Union employment isn’t a free ride. You have to show up, work hard, and know what you’re doing.

    Union labor gets paid more because it’s worth more. For employers, better quality labor flows straight to the bottom line.

    Get it now? Nah, you don’t, and never will.

  14. 14

    Its funny watching you idiots comment on the boeing story, when you don’t have the foggiest idea of what your talking about.

  15. 15

    # 13: I didn’t read the details to the story, but it didn’t surprise me when I read that somebody accidentally got shot in the leg in a gun show.

    I went to one once, and the level of stupidity regarding gun safety was amazing. One fellow behind a table, giving an “expert” lecture about something or another, was holding the gun facing out over the table, waving it around at the adults – and kids – standing there. When it swung in my direction, I grabbed the barrel, pushed it toward the ceiling, and told him in know uncertain terms to NEVER point a gun at people. His response? A sarcastic “It’s not loaded, idiot”. That’s when the Marine standing beside me informed him, “It’s ALWAYS loaded, IDIOT“. He just looked confused.

  16. 16

    @14 Improperly installed shims causing CF delamination. Does that mean anything to you?

  18. 18

    @13

    Savannah-Chatham police spokesman Julian Miller says Lake bought the pistol at the gun show on Saturday and had returned Sunday to purchase another gun. Police say he was re-loading the pistol in the parking lot because loaded guns weren’t allowed inside the gun show.

    And now we know why loaded guns are not allowed inside gun shows…

  19. 19

    From the facts are stranger than fiction file

    Romney’s Firm Instructs American Airlines to Sack 13,000 Workers

    On Wednesday, February 1st, American Airlines announced that it will take the advice of Mitt Romney’s firm, Bain Capital, and lay off 13,000 workers -15 percent of its workforce- replacing their pension plans with 401(k) plans and ending company-paid retiree healthcare.

    The lay off announcement came only seven days after American Airlines hired Bain Capital to guide it through a bankruptcy procedure for which the airline had filed last November.

    American Airlines spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal, the cost of hiring Bain – hourly fees of up to $1,100- as “a usual and necessary part of the Chapter 11 process.

  20. 20

    “they’re not the reality for most riders”

    I met the girl I married the #18 Fauntleroy. I dated other women on that run as well. It all started when I arrived at the bus stop at 1st and Union one night to find a “drunken Indian” berating a woman who was waiting there, getting in her face. It was no big deal to walk the guy away from her but when I got back to the stop I had some very lovely ladies for new friends. The half-dozen women who rode the #18 and who had witnessed what had happened that night sat with me on the bus to and from work for the next couple of years and I was their “protector” at the bus stop. I dated three of them. All through that time the woman on the bus who I ended up marrying wasn’t part of our group and paid no attention to me whatsoever. Go figure. The afternoon bus driver was amazed at the parties we were having at the back of his bus every night, just me and these beautiful women, but he also knew that it was the girl with glasses who sat alone at the front of the bus reading who was the woman that I desired most. The next thing I know, I’m married to her. So there it is. Love on the #18 Fauntleroy. No, we didn’t get married on the bus.

  22. 22

    Hey Rog (and anyone else, of course),

    What do you make of this:

    Schneiderman MERS Suit and HUD’s Donovan Remarks Confirm That Mortgage “Settlement” is a Stealth Bank Bailout
    In case you had any doubts about what the mortgage settlement was really about and why banks that were so keenly opposed to it are now willing to go ahead, the news of the last two days should settle any doubts.

    As we had indicated earlier, one of the many leaks about the settlement showed that there had been a major shift its parameters. Of the $25 billion that has been bandied about as a settlement total for the biggest banks, comparatively little (less than $5 billion) is in cash. The rest comes in the form of credits for principal modifications of mortgages.

    Originally, that was to come only from mortgages held by banks, meaning they would bear the costs. The fact that this meant that whether a homeowner might benefit would be random (were you one of the lucky ones whose mortgage had not been securitized?) was apparently used as an excuse to morph the deal into a huge win for them: allowing the banks to get credit for modifying mortgages that they don’t own.

    The first rule of finance (well, maybe second, “fees are not negotiable” might be number one) is always use other people’s money before your own. So giving the banks permission to modify loans they don’t own guarantees that that is where the overwhelming majority of mortgage modifications will take place, ex those the banks would have done anyhow on their own loans. And the design of the program, that securitized loans will be given only half the credit towards the total, versus 100% for loans the banks own, merely assures that even more damage will be done to investors to pay for the servicers’ misdeeds.
    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com.....ilout.html

  23. 23

    @16

    Like I said, you are completely clueless on this subject……actually with most subjects.

  24. 24

    And “Brunei” @ # 23 demonstrates once again why he is completely clueless on ALL subjects.

    Hint: some of us know quite a bit more than we say here, I won’t share non-public information until it’s already been the subject of news reports of one sort or another.

  25. 25

    23. isambard kingdom brunel spews:

    @16

    Like I said, you are completely clueless on this subject……actually with most subjects.

    02/06/2012 at 4:25 pm

    The emperor max-minidick (aka kaiser bun the first) isn’t even as smart as THIS pathetic nimrod:

    http://thinkprogress.org/polit.....n-as-news/

    Congressman Posts Satirical Attack On Planned Parenthood From The Onion As News

    By Adam Peck on Feb 6, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    Fool him once, shame on you. Fool him once with a widely circulated and obviously fake story from satirical newspaper The Onion that was published nine months ago? Yeah, that’s all on him.

    Congressman John Fleming (R-LA) is going to have a rough news cycle after his office posted a link to an outrageous story about Planned Parenthood’s intentions to build an $8 billion “abortionplex,” complete with shopping mall, movie theater and three-story night club. It’s a laughable commentary on the outrageous charges that anti-choice groups use to attack Planned Parenthood, from one of the finest purveyors of satire, but the joke appears to have been lost on Fleming.

  26. 26

    @19 A year from now we’ll read how American Airlines emerged from bankruptcy “stronger than ever” without the burden of union contracts or pension obligations.

  27. 27

    @22 “allowing the banks to get credit for modifying mortgages that they don’t own”

    And where does that leave the people who do own those mortgages? What’s next, a bailout for them?

    But you’re missing the bigger picture, which is that all of the world’s toxic debt is migrating onto the balance sheets of central banks, which means taxpayers and consumers will eat all of it.

    (Keeping in mind that “inflation” caused by central bank money-printing is just another word for “tax”.)

Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?

Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!

Follow Goldy

[iire_social_icons]

HA Commenting Policy

It may be hard to believe from the vile nature of the threads, but yes, we have a commenting policy. Comments containing libel, copyright violations, spam, blatant sock puppetry, and deliberate off-topic trolling are all strictly prohibited, and may be deleted on an entirely arbitrary, sporadic, and selective basis. And repeat offenders may be banned! This is my blog. Life isn’t fair.