Tag: Open Thread

I’ll be sitting in for ek hornbeck who is Live Blogging the NCAA Championship Games for the next few days.

This is more Prime Time than news but in light of the assault on workers and unions by the GOP, it is an extremely important part of the history of union organization. Tonight at 9 PM EDT on HBO the documentary Triangle: Remembering the Fire. This Friday is 100 years since the March 25, 1911 infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on the lower East Side of New York which killed 146 garment workers, most of them young, female Jewish and Italian immigrants. Many were burned alive on the upper floors of the ten story building, others jumped to their death. So many of these deaths were unnecessary, caused by unsafe working conditions. The outrage over this tragedy sparked reforms in working conditions and reforms in building and fire codes and a surge in union membership. This year we also know the identities of all the victims some who were burned so badly they could not be identified. Thanks go to Michael Hirsh, the co-producer of the documentary, for the four years of painstaking research he devoted to identifying them all. Having met Michael last year at a service for the dedication of a new headstone for one victim, I can say he was very passionate about this search. This is well worth watching if you have HBO.

• West strikes Libya as Gaddafi forces choke Misrata
  
  By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

  TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi surrounded Misrata, the only big rebel stronghold in western Libya, killing at least nine people, cutting off its water and bringing in human shields, residents said on Monday.

  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said a U.N. resolution authorizing military action in Libya resembled “medieval calls for crusades” and China stepped up criticism as Western forces prepared to switch from air strikes to air patrols.

• Radiation fears grow in disaster-struck Japan
  

  TOKYO (Reuters) – Global anxiety rose over radiation from Japan’s earthquake-damaged nuclear plant even as engineers had some success in the battle to avert disaster from the world’s worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl.

  The high-stakes drama at the battered Fukushima nuclear power complex is playing out while the Asian nation grapples with the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left at least 21,000 people dead or missing.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”

Paul Krugman: The War on Warren

Last week, at a House hearing on financial institutions and consumer credit, Republicans lined up to grill and attack Elizabeth Warren, the law professor and bankruptcy expert who is in charge of setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Ostensibly, they believed that Ms. Warren had overstepped her legal authority by helping state attorneys general put together a proposed settlement with mortgage servicers, which are charged with a number of abuses.

But the accusations made no sense. Since when is it illegal for a federal official to talk with state officials, giving them the benefit of her expertise? Anyway, everyone knew that the real purpose of the attack on Ms. Warren was to ensure that neither she nor anyone with similar views ends up actually protecting consumers.

Pepe Escobar: The Club Med War

It would be really uplifting to imagine United Nations Security Council resolution 1973 on Thursday was voted just to support the beleaguered anti-Muammar Gaddafi movement with a no-fly zone, logistics, food, humanitarian aid and weapons. That would be the proof that the “international community” really “stands with the Libyan people in their quest for their universal human rights”, in the words of United States ambassador to the UN Susan Rice.

Yet maybe there’s more to doing the right (moral) thing. History may register that the real tipping point was this past Tuesday when, in an interview to German TV, the African king of kings made sure that Western corporations – unless they are German (because the country was against a no-fly zone) – can kiss goodbye to Libya’s energy bonanza. Gaddafi explicitly said, “We do not trust their firms, they have conspired against us … Our oil contracts are going to Russian, Chinese and Indian firms.” In other words: BRICS member countries.

John Nichols: Wars Should Be Debated and Declared by Congress, Not Merely Launched by Presidents

The grotesque extremes to which Muammar Gaddafi has gone to threaten the people of Libya – and to act on those threats – have left the self-proclaimed “king of kings” with few defenders in northern Africa, the Middle East or the international community.

Even among frequent critics of U.S. interventions abroad, there is disgust with Gaddafi, and with the palpable disdain he has expressed for the legitimate aspirations of his own people.

The circumstance is made easier by the fact that the bombing of Libya by U.S. and allied planes has been carried out under the auspices of the United Nations. And with his words and his initial reluctance with regard to taking military action, President Obama has seemed to avoid many of the excesses of his predecessors.

Yet, now the headline on CNN reads “Libya War.”

This war, like so many before it, has neither been debated nor declared by the Congress of the United States.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

March 21 is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 285 days remaining until the end of the year.

March 21st is the common date of the March equinox (although astronomically the equinox is more likely to fall on March 20 in all but the most easterly longitudes). In astrology, the day of the equinox is the first full day of the sign of Aries. It is also the traditional first day of the astrological year.

On this day in 1804, the Napoleonic Code approved in France.

After four years of debate and planning, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte enacts a new legal framework for France, known as the “Napoleonic Code.” The civil code gave post-revolutionary France its first coherent set of laws concerning property, colonial affairs, the family, and individual rights.

In 1800, General Napoleon Bonaparte, as the new dictator of France, began the arduous task of revising France’s outdated and muddled legal system. He established a special commission, led by J.J. Cambaceres, which met more than 80 times to discuss the revolutionary legal revisions, and Napoleon presided over nearly half of these sessions. In March 1804, the Napoleonic Code was finally approved.

The Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally, the Code civil des Français), is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified. It was drafted rapidly by a commission of four eminent jurists and entered into force on March 21, 1804. The Napoleonic Code was not the first legal code to be established in a European country with a civil legal system, it was preceded by the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus civilis (Bavaria, 1756), the Allgemeines Landrecht (Prussia, 1794) and the West Galician Code, (Galicia, then part of Austria, 1797). It was, however, the first modern legal code to be adopted with a pan-European scope and it strongly influenced the law of many of the countries formed during and after the Napoleonic Wars. The Code, with its stress on clearly written and accessible law, was a major step in replacing the previous patchwork of feudal laws. Historian Robert Holtman regards it as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world.

Contents of the Code

The preliminary article of the Code established certain important provisions regarding the rule of law. Laws could be applied only if they had been duly promulgated, and only if they had been published officially (including provisions for publishing delays, given the means of communication available at the time); thus no secret laws were authorized. It prohibited ex post facto laws (i.e., laws that apply to events that occurred before them). The code also prohibited judges from refusing justice on grounds of insufficiency of the law-therefore encouraging them to interpret the law. On the other hand, it prohibited judges from passing general judgments of a legislative value (see above).

With regard to family, the Code established the supremacy of the husband with respect to the wife and children; this was the general legal situation in Europe at the time. It did, however, allow divorce on liberal basis compared to other European countries, including divorce by mutual consent.

Rachel explains how Republican efforts around the country to strip the middle class of union rights and other economic attacks are only serving to rally the Democratic voting base.

Transcript of the video is not yet available. When it is, it can be found here.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

March 20 is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 286 days remaining until the end of the year.

March 20th is also the usual date of the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, and the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere when both day and night are of equal length, therefore it is frequently the date of traditional Iranian holiday Norouz in many countries.

On this day in 1854, Republican Party is founded in Ripon Wisconsin.

The Republican Party emerged in 1854, growing out of a coalition of former Whigs and Free Soil Democrats who mobilized in opposition to the possibility of slavery extending into the new western territories. The new party put forward a vision of modernizing the United States-emphasizing free homesteads to farmers (“free soil”), banking, railroads, and industry. They vigorously argued that free-market labor was superior to slavery and the very foundation of civic virtue and true republicanism, this is the “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men” ideology. The Republicans absorbed the previous traditions of its members, most of whom had been Whigs; others had been Democrats or members of third parties (especially the Free Soil Party and the American Party or Know Nothings). Many Democrats who joined up were rewarded with governorships. or seats in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. Since its inception, its chief opposition has been the Democratic Party, but the amount of flow back and forth of prominent politicians between the two parties was quite high from 1854 to 1896.

Two small cities of the Yankee diaspora, Ripon, Wisconsin and Jackson, Michigan, claim to be the birthplace of the Republican Party (in other words, meetings held there were some of the first 1854 anti-Nebraska assemblies to call themselves by the name “Republican”). Ripon held the first county convention on March 20, 1854. Jackson held the first statewide convention on July 6, 1854; it declared their new party opposed to the expansion of slavery into new territories and selected a state-wide slate of candidates. The Midwest took the lead in forming state party tickets, while the eastern states lagged a year or so. There were no efforts to organize the party in the South, apart from a few areas adjacent to free states. The party initially had its base in the Northeast and Midwest. The party launched its first national convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in February 1856, with its first national nominating convention held in the summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

John C. Fremont ran as the first Republican nominee for President in 1856, using the political slogan: “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont.” Although Fremont’s bid was unsuccessful, the party showed a strong base. It dominated in New England, New York and the northern Midwest, and had a strong presence in the rest of the North. It had almost no support in the South, where it was roundly denounced in 1856-60 as a divisive force that threatened civil war.

Historians have explored the ethnocultural foundations of the party, along the line that ethnic and religious groups set the moral standards for their members, who then carried those standards into politics. The churches also provided social networks that politicians used to sign up voters. The pietistic churches emphasized the duty of the Christian to purge sin from society. Sin took many forms-alcoholism, polygamy and slavery became special targets for the Republicans. The Yankees, who dominated New England, much of upstate New York, and much of the upper Midwest were the strongest supporters of the new party. This was especially true for the pietistic Congregationalists and Presbyterians among them and (during the war), the Methodists, along with Scandinavian Lutherans. The Quakers were a small tight-knit group that was heavily Republican. The liturgical churches (Roman Catholic, Episcopal, German Lutheran), by contrast, largely rejected the moralism of the Republican Party; most of their adherents voted Democratic.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with Christiane Amanpour:Ms. Amanpour’s guests will be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, French ambassador to the United Nations Gérard Araud and former Libyan ambassador to the United States Ali Suleiman Aujali who recently resigned from his post and renounced the Gadhafi regime. Also, Energy Secretary Steven Chu will discuss the very latest from the nuclear disaster at Fukushima nuclear reactor complex.

At the roundtable with George Will, former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, former ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee Jane Harman and noted author Robin Wright of the U.S. Institute of Peace will debate the military intervention to stop Gadhafi.

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer:The latest on the Libya crisis, and the disaster in Japan with guests Admiral Mike Mullen, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN).

The Chris Matthews Show: This week’s guests are Katty Kay, BBC Washington Correspondent, Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic Senior Editor, Michael Duffy, TIME Magazine Assistant Managing Editor and Norah O’Donnell, MSNBC Chief Washington Correspondent. They will discuss these questions:

Is President Obama failing to lead?

Could Republican “red hots” spoil the party?

Meet the Press with David Gregory: Again, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen along with Senate Armed Services Committee, Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) discussing Libya.

At the roundtable will be NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, The New York Times’ Helene Cooper, The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne, and The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel weighing in on Japan and Libya.

State of the Union with Candy Crowley: Making those rounds today, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, then, former CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon (Ret.) and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers (Ret.) and as a finally, Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman to discuss Libya.

Plus, an update on Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant and the future of nuclear energy in the United States with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and two nuclear experts.

Fareed Zakaris: GPS: Fareed will also be discussing the Japan crisis and the “atomic age”. Instead of Libya, he will also be examining Pakistan with “Pakistan’s best and bravest reporter,” Ahmed Rashid, to find out just how unstable this nuclear nation is becoming.  

It’s hard to know where to start with Libya and the ever progressing nuclear disaster in Japan that is complicating the human one. Events here in the US are getting overlooked. There is the ongoing corporate takeover of Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio that is threatening to spread to other Republican states with dire consequences for state workers and the under-classes, heh, even here in NY our “Democratic” governor is covering for the millionaires that put him in office. There are now 64 US Senators willing to sell out Social Security and the Federal Reserve covering for the banks, along with the state attorney generals willing to throw thousands of home owners under the bus on mortgage fraud to make the banks happy. Did I mention that there are peaceful protests in Washington, DC and outside the Marine base at Quantico, VA, objecting to the abusive treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning?

Yikes!

I’ll start with Saturday’s rally for Manning in front of the White House. Tks, Jane

Photos From White House Rally in Support of Bradley Manning

Daniel Ellsberg, Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, David Swanson, Medea Benjamin, Mike Malloy and over a hundred others were arrested in front of the White House today to protest President Obama’s torture of Bradley Manning.

All photos by twolf.

FDL will be livestreaming the demonstration at Quantico tomorrow now.

This is an “OK” response from our military. Translation of “OK” = “Over Kill”

Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

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