News Nuggets 1362

DAYLEE PICTURE: A shepherd with his sheep near Halabja in Iraq.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT NEW YEAR'S NUGGET!!
14 Things To Stop Stressing About In 2014 from the Huffington Post   
"Theodore Roosevelt once said "comparison is the thief of joy" -- and he couldn't have been more right. Comparing yourself to others stresses you out and robs you of your current happiness. Each person's pace of life is different..."

ANOTHER UP-FRONT NEW YEAR'S NUGGET!!
In 2014, a Chance to Overcome our National Despair (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"... let’s be frank at year-end: This sort of relentless pessimism is destructive and, what’s more important, it is inaccurate. We in the media pride ourselves on purveying bad news, so it’s easy for our readers to overlook the abiding reality that America is generally at peace and, relative to most of the world, wildly prosperous. In our national funk, we paint the present in darker colors than warranted and the past in brighter hues."

Kim Jong Un's Executed Uncle was Eaten Alive by 120 Hungry Dogs: Report from NBC News
"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle was stripped naked, thrown into a cage, and eaten alive by a pack of ravenous dogs, according to a newspaper with close ties to China's ruling Communist Party. The report could not be independently confirmed by NBC News on Friday."
Like something out of medieval times!  I know there are several countries in the world where we talk about waiting for them to enter the 20th or 21st century -- but North Korea seems to be regressing back 500 years or more.  Seriously.

The Recession May be Over, but its Jobs Shortfall is Still with Us (Laura Clawson) from Daily Kos
"Republicans like Rand Paul would tell you that unemployment insurance somehow makes people less likely to look for or find jobs, but the reality is that it makes them more likely to look—the jobs just aren't there. As you can see in this chart."

The Affordable Care Act is Here to Stay (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
Robinson is SPOT-ON with this column!  Conservative critiques and their dopey allies in the media can continue to pretend that somehow this is still a bill or that somehow it can be undone by GOP obstruction or enough howling.  The fact of the matter is that the health care economy has been substantially overhauled in the last three years -- and there are way too many powerful vested interests (and now voters who have bought in) that have a stake in having this thing work.  At some point this year, GOPers will begin facing pressure to dump the repeal rhetoric.  
"The fight is history, you realize. Done. Finito. Yesterday’s news.  Any existential threat to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ended with the popping of champagne corks as the new year arrived. That was when an estimated 6 million uninsured Americans received coverage through expanded Medicaid eligibility or the federal and state health insurance exchanges. Obamacare is now a fait accompli; nobody is going to take this coverage away."

Consumers Start Using Coverage Under Health Law from the New York Times 
"“It’s a better policy — lower out-of-pocket, more choice of doctors,” she said. “This is a very happy day.” Consumers around the country began using coverage provided by the new health care law on Wednesday, the same day that Medicaid expanded to hundreds of thousands of people in about half the states. Many provisions of the 2010 health care law offering new benefits and protections to consumers, including those with pre-existing conditions, also took effect."

The Next Airbnb? From Sculpture Gyms to Parking Panda, it's a National Movement from Pop City Media
"From bikeshares to spare couches, from swapping clothing to trading tools, the sharing economy has picked up steam in the past five years. Some trend watchers point to Millennials as the source of the national uptick. Others say that a renewed interest in all things green as well as a new brand of thriftiness that started in the recession has led to the growth in collaborative consumption."

NJ Lawmaker: Documents Show Bridge Closure Was Ordered From Outside from Talking Points Memo
"A New Jersey politician investigating a scandal involving Gov. Chris Christie (R) and the George Washington Bridge said this week that orders to close several lanes on the bridge in September came from outside the agency that runs it."

Loan Monitor Is Accused of Ruthless Tactics on Student Debt from the New York Times
"There is $1 trillion in federal student debt today, and the possibility of default on those taxpayer-backed loans poses an acute risk to the economy’s recovery. Congress, faced with troubling default rates in the past, has made it especially hard for borrowers to get bankruptcy relief for student loans, and so only some hundreds try every year. And while there has been attention to aggressive student debt collectors hired by the federal government, the organization pursuing Ms. Jorgensen does something else: it brings legal challenges to those few who are desperate enough to seek bankruptcy relief."

10 Signs that Religious Fundamentalism is Going Down (Valerie Tarico) from Salon
""Duck Dynasty" bigotry still has a sizable audience — but not for long."

CORRUPT EX-GOVERNOR NUGGET!!
REPORT: Edwin Edwards, 86, To Run For Congress? from the Hayride [of Louisiana]
Ah, you just can't keep a really bad Louisiana pol down!
"A report yesterday from a trusted source has it that disgraced former Louisiana governor Edwin "Eddy" Edwards is contemplating a run for the 6th District Congressional race this November. The 6th District seat is coming open due to incumbent Bill Cassidy running against Mary Landrieu for the U.S. Senate. "
For those who can't recall this wonderfully awful person, one of Edwards' most memorable quotes was, when describing the inevitable electability of another LA candidate, he said, "The only way he will lose in this state is if they find him in bed with a dead women or a live boy."  I could be wrong but I believe he spent most of the last 30 years in prison.

MISSIVES FROM THE GOP ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE!!
No Perfect Candidates (Jennifer Rubin) from the Washington Post
"Looking ahead to 2016 the Republicans may field one of the strongest crop of presidential contenders since 1980 (when Ronald Reagan beat out Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker, former CIA and Republican National Committee chief George H.W. Bush, Sen. Bob Dole and Texas Gov. John Connolly, to name a few). That said, they all have strengths and weaknesses."
WOW!  "One of the strongest crop of presidential contenders"?!?  These are the people who are on her "serious" list: Chris Christie; Jeb Bush; Rand Paul; Paul Ryan; Scott Walker; Rick Perry; and Marco Rubia (Where's Bobby Jindal?).  On her "less serious list"? Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum.  This list is a complete GOP-beltway-establishment fantasy!  Ok -- anything can happen between now and 2016 -- but let's review this list (never mind the cavalcade of other clowns that are already stumping in Iowa).  Christie's good ship presidential has been taking some serious incoming these last two weeks with the Bridge-gate scandal.  His only hope is that his lawyered-up aids do not testify or take the fifth.  Even then, between Christie's big mouth and undiscovered scandals, I think he has already hit a highwater mark.  Rand Paul -- too weird, too libertarian, too out-of-sinc with the evangelicals in the GOP; Paul Ryan - start with that as VP nominee, he was a serial untruth-teller and he is such a Johnny One-Note on the issues, his only prayer is that somehow the budget issue gets bigger between now and 2016.  Scott Walker - his message was much bigger than just an anti-union message.  It was anti-public worker (including teachers, police, firemen, public employees of all kinds) and anti-agriculture (people often forget this piece of Walker's "reforms").  Pick Perry - he says he was on medications during his 2012, thus his banana-peel-strewn campaign.  You decide whether you believe that story.  Now, my own view is that enough voters have already made their assessments about Perry and they find him "lacking."  Moreover, I suspect that a 2016 campaign is a pure vanity vehicle for him to somehow redeem his reputation.  He cannot accept that, outside Texas, he is widely viewed as a dunce-capped buffoon.  Like Christie (and so many of these contenders) he comes from states where politics is awash with corruption and hyper-partisan BS.  Finally, Marco Rubio.  His attempt to lead on immigration reform in 2013 ... and then quick retreat on the issue shows to me that his political antennae is undeveloped and, in general, that he is not ready for national prime time.  One other issue I have not heard discussed is that, as Florida lawmaker and Speaker, the Bushes in Florida mentored him and groomed him for bigger things.  Well, if Jeb runs in 2016 where will that leave Rubio's campaign?  They will oppose Rubio's campaign.  And then there's Bush.  Regular readers know that I view Jeb as the most dangerous potential candidate out there.  He has been so much smarter than the rest of the crowd simply because he has KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT! He has said very little that even the hard right could be really offended about.  Some will say that "Bush" fatigue will be his biggest obstacle.  It may be a problem -- but not so much if Hillary is his opponent.  A couple of months of endless chatter about the Clinton-era scandals will amply re-presence the Clinton fatigue that pervaded the 2000 elections.

SPOILED CHILDREN NUGGET!!
Peters Business Creates Dream Homes for Children from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Mr. Chernicky of Peters owns Lilliput Play Homes, which has a retail store in Peters and a shop in Union. He said the store does "between $1 [million] and $1.5 million [worth of business], which equates to about 100 playhouses" per year, which it sells all over the world. While he designs the houses, the staff of 15 builds them."
Is it just me and my New England upbringing that I find this really disturbing?  Never mind the sheer profligacy of it.  The CEO says he thinks what he does "promotes creativity in children."  Well, my brother and I built tree houses out of found boards, haystack houses, and all kinds of other structures that we built ourselves -- and I would wager that we (along with a busload of our neighborhood friends) got as much if not more fun and creative juice from doing those things than these kids got from the tens of thousands of dollars their sugar dads and moms spend on these micro-mansions.  I mean -- look at this house!  What is the child doing?  Sitting on the stoop by herself.  What's the point?