Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow and am feeling a bit tired, because yesterday, I walked to my volunteer organization’s bank to update our account to reflect changes in address and leadership.  Don’t expect too much in the next couple days, because I will be preparing for a Board Meeting of that group here in the Cat Box on Monday, so tomorrow, I’ll be pre-cooking and cleaning, preparing a Treasurer’s Report, and setting up other documentation.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:10 (average 5:13).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: When we ignore the people around us who are struggling to get by, isn’t it a lot like putting on the first sign this guy wears?

Where I live, I can see people sleeping in doorways from my window on all but the coldest nights, and sometimes even then. Sadly, I have to be very selective about helping, because I have little.  Also, more often than not, "spare change" converts immediately to alcohol and drugs. Enabling is not helping. When I can, I give them food.

From Daily Kos: Avoiding reality must be a full time Republican occupation. After over 40,000 people delivered Ted Cruz an epic smack down on Facebook, you would think that any Republican would be aware enough to not tempt a similar fate. You would be wrong.

Apparently nothing penetrates the arrogant ignorance and hubris of today’s Republicans. Example number 666 – Senator Mitch McConnell – who has asked Facebook followers who they’d want as Senate Majority Leader starting in 2015. [Bought Bitch delinked]

Over two thousand comments have been posted thus far. The majority of them are not what Senator McConnell thought he’d be reading – everything from "you need to retire," "Harry. Thanks for asking," to longer comments like this - 

At least Reid supports a liveable wage, equal pay for woman, veteran bills, jobs bills, healthcare for everyone, free and fair elections, tax reform, ending corporate tax evasion, clean drinking water, disaster relief, not borrowing money to start unnecessary wars, not stealing and destroying farm land so oil companies and foreign countries can profit(i.e. Keystone pipeline) he’s against voter suppression, he supports teachers, police and fire fighters, fixing our infrastructure, feeding the poor and poor children… Should I continue? Because Mitch has blocked or cut all of the above.

Click through for more comments and videos. LOL!! Bought Bitch Mitch TEAbuggered himself!!

From NY Times: Federal investigators have opened an inquiry into the tragic case of a high school student in Bastrop County, Tex., who suffered severe brain damage and nearly died last fall after a deputy sheriff shocked him with a Taser, a high voltage electronic weapon.

In North Carolina, civil rights lawyers have filed a complaint with the Justice Department, charging the Wake County school system with violating the constitutional rights of minority children by subjecting them to discriminatory arrest practices and brutality by police officers assigned to schools. In one nightmarish case described in the complaint, a disabled 15-year-old was shocked with a Taser three times during an interrogation at school, resulting in punctured lungs. And in New York, civil rights lawyers have sued the city of Syracuse on behalf of two students. One was shocked three times, not for threatening behavior but for lying on the floor and crying, they say, and another was shocked while trying to break up a fight.

Complaints about dangerous disciplinary practices involving shock weapons are cropping up all over the country. The problem has its roots in the 1990s, when school districts began ceding even routine disciplinary duties to police and security officers, who were utterly unprepared to deal with children. Many districts need to overhaul practices that criminalize far too many young people and that are applied in ways that discriminate against minority children. In the meantime, elected officials need to ban shock weapons in schools.

I am in complete agreement with this author. Such behavior by police and security officers must not be permitted to continue.

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow and hurrying to go out to run errands this afternoon.  I actually feel fairly well rested, so far.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:44 (average 5:22).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube: RUSH is Furious COLBERT’s going to CBS! – Chris Hayes

I for two cannot wait!

From Upworthy: Watch this disturbing yet funny video. At 1:54, one of these dudes starts to realize the repercussions of his actions.

Sadly, this satire is completely accurate.

From Daily Kos:

Former South Carolina senator Jim DeMint, who left government in order to spend more time with other people’s money, has some curious notions about American slavery, the Civil War and the government. Specifically, he doesn’t think the American government had much of a role in ending slavery, it was just some stuff that happened.

Well the reason that the slaves were eventually freed was the Constitution, it was like the conscience of the American people. Unfortunately there were some court decisions like Dred Scott and others that defined some people as property, but the Constitution kept calling us back to ‘all men are created equal and we have inalienable rights’ in the minds of God. But a lot of the move to free the slaves came from the people, it did not come from the federal government. It came from a growing movement among the people, particularly people of faith, that this was wrong. People like [British abolitionist William Wilberforce] who persisted for years because of his faith and because of his love for people. So no liberal is going to win a debate that big government freed the slaves. In fact, it was Abraham Lincoln, the very first Republican, who took this on as a cause and a lot of it was based on a love in his heart that comes from God. [emphasis original]

While Abe was the first Republican President, Republicans were liberals then, and Democrats were conservatives. Lincoln massively increased the size of government to fight the Civil War, and that big government freed the slaves by winning the war. So DeMint has his head so far up his butt, that he has a great view of his own tonsils.

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I don’t know why, but I feel lethargic.  I’ve gotten enough sleep, and I don’t feel ill.  Perhaps it’s that I’m taking Chantix again.  My last attempt to quit fell apart during the moving process, so I’m trying again.  Q-Day is Infernal Revenue day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:21 (average 5:09).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: It’s still early yet, but a monster El Nino might be forming in the pacific, and it just might shake up the worlds weather for awhile.  Over on the robertscribbler blog is an excellent write up describing the details of a monster Kelvin wave, which sometimes signals the start of an El Nino.  Here’s what he has to say about the Kelvin wave:

The pool of 4-6+ degree Celsius above average temperatures continues to widen and lengthen, now covering 85 degrees of longitude from 170 East to 105 West. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that the zone of extreme 6+ C temperature anomalies has both widened and extended, covering about 50 degrees of longitude and swelling to a relative depth of about 30-40 meters. This is an extraordinarily intense temperature extreme that well exceeds those observed during the ramp-up to the record 1997-98 El Nino event.

more below the fold… [emphasis original]

Click through for an in depth report on this potential El Nino and what it means to you.

From NY Times: Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation meant to close the pay gap between men and women, framing an election-year fight between the parties over whose policies are friendlier to women.

The bill was an attempt by Democrats to press what they see as their electoral advantage among women in the coming midterm elections, but they fell short of the 60 votes they needed to prevent a filibuster and advance the legislation.

Now there can be no doubt. Republicans do not want to see equal pay for people they consider property that should be kept barefoot and pregnant.

From TPM: The House has passed a GOP budget blueprint that promises a balanced federal ledger in 10 years through sweeping cuts across the federal budget and eliminating health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

The 219-205 vote on the nonbinding framework takes a mostly symbolic swipe at the government’s chronic deficits. Follow-up legislation to actually implement the cuts isn’t in the cards.

The plan by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would cut more than $5 trillion over the coming decade to reach balance by 2024. The sharpest cuts would come to health care programs for the poor and uninsured, food stamps, and array of domestic programs, including Pell Grants, education, and community development grants.

No surprises here.

Cartoon:

Prior to this, white southern racists were a bloc of Democrats known as the Dixiecrats.  They were so outraged by this event that they left the Democratic Party.  The Republicans, seeing there was no future in representing primarily billionaires and corporate criminals, adopted the Southern Strategy and embraced the racists’ hatred.  This is how racists became the base of the Republican Party.