I’m about to leave for my annual Medicare Wellness exam, and I’ll complete this section when I return.

I’m back late, because the TriMet Lift Bus misses my window and had several stops along the way.  However, thew appointment went well, and I’m an A1 Certified Prime Puddy Tat!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:38 (average 5:26).  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Take:

From Huffington Post: Seven years of Republican promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act withered away to almost nothing on the Senate floor early Friday morning.

The Republican majority in Congress has voted dozens of times since 2011 to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act, and a central element of the GOP’s pitch to voters during last year’s election was that giving Donald Trump the keys to the White House and leaving Congress in the Republican Party’s hands was all that was needed to bring an end to Obamacare.

But when presented with their first genuine opportunity to do so ― and to have to answer for the consequences ― enough Republican senators flinched that the effort failed, despite pressure from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and President Trump. Voting to dramatically increase the number of uninsured Americans is easier when you know it can’t happen than when you know it will.

The final vote for the Health Care Freedom Act, designed to eliminate core components of the Affordable Care Act, went down on a 49-51 vote, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John McCain of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining with all 46 of the chamber’s Democrats and both of its independents to defeat the measure.

Woooo Hoooo Phew!!!

Finally? RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Today’s forecast high in 85°.  The humidity is 68%.  It’s the coolest day in the next two weeks.  This afternoon a Social Worker from Providence Elder at Home is stopping by to scan my Advance Directive into my records.  In summary, if it appears that survival is either likely or unlikely, resuscitate me by scratching my back and giving me coffee.  Tomorrow I have my annual wellness exam for Medicare done by Ellie, my PCP’s PA.  I’ll be leaving early in the morning and be gone half the day.  I will probably publish only a Personal Update, or at most an Open Thread.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:24 (average 4:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Funny or Die Channel): Donald Trump’s Temporary Bone Spurs

Cleary TBS is too great a handicap for the Fuhrer to remain in office. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Saying that the problem “is far worse than I imagined,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday urged First Lady Melania Trump to intensify her campaign against cyberbullying.

Speaking to reporters from his office at the Justice Department, Sessions said that, whatever Mrs. Trump had done to eliminate the scourge of cyberbullying, “It clearly has not been enough.”

“From my perspective, cyberbullying is very much a growing problem,” he said. “And with every passing day it gets worse and worse.”

Dang Andy! Isn’t it just like KKK Beauregard to hide behind the only skirt, the contents of which Putin’s Pervert doesn’t want to grab? RESIST!!

From NY Times: The Senate on Wednesday soundly rejected a measure that would repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act without providing a replacement, leaving Republicans still searching for a path forward to fulfill their promise of dismantling President Barack Obama’s signature health law.

Seven Republican senators joined Democrats to vote against the measure, which had been embraced by conservatives but could have left millions of people without health coverage.

The rejection of “clean repeal” laid bare the deep divisions within the Republican caucus about how best to proceed. The night before, nine Republicans, including both conservatives and moderates, voted against comprehensive legislation to repeal the health law and provide a replacement.

Without the votes to replace the health law or to simply repeal major parts of it, Senate Republicans appeared increasingly likely to try to pass a modest measure that would repeal only a few provisions of the law, such as the tax on medical devices and the requirements that most individuals have insurance and that large employers offer coverage to workers.

But even that narrow bill could have a significant impact on the nation’s health care system. Democrats on Wednesday night released a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the effects of repealing several provisions that could be part of a “skinny” repeal measure. The analysis found that the number of uninsured people would increase by 15 million next year compared with current law, and Democrats said they were told that premiums would be roughly 20 percent higher… [emphasis added]

Call your Senators! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

It’s been a very hectic day.  It began at 4:30 AM, when a resident on my floor fell asleep while cooking and started a minor cooking fire.  It wasn’t bad enough to evacuate me, but when I heard the alarm, I got up, opened my door, and smelled smoke.  I had to get dressed, pop on George, and prepare for evacuation, just in case.  Jason, my tech, can’t come until Saturday.  His car has a blown transmission, and the shop is looking for parts.  It’s a ’98 Volvo.  I’m waiting for a grocery delivery from Store to Door.  They told me they had reduced my driver’s route, and that I can expect delivery between 10:00 AM and 12:00 Noon, instead of between 1:00 and 3:00 PM.  It’s 11:45, and they haven’t come yet.  Needless to say, I’m pooped.  They arrived just before Noon, and groceries are put away!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:50 (average 5:20).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ channel): The Republicans Are Bailing on Trump | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

This a rare occasion in which I disagree with Keith. While some Republicans are whining and bitching to cover their butts, but that’s a long way from bailing on the Fuhrer. That won’t happen until it’s so bas that they see themselves about to be tarred, feathered and driven from office.  Republicans in Nixon’s day were a far better breed of criminal. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): President Donald Trump Blocks Transgender People From Serving in Military

I don’t see why transgender people can’t join the service, when transspecies monsters have joined Trump’s administration. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: In an extraordinary rebuke of the President of the United States, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. have obtained a restraining order against Donald J. Trump.

The order, which the Girls Scouts were granted on Monday night, prevents Trump from coming within three hundred feet of any gathering of the Scouts’ organization.

Carol Foyler, a Girl Scouts spokesperson, said that while the G.S.U.S.A. sought the restraining order “out of an abundance of caution,” the girls themselves were “in no way, shape or form” afraid of President Trump.

“They’re prepared to deal with bobcats and bears,” she said. “They can handle a malignant narcissist.”

It’s a good thing they did, Andy. Otherwise, Putin’s Pervert would probably grope them. RESIST!!

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