Because of noise and muggy weather I had almost no sleep last night, and this morning I was bogged down with tasks, so I need to take the day off to rest.  Hugs!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:49).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Today's cartoon is in honor of Residents Day.  Banks and state government offices may be closed for Presidents Day, but the US does not have a President.  Staff the analytics is fixed.  What do you think?

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 4:32 (average 5:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (TYT Channel): State Offers 'Do It Yourself' Death Row

This is insane! I also agree that execution is state-sponsored murder and could not support the death penalty even for the traitors that are selling-out our nation to Russia. RESIST!!

From Washington Post: British lawmakers are set to debate a call for U.S. President Donald Trump to be denied a state visit to the U.K. — but the Conservative government insists the invitation remains firmly in place.

Trump opponents plan to demonstrate outside Parliament in London as legislators hold a non-binding debate Monday. It comes in response to an online petition with more than 1.8 million signatures saying a formal state visit “would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.”

On state visits, foreign leaders are welcomed with royal pomp and military ceremony, and usually stay at Buckingham Palace as guests of Queen Elizabeth II.

Kudos to Labour! It would certainly not do for Her Majesty to be groped by Putin's Pervert. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: Republican Sen. John McCain delivered a pretty stunning speech Friday at an international security conference in Germany in which the senator made clear that he views Donald Trump's presidency as a threat to the West's well-being and world order as a whole. Aaron Blake writes:

McCain suggested the Western world is uniquely imperiled this year — even more so than when Barack Obama was president — and proceeded to question whether the Western world will survive.

“In recent years, this question would invite accusations of hyperbole and alarmism. Not this year,” McCain said. “If ever there were a time to treat this question with a deadly seriousness, it is now.”

McCain reportedly never attached his critique of the changing world order directly to Trump, but his prose were laced with references to the blurring of fact and fiction and a "hardening resentment" toward immigrants, refugees, and "especially Muslims."

But perhaps most notably, McCain painted a picture of a U.S. government at odds, and perhaps even at war, with its leader.

I think McCain,aka McConJov, is well intended but is conning himself that Trump is at odds with rest of the government, Both Lyin' Ryan and Bought Bitch Mitch, along with almost all in the Republican Reich, bend over, grab their ankles and cry Baa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a, whenever their Fuhrer calls, no matter how extreme the demand.  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Wendy just left having destinked the foul TomCat, helped with the dreaded task and some light housework, and received a back rub with Icy-Hot, because she tweaked it in the bar last night.  That was the high point of my day.  She also had fried eggs and potatoes for brunch.  Now I have some catching up to do.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:36 (average 6:13).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Ex-convict and white supremacist Benjamin McDowell, 28, was arrested after buying a handgun and ammunition from an FBI agent for $109.

McDowell had complained on facebook that fellow white supremacists were all talk and no action: "All they wanne (sic) do is stay loaded on drugs the Jews put here to destroy white man and they feast on the drugs. they should be Feasting on the enemy that stole their Heritage and their bloodline" he wrote, also citing Dylan Roof, the white mass murderer sentenced to death for the murder of a group of black churchgoers.

Authorities began investigating McDowell in December after he posted threats to a synagogue on Facebook.

Since President Trump was sworn in, vowing to keep America safe from terrorism, and issuing a travel ban against Muslim countries that was later blocked by the courts, this is the third white American to be investigated for a terrorist plot.

Click through for more terrorism by Trump Republicans.  It’s a good thing the FBI got this one before the Nectarine Nazi gave him Flynn’s job. RESIST!!

From Think Progress: Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort — which he refers to as “the Winter White House” — will bring in millions of dollars in membership fees each year while allowing members to have the ear of the president.

According to a New York Times piece published on Saturday, Trump’s son Eric told the newspaper that Mar-a-Lago admits about 20 to 40 new members each year. Considering that Mar-a-Lago raised its initiation fees to $200,0000 after Trump’s presidential inauguration, that’s up to $8 million dollars coming in from new members per year. And that doesn’t include taxes or the $14,000 charge for each member’s annual dues.

While clearly criminal, the likelihood that Beauregard will investigate, let alone indict him is nil. RESIST!!

From Raw Story: Almost all congressional Republicans are scared of facing voters in town hall meetings over the long President’s Day weekend. Only 19 representatives and senators—a tiny number—will hold town meetings during the first recess of the current session of Congress, according to the Town Hall Project. But the group’s listing of these democratic mainstays barely tells the story.

According to an eye-opening Washington Post account, Republican officeholders have been cancelling planned town halls because they don’t want to face critics upset that they may soon lose their health insurance or see an increase in costs as the GOP plans to undermine Obamacare. Even worse, they don’t want organized progressive groups to show up with posters and video camera and determination to challenge them in public and post the confrontations on YouTube.

“According to the Town Hall Project, which collates information about public town halls, there are no availabilities in Utah—where every federal officeholder is a Republican—over the coming week,” WaPo wrote. “That’s not a fluke. Just 19 Republican members of Congress have scheduled traditional town halls over the weeklong recess. Several more, like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have listed ticketed events or “office hours;” a few more have announced tele-town halls, which allow constituents to lob questions without risking a “YouTube moment.”

This cowardly response is nothing new from immoderate Republicans; it’s in line with their partisan ethic that “anything goes” to win, except playing fair. They cannot win in many states without gerrymandering federal and state districts, which allowed them to seize power after the 2010 Census. They cannot win widely in high turnout elections, hence their efforts to limit participation by creating barriers like new voter ID laws or restricting voting options favored by critics, like early voting on weekends.

The bottom line here is this. Republicans don’t want to know what YOU think, because, unless you are a Nazi, a Misogynist, a pseudo-Christian, a Russian, or a billionaire, Republicans do not represent YOU! RESIST!!

Cartoon: