Other than having to haul out three garbage bags full of used barf bags from last night's debate, it's been a light day so far, but that will change.  This afternoon, I have an unusually large order of groceries to be delivered shortly, and I have to put them all away.  Later Wendy is coming to steam clean the TomCat and help with housework.  I think I'll serve her refritos, chips and salsa for supper.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 4:19 (average 5:53).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Being Not Donald Trump is going a long way to making Mike Pence look sane and sober this year, but there’s a reason Trump chose Pence and Pence accepted the offer. He’s an extremist himself, even if he’s better than Trump at difficult things like not attacking a former Miss Universe over what she weighed in 1996 or hinting at the assassination of his political opponents. Pence, as a video from Planned Parenthood (watch below) makes clear, was the early leader of the campaign to defund Planned Parenthood. That’s part of a long, ugly record of trying to pass laws to control women’s bodies:

• Repeatedly voted for the Federal Abortion Ban, a law that criminalizes some abortion services, with no exception to protect a woman’s health, and carries up to a two-year prison sentence for doctors.
• Voted in favor of a bill that would criminalize a doctor for the reasons a woman seeks abortion care. […]
• Repeatedly cosponsored legislation that would, if it went into effect, make abortion illegal nationwide in almost all cases and ban some of the most common forms of contraception, stem-cell research, and in vitro fertilization. […]
• Repeatedly voted to allow hospitals to refuse to provide emergency abortion care, even when a woman’s life is in danger.

As governor of Indiana, he signed a law that would force women to carry non-viable pregnancies to term.

Pence is as much a poster child for misogyny as Rump Dump Trump.

From The New Yorker:

The Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Mike Pence, stunned a national television audience on Tuesday night by using his opening statement in the Vice-Presidential debate to beg the nation’s private sector for a job.

Shortly after the moderator, Elaine Quijano, told Pence that he had two minutes to make his statement, the Indiana governor looked directly into the camera and said, “I’m going to get right down to it. If you run a company and you’re watching this right now, I beg you from the bottom of my heart to consider hiring me. I need a job and I need it bad.”

Pence urged employers to consider his many qualifications and to ignore his role in the 2016 Republican campaign. “As God is my witness, I take no responsibility for this dumpster fire,” he said.

Stressing the urgency of his situation, Pence said that his political career was in ruins and pleaded with employers to visit his LinkedIn profile.

Dang, Andy!! He sure should have done just that!!

From KP Daily Funnies: The Daily Show puts the North Carolina anti-LGBT law to the test

Somewhere, a Republican watched this and is angry, because everyone got served in the end, and one might actually be gay.

Cartoon:

I’m trying to be lazy today, so I can watch the VP debate tonight.  The best outcome is that Kaine makes a convincing argument that Pence, Trump and the downballot Republicans are all virtually the same.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:48 (average 5:13).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the news from Week 4 in our own fantasy football league.

Scores:

Standings:

Oh how the mighty hath fallen!

Short Takes:

From KP Daily Funnies: Drunk Trump 4: The Drunkest Guy at the Bar

I have to admit that there have been several times I wondered what drug he was on.

From Daily Kos: In 1997, Keith Cooper was arrested and convicted for an armed robbery in Elkhart, Indiana. After serving 10 years for the conviction, DNA evidence pointed to another man, already in custody for a similar crime. Every eyewitness account also recanted their testimony that led to Mr. Cooper’s conviction, as the witnesses were denied a police line up they requested before the trial. Cooper’s retrial was ordered, but the new prosecutor, Curtis Hill, offered Keith a plea deal which would give him an immediate release, rather than waiting months or years for the retrial. All Keith had to do was admit his guilt for a crime he didn’t commit. Keith’s wife and children were about to become homeless, so what else could Keith do? What would you do? Keith has been living with the stigma and real limitations of being a convicted felon ever since.

And now, Governor Mike Pence, Trump’s Vice-Presidential running mate, refuses to provide justice to Keith Cooper, even after admitting Cooper’s innocence. In an ongoing battle to remove his felony status, Mr. Pence finally responded…by delaying a decision. His reasoning?

“Although the judicial system may not be perfect, given the extraordinary nature of Mr. Cooper’s request, we need to be certain the judicial process is complete and has been given every opportunity to address any error that may have occurred."

In other words, he basically doesn’t want to, and goes on to make the absurd argument that no governor has ever pardoned an innocent man.

I keep hearing the argument that, if Rump Dump is elected, he’ll be a figurehead, and Pence will be running things. I don’t believe it, but if it’s true, Pence is no better than Trump. In spite of Republican disingenuous claims to the contrary, Trump and Pence reflect the policies and positions of the Republican Party perfectly.

From The New Yorker: Governor Chris Christie, of New Jersey, called Donald J. Trump a “genius” on Monday for his controversial plan to burn down the White House to collect insurance money.

Appearing on Fox News, Christie said that Trump’s scheme to collect fire-insurance payments on the White House would “make a serious dent” in the national debt.

“It’s not just the White House,” Christie told Fox’s Sean Hannity. “That building is chock-full of priceless antiques, paintings, and rugs, all of which, when burned, would fetch a pretty penny.”

Actually, Andy, it’s a pretty good idea. If Trump becomes President, he’ll destroy the government and the nation so quickly, that there will no longer be a need for a White House.

Cartoon:

I slept well again last night in the cool weather we’re having.  I have a nurse, a social worker, and a trainee visiting me this morning from the Providence Elder at Home Program.  Megan referred them, as she thinks they might have some services for me, like, if I catch the flu, I could see a nurse or PA here rather than suffering long Lift waits when I’m sick.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:55 (average 5:00).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

Short Takes:

From KP Daily Funnies: Dany Targaryen’s first political speech

We may be hearing from Rump Dump’s next wife.

From Daily Kos: Tell me you are conservative.  Tell me you are Christian. Tell me you are Republican. Tell me any of these things, and I won’t make too many assumptions about you. Sure, I may assume you go to church every Sunday, eat red meat, and get most of your news from Fox and Friends, but beyond that, I will withhold judgment on the kind of person you are until I get to know you. In fact, as a Southern white male veteran who lives in a very rural area, most of the people in my circles are of the right-leaning variety. I can attest that most people are fairly decent when you get to know them.

This equation changes when you tell me unequivocally that you are voting for Trump. Instantly, I know there are certain things about you and your character that I can assume that I wouldn’t if you told me you supported any other GOP candidate. Ain’t none of them good.

Tell me you are a strong Trump supporter, then you are telling me:

1.  You want to be ruled, not governed.

The single trait that predicts the Trump supporter has nothing to do with race, income, or education. A researcher at the University of Massachusetts found that the top predictor of whether a voter supports Trump is his or her proclivity towards authoritarianism.

Authoritarians obey. They rally to and follow strong leaders. And they respond aggressively to outsiders, especially when they feel threatened. From pledging to “make America great again” by building a wall on the border to promising to close mosques and ban Muslims from visiting the United States, Trump is playing directly to authoritarian inclinations.

So spare me your lectures about market freedoms or any constitutional rights you claim to hold dear. You want a dictator in the style of Putin, which pretty much makes you anti-American.

I shared one of the seven things and, and it’s quite astute. The other six are spot-on defining traits that are just as deplorable. Click through.

From NY Times: Outlining a timetable for Britain to leave the European Union in the spring of 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday put immigration at the center of her strategy for withdrawal, suggesting that Britain could be headed for a “hard Brexit,” or clean break, from the bloc.

In a speech at the start of the Conservative Party’s annual convention here, Mrs. May said Britain would formally begin exit negotiations by the end of March. Those talks will be governed by a two-year deadline unless all members of the bloc agree to prolong them.

Previously, Mrs. May had said only that the talks, under Article 50 of a European Union treaty, would not begin before the end of this year — a delay designed to buy time for the government to work out its negotiating stance.

On Sunday, Mrs. May also began to lay down her priorities for a deal on withdrawal, known as Brexit, including the power to control immigration and reject European Union rules that allow people to move and settle across national frontiers.

I hope that the sane people in UK can get the xenophobic, Republican-equivalent BRIDIOTS out of power, before they do irreparable damage to both the UK and the EU.

Cartoon:

Wendy just left.  After de-stinking the TomCat, we changed George’s rubber sleeve that rolls onto Stumpy.  Then we played with it to get the correct angle for the pin to lock.  Then we took a walk in the hallway.  This was the first time I’ve done that, since before my eye cancer surgery, so I walked only 100 feet, with Wendy pushing my chair behind.  Then we swept and mopped the floors, reorganized the freezer and shelves and cleaned the counters and sills.  We made a several day container of spaghetti with sauce, meat, sausage and veggies.  Finally we made eggs and hash browns for lunch.  She was amused that, when I went to see Megan and was weighed, I had successfully transferred two pounds of fat from my butt to hers.  I call that The Southern Exposure Project.  While writing, I am also meditating on the holy Ellipsoid Orb.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:46 (average 4:24).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Montreal Gazette (Hat-Tip Squatch): …It turns out some Canadians, after watching months of bombastic campaigning south of the border, are mobilizing to do something — anything — to stop Trump.

“Donald Trump poses a serious threat to our world,” said Glyn Lewis, co-founder of a group called Canadians Rallying Against Trump (CRAT) that was officially launched Tuesday.

“As good neighbours, and global citizens, we can’t sit idle. Not when the election is this close.”

Click through for a great read. That’s CRAT against CRAP, eh?

From KP Daily Funnies: SNL: 1st Clnton-Trump Debate

Alec is a good actor, but nobody is good enough to convey evil in that magnitude.

From Daily Kos:

Amazing. Republican Rep. Darrell Issa spent years wasting millions of dollars in taxpayer money to conduct bogus “investigations” of the Obama administration that never went anywhere. But just like a classic bully—just like his idol, Donald Trump, in fact—he can dish it out but can’t take a punch.

Issa, who represents California’s 49th Congressional District in suburban San Diego, faces his toughest re-election campaign in forever, thanks to Daily Kos-endorsed Democrat Doug Applegate, a retired Marine colonel who, unlike his opponent, isn’t afraid of the rough and tumble. Applegate recently started airing his first TV ad of the race, a hard-hitting spot in which he directly links Issa to Trump. After playing a clip of Trump declaring “I’m really rich. Nobody knows the system better than me,” a narrator explains that Issa likewise “gamed the system to line his own pockets steering millions in taxpayer money to help properties he owned," relying on a very negative 2011 New York Times piece about Issa’s self-dealing for factual support.

So how did Issa react? Like the cowardly whiner that he is, he’s threatening to file a lawsuit alleging that Applegate has defamed him! Seriously, no one in politics ever does this. It’s insane. But Issa’s serious: He even sent the Applegate campaign a draft of his complaint that he’s ready to file in court at a moment’s notice if Applegate doesn’t cower before him.

Here’s the ad.

CA 49th has too long been in thrall to that deplorable Republican, Issa the Assa. We endorse Doug Applegate!

From TPM: In a totally unexpected development, we learn today that back in the early 90s Donald Trump pressured his then-girlfriend, future wife and futurer ex-wife to pose nude in Playboy. Trump even negotiated a mega payday for the nude photo shoot.

Trump personifies the Republican view of women. They are chattel to be exploited for pleasure and profit.

Cartoon:

Flashing back to 2013, when Republicans celebrated shutting down the US government.