I’m quite busy today, as I needed another Lona Nap this morning, so please pardon my brevity.  My posting may be limited tomorrow, as I have to go out for labs for my pre-surgery physical.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:49 (average 6:32).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NPR: If Democrats take back the Senate in 2016, they’ll likely have women to thank for it.

The party is likely to have at least six female nominees who are challenging Republican incumbents in their top-targeted states, helping them flip the four seats necessary to take back Senate control, if Democrats hold the White House.

And Democrats believe they have the perfect storm brewing to help them do that — likely the first female presidential nominee coupled with a probable GOP nominee who has a well-documented history of controversial remarks about women.

"With Donald Trump’s toxicity permeating the Republican Party, never has there been a better time for a slate of Democratic women who remain focused on issues rather than insults," said Marcy Stech of EMILY’s List, whose group helps recruit pro-abortion rights women to run for political office.

And if women win in these top-targeted races, they’re on pace to break the current record of 20 women in the Senate. If Democrats run the table, women could make up nearly a quarter of the upper chamber come January 2017.

A woman’s place is in the House, and in the Senate, and if we can’t have Bernie, in the White House.

From OPB: Voters in Oregon are going to the polls Tuesday to vote in their presidential primary along with a host of state and local races. But Oregonians aren’t actually going to the polls because all of the state’s 2.3 million voters get their ballots through the mail.

In a special election in 1996, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden became the first person ever elected to Congress exclusively through a vote-by-mail election. He remains a big fan of the system, which the state adopted for all elections in 2000.

Wyden held a press conference this month at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem to announce a bill that would expand the system nationwide.

“We’re interested in taking the Oregon way, vote-by-mail, into precincts all across America,” he said.

Wyden’s proposal would require all federal elections to be held through the mail. States could still do as they please for state and local races. He’s tried expanding vote-by-mail before to no avail. But he said maybe this year will be different. Wyden points to reports of people standing in line for hours to cast ballots in presidential primaries.

Once again, Oregon leads the way. If the US adopts Sen. Wyden’s proposal, the nation will be better off due to voter convenience, and a paper record.

From PoliticusUSA: In a shameful display, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough did his best to defend Donald Trump’s history of sexism, sexual harassment and misogyny that was uncovered by The New York Times…

…Here are some of the behaviors that Scarborough left out. Trump sexualized his then 16-year-old daughter by asking other men if she was hot. Trump made unwanted advances towards women. Trump engaged in inappropriate physical contact with women. The presumptive Republican nominee was revealed to have demonstrated a consistent pattern of sexual harassment towards women that he had the ability to exert authority or control over.

Barf Bag Alert!!

And MSNBC, the so-called librul network has 20 hours of Morning Jerk every week.

Cartoon:

I’m running way late today, because I overslept this morning, and I still felt so tired, I needed another Lona nap after completing most of my research.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

The light from the Holy Ellipsoid Orb will soon shine forth to bathe the world in blessing!

We have a Live draft which is set for Saturday, Aug 20, 2016 at 1:00pm PDT.  If you played last year, but cannot do so this year, please let me know ASAP.

The new season kicks off on Thursday. September 8, the same way the last one ended. The Panthers will look to exact a measure of revenge for their defeat in Super Bowl 50 over the now Peyton Manning-less Broncos.

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (Classic 3/2016): This November 1922 article about Hitler in the New York Times should be a stark reminder just how dangerous rhetoric can be:

But, several reliable, well-informed sources confirmed the idea that Hitler’s anti-Semitism was not so genuine or violent as it sounded, and that he was merely using anti-Semitic propaganda as bait to catch messes of followers, and keep them aroused, enthusiastic and in line for the time when his organization is perfected and sufficiently powerful to be employed effectively for political purposes.

A sophisticated politician credited Hitler with peculiar political cleverness for laying emphasis and over emphasis on anti-Semitism, saying: “You can’t expect the masses to understand or appreciate your finer real aims. You must feed the masses with cruder morsels and ideas like anti-Semitism. It would be politically all wrong to tell  them the truth about where you really are leading them.”

I’m not saying a Trump presidency would lead to mass genocide on the scale of the Holocaust. But, his rhetoric is already dangerous.

Does that sound like the lies that fascist Republicans are spewing about Rump Dump or what?

From NW Herald: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is abolishing the agency that currently investigates police misconduct and replacing it with a civilian department he said will have more independence and resources to do its work.

Emanuel’s announcement late Friday came a month after a task force recommended the move in a report that said police in the nation’s third-largest city have “no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color” and have alienated blacks and Hispanics for decades by using excessive force and honoring a code of silence.

The Task Force on Police Accountability had recommended replacing the “badly broken” Independent Police Review Authority, or IPRA, with a “new and fully transparent and accountable Civilian Police Investigative Agency.”

Dang!! That sure doesn’t sound like Rahmbo, He must be desperate to save his job to behave so far out of character.

From Crooks and Liars: Don’t look for old Stabby Ben to pull a Cheney and pick himself as Drumpf’s running mate, but he did give us a preview of who may be on his short list, and oh joy, and it includes the Quitta’ from Wasilla:

SNL had fun with Rump Dump’s VP search.

If Rump Dump actually picked Bloody Bullseye Barbie, aka Drill Baby Dingbat, I would have just two words: Woooo Hoooo!!

Cartoon:

I’m getting a late start, because it’s shower day.  Julie just came, so I’m a spit-shined puddy tat, and I’ve taken my fair share of abuse from Killer Dawg.  George is much more stable with his new ankle, and the pain I was feeling came from a crease that had formed in his lining.  It was digging into Stumpy.  Sarah removed the crease and Velcro’d the lining into place, so I don’t crease it again.  Both George and Stumpy are pleased,  I’m going to try to rest this weekend, as I have three days of medical appointments next week,

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:12 (average 5:02).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: CNBC interviewed Target’s CEO Brian Cornell on Wednesday and discussed the company’s liberal stance against discriminatory laws like North Carolina’s HB2. Target now is experiencing a massive backlash and boycott by an anti LGBTQ conservative organization called American Family Association. It’s reported that AFA has 1.2 million signatures on its petition — people pledging to not shop at Target stores because of the retail chain’s pro-LGBTQ position.

Brian Cornell is not only unabashed and unapologetic about his company’s support of transgender and pro-LGBTQ rights, he doubles down on the decision with no indication of changing his mind.

Major Kudos to Target.  It’s a better place to shop than Wal-Fart.

From YouTube (Jeff Merkley Channel): Merkley: Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground

Once again, Sen. Jeff Merkley and Oregon lead the way. Keep it in the ground!

From NY Times: The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced on Friday that it had imposed sweeping controls on the distribution of its products to ensure that none are used in lethal injections, a step that closes off the last remaining open-market source of drugs used in executions.

More than 20 American and European drug companies have already adopted such restrictions, citing either moral or business reasons. Nonetheless, the decision from one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturers is seen as a milestone.

“With Pfizer’s announcement, all F.D.A.-approved manufacturers of any potential execution drug have now blocked their sale for this purpose,” said Maya Foa, who tracks drug companies for Reprieve, a London-based human rights advocacy group. “Executing states must now go underground if they want to get hold of medicines for use in lethal injection.”

In other words, if states want to murder prisoners for breaking the law, they will not be able to do so without breaking the law themselves. Sadly, for red states, like Texas, Oklahoma, and other states dominated by the Pro-Death Party, breaking the law is part of their normal modus operandi for law enforcement.

Cartoon:

Originally posted in 2012.  Far more urgent today.

I have to say one positive thing about Rump Dump Trump.  Even Bloody Bullseye Barbie, aka Drill Baby Dingbat, has fallen way short of Rump Dump’s ability to present himself as a target sufficiently worthy of ridicule to guarantee full employment for America’s comics.  And some of them use their humor for excellent political commentary, such as Samantha Bee, Bill Maher, and in this case, Jon Stewart.

Oh, how we miss Jon Stewart being on our television every evening. Jon Stewart was interviewed on The Axe Files, David Axelrod’s podcast interview show. Axelrod’s show is pretty good as his access to guests from Nancy Pelosi to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, and the respect he’s earned for being President Barack Obama’s Chief Campaign Strategist, gives his shows a certain gravitas. The interview covered quite a few topics but, being both political animals, it was only a matter of time before they spoke about Donald Trump (about two minutes). Axelrod made the joke that Stewart, when retiring from the Daily Show, had said that he had seen quite a few elections and the one coming up wasn’t going to be any “different.” This gets a laugh from the audience but Stewart isn’t laughing because he does not think there’s anything new about Trump.

I mean we talk about it like it’s something incredibly different, but in truth, how different is it, really? The media, as usual [is] focused on the wrong things and abdicating responsibility for the general filtration of toxicity. You have enormous amounts of money flowing into crazy people who are channeling populism of years past. I mean, if you took Sarah Palin’s head and jammed it on Trump’s body, would it make any more sense?

Stewart spoke initially about the traditional media’s inability to cover the veracity of Trump’s statements…

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Here’s the video:

When the phone rings at 3:00 AM, and France is threatening to cut off the supply of his favorite hair tonic, do you really want this man-baby to have access to the nuclear football?

Vote Blue No Matter Who!!