Politics Plus

Yesterday Lu came for the last time.  She was about four hours late, but getting the day right was an improvement.  So I’m a perfumed puddy tat.  My groceries came.  I put them away.  I also did the dreaded task!   Tomorrow I have an appointment with a Retinal Ophthalmologist to check out my choroidal nevi.  The appointment will take three hours, and I’ll be unable to use a computer afterwards until late tomorrow night.  So expect only a Personal Update, please.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:51 (average 4:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos:  When Scott Walker came into office, he claimed that he had no interest in trying to get “Right to Work” laws passed. Unfortunately for the people of Wisconsin, Scott Walker is a liar and a terrible person. In fact, he and his fellow Republican legislators introduced an ALEC inspired written bill making Wisconsin a Right to Work state. Since the bill was signed into law, Wisconsin’s workforce has diminished by at least 10,000. Wisconsin is hemorrhaging jobs because Right to Work laws don’t have anything to do with generating living wage jobs, or much in the way of real work, at all. Three unions filed lawsuits against the bill, arguing that the law posed an unconstitutional seizure of union property, and on Friday they received some good news:

Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust agreed. He said the law amounts to the government taking union funds without compensation since under the law they must represent people who don’t pay dues. That presents an existential threat to unions, Foust wrote.

"While (union) losses today could be characterized by some as minor, they are not isolated and the impact of (the law) over time is threatening to the unions’ very economic viability," he wrote.

This judgement, [sic] calling the law unconstitutional on the grounds that it is an “existential threat,” could have some far-reaching ramifications in the many Republican-backed legislatures that really want to put the screws to the working folk of this country. The importance of this ruling also means that there will be further appeals.

This issue is far from settled, but any day the Koch-sucking Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan takes a loss at any level is a better day for America.

From Real Clear Politics:

Polling Data

It looks like the Religious Reichsfuhrer of the Theocratic Republican Dictatorship of McCrorystan is also experiencing backlash from his hatred and bigoted policies.

From TPM: Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, will not be prosecuted in Florida for battery after he allegedly manhandled a reporter, Politico reported on Wednesday night, citing unnamed sources.

CNN also reported that Lewandowski will not be prosecuted early Thursday morning, citing unnamed sources.

What a travesty!  Don’t get me wrong!  I have no bias favoring his victim.  The reporter he assaulted worked for Breitfart, a source for which I have so little regard, that I refuse to embed links to it.

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I’m waiting for Lu to come for her last appointment.  I have found a certified replacement through the Oregon Home Care Commission.  She starts Saturday, and assuming we get along, she’ll be long term.  I have a big grocery order coming today, that I’ll need to put away.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:32 (average 4:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: No one in the United States has taken note of the total disappearance of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who vanished from view several weeks ago.

In interviews with residents across the country, few if any Americans displayed interest in, or concern about, the whereabouts of Christie, who, until he disappeared, had been a once-prominent political figure.

“I hadn’t really thought about him until you mentioned it,” said Trenton resident Carol Foyler, echoing the opinions of many others in the Garden State.

“Huh,” she added.

Great catch Andy!! PIGnocchio has disappeared, and that’s a LOT of disappearing! What diet was he on?

From Daily Kos: A Beaumont, Texas, high school teacher was arrested last week after video emerged online of her smacking a student. Here’s the video:

Here we have another demonstration of Republican education.

From Crooks and Liars: With Ted Cruz battling it out for the Republican nomination with Donald Trump, it seems like a good time for SuperPAC head and fake historian David Barton to take a break and teach Americans how to "take back" their country, right?

And that is what he’s doing, according to Right Wing Watch.

Barf Bag Alert!!

I won’t say that’s Dominionist Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian policy from the horse’s mouth. It’s Dominionist Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian policy from the horses ass.

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Yesterday, Sarah, my Prosthetist, checked out George.  She ordered a new part to stabilize his ankle, and I’ll have to go back when it comes in.  I had to go to the bank, because I discovered over $100.00 was missing from my desk drawer.  I know it was there on Saturday, and only one other person had been in the apartment since.  So I need to get another shower aide.   I’m disappointed, but not angry.  Desperate people do desperate things, and the money I had lent her was used up.  I’ll tell her tomorrow that it is her last day.  I really needed to make the change anyway, because I have not had both weekly showers on time since January, when she moved out of the building, where I used to live.  I need to deal with people who add stability to my life, not destabilize it.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:38 (average 6:48).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The war of words between the two Democratic camps heated up over the weekend, as the Clinton campaign accused Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders of “blatantly attempting to win the Democratic nomination for President.”

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Clinton campaign spokesman Harland Dorrinson said that Sanders’s actions in the past few weeks “left little doubt as to what his true intentions are—namely, to be the Party’s nominee.”

“He’s been raising money, he’s been running in primaries, and, yes, he’s been winning caucuses,” the Clinton aide said. “It’s time for Bernie Sanders to come clean with the American people and admit what he’s really up to.”

“It’s deeply troubling that what appeared at first to be a purely symbolic candidacy has turned into something else entirely,” he said.

In an interview on CNN, Secretary Clinton said that she would not “take the bait” when she was asked whether she thought Sanders was trying to win the nomination, but she stopped short of disavowing the accusation.

Dang, Andy!! Does Bernie have chutzpah or what?!!? The Nerve!! How dare he try to win Hillary’s nomination!!

From Daily Kos: Vox is calling for a boycott of using any paid TurboTax product. So am I. If you’ve already filed, don’t use them again. If you haven’t yet filed, I urge you to use a different service, like Jackon Hewitt or TaxSlayer. Or go to an independent accountant.  

The reason, to put it bluntly, is that Intuit, the company that owns TurboTax, has teamed up with Grover Norquist to ensure that paying your taxes is as painful an ordeal as possible.

Intuit has spent over 13 million dollars to lobby AGAINST efforts to make taxes less complicated. After all, if taxes were made simple, then why would you need to shell out big bucks to use their convoluted system? (along with their ever-increasing fees.)

One such effort they oppose is so common-sense that even conservatives are having a hard time making the case against it. (But it’s not stopping them.) It’s called a "Simple Return." Essentially, the onus would be on the IRS, not you, for filling out the tax forms.

You see, the IRS gets all of the same forms in the mail that you do. They already know what you owe, so they would be required to send you a pre-filled out tax return telling you how much you owe (or, if you overpaid, how much you will get back). With one check of the box, you could either accept it, or simply say "No Thanks" and do the taxes yourself. It’s just an option.

I support Vox in this. I use TaxAct.

From Alternet: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has declared April "Confederate Heritage Month," which has rightfully angered many residents in the state, “especially since the governor refuses to mention what the Civil War was really about—slavery,” The Young Turks co-host Ana Kasparian pointed out on Tuesday.

I guess that means Mississippi is now celebrating Republican Racism Month.

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