Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 83.  I made it home yesterday feeling quite wilted and very sore, because of all the walking, after the therapist put me through a workout.  It was very hot outside, but I took frequent rests and swallows from my water bottle.  I got very little sleep because of muscle pain, but I felt too tired to do research.  Today will be worse, because I will be walking further in the hotter part of a hotter day.  In fact the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory through the 15th.  I hope I can recover sufficiently to research and write tomorrow for Monday.  On a more positive note, I got some good news.  My ID card that allows me to move within the prison without staff supervision to do my volunteer work is in and I can pick it up on my next volunteer day there.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:34 (average 4:26).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Thank goodness it’s cool inside!

I planned on writing this yesterday, as usual, but today, day 81, is already here.  I just ran out of day before I ran out of work I needed to complete.  Now I have to rush as I need to rise early to get to physical therapy.  I researched a second article, but was not happy with it. I trashed it and planned to look for another, but this will have to be it for today.  Tomorrow will depend on how well I hold up being out and about on a 90°+ day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:40 (average 6:13).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: You would think it would be tough for comedian Hari Kondabolu to tie all of these things together in this snappy comedy set on "Conan," but he takes you from Seattle to China to the Garden of Eden like a boss. There’s something for everyone in this, but I personally like it all. What do you think?

In that chess game, the Republican white pawns would try to impeach the black king.

From Daily Kos: I should have known the moment Sarah Palin turned her "attention," generously speaking, to the swelling ranks of refugees at the border that America’s Dumbest Congressman would outdo whatever half-formed conspiracy theory she brought to the party. According to actual congressperson Louie Gohmert, who is a Texas Republican because that goes without saying at this point, immigrant children are flooding across the border to secretly vote for Demmycrats.

Warning: Barf Bag Alert!!

On a scale of one to ten, Louie "Go Go Goose-step" Gohmert is crazy!

From TPM: Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) on Wednesday downplayed the horrible conditions in U.S. Border Patrol detention centers by describing all of the supposed benefits undocumented immigrants are receiving there.

"They belong back with their families. When you look at the lovely way they’re getting treated — they’re getting free health care, free housing, you know, they’re watching the World Cup on big screen TVs," he said on Sean Hannity’s radio show, as recorded by the Huffington Post.

However, photos of the detention centers show immigrants crammed together sitting on cement floors and benches, and locked up in holding cells. Photos provided to the Houston Chronicle by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) show some of the depressing conditions that undocumented immigrants are living in.

Obama has instructed the courts to move child refugees to the head of the line for determination of their refugee status and asked Congress to pass immigration reform and to fund help for the children. Republicans talk of caring for them, but most of their elected officials, like Neugebarfer scream to send them back to the gangs and blame what the gangs do on Obama.

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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 80.  I’m feeling quite tired, because my groceries arrived late, and I had to stay up waiting for them.  They also woke mw calling with a question while they were shopping.  They did nothing wrong, but the timing cost me sleep.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:54 (average 4:22).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Wouldn’t it be amazing if everyone took a stand? Maybe we can all take tips from these boys. A government report came out in France saying "teachers give preferential treatment to male students." So as a protest, the schoolboys deconstructed gender stereotypes in a very visual way. They were met by a counter-protest from an anti-same-sex-marriage group that was already hot under the collar about a new gender equality curriculum introduced in 2014. The curriculum includes teachings on LGBTQ tolerance and gender theory.

Can you imagine the hateful screams from Republicans, if the US had a gender equality curriculum that included LGBT tolerance?

From Daily Kos: One by one, the GOP’s talking points about President Obama’s management of the American economy have fallen by the wayside. Even before he first took the oath of office on January 20, 2009, Republicans were warning about the "Obama Bear Market." Instead, the Dow Jones has more than doubled in value in hitting record highs. Contrary to bogus Republican claims that the Obama stimulus program "did not create a single job" and "made the economy worse," the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and most other observers concluded his American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) boosted GDP, added millions of jobs and prevented "Great Depression 2.0." And with last week’s strong jobs report, the final GOP soundbite—that under President Bush "added jobs for a record 52 straight months"—has now been tossed into the rhetorical dustbin of history.

With word that the U.S. economy added a robust 288,000 jobs in June, the Obama White House noted that the private sector has added 9.7 million jobs over 52 straight months of job growth. If that 52 number sounds familiar, it should.

The "52 straight months" was a highlight of President Bush’s 2008 State of the Union address and has been faithfully regurgitated by Republicans ever since.

The job growth under Bush was slower than it has been in the last 52 months under Obama. The Republican growth was based almost completely on the bad debt created by Republican Banksters. The Republican crash at the end left a net job loss.  The last Republican lie I heard on their bogus record being broken is that Obama cooked the books.

From NY Times: Republicans chose Cleveland on Tuesday for their 2016 national convention, with the hope of appealing to Rust Belt voters who eluded them in the last two presidential elections, and an acknowledgment of the political value of ending the party’s nomination process sooner.

The city edged out Dallas after a review by the Republican National Committee that narrowed the field to the two finalists last week. Both cities aggressively courted party officials, with Dallas presenting cheerleaders and a parade of elephants, and Cleveland turning to the Browns’ first-round draft pick Johnny Manziel, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. The choice must be ratified at a meeting of the full Republican National Committee next month in Chicago.

While each party lost the state where it held its 2012 conventions, Republicans believe holding their convention in a vital swing state will help them from an organizational and message standpoint.

Perhaps Texan Republicans are so divorced from reality that the party does not want them on display, during the event intended to convince middle America that Republican officials and candidates are not the seditious bastards that they actually are.  On the other hand, I think that the author missed one key point. In Cleveland, John Boehner (R-OH), aka Agent Orange, already knows where the best bar and hookers are, saving the party money on research.

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