I’m writing for tomorrow, day 74, having just returned from running errands this morning.  I hope you are all avoiding the hurricane, talking care on the roads, and enjoying the holiday weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:’

Today’s took me 3:01 (average 5:07).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Parenting is not for the weak. Most have heard their parents’ courageous stories, but none of that truly makes sense until you have kids of your own. Here’s a beautiful story about a family that redefines what it means to love with courage. One word for the end: heartbreaking.

I was under the impression that Europe had left the US far back in their wake when it comes to equal rights. I’m sad to learn that is not the case.

From The New Yorker: Telling Congress, “It’s O.K., I don’t mind doing everything myself,” President Obama prepared to sign a passive-aggressive executive order on Tuesday.

While the President did not disclose details about the executive order, he told reporters, “I’m sure Congress is busy with a lot of other things and doesn’t want to be bothered with stuff that’s important to me. Really, they shouldn’t give it a moment’s thought. I’m happy to do the work of the entire government myself.”

After news of the President’s passive-aggressive executive order reached Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner prepared a narcissistic reply.

“Instead of signing more executive orders, President Obama needs to recognize that everything that happens in this government must begin and end with me,” he said.

Andy is edging close to the dividing line between satire and reporting news.

From Daily Kos: The chairman of the MFCR (Mississippi Federation of College Republicans), Evan Alvarez, has opted not only to leave his position as College GOP Chairman this week, but he is joining the Republican party’s arch enemy – the Democrats. In a publicly released letter, Alvarez outlines the reasons behind his decision:

I over the last 48 hours or so, I have been in deep thought about the future of MFCR and of the Republican Party. I have come to the conclusion that I no longer want to be the leader of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans. I refuse to simply let people break the rules and think they don’t have to answer for their actions, admit they were wrong, or even apologize. When I ran for Chairman in the spring, I ran to be Chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College REPUBLICANS, not the Mississippi Federation of College "Tea Partiers". Also, I believe that the Republican Party has allowed these groups of extremist to have too much of a voice and because of that, the platform of the Republican Party has shifted too far to the right in my opinion. For example, the drastic cuts on needed federal funding that these groups of Republican extremists support would leave society weak and crippled. [emphasis original]

Click through for the rest of what this hero had to say. Kudos and welcome to the world of the sane, Mr. Alvarez. I trust you will be much less conflicted here.

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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 73, and it’s late in the day, because the last two days tired me out.  I’m pleased to report that, in spite of yesterday’s 97° high here, I had to turn the A/C down a bit, as I was getting chilly.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:08).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker:

By a 5–4 vote on Monday, the United States Supreme Court settled a dispute that Justice Samuel Alito said was “at its core about the rights of women versus the rights of people.”

Writing for the majority, Justice Alito wrote, “It is the duty of this Court, whenever it sees that the rights of people are being threatened, to do our best to safeguard those rights. In this case, it is clear that people’s rights were being threatened by women.”

Acknowledging that some women “might argue that they, too, have some claim to being people,” Justice Alito wrote, “That is an interesting question for another day.”

Brilliance in truth, Andy!

From Upworthy: It’s not exactly something you can learn in under five minutes, but this video will definitely give you a taste of what’s going on in Iraq right now.

This gives some excellent background information on what the Republican Party created in Bush Reich’s failed war for oil and conquest. The video should be more direct in giving them the credit they deserve.

From NY Times: …Failure to act in a few crucial cases could imperil the fragile economic recovery. If Congress cannot reach agreement on spending bills or stopgap funding by Oct. 1, another government shutdown could result. And if Congress and the White House do not quickly find money for the depleted Highway Trust Fund, states could be forced to suspend job-providing road and bridge projects at the height of the construction season in August.

The author goes on to say he thinks they will work it out. Given the current Republican fear of TEAbuggery in the wake of Cantor’s demise, I wouldn’t be too sure. When they wield absurd demands in return for keeping the government running, which they surely will, Obama and the Democrats must accept the damage they are willing to do to America, rather than cave-in.

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Day 72.  I’m writing for tomorrow and waiting for Safeway to deliver groceries sometime within the next four hours.  I spent the morning collecting the data for June’s Monthly Report.  Today my A/C gets it’s first major test, as the forecast is for 98° heat.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:07 (average 5:27).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: If you’re the type, like me, to get super excited about anyone boldly going where no one has gone before, get excited about this. Water astronauts! (OK, OK — aquanauts.) There’s so much earth to explore!

They have built an underwater habitat, they are live-streaming the whole thing, and they’re even getting dreamy actors to visit.

Given the way Republicans are blocking initiatives to combat climate change, living underwater may become a highly valuable skill.

From The New Yorker: Millions of Americans awoke on Monday to the shocking news that a gigantic corporation [Facebook] with unprecedented power over their lives had allegedly abused that power for commercial gain.

Across the United States, stunned consumers were shaking their heads in disbelief after learning that a gargantuan company whose explicit goal is to make as many billions of dollars as possible through any means available would put its own interests ahead of those of its customers.

“It never would have occurred to me that an enormous corporation with the ability to track over half a billion customers would ever exploit that advantage in any way,” said Harland Dorrinson, twenty-nine, a caterer from Albuquerque. “Like a lot of other people, I feel used.”

Andy, I really am surprised, and the Pope really is Hindu, and bears really never, ever shit in the woods.

From Daily Kos: You’d think it would be persuasive to some …

Can you imagine the Republican reaction, if women demanded an "open carry" law for their toys? It would certainly be less dangerous that the ones for guns.

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