I’m writing for tomorrow, and feeling as though I have  a hangover from getting sleep.  I’m heading into another busy week, ending with a Board Meeting at my place on Saturday.  Between now and then, I need to do taxes for myself and for my volunteer organization.  A good pest control company can handle Norway Rats and roof rats, but God save us from bureaucrats!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took us 3:38 (average 4:31).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (Hat-Tip to JL A at Care2): My Cat’s Number One Priority is His Own Needs.

Geoffrey has a routine. As cats go, and I have had many, he’s the most routine-driven feline I have ever met. He’s deeply conservative that way. If I’m not up by 7am, he sees to it that I am and then flumpity flump down the stairs to the door. Out he goes just long enough for me to freshen his food and water, which I have paid for. He doesn’t care if I have to pee first, or forgot to put out the garbage on garbage day, he has his routine and nobody is going to change it. The next thing he does is come in and eat that food, that FREE food, and he’s smug and entitled when he does it. He then makes a commentary on his human companion:

The author on to to describe a list of reasons why he knows his cat is a Republican. Click through. How horrid! Now as attached as I am to my own kitty dingles, I really hate to wish the big snip on any cat. However, unless yours is a DemoCAT, take it to the vet to be neutered!!

From The New Yorker: By a five-to-four decision, the United States Supreme Court today defended the right of the wealthiest Americans to own the United States government.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts summarized the rationale behind the Court’s decision: “In recent years, this Court has done its level best to remove any barriers preventing the wealthiest in our nation from owning our government outright. And while the few barriers that remained were flimsy at best, it was high time that they be shredded as well.”

Citing the United States Constitution, Justice Roberts wrote, “Our founding fathers created the most magnificent democracy in human history. Now, thanks to this decision, the dream of owning that democracy is a reality.”

This time, Andy’s satire is so accurate that tears are a more appropriate response than laughter.

From NY Times: After months of wincing in the face of negative ads funded by the industrialists David and Charles Koch, Democrats believe they have finally found a way to fight back: attacking the brothers’ sprawling business conglomerate as callous and indifferent to the lives of ordinary people while pursuing profit and power.

By drawing public attention to layoffs by subsidiaries of Koch Industries across the country — a chemical plant in North Carolina, an oil refinery in Alaska, a lumber operation in Arkansas — Democrats are seeking to make villains of the reclusive billionaires, whose political organizations have spent more than $30 million on ads so far to help Republicans win control of the Senate.

Portraying the Koch Brothers as villains is functionally equivalent to portraying The College of Cardinals as Catholics, or portraying bears as woods-shitters.

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, and feeling the need to confirm that I still exist.  The training went well.  I didn’t learn much, but more than anything, I’m making what I do official, although I’ve been doing it as a “guest” for years.  The next step is an institution-specific orientation, that will be sometime in the next two months.  A couple weeks after that, I get my access card.  The trip to and fro went much quicker.  I listened to an audio book (Shogun) on my Kindle.  I stayed at a Super 8, which was far better than the horrid experience I had at Motel 6 that last time down.  The only problem was a runaway alarm clock that woke me at 5:30 AM and told me it was 7:00 AM.  Even the continental breakfast was quite good.  However, on a scale of 1 to ten, I’m still quite pooped.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:53 (average 4:26).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Tuesday’s announcement by President Obama that 7.1 million people have signed up for Obamacare set off a firestorm of controversy among opponents of math in the U.S. Congress.

Representative Michele Bachmann, a leading member of the anti-math caucus, told reporters, “Throughout the debate on Obamacare, there has been a tacit agreement to leave math out of it. Today, President Obama broke that agreement.”

Senator John Barrasso, an anti-math Republican from Wyoming, agreed. “It’s very disappointing to see the President use arithmetic for political purposes,” he said.

I have a few of Andy’s pieces in reserve now.  Andy’s humor aside, we know Republicans are anti-math, because of their policy of minority-rule, while they are in the minority.

From NY Times: A push to give legal status to young undocumented immigrants who serve in the military is roiling the immigration debate in the House, dividing Republicans and reviving some movement toward substantive immigration legislation this year.

Republican advocates of loosening immigration laws are moving to attach the measure to the annual defense policy bill. It would offer a path to permanent residency for undocumented immigrants who came to the country before the age of 15 and enlist in the military. But they are running into vociferous opposition from anti-immigration hard-liners.

This may result in more conflict between Republicans trying to hide their racism and Republicans bragging about theirs.

From Crooks and Liars: Confession: If I could have reached through the monitor and slapped Rand Paul, I would have. Since I couldn’t do it in real life, I’m going to do it virtually.

All day long, Fox News has been slamming the enrollment numbers announced by the Obama administration. Rand Paul’s appearance was just icing on the ignorance cake. [Idiot size BARF BAG ALERT!!]

Everything Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot said was based on lies. The article goes on to debunk them. Click Through.

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, and this is last article until after I return from my volunteer training.  I will be off the grid, as there will be no time to even set up a computer, while I’m away.  I spent the day running errands, preparing my material and packing,  Although I had little time for research, I think I have some interesting material for you.  I will post missed puzzles with my next Open Thread or Personal Update.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:31 (average 5:25).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Accusing them of involvement in “a widespread conspiracy to save President Obama’s failed health-care program,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) today subpoenaed the approximately seven million Americans who have signed up for Obamacare so far.

Arguing that the impressive enrollment numbers “don’t pass the smell test,” the House Oversight Committee chairman told reporters, “Any rational person would come to the same conclusion that I have: namely, that this is a well-orchestrated conspiracy of seven million people trying to make Obamacare look good.”

The California Republican said that the seven million co-conspirators targeted by his subpoenas would be required to travel to Washington to testify before his committee or risk being found in contempt of Congress.

Andy’s great satire aside, I wouldn’t put it past him. Darrell Issa jerk!!

From Daily Kos: Wow! According to an analysis of financials for Hobby Lobby. Reporters for Mother Jones discovered $73 million in mutual funds with investments in the companies that manufacturer contraceptives including emergency contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices, and drugs used to perform abortions.

Documents filed with the Department of Labor and dated December 2012—three months after the company’s owners filed their lawsuit—show that the Hobby Lobby 401(k) employee retirement plan held more than $73 million in mutual funds with investments in companies that produce emergency contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices, and drugs commonly used in abortions. Hobby Lobby makes large matching contributions to this company-sponsored 401(k).

Several of the mutual funds in Hobby Lobby’s retirement plan have holdings in companies that manufacture the specific drugs and devices that the Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby, is fighting to keep out of Hobby Lobby’s health care policies: the emergency contraceptive pills Plan B and Ella, and copper and hormonal intrauterine devices.

They deny women, but take the money. How do you spell Republican? H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E!!

From NY Times: The Republican budget for 2015, released Tuesday by Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, will never come close to being law, so it doesn’t have to pretend to be serious. This is a document designed solely to be reduced to a few bullet points so House Republicans can have something to show their most antigovernment voters.

That might work in their most carefully gerrymandered districts, but does the Republican Party really want to coalesce around a budget this destructive to the country’s future: harming the middle class and the poor; undercutting popular safety-net programs, including Medicare and Pell grants; and heaping tax benefits on the rich? Apparently it does, and the full House will probably support it in a few days. Voters should look closely at the details to see if they would choose the same course.

Lyin’ Ryan’s plan to fight poverty is still to take from the poor and give to the rich. Click through to see how his new budget is the same as his old budget, only worse.

Cartoon:

TC signing off with a sore butt, because SCROTUS didn’t use Vaseline.

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I spent the entire morning collecting the data for the Monthly Report.  I still have errands to run.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:03 (average 4:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: It begins at 1:28 when a bunch of young go-getters band together to battle a nationwide stigma. We learn about a neat strategy to get people to vote — called a “dorm storm” — at 4:58. At 9:05, she considers what’s at stake if they lose the battle. And, yup, the moment you were waiting for happens at 10:02. Keep your tissues handy.

…and they call millennials lazy. Pffft.

We need more kids like those!!

From The New Yorker: The casino billionaire and Republican kingmaker Sheldon Adelson met several 2016 G.O.P. candidates available for purchase over the weekend, but decided to buy none of them, Adelson confirmed today.

After hearing speeches by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and several others who were for sale, Mr. Adelson concluded that none of them are worth owning.

“I don’t want to spend millions on another loser,” said Adelson, who purchased both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in 2012.

The casino magnate was scathing in his assessment of the candidates he declined to buy, calling them “a third-rate grab bag of has-beens and dimwits.”

Funny as Andy is with his satire, you can be sure Adelson will buy at least one of them.

From Washington Post: A report by the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that the CIA misled the government and the public about aspects of its brutal interrogation program for years — concealing details about the severity of its methods, overstating the significance of plots and prisoners, and taking credit for critical pieces of intelligence that detainees had in fact surrendered before they were subjected to harsh techniques.

The report, built around detailed chronologies of dozens of CIA detainees, documents a long-standing pattern of unsubstantiated claims as agency officials sought permission to use — and later tried to defend — excruciating interrogation methods that yielded little, if any, significant intelligence, according to U.S. officials who have reviewed the document.

“The CIA described [its program] repeatedly both to the Department of Justice and eventually to Congress as getting unique, otherwise unobtainable intelligence that helped disrupt terrorist plots and save thousands of lives,” said one U.S. official briefed on the report. “Was that actually true? The answer is no.”

Current and former U.S. officials who described the report spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue and because the document remains classified. The 6,300-page report includes what officials described as damning new disclosures about a sprawling network of secret detention facilities, or “black sites,” that was dismantled by President Obama in 2009.

I trust you probably knew this. Now we know that we know. Soon what we know will be officially public. Thank God Obama kept his word and tore it down.  Click through.

Cartoon: