While not completely painless, yesterday’s repairs were successful. The culprit was CKEditor, which has always given me compatibility issues that I could work around, until now. In some ways, I prefer ARK, which is an improved front end for either CKEditor or TinyMCE, and I configured it for the latter. It gives all commenters features that only administrators used to have. However, we did lose the ability to change fonts and sizes. I’ll look for a fix when time permits.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:48 (average 5:11). To do it, click here. How dod you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Republican lawmaker Steve Scalise, who has made a career of “protecting” “traditional” marriage in the House, and the rest of his gay bashing caucus, can thank their lucky stars for the brave actions of same sex married Law Enforcement Officer Crystal Griner and Patrolman David Bailey, two AA Capitol Police Officers who took on the deranged gunman yesterday.
But also in fairness, Scalise has been a leading opponent on the Hill of marriage rights for gay couples as a look at his record shows.
Scalise-
Authored constitutional amendment to protect marriage. (May 2008)
Voted NO on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. (Feb 2013)
Amend Constitution to define traditional marriage. (Jun 2008)
Protect anti-same-sex marriage opinions as free speech. (Sep 2013)
State definition of marriage supersedes federal gay marriage. (Feb 2014)
Will Scalise now “evolve” on this issue now that he owes Crystal, and her wife, his life?
In a word… No, Nevertheless, I wish him a complete recovery, followed by a 2018 election loss RESIST!!
From NY Times: The Department of Education is scaling back investigations into civil rights violations at the nation’s public schools and universities, easing off mandates imposed by the Obama administration that the new leadership says have bogged down the agency.
According to an internal memo issued by Candice E. Jackson, the acting head of the department’s office for civil rights, requirements that investigators broaden their inquiries to identify systemic issues and whole classes of victims will be scaled back. Also, regional offices will no longer be required to alert department officials in Washington of all highly sensitive complaints on issues such as the disproportionate disciplining of minority students and the mishandling of sexual assaults on college campuses.
What else would we expect from DeVos, Trump, and the Republican Party? RESIST!!
From Oregon Live: Rainbow flags, drag queens, family ties: A visual history of Portland’s Pride Parade
Click through for some great pics. Here in Portland the annual Pride Parade is tomorrow, and it will pass first four blocks west and then three blocks north of my place. Kudos to the marchers. RESIST!!
This is today’s only article from me. The good news is that I seem to have recovered from Republicosis. The bad news is that the blog caught it. I went to update the poll this morning, and went to the administrators’ page that I always use to edit the sidebar widgets. It is blank. That means we have a conflict, between one of our plugins and WordPress, between two of our plugins, or between our theme and WordPress. I’m going to have to deactivate all our plugins and add them back one at a time until I find the culprit. During the process, the blog will be changing rapidly in appearance and function, so please be patient, and know that you are not the cause of this. At worst I may need to rebuild from scratch with far fewer bells and whistles. I needed this like America needs Trump! ARGH!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:23 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
I have nothing against men. I am one. I would not want 13 women to make decisions on my absolute need to scratch certain itches, and 13 well-intended progressive men, let alone 13 Republican misogynists, must not be allowed to make decisions on women’s health needs. RESIST!!
The Red Queen should sue over her comparison to the Fuhrer. RESIST!!
From Exposed by CMD: This year’s legislative season saw a strong push in the states from right-wing groups, bankrolled by the Koch brothers and other ultra-conservative billionaires, hoping to convene a national constitutional convention in order to inject rigid fiscal constraints into our country’s founding document. Advocates of a federal “balanced budget amendment” (BBA) picked up two more states, Wyoming and Arizona, in their drive to win the 34 resolutions needed to bypass Congress and convene a convention to propose changes to the U.S. Constitution.
That momentum, however, was blunted by surprisingly successful campaigns to rescind convention calls in three states, New Mexico, Maryland, and Nevada. As a result, BBA proponents now claim 27 states in their column, down from 28 at the beginning of the year.
Two steps forward and three steps back…from the brink of a political experiment untried since 1787.
Click Through. A Constitutional Convention of, by, and for Republican Koch Suckers would be an unmitigated disaster. RESIST!!
Please pardon my brevity I have been a slave to Republicosis for most of the day and have had very little sleep. The goal is to publish, dry up, and sleep as soon and as much as I can.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 6:47 (average 8:57). To do it, click here. How did you do?
While I agree with Van and reject trickle down justice, our support for civil rights cannot be to exclude all else. Absolute refusal to compromise breeds only extremists, like the Bernie or Bust Bot killer that wouldn’t even listen to Bernie. RESIST!!
Adam Entous, national security reporter for the Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about breaking news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Donald Trump for possible obstruction of justice in the firing of James Comey.
Obstruction of Justice is clearly a great way to proceed against Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten. I don’t see how Mueller could reach any other conclusion. RESIST!!
From NY Times: …The latest charges reached farther than before into Michigan’s state government, affecting two cabinet-level officials in the administration of Gov. Rick Snyder and leaving open the possibility that the investigation would go higher still.
Nick Lyon, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office, felonies that could lead to as much as 20 years in prison. Dr. Eden V. Wells, the chief medical executive for the department, was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a peace officer, and could face up to seven years if convicted. They are among 15 current and former state and local officials facing criminal charges as a 17-month investigation into Flint’s tainted water supply continues.
The charges need to be more severe and need to include Snyder. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
Today’s Republicans would arrest Ben for committing science.
What a day! When I was in the hospital I had to buy one thing online with my credit card, and it was hacked from the hospital guest network. US Bank caught the first bogus attempt to use it immediately, froze the card, and will have a replacement in my hands by Monday. Their service is great, but I charge so many things, that I shall have to update a bunch of vendors, and it’s a huge pain in the ass. Having to reschedule my surgery was a brain fart. I thought my preliminary appointment was next Thursday. I was wrong. It was tomorrow, and I’m not that far healed yet. So it’s on for Tuesday, 7/18. My bowels have still not settled down. I had three days or Republicitis, attacked per doctor’s orders with ever increasing doses of Dulcolax and stool softener. The breakthrough came this morning. Instant Republicosis! Who would have ever believed that so much shit could fit into one person!!! ARGH!! My friend Sandi, with whom I do volunteer work, will be here to visit in about fifteen minutes. Store to Door is coming with my grocery order. And Wendy comes this evening to de-stink the very stinky TomCat. This will be my only article today. What a day!! (Later: I had a good visit with my friend.)
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:42 (average 4:50). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Sorry about the Morning Joe pollution at the end. The rest of KKK Beauregard’s testimony can be summarized in three words: "I won’t say." RESIST!!
From Daily Kos: As a team composed of Republican Congressman and staffers were practicing baseball at a field near Alexandria, VA, a shooter fired into the field, wounding Congressman Steve Scalise, along with a Congressional staffer and two Capitol Police officers.
The shooter was apparently a white male. According to Congressman Jeff Flake, the shooter was “in his 40s, maybe 50,” white, with dark hair. Several observers noted that he was wearing a blue shirt.
At least two Congressman have reported that they spoke with the man they believed to be the shooter before the incident, with Congressman Jeff Duncan reporting that the man asked if the team practicing was Democrats or Republicans. However, Democrats practice at another field. Multiple Republicans had this morning’s practice, which is preparation for a charity game, noted on their calendars. So it’s likely the shooter would not have arrived on the field, armed, without knowing which team was present.
This is not the way to resist, so I trust this was not a Democrat. However, it was only a matter of time before disgruntled Republican Ammosexuals opened the season on their Congress critters. RESIST!!
From NY Times: In 2016, the Democratic Party lost the presidency to possibly the least popular candidate in American history. In recent years, Democrats have also lost the Senate and House to right-wing Republicans whose extremist agenda is far removed from where most Americans are politically. Republicans now control almost two-thirds of governor’s offices and have gained about 1,000 seats in state legislatures in the past nine years. In 24 states, Democrats have almost no political influence at all.
If these results are not a clear manifestation of a failed political strategy, I don’t know what is. For the sake of our country and the world, the Democratic Party, in a very fundamental way, must change direction. It has got to open its doors wide to working people and young people. It must become less dependent on wealthy contributors, and it must make clear to the working families of this country that, in these difficult times, it is prepared to stand up and fight for their rights. Without hesitation, it must take on the powerful corporate interests that dominate the economic and political life of the country.
There are lessons to be learned from the recent campaign in Britain. The Conservatives there called the snap election with the full expectation that they would win a landslide. They didn’t. Against all predictions they lost 13 seats in Parliament while Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party won 32. There is never one reason elections are won or lost, but there is widespread agreement that momentum shifted to Labour after it released a very progressive manifesto that generated much enthusiasm among young people and workers. One of the most interesting aspects of the election was the soaring turnout among voters 34 or younger.
The British elections should be a lesson for the Democratic Party. We already have among the lowest voter turnout of any major country on earth. Democrats will not win if the 2018 midterm election turnout resembles the unbelievably low 36.7 percent of eligible voters who cast ballots in 2014. The Democrats must develop an agenda that speaks to the pain of tens of millions of families who are working longer hours for lower wages and to the young people who, unless we turn the economy around, will have a lower standard of living than their parents.
Bernie Sanders makes several valid points here. RESIST!!
I got tangled in medical mayhem, had to reschedule my cataract surgery, and am way behind schedule.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): Donald Trump’s Odd Obsession with "Hookers" | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
Spot-on! Putin’s Piddle Pervert needs a shower to feel golden. RESIST!!
From All In: T1/T2: Schumer perfectly lampoons Trump cabinet meeting
The best response to President Trump’s first cabinet meeting, where members showered him with compliments, came from New York Senator Chuck Schumer.
LOL! Kudos to Schumer. RESIST!!
From TPM: Voter databases and software systems in an overwhelming number of states—39 to be exact—were targeted by Russian cyberattacks over the summer and fall of 2016, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
That number, and Bloomberg’s revelation that hackers attempted to delete or alter voter data in Illinois and successfully accessed a campaign finance database in another state, indicates that Russian’s election interference was even more vigorous than has previously been reported.
It builds on a NSA document leaked to The Intercept and made public last week that offered hard evidence that Russian meddling involved not only the strategic hacking and distribution of campaign communications, but efforts to interfere with America’s election infrastructure.
This in itself should invalidate the election. RESIST!!
Well the Cat is back! Although he posted two pieces today, he has to remember to pace himself lest he end up in trouble again. As he said, he is still in some pain and no doubt a little tired from lying around in a hospital bed. TC has medical appointments and eye surgery coming up, so while I will back off a little now, I will be back. Today was a relaxing day for me, such is not the case for the rest of the week. I ate all that good cheese/herb and garlic fococcia so now I don't have any for supper . . . but oh it was sooooooooo good! I have to go out tomorrow so I'll be at Cob's Bakery to get some more. I may not keep my friends but I'll have a happy tummy!
Short Takes
The Hill — Legislation introduced in the House on Monday would prevent President Trump from receiving federally subsidized flood insurance amid warnings that the effects of climate change could cause parts of his Mar-a-Lago resort and other south Florida properties to be underwater in coming years.
An analysis by Coastal Risk Consulting found that the Mar-a-Lago grounds in Palm Beach, Fla., could be under at least a foot of water for 210 days a year because of tidal flooding.
To quote Jackie Gleason, "How sweet it is!" Love the acronym —PARIS! Oregon leads the way?! While I applaud this, it will go nowhere with a Republican Congress.
CBC — Canada's longest-serving chief justice of the Supreme Court will retire from the bench on Dec. 15, 2017.
In a statement sent to reporters Monday, Beverley McLachlin said she would leave the court after serving for 28 years, including 17 years as the presiding judge.
The 73-year-old jurist was appointed by former prime minister Brian Mulroney in 1989. She became the first woman to hold the top job on the country's highest court after she was elevated to chief justice by former prime minister Jean Chrétien in 2000.
"It has been a great privilege to serve as a justice of the court, and later its chief justice, for so many years. I have had the good fortune of working with several generations of Canada's finest judges and best lawyers. I have enjoyed the work and the people I have worked with enormously," McLachlin said. …
Mulroney said Monday his appointee has "performed so well under difficult circumstances," and dismissed criticism from some Conservatives that she has been too activistic in her approach. "She was just doing what the constitutional amendment of 1982 told her to do," he said, speaking of the introduction of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
"I think her greatest achievement probably wasn't a particular case, rather it was that she provided such strong leadership, in a collegial and widely admired fashion across Canada by lawyers, judges and many politicians," he said in an interview Monday on CBC News Network's Power & Politics, adding McLachlin has played a strong leadership role in the "evolution of Canada."
A sad day for the country, but I am sure a good day for McLachlin. I mention this because the Supreme Court of Canada performs quite well, especially when contrasted to SCOTUS. McLachlin was appointed by a Conservative Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, and elevated to Chief Justice by a Liberal Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien.
The Hill — Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) unveiled a proposed article of impeachment Monday against President Trump for allegedly obstructing justice in a federal investigation.
The legislative text argues that Trump’s alleged attempts to pressure since-fired FBI Director James Comey to drop the agency’s investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn amounts to obstruction of justice.
“In all of this, Donald John Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the proposed article of impeachment states. …
“As the investigations move forward, additional evidence supporting additional Articles of Impeachment may emerge. However, as to Obstruction of Justice … the evidence we have is sufficient to move forward now. And the national interest requires that we do so,” Sherman wrote.
It should be noted that the Democratic leadership thinks it is premature. In a related article, The Hillnotes
"We’re still very early in the investigative process.”
Rep. Linda Sánchez (Calif.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Schiff’s view reflects the “overwhelming sentiment” among the Democrats.
“A majority of the Caucus is of the belief that we ought to allow the investigation to continue to its logical conclusion before making any determination,” she told reporters in the Capitol.
From a Reuters piece concerning Preet Bhahara, the fired US Attorney for the Southern District of New York,
Bharara stopped short of saying whether he thought Trump had obstructed justice in his conversations and subsequent firing of Comey.
However, he said he thought there was "absolutely evidence to begin a case" into the matter.
Some caution is warranted. The ducks need to be properly lined up so as not to interfere with any investigation. One thing though, the Democrats have to be united in their actions or suffer the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" as Shakespeare would say.
YouTube — Comey's Testimony – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
I have removed the original video and replaced it with this shorter version. This part is contained in the original. John Oliver offers his take on Comey's testimony with his usual humour.
My Universe
This is especially for Nameless who has trouble getting his puddy into the carrier.
I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, and today is my first full day since before I was hospitalized. It feels good to be back in the saddle, but I bet a buck that I’ll be pooped before my work is done.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s dawg (tomorrow’s lunch?) took me 3:27 (average 4:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Dang!! I’m taking my bag of kitty litter and going into hiding. RESIST!!
From DCReport: Donald Trump told voters he would double economic growth from about 2% annually under Obama to more than 4%.
But Trump’s own planners at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) don’t think that will happen. Using current tax rates, they project that federal tax revenues will grow at a slower pace than under President Obama through 2022, just the opposite of what you’d expect to see if the overall economy was suddenly growing at double the pace of the Obama years. The OMB numbers are presented in a new federal document, not mentioned in other major news organizations’ reporting, and analyzed by DCReport.
A doubling of economic growth to 4% annually would produce a much bigger increase in individual income tax revenues. That’s because as incomes rise so do the rates at which they are taxed. At 4% annual increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) incomes would soar, pushing many people into higher tax brackets on their increased incomes.
Click through for more. As a result, the Trump/Ryan tax cuts to provide welfare for billionaires will cause huge deficits, and Republicans will demand cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. RESIST!!
The number of advertisers on the alt-right site Breitbart.com has dropped 90 percent in recent months, from 242 in March to 26 in May, according to data from MediaRadar, a New York firm that tracks online advertising. Among those that continue to advertise on the site include a gentleman’s club in Northern Virginia, a golf resort near the coast of Spain and the conservative foundation Judicial Watch.
This means that Breitbart has lost over 2,200 advertisers total.
It couldn’t happen to nastier Nazis. Another Alt-Right Nazi site says that Jew advertisers are strangling Breitfart of revenues, I tried to find a list of the last 26, but could not. RESIST!!
I have a major load of tasks to complete today, so today’s update has one short take and little info. I have quite s bit of pain, and am doing my best to keep off the Oxycodone. Head for the hills. I just Reduplicated!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:28 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?
