When I awakened this morning, I felt tired and congested and I have been coughing, so instead of pushing myself, I’m going back to bed. I hope to return tomorrow, Hugs! RESIST!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:35 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
I’m feeling quite tired, so I’ll be brief. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I plan to publish most days this week, but if the forecast holds, I may make a bank run on Tuesday afternoon.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:01 (average 5:33). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Who would Jesus starve? Step aside Pope Francis, because this Texas Republican seems know exactly who:
One lawmaker is citing a godly reference to justify changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Tex.) recently quoted the New Testament to question the strength of current work requirements. […]
House Republicans have historically cited the verse — “if a man will not work, he shall not eat” — as justification for cutting some adults’ SNAP benefits. Arrington referenced the verse in a discussion about increasing the work requirements for unemployed adults on the food stamp program. But critics say that advances a pernicious myth about the unemployed who receive SNAP.
The verse in question applies specifically to people who can work or otherwise contribute to society but choose not to, said theologians from several denominations who spoke to The Post. There is a perception, among some voters and lawmakers, that many adult SNAP recipients are exactly this sort of “freeloader.”
But policy experts say that is not the case. Many unemployed adults on SNAP simply cannot work, they say. Those include the mentally ill, the borderline disabled and veterans.
Remember that these Republican Supply Side pseudo-Christians and authentic Christians have nothing whatsoever in common. Christians emulate the care for others that Jesus said, thought, and did. Republican pseudo-Christians do not and, therefore, are not Christians. RESIST!!
From YouTube: The facts on climate change — and what to do about it
Once upon a time, one could be pro-science, pro-earth, and pro-wildlife from a nonpartisan perspective. If they can help educate the Republican rank and file, more power to them, but I see no way forward without opposition to the Republican Reich, because they are anti-science, anti-earth and anti-wildlife, except for Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten’s wild life in Russian hotel rooms. RESIST!!
From NY Times: The Trump administration is considered the wealthiest in United States history. Here is a look at the value of assets held by some top officials at the time they joined the administration, based on financial disclosure filings.
|
|
|
Value of assets |
|
|
|
Name |
Bottom estimate |
Top estimate |
|
|
Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education |
$579,783,484 |
unknown |
|
|
Wilbur L. Ross Secretary of Commerce |
$326,224,177 |
unknown |
|
|
Gary D. Cohn Director of the National Economic Council |
$252,952,172 |
unknown |
|
|
Jared Kushner Senior adviser to the president for strategic planning |
$241,037,233 |
unknown |
|
|
Rex W. Tillerson Secretary of State |
$239,488,353 |
unknown |
|
|
Reed Cordish Special assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives |
$197,281,047 |
unknown |
|
|
Steven T. Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury |
$154,137,166 |
unknown |
This is the face of fascist plutocracy. Click through for the rest. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
Carrie should be here shortly. I will have no April Fools Day post today, because any notion of support for the Republican Reich is just too obscene for humor. I’m feeling tired and plan to get some rest, but I will harvest Bill Maher’s clips for tomorrow.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:46 (average 4:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Take:
From Daily Kos: Former FBI Special Agent and current Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute Clinton Watts is testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee since the House Republican one is being run by a fucking imbecile who can’t make a decision without the go-ahead from the guy being investigated. Here’s an interesting interaction between Watts and the Intelligence Committee.
Collusion! RESIST!!
Cartoon:
April Fools!
I wasn’t planning to write today, but my appointment did not take much time, and I wanted to tackle the news. Megan refused to refill the Prednisone without seeing me, and I opted not to go in. The stretching it takes to put on George is the worst thing I could do for my chest muscles, and having to spend three hours waiting for will-call lift rides would elevate my stress level. And since I had already spent the night waiting for her front office to get her the message, and I am in not as much pain as I feared, albeit far moré than I’d hoped, I’m rolling the dice that I van get through the weekend without it. Tomorrow will definitely be a short day.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:19 (average 5:16). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Now that the White House realizes it’s bound to a suicide vest known as the "Freedom Caucus," Donald Trump’s aides are on the hunt for Democrats who will help the popular vote loser bring his legislative agenda to fruition.
Under normal circumstances, building a relationship with a Republican president in order to influence legislation might make sense. But these are not normal times. To negotiate with Trump would be to lend credibility to someone who is quite possibly an illegitimate occupant of the Oval Office, has stacked his cabinet with unqualified hacks intended to undercut the very foundation of the federal government, tests the Constitutional limitations of his office at every turn, and who, as our own Laura Clawson pointed out, can’t go two sentences without expelling a lie.
Fat chance!! In the Senate, I think there are only two or three DINOS cowardly enough to goose=step with this Fuhrer. Miserable Manchin [DINO-WV] and Horrid Heitkamp [DINO-ND] even plan to vote FOR Whoresuch. If either is yours, tear them a new one. RESIST!!
From Politico: The road to a Democratic Senate majority in 2018 runs through Texas — yes, Texas.
Facing a grim midterm map, Democrats are desperately trying to put enough GOP-held seats in play to take advantage of Donald Trump’s unpopularity and carve a credible path back to Senate control. The odds are so long that Democrats must pin their hopes on taking out Ted Cruz in the reliably conservative bastion of Texas.
Their first ray of hope is the entry of three-term Rep. Beto O’Rourke — a 44-year-old former hard rock musician and internet entrepreneur who speaks fluent Spanish — into the race on Friday. Though Cruz is universally known, Democrats insist he’s not invincible, pointing to the first-term Republican’s poor polling numbers and prolonged focus on running for president.
And they say O’Rourke is formidable enough that they can make a case to donors that they actually have a shot at winning the state — and the Senate overall.
If Democrats challenge TRUS Pervert Cruse by opposing him with a Howler howls off key, has mange, body odor, and halitosis, that masturbates continuously, and that throws feces at all in range… support the monkey! RESIST!!
From Think Progress: 1. The Trump family’s apparent kleptocracy
Chaffetz told Coppins that he is unconcerned with issues like Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway using her position to urge people to buy Trump’s daughter’s line of jewelry or questions about his son-in-law’s investments.
“I don’t see how that affects the average American and their taxpayer dollars. Just the fact that a staff person’s family is making money? It’s not enough,” he explained. “These other little intrigues about a wealthy family making money is a bit of a sideshow.”
This is the first of five Trump crimes that the House Oversight Committee Chair does not consider worth investigating. Click through for the other four. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
I ran out of meds yesterday. Today some of the congestion and coughing has returned, so I called Megan’s office to see if they will refill my Prednisone prescription. My concern is that the coughing will exacerbate the muscular damage. I still have quite a bit of pain in my ribs, and want to keep it tolerable. Tomorrow morning I have a home visit coming from the agency that pays for around 20% of the care I get from Wendy. I am more disabled than I was a year ago, because of my eyes, so I’m not worried about losing it, until Republican budget cuts reach the state level. Then on Saturday, Carrie will be here filling in for Wendy, instead of Sunday, so my uploads will be abbreviated until Sunday. I’ve decided not to do a Monthly Report for March. First we do not have a full month’s data. Second, after everything, I don’t have enough gas left in my tank to design as new report format for our Analytics.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:20 (average 5:04). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): Could Donald Trump Pass a Sanity Test? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
Why? In a single word, the Lemon Lunatic is a Republican. RESIST!!
From The New Yorker: Representative Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Wednesday that he just spent several days alone in his apartment holding hearings on President Donald J. Trump’s ties to Russia and that those hearings “went really great.”
“Having concluded several days of hearings on my own in my apartment, I am one hundred per cent satisfied that the President had no involvement with the Russians,” Nunes said. “Now it’s time to move on.”
While Nunes would not reveal who testified at the hearings in his apartment, he called their testimony “credible and productive.”
Andy, if he said that, it would not surprise me at all. RESIST!!
From The Rachel Maddow Show: Schiff presses for public hearing for Yates
Congressman Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about resistance by Chairman Devin Nunes to hear from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and the priorities of Democrats on the committee.
I agree with him. The investigation should also contain looking at the quid pro quo, first by the Trump campaign and now by the Trump Reich to compensate Russia for their cooperation. I also think Sally Yates testimony may be critical. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
I’m writing late to be sure to be up for my grocery delivery from Store to Door. Depending on which driver comes, it could be any time between Noon and 3:30 PM. Wendy landed in Denver last night and is driving to Pueblo today. Her sister, Carrie, will come on Saturday to fill in for her, and I’ll get her back a week from today. I run out of meds today so tomorrow we’ll find out how much healing and how much symptom masking has taken place.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:47 (average 4:18). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): Here’s How This Will End for Trump | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
I pray for all his ends but the last, In March 2015, had you told me that Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten would occupy the White House, albeit intermittently, I would have said that your shit level had turned your eyes brown. RESIST!!
From The New Yorker: In a fiercely defiant statement on Tuesday, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, denied that any member of the White House staff has ever worked “in any way, shape, or form” for the benefit of the United States.
Angrily addressing the press corps, Spicer said that any allegations that members of the Trump Administration have ever acted in concert or collusion with the United States are “unequivocally false.”
“At no time during the transition or afterward did any member of the Trump team have meetings, conversations, or any other contacts that furthered the interests of the United States of America,” Spicer said. “In the thousands of communications that took place, the United States never came up even once.”
Dang, Andy!! We already knew that!! RESIST!!
From NY Times: On Tuesday afternoon, while most people were focused on the latest news from the House Intelligence Committee, the House quietly voted to undo rules that keep internet service providers — the companies like Comcast, Verizon and Charter that you pay for online access — from selling your personal information.
The Senate already approved the bill, on a party-line vote, last week, which means that in the coming days President Trump will be able to sign legislation that will strike a significant blow against online privacy protection.
The bill not only gives cable companies and wireless providers free rein to do what they like with your browsing history, shopping habits, your location and other information gleaned from your online activity, but it would also prevent the Federal Communications Commission from ever again establishing similar consumer privacy protections.
That is an intolerable violation of our First and Fourth Amendment rights. I recommend using anonymous Domain Name Servers (DNS), instead of the ones provided by your ISP. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
And I thought progressives had finally won.
Wendy is on the way now and will be here, before I can finish this. I slept very well last night for the first time in weeks, but I want to keep it light to avoid stressing myself, so this is today’s only article.
Wendy is gone, and I took time out to write a letter to the Parole Board for one of my guys for whom I do prison volunteer work. I’ve known him for almost 30 years, and he is the one most deserving of release.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:03 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): Which of Trump’s Cronies Will Flip on Him First? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
And I called Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten the Tangerine Traitor, even before his inauguration. RESIST!!
From NY Times: The Trump administration, signaling its intent to toughen enforcement of immigration laws across the country, threatened on Monday to withhold or revoke law enforcement funding from states, cities and localities that block the police or sheriffs from telling federal authorities about undocumented immigrants in their custody.
In an announcement at the White House, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said state and local governments seeking certain law enforcement grants would have to certify that they were complying with a law that bars any official from withholding information from the Department of Homeland Security about a person’s immigration status. Those that are violating the policy could see such grants clawed back, he said.
What Hooded Beauregard (R-KKK) is not telling us is that that Republicans already plan to strip federal funding from state and local programming anyway. RESIST!!
From Think Progress: Nationally, clean energy jobs outnumber fossil fuel jobs by more than 2.5 to 1, according to a new Sierra Club analysis of Department of Energy jobs data. And when it comes to coal and gas — two sectors President Donald Trump has promised to bolster through his upcoming executive order on energy regulation — clean energy jobs outnumber jobs dealing with those two fossil fuels by 5 to 1.
“Right now, clean energy jobs already overwhelm dirty fuels in nearly every state across America, and that growth is only going to continue as clean energy keeps getting more affordable and accessible by the day,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a statement. “These facts make it clear that Donald Trump is attacking clean energy jobs purely in order to boost the profits of fossil fuel billionaires.”
By hamstringing clean energy to subsidize fossil fuel, the Peach Plutocrat is ensuring Americand will have fewer jobs and less energy independence. But it does serve the interests of Gazprom. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
I’m still way south of healthy, but I want to try to post normally for a day. I know I won’t be able to do so tomorrow, because Wendy is coming a day and a half early to de-stink the TomCat, before she goes to Colorado. Wednesday is up in the air, as it’s a grocery delivery day. The pain is still quite severe, but it hurts as much or more in bed, as it does here.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:35 (average 6:15). To do it, click here. How did they do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Full Frontal Channel): Trump’s Hard Power Budget | Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
I’m four days late with this one, but late Sam is better than no Sam. RESIST!!
From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Donald Trump’s Great Health Care Negotiating
Barf Bag Alert!!
The art of the deal? I think he’s about the art of the steal!! RESIST!!
From Washington Post: REP. PETER DEFAZIO (D-Ore.) has a long record of clever legislative proposals for financing infrastructure. His latest, announced Wednesday, is to increase the federal gas tax by up to 1.5 cents per year, with proceeds going to pay interest on an annual surface transportation bond issue of $17 billion through 2030. It would be the first hike in the gas tax, currently 18.4 cents per gallon, since 1993. The resulting dollars would pay for a 30 percent increase in spending from the Highway Trust Fund, above what’s currently planned.
Oregon leads the way. Of course it’s too rational for Republicans to pass. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
