The temperature in Portland is forecast to climb to the mid 30°s today, topping the freezing mark for the first time in a week.  Tomorrow the high is forecast near 50° and that should melt the street in front of my building.  I could not have gone anywhere anyway, as the TriMet Lift Busses have been on emergency service only for a week.  This is the worst freeze we’ve had here in many years, and since it sets off both my COPD and my arthritis, I’m damn ready to be rid of it.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:24 (average 4:49).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Donald Trump Has Some Colorful Friends | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

With any other politician, this might be a big deal. This is only thing that makes it news is that with Putin’s Perverted Puppet, it’s small change.

From KP Daily Funnies: Paul Ryan’s Diary- Dabbing at the Repeal of Obamacare

It seems more factual than funny.

From ABC:

Below is the full running list of Congress members who are planning not to attend the inauguration:

• Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-AZ
• Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-CA
• Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA
• Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA
• Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA
• Rep. Mark Takano, D-CA
• Rep. Jared Huffman, D-CA
• Rep. Barbara Lee, D-CA
• Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-CA
• Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-CA
• Rep. Karen Bass, D-CA
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-FL
• Rep. Darren Soto, D-FL
• Rep. John Lewis, D-GA
• Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-IL
• Rep. John Yarmuth, D-KY
• Rep. Katherine Clark, D-MA
• Rep. Anthony Brown, D-MD
• Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-ME
• Rep. John Conyers, D-MI
• Rep. Keith Ellison, D-MN
• Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-MO
• Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-NJ
• Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-NY
• Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-NY
• Rep. Jose Serrano, D-NY
• Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-NY
• Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY
• Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-OH
• Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR
• Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR
• Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-OR
• Rep. Dwight Evans, D-PA
• Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-PA
• Rep. Steve Cohen, D-TN
• Rep. Al Green, D-TX
• Rep. Don Beyer, D-VA
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA
• Rep. Adam Smith, D-WA
• Rep. Mark Pocan, D-WI

Kudos to all of them.  I tried to find a list of Senators boycotting the Fuhrer’s insertion, and several said there are none, but I know that isn’t true.  Neither of Oregon’s senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, plan to attend.

Cartoon:

Yesterday my day was thrown out of kilter, because a squatter escaped the cold outside and set up camp in the only bathroom with a handicapped shower that is properly set up for my use.  Not realizing it, we waited for half an hour, before knocking on the door and asking the occupant how long they might be.  The guy said soon, but sounded drunk.  Fifteen minutes later Wendy went back and explained through the door that she had a handicapped client that could not use any other shower.  Another fifteen minutes passed, we knocked again, and he wouldn’t answer at all.  I called management, and a manager came and opened the door.  They kicked out the squatter, but hew had trashed the bathroom so badly, that they had to clean the room, before it could be used.  By the time I was done, my half hour shower had consumed 2 1/2 hours of my Wendy time, and that’s why you got only a Personal Update yesterday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:06 (average 5:43).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Donald Trump Press Conference Cold Open – SNL

Baldwin was …ummm… golden!  RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Trump’s plans for a triumphal Inauguration were upended over the weekend when a karaoke machine that had been engaged to perform at the event abruptly backed out.

In an official statement, the karaoke machine said that it was withdrawing because it “did not want my participation at the Inauguration to in any way be construed as an endorsement of Donald Trump.”

The President-elect wasted no time in lashing out at the karaoke machine, taking to Twitter in the early hours of the morning to call the entertainment device a “loser” and “sad.”

Dang Andy!! That machine is smarter than a bunch of people!  RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. attended a real estate conference, where he stated that

Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.

As it turns out, that may have been an understatement. Human rights lawyer Scott Horton, whose work in the region goes back to defending Andrei Sakharov and other Soviet dissidents, has gone through a series of studies by the Financial Times to show how funds from Russian crime lords bailed Trump out after yet anther [sic] bankruptcy. The conclusions are stark.

Among the powerful facts that DNI missed were a series of very deep studies published in the [Financial Times] that examined the structure and history of several major Trump real estate projects from the last decade—the period after his seventh bankruptcy and the cancellation of all his bank lines of credit. …

The money to build these projects flowed almost entirely from Russian sources. In other words, after his business crashed, Trump was floated and made to appear to operate a successful business enterprise through the infusion of hundreds in millions of cash from dark Russian sources.

He was their man.

The article includes a petition to appoint a special prosecutor on Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign. Please click through to sign it.  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

I ended up feeling rather stupid yesterday, when I called Safeway.com to ask why my food was late and they told me I had scheduled the delivery for today.  Then I ended up feeling frustrated today, when they called me to tell me my delivery was cancelled due to hazardous driving conditions.  I’m hoping I can reach Wendy in time to ask her to pick up a few staples for me before she goes to work and bring them in the morning.  Today and tomorrow are holy days in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  If your team is still meditating, may the Orb bless them with it’s divine light.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:34 (average 5:28).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Common Dreams: The rise of political populists threatens democracy worldwide, a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Thursday says.

In its World Report 2017, the human rights organization highlights President-elect Donald Trump‘s victory in the U.S., the power grabs of "strongman" leaders in Russia, China, Turkey, and the Philippines, and the rise of right-wing demagogues in Europe, as trends that "denigrate legal standards and disdain factual analysis, directly challenge the laws and institutions that promote dignity, tolerance, and equality."

Trump and other populist leaders work from a similar propaganda playbook that supports bigotry and discrimination; scapegoats immigrants and refugees for economic problems; encourages people to give up their rights in favor of authoritarian rule as a defense against outside threats; and foments division between demographics, the report states.

We aren’t the only ones. We just have the worst Fuhrer.  RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: The Democratic National Committee is holding the first of four regional “Future Forums” today in Phoenix, Arizona. The forum begins at 9 AM Mountain Time.  You can view a livestream at democrats.org…

…Candidates for Chair:
• Sally Boynton Brown, Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director, President of Association of State Democratic Executive Directors
• Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair, Association of State Democratic Parties Chair
• Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, IN
• Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative (MN-5)
• Jehmu Greene, Fox News Political Analyst
• Jaime Harrison, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair
• Tom Perez, secretary of Labor.

I still like Ellison because of his progressive resume. If you disagree, who do you support and why?

From Think Progress: Early Saturday morning, President-elect Donald Trump attacked the Georgia congressman and famed civil rights hero John Lewis for being “all talk, no action” and presiding over a “crime infested” district that’s “falling apart.”

The thinly veiled racial smear — essentially suggesting Lewis is a slumlord — came on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as the nation prepares to honor the civil rights leader with whom Lewis worked closely in the 1960s to advocate for racial and economic justice.

What else would a Republican Racist say?  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Good news.  My insulin syringes should be arriving today.  Yesterday’s tribulations tired me considerably, so please pardon my brevity.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:15 (average 5:39).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Think Progress: On Thursday morning, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called him “to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated” about Russia being in possession of compromising information about him.

But Trump was actually spreading a falsehood of its own. In a statement about the call, Clapper said, “the IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions.”

What Clapper did claim is that the report was not a product of US intelligence.  RESIST!!

From Metro: A former British intelligence officer has been named as the man behind a controversial but unverified document claiming Russia has leverage over the

Christopher Steele, 52, who runs London-based Orbis Business Intelligence, was named in reports as having compiled the file on Trump.

The 35-page dossier contains unconfirmed allegations that Russian security officials have compromising material on Trump that could be used to blackmail him. Steele’s brother Kevin has denied his sibling’s involvement in the document.

It was claimed that Russia has footage of Trump in a Moscow hotel room accompanied by prostitutes who performed golden showers on a bed previously slept in by President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle…

Clapper has said the document is unverified by US intelligence, not that it is untrue. Steele, the former MI6 agent, who compiled it, has gone into hiding. That’s only understandable, if Putin want’s Steele dead for jeopardizing the fruits Putin’s hard work, spent establishing his ownership of the Piddle Puddle Pervert.  RESIST!!

From NY Times: As he prepared last week to deliver his farewell address, President Obama convened three Democratic leaders in the White House for a strategy session on the future of their party. The quiet huddle included Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrats in Congress, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia.

One topic of urgent concern, according to people briefed on the meeting: how to break the Republican Party’s iron grip on the congressional map.

Thwarted for much of his term by a confrontational Republican Congress, and criticized by his fellow Democrats for not devoting sufficient attention to their down-ballot candidates, Mr. Obama has decided to make the byzantine process of legislative redistricting a central political priority in his first years after the presidency.

Emerging as Mr. Obama’s chief collaborator and proxy is Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general of the United States and a personal friend of the president. He has signed on to lead the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a newly formed political group aimed at untangling the creatively drawn districts that have helped cement the Republican Party in power in Washington and many state capitals.

We need all the help we can get!  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Republicans may be planning a sequel.  RESIST!!