It trying to finish as much as I can get done before Wendy arrives to scrub and polish the stinky TomCat, do some light housework, and have lunch, before she heads off to Lost Wages.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:47 (average 5:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?
From The New Yorker: Organizers of a massive Inauguration protest announced on Saturday that they intend to surround the White House on January 20th in order to prevent President Barack Obama from leaving.
According to Harland Dorrinson, the organizer of the protest, after the plans for the demonstration were announced, between eighty and ninety million Americans expressed an initial interest in participating.
“People really seem to like this idea,” he said.
He acknowledged that people were still planning to petition the Electoral College, but added, “This idea has a much better shot at success.”
Dang Andy!! If only it were true!
From NY Times: The Patriot News Agency website popped up in July, soon after it became clear that Donald J. Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination, bearing a logo of a red, white and blue eagle and the motto “Built by patriots, for patriots.”
Tucked away on a corner of the site, next to links for Twitter and YouTube, is a link to another social media platform that most Americans have never heard of: VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook. It is a clue that Patriot News, like many sites that appeared out of nowhere and pumped out pro-Trump hoaxes tying his opponent Hillary Clinton to Satanism, pedophilia and other conspiracies, is actually run by foreigners based overseas.
But while most of those others seem be the work of young, apolitical opportunists cashing in on a conservative appetite for viral nonsense, operators of Patriot News had an explicitly partisan motivation: getting Mr. Trump elected.
I saw this site several times in the run-up to the election. TRNN referenced it, and Jill Stein supports linked to it directly. This is more proof that protest voters allowed themselves to be fooled into helping create the Fifth Reich.
Wendy made it yesterday, and I felt most relieved. It’s amazing how much more foul I felt after one extra day. She did some light housekeeping and also brought burgers, so by the time she left, I was purrrring. We have another Winter Storm Warning tomorrow with more snow forecast.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:51 (average 5:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Big changes are coming to the White House press corps, Reince Priebus suggested in an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. Starting with daily press briefings:
"I think that it’s important that we look at all of those traditions that are great, but quite frankly, as you know, don’t really make news and they’re just sort of mundane, boring episodes," Priebus said. […]
Priebus said the White House team is currently discussing how to change things up, including where the press sits in the White House briefing room.
You really can’t say White House press briefings never make news—remember Jeff Gannon? If they’re looking to change the seating chart and increase the amount of news made by the daily briefing, though, putting Breitbart News and Stormfront in the front row should help.
Not only will the Fuhrer be putting Nazis in the front row, but we also may get a rerun of the Jeff Gannon/James "Bulldog" Gluckert fiasco. It really freaks out Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, when their family values icons turn out to be gay prostitutes.
From NPR: A jury in Charleston, S.C., has found Dylann Roof guilty on all 33 counts of federal hate crimes he faced for murdering nine people and attempting to kill three others in the basement of a historically black church.
This creates a difficult situation for the Fuhrer. Trump will have to pardon this Republican, before he can appoint him to a post in civil rights oversight.
President Obama said Thursday "we need to take action and we will" against Russia for interference in the election. Russian pro-democracy leader and famed chess champion Garry Kasparov joins Lawrence, saying he doesn’t need "intel" to verify Putin’s nefarious role.
I’ve studied Kasparov’s chess games. He is brilliant. I also think he’s spot-on. Obama’s "time and place of our choosing" had better happen damn soon. You know that Putin’s co-conspirators, Trump and the Republican leaders, are traitors. They will do nothing good after Obama is gone. So far, all Obama has done about this outrage is to grab his ankles and bend over.
Our winter storm turned out to be a doozy. I did get my grocery delivery. It arrived just as the snow was starting to stick. Phew!! Wendy’s main day job is as a secretary for a middle school. She had to work late yesterday afternoon to babysit kids, whose parents had not picked them up because of the weather. When she finished, conditions were so severe, that she could not make it downtown, so I’m even more stinky than normal. She will come today in her 4 WD truck. Late in afternoon, my Physical Terrorist called to cancel my appointment, and TriMet Lift cancelled my ride. The snow is deep, and the high temperature is not forecast above 32° until Sunday. BRRR!! It’s so cold that my poor kitty dingles are acting like castanets!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:02 (average 4:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): Hamilton’s Plan to Keep Trump From Becoming President | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
The idea has merit, but I would prefer Colin Powell, He’s more qualified and it would make alt-right Nazis and the KKK baggers shit their pants.
From MSNBC: Michael Moore to Electoral College: Resist!
Filmmaker Michael Moore gives an impassioned plea to the Electors who will choose the American President on December 19th to think hard about the security of the United States.
Electors, don’t make us miss Crawford Caligula. RESIST!!
From NY Times: Mindful of the clock ticking down to a Trump presidency, the Obama administration issued a final rule on Wednesday to bar states from withholding federal family-planning funds from Planned Parenthood affiliates and other health clinics that provide abortions. The measure takes effect two days before the Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald J. Trump.
The rule was proposed three months ago, when many Democrats assumed the next president would be Hillary Clinton; she presumably would have promoted the rule’s completion if it were still pending. It requires that state and local governments distribute federal funds for services related to contraception, sexually transmitted infections, fertility, pregnancy care, and breast and cervical cancer screening to qualified health providers, regardless of whether they also perform abortions.
Mr. Trump has sent mixed messages on Planned Parenthood’s work, supporting its health-related services other than abortion. Yet with backing from Republican leaders in Congress, he has indicated he will undo many Obama administration rules and regulations, especially last-minute additions. In this case, however, unraveling the new rule would first require a time-consuming process, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kudos to Obama. That time consuming process had better take over four years!
I’m starting late today to be sure to be up when Store to Door comes with my grocery order. Wendy comes later to scrub and de-stink the TomCat. I may or may not be posting more than a Personal Update tomorrow. I have an an appointment for Physical Terrorism with Courtney, but it’s cold enough to freeze the dingles off a brass puddy tat., and Portland is under a Winter Storm Warning with several inches of snow forecast tonight. If TriMet lift goes onto emergency service only, or if the snow is too deep for me to safely navigate to the lift bus, I’ll have cancel the appointment and will post as normal.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 5:05 (average 5:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: In what Donald Trump’s transition-team members are calling a further example of international coöperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to receive daily U.S. intelligence briefings in the place of the President-elect.
Trump, who had earlier decided that he did not need the briefings and had assigned Vice-President-elect Mike Pence to receive them, said on Tuesday that Putin was a “much better choice.”
“No offense to Mike, but Vladimir Putin is just a terrific, terrific guy to do this,” he said. “He knows all the players.”
Is this straight news Andy? I’m sure the Fuhrer gets his security info from Putin’s FSB.
FRom YouTube (GQ Channel): The Grave Danger of Trump’s Intelligence Failure | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
It’s treason, just like I’ve been saying. RESIST!!
The past few days have been somewhat boring as I stayed off the snow covered streets — my concern is other drivers because I know my driving abilities, but too many others don't understand driving to conditions. I finally went out late Sunday afternoon only to have a man tell me I'd never get out of the parking slot, let alone the lot. He watched as I backed out and was amazed. Silly man didn't like a woman showing him how it's done no doubt. Today was a beautiful day, clear skies and lots of sunshine. Temperatures are low with day's high -2 C (28 F). Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same with overnight plunging to -10 C (14 F). Ah, retirement!
Short Takes
CBC — For Angela Keizer, there's more than one Santa Claus — and they all wear steel-toed boots.
Last month the Dartmouth, N.S., woman was running out of options, out of money and fearing her family would soon be without a home.
Attempts to rebuild after a house fire came to a halt after problems with Keizer's contractor, but the unexpected generosity of strangers from as far away as Ontario has put the project back on track.
"Three weeks ago … I thought I was going to have to walk away," Keizer said Tuesday. …
"I was always a trusting person before, and then when this disaster happened, that died. But there's so many people that have restored that faith. There's a lot of good people out there."
I could start off my comment with how these contractors are helping Keizer so that they get free advertising and more contracting jobs etc, and in so doing, wouldn't I be the "Grinch who stole Christmas"! But that's not me. This is a "feel good" story that has no other meaning than to celebrate that people can be compassionate and love their neighbours no matter how far away they live.
TIME — For nearly 17 months on the campaign trail, Trump did what no American politician had attempted in a generation, with defiant flair. Instead of painting a bright vision for a unified future, he magnified the divisions of the present, inspiring new levels of anger and fear within his country. Whatever you think of the man, this much is undeniable: he uncovered an opportunity others didn’t believe existed, the last, greatest deal for a 21st century salesman. The national press, the late-night comics, the elected leaders, the donors, the corporate chiefs and a sitting President who prematurely dropped his mic—they all believed he was just taking the country for a ride.
Now it’s difficult to count all the ways Trump remade the game: the huckster came off more real than the scripted political pros. The cable-news addict made pollsters look like chumps. The fabulist out-shouted journalists fighting to separate fact from falsehood. The demagogue won more Latino and black votes than the 2012 Republican nominee.
I was astonished that Trump was made Time's Person of the Year, but then I remembered the criteria. As Jim Kelly,a Chief Editor of Time, put it in 2001: "Well, the classic definition of TIME's Person of the Year is the person who most affected the events of the year, for better or for worse. I think what has happened over the years is that the Man of the Year title, Person of the Year title, has become non-honorific. It was never meant to be solely that." To no one's surprise, Trump sees it only as an honourific. But then, narcissist that he is, that is the only way he is capable of seeing it. There is no doubt that Trump has had an immense affect on the politics of the US, but unfortunately, IMO, it is all negative. He is a demogogue, a narcissist, a liar, he is mendacious and arrogant. He is not fit to be POTUS. BTW, I heard Drumpf at a rally comment on being Time's Person of the Year, he called out "It should be Man of the Year. What do you think ladies?" Is there any doubt he is a misogynist!
Washington Post — The simmering distrust between Donald Trump and U.S. intelligence agencies escalated into open antagonism Saturday after the president-elect mocked a CIA report that Russian operatives had intervened in the U.S. presidential election to help him win.
The growing tensions set up a potential showdown between Trump and the nation’s top intelligence officials during what some of those officials describe as the most complex threat environment in decades.
Trump’s reaction will probably deepen an existing rift between Trump and the agencies and raised questions about how the government’s 16 spying agencies will function in his administration on matters such as counterterrorism and cyberwarfare. On Friday, members of Trump’s transition team dismissed the CIA’s assessments about Iraq’s stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
“Given his proclivity for revenge combined with his notorious thin skin, this threatens to result in a lasting relationship of distrust and ill will between the president and the intelligence community,” said Paul Pillar, former deputy director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.
President-elect Donald Trump as well as Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Dec. 11 reacted to the CIA’s assessment that Russia intervened to help Trump win the election.
The CIA's report into Russian activities related to the US election was leaked to the public last Friday, although top congressional leaders had seen it behind closed doors in September. Trump is still denying the report as the work of the Democrats. He says there is no evidence. He puts no stock in the advice of the intelligence community, a community that historically has credence with conservatives. He's smarter than them . . . just ask him! It is going to be a long four years if the Electoral College doesn't do it's constitutional duty.
CBC — We went looking for them as part of a report on the proliferation of extreme-right, xenophobic and anti-Semitic groups in Hungary, clothing themselves as nationalist defenders of the land. It didn't go well.
The bikers' leader, Imre Meszaros, demands the right to veto the work of journalists who interview him, even presents them with a legal document to sign right off the bat.
We didn't agree, but met with him at his apartment in a well-to-do suburb of the Hungarian capital in the hopes of changing his mind.
Meszaros was soon raising his voice, pointing fingers in our faces and railing about the fickle media.
After a brief off-the-record chat, we ended the conversation and said goodbye. But not before Meszaros stepped into the elevator with us to warn there would be "consequences" if the conversation was reported anywhere.
It wasn't a threat, he said, just "information," and he has friends in Canada, the Hells Angels.
I told him I know a threat when I hear one, and the non-interview was over.
Later he emailed our translator, making the same threat. Intimidation of the media is a hallmark of the extreme right in Hungary.
We have Hungary reverting to its fascist past when it worked in league with the Nazis to eliminate Jews and Roma. How many times will we ignore this resurgence of fascism before we take action as a global community?
Politico — On a presidential debate stage five years ago, Rick Perry blanked on the Energy Department's name when trying to include it in a list of agencies he promised to abolish — memorably concluding with "oops."
Now Donald Trump has chosen the former Texas governor to lead the sprawling department, which oversees the security of the nation's nuclear weapons and has played major roles in President Barack Obama's climate agenda and nuclear deal with Iran. Three sources close to the transition confirmed the choice Tuesday.
Conservatives had favored the former Texas governor for the job, viewing him as someone with management experience who would be willing to question the agency’s status quo. They believe Perry might bring serious reform to the agency because he isn't wedded to energy programs, such as DOE's fossil and efficiency offices, that conservatives have criticized as unnecessary, market-distorting schemes.
There is only one thing to say to Drumpf's announcement — OOPS!!!!
My Universe — They can get along. Why can't humans?
I’m waiting for Store to Door to call to take my grocery order. I put George on for the first time this week to force Stumpy back into shape in time for Physical Terrorism with Courtney on Thursday. The sun came out and has been hitting the brick facade for about an hour, so the room is getting hot, even though the temperature outside is 36° and the window is cracked about three inches.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:34 (average 5:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fantasy Football Report:
Here’s the latest from our own Fantasy Football league, Lefty Blog Friends.
Scores:
Prepare for the demise of the universe. I won twice in a row.
Standings:
Congrats to Rob for winning the Regular Season Championship. At least I wasn’t dead last. If Vivian had beaten Dusty, I would have moved up to 8th place and made the playoffs. This the first time in many many years that I have ever failed to do so, but my season is now over. Rest assured, I will continue to maintain the league and report the results of the next three weeks of playoffs for the rest of you. I have already notified the site that we will continue next year, if Trump doesn’t destroy us first.
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): Is There a Russian Coup Underway in America? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
I agree with everything he said. It’s exactly what I have been saying. RESIST!
From The New Yorker: Donald Trump stirred controversy on Monday by revealing that he intends to spend only half his time as President at the Kremlin—and the remainder at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
His decision to limit his time at the Kremlin reportedly stemmed from his wife Melania’s desire not to uproot the Trump family by relocating full-time to Moscow.
“It was part of the deal when he ran for President that he would go to the Kremlin and she would stay behind in New York,” a source close to the Trumps said.
Appearing on Russian television, Trump surrogate Kellyanne Conway said that Trump’s decision to split his time between Moscow and New York would have “no impact whatsoever” on his ability to function as an integral part of the Kremlin team.
Dang Andy!! I think the Fuhrer thinks the Russian Protest group, Pussy Riot, is something Putin put there for the Fuhrer to grab.
Saying that cyberattacks by foreign governments pose "grave threats" to U.S. national security, the senators’ statement said: "This cannot become a partisan issue. The stakes are too high for our country."
Two Democratic senators — Chuck Schumer of New York and Jack Reed of Rhode Island joined two Republican senators — John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — in issuing the statement.
"We are committed to working in this bipartisan manner, and we will seek to unify our colleagues around the goal of investigating and stopping the grave threats that cyberattacks conducted by foreign governments pose to our national security,” the statement said.
Is it real, or is it what Republicans normally mean by bipartisanship?
Last night I slept very poorly. City street cleaning equipment was scraping the asphalt6 and making such a terrible racket that it awakened me shortly after midnight, and I could not get back to sleep. OGIM!!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:44 (average 7:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: The AP has a story about a Trump voter that lost her property due to foreclosure by Mnuchin. As I predicted yesterday. Those foreclosures screwed a lot of people including many Trump voters. Perhaps they will learn not to vote against their own interests. Will this be the first of many such stories? I can hope. How might one get a list of people foreclosed by OneWest, reportedly thousands, to find more examples of this buyers remorse?
When Donald Trump named his Treasury secretary, Teena Colebrook felt her heart sink.
She had voted for the president-elect on the belief that he would knock the moneyed elites from their perch in Washington, D.C. And she knew Trump’s pick for Treasury—Steven Mnuchin—all too well.
OneWest, a bank formerly owned by a group of investors headed by Mnuchin, had foreclosed on her Los Angeles-area home in the aftermath of the Great Recession, stripping her of the two units she rented as a primary source of income.
The buyers’ remorse is just starting, but don’t feel sorry for Colebrook. Feel sorry for the millions her stupidity is helping to destroy.
From NY Times: President-elect Donald Trump refused to release his tax returns during the campaign and there is no sign that he will, ever. He broke longstanding tradition and set a terrible precedent for future presidential candidates.
Good government groups have been wringing their hands about what to do. Now comes an excellent idea from a New York State senator, Brad Hoylman, a Democrat from Manhattan, that would could force candidates to disclose their tax returns by making it a requirement for getting on the ballot.
Mr. Hoylman says that he plans to introduce a bill that would require presidential and vice-presidential candidates to disclose up to five years of their tax returns 50 days before the general election. The state’s Board of Elections would publish the returns on its website.
Candidates who fail to provide the documents would not appear on the state ballot and the state’s Electoral College electors could not vote for them. This is a smart proposal not just for New York but for other states as well. Even if a handful of states imposed the requirement, all major party nominees would have to disclose their tax returns.
This is an excellent idea and I fully support it. I could certainly prove useful, if the US has elections in the future.
From Washington Post: Donald Trump is talking about Taiwan again — and so is China in angry and mocking comments Monday that questioned whether the president-elect grasps a core element of relations between the world’s top economic powers.
In an interview broadcast Sunday, Trump said the United States would not necessarily be bound by the One China policy — the diplomatic understanding that underpins ties between Washington and Beijing, and leaves China’s rival Taiwan on the diplomatic sidelines with the United States.
Trump suggested the policy could be revisited unless America could “make a deal,” potentially on trade between the two countries.
The remark elicited an sharp response from Beijing, with the Foreign Ministry expressing “serious concern” and a party-controlled newspaper calling the president-elect “as ignorant as a child.” By appearing to treat Taiwan as just a bargaining chip for trade deals, he may also have irked Taipei, experts said.
If I start selling NBC suits, I could make a fortune from this Republican deplorable diplomacy.
Cartoon:
Now we know what Teabag Thomas and co-Fuhrer Putin have in common.
I’m starting very late today. It’s a Wendy day, and by the time she left, my beloved Broncos were already meditating in the Church of that stinking Ellipsoid Orb, so instead of writing, I crawled into bed and watched the disaster.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 7:24 (average 12:14). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Religious Agony:
A Gift from Nameless:
The gift was the neat shirt. Thank you!! The beautiful woman is Wendy. I figured I’d put it on her instead of me to spare your eyesight.
From NY Times: President-elect Donald J. Trump boasted throughout the presidential campaign of his loyalty as a singular quality. “Folks, look, I’m a loyal person,” Mr. Trump said at a CNN town hall in April, explaining why he would not rid his campaign of a staff member who was under fire.
Loyalty appears to be paramount for Mr. Trump, until it isn’t.
Some of Mr. Trump’s earliest supporters — among them Rudolph W. Giuliani, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee — have not fared well in the job sweepstakes…
…Mr. Trump put out a face-saving statement on Mr. Giuliani’s behalf on Friday, saying that the former mayor of New York had withdrawn from contention for secretary of state — the only job he had wanted.
Call the WAAAmbulance!! These suckers won’t be the last. Trump has fascist billionaires to install who are far more extreme in their hate and greed than Rudi 911, Bloody Bullseye Barbie, Newtered Newt, Upchuckabee and PIGnocchio. Who could have dreamed that there would be worse?!!?
From Think Progress: Another climate-denying nominee will be named Friday for a key environmental position in the Trump administration, multiple sources are reporting.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) will likely be tapped to lead the Department of the Interior, which oversees all of the U.S. public lands, including forest management, the Parks Service, and fossil fuel extraction.
McMorris Rodgers is strongly in favor of developing the United States’ fossil fuel resources. She has also opposed federal ownership of public lands and voted to make it more difficult for the president to create national monuments. McMorris Rodgers is the author of a bill that would have directed the Department of the Interior to sell off federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.
The selection is not surprising, in what is shaping up to be the most anti-environmental administration — Republican or Democrat — in modern times.
The Criminal Clown Cabinet keeps getting worse and worse.
From PoliticusUSA: It is finally being said out loud, in public, on national television. America may need to hold a new presidential election after Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump.
Former CIA Operative Robert Baer brought up the idea of holding a new election during an appearance on CNN:
Baer said, “The Russians, it looks like to me did interfere in our elections. We’ll never be able to decide whether they changed the outcome, but I’ll tell you having worked in the CIA if we had been caught interfering in European elections, or Asian elections, or anywhere in the world, those countries would call for new elections. Any democracy would. I mean, I don’t see it any other way. The Electoral College before the nineteenth has got to know whether the Russians had an effect, Whether they went to Wikileaks, whether they hacked email, and whether they affected American opinion. They had a good reason to go after Hillary Clinton. Putin hates her for the Ukraine.
"Momma" Peppa
Peppa's kittens
