Last night it was very muggy, and I slept poorly. I leave shortly for my appointment with Courtney, my Physical Terrorist. This is today's only article from me, and I'll finish it when I return so you know I'm home safe.
Courtney gave me quite a workout. I'm ready for a nap!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today's took me 3:57 (average 6:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
\
Yesterday’s supper was delicious, and we sent a green cloud north in search of the Squatch. Tomorrow, I have an appointment with Courtney, my Physical Terrorist, so I may have nothing more than a Personal Update. If you are in Matthew’s path, please take care. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:54 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From KOIN: The Republican candidate for Oregon governor drew boos at a Portland debate Friday when he suggested successful women aren’t susceptible to sexual violence.
Dr. Bud Pierce’s remarks came after his Democratic opponent Gov. Kate Brown also disclosed she has been a victim of domestic violence.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that Pierce said “a woman that has a great education and training and a great job is not susceptible to this kind of abuse by men, women or anyone.”
The line drew groans and boos from the audience at the Portland City Club.
I proudly endorse Kate Brown, Oregon’s only rational choice for Governor.
From CMD: Bayer announced this month that it plans to purchase Monsanto, the controversial chemical corporation that has been sued around the world over its products. Nowadays, Bayer has a more consumer-friendly corporate reputation, but has a checkered past too. (Bayer’s history as a German company during the Nazi era is well documented.)
According to Vox, if regulators approve the $66 billion deal, the merger would create the largest agribusiness giant in the world, “selling 29 percent of the world’s seeds and 24 percent of its pesticides.”
Selling nearly a third of the world’s seeds actually means owning a huge portion of the seed stock on the planet. And, Monsanto has spent decades genetically modifying seeds to make them compatible with its chemical pesticides and herbicides, as with Roundup-ready corn. Those are the kinds of chemicals and modifications that can’t be washed off.
In the U.S., citizens have been waging major campaigns to try to get GMO products labeled and/or to prevent the use of GMO crops in their communities. These efforts have been attacked by Monsanto and other chemical corporations, which have worked to defeat citizen democracy through subterfuge—as with the deceptive ads that beat back California’s proposition on GMO labeling and with a “preemption” bill in Oregon to trump local ballot measures that passed overwhelmingly in two Oregon counties that banned GMO crops.
I hope you already know just how evil I consider Monsanto to be, but Bayer is just as bad. They became a corporate giant using slave labor in concentration camps and conducting bizarre medical experiments on camp prisoners, working closely with the infamous Mengele Brothers. Their record continues to be horrid. Click here for more details.
From NY Times: Donald J. Trump’s support has plunged across the swing-state map over the last 10 days, wiping out his political recovery from September and threatening to undo weeks of Republican gains in the battle for control of Congress.
For his party, Mr. Trump’s reversal in fortune comes at the worst possible moment: Having muted their criticism of Mr. Trump in hopes that he could at least run competitively through Election Day, Republicans must decide in the next few days, rather than weeks, whether to seek distance from his wobbly campaign.
Should Mr. Trump falter badly in his second debate with Hillary Clinton on Sunday in St. Louis, Republican congressional candidates may take it as a cue to flee openly from their nominee, said two senior Republicans involved at high levels of the campaign who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private party strategy.
Mr. Trump has already slipped perceptibly in public polls, trailing widely this week in Pennsylvania and by smaller margins in Florida and North Carolina — three states he cannot afford to lose. But private polling by both parties shows an even more precipitous drop, especially among independent voters, moderate Republicans and women, according to a dozen strategists from both parties who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the data was confidential.
Hillary’s tactic of treating Trump as separate from the Republican party is wrong. We need to keep tying Trump and every Republican candidate from Dawg Catcher up together. The only difference between most of them and Trump is that they try assure their base of their hate-filled positions and policies using dog whistles, at the same time that they deceive the general public about them. On the other hand, Trump articulates those same positions and policies clearly. In short, he’s just another Republican, and they are just junior Trumps.
From YouTube (Move-on Channel): Complacency is Not an Option
Listen to the Reich on the left, Robert Reich. Defeat the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich in an election day blow out! If you think that it’s OK to waste your vote, because it’s not needed to defeat Trump, it’s not OK. Your vote is needed! Don’t play Russian Roulette with Putin’s Pup!!
Cartoon:
Other than having to haul out three garbage bags full of used barf bags from last night's debate, it's been a light day so far, but that will change. This afternoon, I have an unusually large order of groceries to be delivered shortly, and I have to put them all away. Later Wendy is coming to steam clean the TomCat and help with housework. I think I'll serve her refritos, chips and salsa for supper.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today's took me 4:19 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Being Not Donald Trump is going a long way to making Mike Pence look sane and sober this year, but there’s a reason Trump chose Pence and Pence accepted the offer. He’s an extremist himself, even if he’s better than Trump at difficult things like not attacking a former Miss Universe over what she weighed in 1996 or hinting at the assassination of his political opponents. Pence, as a video from Planned Parenthood (watch below) makes clear, was the early leader of the campaign to defund Planned Parenthood. That’s part of a long, ugly record of trying to pass laws to control women’s bodies:
As governor of Indiana, he signed a law that would force women to carry non-viable pregnancies to term.
Pence is as much a poster child for misogyny as Rump Dump Trump.
From The New Yorker:
The Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Mike Pence, stunned a national television audience on Tuesday night by using his opening statement in the Vice-Presidential debate to beg the nation’s private sector for a job.
Shortly after the moderator, Elaine Quijano, told Pence that he had two minutes to make his statement, the Indiana governor looked directly into the camera and said, “I’m going to get right down to it. If you run a company and you’re watching this right now, I beg you from the bottom of my heart to consider hiring me. I need a job and I need it bad.”
Pence urged employers to consider his many qualifications and to ignore his role in the 2016 Republican campaign. “As God is my witness, I take no responsibility for this dumpster fire,” he said.
Stressing the urgency of his situation, Pence said that his political career was in ruins and pleaded with employers to visit his LinkedIn profile.
Dang, Andy!! He sure should have done just that!!
From KP Daily Funnies: The Daily Show puts the North Carolina anti-LGBT law to the test
Somewhere, a Republican watched this and is angry, because everyone got served in the end, and one might actually be gay.
Cartoon:
I’m trying to be lazy today, so I can watch the VP debate tonight. The best outcome is that Kaine makes a convincing argument that Pence, Trump and the downballot Republicans are all virtually the same.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:48 (average 5:13). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fantasy Football Report:
Here’s the news from Week 4 in our own fantasy football league.
Scores:
Standings:
Oh how the mighty hath fallen!
Short Takes:
From KP Daily Funnies: Drunk Trump 4: The Drunkest Guy at the Bar
I have to admit that there have been several times I wondered what drug he was on.
From Daily Kos: In 1997, Keith Cooper was arrested and convicted for an armed robbery in Elkhart, Indiana. After serving 10 years for the conviction, DNA evidence pointed to another man, already in custody for a similar crime. Every eyewitness account also recanted their testimony that led to Mr. Cooper’s conviction, as the witnesses were denied a police line up they requested before the trial. Cooper’s retrial was ordered, but the new prosecutor, Curtis Hill, offered Keith a plea deal which would give him an immediate release, rather than waiting months or years for the retrial. All Keith had to do was admit his guilt for a crime he didn’t commit. Keith’s wife and children were about to become homeless, so what else could Keith do? What would you do? Keith has been living with the stigma and real limitations of being a convicted felon ever since.
And now, Governor Mike Pence, Trump’s Vice-Presidential running mate, refuses to provide justice to Keith Cooper, even after admitting Cooper’s innocence. In an ongoing battle to remove his felony status, Mr. Pence finally responded…by delaying a decision. His reasoning?
“Although the judicial system may not be perfect, given the extraordinary nature of Mr. Cooper’s request, we need to be certain the judicial process is complete and has been given every opportunity to address any error that may have occurred."
In other words, he basically doesn’t want to, and goes on to make the absurd argument that no governor has ever pardoned an innocent man.
I keep hearing the argument that, if Rump Dump is elected, he’ll be a figurehead, and Pence will be running things. I don’t believe it, but if it’s true, Pence is no better than Trump. In spite of Republican disingenuous claims to the contrary, Trump and Pence reflect the policies and positions of the Republican Party perfectly.
From The New Yorker: Governor Chris Christie, of New Jersey, called Donald J. Trump a “genius” on Monday for his controversial plan to burn down the White House to collect insurance money.
Appearing on Fox News, Christie said that Trump’s scheme to collect fire-insurance payments on the White House would “make a serious dent” in the national debt.
“It’s not just the White House,” Christie told Fox’s Sean Hannity. “That building is chock-full of priceless antiques, paintings, and rugs, all of which, when burned, would fetch a pretty penny.”
Actually, Andy, it’s a pretty good idea. If Trump becomes President, he’ll destroy the government and the nation so quickly, that there will no longer be a need for a White House.
Cartoon:
I slept well again last night in the cool weather we’re having. I have a nurse, a social worker, and a trainee visiting me this morning from the Providence Elder at Home Program. Megan referred them, as she thinks they might have some services for me, like, if I catch the flu, I could see a nurse or PA here rather than suffering long Lift waits when I’m sick.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:55 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Religious Ecstasy:
Short Takes:
From KP Daily Funnies: Dany Targaryen’s first political speech
We may be hearing from Rump Dump’s next wife.
From Daily Kos: Tell me you are conservative. Tell me you are Christian. Tell me you are Republican. Tell me any of these things, and I won’t make too many assumptions about you. Sure, I may assume you go to church every Sunday, eat red meat, and get most of your news from Fox and Friends, but beyond that, I will withhold judgment on the kind of person you are until I get to know you. In fact, as a Southern white male veteran who lives in a very rural area, most of the people in my circles are of the right-leaning variety. I can attest that most people are fairly decent when you get to know them.
This equation changes when you tell me unequivocally that you are voting for Trump. Instantly, I know there are certain things about you and your character that I can assume that I wouldn’t if you told me you supported any other GOP candidate. Ain’t none of them good.
Tell me you are a strong Trump supporter, then you are telling me:
The single trait that predicts the Trump supporter has nothing to do with race, income, or education. A researcher at the University of Massachusetts found that the top predictor of whether a voter supports Trump is his or her proclivity towards authoritarianism.
Authoritarians obey. They rally to and follow strong leaders. And they respond aggressively to outsiders, especially when they feel threatened. From pledging to “make America great again” by building a wall on the border to promising to close mosques and ban Muslims from visiting the United States, Trump is playing directly to authoritarian inclinations.
So spare me your lectures about market freedoms or any constitutional rights you claim to hold dear. You want a dictator in the style of Putin, which pretty much makes you anti-American.
I shared one of the seven things and, and it’s quite astute. The other six are spot-on defining traits that are just as deplorable. Click through.
From NY Times: Outlining a timetable for Britain to leave the European Union in the spring of 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday put immigration at the center of her strategy for withdrawal, suggesting that Britain could be headed for a “hard Brexit,” or clean break, from the bloc.
In a speech at the start of the Conservative Party’s annual convention here, Mrs. May said Britain would formally begin exit negotiations by the end of March. Those talks will be governed by a two-year deadline unless all members of the bloc agree to prolong them.
Previously, Mrs. May had said only that the talks, under Article 50 of a European Union treaty, would not begin before the end of this year — a delay designed to buy time for the government to work out its negotiating stance.
On Sunday, Mrs. May also began to lay down her priorities for a deal on withdrawal, known as Brexit, including the power to control immigration and reject European Union rules that allow people to move and settle across national frontiers.
I hope that the sane people in UK can get the xenophobic, Republican-equivalent BRIDIOTS out of power, before they do irreparable damage to both the UK and the EU.
Cartoon:
Wendy just left. After de-stinking the TomCat, we changed George’s rubber sleeve that rolls onto Stumpy. Then we played with it to get the correct angle for the pin to lock. Then we took a walk in the hallway. This was the first time I’ve done that, since before my eye cancer surgery, so I walked only 100 feet, with Wendy pushing my chair behind. Then we swept and mopped the floors, reorganized the freezer and shelves and cleaned the counters and sills. We made a several day container of spaghetti with sauce, meat, sausage and veggies. Finally we made eggs and hash browns for lunch. She was amused that, when I went to see Megan and was weighed, I had successfully transferred two pounds of fat from my butt to hers. I call that The Southern Exposure Project. While writing, I am also meditating on the holy Ellipsoid Orb.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:46 (average 4:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Montreal Gazette (Hat-Tip Squatch): …It turns out some Canadians, after watching months of bombastic campaigning south of the border, are mobilizing to do something — anything — to stop Trump.
“Donald Trump poses a serious threat to our world,” said Glyn Lewis, co-founder of a group called Canadians Rallying Against Trump (CRAT) that was officially launched Tuesday.
“As good neighbours, and global citizens, we can’t sit idle. Not when the election is this close.”
Click through for a great read. That’s CRAT against CRAP, eh?
From KP Daily Funnies: SNL: 1st Clnton-Trump Debate
Alec is a good actor, but nobody is good enough to convey evil in that magnitude.
From Daily Kos:
Amazing. Republican Rep. Darrell Issa spent years wasting millions of dollars in taxpayer money to conduct bogus “investigations” of the Obama administration that never went anywhere. But just like a classic bully—just like his idol, Donald Trump, in fact—he can dish it out but can’t take a punch.
Issa, who represents California’s 49th Congressional District in suburban San Diego, faces his toughest re-election campaign in forever, thanks to Daily Kos-endorsed Democrat Doug Applegate, a retired Marine colonel who, unlike his opponent, isn’t afraid of the rough and tumble. Applegate recently started airing his first TV ad of the race, a hard-hitting spot in which he directly links Issa to Trump. After playing a clip of Trump declaring “I’m really rich. Nobody knows the system better than me,” a narrator explains that Issa likewise “gamed the system to line his own pockets steering millions in taxpayer money to help properties he owned," relying on a very negative 2011 New York Times piece about Issa’s self-dealing for factual support.
So how did Issa react? Like the cowardly whiner that he is, he’s threatening to file a lawsuit alleging that Applegate has defamed him! Seriously, no one in politics ever does this. It’s insane. But Issa’s serious: He even sent the Applegate campaign a draft of his complaint that he’s ready to file in court at a moment’s notice if Applegate doesn’t cower before him.
Here’s the ad.
CA 49th has too long been in thrall to that deplorable Republican, Issa the Assa. We endorse Doug Applegate!
From TPM: In a totally unexpected development, we learn today that back in the early 90s Donald Trump pressured his then-girlfriend, future wife and futurer ex-wife to pose nude in Playboy. Trump even negotiated a mega payday for the nude photo shoot.
Trump personifies the Republican view of women. They are chattel to be exploited for pleasure and profit.
Cartoon:
Flashing back to 2013, when Republicans celebrated shutting down the US government.
Fortunately I slept for eight hours on Thursday night and ten hours last night, because it’s an incredibly busy day. This morning I cooked food, did dishes, restocked my pill caddy, changed our poll, and researched for todays articles. I also collected all the raw data and prepared all the graphics and charts for September’s Monthly Report. That report will be a day late on Monday, because tomorrow I have TomCat and apartment cleaning with Wendy. Also, tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. My Broncos are visiting the Buccaneers’ Sadly, the meditation won’t be televised here. May the Holy Orb shine its blessed light on your team, unless they say "HAR!!"
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:29 (average 5:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube: Two from Bill Maher
I disagree with Bill. He called Johnson an idiot. I called him an imbecile.
If Trump’s mother had really reproduced with an ape, we would have gotten something far better than Trump!!
From Daily Kos: The state of Wisconsin is under a court order to provide credentials for people who don’t have the extensive documentation the state is requiring to get an approved ID for voting. Ari Berman has discovered that it’s not complying.
Legal experts say they’re extremely troubled by the state’s continued failure to fairly enforce the voter-ID law. “Wisconsin has promised the court that voters would be able to get an ID with whatever documents they have,” says Sean Young of the ACLU. “They’ve completely failed to live up to that promise.”
The state keeps frantically changing its procedures to mollify the courts, leading to even more confusion among voters. Last week the Walker Administration proposed issuing “voting purposes only” IDs that could not be used for anything else, like opening a bank account. “The Division of Motor Vehicles also wants the free IDs—born of voter-fraud fears – to be cheapened in quality, with some fraud protections removed,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“The more they change the procedures, the clearer it becomes that this has nothing to do with voter impersonation,” Young says. “The whole process has no meaning anymore. It’s just a pointless obstacle to the right to vote.”
Did you expect any different from the Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan?
From NY Times: Nine months after instructing Alabama’s probate judges to defy federal court orders on same-sex marriage, Roy S. Moore, the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, was suspended on Friday for the remainder of his term for violating the state’s canon of judicial ethics.
It was the second time in his contentious career that Judge Moore, an outspoken conservative, was removed as chief justice, and it followed his most recent star turn in the nation’s culture wars.
The suspension was imposed by the state’s Court of the Judiciary, a nine-member body of selected judges, lawyers and others, which found Judge Moore guilty on six charges. While the court did not take him off the bench entirely, as it did in 2003 after he defied orders to remove a giant Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building, it effectively ended his state judicial career. His term ends in 2019, and Judge Moore, 69, will be barred by law from running for a judicial position again because of his age.
Good riddance to bad rubbish!
Cartoon:
I have time to do a little more than I thought I would, but this is still today’s only article from me. I’ll publish it after I return from my appointment with Megan. I leave in an hour.
I’m back. My 30 minute appointment took only 5 hours. Megan agreed that I was right to discontinue Cymbalta and is putting me on Lyrica next. It should come in mid-week, and I can take Gabapentin in the meantime. I am sooooo pooped!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:52 (average 5:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From KP Daily Funnies: Colbert takes on Gary Johnson
What a fool! Jill Stein is smarter, but still has no chance to win. It’s too bad she’s in Putin’s (R-RU) pocket for his pro-Trump propaganda.
From The New Yorker: Asked at a town-hall meeting on Wednesday to name his favorite foreign leader, the Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson seemed stumped at first before finally responding, “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
The host of the town hall, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, initially appeared taken aback by Johnson’s answer, but the former New Mexico governor went on to defend it vigorously.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master, Chris,” Johnson said. “More than anyone else, he taught me that the Force is already strong with me.”
LOL Andy, but you and Colbert are after widdle Gary?!!? The SPCI is going to get you both!! That’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Imbeciles!!
From Daily Kos: PBS and The Huffington Post have uncovered video evidence of Donald Trump’s long-held beliefs that he (and people like him) are genetically superior:
Barf Bag Alert!!
Do you know of anyone else with similar views on Eugenics? Do you remember what happened?
Cartoon:
Originally published 9/30/2011. Still just as valid today, if not more so.