Politics Plus

Yesterday I completed all the little tasks that I have been putting off and paid bills.  I also cleaned my email boxes, a herculean task in itself, as I typically receive over 300 items on any given day.  The plan for the weekend is to blog, relax and do some solar basking.  Maybe I’ll even feel rested by Monday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:12 (average 4:45).  To di it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Recruiting:

We still need two new players for Lefty Blog Friends, our fantasy football league.  How about you?  For more information, click here.

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The Presidential candidate Donald Trump blasted Pope Francis on Friday, arguing that the Pontiff’s recent call to save the planet had largely overshadowed his “far more reckless” call to feed the poor.

“Look, if the Pope wants to spout off about climate change, that’s his prerogative, I guess,” Trump said. “But when he starts talking about feeding the poor, that is totally dangerous and irresponsible.”

“Every other candidate is ripping the Pope’s comments about climate change,” he added. “I’m the only one in this race who seems to have noticed his truly crazy talk about feeding people.”

Trump said that, as President, it would be his job not to feed the poor “but to keep them from getting into the country in the first place.”

“We need to build a wall they’re too hungry to climb,” he said.

Andy has found the place where Trump’s soul should be. But Republicans have ass-souls instead of souls.  Trump must think that Jesus fed 5,000 billionaires.

From Daily Kos: On Wednesday night, nine African-Americans were gunned down by a vile, racist killer as they attended a Bible study class at Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME church. And now Charles Cotton, a "dedicated" board member of the NRA—perhaps tiring of his political soul mates’ attempts to shift the blame from racism to religious intolerance for the mass murder—decided to weigh in with his own explanation of who was really to blame for this horrific act of domestic terrorism: One of the murder victims. In a discussion on TexasCHLforum, it is pointed out that one of the victims was State Senator Clementa Pinckney. Said Cotton of the murdered public servant and pastor of the church:

And he voted against concealed-carry. Eight of his church members who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry handguns in church are dead. Innocent people died because of his position on a political issue.

I think I’m going to puke.

From Crooks and Liars: I’ll bet this is not that unusual. What’s unusual, I think, is that the student finally refused to comply:

A former Delaware State University volleyball player is now suing her old school for allegedly serving up religious discrimination.

Natalia Mendieta claims she lost her athletic scholarship after she refused to attend church or participate in Bible studies – optional activities that were reportedly made mandatory by her coach.

Had this been a religious institution or religious college, this would not be an issue. The focus of this lawsuit is on a taxpayer supported state university.

The allegation is that a newly hired coach violated a student’s first amendment rights.

The coach should be immediately fired. However, I worry that, if she is, she might end up in Congress.

Cartoon:

I jut returned from my appointment with the Orthopedist.  He said I have a frozen shoulder and gave me a shot of steroids in the joint.  If successful, I should regain the use of my shoulder in three to five days.  It has been a long day, and I am very tired.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:04 (average 5:11).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

It’s early on a very busy day.  I may be intermittent for the rest of the week.  Tonight I have a meeting g to attend.  Tomorrow is a grocery delivery day.  Thursday I have an Orthopedist appointment.  To make matters worse, for the next two to three weeks, a contractor will be cleaning, repairing and pressure washing the exterior of my building.  It’s been ten tears.  Their equipment makes a major racket and they work from dawn to sunset.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:55 (average 6:41).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Recruiting:

We still need two new players for Lefty Blog Friends, our fantasy football league.  How about you?  For more information, click here.

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Geneticists at the University of Minnesota believe that they have isolated the gene that makes some people much more prone to failure than others.

While the research is preliminary, the scientists said that they were able to successfully identify the failure gene by studying the DNA of males in two generations of the same American family.

“If we have indeed isolated the gene that makes people fail—and we believe we have—all of the subjects in our study are carriers,” said Davis Logsdon, the geneticist who supervised the research.

According to Logsdon, those who carry the gene for failure have “absolutely no idea that they have it” and thus project the confidence and self-assurance of people whose genetic material does not make them likely to wreak havoc on a massive scale.

“Not only does this gene cause people to fail, it makes them fail to understand that they have failed,” he said. “It is a really bad gene.”

Bush Bag Alert!!

Hell Andy! I’ve been telling folks that for years. I call it DEVOLUTION.

From Alternet:

Saying the 2016 Republican presidential contest was “wide open” and launching his first attacks on Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration, Jeb Bush confirmed Monday what everybody has long known: he is a candidate for president…

…Let’s go through eight highlights from his speech, ranging from the obvious and absurd to what will be recurring themes in the 2016 campaign.

1. Anyone think he’s not a Bush? His new bumper sticker is “Jeb!” That’s what filled the posters at Monday’s kickoff. There’s no mention of his last name, which is a silly but conscious political marketing decision. Jeb clearly wants to distinguish himself from his older brother, George W., whose presidency was filled with many disasters. But Bush is part of a political dynasty and that includes certain family traits and views. For example, Jeb recently said he would have invaded Iraq as W. did after 9/11.

Strike Three etches his sketch as well as Little Lord Willard did. Click through for the other seven.

From Think Progress:

Another attempt to clean up the environment, another House hearing on why we shouldn’t do that.

On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) acting assistant administrator Janet McCabe defended the updated ground-level ozone rule at a House energy and commerce subcommittee hearing. The proposed rule aims to further limit ground-level ozone pollution, which is the main ingredient of smog.

The EPA has proposed lowering the national air quality standards for ground-level ozone from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 65 or 70 ppb — a change the agency says will save millions of people from the effects of poor air quality. The agency reviewed thousands of new scientific studies on health and air quality to come up with the new guidelines, which are expected to be finalized in the fall. By law, the EPA is required to reevaluate the ozone rule every five years. The House has already scheduled two more hearings on the rule this week.

Unsurprisingly, Republicans were roundly unhappy with rule. Here are five arguments McCabe came up against.

It’s not fair.

Several lawmakers went with a favorite childhood argument: that the rule isn’t fair. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) managed to work in a reference to the Congressional softball game, likening improved public health regulations to moving the foul lines at a recreational event.

“Had we started the game, and then halfway through the game, the number of strikes changed or in the second inning, the number of outs changed… that would make for a very frustrating, impossible game, don’t you agree?” Shimkus said.

The problem with the argument is that rules for games are, in fact, made up, whereas the EPA is seeking to put new standards in place based on the best science available.

Or, as McCabe said, “Ozone is not about rules. This is about science.”

Republicans have a BS in Bullshitology! Click through for the other four.

Cartoon:

We have another hot day today, and I’m not back to full speed.  For some reason I just feel lethargic.  I hope your weekend id going well.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:51 (average 4:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Recruiting:

We still need two new players for Lefty Blog Friends, our fantasy football league.  How about you?  For more information, click here.

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (Classic: 8/2009): Notice a propensity of newly minted Libertarians showing up lately? Perhaps it’s just coincidence their ranks swelled in inverse proportion to George Bush’s approval rating, ditto that so many are mouthing traditional conservative talking points. But what about the everyday gun toting townhall screamers and taxcutters and deficit hawks we see on cable news: are they really libertarian as so many claim, or just conservatives in glibertarian clothes? Here’s a few warning signs.

1. If you think Ron Paul isn’t conservative enough and Fox News is fair and balanced, you might not be a Libertarian.
2. If you believe you have an inalienable right to attend Presidential townhalls brandishing a loaded assault rifle, but that arresting participants inside for wearing a pink shirt is an important public safety precaution, there’s a chance you’re dangerously unbalanced, but no chance you’re a Libertarian.
3. If you think the government should stay the hell out of Medicare, well, you have way, way bigger problems than figuring out if you’re really a Libertarian.

Click through for the other seven.

From Alternet: Real Time host Bill Maher went on a rant about Texas police Cpl. Eric Casebolt during Friday evening’s show. “This is the high school loser who wants to re-litigate his shitty adolescence by being a cop, ’cause now he’s got some power, and he can lord it over people,” Maher told his panelists, “It’s not that hard to weed out that personality type, is it?”

Many Republican men, like Casebolt, enter law enforcement, because, when they were children, the little girls on the school bus beat them up and took their lunch money, Casebolt wanted to demonstrate his power over a little girl.

From Crooks and Liars: The gentle reader might have noticed by now that Scott Walker is a compulsive liar. Whether its about his record on job creation or dealing with protesters or Saint Ronnie’s Bible, Walker simply can’t tell the truth.

The worst part is that he’s not very good at it and always get caught in his lies.The latest example is his getting caught lying about British Prime Minister David Cameron:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says British Prime Minister David Cameron confided in him that he was concerned about the direction of American leadership. But there’s a problem with the Republican’s tidy critique of President Barack Obama: Cameron doesn’t remember it that way.

Walker, who has taken several trips overseas in recent months to study up on foreign policy in preparation for an all-but-certain presidential bid, told a roomful of Republican donors Friday that world leaders, including Cameron, are worried about the U.S. stepping back in the world. “The Prime Minister did not say that and does not think that,” a Downing Street spokesperson told TIME.

The Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan would not recognize truth, if it bit him in the ass.

Cartoon:

Contrary to Republican lies, this so-called tradition was NOT handed down from our founding fathers.