Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 24.  It’s evening.  I did my research this morning, while the Macy’s Parade passed under my window.  Everyone in the parade was bundled against the cold and the rain.  The wind prevented any balloons.  Of all the parades that have passed under my window, this kept moving the fastest.  My COPD is acting up as another winter storm comes in.  Snow is forecast for tomorrow.  I cleaned up the mess and took a coupled long cat naps.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:09 (average 4:07).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Oh, no. According to a press release from the Supreme Court:

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent a coronary catheterization procedure this morning at MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center to place a stent in her right coronary artery. The coronary blockage was discovered after Justice Ginsburg experienced discomfort during routine exercise last night and was taken to the hospital. She is resting comfortably and is expected to be discharged in the next 48 hours.

My hopes and prayers are that she regains her full health. From a selfish perspective, I can easily see Republicans holding the Court to 3 Justices and 5 Injustices rather than confirm even a anyone left of a fascist goose-stepper. That would be horrible!

From NY Times: Earlier this week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced proposed regulations to curb emissions of ozone, which causes smog, not to mention asthma, heart disease and premature death. And you know what happened: Republicans went on the attack, claiming that the new rules would impose enormous costs.

There’s no reason to take these complaints seriously, at least in terms of substance. Polluters and their political friends have a track record of crying wolf. Again and again, they have insisted that American business — which they usually portray as endlessly innovative, able to overcome any obstacle — would curl into a quivering ball if asked to limit emissions. Again and again, the actual costs have been far lower than they predicted. In fact, almost always below the E.P.A.’s predictions.

So it’s the same old story. But why, exactly, does it always play this way? Of course, polluters will defend their right to pollute, but why can they count on Republican support? When and why did the Republican Party become the party of pollution?

For it wasn’t always thus. The Clean Air Act of 1970, the legal basis for the Obama administration’s environmental actions, passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 73 to 0, and was signed into law by Richard Nixon.

Click through for the rest of this excellent Paul Krugman editorial, in which he relates climate change denial to the growing inequality between the super-rich and us, upon whom they prey.

From Upworthy: ProPublica recently did an in-depth analysis and found that black kids between ages 15-19 are 21 times more likely to be shot and killed by cops than white kids of the same age. That’s an insane statistic. That’s per capita, not total. If you are a black teenage boy, you have a 21x higher risk of being shot by police than a white teenage boy.

Also, in 2010, federal prosecutors took 162,000 cases to a grand jury. You know how many DIDN’T go to trial? Eleven.

Mike Brown’s family will never get a state criminal trial to get justice for their son. And the testimony that denied them that right technically doesn’t make any sense. Seriously, go read it.

Police have a hard job. What they do is something I couldn’t ever do. But you know what they rarely have? Accountability. In this case, the prosecutor, Robert McCulloch, always gets indictments — unless it’s a cop. He’s had five cop-involved killing cases and zero indictments. Again, five cases against police haven’t made it to trial at all. He could get an indictment if he wanted one.

Click through for much more information about this police murder and prosecutor cover up. On a related topic, the criminal acts of Wilson does not invalidate the excellent public service delivered my most police officers. Similarly, the acts of a few thugs and criminals, who are using the protests as an occasion to destroy and loot, does not invalidate the message of the protestors, the vast majority of whom are non-violent.

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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 22.  It’s already evening, and I just started cooking, because I slept most of the day.  Yesterday’s CoDA meeting in prison was excellent.  We discussed what it means to be willing to make amends to the people we have harmed.  My guys showed authentic insight, but more than that would violate confidentiality.  I was especially exhausted, because having to meet my ride away from downtown upped my walking total to over two miles.  (Later:  I fell asleep at my desk and just woke up.)

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:44 (average 5:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Media Matters: Thanksgiving Survival Guide

Don’t let right-wing lies ruin your Thanksgiving dinner.

This year, be ready with the facts.

This is just one of twelve fact cards. Click through for the other eleven.

From NY Times: With negotiators nearing an accord on permanent tax breaks for businesses worth $440 billion over 10 years, President Obama rallied Democratic opposition on Tuesday and promised a veto.

“The president would veto the proposed deal because it would provide permanent tax breaks to help well-connected corporations while neglecting working families,” said Jennifer Friedman, a White House spokeswoman.

The deal, negotiated by House Republicans and aides to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the outgoing majority leader, showed how much power has shifted since the Republican election victories this month. The negotiations fractured Democrats, and separated the Obama administration from Mr. Reid.

So he should. It looks like Leg Hound Harry is back.

From KGW: Hundreds of protesters clashed with police during a rally against the Ferguson ruling Tuesday night.

Seven people were arrested, police said, mostly for interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct. None of them remained in jail Wednesday morning.

Needless to say, the news coverage of Portland’s protest was biased.

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No pardon for this turkey!!

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 25.  It’s a good thing I did my research early, because, except for a three hour cat nap, I haven’t stopped since 1 AM.  Tomorrow is a prison volunteer day, and Thanksgiving cooking starts Wednesday.  Color me scarce. 

Late (early) Update:

Just woke up.  Ugh!  It looks like Darren Wilson may get away with murder.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Koch industries and its subsidiaries are expansive—their holdings include everything from gas stations to pipelines, paper products for everyday use, greeting cards, chemicals used to make materials, and the fabric that makes your clothing.

With an interest in almost everything and status as the number two privately held company in the country–behind Cargill—Koch industries is a behemoth that is hard to avoid.

But knowledge is power and your dollar is your vote. We can become informed purchasers and refuse to support their political agenda by refusing to purchase their wares.

Don’t suck nevermind! Click through to sign the pledge and for a complete list of Koch Brothers Products to boycott.

From VOX: A new poll from finds that 89 percent of Latino voters support President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

80 percent of Latino voters say they’ll oppose any attempt by Republicans to block Obama’s executive actions

Worryingly for the GOP, that includes 60 percent of Latino Republicans.

I have the same question for Latino Republicans that I have for fay Republicans. Are you a billionaire or a masochist?

From Alternet: Making the Highest Profit Margin in the Corporate World — And Demanding a Tax Cut 

The trading volume on the  Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reached $1 quadrillion in  notionalvalue [sic] last year. That’s a thousand trillion dollars, about ten times greater than the  world economy.

With the  collection of transfer fees, contract fees, brokerage fees, Globex fees, clearing fees, and surcharges, the company achieved a  profit margin (54%) higher than any of the top 100 companies in the nation from 2008 to 2010, and in the past three years it’s risen to  nearly 60%.

Despite being the most profitable big firm, CME complained that its taxes were too high, and they demanded and received an  $85 million tax break from the State of Illinois. 

This is just one of the seven biggest corporate rip offs of this year. Click through for the other six.

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What I need!

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 18.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My Broncos will be worshiping at home with the Dolphins, and It will be televised here, so I’ll be in deep religious meditation tomorrow afternoon.  While writing I’m watching the Oregon vs. Colorado game.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:50 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Mother Jones (Hat-Tip Joanne Dixon): …But when the economy stagnates and life gets harder, people get meaner. That’s just human nature. And the economy has been stagnating for the working class for well over a decade—and then practically collapsing ever since 2008.

So who does the WWC take out its anger on? Largely, the answer is the poor. In particular, the undeserving poor. Liberals may hate this distinction, but it doesn’t matter if we hate it. Lots of ordinary people make this distinction as a matter of simple common sense, and the WWC makes it more than any. That’s because they’re closer to it. For them, the poor aren’t merely a set of statistics or a cause to be championed. They’re the folks next door who don’t do a lick of work but somehow keep getting government checks paid for by their tax dollars. For a lot of members of the WWC, this is personal in a way it just isn’t for the kind of people who read this blog.

And who is it that’s responsible for this infuriating flow of government money to the shiftless? Democrats. We fight to save food stamps. We fight for WIC. We fight for Medicaid expansion. We fight for Obamacare. We fight to move poor families into nearby housing…

This guy makes a lot of sense, but to really get where he’s coming from, you’ll need to read the while thing. Click through please.  We need a way to convince working class whites that the poor are not the ones keeping them from thriving.  It’s the super rich.

From Daily Kos:

Stories like this make you look at the calendar to check the year. Yep, still 2014. And it is utterly embarrassing and shocking that anyone who holds these racist views are operating in any leadership role. Meet Kentucky’s Southeast Bullitt Fire Chief Julius Hatfield. After stopping to help accident victims, one white family and one black family, he was caught on video having a friendly good ol’ boy chat:

Video from a Bullitt County Sheriff’s deputy’s body camera shows Hatfield’s department responding to a car accident on I-65, south of the Clermont exit in September.

"Well, I’ve got a family of four from Cincinnati, I got to do something with," the Bullitt County deputy said in the video. 

Hatfield replied, "We ain’t taking no n—— here." Then he laughs.

This Republican is a true representative of the "love" of Republican Supply-side Jesus (the polar opposite of the real Jesus).

From NY Times: House Republicans filed a long-threatened lawsuit Friday against the Obama administration over unilateral actions on the health care law that they say are abuses of the president’s executive authority.

The lawsuit — filed against the secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Treasury — focuses on two crucial aspects of the way the administration has put the Affordable Care Act into effect.

The suit accuses the Obama administration of unlawfully postponing a requirement that larger employers offer health coverage to their full-time employees or pay penalties. (Larger companies are defined as those with 50 or more employees.)

And just a couple days ago, I said they wouldn’t file this. Color me OOPS! 🙁 This is truly an act of desperation, as this pure theatre to pacify the rabid racists to whom the Republican Party have sold out. They are doing it, because there is nothing they can do about Obama’s executive action on immigration.

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