I’m writing for tomorrow, day 198.  I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I suspect that the wait will not be over.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:52 (average 6:02).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the latest news from our own fantasy football league.

Scores:

Standings:

Tied with the Bigfoot!!

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: I beamed in to "The Colbert Report" to deliver a message to citizens of the galaxy. I’ve always wanted Stephen Colbert to take me out, and he did. It was transportive, literally. Hope you enjoy this piece, which ties "Star Trek: TOS" to the upcoming midterm elections.

LMAO! Also… Amen!

From The New Yorker: The reëlection [sic]campaign of Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) went into a tailspin on Monday with the emergence of a leaked photograph showing the Senator reading what appears to be an advanced science text.

The picture, which appeared on the gossip site TMZ, shows a visibly absorbed McConnell reading a scholarly volume entitled, “The Man-Made Causes of Global Warming.”

For McConnell, who has repeatedly punctuated his public statements on climate change with the claim that he is “not a scientist,” the scandalous photo threatens to torpedo his reëlection bid.

In the hours since the image was leaked, McConnell has plummeted between five and seven points in statewide polls as voters demanded to know what he was doing with the type of book only a scientist would read.

Swinging into damage-control mode, McConnell appeared at a hastily called press conference in Lexington and offered a terse denial. “It is true that I was holding the book, and that the book was open. But I was not reading the book,” he said.

What Andy isn’t telling us is whether or not he had the book upside down. Of course he wasn’t reading it. Bought Bitch Mitch is as capable of understanding science as Crawford Caligula was of understanding My Pet Goat.

From Daily Kos: Sarah Palin took to Facebook again to declare how terrible Barack Obama is and how opposed he is to moms and apple pies and the flag but mostly moms. Apparently she’s of the opinion that Obama saying this:

“Sometimes, someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. And that’s not a choice we want Americans to make.”

… was an attack on motherhood, because Obama wanting better pay for mothers that return to the workforce is, um …

You know what? I have no clue. That’s the thing about Actual Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, she has the Gohmertian quality of being able to spout a thirty foot high geyser of words without ever once getting to a recognizable point.

Bloody Bullseye Barbie, aka Drill Baby Dingbat,  is at it again. Would it be too much to hope that she tops the Republican ticket in 2016?

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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 196.  It’s early in the morning, and I invested my fall back hour wisely.  ZZZZzzzz!  Hopefully I can catch up now, because I have no major outside commitments until I pick up my coat on Thursday {furiously knocking on wood}.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:22 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Agony:

Who knows what might have happened, had I not been Seachickened. 🙁

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: James Chao, father of Mitch McConnell’s wife Elaine, has a lot of questions to answer after 40 kilograms of cocaine (about $6.7 million worth) was found on the Ping May, a ship owned by the Foremost Group, a company James Chao founded and led to a tidy fortune. But was that fortune built on honest movement of legitimate bulk trade goods, or has Mr. Chao been trading in less than legal goods?

The cocaine, found in 40 separate packages, was discovered during a routine inspection hidden among a load of coal bound for Europe from the port of Santa Marta, Columbia onboard the Ping May, one of 15 ships Foremost currently operates, with another 8 under construction. The final destination for the ship was to be the Netherlands, likely one of the port cities surrounding Amsterdam. It is known that the Ping May has been witnessed at the port of Zaanstad, one of these cities, in the past.

Foremost Group is the source of most of Senator McConnell’s fortune through gifts and inheritance from his in-laws. It is a shadowy corporation, utilizing a complex scheme of shell companies to skip out on millions in taxes annually.

So that explains the horrid appearance of Bought Bitch Mitch’s nose! And I thought he was just Repugly!!

From TPM: Bill Maher ripped into Democratic candidates on his HBO show Friday night for distancing themselves from President Barack Obama and their own achievements on the 2014 campaign trail.

He said the same things I’ve been saying for months, with one key difference. He’s funnier.

From Blue Oregon: Even as Monica Wehby circles the drain, the Koch Brothers can’t resist one more parting shot before they slither away, via their American Future Fund. AFF is bankrolled by the Koch boys.

The two have dropped $200k on a new anti-Merkley ad, because apparently they can’t think of anything nice to say about Monica Wehby. Not that I can blame them for that.

It’s the same old recycled crap they’ve been dealing out all over the country.

My own Senator is the one race I’m not worried about. Come Wednesday morning all my personal representatives will be progressive Democrats. Why? I and thousands more like me earned it

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 194.  This is the only article, because I’m completely worn out, after a long difficult week.  I spent most of the day resting, but I’ve reached the point where I’m too tired to sleep well.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:54 (average 5:44).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Eric M. Frein, the fugitive accused of killing one state trooper and seriously wounding another in an ambush, was captured Thursday and brought back to the barracks near Scranton, Pa., where his seven-week flight from the law began.

Mr. Frein surrendered to federal marshals who found him hiding out in an abandoned airport in the Poconos Mountains, ending an intense manhunt that began Sept. 12, officials said in a news conference late Thursday. The marshals turned him over to the Pennsylvania State Police, who placed him in the slain trooper’s handcuffs and patrol car.

I’m no fan of this Eric Frein. I even gave him the dishonor of of a parade. Now that he is in custody, I can already see the move to convict him in the minds of all potential jurors to prepare him for execution. Even the extreme right media, like Faux Noise, has stopped singing his praises. I object to this, because even a Republican terrorist has a right to a fair trial.  Now that he is no longer a threat, his life should be preserved. I know more than one prisoner, who has done far worse and will never breathe free air, that have found some redemption in helping other prisoners. Taking vengeance on this man brings us all down to his level.

From The New Yorker: President Obama is coming under increasing pressure to apologize for a controversial remark that he made on Tuesday, in which he said that the nation’s Ebola policy should be based on facts rather than fear.

While the anti-fear tenor of Mr. Obama’s comment was offensive enough to some, the President made matters worse by suggesting that science would play the leading role in guiding the nation’s Ebola protocols—a role that many Americans believe should be played by fear.

Across the country, Democratic candidates have sought to distance themselves from the President’s incendiary statement, especially in states like North Carolina, where science and facts have record-low approval ratings.

Andy sadly notes that when Republicans mount absurd, racist attacks, many Democratic candidates cower in shameful fear. Grow a pair of Obamaballs!

From Daily Kos: Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945, elected as our President four times back when that sort of thing was legal (http://en.wikipedia.org/…).  As such, he led us out of the Great Depression with his New Deal reforms, and he eventually led us into World War II. 

Again, please note:  This is the Democratic President whose reforms allowed us to recover from the Great Depression.  I think that may make him the foremost economic expert of all time.

In 1944, at a time when you might think his State of the Union address would focus only on our ongoing fight in World War II, the "deadliest military conflict in history"

(http://en.wikipedia.org/…), astonishingly FDR spoke of much more.  He addressed the vital nature of America’s economic security, and proposed a new Economic Bill of Rights.  These rights are so vital that they resonate today as we face losing them, and I hope their consideration will strengthen your resolve to vote.

He had it right way back then. Think where we could be had Republicans not put transferring our wealth to the 0.1% in the way of FDR’s moral goals and adopted seditious tactics.

Cartoon:

And YOURS!

Get Out the VOTE!!!

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 192.  Yesterday's CoDA meeting in prison went very well.  The guys dug pretty deeply into personal issues.  I mostly listened, and I can’t get into the things they said without violating their confidentiality..  Groceries are delivered and put away.  My attention is divided, because it’s the bottom of the 5th, with 2 outs.  Tomorrow I have to be ready to leave bright and early for my pulmonologist’s appointment (routine), and will probably not be back until mid afternoon, so my most likely posting for Friday will be a Personal Update and a holiday greeting.  Here’s hoping.

Late Update: Condolences to Nameless.  It was a good close game.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s tool me 3:24 (average 5:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (Hat-Tip  JL A, Pat B, and James Maynard, all from Care2): Living with a cat for the first time, you quickly pick up on its behavioral quirks, many of which are common among other cats. What you soon find out is that cats aren't Republican. Here are 12 reasons why not:

1. Cats are curious about what you do in your bedroom, but they don't try to legislate away your freedom to do it.

2. Cats may take away your cushion, but they'll give it back to you with a gentle push.

3. Cats give you attention and sympathy when you're sick.

4. Females are treated with importance in the cat world.

Click through for the other eight. I'll add number thirteen. Even a neutered cat has more integrity in his kitty dingles than there is in all Republican officeholders combined.

From The New Yorker: \With just one week to go until the midterm elections, a new poll indicates that billionaires are likely to retain control of the United States government.

The poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, shows that the proxy candidates of billionaires are likely to win ninety-eight per cent of next Tuesday’s races, with the remaining two per cent leaning billionaire.

Although the poll indicates that some races are still “too close to call,” the fact that billionaires funded candidates on both sides puts the races safely in their column.

Andy isn't that far from the truth. Fortunately, most of the billionaires backing Democrats are not plutocrats.

From Upworthy: Fact: The political system in America is completely broken. And a huge reason it's gotten so bad is the influence of the almighty dollar. Understanding how we got to this point is both fascinating and utterly maddening.

This is an excellent video except it paints the problem as much more bipartisan that it is, in fact. The vast majority of corporate money, especially secret corporate money, is spent on behalf of Republicans. Even McConJob joined his fellow Republicans and voted to block the DISCLOSE Act, supported by Democrats.

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