Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 127.  Some of my comments last night were a bit out of kilter, because I fell asleep at the keyboard for two hours, and when I awakened I was not fully functional.  Today was a slow day for news.  Finding material took double the normal time, so I’m writing in the evening, not the morning as usual.  Tomorrow I have a grocery delivery coming in the morning.

Late Update:

I fell asleep at the keyboard again. 🙁

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:22 (average 4:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: G.O.P. chief Reince Priebus ripped President Obama on Sunday for consuming three meals a day while on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.

“With international crises boiling over in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine, it’s unconscionable that the President is having breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” he said…

LOL Andy. I bet the reason Obama does that is to keep people from discovering that he’s black 😉

From McClatchy DC: One day after losing a major airbase to Islamic extremists, Syria said Monday it was willing to work with other countries to fight terror groups in Syria provided they show respect for the Syrian regime and operate only with its permission.

At least one third of Syrian territory is said to be in the hands of the radical Islamic State, and the loss of Tabqa airbase Sunday put the entire east Syrian province of Raqqa in the militant’s hands, a severe setback for the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Walid Al Moallem, the Syrian Deputy Prime Minister, told reporters that Syria is willing to cooperate with other countries “as long as this cooperation is approached in a serious manner, without double standards” and does not “weaken Syria.”

Effectively Syria is asking the US to partner with the brutal Assad regime, that employed chemical WMD against their own people, against ISIS, that murdered thousands. McConJob, Lindsey Poo and other Republicans have berated Obama for taking an active role in only Iraq, but not in Syria. This article illustrates the Syrian dilemma. We have no viable ally in Syria. It’s like being asked to side with either Neocons or Baggers.

From The Nation: When Gogebic Taconite LLC began moving in November 2010—the same month Scott Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin—to develop an open-pit iron mine in one of the most environmentally sensitive regions of northern Wisconsin, the Florida-based mining firm got a lot of pushback. Residents of the region objected, along with Native American tribes. So, too, did citizens from across Wisconsin, a state that has long treasured the wild beauty of the Penokee Range. Environmental and conservation groups voiced their concerns, as did local and state officials from across the political spectrum.

The outcry heightened as Gogebic Taconite and its allies promoted a radical rewrite of existing mining regulations in order to promote a project that could grow to be four miles long, more than a mile wide and 1,000 feet deep. Democratic and Republican legislators began to ask tough questions. Yet Governor Scott Walker remained “eager to advance a mining bill,” according to Wisconsin media that reported extensively on the governor’s determination to overrule objections to the grand schemes of an out-of-state corporation that newly released documents show secretly steered $700,000 to “independent” efforts to provide political cover for the embattled governor.

I always like seeing more evidence surface that should be used to convict Scott Walker, the Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan!

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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 125.  Last night, I made a couple comments on Care2 and did the puzzle.  Then I just crashed.  I stayed awake just long enough to post the Personal Update. This morning I did all the research for tomorrow’s articles and ate two meals.  I napped for a couple hours and just woke up.  I feel quite groggy.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:05 (average 5:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Agony:

At least, when the starters left the meditation, Denver led 17-7.

Short Takes:

From YouTube: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recorded a video address for the Iowa AFL-CIO’s annual meeting. He talked about the need to address the crisis of income and wealth inequality, create millions of new jobs through the rebuilding of our crumbling infrastructure, raise the minimum wage, overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and end our disastrous trade policies. He also called for a political revolution that will get millions of people involved in the political process.

That’s what I call a blueprint for the future from a national treasure.

From Daily Kos: Can’t find any CNN text but here’s a report on the video content from Medialite:

Earlier this week, Fox News reported that Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old unarmed Michael Brown, suffered a fractured eye socket following his confrontation with the teenager. The reporter, Hollie McKay, cited a “source close to the [police] department’s top brass” as providing that information to the network.

However, on CNN Thursday, Don Lemon reported that Wilson did not suffer a fractured or broken eye socket and was rather treated at the hospital for swelling around his face and eyes. Noting that that specific injury has not been reported by CNN, “but is making its way around other media organization,” Lemon cited a “source close to the investigation” who told CNN that Wilson’s x-rays came back negative for a fractured eye socket.

“That source says it is not true, at all, he did not have a torn eye socket,” Lemon said. “Unequivocally.”

Minor Barf Bag Alert!

I could not help but notice that hearing that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, was lying from the outset crushed Nancy Grace’s countenance. Note the downturned corners of her mouth differed from her normal attack-sneer.

From AlterNet: To see how corrupt the United States government has become, just follow the money.  According to the most recent Federal Reserve Flow of Funds report, US households currently have an all-time high $82 trillion in overall wealth.  If that wealth were spread out evenly, every US household would now have $712k.  However, as of the end of 2013, the median household only had $56k in wealth.  From 2007 – 2013, overall wealth increased 26%, while the median household lost a shocking 43% of their wealth. If median wealth continues to decline at this rate, over 50% of US households will be bankrupt within the next decade.

Even worse, the bottom 40% has less that 0.1% (1/10 of 1%) of the wealth.

Cartoon:

Vesuvius was a Republican mountain.

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 121.  I’m feeling groggy.  I went out to do some chores early this morning before the heat hit, but was still uncomfortable, because it’s so humid.  I overslept and feel like I need more sleep.  I think that my COPD flaring up is why.  Tomorrow ids a grocery delivery day.  That means lots of house work.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 5:12).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Lone Star Q (H/T Daily Kos): Mere months before Jonathan Saenz became president of the anti-gay group Texas Values, his wife left him for another woman, according to Hays County district court records obtained by Lone Star Q.

The revelation could help explain Saenz’s seemingly abrupt transformation from socially conservative lobbyist to homophobic firebrand.

Saenz, a devout Catholic, has been a right-wing operative in Texas for many years — working on abortion and religious liberty cases as a staff attorney for the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute as far back as 2005. [emphasis added]

FOMCROTFPIMPLMAO!!!!

From YouTube: Woodie Guthrie – All You Fascists are Bound to Lose

It’s a few years old, but the sentiment remains valid, and the fascists remain Republican.

From Crooks and Liars: I’m surprised it took Fox News this long to find a racist scumbag like Fuhrman to explain to frightened Fox viewers why unarmed African-American kid Michael Brown deserved to take six bullets from a cop who is cowering somewhere out of the state of Missouri.

But they did. Evidently the KKK was booked elsewhere, perhaps on the streets of Ferguson, so Fuhrman showed up to blame the whole mess on Brown. In Fuhrman’s eyes — because he is all-seeing and magically teleported himself back to noon Central time on August 9th — clearly Mike Brown was the aggressor and deserved to be filled with a bunch of lead.

MAJOR Barf Bag Alert!!

This is the cop, whose racism was so intense and so obvious, that it made it possible for OJ Simpson to get away with murder.  Is is any wonder that the Republican sheeple who say BA-A-A-A to the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, appear to be even dimmer than just stupid?

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