Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I must still be pretty pooped, as I slept through the morning.  I hope the weekend is being kind to you.  Day 55.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) unveiled an ambitious plan on Thursday to avoid making eye contact with outgoing House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) until Rep. Cantor leaves Congress, in January of 2015.

Speaking to reporters, Boehner acknowledged the difficulty of avoiding eye contact with the Virginia Republican for the next seven months, but he stressed the importance of his new plan.

“If I make eye contact with him, he might misconstrue that to mean that I want to talk to him,” Boehner said. “And, let’s be honest, none of us has to do that anymore.”

It’s only temporary, Andy.  All the Republicans will love Cantor, when he comes back to pass out those K Street bribes.

From Upworthy: An anonymous person took a bunch of old Coke ads and merged them into the most blunt and honest Coke ad ever. If all ads were as honest as this one, we’d be so much healthier. Of course, they’ll totally never do this. Either way, watch this.

Dang! Coke is almost as bad for Americans as Koch!

From Daily Kos: In a shameful and mind-numbingly insensitive move, CNN has decided that of the 74 school shootings which have occurred in the last 18 months, 59 incidents in which 25 people were killed and 40 were injured simply do not count.

This patently ridiculous conclusion can be found in an article at CNN entitled, "A closer look: How many Newtown-like school shootings since Sandy Hook?" It is within this article that the following rationale is given as to why we should ignore most of the incidents reported by gun control advocacy groups:

CNN determined that 15 of the incidents [gun advocacy group] Everytown included were situations similar to the violence in Newtown or Oregon — a minor or adult actively shooting inside or near a school. That works out to about one such shooting every five weeks, a startling figure in its own right.

Some of the other incidents on Everytown’s list included personal arguments, accidents and alleged gang activities and drug deals.

Let us stop right here. CNN has just discounted 59 school shootings in which there were active shooters inside or near a school because, well, why exactly? Because they didn’t look like Newtown? Because they involved gang activity, or personal arguments, or so-called accidents? Incidents in which 25 people were killed?

CNN is Faux Noise Lite on this one. How many of you think it shouldn’t count as a school shooting, if your kid gets killed or wounded as a bystander to a personal argument, a gun accident, a gang bang, or a drug deal gone bad?

Cartoon:

When Ben was flying the kite, his wife called out, "Ben, you need more tail!" Ben replied, "Last night you told me to go fly a kite!"

I’m writing for tomorrow and feeling quite tired.  Physical therapy was tiring and painful, and every time I’ve gotten to sleep, I’ve gotten a phone call.  Day 53.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:05 (average 4:43).  To do it. click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a development that few had thought possible, Republicans in the Seventh District of Virginia on Tuesday night found an even bigger tool than Rep. Eric Cantor to represent them in the United States Congress.

Apparently deciding that Cantor was insufficiently heartless to represent their district, Republicans turned out to the polls to elect David Brat, a man whose political views “border on sociopathy,” according to exit-poll responses from voters who supported him.

During his concession speech, Rep. Cantor reflected on the mistakes that might have led to his defeat: “Should I have cut more school-lunch programs for poor children? Perhaps. Should I have cast more votes to screw over disaster victims? Definitely. Should I have not said the thing about treating children of immigrants like human beings? Man, do I wish I could take that one back. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but at the end of the day I was just too damn empathic for this district.”

Andy’s satire rings completely true.

From Upworthy: No one would argue that learning disabilities don’t exist or shouldn’t be diagnosed, but let’s take a step back to see what happens to some kids who get that label.

This picture truly IS worth a thousand words.

From Daily Kos: After only one day Fox News has already eliminated coverage of the Tea Party Cop Killers in Las Vegas who went on a murderous rampage Sunday. On Monday, Fox’s primetime programs (Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly, and Sean Hannity) were silent on the subject except for four sentences on Kelly’s show.

On Tuesday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, the curvy couch potatoes failed to mention Jerad Miller and his wife Amanda. Later, on Happening Now, Fox ignored the story entirely. Outnumbered also declined to report on the Millers, despite having guest co-host "doctor" Keith Ablow who has psychoanalyzed every criminal, politician, and other public figure this century (without ever examining, or even meeting, any of them)…

…Fox has replaced the Sunday massacre with older stories about the Bergdahl prisoner swap, the Veterans Administration, and Hillary Clinton’s book release and presidential aspirations. The producers and editors at Fox News have never been shy about reporting acts of alleged terrorism, even before any evidence has emerged. But for this story they have refused to even refer to the crime as terrorism.

There are some obvious reasons why Fox would skew their reporting and ultimately remove this story from their news coverage. And all of them represent biases that are a long-standing part of what can be called the Fox News Creed: Racism, Guns, Anti-Government, and Tea Party.

Is it any surprise that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, is not covering an act of terrorism committed by a Republican designated patriot? If the sheeple found out, it could be very, very BA-A-A-A-A-AD!

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I’m writing for tomorrow and listening to news coverage of the Reynolds High School Shooting a few miles away (see lead article).  I had a long talk with the Director of Public Relations at my Medical Equipment Company.  She took responsibility and admitted that there was absolutely no reason they could now have waited until next month for by blood O₂ levels.  In future they will send a med-tech here to get them, which they should have done this time.  The woman who overstepped her authority and acted so imperiously to my doctor’s assistant is in trouble.  Tomorrow is grocery delivery day, and I have lots of cleaning to do.  Day 51.

Breaking:

I’m overjoyed to announce that Eric Cantor (R-VA) has been TEAbuggered!  A Bagger beat him ion the primary!!  It is the first time a sitting Majority was defeated in a primary since 1899.  Bratt said he won because of Republican Supply-side Jesus (the polar opposite of the real Jesus) and ran on hatred for Latinos.  Hid Democrat opponent and he are professors at the same college, and the Dem is more popular among the students  than the Bagger, but the district is one of the most heavily Gerrymandered in the country, so engineered to protect Cantor.  No doubt Cantor will become a well paid lobbyist.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:58 (average 5:26).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) ripped former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s new book, “Hard Choices,” today, telling reporters, “I read it, and honestly, I didn’t find anything in it worth plagiarizing.”

Calling the new book “disappointing,” Sen. Paul said, “I read a lot of books, and it’s rare that I don’t find a passage or two to lift here or there. I just read the second Harry Potter book and I thought there was some dialogue of Voldemort’s that could work well in my stump speech. But this Hillary book? Nada.”

Hillary’s book must really be horrid. Before this, nobody had ever written anything so bad that Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot wouldn’t steal it!

From Daily Kos: A new poll by Lake Research Partners finds some reasons for that. Walmart’s reputation is suffering among consumers, with 28 percent saying they have an unfavorable view of Walmart, compared to just 13 percent unfavorable for Target and just six percent unfavorable for Costco. Walmart’s low wages and bad treatment of its workers are registering on shoppers; just 27 percent say that "treats its employees well" is a good description of Walmart, while 42 percent say it is not. The numbers are even more skewed when people are asked if "well paid employees" applies to Walmart. And those views of the company are affecting how much people shop at its stores.

That’s great news. I can summarize my Wal-Fart shopping advice in one word: DON’T!

From NY Times: He is a Democrat in a marquee Senate race, pressed by a strong Republican in a state with a challenging political environment. So when a new proposal to limit power plant emissions was seen as posing a threat to allies of the Obama administration, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado acted quickly: He embraced the plan.

“Coloradans have seen firsthand the harmful effects of climate change, including severe drought, record wildfires and reduced snowpack,” Mr. Udall said in a statement shortly after the Environmental Protection Agency plan was made public last week. “The E.P.A.’s draft rule is a good start, and I will fight to ensure it complements the work we have already done in Colorado and provides states the flexibility they need to make it successful.”

The E.P.A. proposal to reduce carbon pollution from power plants was deemed a political gift from the Obama administration to Republicans running for Senate seats in the coal-producing states of Kentucky and West Virginia, and an anchor around the necks of their Democratic opponents. Elsewhere, the threat of higher electricity bills and Republican attacks about another federal power grab were supposed to send Democrats scurrying for cover and distance from the White House.

But Mr. Udall’s example shows that not all Democrats look at it that way.

Kudos to Mark Udall. The way to seal with opposition to the plan is to expose the Republican lies on which all such opposition is based.

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow and still feeling quite tired.  The Grand Floral Parade is about to start, and if I can get a few good snapshots through the window, I’ll make an article from them.  I’ve been so busy that it will take a couple days of research, before I’m fully up to date on happenings.  Day 48.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:20 (average 5:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Me:

This pic was taken during my prison volunteer trip.

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: This is a fascinating video, I have to admit. Pay special attention to how people react to the speaker.

This also explains how the 1% markets Republican candidates to sheeple.

From Daily Kos: The name is Gavin McInnes, and Fox gets credit for continuing to know under which rocks such people can be found.

Barf Bag Alert!!

I only hope that an advanced alien culture is not learning about humanity by watching the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise. If they are, we are soooo screwed.

From Common Dreams: Independent scientists who have reviewed a water analysis conducted by state authorities of a Texas resident’s drinking well say the chemical signatures found in the water may provide "the nation’s first conclusive link" between fracking operations and aquifer contamination.

Though a state investigation—conducted by the Texas Railroad Commission in response to an official complaint filed by landowner and Parker County resident Steve Lipsky—said it found the chemical analysis of the water inconclusive, experts shown the results say the commission was simply wrong. "And not just by a little," reports local ABC-affiliate WFAA News who shared the results with several scientists, "but by a lot."

The Texas Railroad Commission, which is responsible for oversight in such matters, found the results inconclusive, because they represent the polluters. This is what they call "inconclusive".

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