Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, resting up t6o recharge, and preparing to confront a mess in my kitchen area.  Politics Plus will be offline for approximately 30 minutes, sometime between 7 PM Sunday night and 3 AM Monday morning.  Our HSP will be doing a kernel upgrade on the servers.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:48 (average 5:52).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Christian Science Monitor: The Democrats face some challenging math in their quest to hold onto the US Senate. In all, 21 Democratic-held seats are up for election this November, versus 15 Republican-held seats. And political analysts deem far more of the Democratic seats vulnerable.

To take control of the Senate, the Republicans need a net gain of six seats. One already looks set to flip: the seat held by retiring Sen. Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota.

Twelve other Senate races are seen as competitive – 10 seats held by Democrats, two by Republicans. Here’s the rundown.

We’re losing a couple good Democrats to retirement.  The rest are DINOs, but we need them to tip the balance.  Click through for an excellent analysis of the challenges we face to keep the Republican Party out of the driver’s seat.

From The Oregonian: Cover Oregon closed one of the sorrier chapters in the history of Oregon state government Friday when it opted to dump its troubled $248 million health insurance exchange in favor of the federal exchange.

The federal exchange doesn’t feature many of the bells and whistles Oregon officials had hoped to offer in their in-house system. But the federal exchange works and offers certainty that the Oregon exchange did not.

Actually that is good news for Oregon. The company they had hired, Oracle, really screwed the pooch with their substandard design performance.

From Politicus USA: Reckless coastal development is heading to Georgia, courtesy of the Nathan Deal administration. Naturally this marsh killing policy was announced on Earth Day.

If you’ve never been to Georgia, you’re missing out. Georgia’s 300,000 acres of tidal marshes are a source of huge pride in the Peach state, for good reason. Not only are fishing and shrimping a large source of recreational, family-owned businesses, but the state has always taken a much more protective stance towards its coasts and marshlands. The birds and the stunning scenery are a testament to past policies of preservation.

But it’s not just Georgians who benefit from the preserved and protected coast. The Center for a Sustainable Coast estimates that “Georgia’s tidal marshes are about a third of those remaining on the U.S. east coast…” You won’t see the kind of built up, destroyed coasts in Georgia that you will see in South Carolina.

Or rather, you wouldn’t see that in the past, but the Nathan Deal (R-GA) administration is doing what Republican governors do best (see Rick Scott’s similar actions in Florida, and Rick Snyder’s giveaway of public parks to corporations in Michigan) — selling out public land, interest and national treasures to big business.

The Center for a Sustainable Coast explained in a statement, “On Earth Day, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division Director Judson Turner announced a radical policy change that will eliminate protective buffers along Georgia’s tidal marshes. This came as a result of a dubious reinterpretation of language in the 1978 Georgia Soil Erosion and Sedimentation (E&S) Act, used to protect waters of the state.”

This is how Republicans celebrate Earth Day!

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I’m writing for tomorrow, and this is tomorrow’s only article, because I will not get back from prison until late and will have missed sleep.  Day 2.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:25 (average 4:36).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Scary news out of Pennsylvania:

A local chapter of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan launched a neighborhood watch in the area of Ridge Road in Fairview Township in response to a recent rash of break-ins, said Frank Ancona, the organization’s imperial wizard and president.

Frank Ancona went on to offer assurances they don’t target minorities:

“It’s just like any neighborhood watch program. It’s not targeting any specific ethnicity. We would report anything we see to law enforcement,” Ancona said. “We don’t hate people. We are an organization who looks out for our race. We believe in racial separation. God created each species after its kind and saw that it was good.”

This news comes on the heels of reports that the KKK has started a new recruitment drive: [Republican KKK delinked]

He and his Republican allies have a point. The government species and the Republican species must be separated and kept apart.

From The New Yorker: Flanked by members of his state’s legislature on Wednesday afternoon, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal proudly unveiled Georgia’s new official state slogan, “We Make Florida Look Safe.”

Gov. Deal told reporters that the slogan was “more than just words,” reflecting Georgia’s determination to best its rival Florida for the nation’s most reckless gun law.

“When Florida passed Stand Your Ground, we knew we were playing catch-up,” Gov. Deal said. “Thanks to the fine men and women in the Georgia state legislature, we’re No. 1.”

Gov. Deal said he hoped that the state’s newly enacted Safe Carry Protection Act, which makes it legal to carry guns in bars, schools, churches, and some government buildings, would send the message that Georgia was taking its competition with Florida “very, very seriously.”

Andy’s satire aside, dozens of innocent victims will die, and dozens of guilty Republicans will go free because of this law.

From Raw Story: A New Hampshire lawmaker found himself being heckled by his colleagues on Wednesday during a state House speech, which asserted that women lacked the work ethic of men so they should be paid less.

During a floor debate on Wednesday, state Rep. Will Infantine (R) argued that the “Paycheck Equity Act” was not necessary to prevent wage discrimination based on gender because women deserved to make less.

“Men, by and large, make more because some of the things that they do,” he opined. “Their jobs are, by and large, riskier. They don’t mind working nights and weekends. They don’t mind working overtime or outdoors.”

At that point in the video clip uploaded by Granite State Progress, other lawmakers began to loudly object to Infantine’s remarks.

Note the way that Republican tried to blame the federal government for his standard Republican misogyny.

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Morse was a Republican Senator from Oregon, who had wisdom ahead of his times.  He switched parties and became a Democrat.  His speech against offshore drilling lasted 22 hours and 26 minutes.

Writing for tomorrow, it’s a better day than yesterday.  Of course, that isn’t saying much.  I’m resting all I can, because I will be busy tomorrow preparing for a volunteer day in prison on Thursday.  Day 1.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:38 (average 4:58).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that there are 939 hate groups operating in the U.S. — a nearly 60% increase since 2000. This reminded me of my favorite quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

These words are helpful to ponder in any situation, but especially when there are still so many people in need of love — both those who identify with a hate group and those who are on the receiving end of the hate.

Recent events demonstrate the danger from Republican hate groups. This is a map of Oregon’s Republican hate groups. Here is the link to the SPLC Interactive Map.

From Daily Kos: This story is about one of those very rare moments in history that’s significantly affecting the way in which the public (and, as Paul Krugman acknowledges it, even many in the status quo) views the dismal science known as "economics." If you’re at all interested in the subject, or income inequality in general, last night’s Moyers’ show, with special guest Paul Krugman, is not to be missed.

Since so many of you can’t see the Vimeo included in the article, I found the same clip on YouTube.

The inequality in the US today is the greatest it has ever been in at any other time or in any other country in world history. Moyers and Krugman together is a true meeting of giants.

From NY Times: Every day, our computer churns through the latest polls and reams of historical data to calculate both parties’ chances of winning control of the Senate. Although the Democrats currently have a 51 percent chance, that doesn’t mean we’re predicting the Democrats to win the Senate — the probability is essentially the same as a coin flip.

After months of being told Republicans will win the Senate, this is certainly refreshing. Lets go change those numbers even more!

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Republicans must hate that site!!

I’m writing for tomorrow and feeling a bit groggy after wrapping myself around a generous portion of chili beef, rice and veggies casserole, topped with melted cheese.  I got some bad news last night.  The group controlling the prison Activities area on Tuesday maxed out their guest list, so I was bumped from my CoDA.  Once I have my volunteer card, that will no longer happen.  Please don’t expect much tomorrow.  I have a Urologist appointment.  I’m not sick.  I have to go in to fill the cup and get an exam, because he changed my meds in February.  The process will kill half the day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:52 (average 4:53).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: In this delightful satirical look at a corporate PSA, some energy executives tell us what they are REALLY thinking. YAY!

Just FYI, this uses language that is not safe for work. Also, as I mentioned in the first sentence, this is actually satire, not a real company. Real companies would just keep pretending none of this is true.

So in case you didn’t see the other sentences, I’d like to make clear that this is satire. Also, satire warning.

Dang!! Australia has imported Republicans!! 🙁

From Daily Kos: Dana Perino on Fox News’ The Five:

Without getting into the infinite list of times that Faux Noise, the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, has done exactly what they are accusing Obama of doing, calling him a jerk is just the only argument they can make, because he’s right. Perhaps they might like some cheese with their whine.

From NY Times: The health care law may be Republicans’ favorite weapon against Democrats this year, but there is another issue roiling their party and shaping the establishment-versus-grass-roots divide ahead of the 2016 presidential primaries: the Common Core.

A once little-known set of national educational standards introduced in 44 states and the District of Columbia with the overwhelming support of Republican governors, the Common Core has incited intense resistance on the right and prompted some in the party to reverse field and join colleagues who believe it will lead to a federal takeover of schools.

Conservatives denounce it as “Obamacore,” in what has become a surefire applause line for potential presidential hopefuls.

Without Common Core, children in Republican controlled states will get to learn Dinosaur Riding 101, Racism 102, Homophobia 103, Misogyny 104, TEAbuggery 105, and little more.

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