Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow and have a lot to do.  In fact, I may be a bit scarce for the next couple of days.  I’ve been tentatively approved for a level of volunteer authorization that will allow me to enter and move within the prison without direct supervision from staff.  To complete the approval process, I have to read a manual, complete a written examination at home, and submit it within the next few days.  Then I have to attend a training session in Salem early next month, and an institution orientation.  It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:57 (average 4:19).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:From Upworthy: Some people say America has the #1 health care system in the world. Those people are probably not counting the other 36 countries that are beating us. Aasif Mandvi decided to go investigate whether we really have the not-best system ever. What he finds is kind of appalling. At 4:00 is the most awkward 15 seconds I’ve seen in quite some time. If you live in Canada and have fancy universal health care, you can watch it here. (or here).

LOL!! That Republican liar was so dumbfounded that he was looking for a way to bury his head between his own nether cheeks!!

From The New Yorker: President Obama has sparked outrage in Congress and renewed calls for his impeachment by signing a daring Presidential memorandum that would pay workers enough to eat.

The memorandum, which is based on the President’s view that people should be paid for the hours they actually work, is shaping up as one of the most controversial and incendiary actions of his Presidency.

House Republican leaders held a press conference this morning to warn Obama that, by advancing his agenda of paying people for the work they do, he is “playing with political fire.”

“A Presidential memorandum is a powerful tool and should be used sparingly,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “It is not a vehicle for this President to enact his pet theories about people earning enough to survive.”

Andy did it again! Bingo!!

From Daily Kos: If you watch only one thing today, watch this.

Short version: The GOP is a staggering corpse that is fading into irrelevance and the real future is in the fight between pro-corporate Democrats and pro-worker Democrats.

Krystal did a superior job of elucidating something I’ve been saying for years. Instead of waiting for an election year and whining that Democratic candidates don’t represent them, as so many lazy lefties do, we need to be taking control of the Democratic Party at the grassroots level as though every year was an election year.

Cartoon:

Writing for tomorrow, I’m giving myself a birthday present: a complete laze day.  I’m not reading or watching news.  I’m not even looking at Care2 messages.  I’m replying to few emails.  I’m eating things that can be prepared in minutes and leaving the mess.  I think I’ve earned this day.  Nevertheless, common decency demands having mercy on puzzle addicts.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:27 (average 5:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I’m feeling most unhappy, because my bad leg acted up, and I could not go for my volunteer meeting in prison, because I cannot handle the stairs today.  The one plus is that I’m here to write for you.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:02 (average 7:12).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: We all know the rainforest is being destroyed. Heck, the entire planet’s in distress! But is there really anything we can do about it? Actually, yes.

I can’t speak for or against the credibility of "rainforest certified", so I leave that to those of you who are in the know, but I love this ad for them.

From Daily Kos: The extent to which Arizona governor Jan Brewer’s office worked with legislators to tweak the language of "religious liberty" bill SB 1062 shows, according to Arizona governor Jan Brewer’s office, nothing at all. To the rest of us it’s another reminder of just how close Arizona’s newest legislative fiasco came to becoming a state reality.

Documents obtained by Capitol Media Services show gubernatorial counsel Joe Sciarrotta and adviser Michael Hunter met with staffers from the Center for Arizona Policy as early as January about the legislation. The documents, mainly e-mail exchanges before and after meetings, show the alterations made in the legislation at the behest of the Brewer advisers. […]

“But the intent of the meetings, the purpose of the meetings, was to thoroughly vet the language, address their concerns, and make changes in the language pursuant to their concerns,” [CAP President Cathi Herrod] said. She said her organization addressed every concern raised by Hunter and Sciarrotta with the idea that this year’s version would not meet the same fate as a similar bill Brewer vetoed last year.

There it is. The Brewerstan Death Angel, vetoed this bill only because the Republican Party could not get away with it. Her claim to object to the content was a lie, because it was content that she had helped to formulate.

From NY Times: Democrats have for too long been passive in the face of the vast amounts of corporate money, most of it secret, that are being spent to evict them from office and dismantle their policies. By far the largest voice in many of this year’s political races, for example, has been that of the Koch brothers, who have spent tens of millions of dollars peddling phony stories about the impact of health care reform, all in order to put Republicans in control of the Senate after the November elections.

Now Democrats are starting to fight back, deciding they should at least try to counter the tycoons with some low-cost speech of their own. Democrats may never have the same resources at their disposal — no party should — but they can use their political pulpits to stand up for a few basic principles, including the importance of widespread health-insurance coverage, environmental protection and safety-net programs.

Corporations are NOT people!! Money is NOT speech!! Therefore, we must use people to trump corporations and speech to trump money!!

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow and am feeling angry, because my fourth automatic drip coffee maker in under a year died last night.  I’ve had it.  I’m going back to an old fashioned manual percolator, but until it arrives on Tuesday, I have to hand-drip water through the maker’s filtration system.  NOT fun!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:14 (average 6:09).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: A majority of small business owners want to see the minimum wage raised to $10.10 an hour and then tied to inflation, according to a new poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Small Business Majority. Not only did 57 percent of small business owners say they think the minimum wage should be raised, but 61 percent of those in the typically low-wage retail and restaurant industries agreed.

Aside from basic morality, these business owners have good reasons for supporting a minimum wage increase:

More than half of small business owners (52%) agree with this statement: “Increasing the minimum wage would be good for small businesses. It means people will have a higher percentage of their income to spend on goods and services and it is proven that low-wage earners tend to spend money at local businesses who will be able to grow and hire new workers.” What’s more, more than one-third (35%) say raising the minimum wage would help make their business more competitive because business competitors won’t be able to undercut them on labor costs.

Since 82 percent of those surveyed said they pay all of their employees more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, the concerns about being undercut by competitors could be significant.

The Republicans falsely claim that raising the minimum wage will cost jobs are based solely on their desire to subsidize 0.1% billionaires with YOUR tax dollars.

From Alternet: Megyn Kelly scoffs at atheist’s claim that the cross is a religious symbol.

Somebody was not paying proper attention in Sunday school, and has been very, very naughty. We’re talking to you, Megyn.

There is a steel beam cross in the center of the World Trade Center memorial. It was found in the wreckage and seen as a miracle by some Christians. The activist group American Atheists are suing to have the cross removed, claiming that as an inherently religious symbol, it has no place in a publicly funded monument. They point out that people of multiple faiths, and even those without faith at all, died in the disaster.

“The cross is Christian," said David Silverman of the American Atheists during his appearance on the Kelly Files. "It was installed in a religious service on consecrated ground, which makes it a working shrine on public land in the World Trade Center, and we think the atheists who also died on 9/11, and the Muslims and the Jews, should all have their equal presence,”

Nope, Megyn Kelly said. The cross is not religious. It’s just a historical artifact. Nothing Christian about it. Tough luck, atheists, Jews and Muslims.

Got it, the cross is not Christian. Next week: the Bible, not a book.

Watch the entire interview posted online by Cruciefiction.

This is one of eight statements made by Republican colossal jackasses in just the last week alone. Click through for the other seven.

From Bill Moyers: As the tea party celebrates its fifth birthday this month, Ian Haney López, author of Dog Whistle Politics, talks to Bill about how the movement has used strategic racism to get voters to the polls.

I have to agree to a great extent, with the caveat that sheeple, who commit TEAbuggery, do so because they are too lazy and/or fearful to do their own thinking.

Cartoon:

He had more to say, but the operator cut in and demanded $2.65 for the next three minutes. 😉