Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow and am sufficiently ill that I had to cancel my interview this morning with Trimet’s Disability Specialist for lift bus access when going to my distant doctor.  This will be tomorrow’s only article, and I doubt I shall be able to reply to comments.  I feel as pictured in today’s cartoon.

Jig Zone:

Today’s took me 4:38 (average 5:13).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: I Couldn’t Be More Impressed By A Group Of Students Cutting Class

If your express goal was to totally destroy public education and cheat hundreds of thousands of kids out of a decent future, I think your plan would look a lot like this one. So take note, evil overloads around America!

The whole "money" thing gets put into brilliant perspective at 1:45, but then the incredible stories and disturbing figures just keep coming. Starting at 6:00, you’ll see that at least somebody cares about this issue … but can you guess who’s fighting the hardest for students’ futures?

 

Our Schools Are Not For Sale from Media Mobilizing Project TV on Vimeo.

This is the Republican War on Education in action. Stupid voters are more manageable sheeple. It’s not just the leaders. Every Republican must go

From YouTube: Rachel Maddow – Corporate cash sways voters on GMO foods

 

The reasons these corporate liars gave are not the real reasons. The real reason is much more simple than that. If more people knew what is in their products, or how their products were processed, more people would buy less of those products.

From Right Wing Watch: Conservative talk show host Steve Deace spent yesterday talking with Michael Peroutka of the Institute on the Constitution, and asked Peroutka what he thought of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which Deace called “the single greatest threat to religious liberty.” After Deace ironically cited the Pilgrims as champions of religious freedom, Peroutka called ENDA an attempt in “federalizing perversion” that is unconstitutional…just like all civil rights laws.

Peroutka is a leader [Sedition delinked]and board member [Sedition delinked] of the white separatist League of the South, so his opposition to civil rights laws come as no surprise.

 

I guess these Republicans are not content to deprive LGTB of their rights. They would extend the deprivation to all minorities.

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I’m writing for tomorrow and waiting to see election results.  I sure hope the Cooch screws the pooch!

Update:  I just heard some news on the new digs, and I have to take some updated financial info in tomorrow, and have a meeting with the Resident Services Manager next Wednesday, so it looks like I just be moving late in the month.  However, that puts me in a big rush tonight, and writing for Thursday may be limited.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:49 (average 4:43).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Scores

I’m amazed my subs did that well!

Standings:

I’m trailing one damn tough team by two games!

Short Takes:

From YouTube: Rachel Tore Idiot a New One!!

Of course you remember that the Southern Avenger was featured here in Republicans on Parade. A couple days ago, I was willing to entertain the possibility that Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot did not know, but the scope, frequency and depth of his plagiarism demonstrates clearly that it was his intent.

From Washington Post: As some Republicans in Congress push to scale back and otherwise reform entitlement programs, a pair of liberal senators are pushing to expand one of the programs — Social Security.

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) are spearheading the effort, which they say would increase benefits for all Social Security beneficiaries by about $70 per month, change the cost-of-living calculation for benefits, and increase the amount that the wealthiest Americans pay into the program.

Social Security taxes are currently capped at the first $113,700 of someone's income. Brown and Harkin say the tax increase would help sustain the program, which is solvent but is on track for significant deficits in future decades.

Kudos to Brown and Harkin! It's about time someone took a proactive approach instead of playing defense all the time! Scrap the cap!!

From Raw Story: Kentucky’s Republican U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul will attempt to attach a national anti-union “right to work” law to the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) — the federal law designed to provide workplace protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. According to WGDB’s Roll Call, the Senate is expected to begin debate on ENDA this week.

Right to work laws are laws that prohibit employers and workers from entering into contracts mandating union membership for any profession, from nurses to police officers to auto workers. States with right to work laws generally feature fewer protections for workers. The laws typically weaken workers’ position to bargain with employers by reducing union membership and stripping away the power of collective bargaining.

Do Bought Bitch Mitch and Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot actually think that the Dems will give away Labor's legitimate rights? Not this year!!

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I should have made that three.

I’m writing for tomorrow.  I did remember to fall back, and whem I did, I spent 4e5r minutes of that hour taking a cat nap.  I’m ready for more.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:12 (average 4:15).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The scariest Republican Halloween costume ever

One could also go as a SNAP bill, an immigration bill, etc. ad infinitum. 

From MSNBC: How Virginia’s races are playing out for GOP

 

Terry McAuliffe would be my last choice as a Democratic candidate, but as Cuccinelli’s fellow Republican said, Cuccinelli does not meet the standards to qualify as a mammal.  So, go Terry!!

From Alternet: Suzanne Somers is still an idiot, and the WSJ prints her error-ridden Obamacare hitjob anyway.

While Thighmaster spokeswoman Suzanne Somers has matured since her hit TV show days, her plumpers and politics have pretty much ossified. Her enlightened take on the Affordable Care Act appeared in the Wall Street Journal this week, concluding that it’s “a greater Ponzi scheme than that pulled off by Bernie Madoff.” She wrote 535 hysterical words, in which Lenin came up in addition to Madoff, on the topic of this dreaded “socialized medicine.” By the next day, the Journal had published nearly a fifth as many words in corrections.

But it did not correct the “Ponzi scheme” assertion, which was based on flimsy anecdotes about relatives who had bad experiences with Canadian doctors, and how Somers is hearing on the news that everyone’s premium is doubling and tripling. (Any guesses as to which so-called news channel she watches?)

This piece of rocket science appeared in WSJ’s "The Experts" section, which bills itself as “an exclusive group of industry, academic and cultural thought leaders who weigh in on the latest debates.”

This will definitely be our go-to section for expert analysis henceforth.

This is only the first of ten Republican doozies from last week alone. Click through for the other nine. Now the WSJ has always been conservative, but even in your wildest dreams, can you image that paper deeming Somers, an air-head who actually fits the blonde bimbo stereotype she played as Chrissy Snow, a health care expert?   This would never have happened, before Rupert Murdoch started turning the WSJ into Faux Print, the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Jr.

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I’m writing for tomorrow, and running way late, because I spent the morning collecting the data for our monthly report.  Pardon me for rushing, please.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:00 (average 5:52).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Republicans and conservative Democrats just voted to sell you out to Wall Street. In other words, it's Tuesday.

Today, the House passed the so-called Retail Investor Protection Act 254 to 166.  30 Democrats voted with 224 Republicans in favor. 165 Democrats–and one Republican–voted against it. Those following H.R. 2374 thought it would pass with wide bipartisan margins, so having 165 Democratic NAY's was better than expected. The 30 Democratic YEA's still need to be named and shamed, however.

 

First, let's begin with the important question: What is the Retail Investor Protection Act? The bill delays a new Department of Labor rule that would prevent financial advisers from stealing from your 401(K) plans or IRAs. Allowing financial advisers to rip you off is a great complement to that other plank in the Republican-Conservadem retirement insecurity platform, cutting Social Security…

 

…And here are the 30 Democratic YEA votes. Most of their names should look familiar if you've seen any of my past roll call diaries.

John Barrow (GA-12)

John Carney (DE-AL)

Gerry Connolly (VA-11)

Jim Costa (CA-16)

Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

John Delaney (MD-06)

Ted Deutch (FL-21)

Bill Foster (IL-11)

Pete Gallego (TX-23)

Joe Garcia (FL-26)

Denny Heck (WA-10)

Jim Himes (CT-04)

Derek Kilmer (WA-06)

Ron Kind (WI-03)

Rick Larsen (WA-02)

Dan Maffei (NY-24)

Jim Matheson (UT-04)

Mike McIntyre (NC-07)

Gwen Moore (WI-04)

Patrick Murphy (FL-18)

Bill Owens (NY-21)

Ed Perlmuter (CO-07)

Scott Peters (CA-52)

Gary Peters (MI-09)

Collin Peterson (MN-07)

Bradley Schneider (IL-10)

Kurt Schrader (OR-05)

Brad Sherman (CA-30)

Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)

Filemon Vela (TX-34)

…

 

 

These are the ones for whom I recently suggested a cactus suppository.  If you own one, you know what to do.

 

 

 

From Upworthy: If You've Heard Someone Say 'Love The Sinner, Hate The Sin,' You Should Share This With Them

 

 

 

I used to be quite hateful in my attitude toward gays, until a fellow named Charlie decided that he was my friend, no matter how badly I treated him. He was such a good friend that he put a face on gay for me. That turned me from a homophobe to a strong supporter of LGBT rights.

From NY Times: Senate Republicans on Thursday thwarted the confirmation of two of President Obama’s nominees, one to a powerful appeals court and another to a home-lending oversight post, setting up a confrontation with Democrats that could escalate into a larger fight over limiting the filibuster and restrict how far the minority party can go to block a president’s agenda.

In a series of swift back-to-back votes, Republicans first blocked the nomination of Representative Melvin Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, to become the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — a rare affront to a sitting member of Congress who has an extensive record of public service.

Next Republicans, who have accused the president of trying to tip the court’s ideological balance in Democrats’ favor, quickly dispensed with the nomination of Patricia Ann Millett to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A former government lawyer whose husband serves in the military, she has worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations. The White House chose her as a test of how far Republicans would go to derail a qualified nominee.

NUKE THE FILIBASTARDS!!!!!

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