Politics Plus

On the plus side, yesterday’s medical appointments went well.  My urologist said to come back and fill another cup in a year, and the pain from my podiatrist cutting the growth for my foot is almost gone.  On the minus side, the day wiped me out.  My first bus did not come, because the driver made wrong turn and skipped my stop.  I had to wait for the next bus.  That kept me late all day, so I had to push myself much too hard, just to stay close enough to avoid being charged for missed appointments.  (Medicare does not cover missed appointments.) Two miles walking stretches my limits, as it is, but two miles speed walking exhausted me and left my legs too sore and cramping to sleep, so this article will have to be it for today.  I’m current with replies.  I have an early morning appointment, related to my volunteer work, that may last most of the day, so tomorrow I shall have an Open Thread, at most.  I should be all the way back on Thursday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:09 (average 5:07).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Oberlin College [Oberlin Ohio], known as much for ardent liberalism as for academic excellence, canceled classes on Monday and convened a “day of solidarity” after the latest in a monthlong [sic] string of what it called hate-related incidents and vandalism…

…In the last month, racist, anti-Semitic and antigay messages have been left around campus, a jarring incongruity in a place with the liberal political leanings and traditions of Oberlin, a school of 2,800 students in Ohio, about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland. Guides to colleges routinely list it as among the most progressive, activist and gay-friendly schools in the country.

The incidents included slurs written on Black History Month posters, drawings of swastikas and the message “Whites Only” scrawled above a water fountain. After midnight on Sunday, someone reported seeing a person dressed in a white robe and hood near the Afrikan Heritage House.

Evidently, liberal thought is too great a challenge for Ohio Republicans to tolerate.

From Reuters: Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Monday cautioned airline passengers to get to the airport extra early because U.S. spending cuts have already led to long lines at some security checkpoints, and said the coming furloughs will only make the situation worse.

This is one of the few areas where pain from the Republican sequester will move beyond hurting the poor.

From WHEC: Republicans controlling the House are moving to take the roughest edges off across-the-board spending cuts that are just starting to take effect.

Even as the military would bear a $43 billion cut over just seven months, the new GOP measure released Monday would give the Pentagon much-needed money for readiness. It also would ease the pain felt by critical agencies like the FBI and the Border Patrol.

I said they would do this. I’m all for easing the pain of the sequester, across the board, but Republicans are trying to shove more of the burden onto domestic spending to free up more money for military industrial complex profits. There is no combination of cuts that will work, without revenue.

Cartoon:

What a Republican idea!

Yesterday being fully back had me so hyped-up that I could not sleep much, so I’m really pooped today.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:52 (average 4:35).  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a rare announcement from a notoriously publicity-shy group, Chinese hackers revealed today that they were dropping the United States government from their official list of high-value targets.

“We have to allocate our time and energy to hacking powerful organizations,” a spokesman for the hackers said. “Right now, calling the United States government an ‘organization’ would be a reach.”

He added that the hackers’ ultimate goal had been to hurl the U.S. government into a state of abject paralysis, “and they seem to have already taken care of that on their own.”

Although this satire is not actually true, it is correct insofar as stating that the US government has been paralyzed from within, thanks to Republican sedition.

From CNN: With no deal in place in Congress, $85 billion in sweeping federal spending cuts will take effect Friday, targeting everything, from defense to education.

As Obama and the Democrats kept trying to negotiate, Boehner adjourned the House for the weekend, guaranteeing the Republican sequester.  Republicans cheered.

From Huffington Post: An employee at a Texas public school was accidentally shot on Wednesday during a district-sponsored handgun safety class, KLTV reports.

According to KLTV, Glenn Geddie was a maintenance worker for the Van Independent School District. The school district voted last month to arm some teachers and other employees in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.

District Superintendent Don Dunn confirmed that the incident occurred.

Look how much safer Republicans goose-stepping behind LaPierre are making our schools.

Cartoon:

I guess they have now decided that the sword is mightier than the pen.

If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.  I’m running without enough sleep because of a splitting headache.  I almost never get them (1-2/year), but when I do, they are huge.  It may be because I feel frustrated that there are security problems at the prison, so they cancelled our volunteer work there tomorrow.  So today is a hybrid day.  I have a full slate of articles, and even an extra Short Take, but I’m just too pooped to distribute or publicize them, except that I will put them on Care2 without announcement.  I’m briefly current with replies.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:29 (average 5:50).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: You Will Be Asked To Do Something After You Watch This 30 Second Video

The need is as painfully obvious as Republican misogyny. Do it!

From The New Yorker: Minutes after telling the United States Senate to “get off their ass” to avoid the deep spending cuts that will take effect this Friday, House Speaker John Boehner called an impromptu press conference to announce his intention of remaining on his ass “for the foreseeable future.”

“The United States Senate is showing contempt for the American people by refusing to get off their ass,” a defiant Mr. Boehner told reporters. “And the only fitting way for me to protest their reckless behavior is by remaining on my ass for as long as humanly possible.”

“Take a good look, ladies and gentlemen of the press,” he said, before leaving the lectern in a huff. “This is the last you’ll see of old John Boehner off his ass.”

The irony here is why this satire is so appropriate. The constitution requires that budget related legislation must begin in the House.

From MSNBC: Elvis is dead, but Batshit is back!

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Needless to say, the Republicans have a solution for the return of Batshit B, but keeping her on the House Intelligence Committee is a contradiction in terms.

From Mediaite: Faux Noise Ambushed by Democrat

Keith Ellison could not be more spot on. You have to love watching The Republican Ministry of Propaganda ambushed on their own nickel.

Cartoon:

Leonard Peltier is still a political prisoner.