Politics Plus

I went to the urologist yesterday.  The kidney stone is 6mm, bigger than I thought.  The rough part is that the office is almost half a mile from the bus stop and over a hill to boot.  Fortunately, for the future, he has a partner, who is further away but accessible.  When I got home, I was so pooped that I forgot to pull the Top Commentators data for tomorrow’s Monthly Report.  Mea culpa.  I’m running late today, because I have been collecting all the data needed to write tomorrow’s monthly report.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine, albeit too hot.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 4:32).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Who Takes $30,275,229 A Day, Burns It, And Then Works To Deny You Health Coverage?

I guess Agent Orange thinks that jobs are related to regulating women’s plumbing.

From NY Times: President Obama is struggling to persuade voters that he deserves to win re-election based on his handling of the economy, but his empathy and personal appeal give him an edge over Mitt Romney in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, according to Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News polls.

That’s good news, but it’s still a bit early, and polls will be more meaningful after the conventions.

From Washington Post: An Iowa campaign aide for former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann sued the Minnesota congresswoman and her senior campaign aides on Monday, alleging an official stole a private email list and that she was blamed for its use.

The lawsuit filed by Barb Heki claims that Bachmann’s Iowa campaign chairman, state Sen. Kent Sorenson, took the list from Heki’s private computer to promote Bachmann’s candidacy among Christian home-school advocates before the Iowa caucuses. Heki was hired to coordinate home-school supporters for Bachmann’s Iowa campaign.

Since Republican operatives are criminally unethical in dealing with each other, only a fool would believe they will not be even worse to voters.

Cartoon:

And Republicans still pretend they don’t exist.

I’m still a bit woozy from medications and am still in some pain, but nothing major.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with a Urologist, so what I can get done blogging remains uncertain.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:02).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Ann Romney: ‘We’ve Given All You People Need To Know’

When I posted a cartoon about this, Republicans claimed that she really did not say YOU PEOPLE, the 1% term referring to inferiors.  Any questions now?

From NY Times: Wrapping up a two-year investigation of for-profit colleges, Senator Tom Harkin will issue a final report on Monday — a voluminous, hard-hitting indictment of almost every aspect of the industry, filled with troubling statistics and anecdotes drawn from internal documents of the 30 companies investigated.

According to the report, which was posted online in advance, taxpayers spent $32 billion in the most recent year on companies that operate for-profit colleges, but the majority of students they enroll leave without a degree, half of those within four months.

We’re not talking about legitimate universities here.  These are the ones you see on late night TV with spiels like ‘Become a Brain Surgeon or Rocket Scientist, even if you’re so stupid you watch Faux Noise.’  I suppose you can guess which party opposes regulating their predation.

From Business Week: President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul will shrink rather than increase the nation’s huge federal deficits over the next decade, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeepers said Tuesday, supporting Obama’s contention in a major election-year dispute with Republicans.

About 3 million fewer uninsured people will gain health coverage because of last month’s Supreme Court ruling granting states more leeway, and that will cut the federal costs by $84 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said in the biggest changes from earlier estimates.

Republicans have insisted that "Obamacare" will actually raise deficits — by "trillions," according to presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But that’s not so, the budget office said.

Republicans have been lying about Obamacare from the start, and I still say it’s a good step in the right direction toward a single payer system.

Cartoon:

Yesterday, I fell asleep right after posting my personal update and almost slept around the clock.  I did wake up just in time fore the opening ceremony, but I did not watch in protest of the USOC decision to provide US athletes expensive uniforms, sewn in Chinese sweat shops, when they could have purchased US made uniforms for far less.  I ate a light meal and went back to sleep.  I woke up a few minutes ago, hours after my normal rising time.  I am still in some pain, but nothing like before.  I have to go out to get meds, and this will be today’s only article.  I’m current with replies only to comments on yesterday’s personal update.  If I feel better, I’ll try to do more.  Tomorrow will depend on how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzles:

Yesterday’s took me 3:13 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  Today’s took me 4:37 (average 5:29).  To do it, click here.  Hoe did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: See, Here’s The Truly Frightening Thing About What They Are Doing To Pennsylvania Voters.

I don’t have to tell you who ‘THEY’ are!

From Washington Post: Stubbornly close and deeply divisive, the presidential race throttles into its last 100 days as an enormous clash over economic vision, with the outcome likely to come down to fall debates, final unemployment numbers and fierce efforts to mobilize voters. It may seem like an election for the whole nation, but only about eight states will decide who wins the White House.

Polling shows the contest between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney remains remarkably static across the country and in those pivotal states even as both men and their allies pour money into largely negative television advertising to sway opinions.

The two candidates will intensify their time before voters in the weeks ahead, knowing much of the public will not truly start paying attention until after Labor Day.

Because so many voters are paying absolutely no attention to anything less superficial that the purchase of STUFF, Willard uses lies to pick off these voters and those intellectually euthanized by Faux Noise. They are just too willfully ignorant to know any better.  Shame!  What we informed voters do in the next 100 days is, in my opinion, critical to the survival of the this nation as a place where elections matter.

From Christian Science Monitor: A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction that allows the Catholic owners of a private company in Colorado to avoid providing their female employees with contraceptives as required under President Obama’s health-care reform law.

The owners of the company, Hercules Industries, objected to the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying it violated their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Company officials say they are striving to build their business around a corporate culture based on principles of the Roman Catholic Church. As such, their existing self-insured health plan does not include coverage for contraception or sterilization.

That crappy excuse for a judge arrived at a decision possible only by choosing to ignore the Constitution in favor of Theocon dogma.

Cartoon:

Yesterday I did manage to post articles and distribute the links before leaving for prison for the CoDA group there with ten prisoners.  My guys, as always, were magnificent, and I cannot praise them enough for their honesty, insight, and commitment.  I talked about how we need to take of ourselves and how supportive you are that I am blogging less to be there for them, without running myself into the ground.  The blog and that group have one thing in common.  There is a Critter in both places. Critter there says HI to Critter here.  When I returned home at around 9:30 PM, my apartment had been closed up through the heat of the day and I was met by 98°.  ARGH!  It took long enough to cool it down that I slept poorly.  I have one other article today, but I will be unable to distribute links.  I have to go out and run errands before it gets too hot, and I also need to sleep.  I an not current with replies, but I will catch up when I can.  Tomorrow I’ll be back in prison for a meeting with around 100 guys.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Yesterday’s took me 4:31 (average 4:58).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: What 3 Things Do You Need To Change The World?

My role in this is as a writer, informer and prison volunteer. What’s yours? For more info: The Story of Stuff

From The Truth Team: Mitt Romney’s latest TV ad deliberately manipulates President Obama’s words to create a false attack on his support for American entrepreneurs. Watch Obama for America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter compare what the two candidates would actually do for small businesses, and then share the facts with anyone who needs to know the truth about the President’s record.

There is a critical difference between Obama’s and Romney’s ads. Obama’s are true.

From Haute America: To prove that the U.S. could have produced the Opening Ceremony separates for less than Ralph Lauren manufactured them in China, I decided to examine the American-made alternatives currently available. The following articles of clothing are all manufactured in the U.S. and serve as a reminder, that in fact, our Olympians could be wearing less expensive American-made apparel than the Chinese-made goods they’ll be sporting in 10 days.

I’m a huge fan of Olympic Sports, but I plan to boycott the Opening Ceremony in protest.

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