Politics Plus

Yesterday, I wrote a letter to the Parole Board on behalf of one of the prisoners I serve.  I also worked on the website of the non-profit group behind my prison activities.  I made a big kettle of rice and beans.  It is responsible for the green cloud that proves I support green energy.  I’m current with replies.  Today I plan to get a haircut.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:43 (average 4:32).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From realrepubs.com: Who wants to build a risky, dirty 1,700 mile oil pipeline across America’s heartland? Big Oil and their lobbyists, that’s who. Guess who else? Their political puppets.

The Republican presidential candidates have a lot to say about how much they love the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. But there’s a few crucial facts that just don’t seem to come out of their mouths. They don’t say that the pipeline is hauling highly toxic crude over some of our nation’s most critical water sources. They fail to mention how the first Keystone pipeline caused fourteen oil spills since 2010. And they NEVER say how much money Big Oil companies have given their campaigns.

Hat-Tip: CaityJ (aka Caitlin)

There can be no doubt that one party, with exceptions, opposes Keystone XL, and one demands it.

From The Onion: WAR FOR THE WHITE HOUSE!!! Diebold accidently leaks 2012 election results

The reality behind this issue is what makes the clip effective satire.

From PRWatch: South Carolina is again considering a bill from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to limit access to the ballot box. A nearly identical version of an ALEC voting bill is moving through the state Senate and comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) blocking South Carolina’s ALEC-inspired voter ID law as discriminatory against people of color.

It appears that there is nothing Republicans won’t do to steal the votes of students, workers, the elderly, the disabled, and especially minorities.

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Yesterday I slept late and by the time I caught up my email, it was already well past noon.  I’m current with replies.  Today is a minor holy day in then Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:17 (average 4:26).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Yahoo News: There’s no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.

The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.

I can’t testify to the accuracy, but I have observed numerous examples.

From MoveOn: How To Explain Taxes And The Budget To Non-Economists

Note that taking everything away from the poor and middle classes, as Republicans are attempting to do will still not balance the budget.

From NY Times: President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Friday that France would break with its allies in NATO and accelerate the French withdrawal from Afghanistan, pulling back combat troops a year early, by the end of 2013. Mr. Sarkozy also said that he and Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, would ask the NATO alliance for a similar speedup of the transfer of primary security responsibilities to Afghan troops.

If even the puppet Republicans appointed to betray Afghanistan’s people doesn’t want us there, we should accommodate his wishes.

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If everything works as planned, I will be asleep when this article appears, having just returned from prison after my volunteer work.  I’m writing it early in the morning of 1/26, before leaving and setting it to auto-publish so there is at least something for you at the regular time. Obviously I am not current on replies.  Friday is a rest and catch up day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

It’s not up yet, and I shall post two on the Open Thread for the 28th.

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: The Big Secret About Mitt Romney’s Tax Plan In One Chart

Talk about Rmoney!!

From Truth-Out: So what the story of Mr. Romney and the auto bailout actually shows is something we already knew from health care: He’s a smart guy who is also a moral coward. His original proposal for the auto industry, like his health-care reform law in Massachusetts, bore considerable resemblance to what Mr. Obama actually did. But when the deed took place, Mr. Romney — rather than having the courage to say that the president was actually doing something reasonable — joined the rest of his party in whining and denouncing the plan.

And now he wants to claim credit for the very policy he trashed when it hung in the balance.

That Romney lies so much that he’s a … Republican!

From Washington Post: In the end, they just didn’t have the votes.

For two legislative sessions, Indiana Democrats fought the divisive labor measure known as right-to-work. They offered amendments aimed at changing the bill. They sought to put the issue before voters in a referendum. And in their most high-profile gambit, House Democrats staged occasional boycotts to deny the Republican-dominated chamber enough members to conduct business.

But that all ended Wednesday when the minority party acceded to the mathematical reality of the Republican’s 60-40 majority in the chamber. Democrats showed up, and the Indiana House voted 54-44 to make Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state.

This is a sad day for Labor and for working people everywhere.

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Yesterday I was out and about, walking to the mailbox, to the bank, and to the corner store.  I mailed my vote for Suzanne Bonamici.  There is a late breaking story that Newter has released his Freddie Mac contract, but it is so uninformative that the only thing worthy of note that it contains is that Newter was to report to their top lobbyist.  That disproves his claim that he was consulting as a historian, and not as a lobbyist.  The local NBC affiliate did not air the Republican debate, correctly realizing that sitcoms are more relevant.  I hear it was a yawner.  I’m current with replies.  Today I will be doing volunteer work in prison and will get home late, after missing a sleep cycle.  Therefore there may be no articles tomorrow, and, if there are, they will probably be late.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:05 (average 5:50).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: SHOCKING: How One Bank Gets Big-Time Profits From Food Stamps

The filthy Banksters have their fingers in EVERYTHING!

From Reuters: Republican Senator Rand Paul was stopped at an airport on Monday for setting off an alarm and refusing a patdown, prompting his father, U.S. presidential candidate Ron Paul, to accuse security officials of being part of an "out of control" police state.

In a harshly worded attack on the Transportation Security Administration, which handles security screenings at U.S. airports, Ron Paul, known for his strident libertarian views, said the TSA "gropes and grabs our kids and our seniors and does nothing to keep us safe."

I actually agree that it was inappropriate for the TSA to try to pat down Rand Paul.  That extremist should be strip searched instead.

From TPM: A super PAC supporting Paul, Revolution PAC, is selling action figures of the candidate to raise money for their efforts. There are two options seen on the website [InsaniTEA delinked] — the “Commander-in-chief Ron Paul” model, complete with a snug fitting black suit and a rolled up copy of the US Constitution in his hand, and “Super-hero Ron Paul,” in which the congressman wears a blue and red suit like Superman.

Now the acolytes of the Paul cult can have an icon of their deity to put on their dashboards next to their KKK cross and Supply-side Jesus (not the real one).

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