Politics Plus

Yesterday I was still ill.  I rested and meditated on the Ellipsoid Orb, which blessed me.  I’m current with replies.  Today I have errands I have to run.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:21 (average 5:11).  To do it, click here,  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

Short Takes:

From The Telegraph: The ‘Durban Platform’ will commit all countries to a global deal on cutting carbon emissions by 2015 although it will not come into force until 2020.

The UN marked it as an “historic breakthrough to save the planet”, that makes up for the collapse of the last high profile attempt for a global deal in Copenhagen in 2009.

From what I understand, the agreement falls well short of what is required to prevent as global catastrophe.

From Washington Post: British Prime Minister David Cameron’s rejection of a landmark accord to quell Europe’s debt crisis generated cracks in his cabinet Sunday, sparking sharp criticism from the junior partners in his ruling coalition, the Liberal Democrats.

Cameron, a Conservative euro-skeptic, on Friday made Britain the only nation among the 27-country European Union to reject a summit pact aimed at shoring up the foundations of the euro through a new treaty spelling out, among other things, binding caps on government spending and borrowing.

I don’t pretend to be knowledgeable in this area, but it appears to me that the UK is half in and half out of the EU.

From Kansas City Star: House Republicans banned earmarks, a top symbol of congressional profligacy, after they won control of the chamber last fall in a wave of voter anger over excessive government spending.

But more than half of the amendments to this year’s House Department of Defense authorization bill were earmarks, according to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, a leading congressional critic of the practice.

Like all other Republican promises, their vow to abide by their own earmark ban is a lie.

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Yesterday I still felt quite I’ll.  I stayed in bed, except for eating and preparing today’s articles.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I plan to stay down.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:19 (average 5:07).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From CNEWS: More evidence has surfaced of illegal political donations going towards the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta.

A local media outlet reported Thursday money was donated to the PC Lac La Biche St. Paul constituency association by 11 organizations prohibited under Alberta law from donating to any political party.

Are the Tories taking lessons from Gingrich?

From Business Week: Assembly Republicans finally introduced a sweeping bill to streamline Wisconsin’s mining regulations Thursday, unveiling language that calls for state regulators to make a permit decision within a year and limits environmentalists’ challenges.

The measure is designed to jump-start Florida-based Gogebic Taconite’s plans for an iron mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior. The bill will almost certainly undergo multiple revisions — Republicans in the state Senate are calling it a starting point — but it’s already triggered one of the fiercest environmental debates the state has seen in more than a decade.

Hurry up with that recall to veto this!

From Raw Story: In Sean Hannity’s world, President George W. Bush succeeded in killing terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The Fox News host on Thursday noted that bin Laden was dead “thanks to George Bush.”

Doesn’t this clarify why Faux Noise Sheeple are less well informed than people with no access to news?

From The Statesman: The U.S. Supreme Court late Friday granted the State of Texas’ motion for a stay of the redistricting maps, possibly throwing a March 6 primary election into disarray.

In blocking the congressional and legislative maps that were drawn by a San Antonio court last month, the high court signaled that it wants to hear from the state and from plaintiffs suing the state about why the maps should or shouldn’t go into effect.

That just in.  I was afraid they would do that.

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Yesterday I felt quite poorly.  I slept late, did morning email, and went back to bed.  I’m current with replies.  Today depends on how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:52 (average 4:26).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The Guardian: Rod Blagojevich, the ousted Illinois governor whose three-year battle against criminal charges became a national spectacle, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, one of the stiffest penalties imposed for corruption in a state with a history of crooked politics.

Blagojevich’s 18 convictions included allegations of trying to leverage his power to appoint someone to President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job.

The twice-elected Democrat is now the second former Illinois governor in a row to be sentenced to prison, and the fourth Illinois governor in the last four decades. His Republican predecessor, George Ryan, currently is serving a sentence of 6 1/2 years, also for corruption.

What is it about Illinois?

From NY Times: Prosecutors in Philadelphia announced Wednesday that they had dropped their attempts to execute Mumia Abu-Jamal, the death row inmate convicted of killing a police officer 30 years ago and whose subsequent legal case based on claims of innocence had received international attention.

Mr. Abu-Jamal will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, said Seth Williams, the district attorney for Philadelphia.

I haven’t investigated this in many years and have forgotten many of the details, but remember that, the last time I did, I thought the case against him was not clear cut and has the appearance of a frame up, especially since witnesses have recanted, and other witnesses have said they did not testify on his behalf, because police had threatened them.  In any event, I’m glad he’s off death row.

From The White House: Obama’s complete Osawatomie speech.

For those of you who missed it.

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Yesterday I didn’t make it out.  I caught up my email backlog, and tried to nap, without success because of interruptions.  I’m gradually improving, but still well short of well.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I absolutely have to run errands.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:36 (average 5:22).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Huffington Post: The Federal Election Commission drew a line Thursday on how far campaign finance laws will unravel in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling. The FEC ruled unanimously against a controversial proposal from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to open an independent expenditure-only account, commonly known as a super PAC, within his leadership PAC.

Lee asked the commission to approve the creation of a separate segregated fund within his Constitutional Conservatives Fund that could receive unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals to be spent on independent expenditures benefiting other candidates for office. Lee would have been the first member of Congress to directly control his own super PAC.

I’m surprised that the FEC Republicans voted against this.

From AP/Google: The NAACP says it is gathering information on the effect of new state laws that tightened rules on voting in order to make its case to the Justice Department that the laws are discriminatory.

DOJ is already on this, but since so many Busheviks burrowed in to “nonpartisan” jobs from politically appointed jobs, the department is infested.  I’m glad the NAACP is holding their feet to the fire.

From Think Progress: In a new interview with Newsbusters’ Noel Sheppard, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) reiterated his delusional claim that manmade global warming is “the greatest hoax ever.” Inhofe believes that the last eight years of record warmth and catastrophic weather have vindicated his claim, and that he is “doing the Lord’s work [wing-nuts delinked]” by demonizing attempts to limit fossil fuel pollution.

I’m sure the Koch Brothers are pay7ing him good money to say that.

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