Dec 042011
 

Yesterday I did not feel much better, but had to make a trip out to the corner store.  It felt like a major expedition, and I had to stop twice to rest, although it’s less than 1/2 mile.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  I am blessed, because the worship between my Broncos and the Vikings will be televised here.  I plan to rest after the meditation.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:52 (average 5:08).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From You Tube: 75 Years in Prison For Videotaping Police (H/T: Phyllis)

 

This injustice must end everywhere!

From CNN: But according to the conservative website Newsmax.com, they really have asked Trump to be the moderator of a real GOP presidential debate, hoping the men and women who desire to be commander-in-chief will show up to be quizzed by a reality TV show star.

If this "debate" is real, it will represent one of the stupidest ideas in the history of presidential politics, and if the Republican National Committee has any decency, they would quickly denounce this madness and say none of its candidates will bother even responding to this stunt.

The way Trumps runs off at the mouth, it will be a miracle if any of the other goose-steppers can get in a word edgewise.

From Think Progress: Police officers in Springfield, Missouri, arriving to arrest protesters there, ran into a bit of trouble last month when they locked themselves out of their van. “Mic Check! The police seem to have locked themselves out of their van!” said protesters.

 

LMAO!

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Dec 032011
 

Yesterday I continued to feel pretty rank, but I’m trying to blog on a limited basis.  I’m current on today’s and yesterday’s replies. Tomorrow is touch and go.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:44 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: 300 Economists Who Stand With #OccupyWallStreet

 

Occupy Economics from Softbox on Vimeo.

Once again, truth has a liberal bias.

From Houston Chronicle: Small businesses and startups that were skittish about the economy this summer started hiring in bigger numbers this fall, helping drive the unemployment rate down to 8.6 percent in November, the lowest in two and a half years.

This is such a disaster for Republicans that the Republican Ministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, lied about it.  When they announced it, they displayed “Unemployment 9%” prominently.

From Washington Post: The White House is accusing the Democratic-controlled Senate of “political micromanagement” at the expense of national security. The comments come with a renewed threat to veto the defense bill in dispute.

The Senate passed the massive $662 billion bill Thursday night on a 93-7 vote. The measure would require military custody of suspected terrorists, even those captured within the U.S., and indefinitely detain some without trial.

Unless these items are removed in conference, it is imperative that Obama veto the defense budget, as he has said he would.

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Open Thread–12/2

 Posted by at 12:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 022011
 

Yesterday I felt pretty horrid and limited myself to preparing our Monthly Report and this Open Thread.  I am not current on replies.  Today we’ll see how I am as the day progresses.

Jig Zone Puzzles:

Yesterday it took me 4:06 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  Today it took me 4:47 (average 5:29).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes: all video.

From MoveOn.org: Why we’ll miss Barney Frank.

 

From MoveOn.org: Why #Occupy

 

From MoveOn.org: Two Lesbians Raised A Baby And This Is What They Got

 

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Nov 302011
 

Yesterday I spent most of the day in bed.  I guess all that hauling laundry up and down the stairs kicked my butt, because I’m pretty down today.  I’m current with replies.  Today I have errands to run.

Jig Zone:

Today it took me 3:08 (average 4:06).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

TomCat Teabag Trashers

Playing without a helmet

109.32

118.38

hugos renegades

Progressive Underdogs

120.42

94.64

ManOnDogSantorum

Texans Will Rise Again

97.68

60.82

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points

 

Rank

Team Name

W-L-T

Pct

Streak

Waiver

For

Against

1 (1)

Progressive Underdogs

9-3-0

.750

L1

6

1422.58

1283.92

2 (2)

ManOnDogSantorum

8-4-0

.667

W3

5

1327.02

1194.98

3 (3)

Playing without a helmet

7-5-0

.583

W3

4

1329.66

1199.14

4 (4)

TomCat Teabag Trashers

6-6-0

.500

L2

3

1381.02

1288.34

5 (5)

hugos renegades

6-6-0

.500

W1

2

1310.42

1250.08

6 (6)

Texans Will Rise Again

0-12-0

.000

L12

1

870.24

1424.48

Being in 4th p[lace with the second highest score is frustrating.

Short Takes:

From San Francisco Chronicle: Herman Cain told senior aides he is reassessing his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination following allegations yesterday that he had a 13-year extramarital affair with an Atlanta woman.

That didn’t last long.  It’s back to 999!

From Reuters: The top United Nations human rights forum is expected to condemn Syria for crimes against humanity at an emergency session on Friday, European and Arab diplomats said.

The move is also designed to put pressure on China and Russia to take a stronger stand against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, they said.

The US should support this, but China and Russia are sure to compare US support for Israel.

From Raw Story: A gun club in Scottsdale, Arizona is staging a unique fundraiser this year: taking photos of children posing with Santa Clause, and machine guns.

The idea is to use the images on Christmas cards, and the Scottsdale Gun Club says the whole family is invited to say cheese while holding high powered weapons of war.

Scottsdale is the Phoenix suburb, where upper crust Republicans live.  These people are insane!

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Nov 292011
 

Yesterday I was feeling pretty poorly and spent most of the day in bed, but I had a network glitch that took about two hours to restore, and I caught up my email backlog.  I’m also doing laundry as I write and post.  I hate laundry!! I’m current with replies.  Today I’ll be out doing errands,if I can.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 6:03 (average 7:10).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From AP/Google: Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for his office’s response to a disparaging Twitter post by a high school senior who was attending a school function at the state Capitol.

"My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize," Brownback said in a Monday statement emailed to The Associated Press. "Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."

Horse feathers! The lying ideologue saw the public outcry and is blaming his staff.  I do not believe they went after her in school without getting an OK from him.

From CBS: Citing the political challenges he faced because of congressional redistricting, prominent Democratic Rep. Barney Frank on Monday announced he will not seek re-election in 2012.

"I don’t want to be torn [between] a full-fledged campaign… and my obligation to my current constituents," Frank said from the Newton, Massachusetts City Hall.

His district is substantially changed.  Since he was planning to retire in 2014 anyway, I think he wants to avoid the hard campaigning it will take to familiarize his new constituents.  He broke ground as the first openly gay Representative in the US House.

From The Daily Beast: Americans can learn more about foreign policy from The Real Housewives of New Jersey than from Republican presidential hopefuls. At least the shrieks of the housewives speak to reality. The Republican wolves howl about a mostly bygone world of dire military threats, a world inhabited by global ghosts to be thwarted by waterboarding and wars. Most of them just don’t see that the old right-wing rhetorical bromides that once scared Americans and dominated campaigning won’t win future elections.

Republicans could only play the fear card so many times before Americans start to remember that they are the ones who let Osama get away and that 9/11 would not have happened without their total incompetence.

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Nov 282011
 

Yesterday I stayed mostly down and mediated on the Ellipsoid Orb.  I’m current with replies.  Either today or Wednesday I have to go out to run errands, depending on the weather and how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:03 (average 5:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

1127-Broncos16-Chargers13

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: Elizabeth Warren debunks health care myths.

 

This stuff we need to know. We need single-payer, outcome based health care.

From AP/Google: Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich landed the endorsement of New Hampshire’s largest newspaper on Sunday while rival Mitt Romney earned a dismissive wave, potentially resetting the race in the state with the first-in-the-nation primary.

A while back, I said Newter’s campaign was over, when his campaign staff flew the coop.  When I’m wrong, I say so.  I underestimated the desperation of the Republican base for a non-Romney, coupled with the self destruction of everyone else.

From Think Progress: The Arab League today approved financial sanctions on Syria after the Bashar al-Assad regime’s failure to end the violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists there. Nineteen of the organization’s 22 members voted to support the sanctions, which “include a travel ban on senior Syrian officials and a halt to commercial flights to the country.

Given Israel’s opposition to Assad, and their justifiable anger at Israel’s current government, I’m gratified that the Arab League is acing responsibly here.

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Nov 272011
 

Yesterday I spent most of the day resting and napping, because I’m still well short of 100%.  I’m current with replies.  Today is a holy day for the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  Sadly, the service between the Broncos and Chargers won’t be televised here.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:49 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: Robert Reich: The real public nuisance!

Amen! Occupy our Democracy!

From CNN: Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of Texas and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will forgo seeking an eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

That’s a sad thing for Texas, because Charlie has been a champion for voting rights.

From Common Dreams: Turkey sees no possibility of resuming full diplomatic relations with Israel unless Israel apologizes and pays damages for the deaths its commandos caused last year aboard a Turkish ship that was trying to run Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, Turkey’s foreign minister said Friday.

“Israel buried our friendship in the deep waters of the Mediterranean,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in response to a question on whether Turkish-Israeli relations would recover in the near future.

I commend our NATO ally for taking a stand that this country should be supporting.

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Nov 262011
 

Yesterday I rested for most of the day, attempting to heal up.  I celebrated Black Friday in the proper way and spent nothing.  I’m current on replies.  Today is another much needed rest day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:40 (average 4:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn.org: Zero-Zero-Zero

The ultimate Republican tax plan.

From LA Times: Los Angeles police detectives hope to retrieve video surveillance evidence from a Porter Ranch Wal-Mart store by early Friday afternoon to begin trying to identify a woman who shot pepper spray at other shoppers to get a Black Friday competitive edge.

“We’re going to check the video surveillance and hope the cameras were pointed in the right direction,” said LAPD Sgt. R.J. Valle of the Devonshire station.

The woman apparently sought to purchase an Xbox video game console and used the spray to clear out other shoppers. About 20 customers, including children, were hurt in the Thursday night incident, which police officials called “shopping rage.” Shoppers complained of minor skin and eye irritation and sore throats.

This women must have been a Republican, given the level of her greed and given that only viewers of the Republican Ministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, think pepper spray is harmless.  In addition, most Democrats boycott Wal-Fart for their causing the outsourcing of US jobs, anti-labor tactics, and employee abuse.

From Raw Story: Denmark aims to have wind power supply half of the country’s electricity needs in 2020, under a new programme presented by Climate and Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard on Friday.

That’s an example we should follow.

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