Politics Plus

Yesterday too little sleep caught up with me and I had a lazy day, but I am current on replies.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:37 (average 4:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Reuters: Three years after what the Pentagon called the most significant breach of U.S. military networks ever, new versions of the malware blamed for the attack are still roiling U.S. networks, Reuters has learned.

The malware at issue, known as "agent.btz," in 2008 infiltrated the computer systems of U.S. Central Command, which was running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The article is an interesting read.  This represents a greater threat to the US than anything going on in Afghanistan.

From Seattle Times: Over howls from hecklers and cheers from die-hard fans, Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress on Thursday in a raucous news conference that raised more questions than it answered.

I hope that now, David Vitter will be unable to speak anywhere, ever again, without comparable heckling.

From NY Times: In a potential blow to the future of the biotech industry, a handful of House lawmakers voted last night to bar the Food and Drug Administration from approving any bioengineered salmon for mass consumption.

A terse amendment (pdf) offered by Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) would ban FDA from spending any funds on genetically engineered salmon approvals beginning in the next financial year. Less than a dozen lawmakers voted by voice to attach the amendment to an agriculture spending bill expected to pass the House this week.

I have read enough on the subject of GMOs, that I believe enough doubts exist that they should be banned, pending sufficient independent investigation to assure their safety both to consumers ans to the environment.

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Yesterday I went to the denturists office, and he took the final impressions.  He accidentally double booked, so I had to wait for over an hour.  The time was well spent, because I chatted with a conservative woman.  She was a thoroughly  nice gal.  I talked issues with her, and by the time we were done, she realized that the Republican Party actually represents the opposite of what she wants and believes.  When the frames come back, I go back in so he can adjust the bite, and then one more time to pick them up.  I am SO ready for an ear of corn.  The outing pooped me out, and I overslept and am running a little late, but I’m current on replies.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:48 (average 4:20).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested some of the Pakistani informants who fed information to the Central Intelligence Agency in the months leading up to the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, according to American officials.

A casualty of the recent tension between the countries is an ambitious Pentagon program to train Pakistani paramilitary troops to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the northwestern tribal areas.

Pakistan’s detention of five C.I.A. informants, including a Pakistani Army major who officials said copied the license plates of cars visiting Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the weeks before the raid, is the latest evidence of the fractured relationship between the United States and Pakistan. It comes at a time when the Obama administration is seeking Pakistan’s support in brokering an endgame in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.

With friends like Pakistan, who needs enemies?  With this nation in control of our supply lines and exit route, our troops in Afghanistan are more at risk than is acceptable, necessitating withdrawal.

From STL Today: The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for significant cuts to collective bargaining rights for public workers in the state, undoing a lower court’s decision that Wisconsin’s controversial law had been passed improperly.

The vote was 5-4, enabled by the election theft through which David Prosser occupies the seat Joanne Kloppenberg won.

From Washington Blade: A California federal court on Tuesday denied a request to invalidate a decision overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage based on the argument that the judge who decided the matter should have recused himself because he’s gay.

U.S. District Judge James Ware determined in his decision that retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s sexual orientation isn’t a reason for recusal or disqualification in the case that will determine the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which California voters approved in 2008 to make a ban on same-sex marriage part of the state constitution.

Were this not correct heterosexual judges would also have to recuse themselves from such cases.

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For the record, I had completed making this before I learned of the incident reported in today’s second article.

Yesterday I worked around the apartment and rested.  I could not sleep during the evening and have to get up earl this morning for grocery delivery, so it’s going to be a rough day.  I am current with comments.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:42 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From LA Times: In California, where congressional elections have been as predictable as traffic gridlock, new political maps are likely to set the stage for more competitive races and give the state a higher profile in the battle for Congress.

Political analysts predict that Democrats — who hold a 33-19 advantage in the state’s House delegation, with one vacancy in a seat previously held by a Democrat — could pick up three to five more.

Competitive districts means Republicans did not Gerrymander them.  Fair favors Democrats.

From NY Times: Every once in a while a politician comes up with an idea that’s so bad, so wrongheaded, that you’re almost grateful. For really bad ideas can help illustrate the extent to which policy discourse has gone off the rails.

And so it was with Senator Joseph Lieberman’s proposal, released last week, to raise the age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67.

Giving LIEberscum Homeland Security is one of Reid’s worst blunders.

From News Hounds: Last Saturday (6/4/11), Cavuto on Business focused on the debt crisis. Charles Payne said, “One thing I wonder is, where’s the next greatest generation? Who’s gonna step up and answer the call? Because right now, Paul Ryan is like Paul Revere.

Now, try to tell me that Faux Noise isn’t the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda.

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Yesterday I caught up on paperwork and visited with friends.  Plans for the weekend include catching up on email and setting up our fantasy football league.  I am current on replies.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:49 (5:10 average).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Washington Post: The anti-tax pledge signed by 95 percent of congressional Republicans faces a key test Tuesday, when the Senate is scheduled to vote on a plan to repeal billions of dollars in annual tax credits for ethanol blenders — a move the pledge defines as a tax increase.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) surprised Senate leaders when he filed a motion late Thursday to force a preliminary vote on the measure.

The ethanol credit is widely condemned by Republicans as bad economic policy, and Coburn derides it as spending through the tax code.

Although I agree with Coburn on ethanol, I consider it hypocritical for him to consider ending tax credits for ethanol blenders a spending cut and ending tax credits for Big Oil a tax increase.

From KSAT: The League of United Latin American Citizens filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas Friday challenging the way state lawmakers are re-drawing maps that determine congressional districts.

Luis Vera, LULAC’s national general counsel, said state Republicans are relying on bad census numbers and are violating the Voting Rights Act.

LULAC filed its legal challenge in the U.S. District Court’s Western District of Texas. The suit alleges the state is trying to take away votes from Latinos.

In Texas, the KKK is the moderate wing of the Republican Party.

From Common Dreams: On Monday, the National Archives and Records Administration will change that, as it officially declassifies the papers 40 years to the day after portions were first disclosed by the New York Times. In doing so, and in making the papers available online, the Archives could provide researchers with a more holistic way of understanding a remarkable chapter of U.S. history.

Better way too late than never.

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