Politics Plus

Yesterday I caught up on comments, returned visits, and visited over half of our blogroll.  It feels quite strange to be ahead of the game.  I also wrote a recommendation for parole for a man, who I recruited in 1998, while I was still a prisoner, to facilitate a self-help program I had written.  His hearing is next month, and I am hopeful, because I watched him learn and change over the years.  Back to blog matters, today is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, so I’ll be spending the day in NFL meditation. 😉

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:48.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From News Hounds: On Friday (9/24/10), the long-time head of CNN was ousted and replaced by Ken Jautz, the head of CNN’s sister channel, HLN. But considering Jautz’ history – he’s the man who brought Glenn Beck to television and described him as "self-deprecating, cordial… not confrontational" – the appointment does not bode well for the future of cable news.

I think I’m going to throw up.

From TPM: Short on friends and low on funds, Colorado Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes has resorted to name-calling. In a radio interview on KHOW yesterday, he called third-party candidate and infamous immigration fear-monger Tom Tancredo an "illegal immigrant" in the gubernatorial race.

I love it when Republican bigots won’t share the sand-box  with each other.

From Daily Kos: A week from today, hundreds of thousands of Americans will join each other in Washington, D.C., in a demonstration organized by One Nation Working Together to renew the effort to build a movement, a grassroots movement, that is not dependent solely on supporting a political party to obtain its goals, but that also recognizes the need to elect effective progressive leaders at every level of government.

I fully support this idea and wish the event were here.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Ahmadinejad is what happens when the Republican Tea Party takes over a nation.

Yesterday I kept up with comments before going out to the training meeting related to my volunteer work.  I returned home about the time I normally wake up to do research, so I’m running on a one hour cat nap and need tooth picks for my eyes.  Today will depend on how much sleep I get and how I feel, but I have Saturday set aside for visiting blogs.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:51.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?  (Have at me, Jerry.  This should be an easy win.)

Short Take:

From San Diego Examiner: The congressional stalemate on the small business lending bill, H. R. 5297, ended today at 3:03 pm. The House approved the amended bill by a vote of 237 to 187.

Only one Republican voted yes.

This the one I said was a sure thing, and at last, after months of Republican obstruction, it can go to Obama for his signature.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

TGIF!!

Yesterday I was feeling pretty down, so I stayed down.  I’m feeling a little better, but not at alll at full speed.  So what I do for catch up is touch and go.  This is normally my volunteer day with a therapy group, but I’m staying home.  When I push it when I’m ill, these things are more likely to set-in for the long haul.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:13.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From AP/Google: Senate Republicans on Tuesday moved to strip Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski of her post as top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, further punishing her as she mounts a write-in bid to try to hold onto her seat.

Murkowski already has stepped down from her leadership role in the GOP caucus and could lose her Energy Committee position as soon as Wednesday if the 41-member Republican caucus votes to remove her in a secret ballot.

This is one of those rare occasions in which Democrats should be copying what Republicans do.  LIEberman is way overdue.

From Think Progress: Yesterday, NewsMax posted an interview with Tony Perkins, the leader of FRC and a frequent contributor to CNN. Asked why so many Americans question Obama’s Christian faith, Perkins said myths and conspiracy theories about the President’s faith are not his “problem.” Perkins then furthered the myth that Obama is a Muslim by saying that Obama “claims to be a Christian,” but is actually “advancing the idea of the Islamic religion”.

Why does this show that the Supply-side Jesus set are pseudo-Christians?  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

From TPM: Sen. Carl Levin said this afternoon while there is not an agreement finalized yet, the tax cuts debate could begin as early as Thursday.

He said he believes leadership will allow votes on both the Democrats’ middle-class only position and the Republicans’ plan to freeze tax rates at the Bush-era levels including the rich.

This is a debate we need to have, and to better define it for Republicans we should name the Democratic position The Barack HUSSEIN Obama Tax Cut for the Poor and Middle Classes.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Happy hump day!!

Yesterday was a day of religious meditation (NFL).  I hope to catch up on comments and returning visits today, but I have a lot of chores to do.

Religious Ecstasy:

Phew!  Losing to the Seachickens requires self-flagellation as penance.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:02.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Boston Globe: BP’s blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has been killed, five months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in US history.

It’s all over, except a generation or more of environmental degradation. 🙁

From UKPA/Google: Afghan election observers have raised serious concerns about the weekend parliamentary elections because of reported fraud.

But President Hamid Karzai commended the balloting as a solid success.

My money is on the former.

From TPM: Newt Gingrich got a lot of deserved grief last week for his race-baiting rant about President Obama’s "anti-colonial Kenyan" world view. I’m sure he’ll get much less for his call this weekend for federal legislation banning the imposition of Sharia Law in the United States.

The Newtered One has hit a new low for the manufacture whacky-doodle-do distractions over non-issues.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

OGIM!!