Apr 052017
 

What a mess.  Elder at Home came, yesterday, examined me, and reported to my PCP.  I did not know that Megan is out of town this week, and the info went to a different substitute from the one that requested it, and this one insisted that I come in, which I shall do tomorrow morning.  ARGH!!  The only reason I am adding Keith to this is that I have to be up for my Store to Door grocery delivery.  Wendy is back this evening.  Hugs!! RESIST!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took mew 4:39 (average 6:40).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

Donald Trump is Panicking About Russia | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

 

It’s hard to imagine more evidence, but I know it’s coming.

Do Authorities Now Have What They Need on Trump? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

 

Good Point.

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Apr 022017
 

I’m feeling quite tired, so I’ll be brief.  Barring unforeseen circumstances, I plan to publish most days this week, but if the forecast holds, I may make a bank run on Tuesday afternoon.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:01 (average 5:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Who would Jesus starve? Step aside Pope Francis, because this Texas Republican seems know exactly who:

One lawmaker is citing a godly reference to justify changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Tex.) recently quoted the New Testament to question the strength of current work requirements. […]

House Republicans have historically cited the verse — “if a man will not work, he shall not eat” — as justification for cutting some adults’ SNAP benefits. Arrington referenced the verse in a discussion about increasing the work requirements for unemployed adults on the food stamp program. But critics say that advances a pernicious myth about the unemployed who receive SNAP.

The verse in question applies specifically to people who can work or otherwise contribute to society but choose not to, said theologians from several denominations who spoke to The Post. There is a perception, among some voters and lawmakers, that many adult SNAP recipients are exactly this sort of “freeloader.”

But policy experts say that is not the case. Many unemployed adults on SNAP simply cannot work, they say. Those include the mentally ill, the borderline disabled and veterans.

Remember that these Republican Supply Side pseudo-Christians and authentic Christians have nothing whatsoever in common. Christians emulate the care for others that Jesus said, thought, and did. Republican pseudo-Christians do not and, therefore, are not Christians. RESIST!!

From YouTube: The facts on climate change — and what to do about it

 

Once upon a time, one could be pro-science, pro-earth, and pro-wildlife from a nonpartisan perspective. If they can help educate the Republican rank and file, more power to them, but I see no way forward without opposition to the Republican Reich, because they are anti-science, anti-earth and anti-wildlife, except for Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten’s wild life in Russian hotel rooms. RESIST!!

From NY Times: The Trump administration is considered the wealthiest in United States history. Here is a look at the value of assets held by some top officials at the time they joined the administration, based on financial disclosure filings.

 

 

Value of assets

 

 

Name

Bottom estimate

Top estimate

 

Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education

$579,783,484

unknown

 

Wilbur L. Ross Secretary of Commerce

$326,224,177

unknown

 

Gary D. Cohn Director of the National Economic Council

$252,952,172

unknown

 

Jared Kushner Senior adviser to the president for strategic planning

$241,037,233

unknown

 

Rex W. Tillerson Secretary of State

$239,488,353

unknown

 

Reed Cordish Special assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives

$197,281,047

unknown

 

Steven T. Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury

$154,137,166

unknown

This is the face of fascist plutocracy. Click through for the rest. RESIST!!

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Apr 012017
 

Carrie should be here shortly.  I will have no April Fools Day post today, because any notion of support for the Republican Reich is just too obscene for humor.  I’m feeling tired and plan to get some rest, but I will harvest Bill Maher’s clips for tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:46 (average 4:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Take:

From Daily Kos: Former FBI Special Agent and current Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute Clinton Watts is testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee since the House Republican one is being run by a fucking imbecile who can’t make a decision without the go-ahead from the guy being investigated. Here’s an interesting interaction between Watts and the Intelligence Committee.

 

Collusion! RESIST!!

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April Fools!

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Mar 312017
 

I wasn’t planning to write today, but my appointment did not take much time, and I wanted to tackle the news.  Megan refused to refill the Prednisone without seeing me, and I opted not to go in.  The stretching it takes to put on George is the worst thing I could do for my chest muscles, and having to spend three hours waiting for will-call lift rides would elevate my stress level.  And since I had already spent the night waiting for her front office to get her the message, and I am in not as much pain as I feared, albeit far moré than I’d hoped, I’m rolling the dice that I van get through the weekend without it.  Tomorrow will definitely be a short day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:19 (average 5:16).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Now that the White House realizes it’s bound to a suicide vest known as the "Freedom Caucus," Donald Trump’s aides are on the hunt for Democrats who will help the popular vote loser bring his legislative agenda to fruition.

Under normal circumstances, building a relationship with a Republican president in order to influence legislation might make sense. But these are not normal times. To negotiate with Trump would be to lend credibility to someone who is quite possibly an illegitimate occupant of the Oval Office, has stacked his cabinet with unqualified hacks intended to undercut the very foundation of the federal government, tests the Constitutional limitations of his office at every turn, and who, as our own Laura Clawson pointed out, can’t go two sentences without expelling a lie.

Fat chance!! In the Senate, I think there are only two or three DINOS cowardly enough to goose=step with this Fuhrer. Miserable Manchin [DINO-WV] and Horrid Heitkamp [DINO-ND] even plan to vote FOR Whoresuch. If either is yours, tear them a new one. RESIST!!

From Politico: The road to a Democratic Senate majority in 2018 runs through Texas — yes, Texas.

Facing a grim midterm map, Democrats are desperately trying to put enough GOP-held seats in play to take advantage of Donald Trump’s unpopularity and carve a credible path back to Senate control. The odds are so long that Democrats must pin their hopes on taking out Ted Cruz in the reliably conservative bastion of Texas.

Their first ray of hope is the entry of three-term Rep. Beto O’Rourke — a 44-year-old former hard rock musician and internet entrepreneur who speaks fluent Spanish — into the race on Friday. Though Cruz is universally known, Democrats insist he’s not invincible, pointing to the first-term Republican’s poor polling numbers and prolonged focus on running for president.

And they say O’Rourke is formidable enough that they can make a case to donors that they actually have a shot at winning the state — and the Senate overall.

If Democrats challenge TRUS Pervert Cruse by opposing him with a Howler howls off key, has mange, body odor, and halitosis, that masturbates continuously, and that throws feces at all in range… support the monkey! RESIST!!

From Think Progress1. The Trump family’s apparent kleptocracy

Chaffetz told Coppins that he is unconcerned with issues like Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway using her position to urge people to buy Trump’s daughter’s line of jewelry or questions about his son-in-law’s investments.

“I don’t see how that affects the average American and their taxpayer dollars. Just the fact that a staff person’s family is making money? It’s not enough,” he explained. “These other little intrigues about a wealthy family making money is a bit of a sideshow.”

This is the first of five Trump crimes that the House Oversight Committee Chair does not consider worth investigating. Click through for the other four. RESIST!!

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Mar 302017
 

I ran out of meds yesterday.  Today some of the congestion and coughing has returned, so I called Megan’s office to see if they will refill my Prednisone prescription.  My concern is that the coughing will exacerbate the muscular damage.  I still have quite a bit of pain in my ribs, and want to keep it tolerable.  Tomorrow morning I have a home visit coming from the agency that pays for around 20% of the care I get from Wendy.  I am more disabled than I was a year ago, because of my eyes, so I’m not worried about losing it, until Republican budget cuts reach the state level.  Then on Saturday, Carrie will be here filling in for Wendy, instead of Sunday, so my uploads will be abbreviated until Sunday.  I’ve decided not to do a Monthly Report for March.  First we do not have a full month’s data.  Second, after everything, I don’t have enough gas left in my tank to design as new report format for our Analytics.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:20 (average 5:04).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Could Donald Trump Pass a Sanity Test? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

 

Why?  In a single word, the Lemon Lunatic is a Republican. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Representative Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Wednesday that he just spent several days alone in his apartment holding hearings on President Donald J. Trump’s ties to Russia and that those hearings “went really great.”

“Having concluded several days of hearings on my own in my apartment, I am one hundred per cent satisfied that the President had no involvement with the Russians,” Nunes said. “Now it’s time to move on.”

While Nunes would not reveal who testified at the hearings in his apartment, he called their testimony “credible and productive.”

Andy, if he said that, it would not surprise me at all. RESIST!!

From The Rachel Maddow Show: Schiff presses for public hearing for Yates

Congressman Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about resistance by Chairman Devin Nunes to hear from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and the priorities of Democrats on the committee.

 

I agree with him. The investigation should also contain looking at the quid pro quo, first by the Trump campaign and now by the Trump Reich to compensate Russia for their cooperation. I also think Sally Yates testimony may be critical. RESIST!!

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Mar 292017
 

I’m writing late to be sure to be up for my grocery delivery from Store to Door.  Depending on which driver comes, it could be any time between Noon and 3:30 PM.  Wendy landed in Denver last night and is driving to Pueblo today.  Her sister, Carrie, will come on Saturday to fill in for her, and I’ll get her back a week from today.  I run out of meds today so tomorrow we’ll find out how much healing and how much symptom masking has taken place.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:47 (average 4:18).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Here’s How This Will End for Trump | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

 

I pray for all his ends but the last, In March 2015, had you told me that Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten would occupy the White House, albeit intermittently, I would have said that your shit level had turned your eyes brown. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: In a fiercely defiant statement on Tuesday, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, denied that any member of the White House staff has ever worked “in any way, shape, or form” for the benefit of the United States.

Angrily addressing the press corps, Spicer said that any allegations that members of the Trump Administration have ever acted in concert or collusion with the United States are “unequivocally false.”

“At no time during the transition or afterward did any member of the Trump team have meetings, conversations, or any other contacts that furthered the interests of the United States of America,” Spicer said. “In the thousands of communications that took place, the United States never came up even once.”

Dang, Andy!! We already knew that!! RESIST!!

From NY Times: On Tuesday afternoon, while most people were focused on the latest news from the House Intelligence Committee, the House quietly voted to undo rules that keep internet service providers — the companies like Comcast, Verizon and Charter that you pay for online access — from selling your personal information.

The Senate already approved the bill, on a party-line vote, last week, which means that in the coming days President Trump will be able to sign legislation that will strike a significant blow against online privacy protection.

The bill not only gives cable companies and wireless providers free rein to do what they like with your browsing history, shopping habits, your location and other information gleaned from your online activity, but it would also prevent the Federal Communications Commission from ever again establishing similar consumer privacy protections.

That is an intolerable violation of our First and Fourth Amendment rights. I recommend using anonymous Domain Name Servers (DNS), instead of the ones provided by your ISP.  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

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And I thought progressives had finally won.

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