Politics Plus

I successfully avoided all contact with the Russian Infestation yesterday by spending the day resting, listening to Pandora, and watching Netflix.  I heard demonstrations that were close, but not close enough to make out the chants.  At around 9:00 PM there was a flurry of tear gas  canisters popping and flash bangs going off.  However sleep was impossible, because of frequent police sirens until well after midnight.  Then a few deplorable fascists in a Humvee drove up and down the street with his speakers blasting a speech from Putin’s Pervert, turning it off occasionally to scream "Nigger Libs!".  I gave up at 4:00 AM and got up to discover both my cable and Internet were down.  So the first full day of the Republican Reich has not started well, and I’m going to nap before I publish.  Nameless… Sioux City.

Jig Zone Puzzles:

Yesterday’s took me 2:42 (average 4:44).  To do it, click here.  Today’s took me 5:00 (average 5:10).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Boycott Donald Trump’s Inauguration | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

Kudos to Keith. Kudos to John Lewis. This is why I boycotted the infestation.  RESIST!!

From OPB: After an evening of protests Friday, Portland police used crowd-control devices to disperse lingering demonstrators near Pioneer Courthouse Square and six people were arrested.

The use of flash-bangs and tear gas came after police told protesters that the march, which began at 5 p.m., was unlawful. Police also warned the group that those who did not leave the area would be arrested.

By the end of the night, five people were charged with second-degree disorderly conduct.

Kudos to the nonviolent demonstrators.  RESIST!!

From NY Times: Affordable birth control. Equal pay for equal work. Full access to health care for transgender Americans.

As recently as last summer, these seemed like achievable goals, backed by President Barack Obama and championed by Hillary Clinton. Now, of course, Donald Trump is president, and what might have been items on Mrs. Clinton’s agenda are tenets of the Women’s March on Washington, a protest to mark Mr. Trump’s second day in office.

More than 200,000 people have signed up on Facebook to attend the Washington march, and over 1.5 million plan to attend one of hundreds of satellite marches around the country.

Kudos to the women.  RESIST!!

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We had a President then.

Portland is now a sweltering 43°, and the street below my windows has transformed to slush after over a week od snow and ice.  I’m finally getting a grocery delivery this afternoon, and I’m writing late to be sure to be up when it gets here.  Putting it away will be lots od extra work, because it’s two weeks worth.  Later, Wendy is coming to give the stinky TomCat a fresh fragrance.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:06 (average 4:37).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): The One Crucial Question Trump Refuses to Answer

No traitor would answer that question. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Former President George W. Bush is eagerly counting down the days until he is no longer the worst President in U.S. history, Bush confirmed on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at his home, Bush said that he “could hardly wait” until Friday, when he will be officially bounced from the worst-President slot.

“I have to admit, I never thought I’d see this day in my lifetime,” the former President said. “When you leave office with the nation in smoldering ruins, you sort of come to accept that you’re gonna be worst for a long, long time.”

“I guess you could say I set the bar kind of high, worst-wise,” he chuckled.

Dang Andy! I never thought I would miss Crawford Caligula!!  RESIST!!

From Daily Kos:

Heinz-Christian Strache is the head of Austria’s Freedom Party. A few weeks ago it was reported that Trump’s scary national security advisor, Mike Flynn, had met with Strache to discuss whatever it is people discuss inside of volcano underground lairs.  …

…Flynn seems to have a penchant for finding neo-Nazi types all throughout Europe to have conversations with. Now, according to Strache’s Facebook page [Republican delinked] and an English language Austrian news source, it looks like Mr. Strache got himself an invite to the Reich’s Trump’s big day.

The invitation allegedly came from the US-Congressman from Iowa, Steve King, who is known for his ultraconservative views and strong support for Trump. King made a trip to Vienna in October 2016 to visit with party members during the height of the election campaign. Following an inquiry by the APA, a speaker for the former presidential candidate and FPÖ vice president, Norbert Hofer has said he will "neither confirm nor deny" if Hofer is part of the delegation.

While Americans boycott, Republicans invite foreign Nazis and they attend!  RESIST!!

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Yesterday my day was thrown out of kilter, because a squatter escaped the cold outside and set up camp in the only bathroom with a handicapped shower that is properly set up for my use.  Not realizing it, we waited for half an hour, before knocking on the door and asking the occupant how long they might be.  The guy said soon, but sounded drunk.  Fifteen minutes later Wendy went back and explained through the door that she had a handicapped client that could not use any other shower.  Another fifteen minutes passed, we knocked again, and he wouldn’t answer at all.  I called management, and a manager came and opened the door.  They kicked out the squatter, but hew had trashed the bathroom so badly, that they had to clean the room, before it could be used.  By the time I was done, my half hour shower had consumed 2 1/2 hours of my Wendy time, and that’s why you got only a Personal Update yesterday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:06 (average 5:43).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Donald Trump Press Conference Cold Open – SNL

Baldwin was …ummm… golden!  RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Trump’s plans for a triumphal Inauguration were upended over the weekend when a karaoke machine that had been engaged to perform at the event abruptly backed out.

In an official statement, the karaoke machine said that it was withdrawing because it “did not want my participation at the Inauguration to in any way be construed as an endorsement of Donald Trump.”

The President-elect wasted no time in lashing out at the karaoke machine, taking to Twitter in the early hours of the morning to call the entertainment device a “loser” and “sad.”

Dang Andy!! That machine is smarter than a bunch of people!  RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. attended a real estate conference, where he stated that

Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.

As it turns out, that may have been an understatement. Human rights lawyer Scott Horton, whose work in the region goes back to defending Andrei Sakharov and other Soviet dissidents, has gone through a series of studies by the Financial Times to show how funds from Russian crime lords bailed Trump out after yet anther [sic] bankruptcy. The conclusions are stark.

Among the powerful facts that DNI missed were a series of very deep studies published in the [Financial Times] that examined the structure and history of several major Trump real estate projects from the last decade—the period after his seventh bankruptcy and the cancellation of all his bank lines of credit. …

The money to build these projects flowed almost entirely from Russian sources. In other words, after his business crashed, Trump was floated and made to appear to operate a successful business enterprise through the infusion of hundreds in millions of cash from dark Russian sources.

He was their man.

The article includes a petition to appoint a special prosecutor on Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign. Please click through to sign it.  RESIST!!

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I ended up feeling rather stupid yesterday, when I called Safeway.com to ask why my food was late and they told me I had scheduled the delivery for today.  Then I ended up feeling frustrated today, when they called me to tell me my delivery was cancelled due to hazardous driving conditions.  I’m hoping I can reach Wendy in time to ask her to pick up a few staples for me before she goes to work and bring them in the morning.  Today and tomorrow are holy days in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  If your team is still meditating, may the Orb bless them with it’s divine light.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:34 (average 5:28).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Common Dreams: The rise of political populists threatens democracy worldwide, a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Thursday says.

In its World Report 2017, the human rights organization highlights President-elect Donald Trump‘s victory in the U.S., the power grabs of "strongman" leaders in Russia, China, Turkey, and the Philippines, and the rise of right-wing demagogues in Europe, as trends that "denigrate legal standards and disdain factual analysis, directly challenge the laws and institutions that promote dignity, tolerance, and equality."

Trump and other populist leaders work from a similar propaganda playbook that supports bigotry and discrimination; scapegoats immigrants and refugees for economic problems; encourages people to give up their rights in favor of authoritarian rule as a defense against outside threats; and foments division between demographics, the report states.

We aren’t the only ones. We just have the worst Fuhrer.  RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: The Democratic National Committee is holding the first of four regional “Future Forums” today in Phoenix, Arizona. The forum begins at 9 AM Mountain Time.  You can view a livestream at democrats.org…

…Candidates for Chair:
• Sally Boynton Brown, Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director, President of Association of State Democratic Executive Directors
• Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair, Association of State Democratic Parties Chair
• Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, IN
• Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative (MN-5)
• Jehmu Greene, Fox News Political Analyst
• Jaime Harrison, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair
• Tom Perez, secretary of Labor.

I still like Ellison because of his progressive resume. If you disagree, who do you support and why?

From Think Progress: Early Saturday morning, President-elect Donald Trump attacked the Georgia congressman and famed civil rights hero John Lewis for being “all talk, no action” and presiding over a “crime infested” district that’s “falling apart.”

The thinly veiled racial smear — essentially suggesting Lewis is a slumlord — came on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as the nation prepares to honor the civil rights leader with whom Lewis worked closely in the 1960s to advocate for racial and economic justice.

What else would a Republican Racist say?  RESIST!!

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