Politics Plus

Yesterday, Sarah, my Prosthetist, checked out George.  She ordered a new part to stabilize his ankle, and I’ll have to go back when it comes in.  I had to go to the bank, because I discovered over $100.00 was missing from my desk drawer.  I know it was there on Saturday, and only one other person had been in the apartment since.  So I need to get another shower aide.   I’m disappointed, but not angry.  Desperate people do desperate things, and the money I had lent her was used up.  I’ll tell her tomorrow that it is her last day.  I really needed to make the change anyway, because I have not had both weekly showers on time since January, when she moved out of the building, where I used to live.  I need to deal with people who add stability to my life, not destabilize it.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:38 (average 6:48).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The war of words between the two Democratic camps heated up over the weekend, as the Clinton campaign accused Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders of “blatantly attempting to win the Democratic nomination for President.”

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Clinton campaign spokesman Harland Dorrinson said that Sanders’s actions in the past few weeks “left little doubt as to what his true intentions are—namely, to be the Party’s nominee.”

“He’s been raising money, he’s been running in primaries, and, yes, he’s been winning caucuses,” the Clinton aide said. “It’s time for Bernie Sanders to come clean with the American people and admit what he’s really up to.”

“It’s deeply troubling that what appeared at first to be a purely symbolic candidacy has turned into something else entirely,” he said.

In an interview on CNN, Secretary Clinton said that she would not “take the bait” when she was asked whether she thought Sanders was trying to win the nomination, but she stopped short of disavowing the accusation.

Dang, Andy!! Does Bernie have chutzpah or what?!!? The Nerve!! How dare he try to win Hillary’s nomination!!

From Daily Kos: Vox is calling for a boycott of using any paid TurboTax product. So am I. If you’ve already filed, don’t use them again. If you haven’t yet filed, I urge you to use a different service, like Jackon Hewitt or TaxSlayer. Or go to an independent accountant.  

The reason, to put it bluntly, is that Intuit, the company that owns TurboTax, has teamed up with Grover Norquist to ensure that paying your taxes is as painful an ordeal as possible.

Intuit has spent over 13 million dollars to lobby AGAINST efforts to make taxes less complicated. After all, if taxes were made simple, then why would you need to shell out big bucks to use their convoluted system? (along with their ever-increasing fees.)

One such effort they oppose is so common-sense that even conservatives are having a hard time making the case against it. (But it’s not stopping them.) It’s called a "Simple Return." Essentially, the onus would be on the IRS, not you, for filling out the tax forms.

You see, the IRS gets all of the same forms in the mail that you do. They already know what you owe, so they would be required to send you a pre-filled out tax return telling you how much you owe (or, if you overpaid, how much you will get back). With one check of the box, you could either accept it, or simply say "No Thanks" and do the taxes yourself. It’s just an option.

I support Vox in this. I use TaxAct.

From Alternet: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has declared April "Confederate Heritage Month," which has rightfully angered many residents in the state, “especially since the governor refuses to mention what the Civil War was really about—slavery,” The Young Turks co-host Ana Kasparian pointed out on Tuesday.

I guess that means Mississippi is now celebrating Republican Racism Month.

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Lu never showed up yesterday.  Yesterday I finished my corporate taxes (annual registration and reporting) for our prison volunteer group.  There were no taxes to pay, of course, but serving others cost’s us $60.00 in fees.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with Sarah, my Prosthetist, because Courtney (PT) thinks George has too much side to side wobble in the ankle.  That may limit me to a Personal Update tomorrow.  Lu has come now, and I’m a pampered puddy tat.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:25 (average 5:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Real Clear Politics: The latest delegate count.

Bernie won the Wyoming caucuses but did not cut into Hillary's lead. For the nomination, Bernie needs 1,314 more delegates. Hillary needs 626. For the majority of pledged delegates, Bernie needs 989 more pledged delegates. Hillary needs 739.

From Daily Kos (Classic: 10/2015): 

Overnight, Petra László became one of the most despised people in the world after she was caught on video tripping a Syrian refugee carrying his son. She lost her job after the video went viral and rather than reflect on her poor life choices and try to move on, she's decided to sue. And you won't believe who she blames for her downfall:

The Hungarian camerawoman who tripped two refugees fleeing from police has claimed she plans to sue Facebook, as well as the man she caused to stumble and fall as he carried his child.

You read that right. She's planning on suing Syrian refugee Osama Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab, the man she ruthlessly tripped as he was running with his son in his arms. She's upset she is still despised in her home country:

Poor Hungary! Isn't it sad that they have Republican bigots too?

From Raw Story: President Barack Obama on Sunday linked Fox News, which he suggested was a “Republican news channel,” to the success of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate.

Obama is wrong when it comes to Democrats having our own TV station too. While it's true that MSNBC has Hayes, Maddow and O'Donnell, they give Morning Joe one more hour of air-time than the other three combined.

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Shhh!! Don’t tell them about my chili!!

My new A/C is certainly powerful enough to cool my tiny place.  It’s also very loud, and the noise bothered me last night.  I’m sure I’ll get use to it, and after a night of three, I won’t even hear it.  I’m about to leave to go to PT with Courtney.  Later.  Back and pooped.  George needs an ankle adjustment.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:48 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The Guardian (H/T Daily Kos):A group of Polish women walk out of a church service to protest against a proposed tightening of the country’s abortion laws. The video, posted on Facebook, shows the women leaving as a priest reads out a letter in favour of the ban. In Warsaw, thousands of people have attended a pro-choice rally outside parliament, after the leader of the ruling party backed a call from Catholic bishops for a full ban on pregnancy terminations.

It looks like Poland has Republicans that hate women too!

From Daily Kos: In disappointing Tuesday news, the Wisconsin Supreme Court race went to Rebecca Bradley, a conservative. Bradley beat progressive candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg in the non-partisan election. Wisconsin residents are now stuck with Bradley for the next ten years.

It’s a sad end to an ugly race, and an ugly type of race at that. Judicial elections are rife with problems as a general matter—politics, bias, secret money, and low voter engagement, to name a few. But in Wisconsin the elections have been particularly grimy.

Bradley is so Republican, she makes Nancy Grace seem like a progressive. This is how she won.

From Media Matters: A Media Matters investigation of the discredited right-wing group Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), the main source of baseless smears against, and false characterizations of, Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, reveals a familial web of self-dealing between the organization, a major dark money funder of JCN called the Wellspring Committee, and a third nonprofit that also receives funding from Wellspring.

Nepotism’R’Us, Nepotism (R-US), or just plain Koch sucking?

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Yesterday, Lu arrived in time, my window A/C was taken out, and I got my shower and became a pristine puddy tat.  Today I have a grocery order and my new portable A/C coming.  Because floor units are not as efficient as window units, I chose a 10,000 BTU unit to replace a 5,000 BTU window unit.  Building staff will install it, either today or tomorrow morning, depending on what time it arrives.  And it’s just in time!  Tomorrow’s high here is forecast at 85°.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:39 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Real Clear Politics: Latest delegate count:

Wisconsin was an impressive double-digit win for Bernie, but because of the way they apportion delegates, Bernie cut into Hillary’s lead by only 11 delegates. He now needs 1,324 delegates to clinch the nomination. Hillary needs 634.

From Daily Kos: \Stanley Hoskins spent 13 years in Army, serving as a sergeant in the National Guard. His wife, Erica Flores Dunahoo, put down the first month’s rent at a Mississippi RV park, something she says they were doing to get out of financial difficulty. Stanley and Erica moved in with their children and Erica bragged how friendly everyone had been.

Unfortunately, once the whole family arrived, the situation and attitude of RV park owner Gene Baker quickly changed. From the Clarion-Ledger:

The next day, she said, Baker telephoned her and said, “Hey, you didn’t tell me you was married to no black man.”

She said she replied that she didn’t realize it was a problem.

“Oh, it’s a big problem with the members of my church, my community and my mother-in-law,” she quoted him as saying. “They don’t allow that black and white shacking.”

I don’t suppose we need to ask to which party Baker belongs, do we?

From The New Yorker:

In a sharply worded post-election threat on Tuesday night, the Republican Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump said that he intended to sue the entire population of Wisconsin “for everything it’s worth.”

In his terse remarks, Trump departed from the customs of political concession speeches by failing to congratulate the evening’s winner or thank his supporters, instead sternly warning the people of Wisconsin to “lawyer up.”

“By the time my attorneys are through with you, I’m going to own your entire state, lock, stock, and barrel,” he said. “Not that I want to own it. Wisconsin is a freaking dump.”

LOL Andy!! Will Fecal Dump Trump take a Trump dump on Fitzwalkerstan?

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