It’s time to turn the page on another month.  This morning I cooked an entire package of bacon to eat with breakfasts over the next two weeks.  Standing up on George, every time something needs to be done, makes it a lot of work.  To day is sort of a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  I may not even meditate.  The league has ruined the Pro Bowl.  Holding it before the Super Bowl prevents players from the league’s two best teams from participating.  Making it a pick-up game instead of AFC against NFC eliminates conference pride as a motive to play harder.  They should go back to the way it used to be.  I hope your January was happy, memorable, and productive.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:15 (average 8:09).  To do it, click here. n How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: One of the most important differences between Sanders and Clinton summarized in one image.

That one says it all!

From NY Times: For the past painful year, the Republican presidential contenders have been bombarding Americans with empty propaganda slogans and competing, bizarrely, to present themselves as the least experienced person for the most important elected job in the world. Democratic primary voters, on the other hand, after a substantive debate over real issues, have the chance to nominate one of the most broadly and deeply qualified presidential candidates in modern history.

Hillary Clinton would be the first woman nominated by a major party. She served as a senator from a major state (New York) and as secretary of state — not to mention her experience on the national stage as first lady with her brilliant and flawed husband, President Bill Clinton. The Times editorial board has endorsed her three times for federal office — twice for Senate and once in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary — and is doing so again with confidence and enthusiasm.

Mrs. Clinton’s main opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic Socialist, has proved to be more formidable than most people, including Mrs. Clinton, anticipated. He has brought income inequality and the lingering pain of the middle class to center stage and pushed Mrs. Clinton a bit more to the left than she might have gone on economic issues. Mr. Sanders has also surfaced important foreign policy questions, including the need for greater restraint in the use of military force.

In the end, though, Mr. Sanders does not have the breadth of experience or policy ideas that Mrs. Clinton offers. His boldest proposals — to break up the banks and to start all over on health care reform with a Medicare-for-all system — have earned him support among alienated middle-class voters and young people. But his plans for achieving them aren’t realistic, while Mrs. Clinton has very good, and achievable, proposals in both areas.

I think the Times’ endorsement of Hillary reflects their establishment view. In spite of Hillary’s greater breadth of experience, I consider Bernie the better candidate. But either is an infinite improvement over any Republican candidate.

From PBS (2006): …he [Walter Cronkite] went to Vietnam and reported that he had seen the lies, corruption, and stalemate in that war and that it was time for us to go.

President Lyndon Johnson listened to Cronkite’s verdict with dismay and real sadness. As he famously remarked to an aide, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.” After all, this was not one of the young, brash reporters like Morley Safer or Jack Laurence pricking the president’s power. It was Cronkite, veteran of World War II, a man of unimpeachable patriotism… [emphasis added]

Many of you commented sadness over the Tet Offensive, portrayed in yesterday’s Cartoon. But, I think it was the best thing that could have happened. Up until that time, the peace movement, though able to field as many as 500,000 demonstrators, was relatively small, made up mostly of students. Most Americans believed the military that we were willing the war and it was almost over. Tet exposed the lies, and because of it, Walter Cronkite went to Vietnam to see for himself. His report, something we would never see today from a network anchor, turned the majority of Americans strongly against the war. Tet was the turning point that, eventually, brought the war to an end.

Cartoon:

A Republican day of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I’m running quite late today.  Yesterday afternoon, my helper friend and I made six meals.  Last night I filled two barf bags, trash can, my coffee cup, my shirt pocket, and George.  Today Jeannie (shower-aide) left me with soft shiny fur.  Arvilla (PT) gave me a hard workout including a toilet transfer with my quad-cane, without using the disabled rails.  Then I walked around 225 ft. with my walker.  That’s almost double my previous best.  Then I did exercises, and maneuvered from the sink, paste the range, past the counter, to the refrigerator and back without my chair or my walker, using the surfaces for support.  I’m pooped!!  TGIF!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:19 (average 5:41).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The FBI has released video tonight of the shooting death of LaVoy Finicum to dispel any rumors that he had “had his hands up” and was trying to surrender to police. The FBI’s Special Agent in Charge Gregory T. Bretzing held a press conference to explain the events surrounding the arrest of Ammon Bundy (and others), along with the fatal shooting of LaVoy Finicum. Finicum can be seen running from the initial stop in his pick-up truck, with passengers Ryan Payne, Shawna Cox and a woman the FBI declined to identify. The video was captured by aerial camera and shows Finicum driving into a snow back, barely missing a law enforcement officer. He immediately jumped from the vehicle, at first with his hands up as he yelled at law enforcement, but then clearly reaching into his pocket multiple times, where the FBI says he did have a gun (update: a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.)

Here us a shortened, edited clip instead of the 26 minute clip included with the article. No significant parts were removed.

I have no doubt that the Republican terrorist was going for his gun, based on his previous statements and the loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the pocket. The officer was fully justified in shooting him. However, I would like to have seen a faster response time to try to save his life, if possible, after he was down.

From Media Matters: Student loan debt in America has reached a staggering $1.3 trillion, surpassing even credit card debt. But right-wing media figures have criticized efforts to combat student loan debt by pushing misinformation and blaming students for pursuing higher education…

…Blaming students for the student loan debt crisis ignores the facts and distracts from finding real solutions to America’s skyrocketing student debt burden.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Students should be able to pay for their education with their choice of military, national, or community service.

From NY Times: WHILE presidential candidates from both parties feverishly pitch their legislative agendas, voters should also consider what presidents can do without Congress. Agency rules, executive actions and decisions about how vigorously to enforce certain laws will have an impact on every American, without a single new bill introduced in Congress.

The Obama administration has a substantial track record on agency rules and executive actions. It has used these tools to protect retirement savings, expand overtime pay, prohibit discrimination against L.G.B.T. employees who work for the government and federal contractors, and rein in carbon pollution. These accomplishments matter.

Whether the next president will build on them, or reverse them, is a central issue in the 2016 election. But the administration’s record on enforcement falls short — and federal enforcement of laws that already exist has received far too little attention on the campaign trail.

I just released a report examining 20 of the worst federal enforcement failures in 2015. Its conclusion: “Corporate criminals routinely escape meaningful prosecution for their misconduct.”

Amen! Click through for the rest of this fine editorial by American National Treasure. Elizabeth Warren, and be sure to read her report.

Cartoon:

Republicans want to take your money and give it to the 0.1%

Yesterday I learned that I’m making such good progress that I will no longer qualify for home health care after February 12th.  I can go out for PT and OT, but I’ll have to do it much less frequently, because of the copay and having to pay for transit,  The big hurt is that I’ll lose my shower-aide.  Medicare does not pay for long term personal care, and I make just  little too much too much to qualify for Medicaid.  I’m searching for a solution.  The dreaded task did not get done, because the building’s elevator has been out since Sunday night.  It was supposed to be fixed yesterday afternoon, but it was not.  We’ve actually had three day’s of relatively nice weather, and I’ve been trapped here.  ARGH!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:05 (average 5:28).  Do I get a double dawgburger?  To di it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Carrie: Donald Trump Fan ?

A teacher asked her 6th grade class how many of them were Donald Trump fans.
Not really knowing what a Donald Trump fan is, but wanting to be liked by

the teacher​, all the kids raised their hands except for smart Little Johnny.

The teacher asked Little Johnny why he has decided to be different…

Little Johnny said, "Because I’m not a Donald Trump fan."

The teacher asked, "Why aren’t you a fan of Donald Trump?"

Johnny said, "Because I’m a Democrat."  The teacher asked him why he’s a Democrat.

Little Johnny answered, "Well, my Mom’s a Democrat and my Dad’s a Democrat, so I’m a Democrat."

Annoyed by this answer, the teacher asked, "If your mom was a moron and your dad was an idiot, what would that make you?"

With a big smile, Little Johnny replied, "That would make me a Donald Trump fan".

FOMCROTFPIMPLMAO!!!

From Daily Kos: This has been a difficult diary to write—not because it is a difficult subject, but because it was so hard to narrow it down to just four governors. Describing the damage that the 31 current Republican governors have done to the United States (and to their own states) would likely take a tome the length of War and Peace. You don’t have the time to read that, and as these men and women are still in office it would be impossible to keep up with the garbage legislation they keep unleashing on their citizens. So let’s just keep it to the top (er, bottom) four:

4. — Maine Gov. Paul LePage. This is a man who does not have the qualifications to be the county dog catcher. Yet inexplicably, he’s the governor of Maine. He is so petty that shortly after he took office he ordered murals representing working men and women taken down, as they were “pro-union.”

Now, if that was all he did he would not have made this list. But Gov. LePage is the gift that just keeps on giving. He has no filter when talking about his opponents—think Donald Trump, but worse. In short, he is a bully. Oh, and a racist too.

But no, we aren’t done yet: He used his political power to have an opponent fired from a job at a charter school. This brief write-up only scratches the surface of Gov. LePage. He is an awful human being, on top of being a lousy governor.

LePage is just number four. Click through for the bottom three Governors in the US, Republicans, of course.

From Upworthy: One of the first women of country to really "tell it like it is" was singer Loretta Lynn. She was never shy about her life.

Her song "The Pill" — released in 1975, 15 years after the birth control pill was introduced— was no exception. Take a listen:

I loved her music. Forty years later, the Republican Party would organize a boycott of her music. Don’t forget what they did to the Dixie Chicks!

Cartoon:

Global warming, caused mostly by burning fossil fuels and Republican flatulence, causes extreme weather of all kinds, not just hot weather,

Yesterday I basked in the glory of the holy light fro, the blessed and beneficent Ellipsoid Orb.  It promises to be a busy week, but much less so than next month.  I have more scheduling to do today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:32 (average 5:08).  To do better would have risked cannibalism.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

A nail-biter between excellent teams.  Phew!!!  Denver’s D was brilliant!

Short Takes:

From YouTube (H/T Pat B): Yosemite Sarah Palin

Laugh Bag Alert!!

Sam might sue the videographer for defamation of character!

From The New Yorker: One day after Donald Trump claimed that he could shoot people on New York’s Fifth Avenue and not lose support, a leading member of the random-shooting community complained that the billionaire’s random-shooting plan lacks specifics.

Harland Dorrinson, who heads the largest association of random shooters in the nation, said that Trump’s Fifth Avenue plan “lacked many of the key ingredients necessary for a credible random shooting.”

“There’s no weapons cache, no twisted manifesto to be found later by authorities,” Dorrinson said. “To anyone in the random-shooting world, Trump’s plan fails on so many levels.”

Andy is too right, There are so many demented crazies in the rabid Republican base, anxious to do it on their idols’ behalf, that Republican candidates have no reason to commit their own random shootings.  But one never knows for sure.

From FAIR.org: Great Britain won’t actually ban Donald Trump from the country but Parliament did spend time taking seriously what was called Trump’s “poisonous, corrosive” effect on public discourse. At the same time, actors, writers and others, including Harry Belafonte, Eve Ensler and Noam Chomsky, launched a Stop Hate Dump Trump campaign, that included serving notice to media that they “are accountable for normalizing Trump’s extremism by treating it as entertainment, by giving it inordinate and unequal air time and by refusing to investigate, interrogate or condemn it appropriately.”

For some journalists, this might provoke questions: Reporters can’t ignore public figures, but is there daylight between covering news of a person and providing them a near-constant, legitimizing megaphone?

For media executives, though, the main question seems to be: What time does the bank open?

I’m thinking of a report from December by Lee Fang at The Intercept (12/10/15), about how, with visions of campaign ad dollars sparkling in his eye, CBS chief executive Les Moonves cheered on Trump’s candidacy at an investor presentation: “The more they spend, the better it is for us, and: Go Donald! Keep getting out there!”

This was after Trump’s comments about Mexico sending rapists to the US and his call for Muslim Americans to have to “register” with the government.,, [emphasis added]

This is what Republicans deceptively call “The Librul media”,

Cartoon: