It’s early on a very busy day. I may be intermittent for the rest of the week. Tonight I have a meeting g to attend. Tomorrow is a grocery delivery day. Thursday I have an Orthopedist appointment. To make matters worse, for the next two to three weeks, a contractor will be cleaning, repairing and pressure washing the exterior of my building. It’s been ten tears. Their equipment makes a major racket and they work from dawn to sunset.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:55 (average 6:41). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fantasy Football Recruiting:
We still need two new players for Lefty Blog Friends, our fantasy football league. How about you? For more information, click here.
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: Geneticists at the University of Minnesota believe that they have isolated the gene that makes some people much more prone to failure than others.
While the research is preliminary, the scientists said that they were able to successfully identify the failure gene by studying the DNA of males in two generations of the same American family.
“If we have indeed isolated the gene that makes people fail—and we believe we have—all of the subjects in our study are carriers,” said Davis Logsdon, the geneticist who supervised the research.
According to Logsdon, those who carry the gene for failure have “absolutely no idea that they have it” and thus project the confidence and self-assurance of people whose genetic material does not make them likely to wreak havoc on a massive scale.
“Not only does this gene cause people to fail, it makes them fail to understand that they have failed,” he said. “It is a really bad gene.”
Bush Bag Alert!!
Hell Andy! I’ve been telling folks that for years. I call it DEVOLUTION.
From Alternet:
Saying the 2016 Republican presidential contest was “wide open” and launching his first attacks on Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration, Jeb Bush confirmed Monday what everybody has long known: he is a candidate for president…
…Let’s go through eight highlights from his speech, ranging from the obvious and absurd to what will be recurring themes in the 2016 campaign.
1. Anyone think he’s not a Bush? His new bumper sticker is “Jeb!” That’s what filled the posters at Monday’s kickoff. There’s no mention of his last name, which is a silly but conscious political marketing decision. Jeb clearly wants to distinguish himself from his older brother, George W., whose presidency was filled with many disasters. But Bush is part of a political dynasty and that includes certain family traits and views. For example, Jeb recently said he would have invaded Iraq as W. did after 9/11.
Strike Three etches his sketch as well as Little Lord Willard did. Click through for the other seven.
From Think Progress:
Another attempt to clean up the environment, another House hearing on why we shouldn’t do that.
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) acting assistant administrator Janet McCabe defended the updated ground-level ozone rule at a House energy and commerce subcommittee hearing. The proposed rule aims to further limit ground-level ozone pollution, which is the main ingredient of smog.
The EPA has proposed lowering the national air quality standards for ground-level ozone from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 65 or 70 ppb — a change the agency says will save millions of people from the effects of poor air quality. The agency reviewed thousands of new scientific studies on health and air quality to come up with the new guidelines, which are expected to be finalized in the fall. By law, the EPA is required to reevaluate the ozone rule every five years. The House has already scheduled two more hearings on the rule this week.
Unsurprisingly, Republicans were roundly unhappy with rule. Here are five arguments McCabe came up against.
It’s not fair.
Several lawmakers went with a favorite childhood argument: that the rule isn’t fair. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) managed to work in a reference to the Congressional softball game, likening improved public health regulations to moving the foul lines at a recreational event.
“Had we started the game, and then halfway through the game, the number of strikes changed or in the second inning, the number of outs changed… that would make for a very frustrating, impossible game, don’t you agree?” Shimkus said.
The problem with the argument is that rules for games are, in fact, made up, whereas the EPA is seeking to put new standards in place based on the best science available.
Or, as McCabe said, “Ozone is not about rules. This is about science.”
Republicans have a BS in Bullshitology! Click through for the other four.
Cartoon:
