Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 68.  I’m hurrying to finish before it’s time to meditate on the Holy Ellipsoid Orb.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:06 (average 5:20).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Ultimate Religious Agony:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: George Zimmerman, 31, made his first court appearance on Saturday morning after being arrested by Lake Mary police on Friday evening.

According to Zimmerman’s attorney, the arrest was due to allegedly throwing a wine bottle at a girlfriend "several days ago."

Zimmerman was arrested in 2013 for alleged domestic violence against a girlfriend, although a Lake Mary police spokeswoman said "this alleged "victim is not the same (woman) as in 2013.

I wonder if this Republican hero used one of the guns Republican Ammosexuals gave him to replace the gun he used to murder Trayvon.

From NY Times: For all the clichés about pistol-packing Texas, the state is one of the few that has not yet succumbed to the gun lobby’s big push to let citizens carry handguns at the hip wherever they go. That may be about to change as the State Legislature convenes next week with open carry a top priority of the Republican majority and with Governor-elect Greg Abbott pledging to sign it into law. The result could produce a far from reassuring civic tableau if even a modest number of the 800,000 Texans who have concealed-carry licenses choose to strap their weapons on in public.

Who would have ever thought I’d have an opportunity to say that Texas is about to get more insane?!!?

From Washington Post: Mitt Romney sent a very clear message to a group of major donors in New York City on Friday: I’m thinking about running for president in 2016.  Then, as he knew they would, those donors spread that message to every media outlet in the country.

It’s a stunning reversal from public — and private — assertions from Romney and his allies that, after two runs for president in 2008 and 2012, he was absolutely, 100 percent done with running.

He etched his sketch and poof!! His is a face we know well.

In fact, both are.

Cartoon:

I bet they’re about to try it again.

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 66.  My trip to the podiatrist went well, and although my foot is sore, I’m in far less pain from it than I was yesterday.  However the trip took most of the day and tired me out, so the best I can do is a puzzle and a reposted cartoon from the same date in 2013.  Tomorrow and Sunday are High Holy Days in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, so a lot of my weekend will be spent in religious meditation.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:49 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 64.  I’m also waiting for Store to Door to deliver groceries.  I missed sleep because of street noise, and cannot catch it up until my groceries are here and stashed, so I’m feeling quite tired.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:29 (average 5:09).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Reuters: Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly satirical magazine known for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in decades.

One of the men was captured on video outside the building waving his arms and shouting "Allah!". After dozens of shots rang out, two assailants were seen calmly leaving the scene. One police officer was seen being shot as he lay wounded.

What a horrid crime! My heart goes out to the surviving victims and to all the victims’ families and loved ones. Remember that these violent reactionary right-wingers are not authentic representatives of Islam. Also, contrary to the Republican Reich rumors that have already begun, this attack has nothing to do with Barack Obama.

From Upworthy: Honestly, I think what the Waltons do to people who work for them is criminal. But let’s hear more about that from economist Robert Reich.

Than goodness Robert Reich is the Reich on the left. The Walton family supports and is represented by the Reich on the right, the Republican Reich.

From The New Yorker: In a troubling sign for the 114th Congress, a new poll released on Tuesday indicates that the day-old legislative body is the most hated in the nation’s history.

According to the poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, only eight per cent of those surveyed approved of the job Congress is doing, a scathing indictment of the legislators’ first day on the job.

The 114th Congress started the day on a slightly more positive note, garnering a ten-per-cent approval rating, but after the House of Representatives reëlected John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to a new term as Speaker, the number sank to eight.

On the Senate side, Joni Ernst (R.-Iowa), newly elected to the most despised Congress in American history, said that the low approval number was no cause for concern.

LOL Andy!! Give them time. They’ll get it much lower than that.

Cartoon:

Being the Nevada Leg Hound can be dangerous!

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 62.  I’m quite busy year-change record keeping for both myself and my volunteer organization.  The Dulcolax finally worked, so I feel 20 lbs. lighter are far more like a Democrat.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:15 (average 4:55).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Sixty-four unskilled workers will report to new jobs in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday as part of a federal jobs program that provides employment for people unable to find productive work elsewhere.

The new hires, who have no talents or abilities that would make them employable in most workplaces, will be earning a first-year salary of $174,000.

For that sum, the new employees will be expected to work a hundred and thirty-seven days a year, leaving them with two hundred and twenty-eight days of vacation.

Some critics have blasted the federal jobs program as too expensive, noting that the workers were chosen last November in a bloated and wasteful selection process that cost the nation nearly four billion dollars.

But Davis Logsdon, a University of Minnesota economics professor who specializes in labor issues, said that the program is necessary to provide work “for people who honestly cannot find employment anywhere else.”

Andy has never been more accurate!!

From Yahoo News: Police officers turned their backs on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday during the funeral for Wenjian Liu, one of two NYPD officers killed in a Dec. 20 ambush, exposing the ongoing rift between the department and City Hall.

The officers were seen turning away from an outdoor screen showing de Blasio’s eulogy at the service in Brooklyn, defying a request by New York Police Commissioner William Bratton not to protest at the funeral.

“A hero’s funeral is about grieving, not grievance,” Bratton wrote in a memo to officers on Friday, less than a week after officers turned their backs on de Blasio at the funeral of Rafael Ramos, the other NYPD slain officer. “I remind you that when you don the uniform of this department, you are bound by the tradition, honor, and decency that go with it.”

The memory of Wenjian Liu is certainly worthy of honor and respect. Officers who dishonor that memory, while in uniform, by mimicking Westboro Baptist Republicans have forgotten their calling to serve and protect. They should be fired.

From Reuters: U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert, a conservative Tea Party Republican from Texas, said on Sunday he would challenge John Boehner for speaker of the House of Representatives.

Gohmert’s announcement came a day after fellow Republican Representative Ted Yoho of Florida said he might be willing to put his name up against Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is widely expected to retain the top job in the chamber when the full House votes on Tuesday.

"Ted is a good man for whom I could vote, but I have heard from many supporters and also friends in Congress who have urged me to put forward my name for Speaker as well to increase our chances of change," Gohmert said in a statement. "That is why I am also offering my name as a candidate for Speaker."

While I doubt that Go Go Goosestep has even the slightest chance to become Speaker, his actions will sow dissention in the ranks of the Republican Reich and embarrass Agent Orange.

Cartoon: