I’m writing for tomorrow, day 77. After two days of oversleeping, my schedule is discombobulated, and I feel lethargic. Since it is also a dead-slow news day, I cooked a pot of my infamous chili this morning, and I’m going to dedicate the day to sleep and air pollution. 
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:28 (average 5:19). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Good night!
I’m writing for tomorrow, day 76, and this my only article. Last night’s unintended, multi-hour cat nap has my sleep schedule discombobulated, and it’s a very slow day for news, except for 653,087 new analyses of Hobby Lobby. 
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 5:03 (average 6:28). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: 1. Conservatives opposed the Founding Fathers, the American Revolution and a lot of other righteous stuff as well.
By definition a conservative is one who wishes to preserve and/or restore traditional values and institutions, i.e. to “conserve” the established order. No surprise then that 18th century American conservatives wanted no part of breaking away from the British Empire and the comforting bonds of monarchical government. Those anti-revolutionary conservatives were called Tories, the name still used for the conservative party in England. The Founding Fathers? As radically left-wing as they came in the 1770s. The Boston Tea Party? The "Occupy Wall Street" of its day.
Some of the other "traditional" values supported by conservatives over the course of American history have included slavery (remember that the Republican Party was on the liberal fringe in 1860), religious persecution, the subjugation of women and minorities, obstacles to immigration, voter suppression, prohibition and segregation. Conservatives started off on the wrong side of American history, and that’s where they’ve been ever since.
2. The United States is not a Christian nation, and the Bible is not the cornerstone of our law.
Don’t take my word for it. Let these Founding Fathers speak for themselves:
John Adams: “The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” (Treaty of Tripoli, 1797)
Thomas Jefferson: “Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law.” (Letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814)
James Madison: “The civil government … functions with complete success … by the total separation of the Church from the State.” (Writings, 8:432, 1819)
George Washington: “If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded, that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.” (Letter to the United Baptist Chamber of Virginia, May 1789)
You can find a multitude of similar quotes from these men and most others who signed the Declaration of Independence and/or formulated the United States Constitution. These are hardly the words of men who believed that America should be a Christian nation governed by the Bible, as a disturbing fundamentalist trend today would have it be.
These are just two of thirteen facts about America that Republicans want you for forget. Click through for the other eleven, please.
From Crooks and Liars: Another one for your Saturday C-SPAN hit parade. This call was taken on July 4th during a discussion of American exceptionalism. The topic itself invites trolls, and they obliged.
He proved my eleventh commandment: Thou shalt NOT commit TEAbuggery!
From McClatchy DC: Five years after the recession, the job market is finally hitting stride as small businesses add workers and local governments restore battered payrolls.
U.S. employers added a robust 288,000 jobs in June across a broad spectrum of businesses, the Labor Department said Thursday. The growth flew past analysts’ forecasts and marked the fifth consecutive month of payroll gains in excess of 200,000 – a hiring spree not seen since the 1990s tech boom.
The unemployment rate, which has fallen surprisingly fast lately, dropped to 6.1 percent in June from 6.3 percent in May. Both the jobless rate and the number of officially unemployed, totaling 9.5 million last month, are the lowest in nearly six years. As recently as November, the nation’s unemployment figure was 7 percent.
The big problem here is that many of these are low paying service jobs that will not stimulate the economy as much as the family wage jobs that Republicans used your tax dollars to offshore. It is still considerable improvement from the Republican recession, but no where near what it could be, if Republicans were not seditiously sabotaging America to prevent recovery falsely blame Democrats.
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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 75, and it occurred to me that, since most folks in the country get a holiday, I ought to as well, since it’s a slow news day, I’m tired, and preparing my holiday feast took three hours of cooking and prep, so this article is all I have. The rest of the weekend depends on the availability of content. Please be safe.
Late (early) update:
I just woke up. I slept through the fireworks.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:59 (average 6:11). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: Kinda like a really scary jigsaw puzzle … oh, and the Congress Critters in the districts that make up those shaded areas? Yeah, they don’t want folks to see this map. Hint, hint.
That high area in eastern Oregon is the sparsely populated Republican part of the state. Politically and culturally, it’s more like Idaho.
From The New Yorker: A new poll released Wednesday revealed that people rank President Barack Obama as the worst President since the Second World War, and also blame him for starting the Second World War.
While the respondents slammed the President for his handling of the economy, Iraq, and a host of other issues, his perceived role as the primary cause of the Second World War was the biggest drag on his numbers.
Even more troubling, when compared to the three leaders of the Axis powers during that war, President Obama polled at the bottom of the list, finishing far behind Emperor Hirohito of Japan.
LOL Andy. It may be accurate! If so, do I have to tell what TV channel those polled used to get their news? (the real poll was demographically skewed).
From NY Times: In a decision that drew an unusually fierce dissent from the three female justices, the Supreme Court sided Thursday with religiously affiliated nonprofit groups in a clash between religious freedom and women’s rights.
The decision temporarily exempts a Christian college from part of the regulations that provide contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
The court’s order was brief, provisional and unsigned, but it drew a furious reaction from the three female members, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. The order, Justice Sotomayor wrote, was at odds with the 5-to-4 decision on Monday in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, which involved for-profit corporations.
“Those who are bound by our decisions usually believe they can take us at our word,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “Not so today.”
The court’s action, she added, even “undermines confidence in this institution.”
Monday’s decision and the order on Thursday were dual blows to the Obama administration’s efforts to provide contraception coverage, said Walter Dellinger, who was acting United States solicitor general in the Clinton administration.
This order, unsigned demonstrating their cowardice, directly contradicts part of the Hobby Lobby decision that the ruling applied only to closely held, for profit corporations. Wheaton College is neither. I promised you a slippery slope was ahead. The slide has started. For a better understanding, click through and read the entire article.
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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 74, having just returned from running errands this morning. I hope you are all avoiding the hurricane, talking care on the roads, and enjoying the holiday weekend.
Jig Zone Puzzle:’
Today’s took me 3:01 (average 5:07). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: Parenting is not for the weak. Most have heard their parents’ courageous stories, but none of that truly makes sense until you have kids of your own. Here’s a beautiful story about a family that redefines what it means to love with courage. One word for the end: heartbreaking.
I was under the impression that Europe had left the US far back in their wake when it comes to equal rights. I’m sad to learn that is not the case.
From The New Yorker: Telling Congress, “It’s O.K., I don’t mind doing everything myself,” President Obama prepared to sign a passive-aggressive executive order on Tuesday.
While the President did not disclose details about the executive order, he told reporters, “I’m sure Congress is busy with a lot of other things and doesn’t want to be bothered with stuff that’s important to me. Really, they shouldn’t give it a moment’s thought. I’m happy to do the work of the entire government myself.”
After news of the President’s passive-aggressive executive order reached Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner prepared a narcissistic reply.
“Instead of signing more executive orders, President Obama needs to recognize that everything that happens in this government must begin and end with me,” he said.
Andy is edging close to the dividing line between satire and reporting news.
From Daily Kos: The chairman of the MFCR (Mississippi Federation of College Republicans), Evan Alvarez, has opted not only to leave his position as College GOP Chairman this week, but he is joining the Republican party’s arch enemy – the Democrats. In a publicly released letter, Alvarez outlines the reasons behind his decision:
I over the last 48 hours or so, I have been in deep thought about the future of MFCR and of the Republican Party. I have come to the conclusion that I no longer want to be the leader of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans. I refuse to simply let people break the rules and think they don’t have to answer for their actions, admit they were wrong, or even apologize. When I ran for Chairman in the spring, I ran to be Chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College REPUBLICANS, not the Mississippi Federation of College "Tea Partiers". Also, I believe that the Republican Party has allowed these groups of extremist to have too much of a voice and because of that, the platform of the Republican Party has shifted too far to the right in my opinion. For example, the drastic cuts on needed federal funding that these groups of Republican extremists support would leave society weak and crippled. [emphasis original]
Click through for the rest of what this hero had to say. Kudos and welcome to the world of the sane, Mr. Alvarez. I trust you will be much less conflicted here.
Cartoon:
I’m writing for tomorrow, day 73, and it’s late in the day, because the last two days tired me out. I’m pleased to report that, in spite of yesterday’s 97° high here, I had to turn the A/C down a bit, as I was getting chilly. 
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:08). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker:
By a 5–4 vote on Monday, the United States Supreme Court settled a dispute that Justice Samuel Alito said was “at its core about the rights of women versus the rights of people.”
Writing for the majority, Justice Alito wrote, “It is the duty of this Court, whenever it sees that the rights of people are being threatened, to do our best to safeguard those rights. In this case, it is clear that people’s rights were being threatened by women.”
Acknowledging that some women “might argue that they, too, have some claim to being people,” Justice Alito wrote, “That is an interesting question for another day.”
Brilliance in truth, Andy!
From Upworthy: It’s not exactly something you can learn in under five minutes, but this video will definitely give you a taste of what’s going on in Iraq right now.
This gives some excellent background information on what the Republican Party created in Bush Reich’s failed war for oil and conquest. The video should be more direct in giving them the credit they deserve.
From NY Times: …Failure to act in a few crucial cases could imperil the fragile economic recovery. If Congress cannot reach agreement on spending bills or stopgap funding by Oct. 1, another government shutdown could result. And if Congress and the White House do not quickly find money for the depleted Highway Trust Fund, states could be forced to suspend job-providing road and bridge projects at the height of the construction season in August.
The author goes on to say he thinks they will work it out. Given the current Republican fear of TEAbuggery in the wake of Cantor’s demise, I wouldn’t be too sure. When they wield absurd demands in return for keeping the government running, which they surely will, Obama and the Democrats must accept the damage they are willing to do to America, rather than cave-in.
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Day 72. I’m writing for tomorrow and waiting for Safeway to deliver groceries sometime within the next four hours. I spent the morning collecting the data for June’s Monthly Report. Today my A/C gets it’s first major test, as the forecast is for 98° heat.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:07 (average 5:27). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: If you’re the type, like me, to get super excited about anyone boldly going where no one has gone before, get excited about this. Water astronauts! (OK, OK — aquanauts.) There’s so much earth to explore!
They have built an underwater habitat, they are live-streaming the whole thing, and they’re even getting dreamy actors to visit.
Given the way Republicans are blocking initiatives to combat climate change, living underwater may become a highly valuable skill.
From The New Yorker: Millions of Americans awoke on Monday to the shocking news that a gigantic corporation [Facebook] with unprecedented power over their lives had allegedly abused that power for commercial gain.
Across the United States, stunned consumers were shaking their heads in disbelief after learning that a gargantuan company whose explicit goal is to make as many billions of dollars as possible through any means available would put its own interests ahead of those of its customers.
“It never would have occurred to me that an enormous corporation with the ability to track over half a billion customers would ever exploit that advantage in any way,” said Harland Dorrinson, twenty-nine, a caterer from Albuquerque. “Like a lot of other people, I feel used.”
Andy, I really am surprised, and the Pope really is Hindu, and bears really never, ever shit in the woods.
From Daily Kos: You’d think it would be persuasive to some …
Can you imagine the Republican reaction, if women demanded an "open carry" law for their toys? It would certainly be less dangerous that the ones for guns.
Cartoon:
Day 71. I’m writing for tomorrow and have been working like a 
, since I woke up, because there is so much going on. I’ll be posting more articles that normal. Tomorrow, I have a grocery delivery from Safeway, because Store to Door is closed for the 4th.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:59 (average 5:34). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: Just weeks before Blackwater guards fatally shot 17 civilians at Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007, the State Department began investigating the security contractor’s operations in Iraq. But the inquiry was abandoned after Blackwater’s top manager there issued a threat: “that he could kill” the government’s chief investigator and “no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq,” according to department reports.
American Embassy officials in Baghdad sided with Blackwater rather than the State Department investigators as a dispute over the probe escalated in August 2007, the previously undisclosed documents show. The officials told the investigators that they had disrupted the embassy’s relationship with the security contractor and ordered them to leave the country, according to the reports.
Now known as Academi (formerly Xe), Blackwater, aka the GOP SS, remain the heavily armed thugs that Republican leaders keep ready to unleash upon the American people, as they did during Katrina, should Republicans ever regain the White House.
From Daily Kos: Last night, Bill Maher had a New Rule about the current conflict in Iraq, boiling it down to revenge.
I planned to show the video, but it has already disappeared, so I removed it before posting this. Click through for the transcript.
From The New Yorker: A ten-year European plan to gradually phase out American football in the United States and replace it with soccer is “very much on track,” a spokesman for the European Union confirmed today.
The E.U. spokesman, Alf-Jergen Holmboe, said the replacement of American football with soccer was the third in a three-step plan to transform the U.S. into a European country.
“The first two steps were electing a socialist President and instituting national health care,” he said. “Once soccer replaces football, our work will be done.”
Dang Andy! This will show up on Breitfart, World Nut Daily, and the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, as real news.
Cartoon:
Day 69, an especially problematic number. I’m writing for tomorrow and am feeling tired, but well enough to blog. The Republicosis is under control, and now I need to catch up on sleep missed because of it.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:32 (average 4:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: In their fervor to ensure that the least amongst their citizens keep getting kicked in the teeth, the Republicans of Virginia have stooped to breaking and entering an executive office in order to block Medicaid expansion.
There is a time limit between delivery of documents and the Governor’s need to authorize them. So the Republican House Speaker William J. Howell authorized security to illegally enter the Governor’s office during a holiday break to ensure the clock started ticking before the Governor even knew the bill was delivered.
Is there anything the Republicans won’t do to harm the 47%?
No, there isn’t.
From The New Yorker: After announcing, on Thursday, that it would seek $500 million to help “train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the moderate Syrian armed opposition,” the White House today posted the following Moderate Syrian Rebel Application Form:
Welcome to the United States’ Moderate Syrian Rebel Vetting Process. To see if you qualify for $500 million in American weapons, please choose an answer to the following questions:
As a Syrian rebel, I think the word or phrase that best describes me is:
A) Moderate
B) Very moderate
C) Crazy moderate
D) Other
I became a Syrian rebel because I believe in:
A) Truth
B) Justice
C) The American Way
D) Creating an Islamic caliphate
If I were given a highly lethal automatic weapon by the United States, I would:
A) Only kill exactly the people that the United States wanted me to kill
B) Try to kill the right people, with the caveat that I have never used an automatic weapon before
C) Kill people only after submitting them to a rigorous vetting process
D) Immediately let the weapon fall into the wrong hands
LOL Andy! Click through. There are three more questions. Moderate Syrian rebels are like moderate Republicans in Congress. There’s a rumor that one exists.
From Crooks and Liars: Sources have confirmed that attorney Mark Mayfield has died of an apparent suicide.
Mayfield, vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party, and is one of the three men charged with conspiring with Clayton Kelly to photograph U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran’s bedridden wife in her nursing home and create a political video against Cochran.
Mark Mayfield of Ridgeland, an attorney and state and local tea party leader, was arrested last month along with Richard Sager, a Laurel elementary school P.E. teacher and high school soccer coach. Police said they also charged John Beachman Mary of Hattiesburg, but he was not taken into custody because of "extensive medical conditions." All face felony conspiracy charges.
It seldom happens but fore once a Republican murdered a guilty person with his gun, instead of an innocent one.
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