Personal Update–8/5/2012

 Posted by at 7:29 am  Personal
Aug 052012
 

I’m sorry, but I need to stay down today.  We’re having the hottest weather that we have had in three years here.  The low temperature inside my apartment this morning was 94°.  I have hardly slept.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but it looks doubtful.

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Aug 042012
 

By the time I returned home from my physical therapy yesterday, the sun had already superheated the breezeway outside my windows.  Today when I rose at 4:00 AM, my apt had cooled only to 90° and hasn’t moved in 2 1/2 hours, even though the outside temperature is 54°.  I did my laundry while finishing my research, so I’m pooped and wilted.  Today will be about 10° hotter.  I’m current with replies.  Blogging tomorrow depends on how I hold up in the heat.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:39 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Here’s Why Homophobic Chicken Chains Should Never Mess With Miss Piggy

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Kudos to the Jim Henson Company, but isn’t Miss Piggy hogging all the credit? 😉

From LA Times: It wasn’t exactly “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country,” but porn star Jenna Jameson has put her spin on the presidential race: "I’m very looking forward to a Republican being back in office. When you’re rich, you want a Republican in office."

What can I say? Her endorsement can’t be any more embarrassing those of Donald Trump and GW Bush.

From Barack Obama: Enter your Annual Income to see the clear choice between President Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s tax plans.

Click the link and fill out the form.  Here are my results.  Tax Increase Under Romney 2013: $183

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It could happen here.

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Aug 032012
 

I’m posting two articles today, but will have no time to distribute links, because I have a physical therapy appointment for my shoulder.  I have not replied to comments here, but will, if time permits.  Tomorrow appears routine, but we’re getting another heat wave.  For the next four days my apartment will be well over 100°.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:08 (average 5:12).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Two Lesbians Went To Talk To Mitt Romney When He Was Governor And This Is What He Said

 

Willard's response to these women show him for what he is: a bigot without empathy or compassion.

From ABC: Gay rights activists and other supporters of marriage equality planned a national "Kiss In" at Chick-fil-A restaurants Friday to protest the fast-food chain owners' opposition to same-sex unions.

Participants are encouraged to come to the fast-food chains and kiss a fellow demonstrator of the same sex. One organizer, Carly McGehee of Dallas, said she hopes the event helps gay youths "who feel isolated and are victims of bullying."

Drill Baby Dingbat must be furious!

From Washington Post: An independent group supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says it’s launching a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in several general election battleground states.

People familiar with the plans say Americans for Prosperity plans to spend about $25 million on the ads beginning next week and running into early September. The ads will run in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Americans for Prosperity was founded by David and Charles Koch (kohk), billionaire brothers who have contributed generously to Republican causes and candidates over the years.

We don't have the money to compete with Koch suckers financially, so we need to win one person at a time.

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Aug 022012
 

I just watched Willard’s horse perform for the first time, and if the horse’s ass (Willard) were half as adept as the horse, we’d be in trouble.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I’ll do abbreviated blogging at best, because I have a physical therapy appointment for my shoulder.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:14 (average 5:19).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Look At These Three Photos And You’ll Never See Amtrak The Same Way

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Under a Republican Regime we would have new wars to help transfer wealth upward, as we careen into the 19th century.

From NY Times: Members of Congress used to be embarrassed when they could not perform their basic job of passing spending bills and instead had to finance the government with a series of short-term resolutions. But such patchwork has now become commonplace, and it is a sign of Washington’s profound dysfunction that the short-term agreement reached on Tuesday came as a relief to both sides.

House and Senate leaders settled on a deal to keep the government running through March, preventing it from shutting down when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. With Congress polarized and paralyzed by the coming election, no regular appropriations bills have been enacted, and none will be before the deadline.

I suggested that Democrats should hold out for a deal that lasted into the New Congress next year.  They did, and Republicans caved in, getting no concessions, unlike last year.  Facing down bullies works.

From You Tube (Hat-Tip Sheryl aka Dandelion): Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt

 

Capitalism was not designed to handle giant corporations. For America to succeed, capitalism must be heavily regulated and held responsible for ALL damages done.

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Aug 012012
 

I went to the urologist yesterday.  The kidney stone is 6mm, bigger than I thought.  The rough part is that the office is almost half a mile from the bus stop and over a hill to boot.  Fortunately, for the future, he has a partner, who is further away but accessible.  When I got home, I was so pooped that I forgot to pull the Top Commentators data for tomorrow’s Monthly Report.  Mea culpa.  I’m running late today, because I have been collecting all the data needed to write tomorrow’s monthly report.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine, albeit too hot.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 4:32).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Who Takes $30,275,229 A Day, Burns It, And Then Works To Deny You Health Coverage?

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I guess Agent Orange thinks that jobs are related to regulating women’s plumbing.

From NY Times: President Obama is struggling to persuade voters that he deserves to win re-election based on his handling of the economy, but his empathy and personal appeal give him an edge over Mitt Romney in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, according to Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News polls.

That’s good news, but it’s still a bit early, and polls will be more meaningful after the conventions.

From Washington Post: An Iowa campaign aide for former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann sued the Minnesota congresswoman and her senior campaign aides on Monday, alleging an official stole a private email list and that she was blamed for its use.

The lawsuit filed by Barb Heki claims that Bachmann’s Iowa campaign chairman, state Sen. Kent Sorenson, took the list from Heki’s private computer to promote Bachmann’s candidacy among Christian home-school advocates before the Iowa caucuses. Heki was hired to coordinate home-school supporters for Bachmann’s Iowa campaign.

Since Republican operatives are criminally unethical in dealing with each other, only a fool would believe they will not be even worse to voters.

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And Republicans still pretend they don’t exist.

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Jul 302012
 

I’m still a bit woozy from medications and am still in some pain, but nothing major.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with a Urologist, so what I can get done blogging remains uncertain.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:02).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Ann Romney: ‘We’ve Given All You People Need To Know’

 

When I posted a cartoon about this, Republicans claimed that she really did not say YOU PEOPLE, the 1% term referring to inferiors.  Any questions now?

From NY Times: Wrapping up a two-year investigation of for-profit colleges, Senator Tom Harkin will issue a final report on Monday — a voluminous, hard-hitting indictment of almost every aspect of the industry, filled with troubling statistics and anecdotes drawn from internal documents of the 30 companies investigated.

According to the report, which was posted online in advance, taxpayers spent $32 billion in the most recent year on companies that operate for-profit colleges, but the majority of students they enroll leave without a degree, half of those within four months.

We’re not talking about legitimate universities here.  These are the ones you see on late night TV with spiels like ‘Become a Brain Surgeon or Rocket Scientist, even if you’re so stupid you watch Faux Noise.’  I suppose you can guess which party opposes regulating their predation.

From Business Week: President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul will shrink rather than increase the nation’s huge federal deficits over the next decade, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeepers said Tuesday, supporting Obama’s contention in a major election-year dispute with Republicans.

About 3 million fewer uninsured people will gain health coverage because of last month’s Supreme Court ruling granting states more leeway, and that will cut the federal costs by $84 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said in the biggest changes from earlier estimates.

Republicans have insisted that "Obamacare" will actually raise deficits — by "trillions," according to presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But that’s not so, the budget office said.

Republicans have been lying about Obamacare from the start, and I still say it’s a good step in the right direction toward a single payer system.

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Jul 292012
 

Yesterday I caught up on replies to comments, which took quite a while.  I also went out to the drug store for meds.  Tamsulosin has me feeling a bit woozy.  I watched the Olympics and rested.  Tomorrow, I expect to blog, depending on how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:48 (average 5:16).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Fire People We’ve Heard Of In A Long . . . Wait. No. Ever.

 

That is not the behavior of someone who has the slightest shred of human decency.

From NY Times: Mitt Romney’s high-dollar breakfast with donors at the King David Hotel here [Jerusalem] on Monday morning will be closed to the news media, his campaign decided Saturday, a change from the norm for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

He must be confident that the Republicans on the FEC will block any action against this criminal activity, because foreigners may not contribute to any candidate or party in any Federal, state, or local election in the United States.  Well, no wonder he doesn’t want press there.

From Crooks and Liars: "ALEC Rock" turns Schoolhouse Rock on its head in this instructional film illustrating how Washington really works.

 

Needless to say, ALEC is in complete partnership with the Republican Party.

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Jul 282012
 

Yesterday, I fell asleep right after posting my personal update and almost slept around the clock.  I did wake up just in time fore the opening ceremony, but I did not watch in protest of the USOC decision to provide US athletes expensive uniforms, sewn in Chinese sweat shops, when they could have purchased US made uniforms for far less.  I ate a light meal and went back to sleep.  I woke up a few minutes ago, hours after my normal rising time.  I am still in some pain, but nothing like before.  I have to go out to get meds, and this will be today’s only article.  I’m current with replies only to comments on yesterday’s personal update.  If I feel better, I’ll try to do more.  Tomorrow will depend on how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzles:

Yesterday’s took me 3:13 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  Today’s took me 4:37 (average 5:29).  To do it, click here.  Hoe did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: See, Here’s The Truly Frightening Thing About What They Are Doing To Pennsylvania Voters.

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I don’t have to tell you who ‘THEY’ are!

From Washington Post: Stubbornly close and deeply divisive, the presidential race throttles into its last 100 days as an enormous clash over economic vision, with the outcome likely to come down to fall debates, final unemployment numbers and fierce efforts to mobilize voters. It may seem like an election for the whole nation, but only about eight states will decide who wins the White House.

Polling shows the contest between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney remains remarkably static across the country and in those pivotal states even as both men and their allies pour money into largely negative television advertising to sway opinions.

The two candidates will intensify their time before voters in the weeks ahead, knowing much of the public will not truly start paying attention until after Labor Day.

Because so many voters are paying absolutely no attention to anything less superficial that the purchase of STUFF, Willard uses lies to pick off these voters and those intellectually euthanized by Faux Noise. They are just too willfully ignorant to know any better.  Shame!  What we informed voters do in the next 100 days is, in my opinion, critical to the survival of the this nation as a place where elections matter.

From Christian Science Monitor: A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction that allows the Catholic owners of a private company in Colorado to avoid providing their female employees with contraceptives as required under President Obama’s health-care reform law.

The owners of the company, Hercules Industries, objected to the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying it violated their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Company officials say they are striving to build their business around a corporate culture based on principles of the Roman Catholic Church. As such, their existing self-insured health plan does not include coverage for contraception or sterilization.

That crappy excuse for a judge arrived at a decision possible only by choosing to ignore the Constitution in favor of Theocon dogma.

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