Politics Plus

Yesterday I was able to get in a good nap after my appointment, so I’m able to blog now.  I’m current with replies.  Today I have a two week pile of mail to sort.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:00 (average 5:06).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From San Francisco Chronicle: Ten senators — seven Democrats and three Republicans –say they won’t face voters again in November, the largest number of elected senators eschewing re-election since 13 decided to forgo new terms in 1996.

It could not please me more that one of them is Benedict Nelson (DINO-NE).

From Raw Story: Republican presidential Rick Santorum is advising President Barack Obama not to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans because “higher-income people don’t have to pay taxes if they don’t want to.” [emphasis added]

Santorum actually stated the Republican position precisely.

From Political Wire: Final Super Tuesday Polls

Ohio

Quinnipiac: Romney 34%, Santorum 31%, Gingrich 15%, Paul at 12%.

American Research Group: Romney 35%, Santorum 28%, Gingrich 18%, Paul 13%.

Rasmussen: Santorum 32%, Romney 31%, Gingrich 13%, Paul 13%.

Merriman: Romney 38%, Santorum 33%, Gingrich 18%, Paul 8%.

Suffolk: Santorum 37%, Romney 33%, Gingrich 16%, Paul 8%.

CNN/Opinion Research: Romney 32%, Santorum 32%, Gingrich 14%, Paul 11%

 

Georgia

 

Mason-Dixon: Gingrich 38%, Romney 24%, Santorum 22%, Paul 3%.

American Research Group: Gingrich 44%, Romney 24%, Santorum 19%, Paul 9%.

 

Tennessee

 

We Ask America: Romney 30%, Santorum 29%, Gingrich 29%, Paul 12%

It looks good for Rmoney, especially due to the terrible Republican screw-up in VA.

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Yesterday I rested, as I’m still well short of full speed.  I’m current with replies.  Today I take on the paperwork I ducked yesterday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:37 (average 4:22).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Bernie Sanders On The Senate Floor Today [Thursday]: ‘What If There Were 83 Women Senators?’

Republicans tried to screw all of us, not just women.

From Bloomberg: President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board can’t be challenged as part of a lawsuit over requirements for businesses to inform employees of their rights, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington yesterday said the National Federation of Independent Business and other trade groups “attempted to shoehorn a challenge” to the recess appointments into a case over a rule mandating that companies notify workers of their rights to form a union.

“The court declines this invitation to take up a political dispute that is not before it,” Jackson said in her six-page ruling. She didn’t rule on whether the appointments were legal.

While this battle has just begun, at least these corporate criminals did not get away with a challenge on the cheap that was hidden within an unrelated issue.

From TribLIVE: Former [state] House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, will be sentenced on March 21 on felony charges for directing a Republican Caucus effort to use public resources for campaigns.

Perzel pleaded guilty in August to overseeing the theft of $10 million in taxpayers’ money used to buy sophisticated computer equipment and technology to gain an edge in Republican campaigns.

This his how Republicans try to maintain power through crime, at taxpayer expense, wherever fools put them in control.

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Yesterday I still felt well short of 100%, but I just wasn’t willing to get further behind.  If I had to be sick, I picked a good week, because the prison cancelled both volunteer days this week, due to venue scheduling conflicts.  I’m current with replies, but took big shortcuts to get there.  Today I’ll try to catch up with my email.

Jig Zone Puzzles (5):

Monday’s took me 3:42 (4:52 average).  To do it, click here.  Tuesday’s took me 4:40 (5:50 average).  To do it, click here.  Wednesday’s took me 5:15 (6:25 average).  To do it, click here.  Yesterday’s took me 3:50 (4:35 average).  To do it, click here.  Today it took me 3:50 (average 4:32).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From CNN: Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger whose posting of a sexually explicit photo of former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner led to the congressman’s downfall, has died, his attorney confirmed Thursday.

He was 43.

Early in life I learned to never speak ill if the dead, but for every rule there is an exception.  While I would not wish death on anyone, I would be a liar not to say that the world has become just a little less vile.  Nevertheless, condolences to any who might have loved him.

From Washington Post: Montana’s chief federal judge said Wednesday that he forwarded an email that contained a joke involving bestiality and President Barack Obama’s mother, but he did so because he dislikes the president and not because he’s racist.

Judge Richard Cebull, of Billings, forwarded the email from his chambers to six other people on Feb. 20, The Great Falls Tribune reported.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Of course he’s not a racist, the Pope is not Catholic, and bears never, ever shit in the woods.

From NY Daily News: Conservative radio host [Rush Limbarf] declared Georgetown Law School’s Sandra Fluke "a slut" for arguing that birth control should be covered by health insurance at religious institutions.

Republicans attack the messenger whenever the message overwhelms them, and do so with unmitigated hatred.

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Yesterday I had a bad air day, with my COPD making it difficult to breathe, and my still-ailing rear end making it impossible to sleep with the severe coughing.  Therefore, this is today’s only article, posted early and set to release just after midnight, so I can return to bed.  I am not current with replies and will catch up when I can.  Tomorrow is a paperwork day, but we’ll see what the day brings.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

It’s not out yet.  I’ll post two tomorrow.

Short Takes:

From USA Today: President Obama is hosting a White House dinner tonight for the nation’s governors, but one prominent state executive won’t be there.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

Brewer, whose finger-pointing confrontation with Obama last month has become a symbol for political polarization, told NBC’s Meet The Press that she has prior engagements.

Bull!  Such discourteous behavior is not at all surprising from the Death Angel of Brewerstan, formerly Arizona.

From Common Dreams: The US Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday over the reach of the Alien Tort Statute and a 20-year-old law that allows victims of torture to pursue civil lawsuits against the responsible individuals.

Corporations and human rights groups are squaring off over whether foreign victims of war crimes, killings and other atrocities can sue multinational companies in American courts.

The just outcome is a no brainer here.  However I have no confidence in SCOTUS to arrive at it.

From TPM: Rick Santorum’s contention here Saturday that President Obama’s plan to make college more accesible is really a scheme to brainwash people into becoming liberals may have struck some outside observers as a little odd.

But for the tea party crowd gathered here as part of an Americans For Prosperity rally, Santorum’s words about higher education were right on point.

“President Obama wants everybody in America to go to college,” Santorum said. “What a snob!”

Educating people teaches them to think critically for themselves, making them less vulnerable to brainwashing.  To brainwash them, keep people ignorant, the way Santorum and the Republican Party prefer.  Santorum’s contention is pure projection.

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