Yesterday was a mess. While I was prepping to host a CoDA meeting, my computer crashed. I tried to recover it without success until I left. When I returned I formatted the hard drive and restored it from my external hard drive. Everything works and I lost nothing of importance. I’ve been up for 28 hours, and have had almost no time for research, so today’s offerings are sparse. I’m not up to date on comments. If I feel up to it when I wake up, I’ll catch up then. If not, I’ll catch up Sunday.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 3:42 (average 4:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Take:
From Reuters: The emergency manager appointed to put Detroit’s troubled public school system on a firmer financial footing said on Thursday he was sending layoff notices to all of the district’s 5,466 unionized employees.
In a statement posted on the website of Detroit Public Schools, Robert Bobb, the district’s temporary head, said notices were being sent to every member of the Detroit Federation of Teachers "in anticipation of a workforce reduction to match the district’s declining student enrollment."
WTF? Bitch Danlels is dismantling Detroit!
Cartoon:
Saturday is kiss a Teabagger day. (That was not intended to be a factual statement.)
Yesterday I had lots of prep work to do for my volunteer work. I’m up to date with comments. Today, I need to rest in advance, because I host a CoDA group tonight, and will be out until the time I normally begin my research. Therefore tomorrow’s articles may be late, abbreviated, or both.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 2:53 (4:08 average). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:en
From Boston Globe: Congress voted yesterday to keep the government financed through September, putting an end to a raucous first skirmish in this year’s showdown between Democrats and Republicans over federal spending while presaging bigger ones to come.
Scores of House Republicans deserted their leadership to vote against the bill, which cut $38 billion in spending, saying it did not go far enough. As a result, Speaker John A. Boehner was forced to rely on large numbers of Democrats to pass the measure, which subsequently sailed through the Senate, 81 to 19.
My Rep., David Wu, and one Senator, Ron Wyden, voted against it. Sadly, my other Senator, Jeff Merkley, voted for it.
From FOK News Channel: The First Guess: Lying About the Civil War
How I love that man!
From Alternet: US President Barack Obama accused Republicans of wanting to turn the United States into a “Third World” country as he rallied support for his reelection campaign.
Good! With rhetoric, albeit truthful, like this, he can’t cave-in without getting “you too” thrown in his face.
Cartoon:
TGIF! (That was intended to be a factual statement.)
It will not be Good Friday until there are no Republicans in office.
Yesterday I did volunteer work with a therapy group of former prisoners. Even though that cuts my morning sleep time short, it’s much too fulfilling not to do, but I’m pretty useless when I get home. I’m up to date with comments. Today, I have work to do on my volunteer groups’ website and prep work for tomorrow night’s volunteer work.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 3:20 (average 4:34). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From LA Times: Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who was suspended from a paid gig with Fox News Channel in March, returned to the network Wednesday night to announce that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for president.
This is the creep that earned the title “Man on Dog”, because hen equated same sex marriages with bestiality.
From Reuters: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is often mentioned as a presidential contender, but fewer than one in four voters in his home state would back him as a candidate, a poll released on Thursday said.
I feel sorry for the state where I grew up, but they elected him. Let the buyers’ remorse grow across the country.
From US News: Donald Trump … frontrunner? That was the news out of yesterday’s CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey. Fully 19 percent of Republicans identified The Donald as their number one choice as party standard-bearer in the quest to evict Barack Obama from the White House. An equal number supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, while former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (12 percent), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (11 percent), and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (11 percent), rounded out the Republican top five.
LOL! The Donald is using them for press. Upchuck Huck has more skeletons than Halloween. Newter is infamous for losing the House. Few pay attention to Blood-libel Barbie anymore. Then comes the so-called front runner.
Cartoon:
90% of Republicans have VD. (That was not intended to be a factual statement.)
We all knew it was only a matter of time before Mitt tossed his hat into the ring, making him the second serious candidate in a field of fools. He may be the best the Republicans have to offer, but his record is so bad and his judgment so poor that nobody in their right mind should want to vote for him.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney formed a presidential exploratory committee Monday that will allow him to raise money for a near-certain run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
"It is time that we put America back on a course of greatness with a growing economy, good jobs and fiscal discipline in Washington," Romney said in an online video announcing his intentions.
In the video, Romney focuses almost exclusively on the economy, touting his experience in creating jobs and balancing budgets in the private sector. He makes no mention of health care or his decision as governor to sign a law that has been unfavorably compared by some Republicans to the plan put in place by President Obama last year.
The video was shot at the University of New Hampshire, emphasizing Romney’s plan to put the Granite State at the center of his blueprint to win the GOP nomination.
Romney is the second major Republican candidate to form an exploratory committee. Last month, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty did the same. An announcement from Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour about his intentions is expected to come later this month.
Romney’s move was entirely expected. He has been preparing to run for president from almost the moment he came up short against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008 and enters the race as its front-runner… [emphasis added]
Romney running on economics is absurd. His track record is trashing th4e economy in MA. But health care is not starter for him with the rabid Republican base, and he’s flipped enough on social issues to make one dizzy. Lawrence O’Donnell and columnist Dana Milbank discuss his chances.
One good thing for him is that Blood-libel Barbie opposes him.
Despite, his other shortcomings, an incident in his past demonstrates that he lacks the judgment and compassion needed to be President.
The reporter intended the anecdote that opened part four of the Boston Globe’s profile of Mitt Romney to illustrate, as the story said, "emotion-free crisis management": Father deals with minor — but gross — incident during a 1983 family vacation, and saves the day. But the details of the event are more than unseemly — they may, in fact, be illegal.
The incident: dog excrement found on the roof and windows of the Romney station wagon. How it got there: Romney strapped a dog carrier — with the family dog Seamus, an Irish Setter, in it — to the roof of the family station wagon for a twelve hour drive from Boston to Ontario, which the family apparently completed, despite Seamus’s rather visceral protest… [emphasis added]
Given the condition of the windows, the family had to know their pet was suffering and opted to continue on. Now I’m not saying we should condemn the man for something that happened years ago. I’m all for forgiveness and giving folks another chance. But we shouldn’t give a bank robber a job as a teller, and you don’t put this man in a job that requires good judgment tempered by compassion. If I were Seamus, I wouldn’t vote for him.
Yesterday I did my taxes. It took hours, digging out papers, hunting through spreadsheets, and entering the data. In the end, my forecasts at the beginning of the year were pretty accurate, because I owe only $8.00. I’m up to date with comments, and today I have volunteer work to get done.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:41 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From BBC: The Japanese authorities have raised the measure of severity of their nuclear crisis to the highest level.
They have reassessed the damage at the Fukushima nuclear plant following last month’s massive earthquake and tsunami.
The incident has now been rated level seven, only used previously for the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
We need to completely rethink the safety of all means of providing energy.
From Go Upstate: State Sen. Vincent Sheheen ratcheted up Democratic criticism of Gov. Nikki Haley on Monday, telling a group of Spartanburg Democrats that the then-state Representative lied on her application for a job at Lexington Medical Center.
Sheheen, a Camden Democrat who narrowly lost to Haley last fall in the gubernatorial election, became the first prominent South Carolina elected official to directly accuse Haley of deceit on the controversial application.
But… but… but… how could she have become a tea party queen and successful Republican politician without polishing her lying skills first?
From Think Progress: Several states in the last few weeks — including Michigan, Missouri, and Florida — have moved to cut or restrict unemployment benefits, even as long-term unemployment has failed to drop significantly for months. Joining the list is Utah, where the state senate president believes that denying benefits to jobless workers will force them to go back to work.
This is RepubliCare in action.
Cartoon:
Tuesday is Teabuggery day. To celebrate, destroy your own future.
Yesterday Safeway delivered my groceries. Unpacking them and putting them them away took over two hours and wore me out. I’m up to date with comments and am wondering if I smell bad, because there were only two. Today is that most hated of days. I will be cursing the heavens, ranting, raving, fuming, frothing at the mouth and, in the process, acting almost as crazy as a Teabagger. It’s income tax day.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 3:46 (average 4:49). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Mediaite: Bill Maher was his usual understated self on Real Time tonight, urging everyday Americans to begin “a class war” on Wall Street.
He’s so funny. He’s also so right!
From NY Times: Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who was relieved of command in Afghanistan after a magazine profile quoted his subordinates as disparaging senior civilian leaders, has been invited back to public service by the Obama administration to help oversee a high-profile initiative in support of military families, White House officials said Sunday.
What are they thinking!
From CNN: France’s controversial ban on wearing Islamic veils such as burqas and niqabs takes effect Monday.
A silent protest march against the burqa ban is planned for Monday morning in Paris.
Remember freedom fries? How things change! The French are acting positively Republican.
Yesterday I was completely exhausted. Except for installing a new widget in the right sidebar, I spent the day sleeping and resting. I am up to date on comments. This morning I have a month’s groceries being delivered. With my physical limitations, it will take me between two and three hours to unpack and put them all away, after which I’ll be pretty useless.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 5:00 (average 6:04). To do it, click here. Hoe did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: I SPENT 18 years in prison for robbery and murder, 14 of them on death row. I’ve been free since 2003, exonerated after evidence covered up by prosecutors surfaced just weeks before my execution date.
This is John Thompson’s story. It’s well worth the read.
From Bloomberg: China’s first quarterly trade deficit in seven years may ease pressure on the world’s biggest exporter to allow faster appreciation of the yuan.
How did that happen? The only thing they import from here is jobs. 🙄
From McClatchy DC: Hardline Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr mobilized tens of thousands of followers Saturday to mark the eighth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime with a warning that United States troops must not stay in Iraq past their scheduled Dec. 31 departure date.
In a speech read by an aide to the crowd, Sadr said that the failure of U.S. troops to leave on time would mean "escalating military resistance and reactivating the Mahdi Army,"
I hear buzz that Gates is toying with keeping troops there longer. In a word, NO!
I was out late last night hosting a CoDA meeting, so I’m running on very little sleep As a result, I’m only putting up two articles in addition to this. I’m up to date on comments. Plans for today include Zzzzzzzz…
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:09 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Milwaukee Journal Sentinal: State election officials combed through Waukesha County election results Friday but fended off calls for examining individual ballots as Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg remained locked in a contentious Supreme Court race.
There’s a reason Walker’s wankers don’t want anyone looking at the individual ballots there.
From Crooks and Liars: Southern states are more violent than any region, according to a recently released peace index created with U.S. government statistics.
Even with gang violence in blue state cities, the redder the state, the greater the violence.
Cartoon:
After last night, do you have your Vaseline handy?
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney formed a presidential exploratory committee Monday that will allow him to raise money for a near-certain run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
The reporter intended the anecdote that opened part four of the Boston Globe’s 
