Yesterday, I caught up on comments and returned visits. I don’t know about today, because I’m still quite worn out and have two appointments to do to.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:18. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Waskington Post: The Quinnipiac (KWIN’-uh-PEE-ack) University poll released Thursday shows Toomey supported by 48 percent of likely voters to Sestak’s 46 percent. The numbers include people who say they still might change their mind.
I think Joe will win this one, because the Pennsylvania Democrats’ ability to get out the vote is prodigious.
From LA Times: Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million.
African American bigots are so rare that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda just couldn’t pass this up.
I had a great time. While this article will lack much of the newsworthiness you’ve come to expect here, there’s something about being there. That’s the flavor I will try to convey in this story about my experiences at the Kitzhaber/Obama Rally here in Portland yesterday.
From my place to the Convention Center is only there stops on the MAX, Portland’s transit train, but I left at 2:00 PM for the 6:00 PM event.
When I got off the train, I immediately encountered a bunch of Teabaggers carrying “Resist the Nanny State” and “Vote for Dudley” signs. I decided to talk to them. A guy stepped forward, as I approached them, and I said, “So you’re for privatizing Social Security and letting people take care of their own, instead of depending on big government? He agreed. And I said, and you’re for privatizing Medicare and letting people taking care of their own, instead of depending on big government? Again he agreed. Next I said, “Any you’re for extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich? He agreed again. “And with you want more programs to encourage free trade? He said yes. Heh heh. I said, “Then what you have told me is that you don’t want the nanny state to provide the benefits and services for which people have paid, but you do want the nanny state to continue benefits and services for the very rich and criminal corporations. That’s not freedom. That’s Teabuggery! He yammered and stammered a bit, but had nothing more to say. They objected to me taking their picture.
I headed for the line, and a volunteer grabbed me, because of my oxygen tank, and took me and my friend to a disabled waiting area. I felt very uncomfortable being taken to the front, buy the truth is, I would have never made it had they not done so. Just standing for an hour plus waiting for the doors to open set off my bad leg, and I was in excruciating pain when they opened the doors.
Here’s the line:
And here I am with my friend, Sandi.
Sadly, those are the only good pictures I have. The ceiling lights in the disabled seating area were so bright that it washed out the pictures I took, and it took a couple hours of tweaking in Paint Shop just to make them visible. I apologize. They stink.
I waited about 2 1/2 hours for the speaking to begin. There were around 8,000 of us there.
After a couple warm up speeches, Jeff Merkley, introduced John Kitzhaber. Ron Wyden, David Wu, and Earl Blumenauer were also there.
Here’s Kitz:
Lousy picture, I know.
He stressed some of the key differences between himself and Chris Dudley, aka Dudley Do-Wrong. Kitz supports minimum wage. Dudley wants it cut. Kitz believes climate change is a result of human activity. Dudley doesn’t. Kitz opposes drilling for oil off Oregon’s coast. Dudley favors it. Next came the star of the show.
Here’s a lousy pic:
And another:
Obama has not lost his touch. I was thoroughly fired up!! Fortunately another attendee posted a video of his speech. People in the front didn’t have the lighting issues I did.
Magnificent!
I waited for most of the crowd to get out the door before I tried. When I returned home after 9:00 PM, I felt like something I should bury in the deepest part of my kitty box.
Was it worth it? Yes! Would I do it again? Hell yes!!
Yesterday I replied to comments before heading out to the Obama/Kitzhaber rally. I got home an hour before I normally wake up to start my daily research, slept for a couple hours, and edited the photos I took. Today, the Open Thread has only a puzzle and a cartoon, and the report from the rally is the only main article. What else I accomplish will depend on how I feel later. At the moment, I’m quite exhausted.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:07. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Yesterday I went out to talk to a minister about using her church for a support group we are forming. I did catch up on comments after returning home. Today is up in the air, because I plan to attend the Kitzhaber/Obama rally this evening. I expect a mob scene that will test my stamina to the limit, so I need to rest beforehand.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:38. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Christian Science Monitor: A federal judge in California refused on Tuesday to postpone a worldwide injunction issued last week blocking enforcement of the Defense Department’s "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy banning gays from serving openly in the military.
Good news. Ne3xt step will be the Ninth.
From Think Progress: Among the many lies told by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently, chief Chamber lobbyist Bruce Josten said that his organization’s foreign affiliates, called AmChams, are only “comprised of American companies doing business abroad in those countries.” In fact, the Chinese AmCham is comprised of Chinese firms like Northern Light Venture Capital; the AmCham in Russia is comprised of Russian state-run companies like VTB Bank; and, the AmCham of Abu Dhabi is comprised of UAE state-run oil companies.
The ties between the AmChams and the U.S. Chamber are deep. In addition to sharing staff members, the Chinese AmCham has worked closely with the U.S. Chamber and the Chinese government to sponsor a series of seminars in America to teach American businesses how to outsource jobs to China (called the China Grassroots Program). [emphasis added]
If Democrats are just as bad as Republicans, as the regressive wing of the left claims, then why are these people spending so much to put Republicans in office?
H/T TPM: She’s a year younger than I am, si I grew up drooling over her.
Yesterday I was busy with personal things most of the day, so I did not get a chance to reply to comments or return visits. Today I hope to catch up on comments, but that’s iffy. I’m going out to visit a potential venue for a 7th Step support group for former prisoners we’re starting up. Also I’m running short on sleep, because Providence Home Services woke me up from a dead sleep at 8 PM to tell me they were delivering the oxygen concentrator they had promised to deliver to me by Noon today, but stood me up for the second time. I told them to tale a long …um… walk off a short pier.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 5:05. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Lefty Bloggers Plus Report – Week 6:
Scores:
Week 6
Score
Seahawks Rock
Recovering Republic…
109.7
123.6
Final
Jay’s Team
hugos misfits
103.2
78.0
Final
Lionel Hutz + The H…
Playin w/out a helm…
83.0
64.2
Final
Teabuggery Trashers
elliot’s Team
101.1
82.9
Final
Greensburg Wombats
Rob’s Roosters
94.3
78.3
Final
Standings:
Team
W-L-T
Pct.
GB
Recovering Republicans
5-1-0
0.833
0.0
Seahawks Rock
5-1-0
0.833
0.0
Greensburg Wombats
4-2-0
0.667
1.0
Lionel Hutz + The Hail Marys
3-3-0
0.500
2.0
Rob’s Roosters
3-3-0
0.500
2.0
Teabuggery Trashers
3-3-0
0.500
2.0
Jay’s Team
2-4-0
0.333
3.0
hugos misfits
2-4-0
0.333
3.0
Playin w/out a helmet
2-4-0
0.333
3.0
elliot’s Team
1-5-0
0.167
4.0
I climbed back to the middle of the pack! 😀
Short Takes:
From NY Times: A federal district judge in California said Monday that she is inclined to deny the government’s request to allow the Pentagon to enforce its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay and bisexual members of the military while her injunction against it is being appealed. “My tentative ruling is to deny the application for a stay,” Judge Virginia A. Phillips said at a hearing on the government’s request, according to Reuters. She is expected to issue a ruling to that effect on Tuesday.
I hope so! I’d love to see no more expelled.
From TPM: Sharron Angle now has an interesting explanation for her recent campaign ads on immigration, which have prominently featured images of Latinos labeled as "illegal aliens": They might not be Latinos, or even "illegal aliens" from Mexico at all — they might be terrorists sneaking in from the Canadian border.
Damn those brown skinned Canadians! :roll: Obtuse went on to say that the they looked more like Asians, as though that’s somehow more acceptable that Latino.
From Me: From the look of the polls, which I take with a ton of salt, I’d call the Senate 51 Democrats, 47 Republicans, and 2 too close to guess. Unlike most Pollsters, I’m correctly counting LIEberman as a Republican. The House is anyone’s guess.
Yesterday was a day of …um… religious meditation, but I did reply to comments and returned visits, before the games started. We received a donation from Marva Dasef. Thank you so much. I may fall behind today, because my ballot arrived in the mail, and I have some additional research to do on some of the ballot measures.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:32. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Religious Agony:
Short Takes:
From Washington Post: U.S. Sen. John McCain’s daughter said Sunday that Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell of Delaware, a tea party favorite, is seen by many young Republicans "as a nut job."
Unless she follows her father’s example by selling out her principles, Megan has no future in the Republican Party.
From Think Progress: Jerry Mayotte, executive vice president of the Greater Hudson Chamber of Commerce, announced last Friday that his group is leaving the U.S. Chamber because he does not want to be associated with the national Chamber’s political ads in favor of Republican candidates.
Kudos to those folks from NH. More local chamners should follow suit.
From Alternet: Citing unnamed Iraqi government officials, current and former members of the Awakening and insurgents, the newspaper said that although there were no firm figures, hundreds of fighters appear to have rejoined Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia in recent months.
Yesterday was a hectic day. I replied to comments and returned visits. Then, to my great surprise, I received an email from PayPal that Lisa G had discovered our Donate button, which I installed a month ago today, under the duress of threats of physical harm and, even worse, the MOM voice. I thought I had successfully hidden it. ARGH! Thanks to both Lisa and Nameless (SoINeedAName) for their generous contributions, which will pay for hosting for the next year and more. I also discovered (thanks to Lisa) that the Cartoon site I have been using is no longer free to blogs to publicize their site, so I managed to locate another site that is. It’s a slow day for news, but it’s a holy day for the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb and the Broncos/Jets service will be televised here, so I’ll be deep in meditation.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 3:54. To do it, click here. How did you do?
For the second year in a row there will be no COLA increase for Social Security recipients. My cost of living has gone up. In the last two years, my rent has increased 9.1%. My Medicare Advantage plan has increased 15.4%. My bus pass has increased 30%. My grocery store expense has increased 23.9%. I’ve heard rumblings that the Obama administration is cooking the books, but that’s not true. The COLA is based on the CPI. If the CPI goes down, Social Security benefits do not decrease. They stay the came until the CPI catches up and increases again. That’s what has happened. The CPI took a nosedive in late 2008 and early 2009, because home prices collapsed due to the Republican recession. It is still below where it was when Social Security Recipients received a COLA for 2009. It has stayed lower for several reasons. Housing prices remain depressed. People are buying more inferior merchandise from abroad that costs less. Fed fiscal policy is set to keep the dollar artificially low to benefit banksters. According to Bloomberg, the $US has dropped to a 15 year low against the yen.
President Obama will press Congress to send a one-time payment of $250 to senior citizens to help them get through another year without an increase in their Social Security benefits, White House officials said Friday.
The renewed call for those payments came shortly after the Social Security Administration announced that millions of retirees and disabled workers would see no cost-of-living adjustments for the second year in a row, a result of the low U.S. inflation rate.
Yet seniors are struggling through the current economic downturn, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday, and they can’t rely on their savings because of poor investment earnings.
The $250 Economic Recovery Payment would be akin to a similar benefit paid out by the federal government last year. That payment helped offset last year’s static Social Security rate for about 50 million recipients, according to the White House.
The idea met with support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who says the House will vote in November on a measure to provide the payments to Social Security recipients. News about the Social Security rate is just the latest piece of bad economic news — not just for seniors but for Democrats trying to keep their majorities in next month’s midterm election.
But the plan faces opposition in the Senate, which defeated a similar measure last year, and among Republicans concerned about long-term funding of the Social Security system.
"It will be difficult for many seniors to deal with the lack of a COLA [cost of living adjustment] for a second year in a row, but that will pale in comparison to the actual hardships future Social Security recipients will experience if Congress continues to ignore the program’s underlying financial problems," said Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. "We must put Social Security on a path to long-term solvency, and the sooner we do so, the better it will be for both taxpayers and beneficiaries alike."
Every year, the government automatically adjusts Social Security payments based on the nation’s inflation rate. For an increase in payments to occur, consumer prices must be higher than when the last increase was awarded, according to the Social Security Administration… [emphasis added]
The $250 would help. It will almost cover my rent increase of Republicans don’t block it. Isn’t it hypocritical that Republicans want to give the average rich person a new Mercedes, but would deny the cost of a muffler to America’s seniors?
I had a great time. While this article will lack much of the newsworthiness you’ve come to expect here, there’s something about being there. That’s the flavor I will try to convey in this story about my experiences at the Kitzhaber/Obama Rally here in Portland yesterday.
