Politics Plus

Yesterday I had some volunteer work to get done, and that took up a lot of the day, but I did manage to catch up replying to three days of comments.  I do have errands to run  today, but hope to start catching up on visits too.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:54.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

Lefty Bloggers Plus is now full with ten teams.  I have only changed two rules from the standard.  First. I eliminated the horrid ‘can’t trade’ rule that assigns certain players as key players and makes it impossible to drop or trade them.  If your best QB or RB is out for the year with an injury, there’s no reason not to be able to replace him.  Second, I changed it so that 8 teams, not the standard six, make the playoffs.  There’s no sense in having two teams with a bye week when more of us can enjoy playing.  Don’t forget the draft is tomorrow at 9 AM Pacific Time (Noon Eastern Time).

Short Takes:

From Chicago Tribune: Jurors signaled that despite 12 days of deliberations, they had agreed on just two of the 24 counts faced by Blagojevich — without hinting at which ones or how they voted.

I’m shocked.  I’d love to be done with this.

From McClatchy DC: U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker Thursday declined to continue a stay on his finding that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, paving the way for same-sex marriages to resume after Aug. 18 unless the measure’s defenders quickly obtain a stay from a higher court.

Hopefully we will soon be congratulating our LGBT friends.

From Think Progress: Speaking at a rally sponsored by Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project, GOP state house candidate in Florida, Marg Baker, endorsed building concentration camps for undocumented immigrants.

If Republicans actually get away with this, which I doubt, how long would it be before they come for the rest of us?

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

TGIF!!

Yesterday, I caught up with replying to comments and returned visits.  Today I shall fall behind, because I’m co-facilitating a therapy group for former prisoners.  Hopefully, I can catch up tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:27.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

I learned yesterday that I can reduce the number of teams in the league, so I cut it down to ten.  Unless a couple more join by Friday morning, I’ll reduce it to eight.  We’ll definitely be able to play.

Short Takes:

From Reuters: In Colorado, Bennet beat liberal former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to dodge a wave of anti-Washington anger that buried two Senate colleagues earlier this year.

I had hoped Romanoff would win, but we should hold the seat, because a Teabagger won on the Republican side.

From Alternet: Legendary former US Senator Ted Stevens was among five fatalities after a small plane carrying nine people slammed into a remote Alaska mountainside, officials said Tuesday.

Unlike most of the MSM, I’m not going to pretend that he wasn’t one of the most corrupt Republicans in Senate history.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Happy Hump Day!

Yesterday I dozed through most of my religious service, but the Dallas Diocese defeated the Cincinnati Diocese 16-7.  Preseason fully begins this week, and one month from today, we celebrate the High Holy Day celebrating the miraculous return of the Ellipsoid Orb on opening day.  I stayed up to date on comments and returning comments and should have no trouble doing so today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:42.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: Bloody Bill-I’m-always-wrong-about-everything Kristol continues his track record on Fox News Sunday this week when he predicts that the Republicans will play a game of chicken with President Obama and decide its better for them politically to block extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class if they can’t keep them for the upper earners as well.

Rather than cave in to the Republicans, only to be blamed for the resulting increase in deficit, we should force them to either relent or raise taxes for millions of poor and middle class voters during an election year.  If all the cuts expire in January, because of their actions, we can pass tax relief for the poor and middle classes only early next year using the same budget reconciliation process Bush used to pass his tax cuts for the rich.

From NY Times: A two-year study by a group of academics on American Muslims and terrorism concluded that contemporary mosques are actually a deterrent to the spread of militant Islam and terrorism.

No religions support or are responsible for terrorism.  The blame rests with extreme fundamentalism, regardless of the religion in which it occurs.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

OGIM!

Yesterday I caught up on comments and returned visits.  I’m mostly up to date and should stay that way for a few days.  I also started working on converting the entire Constitution series into a single PDF file, which will be available here when done.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:16.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

Because it was clear that we will not get enough players, and CBS will not let us publish the league to get players from the general pool, I moved the league to Fox Sports, because they will let us go public.  I have sent an email initiation to everyone who was in and two have responded, so far.  If you would like to play, sign into Fox Fantasy Football with any MSN ID.  The League ID is 1023560.  The Password is nogop

We had nine players.  Only six transferred over.  Gwen, Lisa and Otis, did you get your email and will you be joining?  Later today I’ll be opening the league to the public, because the draft is in one week,l and we need to get it filled.

Short Takes:

From Alternet: Christina Romer, a key economic advisor to President Barack Obama who championed the use of stimulus programs to pull the US economy out of recession, will step down next month, the White House said Thursday.

I’m soprry to see her go.  She was the only member of Obama’s economic team, whom I approved.

From Washington Post: The losses [131,000 jobs] came from the public sector. And they were foreseeable. And they were foreseen by the President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the United States Senate and the majority of House members and a majority of Senators. And the President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the United States Senate and the majority of House members and a majority of Senators voted for bills that would have prevented that. But because in the Senate a minority of members can get their way, action wasn’t taken. Consequently, we have a horrible jobs number. [emphasis added]

Republicans keep blocking jobs legislation while blaming Obama for the jobs situation.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Good weekend?