Politics Plus

By the time I returned home from my volunteer work yesterday, it was time for dinner and bed, so I now have two days of replying to comments and returning visits to catch up.  I don’t know how much time I will have today, because I have to go to the Social Security office.  The last time I was there, I went because they required me to prove my identity with an original copy of my birth certificate.  I waited almost five hours for someone to make a copy of the original.  Last week I received a letter from them that I have never proven my identity, and they require me to bring in an original copy of my birth certificate.  ARGH!! 😯

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:01.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

Soon you will be invited to join the a fantasy football league, Lefty Bloggers and Friends, ob CBS Sports.  I have registered the league, but have not had time to set it up yet.

Short Takes:

From CNN: BP officials may know by Thursday afternoon whether the oil company’s latest attempt to cap the runaway leak in the Gulf of Mexico is yielding results.

Cross your fingers, hope, pray, send positive energy – whatever your beliefs support that this will work.

From Jerusalem Post: Israel was sharply rebuked and accused of war crimes and serious breaches of international law in Amnesty International’s annual report, published on Wednesday.

Amnesty International is one of the few organizations I support with a small contribution.  Sometimes poverty is no excuse not to help.

From Washington Post: Vaughn Ward, one of the Republican Party’s top recruits for the 2010 elections, lost his congressional primary in Idaho on Tuesday — the latest establishment favorite to falter in an election this spring.

State Rep. Raul Labrador won 48 percent of the vote in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, which covers the north and west of the state. Ward won 39 percent; three others were well back.

Ward was the fool who plagiarized Obama’s 2004 speech almost word-for-word.  Because it’s Idaho, this virtually assures another Teabagger will be in Congress.

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by R.J. Matson – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

Enjoy your day!

Yesterday I replied to comments, but did not get any visiting in.  Last night I was away from home for another sleep study to determine the BPAP settings I will need to treat my sleep apnea.  Thanks to a double dose of Ambien, I actually slept about five hours, but the drug has left me quite groggy, so today’s activities will depend on how I feel later.  Since I just returned home, I have had on time for research, so my offering today is quite meager.

Jig Zone Puzzle: Today it took me 4:38.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Mike Keefe – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

Yawn!! 😐

Yesterday I kept up with replying to comments and returning blog visits, and I visited a large part of our blogroll as well.  I hope to do the same again today, but I may not get as much done.  I’m doing laundry while researching and writing.  It involves several trips up and down stairs, because the machines are on a different floor.  Due to my COPD, that tires me considerably.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:24.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Bay Ledger: Environmental activists are calling on US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to halt Shell Oil’s plans to begin exploratory drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the coast of Alaska in July.

Salazar is expected to make a final decision sometime after May 28 following completion of a safety review ordered by President Barack Obama.

All offshore drilling should be suspended, pending a safety investigation of each site at oil company expense.  Deep water drilling should be suspended altogether.

From AP/Google: Republican Charles Djou (duh-JOO’) has won a Democratic-held House seat in Hawaii in the district where President Barack Obama grew up.

The GOPers are crowing to beat the band on this one.  What they won’t tell you is that Djou won with 36% of the vote in a field of fourteen candidates.  Infighting among several Democrats in the race split the vote.  We’ll get this seat back in November.

From Raw Story: a recently discovered cache of plants, initially pegged by officials speaking to local news as "one of the largest marijuana plant seizures in the police department’s history," turned out to be a relatively common prairie flower of little significance.

Texas officers ultimately spent hours laboring to tag and remove up to 400 plants from a city park, discovering only after a battery of tests that they had been sweating over mere Horse Mint, a member of the mint family — effectively turning their ambitious drug bust into mere yard work.

Horse Mint does not even look like marijuana.  If they’re already that stupid in Texas, imagine what it will be like there after their bogus education curriculum takes effect!

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Pat Bagley – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

Have a fine Sunday!

Yesterday I caught up on replying to comments and returning visits for the previous two days.  I have a few errands to run today, but should at least stay up to date.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:50.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Salt Lake Tribune: But under the gaze of a portrait of Ronald Reagan, Sen. Bob Bennett told reporters Thursday that mounting a write-in bid would further split the Utah Republican Party, put a huge financial and emotional toll on his family and friends, and in his own words, add to the "toxic," nasty environment already simmering in his home state.

"If I were to do it that would revive all of those passions and divide the party in the state of Utah in a way that might leave wounds that would go on for months if not years to follow," Bennett said.

Too bad.  A split GOP would have been nice.

From Common Dreams: The US government Thursday ordered BP to use a less toxic dispersant on the expanding Gulf of Mexico oil slick, as fears mount over the scale of the environmental disaster off the southern coast.

What about the 800.000 gallons already released?

From Me:  The oil has reached the wetlands.

Thanks, BP!

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jeff Parker – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

TGIF!