Politics Plus

Yesterday I planned major visiting.  In the best laid plans of mice and men, I had one more little thing to do first.  I chatted a Symantec tech rep to find out how to stop Norton Utilities from wiping out my email contacts every time I clean the registry, making me undo to recover the contacts.  Little did I know that I would still be in chat with Charlie 4 1/2 hours later.  He was a nice enough fellow from India, although I would prefer the job had not been outsourced.  He knew about as much about the workings of Windows as I do, making him almost as competent as a 12 year old, but far more competent than the vast majority of tech reps I have encountered. (Blue Host is an exception to that.  Those folks are fantastic.)  What neither of us realized is that Windows Live Mail stores contact info in a completely separate program, Windows Live Contacts, so we spent hours looking in the wrong place.  I replied to comments, but did no visiting.  I plan to do so today, God help me!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:57.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: Today, the ACLU, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, ACLU of Arizona, National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice) filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s sheriffs and county attorneys, asking the court to find S.B. 1070 unconstitutional. It violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law because it unlawfully invites the racial profiling of Latinos and other people who look or sound "foreign-born." It also violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution by interfering with the federal government’s authority to regulate and enforce immigration.

Both claims are completely valid.  That gives us almost a 50% chance at success.

From Daily Kos: Quinnipiac offered their final poll in the Keystone State, and they confirmed what everyone else had already suspected: the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate is too close to call. The Q Poll gives challenger Joe Sestak a statistically insignificant lead of a single point over incumbent Arlen Specter (42-41). Two amazing statistics for a race with this high a profile: on the eve of the election, one in six voters are still undecided. What’s more, a significant number of Specter and Sestak voters (25% of those who have made up their minds) were still persuadable at this late stage of the game.

I hope I’m wrong, but I think the party machine will get out more of their voters, giving Specter a narrow win.  In Arkansas, I think Blanche “party of” Lincoln will win without getting the required 50%, forcing a runoff.  It’s primary day in Oregon.  I mailed my ballot two weeks ago.  None of the major races are hotly contested.  I predict that all Republican primaries will be won by pigs.

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Nate Beeler – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

I hope your week is going better than mine.

Yesterday I caught up on replying to comments and returning visits.  Today, I don’t know because I had a bad air night, could not stop coughing and did not sleep.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:35.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Take:

From Bay Area Ledger: Oil leaking from a ruptured well pipe in the Gulf of Mexico washed ashore in two new locations on Saturday, the Coast Guard said, as the latest attempt to contain the spill faltered.

Efforts to siphon leaking oil via an "insertion tube" up to a container vessel continued a day after US President Barack Obama blasted oil companies for seeking to shift blame for a growing oil slick threatening environmental disaster.

So much for the Top Hat.  Next, the junk shot.  It that fails, BP may try to plug the leak with a giant Tampon. 🙁

Cartoon:

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

Yawn!

Yesterday I felt pretty exhausted, but I did manage to catch up on replying to comments.  The new cell phone came.  Since the store assembled the original, I had not done it before.  There were no instructions either in the original documentation or in the activation instructions that came with the phone.  I searched the Sprint website for over an hour and could not find them.  I Googled it and found them on another website in less than five minutes.  After charging the phone, I went back to the Sprint website, according to the instructions, filled out the activation form, and was directed to a page that said they hope that feature will be back online soon.  Dating the page revealed that it was over two months old.  Grrr!!  So, I’ll have to go all the way back to the store to activate it this morning.  I may or may not be able to keep up today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:42.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Think Progress: In an interview with American Family Association (AFA) radio yesterday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) argued against repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), arguing that basically, members of the U.S. military are too bigoted to be willing to fight and die for the “guy in the next foxhole” if that guy happens to be gay.

Bullshit!

From McClatchy DC: The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, which regulates oilrigs, came under more scrutiny as congressional investigators scheduled hearings to find out why the federal agency never completed rules that would have required additional controls on blowout preventers — the safety equipment that failed to stop the spill.

Here’s a hint for Congress.  The reason has 5 deferments, likes to shoot friends, has a daughter named Lizard, and is an asshole.

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Darkow – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

TGIF

Yesterday I caught up with comments, but got no visiting in.  Don’t expect much from me today, because it’s my volunteer day to co-facilitate a therapy group for former prisoners.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:09.  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From TPM: Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) has been defeated for renomination in his Democratic primary by a more conservative opponent after 14 terms in office.

Dang!  We lose a blue dog and the best we can get in that district is another blue dog with even more GOP fleas. 🙁

From Public Policy Polling: For the first time since October a majority of Americans express approval of Barack Obama’s job performance on PPP’s monthly national poll. 50% give him good marks to 46% who disapprove.

I wonder if this reflects the report that Americans now pay less (proportionately) in taxes than at any time since the Truman administration.

From BBC: Britain has its first full coalition government for 70 years after David Cameron was confirmed as Prime Minister of a Tory-Liberal Democrat leadership.

If he follows in Margaret Thatcher’s footsteps, he will transfer wealth to the rich while balancing the budget on the backs of the UK’s poor and middle classes.

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Nate Beeler – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon

Happy Hump Day! 😀