I just returned from the Urologist. Taking normal transit worked well, as I am home earlier, but walking almost two miles did take it out of me, so rest and other chores will have to take precedence today. He knows about my blogging activity, so I gave him a printout of the cartoon. It is now on display in his office.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:41 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Almost every week, Republicans join a competition to see who can say the most outlandish things, and in the process, they push the envelope on just how insane InsaniTEA can become. I trust that you will believe it, when I tell you that last week was no exception.
Faux Newsian says Obama is “buying votes” with food stamps.
Dogs everywhere were barking and howling in response to obvious whistles from Faux Newsians Stuart Varney and Brian Kilmeade this week.
Kilmeade, trying to counter the narrative of the economy bouncing back, lest Obama get any credit for it, pointed out that more than 46 million Americans receive food stamps. “So is this a planned strategy by the White House to keep the handouts on high levels?” Kilmeade dumbly asked.
“It is deliberate,” said Varney. “This is redistribution. This is the administration taking from this group, giving…to that group. Essentially buying votes.”
“Look at what else we’re just handing out,” Varney said, listing Obama phones, housing assistance, earned income tax credit, social security and Medicaid.
Varney didn’t use the words “Communist,” “black people,” “Mexicans,” or “immigrants,” but it’s pretty obvious we’re supposed to add those ourselves…
Insaerted from <Alternet>
Barf Bag Alert!
This class warfare is only the fifth of five insane Republican Moments from Last week alone. Click through for the other four.
I’ll be brief today, because I have pants-load of chores to complete.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:18 (average 4:55). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: For Katrina Shealy, being South Carolina’s only female state senator means facing some unique challenges. The main one seems to be fellow state senator Tom Corbin.
That’s when Corbin – no stranger to making bizarre statements – is said to have begun needling his lone female colleague regarding her gender.
“I see it only took me two years to get you wearing shoes,” Corbin told [State Sen. Katrina Shealy], who was elected in 2012 as a petition candidate.
This was apparently an oblique barefoot and pregnant reference, and a staffer notes that "he makes comments like that all the time."
At one point in the conversation – which quickly escalated into a confrontation – Shealy is said to have angrily asked Corbin where he “got off” attacking women. […]
“Well, you know God created man first,” Corbin said, reportedly smirking at Shealy. “Then he took the rib out of man to make woman. And you know, a rib is a lesser cut of meat.”
He was lying when he said he wanted her wearing shoes.
From CBS: The Democratic Party has decided to hold its 2016 presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia.
"In addition to their commitment to a seamless and safe convention, Philadelphia’s deep rooted place in American history provides a perfect setting for this special gathering," DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "I cannot wait to join Democrats across the country to celebrate our shared values, lay out a Democratic vision for the future, and support our nominee."
Because of this choice, expect a mass exodus of hookers from Pennsylvania to Ohio, where the "family values" Republicans are holding their convention.
From Think Progress: A Mississippi state lawmaker said he opposed putting more money into elementary schools because he came from a town where “all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call ‘welfare crazy checks.’ They don’t work.”
In an interview with the Clarion-Ledger regarding education funding, state Rep. Gene Alday (R) stated his opposition to a push to increase funding to improve elementary school reading scores. Alday implied that increasing education funding for children in black families would be pointless.
This is how the Republican Party Reaches out to African Americans.
Cartoon:
As someone, who frequently blows Oregon’s horn, having my governor resign under pressure is difficult for me. I’m still not certain he did anything criminal, but there is certainly an appearance of impropriety. The sad part is that Kitz has been a damn fine governor, far better that the extremist the Republicans offered. Given the same choice, I would vote for him again.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, ending a storied 37-year career in politics, relinquished his office Friday after a week of escalating pressure.
In a defiant statement issued just after noon, the governor bowed to a public corruption controversy involving allegations that he and fiancée Cylvia Hayes abused his office. He will step down Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Democrat Kate Brown, now the secretary of state, will take his place, becoming the state’s 37th governor.
"I understand that I have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career and, indeed, my entire adult life," Kitzhaber wrote, after accusing the media of depriving him of due process. "I have always tried to do the right thing, and now the right thing to do is to step aside."…
Inserted from <The Oregonian>
Filling in for Rachel, Steve Kornacki covered the story.
Bye, Kitz. May your life going forward show you all the kindness you have shown Oregon.
Kate Brown, the incoming Governor, is not a very high profile politician. Transparency is one of her main hot buttons. She will receive instant notoriety for being the first openly bisexual governor in the nation. Republican State Senate Minority Leader Red Ferrioli, displaying standard Republican hate, will boycott her swearing-in. To the best of my knowledge she is monogamous, but I can’t help imagining how the clown car would react, if Oregon had both a first gentleman and a first lady at the same time.
Hi Kate. Welcome.
Because the coming week looks to be so hectic, my plan is to get done early today, so I can do what cats do best.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:00 (average 4:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Think Progress: A Nebraska district judge has halted TransCanada’s attempts to use eminent domain to force landowners to turn over their land for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, an act that anti-Keystone activists are calling a major win.
Nebraska State District Court Judge Mark Kozisek issued a temporary injunction against TransCanada on Thursday after a hearing during which nearly 70 landowners called on the judge to grant the injunction. The injunction will remain in place until Nebraska’s Supreme Court takes up the landowners’ case against state law LB1161, which gave TransCanada the right to use eminent domain against the landowners.
“TransCanada sees the writing on the wall,” Jane Kleeb, Director of Bold Nebraska, a group that’s supporting the holdout landowners, said in a statement. “Nebraska landowners are not going to cave to their threats and we will now see them in our Supreme Court to finally get clarity on the legality of a foreign corporation using eminent domain for private gain.”
Kudos to Nebraskans standing against Harper’s invasion of the US to unload the filth his own people don’t want.
From The New Yorker: A week of turmoil in Alabama culminated on Friday with the United States ordering the Southern state to grow up.
After a week in which Alabama exhibited various displays of childishness—including kicking, screaming, stamping its feet, and threatening to hold its breath—the United States decided to take the extraordinary action of telling the hundred-and-ninety-five-year-old state to act its age.
But any hopes that the United States’ order would be heeded were dashed when Alabama put its fingers in its ears and emitted a stream of monosyllabic nonsense sounds, claiming that the order had been rendered inaudible.
But Andy, isn’t Alabama acting over 100 years old?
From Daily Kos: A Chinese proverb comes to mind—"He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself." Ed Schultz asked Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) whether the Republican bill to redefine full-time work in the eyes of the Affordable Care Act to a 40-hour week would have a severe impact. McDermott’s answer was thoughtful and reflected what many feel will be Obamacare’s ultimate great outcome.
I still believe that Obama has always seen the ACA as the first step toward single payer. On the other hand RepubliCare is the first step toward an early grave.
Cartoon:
I have felt troubled, by the recent controversy over vaccines brought about by fools like PIGnocchio, and especially Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot. I had a friend tell me how dangerous vaccines have become, I explained that a duck follows Dr. Mercola (her source) around to sound the warning. Fortunately someone else is sounding the warning far better than a duck.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is not having any of your anti-vaxxer nonsense, or any of Sen. Rand Paul’s anti-vaxxer nonsense either. At a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on vaccinations, Warren had some questions for the director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC:
“Is there any scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism?”
“Is there any scientific evidence that vaccines cause ‘profound mental disorders’?”
“Is there any scientific evidence that vaccines have contributed to the rise in allergies or auto-immune disorders among kids?”
“Are there additives or preservatives in vaccines that can be toxic to kids?”
“Is there any scientific evidence that giving kids their vaccines further apart or spacing them differently is healthier for kids?”
“Is there any scientific evidence that kids can develop immunity to these diseases on their own, simply by eating nutritious foods or being active?”
(Answer key: No, no, no, no, no, and no.)
Important questions, but one stood out: "Is there any scientific evidence that vaccines cause ‘profound mental disorders’?"
Rand Paul last week: "I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines."
Inserted from <Daily Kos>
Here she is in action:
The facts are clear. Bringing back diseased that we have completely controlled is insane, and too high a price to pay for for a few wing-nuts to just want to inspire fear.
Day 100. I’m going to stop looking it up every day. It’s still increasing, until and unless you see “Day 1”. Today is an authentic TGIF day. It’s been a busy week. Next week, I have a Urologist appointment and a dinner appointment with a friend in addition to all the normal survival things. I’ll also probably meet with a lawyer. She represents one of my guys, who has a parole hearing in March.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 7:32 (average 7:14). To do it, click here. How did you do? It’s NOT edible!! 🙁
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: If you take a puppy video break today, make sure this is the dog video you watch.
An excellent ides, but cats could have done a much better job of the video than dawgs!!
From The New Yorker: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is steadily rising to the top of the 2016 Republican Presidential field because voters are connecting with his “strong and consistent opposition to knowledge,” an aide to Walker said on Thursday.
While Republican candidates of the past, such as Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, have capitalized on G.O.P. voters’ hostility toward verifiable facts, the aide said, “Compared to Scott, those two look like rookies.”
Walker has burnished his anti-knowledge credentials in Wisconsin by proposing a three-hundred-million-dollar cut in the University of Wisconsin’s funding and by deleting the phrase “the search for truth” from the values outlined in the university’s mission statement.
“That truth thing was a masterstroke,” the aide said. “Our polling shows that voters who oppose knowledge also have negative feelings about truth.”
But Walker’s longstanding opposition to knowledge may have faced its toughest test during a visit to London, on Wednesday, when an interviewer asked him if he believed in evolution and he refused to answer. “He tried to trick Governor Walker into admitting that he knew something, and Scott didn’t take the bait,” the aide said. “I was watching him do that and I was like, ‘Nailed it.’ ”
Andy got this one wrong. The Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan certainly does know something. He knows how to take over a prosperous state and trash it. He can’t wait to do the same for the country.
From Daily Kos: On February 10, 2015, a 46-year old ‘self proclaimed’ atheist, took his gun, managed his way into his neighbor’s home, and shot them to death. Craig Stephen Hicks killed three innocent young Muslim students, execution-style, in Chapel Hill, then turned himself in hours later. The lives he stole were Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; her husband, Deah Barakat, 23; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. Yusor and Deah were married just two months ago. All three victims were students, and very loved within the community. Thousands came out to pay tribute in a candlelight vigil held Wednesday night at the UNC (University of North Carolina) campus.
I mention ‘atheist’ in the title because I think it’s important for the media, especially the Liberal media, to make sure the word is not left out. Why? Because if the killer were a self-proclaimed ‘Christian,’ it would be mentioned. And if the killer were a self-proclaimed ‘Muslim,’ it would be mentioned. And what’s really important is for the world to know is this man is not an atheist in any true sense. He’s much different than anything he ‘proclaims’ to be, because this man is an extremist.
Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, Republican Supply-side pseudo Muslims (ISIL), and Republican Supply-side pseudo- Atheists have this in common. They try to force their religious beliefs on others. Authentic Christians, authentic Muslims, and authentic Atheists have this in common. We coexist.
Cartoon:
