Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 127.  Some of my comments last night were a bit out of kilter, because I fell asleep at the keyboard for two hours, and when I awakened I was not fully functional.  Today was a slow day for news.  Finding material took double the normal time, so I’m writing in the evening, not the morning as usual.  Tomorrow I have a grocery delivery coming in the morning.

Late Update:

I fell asleep at the keyboard again. 🙁

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:22 (average 4:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: G.O.P. chief Reince Priebus ripped President Obama on Sunday for consuming three meals a day while on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.

“With international crises boiling over in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine, it’s unconscionable that the President is having breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” he said…

LOL Andy. I bet the reason Obama does that is to keep people from discovering that he’s black 😉

From McClatchy DC: One day after losing a major airbase to Islamic extremists, Syria said Monday it was willing to work with other countries to fight terror groups in Syria provided they show respect for the Syrian regime and operate only with its permission.

At least one third of Syrian territory is said to be in the hands of the radical Islamic State, and the loss of Tabqa airbase Sunday put the entire east Syrian province of Raqqa in the militant’s hands, a severe setback for the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Walid Al Moallem, the Syrian Deputy Prime Minister, told reporters that Syria is willing to cooperate with other countries “as long as this cooperation is approached in a serious manner, without double standards” and does not “weaken Syria.”

Effectively Syria is asking the US to partner with the brutal Assad regime, that employed chemical WMD against their own people, against ISIS, that murdered thousands. McConJob, Lindsey Poo and other Republicans have berated Obama for taking an active role in only Iraq, but not in Syria. This article illustrates the Syrian dilemma. We have no viable ally in Syria. It’s like being asked to side with either Neocons or Baggers.

From The Nation: When Gogebic Taconite LLC began moving in November 2010—the same month Scott Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin—to develop an open-pit iron mine in one of the most environmentally sensitive regions of northern Wisconsin, the Florida-based mining firm got a lot of pushback. Residents of the region objected, along with Native American tribes. So, too, did citizens from across Wisconsin, a state that has long treasured the wild beauty of the Penokee Range. Environmental and conservation groups voiced their concerns, as did local and state officials from across the political spectrum.

The outcry heightened as Gogebic Taconite and its allies promoted a radical rewrite of existing mining regulations in order to promote a project that could grow to be four miles long, more than a mile wide and 1,000 feet deep. Democratic and Republican legislators began to ask tough questions. Yet Governor Scott Walker remained “eager to advance a mining bill,” according to Wisconsin media that reported extensively on the governor’s determination to overrule objections to the grand schemes of an out-of-state corporation that newly released documents show secretly steered $700,000 to “independent” efforts to provide political cover for the embattled governor.

I always like seeing more evidence surface that should be used to convict Scott Walker, the Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan!

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 126, and I have a lot going on.  I finally got to see my Broncos meditate with Houston this morning, and it was not really that bad.  The Texans prevailed only because of a couple fluke plays with less than one minute to go in the fourth quarter, when the most players for both teams will be waived in the next couple weeks.  Because of watching that, I got a late start.  I received some very bad news this morning.  I planned to do volunteer work in prison on both Tuesday and Thursday this week.  But the prison is in Salem, 60 miles away, and the friend with whom I go there has a family conflict, so I don’t get to go either day..

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:07 (average 4:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Notice what’s wrong with this lede [sic]from the AP’s Donna Cassata?

President Barack Obama’s unpopular health care law is losing some of its political punch as vulnerable Democrats see it as less of an election-year minus and Republicans increasingly talk about fixing it instead of repealing.

To be fair to Cassata, the rest of the article is actually pretty informative, but what’s happening here isn’t just that Democrats are seeing Obamacare as "less of an election-year minus"—it’s that now that Obamacare is delivering tangible results, Democrats are seeing it as an election-year plus.

Democratic candidates who are smart will make the ACA a campaign issue, because Republicans are still denying millions their health care and trying to deprive more millions of theirs.

From TPM: Israel bombed an apartment tower in downtown Gaza City on Saturday, collapsing the 12-story building in an unprecedented strike, while Hamas kept up heavy rocket fire that sent more Israelis fleeing border areas close to Gaza.

The violence signaled that a speedy resumption of truce talks is unlikely, despite another appeal by mediator Egypt. Gaps between Israel and Hamas on a border deal for blockaded Gaza remain vast, and repeated rounds of talks have ended in failure.

In the Gaza City strike, a huge fireball followed by a black column of smoke rose into the sky after two Israeli missiles toppled the Zafer Tower, one in a group of several high-rises in the upscale Tel al-Hawa neighborhood. Neighboring buildings shook from the blasts.

The Israeli military said the missiles targeted a Hamas operations room in the building, but did not explain why the entire tower with 44 apartments was brought down.

This seems to be how Zionists do Kristallnacht.

From Huffington Post: A large earthquake caused significant damage and left three critically injured in California’s northern Bay Area early Sunday, igniting fires, sending at least 87 people to a hospital, knocking out power to tens of thousands and sending residents running out of their homes in the darkness.

Two adults and one child have critical injuries and Queen of the Valley hospital has treated 87 people, the city of Napa in California wine country said in a statement Sunday. Most patients have cuts, bumps, bruises, said Vanessa DeGier, spokeswoman for the hospital in Napa. She says the facility has treated a hip fracture and heart attack, but it’s unclear if it was related to the 6.0-magnitude earthquake. The hospital has set up a triage tent and many people are still coming in, DeGier said.

I hope you will all join me with your hopes, thoughts, prayers, ore however you approach the infinite toward the victims and their loved ones, especially any that we know.

Cartoon:

This time, DON’T follow the money!

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 125.  Last night, I made a couple comments on Care2 and did the puzzle.  Then I just crashed.  I stayed awake just long enough to post the Personal Update. This morning I did all the research for tomorrow’s articles and ate two meals.  I napped for a couple hours and just woke up.  I feel quite groggy.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:05 (average 5:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Agony:

At least, when the starters left the meditation, Denver led 17-7.

Short Takes:

From YouTube: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recorded a video address for the Iowa AFL-CIO’s annual meeting. He talked about the need to address the crisis of income and wealth inequality, create millions of new jobs through the rebuilding of our crumbling infrastructure, raise the minimum wage, overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and end our disastrous trade policies. He also called for a political revolution that will get millions of people involved in the political process.

That’s what I call a blueprint for the future from a national treasure.

From Daily Kos: Can’t find any CNN text but here’s a report on the video content from Medialite:

Earlier this week, Fox News reported that Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old unarmed Michael Brown, suffered a fractured eye socket following his confrontation with the teenager. The reporter, Hollie McKay, cited a “source close to the [police] department’s top brass” as providing that information to the network.

However, on CNN Thursday, Don Lemon reported that Wilson did not suffer a fractured or broken eye socket and was rather treated at the hospital for swelling around his face and eyes. Noting that that specific injury has not been reported by CNN, “but is making its way around other media organization,” Lemon cited a “source close to the investigation” who told CNN that Wilson’s x-rays came back negative for a fractured eye socket.

“That source says it is not true, at all, he did not have a torn eye socket,” Lemon said. “Unequivocally.”

Minor Barf Bag Alert!

I could not help but notice that hearing that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, was lying from the outset crushed Nancy Grace’s countenance. Note the downturned corners of her mouth differed from her normal attack-sneer.

From AlterNet: To see how corrupt the United States government has become, just follow the money.  According to the most recent Federal Reserve Flow of Funds report, US households currently have an all-time high $82 trillion in overall wealth.  If that wealth were spread out evenly, every US household would now have $712k.  However, as of the end of 2013, the median household only had $56k in wealth.  From 2007 – 2013, overall wealth increased 26%, while the median household lost a shocking 43% of their wealth. If median wealth continues to decline at this rate, over 50% of US households will be bankrupt within the next decade.

Even worse, the bottom 40% has less that 0.1% (1/10 of 1%) of the wealth.

Cartoon:

Vesuvius was a Republican mountain.

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 124.  My Podiatrist visit was a bit more painful than normal, but by morning, I will be in less pain than I was before going in, so it’s worth it.  The nurse almost did a floor roll, when she read that my updated meds list now has Dulcolax for Republicitis and Imodium for Republicosis. It took too many hours out of my day to allow time for research.  Tomorrow is a Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, but I will have posted the Broncos-Texans score here on Sunday Morning, before I can actually watch the meditation on TV.  Have you reminded anyone to vote today?  I hear my pillow calling.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:25 (average 5:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon: