I’m still feeling tired and pretty queasy.  WWWendy is due ten minutes from now to de-stink me, and I’m a VERY stinky TomCat!  I’ll finish this afternoon.  All work done.  WWWendy said Hi.  I’m pooped.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:09 (average 5:26).  To do it click here.  How did you do?  Humming Burp!

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): The Power of Black Women

JD has been telling us that for ages! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Politico: Days before President Donald Trump embarked on a North Korea summit meant to solve one nuclear crisis, Iran hinted at another.

The Islamic Republic announced last week that it has expanded its ability to enrich uranium, a key ingredient for nuclear weapons. The move came just weeks after Trump abruptly quit the Barack Obama-era deal that largely dismantled Iran’s nuclear program, and it could be a first step toward an eventual Iranian dash to a nuclear bomb.

Iran probably didn’t time its move to throw a stink bomb into Tuesday’s summit in Singapore between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, experts say. But the news served as a vivid reminder of how the troubled Iran nuclear deal will haunt Trump’s talks with Kim.

The North Koreans are certainly watching.

“In my informal conversations with North Korean officials they have consistently brought up the Iran deal,” said Suzanne DiMaggio of New America, who, like many North Korea analysts, occasionally engages in unofficial discussions with the country’s representatives.

I said it at the time. When Trump violated the Iran deal, he showed Kim he won’t keep a deal with North Korea either.  RESIST!!  VOTE BLUE!!

From Think Progress: \Kris Kobach’s effort to upend the way Americans vote has suffered another setback.

The Kansas Secretary of State has been hard at work trying to expand upon his fatally flawed Crosscheck program, which he cooked up following the 2016 election, after President Trump made totally baseless claims of voter fraud as the reason he lost the popular vote.

Kobach has used Trump’s bogus claim as a rationale to bring voter suppression to the whole country, has been marred with security breaches, risky data management, and embarrassment. But Indiana isn’t joining in — at least, not for now.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt blocked Indiana from trying to enforce a law passed in 2017 that would have allowed state election officials to kick people off the voter rolls if they were flagged by the Interstate Crosscheck Program.

A small win for the good guys and gals! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

I’m trying to climb back into the saddle today, as with the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade under my window, I won’t get any rest anyway.  I am feeling better, but not fully well.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:40 (average 5:46).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): What To Expect From President Trump’s High-Stakes Summit With North Korea

구부리다. That’s Bend Over in Korean. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Huffington Post: Maine will be the first place to use the system, called ranked-choice voting, in statewide races this June (it’s already used in some local elections). The system kicks in for contests that have three or more candidates. Here’s how it works:

• Voters rank the candidates in their party’s primary in order of preference.
• If no candidate gets an outright majority, the candidate who got the fewest first-place votes is eliminated.
• The second-place votes of those who supported the eliminated candidate then get distributed to the remaining candidates.
• The process continues until one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first-place votes and is declared the winner.

The same system could easily be applied to national elections allowing supporters of outliers an opportunity to vote their conscience without screwing the rest of us.  RESIST!!  VOTE BLUE!!

From NY Times: After failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act with a Republican-controlled Congress, the Trump administration is seizing on a different strategy for dismantling the law, one fraught with political risk. It is asking a court to throw out major elements, including hugely popular provisions that protect sick people from being denied health insurance or charged higher rates.

Democrats swiftly portrayed the surprise move by the Justice Department, outlined Thursday in a brief supporting a court case filed by Texas and 19 other states, as a harsh blow to Americans with fragile health and their families. Already, Democratic candidates in the midterm elections had been playing up their party’s role in blocking last year’s repeal efforts and their recent success in pushing for the expansion of Medicaid in two more states. Now they have a new talking point, and they lost no time testing it.

Republicans are divided between conservatives who had vowed to eliminate the law and moderates, some in tough races, who want to preserve the popular protections for people who are sick.

The only Republicans who appear to be supporting their constituents are lying.  They just fear of losing their jobs. Republicans want people with pre-existing conditions to get the RepubliCare Death Benefit. Can’t pay? Die! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Vintage 2011 and still valid.

Unfortunately I’m still sick as a dog.  I’ll have some catching up to do.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:29 (average 5:14).  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon: