Although we see far too little of her recently, Marva has been here from the very beginning of Politics Plus, years before here was here.
Aug 232015
Aug 232015
First, I want to thank you all for your support regarding my volunteer work. I have decided to take a low key approach. First, getting certified as a volunteer, one gives them all the power. Second, I could have avoided it by staying home. Third, when the system has a problems with individuals, they tend to punish groups. Any lawsuit from me would engender retaliation against my guys, even though the people running volunteer services would oppose such action. That takes any disabled access complaint off the table. I plan to contact the head of volunteer services, with support from my group, and try to work out a compromise that keeps me in the saddle. I’ll keep you posted.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:25 (average 8:58). To do it click here. How did you do?
Religious Ecstasy:
Watching the Broncos win with less than 2:00 to go in the 4th quarter was far less exciting, because I already knew what happened the night before.
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: Wendy’s and Publix are the two biggest companies that haven’t signed on for ‘Fair Food.’ What is it?
I plan to call my local Wendy’s, where I have an occasional burger. Republicans have their own plan. Deport the workers.
From The New Yorker: Amid the growing debate over building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, a new poll shows that voters who strongly favor building such a wall cannot successfully identify the border on a map.
Additionally, the more enthusiastic voters are about building a wall, the less likely they are to know where the border is actually situated, the poll finds.
Voters who could not correctly identify the U.S.-Mexico border provided no fewer than fifteen alternative locations for it. Nearly twenty per cent of respondents located it along the United States’ border with Canada.
Being told that they had incorrectly identified the U.S.-Mexico border did not in any way dampen voters’ enthusiasm for building a wall there, however.
To the contrary, voters believed that it would be easier to locate the border once it had a twenty-foot wall.
From Daily Kos: On Thursday, Texas conservative Steven Hotze launched his "Faith, Family, Freedom Tour" with the aim of influencing Huston’s [sic] upcoming municipal elections and, of course, trying to fight their civil rights ordinance, which will be decided at the ballot box in November.
The launch was nothing short of disturbing and disgusting.
From the Texas Observer:
On Thursday, he launched a multi-city tour of Texas, “The Faith Family Freedom Tour,” at a nearly half-empty event at a hotel ballroom in Houston. Sponsored by Christian conservative notables such as Cathie Adams and Jonathan Saenz, speakers included former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who explained why he thought the judiciary could be effectively overruled by the people, a radio host named Terry Lowry who told the crowd that “Satan and his demons are seducing the people of Houston,” and a reparative therapist who warned the audience that the science of making kids un-gay could someday be banned.
But it was Hotze who stole the show. He began his time on stage by showing his audience a video that warned of the audacious plans of the gay rights movement. “Just like there was a communist manifesto, there’s a homosexual manifesto,” Hotze said. “The hackles will stand up on the back of your neck when you see what they have planned.”
The Gay Manifesto is, of course, a satirical essay from 1987, not an actual LGBT conspiracy. If someone said the same thing about Jews, they would rightly be condemned as anti-semitic. So, this is, in and of itself, homophobic.
Click through for more Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian TEAbuggery, but even though there is no video, you’d better have a barf bag handy. He openly calls for violence
Cartoon:
Aug 222015
Yesterday, at about 8:00 PM, I received a call from my volunteer group’s staff advisor. Apparently someone noticed my distress on my last trip when the temperature was 100°+. She told me that the prison volunteer board has decided to cancel my authorization to come into the prison, out of what they say is concern for my health. What they mean is fear that they could be held liable should I suffer a heart attack or a stroke while there. I’ll appeal it to the head of volunteer services, but since my guys have already been informed that I won’t be coming back, I’m pretty sure it’s a done deal. I feel completely devastated, because so much of my reason for being is wrapped up in my work with my guys. I’ve been up all night, too upset to sleep. So I need to take a day or two off, while I try to wrap my head around this most unwelcome change. Hugs to you all.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 5:20 (average 6:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Aug 212015
Here is the seventy-fifth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, who is technically a Democrat. He is so honored for walking like a Republican, talking like a Republican, quacking like a Republican, voting like a Republican and hating just like a Republican.
Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski is one of the worst Democrats—very possibly the worst—in the House: Among other things, he voted against Obamacare from the right, he’s reliably anti-choice, and he’s hostile to gay rights. But that thumbnail sketch doesn’t fully convey just how awful Lipinski truly is in his heart. What follows will.
According to a 2014 candidate questionnaire put out by the conservative Illinois Family Institute and just unearthed by the Washington Blade, Lipinski supports an amendment to the constitution that would outlaw same-sex marriage. Lipinski’s campaign, when asked for comment, did not dispute the accuracy of the questionnaire, nor did it say that Lipinski’s views have since changed.
It’s pretty stunning that in 2015, there’s even one Democrat left in Congress who wants to overturn the constitutional right to marriage for every adult American, regardless of sexual orientation. Even West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, an opponent of same-sex marriage, has said we "must respect and abide by the Supreme Court’s decision."
What’s really insulting is that Lipinski represents a solidly blue district in the Chicago area that Obama won by 56-43 margin, so Democrats can and should do better…
Inserted from <Daily Kos>
It’s not just his Republican gay-hatred. He opposes Planned Parenthood, opposes the ACA, says Kerry should not try to sway Congress on the Iran deal, supports NSA spying on American citizens without a warrant, and supports the NRA! How much more Republican can he get?!!?
As a rule I tend to tolerate DINOs, because they come from areas so red that no real Democrat could get elected, and at least the DINOs count toward a majority, but I agree with the author about this guy. Flush the damn Republican, and replace him with a Democrat!
Aug 212015
I actually feel a little chilly. I LOVE it!! Unfortunately two days of 90°s weather starts tomorrow. I have a pants-load of things to get done today, while I can.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:19 (average 5:03). To do it, click here. How did you do? I already know that getting out the horseradish sauce is pointless.
Short Takes:
From Media Matters: Iowa radio host and influential conservative kingmaker Jan Mickelson unveiled an immigration plan that would make undocumented immigrants who don’t leave the country after an allotted time "property of the state," asking, "What’s wrong with slavery?" when a caller criticized his plan.
On the August 17 edition of his radio show, Mickelson announced that he had a plan to drive undocumented immigrants out of Iowa that involved making those who don’t leave "property of the state" who are forced into "compelled labor," like building a wall on the US-Mexican border. Listen (emphasis added in transcript [click through]):
Audio Barf Bag Alert!
This racist Republican idiot seems not to have heard of the Thirteenth Amendment.
From Daily Kos: The above [below] is roughly what 8.5 Trillion dollars would look like… and those are $100 bills. Take another look and let that sink in for a bit… I find it absolutely astonishing that the pentagon could lose track of this much money and for there to be no MSM coverage of this scandalous amount of mismanagement and fraud. Where is the demand for accountability? Why is the first question to ANY candidate for president not "What would you do about the massive fraud and waste at the Pentagon?" Where are the hearings, nay indictments, that are warranted when a sum equal to 1/2 of our national debt can be sent to the pentagon to never be accounted for. More below.
We progressives need to work this scandal into every political conversation we engage in, especially when we talk to conservatives. Cutting government spending and accountability are supposed to be core GOP values.
Combine "Known" Pentagon waste (like the 1.5 Trillion dollar F35) with missing pentagon money and you have a good chunk of our entire national debt represented….
The author is spot-on. I might even support new prison construction to house the thousands of military personnel, civilian contractors, lobbyists, and politicians (mostly Republicans, but not all) responsible for it.
From YouTube: Published on Aug 20, 2015
Former President Jimmy Carter spoke Thursday about his cancer diagnosis, saying that melanoma had been spotted not only on his liver but also in four small spots on his brain. Carter said that he was seeking treatment.
This 38 minute clip is well worth the time to watch, since Jimmy Carter is such a class act. It still bothers me immensely that the Republican Party has refused to condemn the Republican politicians and pundits, who have used Jimmy’s illness as an occasion for gleeful comments.
Cartoon:
Aug 202015
Considering that I’m very tired, and I just don’t feel like writing about Hairball, I decided to opt for a little humor. I received this item in email from Carrie at Care2, and it took only some minor adapting for use here. You can use it to measure your friends and neighbors too. If one is a closet TEAbagger, you really need to know.
1) You let your 14-year-old daughter smoke at the dinner table in front
of her kids.
2) The Blue Book value of your truck goes up and down depending on how
much gas is in it.
3) You’ve been married three times and still have the same in-laws.
4) You think a woman who is out of your league bowls on a different night.
5) You wonder how service stations keep their rest-rooms so clean.
6) Someone in your family died right after saying, ‘Hey, guys, watch this.’
7) You think Dom Perignon is a Mafia leader.
8) Your wife’s hairdo was once ruined by a ceiling fan.
9) Your junior prom offered day care.
10) You think the last words of the Star-Spangled Banner are ‘Gentlemen,
start your engines.’
11) You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded right off
its wheels.
12) The Halloween pumpkin on your porch has more teeth than your spouse.
13) You have to go outside to get something from the fridge.
14) One of your kids was born on a pool table.
15) You need one more hole punched in your card to get a freebie at the
House of Tattoos.
16) You can’t get married to your sweetheart because there’s a law
against it.
17) You think loading the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk.
18) You plan to vote for a Republican.
Most important, never, ever forget the Eleventh Commandment:
Thou shalt NOT commit TEAbuggery!
Aug 202015
At 8:00 AM the temperature outside is 64° and the forecast high is 75°. Unfortunately the hallways here are still in the 90°s. It will take a couple days for the building to cool. Today, tomorrow and Saturday are minor holy days in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, as it’s the second week of preseason. My Broncos’ service against Big Oil is Saturday evening, but it won’t be televised here. I can see the service on Sunday morning. May the blessed light of the holy Orb shine upon your team, unless you like Houston. 
I have my credit card, so I have bills to pay. In summary, I’m pooped,
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:39 (average 5:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: In May, Missouri House Speaker John Diehl resigned after revelations he had a "sexually charged relationship" with a college freshman who was interning in a Missouri Capitol internship program. He was, of course, one of those "family values" conservatives.
A mere two months later, Missouri Senator Paul Levota abruptly resigned after revelations he sexually harassed two female interns.
Now the Missouri Republicans are scrambling to come up with a new internship policy. Rather than focusing on getting their own members to behave professionally with young staffers, as they would in any business setting, the Missouri GOP seems hellbent on reeling in those interns who cause so much trouble. Among their recommendations? Stricter dress codes for interns:
When Republicans commit crimes, the Party has a standard solution: blame the victims. This shows just how hypocritical so-called "Republican Family Values" are.
From The New Yorker: Eager to shore up their pro-life credentials, several Republican Presidential candidates used campaign appearances on Wednesday to assert that the babies of undocumented workers have the right to be born and then immediately deported.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee sounded that theme in a campaign appearance in Des Moines, telling his audience, “We must vigilantly safeguard the life of the unborn, and, as soon it is no longer unborn, make sure that it leaves and takes its illegal parents with it.”
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker concurred, telling a crowd in Iowa City, “Every life is precious, and we must protect that life before marching it to the border twenty-four hours later, at the very most.”
Perhaps the most evangelical invocation of the right to life came from Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), campaigning in Cedar Rapids. “Every baby is a creation of God Almighty, and as Jesus is my savior, every baby has the right to live,” he said. “Just not here.”
Dang Andy! Considering the things thsy do say, it’s damn hard to believe that they did not actually say these things. I get they sue you for idea © violation.
From TPM: A Boston man allegedly told police that he beat and urinated on a homeless man early Wednesday because the man was Hispanic, citing real estate mogul Donald Trump’s comments on undocumented immigrants as justification for the attack.
In response, the Republican presidential candidate said that "it would be a shame" if his anti-immigrant campaign rhetoric inspired the beating. He immediately pivoted from the mild condemnation to praising his "passionate" supporters’ commitment to restoring America to greatness.
Now Hairball has an indirect victim, but he probably won’t be satisfied, until he has a famous victim, like his heroine, Bloody Bullseye Barbie, has Gabby Giffords.
Cartoon:
Aug 192015
Only Republicans still insist that man-made global climate change is not a critical reality, and I have no doubt that the stupidity exhibited by the leadership is completely willful. I’m sad to say that the level of methane pollution by the Natural Gas industry is much worse than previously thought because of a combination of the industry lying about it and EPA underestimation.
Natural gas gathering and processing plants leak much more methane than producers have reported, and even more than the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated, according to a study released Tuesday.
Researchers at Colorado State University found that U.S. gathering and processing facilities — where natural gas from nearby wells is consolidated for distribution through pipelines — leak 2,421,000 metric tons of methane each year. The facilities emit 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas every year, roughly eight times the amount previously estimated by the EPA.
Gathering facilities “could be responsible for something like 30 percent of emissions for all natural gas production,” the study’s lead researcher, Anthony Marchese, said on a press call Tuesday.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 86 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame. It is the primary ingredient in natural gas.
The amount of emissions tracked in the study has roughly the same 20-year climate impact as 37 coal-fired power plants, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said. The study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, is part of a series of studies organized by EDF that will compose the largest inventory of methane leaks in the U.S. natural gas industry to date. An earlier report in the series found that oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands leaked $360 million worth of fuel in 2013.
Controlling methane emissions, especially as the United States increasingly extracts and uses natural gas, plays an important role in the effort to curtail climate change. On Tuesday, the Obama Administration proposed a new rule that seeks to regulate methane emissions from the oil and gas sector… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
Since the study and the new rule were released in the same day, I consoler it highly likely that the new rule is based in an outdated estimate of the problem and needs to be strengthened right away. I trust that the Obama Administration will respond appropriately, but we need to keep our eyes open to make sure.
However, the EDF contention that the Natural Gas industry is the the biggest source of methane leaks in the nation may not be correct. I think there is one larger.
