It’s a very busy day, here in the CatBox. First, a high of 84° is forecast, so I may be cooked before my dinner is. I’m getting ready to go to the hospital to get ZAPPED. I expect to glow in the dark tonight. Depending on how bad I feel, I’ll try to put up an I’m OK reply, when I return. TGIF to all!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:33 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump Virus* Update:
Cases: 1,295,058
Deaths: 77,058
Recovered: 217,292
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: Despite an increasingly grim employment picture, an unskilled American man remains gainfully employed, labor experts confirmed.
With millions applying for unemployment benefits each week, experts expressed bafflement and outright astonishment that a man with no identifiable skills, talents, or competence appears to be secure in his job.
“This unskilled individual’s continued employment defies any kind of economic logic,” Davis Logsdon, who studies employment trends at the University of Minnesota, said. “Of the 33.5 million Americans who have applied for unemployment benefits over the past seven weeks, approximately 33.5 million are more qualified than he is.”
Even more perplexing, experts said, is the unskilled man’s persistent employment after failing at a series of other jobs during the past three years.
Andy, that certainly is a wonder. There is nobody more unskilled than Jared Kushner, except perhaps, criminal Fuhrer Trump, himself! RESIST!!
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Trump Sidelines CDC Reopening Advice In Favor Of Vague Happy Talk
I think there is a method to the madness of criminal Fuhrer Trump* and the Republican Reich. Because they are reopening too soon to serve their own political ends, they know they will kill thousands of people in the process. If states /businesses have no guidelines to follow, the Fuhrer and the Reich can blame the state/local level reopening failures and their lethal effects on the state and local officials. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast from the past): Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Teach Your Children
Ah… the memories! RESIST!!
Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!
16 Responses to “Open Thread–5/8/2020”
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Cartoon: Yep, they sure did !
TVU: Abbott (tx gov’nah) is still getting flack from the ‘hot mike’ covid incident the other day. I wish I could be a fly on the wall to listen to what he says about other subjects/things….js.
NYer: Great article. You hit the nail on the head with this, Andy. So, so true.
MSNBC: Great video, and good info. And, Thank You, CDC which is a trusted national source for information re: this pandemic, and other world/national events, with assisting the people staying safe, through the years. Seems that dt is trying to sideline CDC, and that’s not good.
Blast: Excellent song, imho.
Good vibes and prayers to you, Tom, as you get zapped. Hope all goes well for you too. Tell Wendy HI for me. Hope that you get your rest when you get home. Take good, good care, and Thanks, Tom.
This just in: New Sarah Cooper video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWA7BfXWHSo
2. “I will never lie to you.” Kaleigh McEnany. “Trump’s new Pandemic Barbie.” ~ Cynthia M. ~
3. “Trump claims to be a ‘genius’, even though he apparently can’t spell, can’t punctuate, can’t do math and lacks geographic literacy, and even though his own appointees have privately called him ‘moron’, ‘an idiot’, ‘a dope’ and ‘dumb’. Now…God help us, he fancies himself an expert in virology and infectious diseases!” ~ George Conway ~
TJI #3 Oh, he had a lot more to say, too – including acknowledging his own role in bringing this about It was in the Washington Post, and I don’t know whether it’s just been so long since I went there that I;m entitled to a sample now, or whether it’s included in coronavirus news, for which the paywall has been lifted, but it is visible.
Good enough. If we hear nothing (and nothing from WWWendy) we’ll assume you are OK but feeling like crap
Creators gonna create – boredom relief via a Dutch Instagram site
There are prettier ones and more accurate ones, and funnier ones, but I just like this one (#22) … which appears to have been created exclusively with PPE.
Transcripts and statements released by the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI))
TJI – “During Vietnam, we sacrificed a generation of young men, overwhelmingly from disadvantaged backgrounds, to the hubris of our leaders. It’s hard not to feel that this is exactly what’s happening again,” Jim Wallis, Sojourners
Cartoon – Oh, do they own that too?
Map – Yes indeed. Very sad and scary too.
TNY – LOL! There’s also a similarly unqualified woman who is mysteriously keeping her job despite everything. I won;t name her, but it begins with “Iv” and ends with “ka.”
TRMS – Now that it’s been leaked, I suppose anyone who wants it will be able to get a copy – but that’s like the joke how many psychoanalysts does it take to change a light bulb (Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change.) If a Democratic governor should get a copy of this, is there a way Trump* can stop him or her from building state guidelines based on it?
Past – This song will never get old. Its premise will always be true and needed. That’s just the way humans are. There was an article on Daily Kos yesterday where a thread in the comment section devolved into just how bad the relationship has to be for people to cut off all contact with parents. As a person who was fortunate in that regard, my heart really went out to those commenting.
These recreations of famous paintings are brilliant, JD. I’ve gone through them twice because they were so creative and full of expression. Thanks for posting.
‘Toon: There is , and was, no NEW Koch! These boys have been working for decades, literally, to undermine any, and all, hints of equality, racial, or economic, from the country.
New Yorker: His resumé screams of nastiness, and malfeasance, exactly what his boss looks for in an administrator!
MSNBC: You nailed it! Allow things to go sour, and then blame the cow.
Pat’s # 2 is like the original Faux News “Motto:” They called themselves “Fair and Balanced,” which was shorthand for “We Gonna Gaslight the Hell Out of You.” This one’s statement is like the puzzle that goes “Everything I say is a lie,” but more obvious.
Pat’s #3 is like “Is Kelly Anne still alive only because murder is illegal, and George does not work for Trump?”
Home and safe. I’m feeling a bit woozy, byt so far so good.
+That’s good. Thank you for letting us know. I hope you continue to feel – if not better – at least no worse.
Glad to hear that you made it back safely. I’ll be praying for you that you’ll be feeling better.
I suspect some of our more conservative counties made little effort to do testing and thus justify reopening sooner on low numbers testing positive. I like the criteria our governor established for initial stage reopening. What may be less known, is that just before the permission and criteria were shared the state rolled out additional drive thru testing sites for anyone who wants one (no doctor referral required) so no one has more than an hour’s drive from a location…so my county just got two sites. Also having our hottest day of 2020 so far here with next to no breeze–so I empathize.
FL apparently found cases as early as Dec. akin to France–related data for 100 early ones then disappeared from the state’s website. Not the first transparency issue with the pandemic in FL and thus TX may not be the only GOP governor losing credibility. UT is providing some masks free to people who otherwise cannot get/afford with public funds (also GOP). I see evidence similar to MD of their GOP not being willing to sacrifice their residents. Just read that 60,000 people from elsewhere have now entered the open GA.
Love your music choice–how we behave now will indeed teach our children how to cope with crisises in their futures.
Glad you weren’t zapped too hard and you made it back home safe, TomCat. Can you sleep with the lights/your glow on?
2:48 I wasn’t as slow as this turtle
Update: >2000 deaths a day, Republicans will like that as the majority of those stem from minority populations.
TNY: It is strange, isn’t it, Andy? Especially considering that the most incompetent and skill-deprived of them all, his boss, has sacked more people than anyone else in his position.
MSNBC: A man that acts in a way that he knows will kill people is called a murderer, a group of people that act in a way that they know will kill people and have people live in fear of their lives are called terrorists.
BFTP: One of their best songs in all respects: text, composition, arrangement & harmonies. A golden oldie with a message that never gets old.
Please forgive me, but I’m way behind this evening. Haven’t had much time on my laptop today. Will get back into action tomorrow.
Take care. Thanks TomCat
My internet was out of commission yesterday afternoon/evening. I finally got it back just before midnight. Telus does not know why but something in the background keeps deep sixing my wifi.
So, did you have some chili goop for dinner tonight? I did not see a glow in the dark green cloud coming in from the south! Hope things keep feeling OK when the woozies wear off!
Cartoon — What Mitch said. Read Nancy Maclean’s book “Democracy in Chains”
Trump Virus — Up, up and away! Trump should be charged with premeditated murder. US deaths now 78,200 and climbing.
The New Yorker — Sad when Andy does not use any name but we all know who he is talking about. Trump is a disgrace and should be soundly kicked out of the WH in November!
MSNBC — There was a line from the movie “A Clear and Present Danger” that went something like this “How can he be clear when clarity is not what he wants?” by a character referring to the president. Seems like that is what is going on in real life right now. Some might refer to it as plausible deniability. Me, I call it horse shit! No matter how he tries to twist and turn things, Trump still has boat loads of blood on his hands!
Blast — A great song!
I was too sickly to eat last night. I hope si send your glowing cloud this evening. 💨
Thanks ans painful hugs to all!
I thought The New Yorker was writing about Drumpf….Kushner meets these criteria, too, though…as does VP Dunce and Drumpf Lawyer Barr………….
wishing the best for you, TomCat, and all the other “old c2 gang”……stay safe, sane, happy, healthy and Vote, Vote, Vote Blue, Blue, Blue
Is New Coke still around? I haven’t seen it in a long time. I have met exactly one person who claimed to like it better than Coke “Classic.”