It’s another sick painful day here in the CatBox. Since I have to be up for Diana’s visit, I might as well put the time to good use with this article, but this is my only article today. Tomorrow, please expect no more than a Personal Update. WWWendy is coming a day late, because she works her bartending job tonight, and Diana can change my patch when she’s here. I’ll finish after Diana comes. Diana thinks I should call in. She does not think they’ll send me to the hospital. She thinks they’ll just set me up with the stent surgeon. TGIF!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:14 (average 4:43). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoons:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 6,880,914
US Deaths: 202,307
Plus thousands of Trump’s GOP plague murders Republicans are hiding from us.
These stats come from worldometer, an international organization. The NY Times also uses their data. they are more accurate than US (Trump*-muzzled) stats.
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: A Michigan pastor has been hearing a whole lot from the public recently after sending an email to journalist Sarah Jeong—which was then posted by Jeong on her Twitter account. In the email, the christian (with a little “c”) David Muns threatens Jeong with genital mutilation, calling her a “bitter Asian woman.” The entirety of his statement will be discussed below, and includes graphic language, but those are the broad strokes.
Muns was supposedly responding to a meme that attributed a fake quote to Jeong, from her time on The New York Times editorial board. Someone (or someones) spent a good amount of time coming up with some wildly awful things to say about white folks and white children, and then attributed them all to Jeong. These quotes were debunked back in 2018, but Muns, not much for reading deeply into things, clearly missed the memo.
The nasty email that Muns sent reads: “How about if we took all the little bitter Asian women and had a lottery and cut their clits like the Muslims do. Not a very classy position is it, neither is your trashy little bitter personality towards white men. Only in a world where journalism is controlled by brain dead Liberals do you people even have jobs.”
If I were not feeling so bad, this typical Republican pseudo-Christian (the exact opposite of a real Christian) POS would get a parade! What a jerk! RESIST!!
From NY Times: When Donald J. Trump first ran for the White House, he promised to “come up with a great health plan,” one that would repeal the Affordable Care Act but replace it with something better while maintaining its biggest selling point: protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Once elected, he swore he had a “wonderful plan” and would be “putting it in fairly soon.”
On Tuesday night, President Trump was at it again, during a town-hall-style meeting broadcast on ABC, where he was schooled by Ellesia Blaque, an assistant professor of Africana and ethnic literatures at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. She told him she had a congenital illness, demanded to know what he would do to keep “people like me who work hard” insured — and cut him off when he tried to interrupt her.
“We’re going to be doing a health care plan very strongly, and protect people with pre-existing conditions,” Mr. Trump told her, adding, “I have it all ready, and it’s a much better plan for you.”
Amen. This lie is old bullshit. The only “health care” plan we’ll ever see from Trump* and/or the Republican Reich is RepubliCare. Those who can pay get overpriced care. Those who can’t pay get the RepubliCare Death Benefit. They get to die. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast of past protest): People Got To Be Free – The Rascals
Ah… the memories! Protest like the 60s! RESIST!!
9 Responses to “Open Thread – 9/18/2020”
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Happy Birthday, Mitch! Hope that you have a wonderful and great day!
Cartoon2: Yep.
DK: Such a mean, hateful horrible man. He’s a pastor?? NOT!
NYT: Woman who stood her ground. Kudos to Ellisia Blaque for standing up and I wish her well healthwise too.
Republicare: Yea. Whoops!
BOP: Great song, can still sing along too!
Oh, Tom, I hope that your pain abates, and quickly! Hi, Diana! Hi, WWWendy! Get your rest, take care, and get in a nap if you can, Tom. Thanks!
*This just in: SDNY: “Lev Parnas And David Correia Charged With Conspiring To Defraud Investors In Their Fraud Insurance Company “Fraud Guarantee”
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/lev-parnas-and-david-correia-charged-conspiring-defraud-investors-their-fraud-insurance
2. “Former Pence aide, Olivia Troye, resigned and says she will vote for Biden because of trump’s flat-out disregard for human life during pandemic.” ~ Louis H. ~ *since then…another aide has resigned (Miles Taylor) from dt’s staff. *pb*
3. “All I can say and hope for, is that Joe Biden has the entire White House fumigated thoroughly before moving in. ~ George C. ~
TJI #1 – I still think he was accurate on Trump* and Rudy because i don’t think he has the guts to gamble that coing out with dirt on them would protect him (in fact it hasn’t.)
TJI #2 – Either Taylor resigned first, or else Troye did but didn’t immediately speak out – because he was certainly in the news before she was.
TJI #3 – Isn’t that the truth! And also checked for bugs of the other kind (maybe that’s even more important)!
Wonderful crop today!
I think I’d listen to Diana. But you need to do what you think is best. Hi to WWWendy and Diana. Hope all goes well for all three of you.
Cartoon I – Mitch! The happiest of birthdays! And many more!
Cartoom II – That’s it exactly.
Map – More accurate than muzzled figures, but still lagging on deaths.
DKos – I saw this somewhere, and remarked there, that )besides the fact that she never said or posted anything like this) he is a lousy anatomist. I mean, I am not any kind of n=medical professional, but even I know that the body part(s) which correspond(s) to the one(s) castration removes is(are) the ovaries. Also that neither of those operations, in themselves, prevents any future achievement of sexual pleasure (although, since the most important sex organ is actually the brain, either might have that effect if the brain is weak.) I suppose he has blocked that, if he ever knew it, because that surgery would prevent future pregnancy and oh, my, we “christians” (small c) can’t have that, can we? Only in a world where pastors are required to have no education would he even have a job.
NYT – If he had any kind of a plan, and if it was any good, it would already be law. Republicans would not stand in the way of Trump* proposed legislation, regardless of their personal opinions, and Democrats would not stand in the way of good legislation which would help people just because it was Trump*’s proposal (unless it also contained a poison pill). Clearly his only plan is the one in your cartoon (although that cartoon leaves me wondering how someone so poor managed to get a wheelchair, or even borrow one. Well, it belongs to the Republican now. I see he carefully held on to it.
BOP – So simple and so obvious. Only a cultist could oppose it.
Happy Birthday Mitch!
Thanks TC–I like this map–the changed data graphics my county is now using does not include the number in my area, and sometimes the others I care about more, due to not noting what happened when they shrank the map–sometimes half the total for the area number does not show…and last week our deaths double (now 4) and cases have been over 1000 for awhile, but like most of CA percent positive has gone down…and for us some days are way too few tests, too–now at 2.2% per 100,000.
I see Muns behavior in keeping with the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes and other offensive, racist behavior dating back to the blaming China for the virus initial event.
Loved how much fact checking that town hall got!
Hope all needed related to stents comment emerges both swiftly and smoothly with all the answers you need TV.
Hoping that all the medical decisions taken will be for the best!
Thanks for the Birthday wishes!!!!!!
‘Toon: May the GOP find itself under water…soon!
TVU: Relentless, isn”t it?
ST: Bozo!!!!
NYT: More of the same. This comment does not deserve an “!,”because this must be something like the thousandth time he’s promised this, often saying that it will be out in the next 3-3 weeks.
BOP: Indeed!
Regarding freedom, I just finished copying some material from combination edition of Primo Levi’s books, “If this is a Man,” and “Truce.” these are about his time in an Auschwitz concentration camp, and his wandering journey home, to Italy. In the Postscript he answers some questions commonly presented to him. the books come from 1958, and 1963, respectively, but they speak to this time, so focused on the lunatic residing in the White House. So, excuse me for burdening you all with this:
“How can the Nazis’ fanatical hatred of the Jews be explained?” is question asked of Levi-Aside from the standard answer, that “…for centuries it (anti-Semitism) had a prevailingly religious character” and so on, Levi states that “In rereading the chronicles of Naziism from its murky beginnings to its convulsed end, I cannot avoid the general atmosphere of uncontrolled madness that seems to me to be unique in history. This collective madness, this ‘running off the rails,’ is usually explained by postulating the combination of many diverse factors, insufficient if considered singly, and the greatest of these factors is Hitler’s personality itself and its profound interaction with the German people. It is certain that’s personal obsessions, his capacity for hatred, his preaching of violence, found unbridled echoes in the frustration of the German people, and for this reason came back to him multiplied, confirming his delirious conviction that he himself was the Hero prophesied by Nietzsche, the superman redeemer of Germany.”Actually, Nietzsche did not do that, but after his death, his anti-semitic sister twisted his writings in that direction. pg.441He goes on to say that we ought not, really “try” to understand it, because understanding would make it rather “normal,” that it is beyond understanding. But, “If understanding is impossible, knowing is imperative, because what happened could happen again. Conscience can be seduced and obscured again – even our consciousnesses.For this reason, it is everyone’s duty to reflect on what happened . Everybody must know, or remember, that when Hitler and Mussolini spoke in public, they were believed, applauded, admired like gods. They were ‘charismatic leaders’; they possessed a secret power of seduction that did not proceed from the credibility or soundness of the things they said but from the suggestive way in which they said them, from their eloquence, from their histrionic art, perhaps instinctive, perhaps patiently learned and practised. The ideas they proclaimed were not always the same and were, in general, aberrant, or silly, or cruel. And yet they were acclaimed with hosannahs and followed to the death by millions of the faithful.” “It is therefor necessary to be suspicious of those who seek to convince us with means other than reason, and of charismatic leaders: we must be cautious about delegating to others our judgement and our will. Since it is difficult to distinguish true prophets from false, it is well to regard all prophets with suspicion.” pg. 442-443.
Happy Birthday, Mitch. Hope you enjoy your special day.
TVU: We’ll know Tuesday if we hare in the purple zone, where many places will have to close again.
DK: Despicable. A pastor?? Sure doesn’t seem like it. Must preach to tRump, same evil traits.
NYT: tRump loves singing the same old tune about healthcare. All talk no action. I applaud Ellisia Blaque. Wish others would be so bold.
BOP: Great one.
Pray that you’re doing better. That you have a good visit with Diana. Please call in like Dian suggests. If that a call to Evelyn? Your health is important.
Take care. Thanks TomCat
I think the Stent sounds like a good idea – and something that hopefully will provide a permanent solution.
Happy Birthday, Mitch! Hope you like chocolate cakes …
I LOVE interactive maps! Thanks!
For our Jewish friends celebrating Rosh Hashanah, L’shanah tovah
The phrase is short for “lLshanah tovah tikatevu ve techatemu”, meaning “May you be inscribed and sealed (in the Book of Life) for a good year”
Diana is a wise woman and you should listen to her advice, TomCat. Call in and discuss your stent-options with them.
2:38 Clear indeed.
For my birdwatching friend:
Cartoon: I doubt whether they would allow you to drown yourself in their backyard pool.
Update: It looks like its getting better in the US but it is still the worst country to be in, COVID-wise.
DK: No doubt Michigan pastor Muns is a good representative of his Michigan flock and first checked its reaction to his views when he blared it from the pulpit in his church.
NYT: Four years ago, Trump didn’t have a health plan; Trump hasn’t got a health plan now and he will never have a health plan. And his voters couldn’t care less.
BOP: A simple truth in ear-bug form. Nice to get infected with it again.