It’s a new month here in the CatBox. Debora’s visit yesterday was routine. The problem with health visits is that I cannot lie down to rest my back in the morning, and that’s why I have excessive pain on those days. For a brace to give me relief was a long shot, and since it’s not likely to work, the insurance company won’t pay for it, so I won’t be getting it. Tomorrow will be another rough day, because WWWendy has to work. Therefore Dianna is coming to change my pain patch, and I’ll miss my morning nap again. Tuesday is Flush your Republicans Day. You might consider sitting on the lid for an hour.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:24 (average 5:08). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Gerardo Gutierrez, 70, died alone from COVID-19 in April. He contracted the virus at work in a Publix grocery story deli. Early in the pandemic, he asked his employer to allow him to wear a mask at work. According to Gutierrez’s family—who have filed a wrongful death suit—Publix refused his request. The chain eventually changed its stance to allow employees to wear masks, but it was too late for Gutierrez, whose adult children had to say goodbye to him on a video call. The lawsuit they brought last week includes numerous complaints made by Publix employees to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about the refusal of the grocer to allow them to use masks and gloves because they didn’t want to cause shoppers to panic.
“This is a case that needs to be prosecuted and that we need to push forward in our court system and shed light on what Publix was doing and why they were doing it,” the family’s attorney, Michael Levine, told the Tampa Bay Times. “The fact the they would chose profits over employees is shameful and disappointing.” It is shameful and disappointing and it’s how corporate America—with a big assist from Senate Republicans—operate. One of the primary poison pills for COVID-19 stimulus Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to budge from is blanket liability protections for employers like Publix to prevent suits like the Gutierrez’s. Or the suit from the family of the late Isidro Fernandez, who was killed by the virus after contracting it in a Tyson pork processing plant in Iowa—the plant where supervisors and managers were allegedly placing bets on how many workers were going to get sick. McConnell would let them all entirely off the hook, but even worse, he has been using it to hold essential relief for millions and millions of Americans hostage for months.
This is not a case of Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch backing criminal Fuhrer Trump*. It’s a case of Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch representing the Republican Reich. RESIST!!
From The New Yorker: In an attempt to demonstrate that he is in better physical condition than President-elect Joe Biden, Donald J. Trump spent part of Monday morning playing fetch with Mike Pence on the White House lawn.
The press corps was invited to the event, at which Trump, seated on a golf cart, hurled tennis ball after tennis ball at his Vice-President, who obediently retrieved them.
At one point in the demonstration, Pence paused to praise his boss’s “amazing stamina.”
Well, Andy, I have to admit it was fair. After all, both Biden and Trump* were playing with a dawg. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast for the planet): After the Gold Rush
Indeed, mother nature is on the run from the Republican Reich. We must stand up on her side! RESIST!!
49 Days (7 weeks) Until the Big FLUSH!!
17 Responses to “Open Thread – 12/1/2020”
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Cartoon: Amen! (what you said).
DK: How horribly sad. I hope that the Gutierrez family wins the wrongful death suit, as he could have been still alive if Publix had let him wear a mask. BBMM needs to go now!, the heartless bas-ard!
NYer: re: dt – Working for the people. What a wasted day, (and four years), eh?
YT: Take good care of our world for our next generations.
I hope that you get your new patch on all right with Dianna being there tomorrow, bummer about you not getting a brace. Hope that you get a chance to rest and relax, and that your pain diminishes at least a bit for you to be comfortable. Take good care, and Thanks, Tom.
This just in: Cartoon – ‘Santa Clause reading ‘Dear Santa’ letters to Mrs. Claus – “Little Donnie T. wants his run not to die. And little Rudy G. want his dye not to run? ~ Cartoon by: Tim Campbell H/T ~ Joanne D. ~
2. “Democrats make better appointments as they believe in Government. Republicans hate government. They often pick people who hate their positions. No wonder things don’t go well under R’s.” ~ Peter E. ~
3. “It’s hard to stomach listening to trump’s whining about cheating, when he and his people committed blatant public fraud and to steal the election. ~ Karen S. ~
4. “Jared Kushner is headed to Saudi Arabia this week – the timing seems odd right after the murder of the Iranian nuclear scientist. One can almost bet some nefarious deed, some grift is being played out.” ~ Sharman G. ~
5. “Choose your enemies wisely, for that’s who you may become.” ~ Confucius ~
6. “It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, and listen to each other again. To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemies. We are not enemies. We are Americans.”
~ Joe Biden ~
TJI #2 – This shows in other ways too. But it may be easier to see in appointments. No one is anyone without his/her team.
TJI #3 – I would think it hilarious – if so many people weren’t suckered by it.
TJI #4 – Well, but – if Saudi Arabia and Israel are now allies … maybe this is just what peace looks like in the Middle East? /S
TJI#2: They don’t hate their positions, they are put into positions of those institutions of the country that helped make the country great, in the first place, that they have been aching to destroy.
TJI#5: Quid pro quo, the only game TRump knows how to play?
Well,that sounds bleak. At least WWWendy will come Wednesday (I have found there are certain people who, when they come into a room I am in, my pain doesn’t exactly go away, but it becomes noticeably less. I hope WWWendy has that effect on you), and you’ll have a new patch.
This is so touching – hanky and/or trigger alert – but I want to say a must-read.
Cartoon – Sometimes I want to “sing” about the “unsung” heroes – and there were so many. But I’m glad we have Rosa Parks’ example – a true American hero.
DKos – As everyone knows, I have worked in insurance, including liability insurance, although not commercial insurance. But I do know just as, for instance, the owners of the building of a retail store, or an office building, owe a higher duty to persons who have come there to perform services than those who have just come to shop ot do other business, I can’t believe the the same would not be true of the duty to employees, at least in common law. Of course, that’s why BBM wants to legislate – to override the common law – just as has been done for gun manufacturers. (I would hope in both of the cases cited, Workers Comp – if available – which it should be – has been paid to the limit?)
Andy – “seated on a golf cart” – of course he would be.
Blast – I can’t say I’m surprised that the (now vanished) screenplay which inspired Young was never produced. There is a limit to the flak that Hollywood will take, even in a good cause, and even then, before the violence got to the point it’s at now.
WWWendy has that effect on pain.
Cartoon: Oh so very true…a Real Hero.
DK: Despicable. Senseless killing/death. Here Gerardo Gutierrez wanted to take preventive steps by wearing a mask. How a senseless employer could be so cruel? I too hope that the Gutierrez family can sue to the fullest. Plus that they can prosecute the company, to teach other employers to be for their employees not just for their stocks.
TNY: Pat stated exactly what I’ve been saying about tRumpy along, ever since he walked into the W.H. four years ago, He’s done nothing except screw our country, the people, animals, environment etc. in every way he possibly could.
BFTP: Good tune by Neil. We must care about our environment.
Sure hope your back gets to feeling better. Have you tried using heat or cold packs when you lie down? How about a Tenz Unit? Maybe it’s something you can ask Debora.
Hope you get some rest today. Take care. Thanks TomCat
Good grief, I’ve used Tenz, and benefitted, but I never thought of it. How dense could I be! And even if insurance doesn’t cover them, they are available at very reasonable prices. – like under $50 (actually under $30 when I last looked.) It helps to have extra pads, and extra gel, but those are also inexpensive, and you don’t need them right away or all at once. Thank you, Colleen.
Thank’s Colleen. See today’s Open thread on why Tenz won’t work.
Pain when it is not acting to warn us to be careful, as in “Don’t hit that thumb with the hammer again!” is useless, and sucks.
‘Toon: Rosa Parks’ legacy is far from fulfilled.
DK: Republicans acting like Republicans also sucks!
New Yorker: Shortly before 12:00 noon, on Jan.20th, Pence will be removed from federal property and returned to the pound from which he came. Trump will mourn the loss of his last ass kisser.
NeilYoung: Mother Nature is still running for hr life. However, Trump’s EPA’s final push for de-regulation is running into inside resistance: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/climate/epa-trump-biden.html?
“Choose your enemies wisely, for that’s who you may become.” – Years ago, I regarded Liberals as my enemy–
Sounds ike you took good advice.
Happy December….the Daily Kos story saddening and maddening…but less so than McConnell holding up covid relief…..fortunately, the New Yorker never fails to make one laugh….
Unfortunately, your insurance will not pay for the brace but as it is custom made and may not work, the decision is understandable. Is there no way to adjust schedules on either side so that you can rest your back enough to avoid the worst of the pain, TomCat?
3:00 Sorry, you need to get yourself something else for dinner.
Cartoon: This heroine’s defiance even shows in her mugshot.
DK: McConnell literally lets Corporate America get away with murder. It’s finally dawning on some people who the real villain is: Trump, listening to anything advantageous whispered in his ear or McConnell/the GOP doing all the whispering.
TNY:
Brilliant.
BFTP: Song by Neill Young I know and like best even though his voice rubs my auditory nerves the wrong way.
TJI#3: Beginning to look like one of Donnie’s major goals was to monetize the Oval Office by taking BRIBES to grant PARDONS
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/bribe-for-pardon-investigation/2020/12/01/2b7be1e6-342e-11eb-b59c-adb7153d10c2_story.html
Stephen Colbert Fights Back Tears During Emotional ‘Late Show’ Monologue About Donald Trump And The U.S. Election
Stephen Colbert
I could not embed this perhaps because it is in a Twitter feed or Colbert is on CBS which will not play videos in Canada. To be sure, it goes back to about 06/11/20 so you may already have seen it.
In my opinion, Trump is a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the US and the world as are Republicans at all levels who enable this fascist every day. Somebody needs to take Traitor Trump out behind the wood shed and beat the crap out of him. Trump is poison to American values and the constitution!
I went to your link and followed it to YouTube – CC was alread y on – I don’t know whether it worked on account of my process, or just becaue I’m in the US. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt, even if people have seen it (which I hadn’t)
Thanks and tired Hump Day Hugs to all!