TomCat

Christmas 2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:33 am Holiday, Politics

Dec 252020

This year, once again, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday is appropriate to your beliefs. Since many of the Carols I’ve used in years past stopped working, I had to change the music I’m using to celebrate Christmas with you. Traditional Christmas Carols An hour of traditional Christmas carols sung by a church choir. 1. Silent Night 2. O Come All Ye Faithful 3. Away In A Manger 4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 5. Ding! Dong! Merrily On High 6. Joy To The World 7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 8. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear 9. Rocking 10. See Amid The Winter Snow 11. I Wonder As I Wander 12. De Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy 13. A Maiden Most Gentle 14. As With Gladness Men Of Old 15. The Shepherd’s Farewell 16. Past 3 O’Clock 17. A Child This Day Is Born 18. Deck The Halls 19. We Three Kings 20. White Christmas

Note that the last Carol is for our Republican friends, who we wish a hearty “Happy Holidays”. Finally I will restate last year’s warning, as our nation remains in dire peril, but not for long!

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name

that sat on him was Trump, and Pence followed with him.

And power was given unto them over the fourth part of

the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with

death, and with the beasts of the earth.

But because of YOU…

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet

that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived

them that had received the mark of the beast,

and them that worshipped his image.

These both were cast alive into a lake of

fire burning with brimstone.

YOU RESISTED!!

YOU Voted Blue!!

YOU Gave Us Cause to Celebrate!!

Personal Update – 12/25/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:32 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 252020

It’s a tired day here in the CatBox, and I’m going to spend the day resting, after I get my posting done. WWWendy is coming tomorrow and we will celebrate Christmas then. Santa says, Thank God it’s Friday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:30 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Take:

From YouTube (a blast of Celtic Woman): CHRISTMAS SONGS (NEW) BY CELTIC WOMAN

For me, it just isn’t Christmas without Celtic Woman. HUGS!!

25 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Open Thread – 12/24/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:26 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 242020

It’s a tired day, here in the CatBox. I overslept this morning, so I’m running a bit late. It’s Christmas Eve, and if you live in a red state, you need to beware. I trust that you understand that Republicans have invented a fake version of Jesus, Republican Supply-side Jesus. He uses Jesus’ name to spread the Nazi Republican pseudo-gospel of war, hate and greed. Republican Supply-side Jesus is the exact opposite of the real Jesus. The reason red state residents need to beware is that there is also a Republican Supply-side Santa. Like the real Santa, he comes down the chimney on Christmas eve, but instead of bringing presents, he steals the presents from poor and middle-class red state children, sells them, and uses the proceeds to buy presents for Republican billionaires, like new sheets and hoods to replace the ones Republicans have worn out through excessive use. So if you live in a red state, build a big fire in the fireplace, put flash-bangs in the stockings and replacer the cookies with turds. Merry Christmas Eve to you all, and SantaCat knows who’s been naughty and nice.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:43 (average 8:13). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Tracking Santa:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Ever-shameless, Donald Trump is now using the pardon power to promote outright corruption. In a slew of pardons tonight, Trump used the power to sabotage convictions of private-contractor war criminals, an array of Republican elected officials caught using their office to engage in crimes, and two of Trump’s own allies who pled guilty to lying to federal law enforcement officials in an effort to block special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of communications between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.

Receiving pardons tonight—and surely, there will be many more coming—are George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, who both pled guilty to lying to federal investigators probing Russian hacking and propaganda efforts on behalf of Trump. They join the previously pardoned Flynn, who pled guilty to lying as part of the same cover-up.

Also receiving pardons are three Republican congressmen caught committing crimes in office. California ex-Rep. Duncan Hunter stole donated campaign funds for his own personal use. New York ex-Rep. Chris Collins pled guilty to lying to the FBI and to attempting to commit securities fraud after being caught engaging in insider trading. Texas ex-Rep. Steve Stockman was convicted of money laundering. All three were unquestionably guilty of corruption in office; in pardoning each of the disgraced House Republicans, Trump is clearly signaling his contempt for those that would attempt to hold his political allies to account.

For good measure, and as reminder that aside from personal fealty of allies there are few things as seemingly dear to Trump’s heart as torturing or killing the innocent, Trump has also pardoned four Blackwater private contractors responsible for killing 17 civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, an act that fomented terrorism against U.S. forces for years afterwards.

There’s no subtlety to these pardons, and its almost certain that they are the prelude to a host of even more egregious ones.

When I think of the egregious losses, grief and suffering these bastards caused to victims and their loved ones, I want to scream! RESIST!!

From Crooks and Liars: Holy smokes! It looks like Diaper Don was correct with his complaints of faulty election results in at least two states. But he probably doesn’t really want to draw too much attention to them.

In Delaware County, Pennsylvania,, there was a confirmed incident of voter fraud:

In the weeks leading up to the presidential election, Elizabeth Bartman and Elizabeth Weihman registered to vote as Republicans in Nether Providence Township, Delaware County officials said Monday. There was one problem: Both women had been dead for several years.

The man behind those applications, Bruce Bartman, now faces two felony counts of perjury, as well as one count of unlawful voting for successfully casting an absentee ballot for President Donald Trump in the name of Elizabeth Bartman, his long-dead mother.

Bartman was arraigned Friday and released on $100,000 unsecured bail.

His lawyer, Samuel Stretton, said the 70-year-old takes full responsibility for the crimes, and will cooperate with investigators

“In his political frustration, he chose to do something stupid,” Stretton said. “And for that he is very sorry.”.

Bartman used his deceased mother’s driver’s license to register her to vote absentee and successfully cast a ballot for Trump in her name. He tried to do the same thing for his dead mother-in-law. But in that incident, he used her Social Security number, which triggered an alert in the state’s system. Even though Bartman signed a letter confirming that she was alive, he never tried to vote for her.

How many times have I said that, when isolated instances of voter fraud do occur, the perpetrators are virtually always Republican? RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Trump Vetoes Defense Spending Bill Setting Up Showdown With Congress

The disrespect this shoes to our men and women in uniform is totally disgusting! To Trump* and the Republican Reich, our troops matter only as cannon fodder. I have no doubt the veto will be overturned. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of Christmas): Silent Night arranged by Dan Forrest from Beckenhorst Press

Whether or not you are one who you believes in the deity of Jesus Christ, may the celebration of his birth, albeit poorly timed, bring you peace, love, comfort and joy. This year our nation is about to be given another chance. HUGS!!

26 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Personal Update – 12/23/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 232020

It’s a busy tired day here in the CatBox. Yesterday afternoon, two neighbors, both women, got into a fight in the hallway outside my door, waking me up. One had a dog that started barking and snarling. One woman and the dog screamed. The other woman had pulled the wall mount fire extinguisher and sprayed the other woman and the dog with it, filling the hallway with white powder. The fire alarm went off. It was two hours before it stopped and I could return to bed. They finished cleaning up the mess late last night. WWWendy is here, and we are busy. I’ll be back in the saddle tomorrow. Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:09 (average 4:55). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Take:

From YouTube (a blast of Christmas): What Child Is This, English Carol arr. Molly Ijames

Beautiful, or what? HUGS!!

27 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Open Thread – 12/22/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 222020

It’s a tired hectic day here in the CatBox. Yesterday’s Safeway delivery was almost a disaster. When the driver arrived, he had just a couple bags in his arms. He said there had been a lot of cancelations. We brought them upstairs. He was in a hurry, but I insisted that we compare the cancellations with what he had. It was soon obvious that the vast majority of my order was not accounted for. We went back downstairs. He went out to check his truck and came back with the rest of my order that “had been hiding”. He needed a hand truck to carry it. We brought upstairs. It took me over an hour to put everything away. There were a few legitimate cancellations that were out of stock in the store. They included all my sweets. Nevertheless, it could have been far worse and would have been a disaster had I not been such a hard ass about it. Tomorrow please expect no more than a Personal Update. It’s a WWWendy day. I’ll be back in the saddle on Christmas Eve. Tuesday is Flush your Republicans Day. Take extra care. The closer it becomes to the end the harder they are trying to get away.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:06 (average 5:09). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Russian hackers attempting to disrupt the U.S. government were disappointed to discover that it had already been thoroughly disabled, the hackers have confirmed.

Expecting to find a well-oiled machine that they could impair, the hackers instead came upon a barely operational mess that had already suffered what appeared to be four years of degradation.

Dmitri X (not his real name), was assigned to hack the Environmental Protection Agency’s computer systems and was “shocked” by the agency’s weakened condition.

“My job was to access the E.P.A.’s database and delete all of the environmental regulations,” he said. “There was nothing there left to delete.”

That’s straight news, Andy! With Republicans working so hard, Russians need no help to destroy America! RESIST!!

From Crooks and Liars: Everyone wants to show the happy videos of people getting vaccine shots.

The Governors in the 12 states that haven’t passed mask mandates especially want to get in on this hopeful news. They will crow about how Their President got them the vaccine. Not said, but implied, is that their refusal to pass a state-wide mask mandate was justified before and is not necessary now.

Image from: CNN

1222nomask_map

The experts say we will still need masks for months and we should NOT relax the mask protocols…

…Here are some ways to use the vaccination press conferences to pressure 12 Governors to pass mask mandates.

Method 1

Have the top medical experts tell the Governors behind the scenes, “You don’t get to be part of the vaccination press conference unless you pass a mask mandate.”

People in the public health medical community still want to believe that Governors will respond to facts and science. They won’t.

Withholding good PR at a press conference isn’t withholding their vaccine, just the reflected success of a vaccine.

But since most public health experts don’t want to be this direct, and the window for these first press conferences is closing, I suggest:

Method 2

PREPARE THE MEDIA for asking Governors why there is no mask mandate now and why they still won’t pass one.

This is especially important now that Trump botched the vaccine roll out!

First prep the experts to point out the EXCESS DEATHS that will happen because there is no MASK MANDATE. When the Governor still doesn’t respond with a mandate, post photos of DEAD NURSES to call out the GOVERNOR for NOT pushing a mandate before.

Click through for much more info. I fully support both methods. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Maddow: U.S. Mired In ‘3-Way Split Screen’ Of Trump Crises

I agree with Rachel. The one thing that should have been included is that, Republicans wanted mass deaths, because such a high proportion of the deaths are Blacks. I also worry about Trump inciting violence., and agree that he is desperate to escape prosecution that must follow to prevent a Republican Recurrance. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of Christmas): Beta Radio – Angels We Have Heard on High (Official Audio)

A beautiful arrangement of a classic carol! HUGS!!

28 Days (4 Weeks) Until the Big FLUSH!!

Personal Update – 12/21/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:11 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 212020

It’s a hectic day here in the CatBox. I received a text from Safeway.com that my order is on the way with a link to track my order. I clicked the link and got a “tracking temporarily offline” message. Fingers crossed. For pizza this week, I tried Pizza Hut. Unlike Dominos, which was fine, it was not edible with my stent after a night in the fridge. So WWWendy picked me up sandwiches from Subway, and they are fine. Tomorrow, I should be back in the saddle, barring unforeseen circumstances. Oh God, it’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:26 (average 5:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Take:

From YouTube (a blast of Christmas): The First Noel

Beautiful harmony here. HUGS!!

29 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Personal Update – 12/21/2020

Posted by TomCat at 9:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 202020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. WWWendy came earlier than usual this morning. She’s going out of town with her boyfriend for the weekend. His name is also Tom, so I plan to suggest that he may have my room for the weekend, and I get the booty call! Please expect no more than a Personal Update tomorrow. I have a big grocery order coming from Safeway.com. In the past, their service around holidays has been crappy at best.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:09 (average 5:11). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Religious Agony:

1219Broncos19-Bills48

Useless stinking Orb! Seriously, If they had played the way they played against KC, they would have won, but they stunk.

Short Take:

From YouTube (a blast of Christmas): Silent Night

A lovely arrangement of an old favorite! HUGS!!

30 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Open Thread – 12/19/2020

Posted by TomCat at 12:09 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 192020

It’s a tired day here in the CatBox, combined with a severe case of Republicitis. I’m late, because I just spent an hour on the throne. It’s a Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, and it will be tomorrow too. My Broncos are playing the Bills, and it will be televised here, because it’s a Saturday game, so I shall be meditating this afternoon. May the blessed Orb shine its holy light on your team, unless they dump Buffalo dung on the prairie. Tomorrow is a WWWendy Day, so please expect no more than a Personal Update.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:39 (average 5:12). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Calling the prospect a “nightmare scenario,” Betsy DeVos warned that President-elect Joe Biden will pick an Education Secretary with a background in education.

The outgoing Education Secretary warned that putting someone with a “pro-education bias” in her job would be like “naming a fox to be Secretary of Hens.”

“For the past four years, I have worked tirelessly to keep our schools free from education,” she said. “It deeply saddens me to think that all of my hard work will go to waste.”

Even more alarming, she said, Biden may name a “knowledgeable person” to replace her, a decision she called “disastrous.”

“In order to be impartial toward education, an Education Secretary must be as ignorant as possible,” she said. “I don’t mean to boast, but I am going to be a tough act to follow in that respect.”

Dang Andy! Is it true that Betsy Blackwater took this to Trump* with the recommendation that he appoint Colonel Sanders as his Secretary of Hens! RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: On Thursday, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel of outside experts voted to approve providing an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. The agency is expected to complete the creation of the EUA on Friday, which would free up shipments of the vaccine to get on their way across the country this weekend. But they may have to get in line, because the first vaccine that was approved is already failing to reach states in the quantities expected.

Despite months of listening to Donald Trump brag about the incredible military operation he had put together to distribute a vaccine that did not then exist, states are suddenly discovering that the shipments they were expecting have been drastically reduced without explanation. Meanwhile Pfizer seems just as confused—it says there are millions of doses sitting in its warehouse ready to go, but Trump’s team is allowing them to gather dust.

As Bloomberg reports, some states were informed on Wednesday that their supply of Pfizer’s vaccine would be cut drastically. For Oregon, that means a 40% drop in the 74,000 doses they had been expecting. Gov. Kate Brown tweeted that this was a federal decision made through “Operation Warp Speed.” Oregon is not alone. As The Washington Post reports, officials in multiple states were alerted that their shipments of the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech would be “drastically cut” for next week.

Notices that they would not be getting what they were earlier told was on the way went out to at least six states. That list includes Illinois, Washington, and Maine, in addition to Oregon. Meanwhile, Florida officials seem to have lost their shipments of vaccine altogether, saying they disappeared from the online shipping system.

I trust that nobody is surprised that Oregon leads the shortage list, since the Republican Reich was unsuccessful attacking us with their Gestapo. I heard nurses in the hospital angrily speculating among themselves that it was intentional sabotage. As for Florida’s shipments, you will find the vaccine at Mar-A-Lago clinic. It may be obtained for $500,000 – $1,000,000 Bankster Bucks per dose. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of Christmas): Low – Some Hearts (at Christmas Time)

I have never heard this tune before, but I consider it particularly appropriate, since this Christmas is such a lonely time for those who have lost loved ones and those separated from loved ones due to Trump* virus. May God grant them peace and relief, and may those of us who can comfort them do so. HUGS!!

31 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

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