Open Thread – 2/26/2019

Posted by TomCat at 9:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Feb 262019

It’s a very cold day here in the CatBox, and it will likely stay that way, at least through the weekend. It’s almost 20° below average. I want to crawl under my covers and hunker down.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 5:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: A Bold New Idea to Boost Wages

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right, but one more provision is needed to benefit the disabled/retired poor: an Unearned Income Tax Credit. No American should have to live in poverty, when billionaires get welfare. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Elizabeth Warren Talks 2020 Campaign With Chris Hayes

I touched on this yesterday, but she explains it far better than I could have. Anti-corruption would be a great place to start. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: …J. Beauregard Sessions was a legitimate threat to America’s secular government as Trump’s attorney general, but his theocratic aspirations paled in comparison to Trump’s latest theocratic cabinet member – a conservative Catholic malcontent who is unlikely to ever defend the U.S. Constitution because it is a secular document. It is noteworthy that Sessions only stated that, according to his mind, the separation of church and state in the Constitution is a concept that is unconstitutional. However, his replacement ardently believes that America’s government is duty-bound to enforce god’s laws because there is no place for secularism.

In a 1995 essay, Barr expressed the extremist Christian view that “American government should not be secular;” secularism is an abomination in Barr’s theocratic mind despite the law of the land is unmistakably secular. Furthermore, Barr contends America’s government is supposed to be imposing “a transcendent moral order with objective standards of right and wrong that flows from God’s eternal law;” eternal law best dictated by the Vatican and taught in public schools at taxpayer’s expense.

It is true that as attorney general William Barr will defend Trump’s criminality and corruption; it is one of the only reasons Trump nominated him. However, the real danger to the nation is Barr’s belief that the government’s primary function should be defending and enforcing his god’s moral edicts while ardently opposing any legislative branch effort to make secular laws according to the secular Constitution…

Beware the evil of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, like Barr and Pence. They are the exact opposite of real Christians. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 2/17/2019

Posted by TomCat at 1:04 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Feb 172019

It’s a chilly day here in CatBox. WWWendy says hi to all, and assurer that the TomCat is de-stunk. This is today’s only article from me.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:38 (average 5:27). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Trump Press Conference Cold Open – SNL

Once again, Alec Baldwin does a better Trump impersonation than Trump. RESIST!!

From Raw Story: Wyoming state senator says she supports the death penalty because that’s how Jesus died.

On Thursday, the Wyoming state Senate voted down a proposal to abolish the death penalty 18 to 12 — the sixth straight session in which the legislature rejected this proposal, although the margin was closer than usual as some Republicans decided capital punishment is too expensive. By far the most memorable argument in the debate, however, came from the other side, when GOP Sen. Lynn Hutchings argued Wyoming needs to keep the death penalty because that’s how Jesus died.

“The greatest man who ever lived died via the death penalty for you and me,” said Hutchings. “I’m grateful to him for our future hope because of this. Governments were instituted to execute justice. If it wasn’t for Jesus dying via the death penalty, we would all have no hope.”

As a Republican Pharisee, Hutchings wants to be able to kill Democrats, whose policies reflect the views of the real Jesus. This is the fifth of five Republican outrages last week. Click through for the other four. RESIST!!

From The Palmer Report: During his incoherent and rambling Rose Garden meltdown late last week, Donald Trump gave away a number of things that would have been better kept to himself. For instance, during a particularly deranged rant about President Obama, Trump revealed that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize. This revelation has quickly led to the whole thing being exposed as a fraud.

Because Prime Minister Abe was suddenly caught in the middle of one of Donald Trump’s international disasters, major Japanese newspaper Asahi has fired back by exposing the real story. It’s true that Abe nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize – but only because the United States government asked Abe to do so. There are almost no words to describe how bad this is for Trump.

There are only two possibilities here. One is that Donald Trump had his people ask Abe to nominate him for the Nobel prize, because Trump was trying to put himself on par with President Obama, who won a Nobel prize while in office. The other possibility is that Trump’s people went behind his back and asked Abe to nominate Trump, in an attempt at making Trump think it happened organically, thus boosting Trump’s flagging spirits.

My money is on Door Number One. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Only because it stopped!

Open Thread – 2/6/2019

Posted by TomCat at 12:49 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Feb 062019

I watched the whole thing so you didn’t have to. Thank God it’s a shower day with WWWendy! After that, I feel like I’ve been living in an outhouse basement. It’s also a very busy day, as I have to unpack and stow my groceries, when they are delivered. It’s also a frigid day: currently 27°. Brrrr!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:31 (average 6:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address and Hannity commentary mirror each other

Barf Bag Alert!!

It looks like the Fuhrer stole half his SOTU lies from a Faux Noise sphincter. RESIST!!

From The Borowitz Report: Vice-President Mike Pence has begged Donald J. Trump not to make him sit next to a woman during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, sources confirmed on Monday.

According to those sources, an emotional Pence came close to breaking down in tears as he explained that being seated next to a woman other than his wife was a violation of his personal code of behavior.

Pence offered Trump a variety of solutions to the problem, including introducing a third chair between him and the woman where his wife, Karen Pence, could be seated for the duration of the speech, “to make sure that that woman doesn’t try anything.”

“Let Mother sit next to me, or let me sit on Mother’s lap, but don’t make me sit next to that woman alone,” Pence reportedly sobbed.

Oh, Andy! Trump made him do it! The poor, pseudo-Christian misogynist! RESIST!!

From Alternet: Senator Lindsey Graham once said, “It’s really American to avoid paying taxes…It’s a game we play.”

There are many good reasons why Americans should be paying those taxes, and why there should be even higher taxes on the richest individuals and corporations. Of course, these arguments have generally been ignored. But there are several good personal reasons for wealthy Americans to reconsider the tax issue, to start focusing on the importance of a more equal society, and to trust the democratic system to make that happen.

1. They Should Be Scared to Death about Potential Threats to Their Personal Safety

A new industry has developed in doomsday shelters for rich people awaiting Armageddon. But bunkers and security forces won’t be much defense against viruses and microdrones. Or against all-out war or revolution.

Lindsey Poo is a turd. I shared part of the first of three included reasons. Click through for the other two. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 1/14/2019

Posted by TomCat at 12:01 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Jan 142019

It’s another busy day here in the CatBox. I finally got ahold of the computer tech. He thought our appointment was on the 18th, and did not get my messages, because he was out of town. He’s giving me a free hour, and he will be here tomorrow morning. As a result, I will only be preparing a Personal Update or an Open Thread. I won’t be sending links messages on Care2.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:48 (average 5:28), To do it, click here. How did you do.

Short Takes:

From YouTube (NBC Channel): Full Panel: ‘What is the story with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin?’ | Meet The Press

Even Cardenas was afraid to goose-step with his Fuhrer. Putin’s Pervert is in major trouble. RESIST!!

From Alternet: We find it easy to dismiss the fantastical beliefs of people in other times and places, but those that we’ve been exposed to since childhood seem not so far out. Virgin birth? Water turning into wine? A fig tree shriveling on the spot? Dead people getting up out of their graves and walking around?

All of the following beliefs are found in respected religions today. They have been long taught by religions that either are considered part of the American mainstream or are home grown, made in the U.S.A., produced here and exported. Some of these beliefs are ensconced in sacred texts. Others are simply traditional. All, at one time or another, have had the sanction of the highest church authorities, and many still do.

How many of them can you match up with a familiar religious tradition? (The answers are at the bottom.)

Click trough to take the quiz. I scored 19 of 20, missing #19. How did you do? RESIST!!

From RWW: With Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg missing oral arguments this week as she recovers from surgery to remove cancerous tumors from her lungs, Religious Right activists are circling the Supreme Court like vultures, gleeful at what they see as an imminent opportunity to seal a solid far-right majority on the Supreme Court and fulfill their goals to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminate legal equality for LGBTQ people, undermine separation of church and state and roll back decades of court rulings and federal programs protecting worker safety, public health, and the environment. Trump boosters have been praying since his election that God would “remove” Supreme Court justices, who enjoy lifetime appointments, so that Trump would be able to fill the vacancies.

Earlier this week, Jerry Falwell Jr. re-tweeted right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s tweet [anti-Christian de-linked]mentioning Ginsburg and Justice Stephen Breyer and calling it “Bad news for Democrats” that the “two oldest judges on the bench are radical liberals.” Gary Bauer noted Ginsburg’s absence at oral arguments and linked to a Daily Caller story about the White House making “quiet preparations” to fill a vacancy, which Bauer said “would be an incredible opportunity for a first-term president.”

Anti-gay activist Matt Barber tweeted [anti-Christian de-linked] last night that he was praying for Ginsburg “in her twilight time” that she would “accept Christ as her Lord & Savior & beg His forgiveness for the millions of innocent babies she’s helped to slaughter.”

Barber followed up by tweeting [anti-Christian de-linked]—with the caption “Warming up in the bullpen”—a photo of Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump-nominated federal appeals court judge who has been on his Supreme Court short list, and who has been declared God’s choice for the Supreme Court by dominionist “prophets” and Religious Right leaders.

The author calls these Republican pseudo-Christians ‘vultures’, as they pray for RBG to die so their Fuhrer can appoint Amy Coney Barrett. As an Injustice on SCROTUS (Republican Unconstitutional VD), she would be worse than Kava-Nazi. That’s unfair to the vultures. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 1/5/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:28 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Jan 052019

As always, it’s a busy day here in the CatBox. Store to Door returns next week, so I’m starting to plan my menu. Today and Tomorrow are High Holy Days, as the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb celebrates the annual Festival of Cards Gone Wild. My Broncos are not in the playoffs, because they stink. May the Orb shine its blessed light upon your team. Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, and we have a pants load of chores. Therefore, please expect no more than a Personal Update with no links messages on Care2.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:43 (average 4:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Democrats Paint Stark Contrast With Outgoing Republicans (18:29)

"HR1 is the most far reaching reform plan to be introduced in Congress, since the Watergate era." This is a beautiful way to introduce voters to what the Democratic Party wants to do. We must publicize the bill (text of HR1 here) and the tactics Republicans use to keep it from becoming law. RESIST!!

From YouTube (RWW Channel): RWW News: Hank Kunneman Prophesies That God Will Use 2019 to Divide the Democrats

Barf Bag Alert!!

I hate to say this. To be divided, Democrats have never needed help from hate-filled, rabid pseudo-Christians (the opposite of real authentic Christians) or Republican Supply-side Jesus (a Republican invention that is the opposite of the real Jesus). We have accomplished that all by ourselves. That MUST stop NOW! RESIST!!

From Alternet: 1. Tucker Carlson warns women being paid more than men will destroy society.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is by now well-known for his on-air appeals to white nationalism. Last month, his remarks that immigrants make America “poorer and dirtier” have caused him to lose a raft of advertisers in recent weeks. But he also has a serious problem with women — and according to his broadcast on Wednesday, rising pay for women will lead to “men in decline.”

Carlson claimed that because “male-dominated” industries like manufacturing are in decline in some parts of the country, but schools, hospitals, and other places that employ large numbers of women are in as high demand as ever, “in many areas, women suddenly made more than men … Study after study shows that when men make less than women, women generally no longer want to marry them.”

“Over big populations this causes a drop in marriage, a spike in out-of-wedlock births and all the familiar disasters that inevitably follow. More drug and alcohol abuse, higher incarceration rates, fewer families formed in the next generation,” Carlson warned…

…Naturally, Carlson doesn’t provide any sourcing for these claims. Nor does he seem to have noticed that women in fact earn less than men on average, not more.

This is the first of five most ridiculous Republican moments of week. Click through for the other four. RESIST!!

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Republicans on Parade – 12/24/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:12 pm Politics, Religion

Dec 242018

Here is the one hundred forty-fifth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Republican Supply-side pseudo-Jew, Dennis Prager. He is so honored for claiming that the War on Christmas has taught heathen youth to let strangers drown instead of saving them.

[C]onservative radio host Dennis Prager told Fox & Friends on Monday that he says “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy holidays” to honor his country.

During a Christmas Eve interview on Fox & Friends, host Brian Kilmeade asked Prager why it is important to say “Merry Christmas.”…

…“It matters because it’s a national holiday,” Prager explained. “People have to understand, I’m a Jew. Okay? Christmas is not my religious holiday, but Christmas is my national holiday, on de facto and legal grounds. On legal grounds, it’s a national holiday. I honor my country. Number two, the vast majority of my fellow citizens celebrate this holiday.”…“They don’t like ‘In God We Trust’ on our coins, they don’t like Christmas as a national holiday,” Prager complained. “I fear a radically secularized America. I fear it. As a Jew, I fear it.”

“I know what happens when people no longer have a God-based frame of reference for their ethics,” he added. “Two-thirds of the high school kids I’ve asked in the last in the last 40 years, ‘Would you save your dog or a stranger if both were drowning?’ [They] won’t save the stranger because ‘I love my dog, don’t love the stranger.’ But if you have a Judeo-Christian value system, you know that people are created in God’s image, dogs are not.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Raw Story>
Graphic credit: http://www.amateuridiotprofessionaldad.com/donald-trump-war-christmas/

Here’s the video:

What total BS! First if 2/3 of the kids Prager asked really said that, he only asked three, and they were paid and told what to say. One forgot his lines.

Second, as a lifeguard and lifeguard trainer in my youth, I had occasion to rescue several people from drowning over the years. The notion that they were in God’s image never crossed my mind. I did it because I saw people in need of help.

Third, I’m proud to be friends with several atheists, who do not have a "God-based frame of reference". They are more ethical, responsible, and loving than any Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian. The notion that religious is the same as moral is a lie.

Finally, I am a lefty, and I do not hate Christmas. In fact, I am a Christian. Many of the lefties I know are also Christians. We are not waging war on Christmas, nor are the lefties we know. I greet most people with "Merry Christmas" at this time of year. I reserve "Happy Holidays" for Republican-Supply-side pseudo-Christians and one Republican Supply-side pseudo-Jew.

RESIST!!

Republicans on Parade – 12/19/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:53 pm Politics, Religion

Dec 192018

Here is the one hundred forty-fourth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is Republican DOJ Public Affairs Director appointee Kerri Kupec. She is so honored for substituting Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian hatred against LGBT Americans for fair equal treatment.

A top job in the Department of Justice may seem out of reach for a graduate of a bottom-tier law school, but if that bottom-tier law school is Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, Donald Trump is president, and said graduate embraces a future of hatemongering, the sky is the limit. Just ask Kerri Kupec, the recently appointed director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Justice Department.

Kupec, a 2011 Liberty Law grad [pseudo-Christians delinked], is perfect for her new position, which opened up after the ouster of Attorney General Jeff Sessions just after the midterm elections. Kupec replaces Sarah Isgur Flores, a longtime Sessions ally, according to the Daily Beast; Flores now works for Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein….

…So how does a fairly recent graduate of a subpar law school find herself in such a crucial PR position? For Kupec, it took years of hard work spreading homophobia and the right-wing agenda through the Alliance Defending Freedom [GOP hate group delinked], a nonprofit that describes itself as “an alliance for victory,” founded because “Christian leaders … recognized that Christians … needed to unite in order to defend religious freedom before it was too late.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center, on the other hand, has identified the ADF as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.

(T)he Alliance Defending Freedom is a legal advocacy and training group that has supported the recriminalization of homosexuality in the U.S. and criminalization abroad; has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad; has linked homosexuality to pedophilia and claims that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society. ADF also works to develop “religious liberty” legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBT people on the basis of religion.

Since the election of President Donald Trump, the ADF has become one of the most influential groups informing the administration’s attack on LGBT rights working with an ally in Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The SPLC also notes that the ADF is essentially a farm system for the conservative machine in D.C.

Kupec has spent the last four years as a mouthpiece [GOP hate group delinked] for the powerful organization, typically ranting about supposed attacks on religious freedom on such respected networks as the Christian Broadcasting Network and Fox News. The new DOJ OPA director also made the rounds on the Christian college keynote circuit…

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

She is now responsible with how DOJ interacts with the media.

The article included a video of her defending unequal treatment of a gay couple. Watch her talk of love, while spewing hateful lies.

For the record, Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, like Kupec, are the exact opposite of real authentic Christians. She and her ilk are like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes that Jesus rebuked regularly. America needs better!

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 12/18/2018

Posted by TomCat at 1:14 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Dec 182018

I had a dozen chores this morning, so I’m way late and very tired.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:20 (average 5:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the news from our own fantasy football league.

Playoffs:

Congrats to Pam and Vivian for winning their first round games. WWWendy and I had first round byes. Patty Monster and Squatch do not have second round games, but they will the following week.

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a tense meeting on Monday, leading Cabinet members warned Donald J. Trump that shutting down the federal government would make it exponentially harder for them to steal from.

Led by his Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, the Cabinet members begged Trump to prevent a government showdown that would bring their brazen spree of pillaging the nation’s coffers to a screeching halt.

“Mr. President, with the federal government up and running, I was able to take seven trips on military aircraft at a cost of eight hundred thousand dollars,” Mnuchin said. “I implore you, sir: don’t make me fly coach.”

Trump’s three oldest children, Ivanka, Eric, and Don, Jr., who have piled up impressive taxpayer-funded travel bills of their own, chimed in with an emotional plea to their father. “Daddy, please don’t make us stop plundering government money,” Ivanka said. “Not right before Christmas.”

Dang, Andy! That’s a valid point! But Trump is too stupid to get it. RESIST!!

From YouTube (NY Times Channel): The Secret History of Muslims in the U.S

Cool! I do have a Muslim friend. In fact, he’s a gay Muslim friend. He couldn’t be nicer or kinder. Reject GOP hatred. RESIST!!

From NBC: While she didn’t win the crown, Angela Ponce broke barriers on Monday in the 67th Miss Universe pageant. The 27-year-old Spanish beauty became the first transgender woman to ever participate in the international competition.

Kudos to Angela. She has courage and looks good. RESIST!!

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