Open Thread–5/8/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:51 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 082020

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:

0508TrumpVirusMap

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!!

Open Thread–5/2/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 022020

It’s another painful day here in the CatBox. Hopefully next week’s radiation therapy will reduce pain from my spinal cancer. Tomorrow is a WWWendy Day, so please expect no more than an Open Thread or a Personal Update. Monday is a Radiation Oncology Day. Dr. Seung will be measuring me under Cat Scan for Friday’s irradiation. I do have a special article planned for Monday, but I’ll write it in advance.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:48 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0502TrumpVirusMap

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, is “arrogantly forcing the residents of her state to remain alive,” Attorney General William Barr charged on Friday.

In a blistering takedown of the Democratic governor, Barr said that Whitmer was “depriving Michiganders of their constitutionally enshrined right to die before their time.”

Hinting that the Justice Department could soon file a lawsuit against Whitmer, Barr alleged that her “unhinged obsession with keeping her state’s residents breathing” represented “government overreach at its worst.”

Dang, Andy! That Democrat sure is blatant in her audacity! How dare she keep people alive, against the wishes of criminal Fuhrer Trump* and his pet monkey (apologies to simians everywhere), Barrf?!!? RESIST!!

From YouTube (CSPAN Channel): White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany: “I will never lie to you.

That was criminal Fuhrer Trump’s* new mouthpiece’s first lie as Press Secretary. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Beatles-She´s leaving home

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–4/30/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:49 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Apr 302020

It’s a crappy day here in the CatBox. I spent a lot of time on the throne this morning. The problem with eating goop is like the problem with computer programming. Goop in; goop out. I talked to Megan (my PCP) and Evelyn’s (my Oncologist) nurse this morning. We all agree that the best way to deal with Republicosis is Imodium AD. Thursday is send Republicosis to criminal Fuhrer Trump* Day!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:09 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0430TrumpVirusMap

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Vice-President Mike Pence has started wearing a mask after Anthony Fauci told him that it will protect him from women, Fauci has confirmed.

After seeing video of a maskless Pence touring the Mayo Clinic, on Tuesday, Fauci said, “I knew I had to come up with something fast” to get through to Pence.

Fauci immediately got on the phone with the Vice-President and informed him that “clinical research” had demonstrated that a mask is “an effective female-repellent.”

I believe you, Andy. That brown-nose sycophant, Pence, would love ensure that the use of his butt is reserved exclusively for his beloved criminal Fuhrer Trump*. RESIST!!

From Alternet: Countless non-fundamentalist churches in the United States, from Catholic to Lutheran and Episcopalian, have embraced social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic and temporarily moved their activities online. But many Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals have been irresponsibly downplaying the dangers of COVID-19 and doing so with deadly results: journalist Alex Woodward, in the U.K.-based Independent, reports that the pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 30 pastors in the Bible Belt.

“Dozens of pastors across the Bible Belt have succumbed to coronavirus after churches and televangelists played down the pandemic and actively encouraged churchgoers to flout self-distancing guidelines,” Woodward reports.

What Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians (the polar opposite of authentic Christians) fail to realize is that their false god carries a pitchfork and has horns, cloven hooves, and a pointy tail. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): From Ukraine to Coronavirus: Trump’s Abuse of Power Continues, featuring Robert Reich

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. Criminal Fuhrer Trump* exactly reflects the values and policies of the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich. Every Republican in office is one Republican too many. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast): If it be Your will – Leonard Cohen – Lyrics

I hadn’t heard this before, but given my current situation, it really hits home. RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–4/29/2020

Posted by TomCat at 9:52 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 292020

I’m still very tired, here in the CatBox. Tonight is a WWWendy night. On my treatment, My Radiation Oncologist will measure me Monday and irradiate me Friday. Then my chemo resumes the following Monday. I’m proud to announce that I Republicated this morning. I looked into the throne, and there was Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch! Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:34 (average 5:34). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0429TrumpVirusMap

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: CNN announced on Tuesday that it will show the phone number of a national poison-control hotline whenever Donald Trump appears on the air.

Speaking on behalf of the network, Wolf Blitzer, the veteran anchor, said that CNN was adopting the new policy out of concern for “the health and safety of our viewers.”

“At CNN, we strive to keep our viewers informed. But, in order to do that, we must first keep them alive,” he said.

In order to implement the new policy, Sanjay Gupta, the network’s chief medical correspondent, will monitor CNN’s programming on a twenty-four-hour basis for any signs of Trump.

Dang Andy! How about adding the Bovine Excrement Hotline? RESIST!!

From Alternet: In the span of a couple of months, Senate Republicans have gone from bullish on their prospects in November to pretty desperate. Back in February, they were salivating over painting Democrats as the party of left-wing extremism, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as its standard bearer. The GOP caucus had just giddily acquitted Donald Trump after a sham witness-free trial and senators were looking forward to touting the strength of the economy.

Then Trump spent the month on a lying spree about the soon-to-be global pandemic that would ultimately ravage American lives and livelihoods—on his watch. Democrats coalesced around the far more moderate former Vice President Joe Biden, and the economy started to plummet along with Trump’s approval numbers. Now Senate Republicans are staring down a presidential election that increasingly stands a real chance of sweeping away their slender three-seat majority.

In fact, Democrats aren’t just viable in the most talked-about Senate races in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, and Maine. They are now also looking at opportunities in Montana and Georgia, along with a slim glimmer of maybe hanging on to Democratic Sen. Doug Jones’ seat in Alabama.

May I live to see it happen! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): THE GREEN LEAVES OF SUMMER – THE BROTHERS FOUR

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–4/5/2020

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

Apr 052020

It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox. WWWendy is here and gooping, while I finish. This is my only article today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:41 (average 4:54). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0405TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 311,656
Deaths: 8,454
Recovered: 14,828

0405TrumpVirusData

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The National Incompetence Stockpiles, the federal reserves of inanity and ineptitude to be drawn upon in times of crisis, are at “full capacity,” the Government Accountability Office announced on Saturday.

According to the G.A.O., the Incompetence Stockpiles are so well stocked at the moment that they are in danger of overflowing.

“The sheer tonnage of failure and impotence that is being dumped into the stockpiles on a daily basis is straining their ability to contain it,” the G.A.O. statement read.

Davis Logsdon, a professor at the University of Minnesota who has written the definitive book about the National Incompetence Stockpiles, said that the nation’s futility reserves stand at their highest levels ever, eclipsing the record stockpiles established during the tenure of President George W. Bush.

“The Bush Administration tapped the National Incompetence Stockpiles when it invaded Iraq and responded to Hurricane Katrina,” Logsdon said. “At the time, it seemed as though the stockpiles would never be fully replenished, and that makes the Trump Administration’s achievement all the more striking.”

What can I say, Andy? You could not have nailed this better! RESIST!!

From YouTube (Raw Story Channel): Devin Nunes: Homeless people are the ‘zombie apocalypse’

Barf Bag Alert!!

Nincompoop Nunes had it bass-ackwards. If America has a zombie apocalypse, it’s the Republican Reich. This is the garbage that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, feeds their deplorable sheeple. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Rolling Stones – Angie (HQ)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–4/2/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 022020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. WWWendy is stopping by, because she took my keys home by mistake last night. Store to Door is delivering groceries this afternoon, and I have to but them away. I feel very tired.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:42 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0402TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 215,395
Deaths: 5,113
Recovered: 8,892

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Issuing a new distancing guideline on Wednesday, Donald Trump said that he was now practicing distancing from all of his previous statements about the coronavirus.

“As of today, I will be keeping a great distance between myself and anything I said about covid-19 in the months of January, February, and March,” he said. “I will be staying at least six feet away from those statements, and probably more like ten thousand feet.”

Trump said that he could not predict how long his new practice of distancing would continue, but indicated, “Next week, I will probably be distancing myself from things I said this week. This could go on for a long time.”

Well Andy, I see you’re back to straight news. You described criminal Fuhrer Trump* perfectly! RESIST!!

From NY Times: Taking their cue from President Trump, Republicans at every level of the party are pushing ahead with plans to put on their national convention this summer and provide Mr. Trump the kind of gauzy coronation he seeks.

Democrats, by contrast, are mired in uncertainty. Access to their convention arena in Milwaukee is contingent on the state of the N.B.A. playoffs, and they won’t have an undisputed nominee until at least early June, while state parties scramble to rewrite rules governing delegate selection.

Even former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the likely Democratic nominee, has said “it’s hard to envision” his party’s convention taking place as planned in July. “The fact is it may have to be different,” he said during an appearance on MSNBC Tuesday night.

There may be a plus side to this. The cream of America’s National Socialist elite may contract Trump* virus through their own stupidity. While I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, it may well be what’s best for America. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Jim Croce – Time in a bottle – 1973

Since Lona Requested ballads, I found a playlist of ballads. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–4/1/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:12 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 012020

It’s another tired day here in the CatBox. I’ve been very busy researching my medical way forward. I did order one thing from Amazon that should help with both Trump* and cancer: 100 barf bags. I just learned I get my port in next Monday and have my first infusion the following Monday. This is getting too real! WWWendy comes this evening to de-stink the TomCat and help with chores. I’m ready for a nap, and it’s only 8:30. Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:33). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Jen Sorensen Cartoon:

Embedded with permission from Jen Sorensen.

Trump* Virus Update:

0401TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 188,881
Deaths: 4,066
Recovered: 7,251

0401HospitalBeds

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Donald J. Trump should use this time when he is staying at home to repeat first grade, the nation’s teachers are urging.

Carol Foyler, the executive director of the National Alliance of Elementary Educators, said that the homebound Trump has a “golden opportunity” to use remote learning to repeat the first-grade curriculum.

“At a time when many of our nation’s children are being homeschooled, this seems like the perfect time for President Trump to learn the basics of reading, writing, and math,” she said. “By June, he could be reading ‘Hop on Pop’ and ‘Go, Dog, Go!’ ”

Sorry, Andy. I just can’t believe this one. All elementary educators are bright enough to be certain that criminal Fuhrer Trump* would flunk first grade. RESIST!!

From Alternet: Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s financial disclosures from late February and early March are simply fascinating. We already knew that Loeffler sold off a lot of stock in early February, while buying stock in a company positioned to do well during coronavirus shutdowns because it provides online meetings. But the hugely wealthy senator’s money moves didn’t stop there.

Loeffler sold off $18.7 million in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Loeffler’s husband, Jeff Sprecher, is the CEO of the company and she used to be an executive there. Loeffler and Sprecher also sold shares of retail stores including Lululemon and T.J. Maxx, while making another really interesting investment. This time, they bought shares of a company that makes protective gear being used in hospitals fighting COVID-19.

She did not even warn her own constituents, let alone the rest of us, that she knew the Trump* virus pandemic was about to strike. How many thousands did she and Republicans like her murder by choosing to line their own pockets, instead of doing their job? RESIST!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): How to Prepare for the Trump Recession with Robert Reich

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, cares only for grabbing power and providing welfare for billionaires. All of Robert’s proposals are spot-on, but only as a start. I will not survive the Republican Recession. I hope and pray you do! RESIST!!

From YouTube: Canned Heat – On The Road Again [HQ]

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–3/31/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:53 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 312020

It’s a very tired day here in the CatBox. Yesterday’s trip was a success, but the trip exhausted me. I am Big Time pooped. The doctor and I were on the same page. Since my cancer cells did not react favorably to immunotherapy, and the best chemo regimen would fill my home with Republicosis, I asked her of there was another chemo drug that would not cause such a severe reaction. She had anticipated my request and there is: Docetaxel. They will install an infusion port in my chest and pump me full of chemo goop every two weeks. It will give me nausea, but they have meds to help that. I will lose my hair. If it’s effective, I should have a year. If not, I may make it six months. That’s the plan. Tuesday is flatulence at Republicans day. Ready… Aim… FIRE!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:05 (average 4:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0330TrumpVirus

Cases: 164,798
Deaths: 3,178
Recovered: 5,507

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Donald Trump called in to Fox & Friends Monday morning and openly admitted that if more people vote, Republicans will lose. Democrats are pushing for vote by mail so that people don’t have to risk coronavirus to exercise their right to vote. Asked about “special interest projects” added to coronavirus relief bills, that is right where Trump’s mind went.

“The things they had in there were crazy,” he said. “They had levels of voting that if you ever agreed to it you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” You might think it’s amazing to hear a politician in a democracy saying that democracy is bad, but Trump joins a long line of Republicans saying that too much voting is bad.

Criminal Fuhrer Trump* is not the first Republican to voice this sentiment, and he won’t be the last. Republicans want to make the Fifth Reich permanent and establish a National Socialist plutocracy in which elections are only for show, because Republicans control who gets to vote. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: In a conversation over the weekend that reportedly left the President “shaken,” Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Donald Trump that if everyone in the United States dies, it would adversely affect his television ratings.

Although Fauci was quick to add that the everyone-dying scenario was purely hypothetical, he stressed that, from a medical perspective, alive people were more likely than dead ones to watch television.

According to a source familiar with the conversation, the possible impact of covid-19 fatalities on Trump’s ratings “totally blindsided” the President, who immediately convened an emergency meeting of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

“It’s time you losers started taking this situation seriously,” Trump reportedly barked. “Especially you, Pence.”

I wondered why criminal Fuhrer Trump flip-flopped to support social distancing. Andy has explained it. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Status Quo – Pictures Of Matchstick Men

I hope that those of you who had not heard some of my psychedelic hippie music are enjoying it. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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