Open Thread for September 11, 2021

 Posted by at 7:05 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 112021
 

Yesterday, not a lot happened, and what did happen was mostly annoying small stuff.  Plus, it was hot – hotter than it’s been for over a week.  So let’s just all move on from that.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Medium – Statement from Senator Amy Klobuchar
Quote – Of course this has been scary at times, since cancer is the word all of us fear, but at this point my doctors believe that my chances of developing cancer again are no greater than the average person.
Click through for full statement. Pat already TJI’ed the news, but I think it’s worth a repeat (with a picture and an exhortation.)

White House Press Release: President Biden Names Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees
Quote – The President is announcing eight new candidates for the federal bench, all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution. These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country — both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.
Click through for a few stats and all 8 names and short bios.

The New Yorker (Borowitz) – Fox News Accuses Biden of Using Federal Government to Improve Country
Quote – “Joe Biden came into office claiming that he wanted to be the President of all the people,” Sean Hannity said. “Now, however, his real agenda has become clear: he wants to increase Americans’ life expectancy. How long one lives should be a personal choice,” Hannity continued. “But not if Joe Stalin-slash-Biden has anything to say about it.”
Click through for what sounds like pretty straight news to me.

Food for Thought –

 

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Open Thread for September 2, 2021

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 022021
 

Yesterday, I got serious about getting ready to go see Virgil tomorrow. Even though I’ve done it once recently, it still requires thought and preparation. But I think I have it pretty much together. As the weather cools down, which I assume it will eventually, it will be easier … there are things I cannot put into the car a day ahead without risking heat damage to them at this point – unless I do so after dark, whidh has its own downsides.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker (Borowitz) – New Law Requires Texans to Have Counselling Before Being Allowed to Vote
Quote – “Sometimes, a person is upset with their situation and thinks that voting is the only answer,” the Governor said. “A counsellor can sit with them, pray with them, and help them make the right choice.”
Click thgough for deets. For a split second I believed this was straight news.

The Hill – Colorado officers, paramedics charged in 2019 death of Elijah McClain
Quote – An independent probe submitted to the Aurora City Council in February determined that the police and paramedics involved were were at fault in McClain’s death, saying there was no reason to stop McClain, who was walking home from a convenience store. That report also concluded that no crime had been reported when McClain was stopped and he wasn’t exhibiting any threatening behavior.
Click through for a little more. Democratic AG + grand jury = results (sometimes.) You may remember that Elijah used to play the violing in animal shelters. As an animal lover and a former violinist, I took this personally.

The 19th – Even if Texas’ six-week abortion ban is overturned, clinics will close
Quote – “This law will end legal abortion in Texas. Allowing the state to do that and effectively close all abortion clinics — even if the law is ultimately struck down — will give the state what it wants,” said Leah Litman, an assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan and expert in constitutional law. “Just allowing this law to go into effect is ending abortion in Texas.”
Click through for story. In case you missed this (and had no idea what Andy was satirizing) this is it.

Food for Thought –

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Open Thread for June 29, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 292021
 

The opera last night was “Marnie” – based on the same bool as the Hitchcock movie. It premiered in 2019 to good reviews and good audience response too. So it’s very new. (I’m a fan of the mezzo-soprano for whom it was written, Isabel Leonard, and was lucky enough to get to see her in person in another new opera, “Cold Mountain,” when it premiered in Santa Fe.) I’m sure the movie left out things that were in the book, and the opera has left out things from both, but it’s still a plenty twisted story.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – Out-of-Practice Trump Forgets to Strand Rally Crowd in Parking Lot
Quote – “People have come to expect that, at the conclusion of one of our rallies, they will be marooned in the middle of nowhere for hours, often in inclement weather,” Harland Dorrinson, a Trump aide, said. “On Saturday night, we didn’t get it done.” Dorrinson said that the entire Trump team would be conducting a postmortem of the rally to find out why attendees were able to leave the event without incident.
Click through for details. Andy, it’s harder to strand a crowd when it’s small to begin with and much of it gets boored and leaves early.

Daily Beast – YouTube Permanently Bans Right Wing Watch, a Media Watchdog Devoted to Exposing Right-Wing Conspiracies
Quote – “What are we going to do?” he asked. Launched in 2007, Right Wing Watch has posted thousands of clips of prominent right-wing figures making controversial comments, perhaps most famously including televangelist Pat Robertson and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. In fact, Right Wing Watch’s exposure of Jones’ false and conspiratorial rhetoric was key to YouTube and other social-media platforms eventually removing his channel InfoWars from their sites. Notably, many of the right-wing outlets and personalities that Right Wing Watch chronicles are not currently suspended or banned from posting content to YouTube, while RWW has been booted for merely exposing their comments and content—something Mantyla noted as being particularly ironic.
Click through for full story. This is NOT good news. They are still on Vimeo, at least.

Independent – GOP senator says roads and bridges are ‘a woman’s problem’ because women ‘do the shopping’
Quote – “My wife says that roads and bridges are a woman’s problem if you will,” said Mr Cassidy. “Because oftentimes it is the woman – aside from commuting to work – who’s also taking children to schools or doing the shopping…. And the more time that she spends on that road, the less time she spends doing things of higher value,” he added.
Click through for absolutely not satire. Yes, Senator, women are human beings, and human beings need roads and bridges. (And your wife sounds brainwashed.)

Food for Thought

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Open Thread for June 25, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 252021
 

I know all our thoughts are with Colleen, but there’s still some news too, and some commentary. Thank God It’s Friday. I guess.

Cartoon

Short Takes

Washington Post – States across the country are dropping barriers to voting, widening a stark geographic divide in ballot access
Quote – Seventy-one new laws easing voting rules are poised to benefit 63 million eligible voters in 28 states, or about one-quarter of the U.S. voting population, according to the Voting Rights Lab report, which tracked policy changes as of June 13. Thirty-one new laws in 18 states create more barriers to the ballot box, affecting 36 million eligible voters, or 15 percent of the national voting population, the report stated. Legislative debates over restrictions are underway in key states such as Texas and Pennsylvania, leaving open the possibility that new limitations affecting millions more voters still will be enacted this year.
Click through if you don’t mind fighting a paywall. Bottom line, it’s somewhat bleak,but not all break.

CNN – Why Democrats were desperate to win Joe Manchin’s vote for an already-doomed election bill (opinion)
Quote – See, now all 50 Democrats will vote to move forward with election reform legislation and all 50 Republicans are expected to oppose that move, Democrats can then go to their base ahead of the coming 2022 midterms and say something like: Every single Democrat wanted to make elections more fair and open. And every single Republican stood in opposition to that effort.
Click through for full analysis. He may be right, or there may be more, but this theory falls in well with Auntie Maxine’s vide vote request.

Crooks and Liars – Ohio Republican Who Forged His Father’s Signature To Vote Twice Calls It ‘An Honest Mistake’
Quote – “It was there with a pile of other paperwork,” Snodgrass said of the absentee ballot. “I was sleep-deprived and not thinking clearly. But I’m not going to run away from it. I was simply trying to execute a dying man’s wishes,” he added, saying that it would be wrong to characterize what he did as “just Trump voter fraud.”
Click through for a little more. Sadly they must be saving his picture for the poster for IOKIYAAR.

Bonus Headline: Americans Shocked to Learn That Giuliani Had Law License (Borowitz) You can click through also.

Food for Thought

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Open Thread for June 24, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 242021
 

Yesterday was quiet again. And a slow news day, which sound good, but also sends me scrambling. Colleen, sending every good wish to you for smooth surgery tomorrow, and a speedy and smooth recovery.

Cartoon

Short Takes

The Hill – Socialist India Walton scores upset victory in Buffalo mayoral primary
Quote – “We set out about a year ago to do exactly what we did. We knew that this race was going to require help from outside of our local geographic area; we knew that we needed to garner national attention to challenge a 16-year, heavily entrenched incumbent, and the people spoke,” she said on CNN.
Click through for more, though not a lot more. Being elected mayor is exactly how young, Democratic Socialist Bernard Sanders got his start in politics.

The Guardian – Michigan Republicans find no voter fraud and say Trump claims ‘ludicrous’
Quote – The Michigan Republican report released on Wednesday followed 28 hours of legislative hearings starring local and national pro-Trump conspiracy theorists such as former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. The report labeled many of their claims “ludicrous” and called on the state Democratic attorney general to open investigations into those who may have profited from making false claims.
Click through for more.

The New Yorker – Mitch McConnell Warns That Voting Bill Would Bring U.S. to Brink of Democracy
Quote – Noting that the word “democracy” originated in ancient Greece, he vowed, “I will not sit idly by and watch a foreign form of government sneak across our border.”
Click through for straight news story.

Food for Thought

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Open Thread for June 8, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 082021
 

My mechanic and I (I say “my mechanic,” but it’s actually a team) are in consensus that a new battery was needed, so I am calling and emailing around to find one that can be delivered. I’m ot committed as yet, but it’s still a relief to feel that I know what I need to do and have started doing it.

 

Cartoon

Short Takes

The Borowitz Report – Putin Says He Has No Intention of Reinstating Trump
MOSCOW (The Borowitz Report)—Calling recent speculation “absurd,” Vladimir Putin said that he has “no intention whatsoever” of reinstating Donald J. Trump as President of the United States.
Speaking to reporters, the Russian President bristled at the suggestion that he would reinstall Trump in the White House “this August or any other month, for that matter.”
Click through for details. I certainly hope this is straight news!

MSNBC – The GOP’s base is preparing for a holy war — and Democrats need to pay attention
Yes, another opinion piece – one which it’s hard to disagree with if one is paying attention and is honest. Quote:
The sentiments that these Republicans share differ at times in the particulars — not all believe, for example, that the Democratic Party is a front for blood-drinking, Satanic pedophilia, but many do…. If one believes a priori that one’s opponents are thieves, would-be totalitarians, drinkers of children’s blood, wresting back power becomes in and of itself a moral imperative, regardless of the means.
Click through for the full piece.

The New Yorker – How Nasty Was Nero, Really?
Fake news is not news. It’s been around forever. I’ve been defending Nero for a while now – along with Marie Antoinette, Richard III, and Hillary Clinton. Not one of them was guilty of the arson, murder, incest, or miscellaneous crimes he or she was accused of. Can we hope that Hillary’s reputation will fare any better than that of the other three? Here’s a quote:
Opper told me, “They had a term for it—vituperatio, or ‘vituperation,’ which meant that you could say anything about your opponent. You can really invent all manner of things just to malign that character. And that is exactly the kind of language and stereotypes we find in the source accounts.”
Click through for details. Why is it relevant now? Well, look what Qpublicans are saying about us.

Food for Thought:

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Open Thread – 3/3/2021

 Posted by at 11:23 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 032021
 

It’s a difficult day here in the CatBox.  I slept well last night, but I’m ready to sleep all day too.  I’m still balancing the methadone and oxycodone.  Tomorrow please expect no more than a Personal Update as it’d both a grocery delivery day and a WWWendy day.  Happy Hump Day!!

Update:  I planned to post this about 90 minutes ago, but I dozed off and just woke up.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:24 (average 5:10).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Shortly after the sentencing of Nicolas Sarkozy, Donald J. Trump issued a statement claiming that prison time for the ex-President of France sets a “horrible precedent.”

In the statement, Trump called the corruption case against Sarkozy a “rigged hoax” and claimed that the former French leader was being treated “very unfairly.”

“This should never be allowed to happen in that country,” he said.

Dang Andy! I just can’t imagine why Trump** would feel that way! Can anyone guess?  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From Daily Kos: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a critical challenge to what’s left of the Voting Rights Act after the Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority decision in 2013 carved out the core of the law. At issue Tuesday are two Arizona laws, one requiring election officials to toss ballots that are cast in the wrong precincts and another that would restrict the delivery of mail-in ballots, allowing for just the voter, a family member, or caregiver could collect and deliver a voted ballot. That would prevent campaign workers, community activists, or members like church groups from delivering group ballots. With 43 states considering more than 250 voter suppression bills in the past month, the case has even greater import for the future of voting rights.

It puts into jeopardy Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which “prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups” identified as protected by the law. It bans any voting procedure that “results in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race,” a denial or abridgment that occurs when “based on the totality of circumstances,” racial minorities “have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.”

This is one we need to watch, but since the Supreme Court is comprised of three SCOTUS vs six SCROTUS (Republican anti-Constitutional VD) my hopes are not high.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Senator Warren: Filibuster Gives McConnell A Veto Over Democratic Majority

 

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times are more. NUKE the FILIBASTARDS!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Nights Are Forever Without You – England Dan & John Ford Coley

 

Ah… the memories! RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Don’t Let Republicans Steal YOUR Future!!

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Open Thread – 2/28/2021

 Posted by at 8:33 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 282021
 

It’s a painful and exhausted day, here in the CatBox.  The intake meeting with Providence Home Hospice was excellent, but it was long.  I was sitting up and putting pressure on my spine from around 10:30 AM when Wendy arrived until about 5:30 PM when the intake nurse left.  My meds will be delivered today.  They are putting me on 5 mg methadone pills every eight hours plus up to 10 – 15 mg Oxycodone every 3 – 6 hours as needed for pain.  No more patches.  They will give me a shower a week and I’ll get 1 – 2 from WWWendy.  I’ll receive a pants load of other services.  I really like the way they are handling it, but recovering from that appointment will take a few days.  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:36 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Donald J. Trump will use his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend to announce that he has won the 2024 Presidential election.

According to leaked text from his cpac speech, Trump will claim that he won the 2024 election in a landslide and “everybody knows it.”

Trump will further state that any attempt to allege that the year 2024 has not arrived yet and is, in fact, not scheduled to occur until three years from now is “a rigged hoax.”

Dang, Andy! We all knew Trump** would say that. Furthermore, we knew that every damn one of those idiotic CPUKE Sheeple would believe it.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From Alternet: Though House Democrats in the end had the votes to assure final passage of a sweeping Covid-19 relief package overnight—securing approval with a final 219-212 tally—it was the Republican Party membership in total lockstep, joined by two lonely members of the majority party, that voted to deny struggling American families, frontline workers, state governments, local communities, small businesses, and the nation’s schools and public health system nearly $2 trillion in urgent assistance to stabilize the economy, beat back the pandemic, and ensure solid footing for a robust recovery.

The two Democrats who sided with the GOP were Rep. Jared Golden, who represents Maine’s 2nd District, and Rep. Kurt Shrader, who represents Oregon’s 5th District. 

That one of these is an Oregon Congressional makes me want to scream. In 2020, I donated money to Shrader’s campaign in the general. He was running against Amy Ryan Courser, the epitome of everything about the Republican Reich that makes it evil. Amy is a Koch sucker. So I would support him again in the same circumstances, but before it comes to that, we need to primary his DINO ass out of there!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Simon & Garfunkel – El Condor Pasa (If I Could) (Audio)

 

Ah… the memories!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Don’t Let Republicans Steal YOUR Future!!

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