Open Thread – 2/4/2021

Posted by TomCat at 11:40 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 042021

It’s a gruesome day here in the CatBox. Last night I slept poorly, and when I finally did sleep, I missed doses of Oxycodone. I am in enough pain, that I would lay down and tell you guys I’ll be here tomorrow if I could, but I can’t. It’s a grocery delivery day from Store to Door and I have to be up to receive, unpack, and store my order. on a scale of one to ten my day rating is ARGH!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:32 (average 4:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In her most explosive claim to date, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene accused former President Barack Obama of converting to Judaism in order to obtain lasers.

According to Greene, Obama’s obsession with lasers was a result of working in the entertainment business, “where he is constantly surrounded by laser-owning Jews.”

“Obama would go to Netflix meetings and be seething with envy of all these Jewish TV executives who had lasers,” she said. “That’s why he converted to Judaism and, according to something I read on the Internet, got bar-mitzvahed.”

Dang, Andy! Obama??? Space Lasers, even?!!? How could he DO such a thing?!!? Oy Gevalt!! RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Big Oil’s Grip On Power Weakens; Democrats Focus On Climate Change With New Majority

I don’t see climate change legislation fitting into a reconciliation package. In order to save our planet, we may need to Nuke the Filibastards! RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Rolling Stones – She’s A Rainbow

Ah… the memories! RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Build the Future. It Belongs to YOU!!

The $765 Million Republican Rip-off

Posted by TomCat at 10:46 am Politics

Aug 062020

I don’t have all the details YET to prove this is a scam, but when Republicans give an undeserving company with a history of scams $765 million to manufacture products completely unrelated to their skills and experience, and their stock price skyrockets right BEFORE the deal is announced, then Republican greed is afoot!

The Trump administration’s latest “economic nationalism” scheme involves having taxpayers underwrite a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak, the long-struggling camera company, in the hopes of transforming it into a pharmaceutical manufacturer.

If that sounds like a far-fetched idea, well, give some credit to the lobbyists who apparently made it happen.

The Daily Beast’s Lachlan Markay reports that Kodak restarted its shuttered D.C. lobbying team in April of this year and proceeded to spend $870,000 on influence-peddling in the months leading up to last week’s announcement by the White House. That’s twice as much as the company had ever spent in a single quarter, according to lobbying disclosures, and it appears to have paid off.

When the White House announced the massive loan to Kodak last week, Trump lauded it as a “breakthrough in bringing pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States.” Eastman Kodak will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, which are the chemical compounds used as the building blocks for many drugs. The loan to Eastman Kodak is supposed to be repaid within 25 years.

The White House is throwing all that taxpayer-backed cash at a company with no experience making pharmaceuticals as part of an overall effort to shift the global supply chains for pharmaceuticals. Some Republicans—including Peter Navarro, Trump’s top trade advisor, and lawmakers like Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.)—fear that America is too dependant [sic] on imported drugs and APIs manufactured in China.

In reality, however, there is little cause for concern. The global supply chains for pharmaceuticals are diverse and resilient… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Reason>

SEC investigating Kodak loan disclosure: Dow Jones

I’d be willing to bet that the Trump* family committed the crime of insider trading and made millions from the 1,400%+ increase in Kodak stock, while $765 million could have gone to people and small businesses that really need the money due to Trump’s* Republican plague.

RESIST!!

Open Thread–7/19/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 192020

It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox, and this is my only article today. WWKiisten will be here soon to destink the thoroughly rancid TomCat, goop, and help with chores. WWWendy will be here again on Thursday. Tomorrow I may be running behind, as Diana, my palliative care nurse, will be coming to change my pain patch. Have a Republican-free Sunday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:11 (average 5:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

US Cases: 3,835,430
US Deaths: 142,883

Short Takes:

From Common Dreams: Consumer and workers’ rights advocates are warning that new details of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to shield businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits show just how far the Republican leader is willing to go to ensure corporations are not held accountable for endangering public health and safety.

“Congress must reject this dangerous proposal,” the National Employment Law Project said in response to a draft (pdf) of McConnell’s plan obtained by Politico and other outlets on Friday.

The draft, authored by McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.), proposes relieving businesses, schools, churches, and other institutions of legal responsibility for workers, customers, and others who contract Covid-19 except in cases of “gross negligence and intentional misconduct”—a difficult standard to prove in court.

As the Associated Press reported, the Republican plan “offers a broad shield by requiring heightened pleading standards, stiffening burden-of-proof standards, and capping damages on awards. Employers would also be shielded from investigations by federal agencies.”

Additionally, McConnell and Cornyn’s plan would empower companies to move coronavirus-related personal injury and medical liability cases to more business-friendly federal courts. “Defendants are liable,” the draft states, “only if they failed to make reasonable efforts to follow applicable public-health guidelines.”

You know it’s evil coming from Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch, and co-authorship by Cornhole Cornyn makes it even worse. The Republican Reich wants to give corporate criminals license to kill workers using Trump’s Republican plague. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Elizabeth Warren Channel): Elizabeth Warren: “Corruption is a Public Health Risk”

In the Republican Reich, what you know hadsno value. It’s all about who and how much you pay . That’s why Republican politicians love to suck Koch. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from labor): Which Side Are You On — Pete Seeger

Except for unmuzzled Republican police unions, support labor! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

BIG Mouth Awards

Every 1,000th Comment
20 – Infidel – 7/6/2011
21 – SoINeedAName – 7/25/2011
22 – SoINeedAName – 8/17/2011
23 – Maria – 9/7/2011
24 – Phyllis – 9/29/2011
25 – Tom – 10/22/2011
26 – Lynn Squance – 11/25/2011
27 – Deborah – 12/29/2011
28 – Patty – 1/19/2012
29 – Lynn Squance – 2/8/2012
30 – Jolly Roger – 3/8/2012
31 – Patty – 5/4/2012
32 – Marva Dasef – 6/8/2012
33 – Patty – 7/8//2012
34 – Edith Belcher – 8/12//2012
35 – Patty – 9/17/2012
36 – Tasunka – 10/12/2012
37 – Lynn Squance – 11/6/2012
38 – SoINeedAName – 11/29/2012
39 – Lynn Squance – 1/11/2013
40 – Lynn Squance – 2/17/2013
41 – Patty – 3/23/2013
42 – Edith Belcher – 5/29/2013
43 – Jim Phillips – 6/29/2013
44 – Patty – 7/27/2013
45- Lynn Squance – 8/21/2013
46 – Rixar13 – 9/12/2013
47 – Rixar13 – 10/4/2013
48- Lynn Squance – 10/25/2013
49 – Patty – 11/27/2013
50 – Lynn Squance – 1/13/2014
51 – Patty – 3/7/2014
52 – Yvonne White – 4/16/2014
53 – Edie – 5/20/2014
54 – Jerry Critter – 6/23/2014
55 – Lynn Squance – 7/29/2014
56 – Joanne D – 9/5/2014
57 – Patty – 10/19/2014
58 – Arielle – 11/16/2014
59 – Pat A – 12/26/2014
60 – SoINeedAName – 1/24/2015
61 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2015
62 – Joanne D – 3/21/2015
63 – Vivian B – 4/23/2015
64 – Joanne D – 5/23/2015
65 – Yvonne White – 6/22/2015
66 – SoINeedAName – 7/16/2015
67 – Lona Goudswaard – 8/6/2015
68 – Mamabear – 8/25/2015
72 – Judi Angell – 11/27/2015
74 – Judi Angell – 1/18/2016
75 – Jerry Critter – 1/2/2016
76 – Lona Goudswaard – 3/11/2016
77 – Lona Goudswaard – 4/4/2016
78 – Pat B – 5/5/2016
79 – Mitch D – 6/5/2016
80 – Joanne D – 7/3/2016
81 – Lona Goudswaard – 7/30/2016
82 – Mitch D – 9/2/2016
83 – Joanne D – 10/6/2016
84 – Pat A – 11/10/2016
85 – Pat B – 12/11/2016
86 – Pat A – 1/14/2017
87 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2017
88 – Vivian Birdwell – 4/5/2017
89 – Vivian Birdwell – 5/16/2017
90 – Lona Goudswaard – 6/23/2017
91 – SoINeedAName – 7/30/2017
92 – Joanne D – 9/4/2017
93 – Pat B – 10/12/2017
94 – SoINeedAName – 11/20/2017
95 – Jerry Critter – 12/31/2017
96 – Joanne D – 2/12/2018
97 – Pat B – 3/27/2018
98 – Richard A – 5/5/2018
99 – Lynn Squance – 6/12/2018
100 – Mitch D – 7/20/2018
101 – Pat B – 8/30/2018
102 – Pat B – 10/5/2018
103 – Joanne D – 11/9/2018
104 – Animae – 12/18/2018
105 – Animae – 1/25/2019
106 – Colleen – 3/2/2019
107 – Joanne D – 4/11/2019
108 – Animae – 6/1/2019
109 – Pat B – 8/9/2019
110- Angelflowers – 09/20/2019
111 – Colleen – 11/5/2019
112 – Pat B – 12/25/2019
113 – None – My Bad
114 – Pat B – 3/24/2020
115 – Freya – 5/24/2020
116 – JL – 7/4/2020
117 – Colleen – 8/13/2020