Open Thread–7/16/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 162020

It’s a busy muggy day here in the CatBox. My back is painful today. Store to Door should come with my groceries between 11 AM and 1 PM. By now WWWendy is on a plane. Her plans changed, and she’s going to CO instead of CA. JD, you ought to give her a call. She’ll land around 1 PM your time. Everyone, please keep her in your thoughts and and prayers. If you find yourself in an elevator with a Republican, please fart.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:51 (average 4:37). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0716TrumpVirusMap

Map Reference: click through for interactive map

US Cases: 3,618,739
US Deaths: 140,185

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Trying out a new line of attack against the former Vice-President, Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Joe Biden could never have a pandemic as big as his.

“Biden was Vice-President for eight years and had all the time in the world to have a pandemic,” Trump said. “Where was his pandemic?”

By contrast, Trump asserted, “In just a few months, I’ve built the biggest pandemic this country has seen in a hundred years.”

“People are going to be talking about my pandemic for generations to come,” Trump said. “What did Biden ever have? Swine flu? What a joke.”

Dang, Andy! Don’t do that! Portraying criminal Fuhrer Trump* telling the truth about the severity of his plague is enough to make someone throw up! RESIST!!

From Alternet: …In the context of what we’ve been hearing from the Trump administration—or rather what we’ve not been hearing—I have to think that Donald Trump and his billionaire sycophant, Betsy DeVos, our current Secretary of Education, have absolutely no clue about what is metastasizing in the fevered swamps of American parents of school-age children right now in this country, or its potential to explode in a wave of electoral anger that could dwarf what occurred to the Republican Party in 2018.

I’m talking about a thermonuclear, cataclysmic, event of raw, unbridled voter fury. I’m talking about an existential, political wipe-out of Biblical proportions. A tsunami, if you will.

The most generous characterization of the Trump administration’s approach towards the situation facing our public schools in less than two months—six weeks or less, in fact, for many schools, including ones in Texas– is one of willful blindness, suggestive of an astonishing degree of deliberate, magical thinking– that imagines an idyllic sequence of cause and effect, where these schools will miraculously reopen, filled with rows of smiling teens, pre-teens, elementary schoolers and their teachers, happy to share and mingle in their wondrous educational experience in the face of this horrific and unprecedented health crisis…

I wish Trump* and DeVos would back down for the sake of the families they are about to murder, but they won’t back down. Let that tsunami wipe the Republican Party out of existence! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from Labor): Union Maid

Except for police unions, support labor! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–7/11/2020

Posted by TomCat at 7:50 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 112020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. WWWendy is coming this morning, and we have lots to do. Have a great weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:53 (average 4:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Barf Bag Alert!!

Trump* Virus Update:

0711TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 3,293,532
US Deaths: 136,720

Short Takes:

From CNN: The top writer for Fox News host Tucker Carlson has for years been using a pseudonym to post bigoted remarks on an online forum that is a hotbed for racist, sexist, and other offensive content, CNN Business learned this week.

Just this week, the writer, Blake Neff, responded to a thread started by another user in 2018 with the subject line, “Would u let a JET BLACK congo n****er do lasik eye surgery on u for 50% off?” Neff wrote, “I wouldn’t get LASIK from an Asian for free, so no.” (The subject line was not censored on the forum.) On June 5, Neff wrote, “Black doods staying inside playing Call of Duty is probably one of the biggest factors keeping crime down.” On June 24, Neff commented, “Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep.” On June 26, Neff wrote that the only people who care about changing the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins are “white libs and their university-‘educated’ pets.”

And over the course of five years, Neff has maintained a lengthy thread in which he has derided a woman and posted information about her dating life that has invited other users to mock her and invade her privacy. There has at times also been overlap between some material he posted or saw on the forum and Carlson’s show.

The Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda , Faux Noise, is so rabid that I’m surprised that Fucker Carlson didn’t use more of his Nazi Republican writer’s screeds on the air. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Trae Crowder and Mark Agee discuss whether Joe Biden is too boring to win

Amen Trae! I’ll readily admit that criminal Fuhrer Trump* is more “exciting” that Joe Biden. However, given the heinous behavior of Trump* and the Republican Reich, haven’t we had enough of this so-called excitement for one lifetime? RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Goldman On Roger Stone: Trump Basically Commuted A Co-Conspirator

Stone to Trump*: “If I go to prison, so will you.” That’s the bottom line. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast played at Woodstock): the Who Woodstock (Director’s Cut)

Dedicated to all who were at Woodstock or wanted to be. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–7/9/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 092020

It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox. Store to Door is delivering a very large grocery order late this morning or early this afternoon. It’s big, because WWWendy’s last day is Tuesday, before she is out of town for nine days visiting relatives. So, I’ll need a nine day supply of goop. Thursday is flush your Republicans day. I hope my laxative works.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:59 (average 6:12). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0709TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 3,160,284
US Deaths: 134,920

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a scandal that threatens to upend Donald Trump’s Presidency, a new book accuses Trump of paying Vice-President Mike Pence to take his coronavirus tests for him.

According to the book, “Swapping Swabs: Trump’s Pandemic of Lies,” when the subject of being tested for the virus first came up, in March, Trump started casting about for a “good test-taker” to substitute for him.

Trump considered several candidates for the ruse, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the Attorney General, William Barr, but ultimately settled on Pence, who agreed to take the tests for the fee of twenty-five dollars per result.

Dang, Andy! That should not be worded as an accusation. It should be worded as a fact! RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): ‘Bullying, Intimidation, And Retaliation:’ Key Impeachment Witness Vindman Retires

Lt. Colonel Vindman is a hero and a patriot. Criminal Fuhrer Bone Spurs* is a bully and a coward! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast that was played at Woodstock): Jefferson Airplane – Volunteers (with Lyric)

Dedicated to all who were at Woodstock or wanted to be. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–7/8/2020

Posted by TomCat at 7:16 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 082020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. Both WWWendy and the Palliative Care nurse are coming this morning. In addition, my tumor is acting up again. This is my only article today. Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:57. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0708TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 3,097,602
US Deaths: 133,994

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The firestorm of controversy swirling around the upcoming tell-all book by the President’s niece exploded on Tuesday, after Vladimir Putin revealed that he took the SATs for Donald J. Trump.

Putin said that he had hoped to keep his role in Trump’s college admission a secret, but, with the impending publication of Mary Trump’s book, “it was only a matter of time before the truth came out.”

The Russian President said that, when young Donald Trump was applying to college, in the nineteen-sixties, Putin was making “a few extra rubles” by offering his services as a test-taker to wealthy but academically hopeless American high-school students.

Dang, Andy! And Putin [R-RU] wasn’t the only one. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): ‘Lying, Cheating Failure’: New Book By Trump’s Niece Casts Trump As Traumatized Narcissist

We certainly couldn’t find a better source on the Republican insanity of criminal Fuhrer Trump*. Of course, have known the broad strokes for years, but the details sure are juicy! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from Woodstock): Country Joe McDonald live at Woodstock

Dedicated to all who were at Woodstock or wanted to be. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–7/6/2020

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

Jul 062020

It’s a frustrating day, here in the CatBox. On the plus side, I owed no money to Infernal Revenue oe Oregon Revenue. Something got caught in my esophageal tumor, and I was unable to keep anything down for most of the morning, including my entire breakfast. My palliative care nurse was supposed to visit and has not called. I called, and they don’t have me on the schedule. I’m waiting for a call from a supervisor, because this is the second time their palliative care nurse has stood me up. Tomorrow please expect only a Personal Update from me. I have my appointment at the hospital and will be gone all morning. I will learn the results of the mutation analysis of my tumor. Oh God, it’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:44). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0706TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 2,985,897
US Deaths: 132,610

Short Takes:

From NY Times (Hat-Tip Mitch for referral): After the bruising crises we’re now going through, it would be wonderful if we could somehow emerge a fairer nation. One possibility is to revive an old idea: sharing the profits.

The original idea for businesses to share profits with workers emerged from the tumultuous period when America shifted from farm to factory. In December 1916, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a report on profit-sharing, suggesting it as a way to reduce the “frequent and often violent disputes” between employers and workers, thereby “fostering the development of a larger spirit of harmony and cooperation, and resulting, incidentally, in greater efficiency and larger gains.”

I fully support this idea. Its egalitarian properties is the reason Republicans oppose it. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): STUPIDLY BIGLY – Parody of Eleanor Rigby

Good one, Don! 95% of the stupid people in the US have one thing in common. They are Republican! RESIST!!

From YouTube (NBC News Channel): Trump Goes After Left, Blames China For Coronavirus in July 4th Speech

Barf Bag Alert!!

Note all the lies and the projection. Criminal Fuhrer Trump* compares the Democrats to the monsters that resemble him so well. He calls his rabid Republican Sheeple heroes, but makes no mention of true heroes, the service people Trump* refuses to protect from Russian bounties, because he’s in thrall to Putin [R-RU]. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from Woodstock): Crosby Stills Nash – A Long Time coming – Woodstock 1969

Dedicated to all the people who were at Woodstock, or wanted to be. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Samantha Bee from 7/1/2020

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 9:12 am Politics

Jul 022020

Here are five clips from Sam’s show (one very short.)

Free Press I – I can be appalled, but I cannot be surprised. Who did not see this coming as early as 11/9/16? What’s worse is the number of people who don’t see anything wrong with this! They have always been around, but there used to be enough people in office who understood the Constitution that it was possible to keep First Amendment rights going. Now, not so much.

Free Press II – Even if we manage to get to November without World War III starting, and actually get him out by January, he could still go down in history as the man who started World War III with his infectious war on the free press – and truth.

Mike Brown – If you already know that this is the way things happen (and I hope you do), you may be appalled at how many “wypipo” buy into the propaganda. It doesn’t seem to matter whether black people are not a large population segment, and therefore other and unknown, and therefore not trusted, or whether black people are a large segment of the population, and therefore other and feared, and therefore not trusted – some white people, too many, will always believe the worst about black people. Truth has nothing to do with it. Dr. Barber nails it.
“Some people think peace is the absence of noise, not the presence of justice.”

Postal Service – I don’t think any of us is active on Twitter, but I picked this up anyway – exposure can’t hurt.

Live from Sam’s Shed – Silversun Pickups – Another of Sam’s favorite groups.

Open Thread–6/30/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:28 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 302020

It’s a crazy day here in the CatBox. I’ve been having trouble changing my Fentanyl patches. They are tiny, transparent and sticky. Because my previous surgery to knock out eye cancer damaged my eyes, everything I see is blurry, and I have double vision. Also, my hands shake when I try to do delicate work. So far, I have destroyed two patches trying to change them, and with a copay of $10 per patch, that has to change. To solve the problem WWWendy will come every three days, instead of twice per week, so she can change my patch, when she’s here. Therefore, my WWWendy days will change every week, and my schedule here will be variable. I may be a bit scarce for the next two days. Store to Door is closed for the Fourth, so I ordered my groceries from Safeway.com. They will be delivering a huge order between 8:00 and 10:00 AM, and it will take me a long time to unbag them and put them away. Then WWWendy will be coming Thursday morning to destink the rancid TomCat, change my patch, goop, and help with chores. Don’t forget to remind everyone to flush the Republican Reich!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:33 (average 5:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0630TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 2,683,301
Deaths: 128,819

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In an act of retaliation against the Russians for sponsoring Taliban attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Donald J. Trump is sending Jared Kushner to the Kremlin to offer advice on its coronavirus response, the White House confirmed on Monday.

“To all those who thought that this President was not taking the Russians’ actions seriously, this response should speak for itself,” the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said. “The President had an array of responses to choose from, and the one he selected is by far the most punishing.”

According to White House insiders, Trump and his advisers debated the response to the Russians for hours before finally settling on the Kushner option late Sunday night.

“Jared Kushner is the most brutal weapon in our arsenal, and deploying him is a decision that no one should ever take lightly,” one adviser said.

Awww, come on, Andy. Criminal Fuhrer Trump* would never do such a horrible thing to his favorite butt plug, Vladimir Putin [R-RU]. Furthermore, that would be a clear casus belli. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: At least one House Democrat has had enough with Republicans ignoring mask requirements during House committee hearings. Rep. Jim Clyburn, head of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, has written a letter to ranking Republican Steve Scalise warning him that if committee Republicans continue to show up at hearings without masks, those Republicans will not be recognized to speak during subcommittee meetings. At all.

Clyburn was not particularly polite about it, either. In his letter, Clyburn reminds Scalise that it was Scalise who “repeatedly” has wanted in-person hearings and “you assured me that this could be done safely.” But when “every single Republican Member of the Subcommittee refused to comply” with congressional mask rules, Clyburn was fed up.

Kudos to Jim Clyburn. I hope that the other Democratic heads of committees and subcommittees, both women and men, grow a pair too! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Doors – Break On Through HQ (1967)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Bill Maher from 6/26

Posted by TomCat at 11:43 am Politics

Jun 272020

It’s that time of week again, so here are four excellent video clips, from Bill’s show last night. Enjoy!

Monologue: Live Free or Die Hard

Bill is spot on! As time goes on, criminal Fuhrer Trump* piles more bullshit on his own head. It the penis enlargement people had been there, Trump* would have spent taxpayer dollars on all their products. Just ask Stormy!

John Bolton: An Empty Chair in the Oval Office

In this case, I believe Bolton, because his descriptions are so authentically like Trump*. Nevertheless, Bolton’s reputation for credibility leaves much to be desired.

Wes Moore and James Carville

I agree with Carville that we need no win to such an extent that the Republican Reich, as we know it, is destroyed.

New Rule: The Guardians of Gotcha

I agree to a great extent. I’m White. I have been fighting against racism since the mid-1960s, and my blood has stained the streets of several US cities, while I was doing so. I have also had many Black friends and acquaintances, who could not have been more apathetic about racism. In fighting racism, I agree that it’s up to Black people to lead the way. Also, White people can never truly know what it is to be Black. However, to say white people can’t hate racism is absurd.

This was a fine show!

RESIST!!

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