Open Thread August 11, 2023

 Posted by at 6:02 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 112023
 

Yesterday, (OK, actually the day before but I didn’t get the email from Joyce Vance until after midnight) Trump** advised the court that he wanted his very own SCIF built at Mar-a-Lago. He claimed it would be cheaper than his (and his SS) travel expenses to and fro (it wouldn’t.) But the main reason, IMO, is that if there were a SCIF on his property, he would think that gave him the right to keep any and all classified documents tht he touched. (Building it would also delay the proceedings indefinitely.) For a guy who has no balls when it comes to courage, he has balls the size of church bells when it comes to arrogance. Also yesterday (really) I took in a grocery order which contained everythingI had ordered – but cost $25 less than predicted the previous night when I placed it. I’m still a little confused, but I’ll take it. The thing that made me the happiest was – let me backtrack a little – this spring they came out with a new flavor of unsweetened seltzer in their house brand which I really, really like. Apparently so did everyone else, since for about three months I haven’t been able to order it – it’s been labeled “pickup only.” Finally this week it was available for delivery, but with a noet, “low inventory.” I ordered 2 12-packs, hoping to get one anyway, and received both. It’s called “blackberry citrus,” and it really does taste like that, only not sweet. Yum.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Here’s an “Oregon leads the way” story.
AP News – Post-GOP walkout, Oregon elections chief says lawmakers with 10 or more absences can’t run next term
Quote – Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade made the announcement in a news release to clear up confusion over how reelection rules would affect those senators. Under Measure 113, which was approved by voters in 2022, lawmakers with more than 10 unexcused absences were supposed to be disqualified from being reelected for the following term. But some Republicans raised questions over the measure’s vague wording, sparking confusion over what the consequences of the walkout would be for boycotting senators. “My decision honors the voters’ intent by enforcing the measure the way it was commonly understood when Oregonians added it to our state constitution,” Griffin-Valade said.
Click through for story. Now that’s the kind of Secretary of State I want (and at this point have, though that hasn’t always been so.) There are some very spunky SoSes out there, mostly women.

Colorado Public Radio – ‘Hank the Tank,’ the California bear behind 21 home invasions, has been moved to Colorado
Quote – Tweet from Governor Jared Polis: “Today, wildlife biologists for the @CaliforniaDFW captured a large female black bear, who will be transferred to @animalsanctuary upon a one-time permission from @COParksWildlife and @coagriculture1. We welcome “Hank the Tank” (turned out to be Henrietta the Tank) to Colorado!”
Click through for more details. While in the service, I worked with a Master Sergeant named Henrietta, and she preferred to be called Hank, so I’m very comfortable with “Hank the Tank” being female. (P.S. I also love my governor.)

Food For Thought

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Open Thread October 3, 2022

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 032022
 

Yesterday, it was kind of quiet. I finished getting my meds together for the next two weeks (I had had to use one of my spares the previous night – but I replaced it in the filling process, and anyway, that’s why I keep spares.) I got an email from Virgil’s facility asking for a new application to visit, and the tone was almost apologetic. I did vaguely know that the public facilities kept their own, but all those years he was in private facilities, they were kept at the DOC headquarters, and therefore transferred, and I got spoiled. I emailed it to her by return, along with my request to visit the 9th.. She won’t see it until today, but that’s fine.

Also, I heard from Mitch.  He used my name in the greeting, so I don’t know whether he sent it to others, and therefore will quote it in full:

We were in Pa. since the 23rd of Sept.,  did not decide to extend our time in Pa., but the airline and Tampa airport did, wisely closing on Thursday.  We could not get a flight back from Trenton, at all so flew out of Philly, this morning, after 2 nice days staying with friends, and have been home since something like 3:00 PM, here.  All is well, here, but we do not know what is going on with a cousin
of Susan’s, who lives in Venice Beach.
Our area didn’t get much impact, though, interestingly, the water in Hillsboro Bay got sucked
out for a while, the other day.

Cartoon – 03 Rob Roy

Short Takes –

It’s Not Just Ginni Thomas But Roberts’ And Coney Barrett’s Spouses, Too
Quote – Jane Roberts’ clients include lawyers or law firms sometimes with active Supreme Court practices, at least some of which were more likely to work with her because of her status as the chief justice’s spouse…. Justice Amy Coney Barrett redacted the clients and even the name of her husband’s law firm in her disclosure, even though he is featured prominently on the firm’s website.
Click through for story. Figuring that C&L would have at least glanced at other spouse, I didn’t, but I did look up Neil Gorsuch’s mother, being old enough to remember when she was decimating the EPA under Reagan. She’s dead now, but I noted that she was Catholic, so I looked up his religion. He is Protestant now, but was raised Catholic. His doctoral supervisor when he was at Oxford was a priest.

Oregon Capital Chronicle – Under federal $1 billion agreement, Oregon will expand Medicaid coverage
Quote – Under a new agreement, the federal government will give Oregon $1.1 billion to guarantee continued free health care coverage to tens of thousands of young children in households with low incomes and offer wider coverage to low-income young adults, especially those with special needs. The agreement, announced Wednesday in a conference call with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, also includes expanding Medicaid coverage to include housing and food support.
Click through for more details. This actually brought me to tears – because TomCat would have been so proud! Oregon leads the way!

Food For Thought

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Open Thread for September 22, 2021

 Posted by at 7:28 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 222021
 

Yesterday, I observed that, although a high on 90°F had been forecast, it never actually made it above 66°F. Forecasts for the rest of the week have also been lowered around 10°F. So maybe it will cool off before the end of the month. Not that I’m really mentally ready for that, but it’s not my decision. My next visit is scheduled for October 1, and I’d be happy with cool weather for that day.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Five Oregonians Hospitalized After Taking Ivermectin For COVID
Quote – The Oregon Poison Center has managed 25 cases involving Oregonians intentionally misusing ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19 between Aug. 1 and Sept. 14. Five of those cases involved hospitalization, and two people were so severely ill that they had to be admitted to an intensive care unit. Although the Oregon Poison Center also serves Alaska and Guam, the vast majority of ivermectin cases it has managed this year have come from Oregon.
Click through for stats. Sadly no state – and no county – and no town – and even no nation is idiot-free

The Hill – Five things to watch as Biden heads to the UN
The five are: 1. Do France tensions carry over
2. How does COVID-19 loom over the event
3. Do leaders announce any new climate initiatives
4. What is the Afghanistan fallout?
5. Biden looks for reset on foreign policy priorities
Click through for reasons. The missing question marks on #1 through #3 are The Hill’s omission, not mine.

Tampa Officials Shocked To Learn Evicting Black People For Basically No Reason Miiiiight Be Considered Racist
Quote – So it turns out the Tampa, Florida, police department has been encouraging landlords to evict their [usually Black] tenants, in the name of “crime prevention.” Because, as we all know, making people homeless is a great way to reduce crime.
Click through for complete story, in Wonkette’s inimitable style. You might consider cushioning your head first, since you may feel like hitting it against the wall.

Food for Thought –

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Video Thread 6/22/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 222021
 

Glenn Kirschner – WAPO: Weisselberg & Trump Frequenting Trump Tower-DA Vance’s Next Move May be Indicting Weisselberg

Represent Us – Now that Crooks and Liars have pointed out Republicans are throwing fits, I need to share what the fits are about. Rachel has also responded.

Titus (with Bradley) Satire “Press Conference vs. Press Conference” – Well, I laughed out loud (more than once)

Corey Ryan Forrester – “COVIS” vaccine – too subtle for Republicans?

Rocky Mountain Mike – Life With Barack (Right Wing Radio Told Me)

Beau – Let’s talk about Portland cops resigning and what to do…. None of this would have surprised TomCat – unless it were the unanimity of Mayor, Judge, and Prosecutor, which would have pleased him.

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Open Thread – 3/7/2021

 Posted by at 10:25 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 072021
 

It’s a very tired day here in the cat box.  For the last week I had a pants load of long appointments setting up my hospice services, and all that chair time exacerbated my back pain.  My hospice nurse adjusted my methadone dose to my new level of pain.  That was too high for my normal level of activity, causing all the side effects.  I told her that’s what I thought, and she agreed to put me back to 10 mg methadone every eight hours.  I’m feeling better.  Here is my new schedule.  This is what I said I would explain today.  Monday is a Wendy day, usually in the evening.  Thursday a shower aide comes around 9 AM.  Then Store to Door delivers groceries between 11:30 AM and Noon.  That will be a rough day.  Saturday morning is a Wendy day.  My hospice nurse will come every two weeks on Monday.  Then I will have occasional visits from Jo, the chaplain.  I like her.  She is an authentic Christian and loves the definitions for Republicitis and Republicosis.  So except for the initial confusion everything is doing pretty well.  Nevertheless, it will take a few days for me to catch up on sleep.  May you be well and truly blessed this Sunday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:41 (average 4:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you fo?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos:

…”It will be a Democratic Party Armageddon in 2022 if we sit here on our butts and say, ‘Oh, we’re sorry, we’re not as determined to get our agenda passed as Republicans were,'” Sen. Jeff Merkley, the Oregon Democrat spearheading filibuster reform efforts, told the Post. He’s right. With the Supreme Court seemingly ready to gut the remains of the Voting Rights Act and 43 states considering some 253 voter restriction bills, it could be Armageddon for Democrats. If the elections reforms passed by the House don’t become law, Democratic voters will be blocked from the polls. If President Biden’s critical agenda to address the pandemic, economic inequality, climate change, immigration—everything!—is stymied, Democratic voters won’t want to go to the polls in 2022.

Biden sure as hell recognizes that. That’s why the former longtime member of the Senate is open to filibuster reform. “One thing that is nonnegotiable is him delivering for the American people,” Emmy Ruiz, the White House political director, told the Post. “The number one priority here is to get this agenda, this bold agenda, passed through Congress.” Another White House official said the “‘strategy is adjusting every single day,’ reiterating Biden’s position that the filibuster is not sacrosanct while the agenda is.”…

Jeff could not be more correct. Oregon leads the way!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Trump State Department official charged for attacking police in Capitol riot

Could the Republican Reich be more guilty of treason than this?  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Crimson and Clover – Tommy James & The Shondells

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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Friday Fun: Feel Good Odds & Ends

 Posted by at 3:11 pm  Politics
Jan 292021
 

Maybe it’s just me, but ever since Pres. Biden’s Inauguration, it seems like there’s definitely been a better vibe in America.  Not that there’s been one huge paradigm shift to explain it, but a number of small “Feel Good” ones.  So I decided I would share a few of them.

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor …

The story of a “Snowstorm-Induced Impromptu COVID Vaccine Clinic” is what really got me thinking – things ARE getting better.

Twenty Josephine County Public Health workers had finished a vaccine clinic in rural Cave Junction, OR and were on their way back to Grants Pass to finish administering the six doses they had left.  But a jack-knifed semi-trailer truck closed the highway for hours.

Realizing they wouldn’t make it back to home base to give the last six Moderna vaccines before they expired, they decided to create an ad hoc impromptu vaccine clinic right there on the snowbound highway.

Like the Pfizer version, Moderna’s COVID vaccine must be used within six hours after it comes to ambient temperature.

Even though they were accompanied by an ambulance which could manage any untoward reaction, it was still difficult to find six willing recipients.  Partly because that area of Oregon is not pro-vaccine.  (Josephine County voted for Trump 62% to 36%.)  And no doubt anyone would be a bit dubious about a knock on your car window while stuck in a snowstorm asking if you’d like to get a shot.

Going car-to-car, it took the team 45 minutes to get their six “yeses”.  And fittingly, the last person to get the last leftover vaccine was a woman who hadn’t made it on time to her appointment earlier that day because of the snow.  A perfect ending!

So six lucky people got (as a six-y/o calls them) their “Fauci Ouchie” shots … al fresco!

An Inclusive Pledge of Allegiance

While not receiving as much coverage as Amanda Norman’s well-deserved  rendition of her “The Hill We Climb” poem, for a certain niche population (myself included) there was another special inclusive moment early in the Inaugural ceremonies.

When Georgia fire captain Andrea Hall (first ever African American female fire captain in Fulton County, GA), it was very personal.  For the first time ever, the Pledge of Allegiance was both simultaneously spoken and signed.  She did it as an homage to her late father, who was deaf.

Describing her use of sign language as a very intimate experience – like being able to speak another language – she said she had decided shortly after being asked to do it in ASL sign language.

“You’re between Lady Gaga and J. Lo.  I mean, come on, that’s it.  And I have like my little 15 seconds of something.”  Hall said, “Those are too hard to be sandwiched between, so I need to put some meat between there, you know?”

 At a time of such division — especially at a place like the Capitol, which is recovering from the January 6 insurrection — perhaps the words of the pledge say it all.

 “It was written for little children who were immigrants,” Hall said.  “And in some way, we’re all immigrants.  You know, we’re a mishmash of people from all over.  And I think that’s the significance of it.  It’s a way to unify all of us by speaking those thirty -one words.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/firefighters-sign-language-pledge-of-allegiance-was-homage-to-her-late-father/

There’s PLENTY of Room in the Inn

A little dose of Schadenfreude at Donnie’s expense would also count as a “Feel Good” offering.  And Lord knows Trump richly deserves it.

Jane Mayer, a reporter for “The New Yorker”, provides a video of the Trump Hotel in Washington – now BARREN and EMPTY!  In fact it looks a lot like the lobby from Jack Nicholson’s movie, “The Shining”.

 

I’m not an accountant, but I bet having NO occupants will have a negative impact on one’s cash-flow.

Cathedral Arts Flower Festival

I know I’ve mentioned the Cathedral Arts Project Flower Festival at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha.  In the past I’ve gone most years, or at least every other year, with family and friends.  It’s a wonderful daytrip for a unique experience.

Florists from the Omaha Metro are assigned different areas of the Cathedral (which is really quite beautiful) to decorate.  And while you wait your turn to take the tour throughout the cathedral, there is music from different choirs, orchestras, organists, etc.  (Obviously lost on me, but the others all love it.)

This year because of the pandemic, it’s going to be a virtual tour.  So I thought you might enjoy taking a look online.

Typically the show runs from Friday through Sunday – but I’m not sure how long it will run online.

2020 Cathedral Flower Festival — Cathedral Arts Project 

Saint Cecilia Flower Festival 2021 – Final on Vimeo

 

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Open Thread – 1/17/2021

 Posted by at 11:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 172021
 

It’s a groggy day here in the CatBox.  I slept very well last night, but one good night after several bad is not enough for recovery.  My pain level is gradually starting to improve.  This afternoon, I’m going to watch my confiscated Portland Chiefs Play the Browns.  I’ll be in the saddle for MLK Day tomorrow.  Expect evil actions from the Republican Reich.  To stay safe, avoid them.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:37).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From NY Times: President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., inheriting a collection of crises unlike any in generations, plans to open his administration with dozens of executive directives on top of expansive legislative proposals in a 10-day blitz meant to signal a turning point for a nation reeling from disease, economic turmoil, racial strife and now the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol.

Mr. Biden’s team has developed a raft of decrees that he can issue on his own authority after the inauguration on Wednesday to begin reversing some of President Trump’s most hotly disputed policies. Advisers hope the flurry of action, without waiting for Congress, will establish a sense of momentum for the new president even as the Senate puts his predecessor on trial.

On his first day in office alone, Mr. Biden intends a flurry of executive orders that will be partly substantive and partly symbolic. They include rescinding the travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries, rejoining the Paris climate change accord, extending pandemic-related limits on evictions and student loan payments, issuing a mask mandate for federal property and interstate travel and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from families after crossing the border, according to a memo circulated on Saturday by Ron Klain, his incoming White House chief of staff, and obtained by The New York Times.

The blueprint of executive action comes after Mr. Biden announced that he will push Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion package of economic stimulus and pandemic relief, signaling a willingness to be aggressive on policy issues and confronting Republicans from the start to take their lead from him.

He also plans to send sweeping immigration legislation on his first day in office providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people in the country illegally. Along with his promise to vaccinate 100 million Americans for the coronavirus in his first 100 days, it is an expansive set of priorities for a new president that could be a defining test of his deal-making abilities and command of the federal government.

Isn’t it wonderful to look forward to government actions we can support?  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From Daily Kos: A few weeks ago, it was still possible to compare the daily deaths from COVID-19 to some past events. 9/11. Or Pearl Harbor. Or D-Day. But all of that went by the wayside as the number of those falling to the virus each day passed 3,000. Then 4,000. 2020 likely saw an unprecedented use of “unprecedented,” and when it comes to the pandemic, that bit of justified awfulness is far from over.

Even in the middle of a pandemic that is killing Americans faster than any war in history, there are still some situations that stand out for the extra awfulness that people can show to each other. That’s certainly true of the Republicans in Congress who refused to wear a mask even as they were huddling together under threat of death from a rampaging mob. As a result, at least four members of Congress have since tested positive.

But there may be no better example of just how terrible people can be, than a tiny group called “Citizens Against Tyranny” in the mid-sized city of Roseburg, Oregon.

As the La Grande Observer reports, this group formed for a specific purpose — to punish anyone who complains about violations of safety regulations connected to COVID-19. That includes publishing the names of anyone who reports safety violations to Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on “The LIST.”

Two women, both senior citizens and Douglas County residents, were recently fingered by this organization. Their names were published on a website called citizensagainsttyranny.net as part of “The LIST,” and they were labeled “Filthy Traitors.” The words were spattered in red, as if to indicate blood.

This group, which labeled two elderly women “filthy traitors” for upholding a law that’s meant to save not just their lives, but also the lives of their fellow citizens, is supported by Republican state lawmaker Dallas Heard. Which might not be surprising, since in a December session of the Oregon legislature, Heard declared that attempts to halt the pandemic were “campaign against the people and the children of God.” At that point he ripped off his mask and stormed out of the senate. Heard doesn’t just support the Citizens Against Tyranny, he has encouraged it in a plan to ban all those who the organization has doxxed from being served by any local business. “Their faces and their names and what they did must be known,” said Heard.

I ashamed to admit that Oregon has a senator as evil as Missouri’s infamous Jerk-off Josh Hawley, but ours is just a state senator. The “Children of God” worship Republican-supply-side Jesus, the deity with horns, cloven hooves, a pointed tail, and a pitch fork.  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): THE YOUNGBLOODS Let´s get together 1967 Chet Powers´s song

 

Ah… the memories. I have understood for about twenty five years that fear, not hate, is the opposite of love. Hate is a symptom of fear. Understanding that makes it easier to understand the Republican Party.  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

Wednesday, Dump Trump** Hump Day,

Is the Big FLUSH!!

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