Open Thread–4/4/2020

 Posted by at 11:11 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 042020
 

It’s very busy day here at the CatBox, but I am feeling better than yesterday.  Tomorrow and Monday please expect no more than Personal Updates or Open Threads.  Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, with all the normal chores plus it’s Infernal Revenue Day.  Monday, I go to the hospital to have an infusion port surgically installed in my chest.  WWWendy will bring me home.  Tuesday will depend on how I feel after that surgery.  Love to you all!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:34 (average 6:40).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0404TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 277,613
Deaths: 7,406
Recovered: 12,294

0404TrumpVirusData

Short Takes:

From Twitter:

Does that say it all, or what?  RESIST!!

From YouTube (Real Time Channel): Sen. Bernie Sanders

Click through using the channel link for the rest of Bill’s show. I don’t have time to submit an article on it this week, but it’s there for you. As for Bernie, he could not be more spot on in his outlook for dealing with the effects of Trump* virus. Looking to the future, Trump and the Republican Reich have trashed the economy so completely that tying health care to employment is no longer feasible.  On Bill’s ‘Manhattan Project’, we need health care that bases profit on wellness. We have healthcare that bases profit on sickness.  That’s bass-ackward!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Maddow to Trump: You Had One Job. Virus Response Needs Competent Leadership

This is one of Rachel’s best ever!  Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon, just lent respirators to New York. Oregon leads the way! Kate is as competent and caring as criminal Fuhrer Trump* and all his Republican lackeys are incompetent and uncaring. Incompetence is a hallmark of the Republican Reich, such as Katrina and the Republican Recession of 2008. What do we say of the Trump* virus pandemic and the Republican Depression of 2020? It’s Trump’s* job, so we say “Heck of a job, Donnie*!”  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Nancy Sinatra – Friday’s Child


Ah… the memories!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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Open Thread–3/26/2020

 Posted by at 10:41 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 262020
 

It’s another crazy day, here in the CatBox.  WWWendy was here last night.  She was planning to fly to Iowa for a booty call this morning, but the airline shut down her flight.  I’m sorry, because she wanted to go.  I’m relieved, because I was really concerned for her safety.  My Oncologist’s office called and rescheduled my appointment for Monday.  They wanted to mail my pain meds, as I had requested, but since I cannot reach my mailbox, I would not get them until Sunday, when WWWendy comes.  So, rather than risk a mail SNAFU, I told then to hold it for me to pick up there on Monday.  We dug through my desk, found my old Oxycodone emergency reserve.  I have enough for a pill at bedtime every night and an extra on both shower day and travel day.  On Monday they plan to give me several week’s supply, so this never happens again.  Today is a grocery delivery day from Store to Door.  Due to Trump* virus, they no longer bring groceries in from the hallway or help me put them away, so I have a lot more work.  Thanks to JD for sending me a little hand cart that will make it easier.  Thursday is ‘flush a Republican day!  1 – 2 – 3  BA-WOOOOOSH!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:35 (average 6:15).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0326TrumpVirus

Cases: 68,814
Deaths: 1,037
Recovered: 428

0326TrumpVirusTests

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The 9/11 terrorist attacks ushered in a new era of changes that linger to this day—from taking off our shoes at airport security checkpoints, to tolerating an erosion of civil liberties and government intrusion in our lives. We are deeply in debt from the resulting (and unnecessary) wars and hyper militarization of our budget. Republicans reaped electoral benefits, branding themselves as the party that “keeps you safe.” 

COVID-19 promises a dramatic reshaping of American society. Here are at least 11 ways our lives will change. Feel free to speculate about others.

1.) Government is here to help. Ronald Reagan famously quipped, “the most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” That ushered in two generations of Republican nihilism, with relentless focus in slashing and cutting government in all areas except for defense. Well, it turns out government is the only thing that can help in a global disaster, and even Republicans have stepped up to pour trillions into the economy and directly in the hands of individuals. Meanwhile, the vaunted free market, supposed solution to all of society’s ills, is sitting helplessly begging for handouts.

2.) Wall Street will face further restrictions. Wall Street faced increased regulation in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. It’ll only get worse, as bans on corporate stock buybacks and other limits will become increasingly popular. Tolerance for corporate tax evasion will erode further, particularly among companies that receive any kind of federal bailout money.

3.) Security is more than just thwarting terrorists. The Trump administration, freshly elected, gleefully disbanded the nation’s pandemic preparedness task force. The last competent administration foresaw the possibility of a pandemic creating havoc in this country, but the incompetent Republican did not, and most people were blissfully unaware of the danger. No longer. This has consequences not just at the federal and state budget levels, but in how corporations plan for a rainy day (like Apple, with its $245 billion cash hoard), and how we individuals interact. We have a lot to learn from Asia—from contact-less greetings (would be so hard for me!), to greater use of face masks and general acceptance of our responsibilities to help keep others from getting sick.

I have included the first three. Please click through to read the other eight. I agree with one caveat. For these much-needed changes to take root, it’s imperative to flush criminal Fuhrer Trump* and the Republican Reich! This includes not only 10 and #11, but all the way down the ticket to dawg catcher.  RESIST!!

From Alternet: It might be easy to forget, given the crisis enveloping the world at the moment, that the United States is scheduled to hold a very important election in November. But with projections that the COVID-19 crisis isn’t going away any time soon, what will this mean for voters’ access to the polls, and the very legitimacy of the election? These are important questions, and journalists play a critical role in answering them.

Many have risen admirably to the task. For instance, the Center for Public Integrity, in partnership with Time (3/23/20), spoke with voting rights experts to lay out the possibilities and pitfalls of different responses. The primary action being floated is a bill, introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., that would require no-excuse vote-by-mail options and 20 days of early in-person voting in every state, as well as offering federal funding for the implementation of those measures.

But as voting rights experts told CPI reporter Carrie Levine, the changes have to be implemented thoughtfully to avoid disenfranchisement. Mail-in ballots from communities of color, for example, have historically been rejected at higher rates, and language, ability and even poor access to reliable mail service (as on Native American reservations, for instance) can be a barrier for many.

Oregon leads the way. Here, a drivers license or Oregon ID card automatically registers people to vote. Oregon mails our ballots to our homes. Homeless people can get a ballot at any post office or library.  When you return your ballot, if it lacks the required postage, the post office will deliver it anyway. Ballots may also be taken to collection points.  Since every ballot is paper, the paper trail is guaranteed. No system is perfect, but ours is best!    RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Taking bold action to safeguard the health of millions of Americans, Dr. Anthony Fauci has tricked Donald J. Trump into believing that there is no Easter this year, Fauci has confirmed.

After hearing Trump declare on Tuesday that he hoped to reopen the country on Easter Sunday, an alarmed Fauci decided to spring into action.

“I ran down to my computer and mocked up a phony 2020 calendar with no Easter on it,” Fauci said. “Then I showed it to Trump and said, ‘There’s a problem with your plan, Mr. President. There’s no Easter this year.’”

According to Fauci, Trump was initially baffled by the news. “How could that be?” Trump asked. “There’s Easter every year.”

“This is a leap year,” the quick-thinking virologist replied.

“I guess I didn’t know it worked that way,” Trump said. “I never go to church.”

Dang, Andy! I assume this it straight news, but isn’t outsmarting criminal Fuhrer Trump* a bit like wrestling a quadriplegic?   RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): IRON BUTTERFLY – IN A GADDA DA VIDA – 1968 (ORIGINAL FULL VERSION) CD SOUND

Ah… the memories!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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Open Thread–3/16/2017

 Posted by at 11:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 162020
 

It’s a hectic day, here in the CatBox.  First, I overslept and got up 90 minutes late.  Then I spent 90 minutes on breakfast.  It’s a pain, but it’s been several days, since I last lost a meal.  Then my oncologist sent me an extensive online questionnaire, and I spent 30 minutes on that.  Needless to say, I’m behind schedule.  Tomorrow, I have my initial visit to Evelyn Brosnan, my oncologist.  I have to be in the lobby before the birds wake up, so please expect no more than a Personal Update from me, most of which I will do tonight to give me a fast escape in the morning.  Oh God, it’s Monday Hugs!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:00 (average 4:37).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0316TrumpVirus

0316TrumpVirusTesting

Short Takes:

From Willamette Week: As Oregon Gov. Kate Brown weighs whether to close down bars and restaurants or institute a curfew, at least 360 medical professionals are asking U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for more dramatic action to keep people apart—or, in the parlance of the pandemic, to engage in more social distancing.

Those medical professionals signed an open letter tonight calling for federal action on the new coronavirus outbreak.

“No one should leave their homes in impacted regions except for medical care, essential supplies, essential work services and compelling other reasons that are clearly defined,” they write. “Virtual work options should be encouraged for all businesses, whenever possible.”

I fully agree with these Oregon medical professionals, but because Oregon leads the way, Kate should have been first to close down bars and restaurants.  RESIST!!

From Alternet: The Kushner family is trying to cash in on the pandemic that could kill millions of us.

Oscar Health, the health insurance company co-founded by Jared Kushner’s younger brother, announced Friday it has launched a testing center locator for COVID-19. It shows where more than 100 centers are in the United States. The company is also offering a risk assessment survey and means to talk to a doctor online.

The coronavirus is predicted to kill anywhere from almost 500,000 Americans in the next year to more than 5 million. At least 62 people in the United States had died by Sunday; 3,130 have tested positive.

Do you remember when Kushner said he was delaying a response to “study” the situation? Now we know that sleazy son of a bitch was delaying a response to maximize personal profit from the suffering of others, without caring for the additional Americans, who will die because of the delay! Well, what the hell should we expect from someone, who would marry a Trump*?  RESIST!!

From The Guardian: The Trump administration has offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive access to a Covid-19 vaccine, German media have reported.

The German government is trying to fight off what it sees as an aggressive takeover bid by the US, the broadsheet Die Welt reports, citing German government circles.

The US president had offered the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac “large sums of money” to gain exclusive access to their work, wrote Die Welt.

According to an anonymous source quoted in the newspaper, Trump was doing everything to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus for the US, “but for the US only”. [emphasis added]

That’s is just about as vile as a dirty bastard can get! Trump* virus is a worldwide problem. Solutions need to se shared freely with all patients, who need them, and all governments need to share in reimbursing the companies, who develop those solutions, for their work. Trump* and the Republican Reich would put the solution under their RepubliCare plan: If you can pay, you live. If not, Republican let you die for no extra charge.  See below!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Association Cherish 1966

Ah… the memories!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

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John Oliver Explains Trump Virus

 Posted by at 10:23 am  Politics
Mar 032020
 

The other day, I relabeled COVID-19 to make it’s name descriptive of the principal cause of its spread in the US and the deaths that the pandemic has caused and shall cause here.  It is now the Trump* virus.

John Oliver explains we need to be scared of the coronavirus — but not too scared, and slammed the Trump administration for making things so much worse than they had to do…

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

Coronavirus: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

John is spot on in everything he said, save one. COVID-19 is not the corona virus. It’s the Trump virus.

Yesterday, Oregon Health authorities announced a third case of Trump virus, unrelated to the first two.  This victim attended a basketball game in Eastern Oregon just before he tested positive.

As I go to the hospital for chemo and radiation treatments, and have long waits there for the TriMet Lift bus, I’ll be at much higher risk than most.  If it kills me, send the bill for my funeral to the asshole in the White House.

RESIST!!

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Open Thread–2/9/2020

 Posted by at 8:13 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 092020
 

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox.  I’m feeling better than yesterday and WWWendy will be here shortly.  This is my only article today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today,s took me 3:30 (average 5:55).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

A visual blast from the past.

Short Takes:From Mother Jones (H/T Daily Kos): Here’s something sleazy: In 2019, the state of Montana had to twice warn voters about mailers from the Republican National Committee disguised to look like official 2020 Census documents. They were actually requests for money and voter information to help re-elect President Donald Trump.

But the GOP hasn’t stopped.

In response to our recent request for your political mail, a Michigan resident sent us a document that looks almost identical to the one the GOP came under fire for last year. (We’ve lightly redacted the document.) Our reader isn’t alone—a Michigan TV station wrote about the practice causing “confusion” recently, too. We’ve contacted Michigan’s census officials and are awaiting comment.

Click through to view this Republican SCAM SPAM in it’s entirety! Is this sleazy? Yes! Is it typical of the Republican Reich? Hell, Yes!!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (SNL Channel): New Hampshire Democratic Debate Cold Open

It’s nice to poke some good natured fun at our own candidates for a change. As much as Republicans need and deserve satire as disgustingly vile as they are, we need a brief break.  RESIST!!

From KOIN: A rally planned by the Ku Klux Klan at the Multnomah County Courthouse was canceled Saturday hours before its scheduled start. But throngs of anti-fascist protesters arrived, leading to the arrest of 3 people.

About three hours prior to the KKK rally taking place, the Portland Police Bureau announced organizers — who they did not name — had backed out of the event early Saturday.

Before the arrests, Portland police said it was a peaceful demonstration.

Olivia Katbi Smith, the co-chair of the Portland Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said hundreds came out to protest the KKK rally.

Kudos to the Democratic Socialists! Oregon Leads the way!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Harry Nilsson – Everybody’s Talkin’ (1969)


I loved his The Point Album. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

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Open Thread–2/6/2020

 Posted by at 8:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 062020
 

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox.  Store to Door is delivering groceries some time this afternoon.  I hoped to get an early nap.,  My stomach acted up all day yesterday, and Stumpy has been underdoing a rare bout of phantom nerve pain for over 24 hours.  It feels like someone is stabbing my left ankle with a knife, but I don’t have a left ankle.  I hoped to get an early nap, but that appears unlikely.  ARGH!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:03 (average 6:51).  To to it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In the aftermath of Pete Buttigieg’s strong showing in the Iowa caucuses, Donald J. Trump accused the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor of engaging in “suspicious travel” to Afghanistan.

“People are saying that he went to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014,” Trump told the hosts of “Fox & Friends” in a phone call. “Seven months is a long time to be running around in a Muslim country full of terrorists, don’t you think?”

He added that Buttigieg reportedly had a gun with him while he was in Afghanistan, a fact that Trump said “sounds fishy to me.”

“Let’s see, you fly all the way to a Muslim country full of all of these terrorists who need guns, and you’re bringing a gun into a country like that?” Trump said. “Who was he planning to give that gun to?”

“I don’t know if he was part of some caliphate or just helping them out, but we ought to find out,” he said. “I have a call in to the President of Afghanistan.”

Dang Andy! Do you think he was part of an evil conspiracy with gay Muslim terrorists? Far more likely, Trump* will get a second asterisk on his name from his coming “perfect” call to President Ashraf Ghani!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Liberal Redneck – Pelosi Disrespects Trump

FOMCPIMPROTFLMAO! I could not agree more!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (Jeff Merkley Channel): Statement on the Senate Impeachment Vote of Donald J. Trump

Spot-on, Jeff! Once again I’m proud to have volunteered for his campaign. Oregon leads the way!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Good, the Bad and the Ugly • Main Theme • Ennio Morricone


Ah… the spaghetti westerns!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

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Open Thread–1/30/2020

 Posted by at 10:38 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 302020
 

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox.  First, I awakened just after midnight, itchy and sticky.  I finally fell asleep again after 3:30 AM and overslept by a full two hours.  Then, I overloaded my computer  doing research this morning, crashed it. I had several web pages and several applications open at once, and had not rebooted in a couple days.  I lost forty five minutes work.  Finally, it’s a grocery delivery day, and I do not know when Store to Door is coming.  Some days…  You have a good one!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:32 (average 8:18).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoons:

Short Takes:

From Willamette Week: Portland-area voters could open their ballots in three months to find a surprise: a request for $250 million to $300 million a year in taxpayer funding for services to get homeless people off the streets.

WW reported Jan. 27 that the regional government Metro may place such a measure on the May 19 ballot. That marks a stark change since last month, when the Metro Council insisted to advocates it would take as long as two years to grind a measure through the bureaucracy.

Instead, local officials now want to construct a measure and present it to voters in 13 weeks.

This is still overdue, even though Oregon leads the way!  RESIST!!

From USA Today: Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Donald Trump’s defense team, alarmed Democrats and many legal scholars with his argument in the first day of questions and answers in the Senate impeachment trial that presidents cannot be removed from office for an action they believe could help get them re-elected. 

In response to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about whether it mattered if Trump engaged in a “quid pro quo,” Dershowitz said that motive was what mattered and that if an act was in the public interest it was not impeachable. And he said it was reasonable for a public official to equate what is in their own political interest with the public good.

“Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest,” he said. “And if a president does something, which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

Dershowitz said a quid pro quo that involved an illegal act, or was done for personal financial gain, would be impeachable, however. [emphasis added]

Dershowitz is so full of shit his eyes are brown. Hitler honestly believed that murdering six million Jews was in the national interest. According to the Republican Reich, that’s fine. Who would Fuhrer Trump want to murder…Jews? …Blacks? …Latinos? …Muslims? …Gays? …Seniors? …Poor People? …Libruls? In any case, Dershowitz missed a key point. Since the re-theft (Trump* was NEVER elected) of the White House would result in more personal profit for Trump* from having his entourage stay at Trump* resorts at considerable taxpayer expense, his campaign is for personal gain,  so his campaign related acts are impeachable, even by the twisted, devious  standards of the Republican Reich!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from Lona’s past):  Shocking Blue – Venus

Ah… Lona’s memories!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

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Hold On!

 Posted by at 9:38 am  Politics
Dec 192019
 

Yesterday’s impeachment hearings were an exercise in boredom, until the votes that made the Fuhrer of the Republican Reich the Impeached Resident.  Now what?  Bought Bitch Moscow Mitch has made it abundantly clear that he considers his job is not to run an impartial trial, but to protect Trump.  This morning I heard him call the Articles passed in the House “constitutionally incoherent”.  He said he does not consider them worthy of consideration.  Way back during the Mueller Report days, when Nancy Pelosi still opposed impeachment, I said several times that Democrats, and honest Republicans, if there were any, should impeach Trump to present the case to the American people.  Then, they could hold the Articles of Impeachment to deny Trump his demanded acquittal in Bought Bitch Mitch’s kangaroo court.  In retrospect, it was a good idea.  If we can’t get a fair trial, hold on!

1219Hold

Moments after a historic vote to impeach President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House could at least temporarily withhold the articles from the Senate — a decision, she suggested, that could depend on how the other chamber chooses to conduct its trial on Trump’s removal.

“We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side,” she said, referring to the House “managers” who present the case for removal to the Senate. “So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us. So hopefully it will be fair. And when we see what that is, we’ll send our managers.”

The comments came as a group of House Democrats pushed Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other leaders to withhold the articles — a notion that has gained traction among some on the political left as a way of potentially forcing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to conduct a trial on more favorable terms for Democrats. And if no agreement is reached, some have argued, the trial could be delayed indefinitely, denying Trump an expected acquittal.

Pelosi would not answer questions about whether she was entertaining an indefinite hold on the articles — one that could prevent a trial from taking place before the next presidential election…  [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell have more.

Pelosi Wants To See ‘Fair’ Process Before House Sends Impeachment Articles

I found it particularly interesting that the man taking the lead on this idea is my own Representative, Earl Blumenauer [D-OR].

1219Blumenauer-Pride

…Representative Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon, said he had spoken to at least 40 Democrats who were concerned that Mr. McConnell would not conduct a fair trial, and who wanted Ms. Pelosi to delay sending the articles to the Senate until she learned more about how the proceedings would move forward.

“What is gained by accelerating this process?” he asked. He said Democrats should “let the speaker work her magic” to “get some sort of assurance, if it’s possible, that there will be a level playing field.”

In addition, some Democrats — including some of the chamber’s most progressive lawmakers — have advocated simply never sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, to deny Mr. Trump an almost certain acquittal in the Republican-controlled chamber, where a two-thirds vote — 67 senators — are needed to convict. Ms. Pelosi has not ruled that out, but House leaders are not seriously contemplating that course, the Democratic officials said… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Oregon leads the way!

RESIST!!

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