Feb 112021
 

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox.  Store to Door is delivering groceries, and I have to unpack and put them away.  Tomorrow my hospital appointment is later than normal, so Wendy will be here first thing in the morning to give me my shower.  Then I dress, and we head to the hospital in the blizzard.  I hope to return mid to late afternoon, at which time, I’ll be completely exhausted.  Portland is under a Winter Storm Warning with 10″ or more of snow forecast to accumulate between now and Saturday afternoon.  Tomorrow expect only a brief Personal Update.  I’ll try to add a home safe comment when I return.  Have a great day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:23 (average 7:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Alternet: As other networks airing Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday showed chilling new video footage of the deadly January 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol incited by the former president, Fox News opted to cut away to cover different stories.

How vile! God forbid that the fools, who watch the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, should get to see what really happened!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (NBC News Channel): Day 2 Of Donald Trump’s Impeachment Trial In The Senate

 

This video is 11 hours long, and I put it here so you can skip through it for parts you may want to see.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): California Dreamin’

 

Ah… the memories!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Build the Future. It Belongs to YOU!!

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Feb 052021
 

It’s a painful day here in the CatBox.  Stowing the groceries yesterday was difficult.  Tomorrow please expect no more than a Personal Update.  WWWendy is coming in the morning.  Have a great day, and TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:20 (average 6:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Calling it “the best news I’ve had in months,” Donald J. Trump has excitedly accepted congressional Democrats’ offer to star in a new, nationally broadcast television show.

Trump boasted to reporters about his new TV opportunity, which was presented to him, on Thursday, by Representative Jamie Raskin.

“It’s going to be similar to ‘The Apprentice,’ because I’ll be sitting behind a table, but it will also be a little different,” Trump explained. “Instead of me asking a lot of questions, people will be asking me the questions. That should spice things up.”

The former President said that the “most amazing” aspect of his new show would be the number of networks broadcasting it.

Dang, Andy!!  Hopefully the follow up will a show about the Orange Pervert** broadcast from prison cell.  It will be called: Orange** is the New RedRESIST the Republican Reich!!

From Daily Kos: On Tuesday, the body of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was killed by pro-Trump insurrectionists during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, was laid in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived that evening to pay their respects. Americans were able to watch the ceremony on multiple news channels—but not on Fox News. On Fox News, Sicknick’s ceremony was barely mentioned.

Instead, Fox News’ ever-frothing opinion hosts did what they do best: stoke audience panic over all number of bizarre side issues, from a barrage of far-right conspiracy theories promoted by the fascist Laura Ingraham to Sean Hannity’s important report that somebody got ejected from a Lakers game “FOR HECKLING LEBRON.”

Fox’s attempt to mostly pretend Sicknick’s ceremony was not happening did not go without notice. In fact, it seems pretty much everybody noticed it, to the point that both blasting and mocking Fox for their silence became the evening’s hot Twitter pastime.

Most of the criticism noted that Fox News had long pretended that “Blue Lives Matter,” only to have it not matter at all when it came to an officer murdered by a Trump-devoted mob. The Washington Post even put some numbers to it with an analysis of how often the network even bothered to mention Sicknick compared to competing networks, even after the network ran “thousands” of segments about other police deaths during the previous four years.

Accusing Fox News of hypocrisy over the death of police officers, however, is giving them far too much credit. Fox News is not minimizing the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick because they wish to downplay the violence of Trump supporters toward police. Fox News is minimizing Sicknick’s death because they are accessories to his death.  [emphasis added]

Click through!  This author (Hunter) could not be more spot on!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): No Apology From Greene As House Removes Her From Committees

 

Thanks to the 11 Republican Representatives that voted for America and against the Nazi Republican Reich. But the sad fact that there were so few of them  is ample evidence to show which side the Republican Party is on.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Dust in the Wind

 

For me, this seems particularly appropriate at the moment.  Ah… the memories!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Build the Future. It Belongs to YOU!!

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Jan 122021
 

It’s a tired/busy day here in the CatBox.  First, although I feel queasy, I have not Republicated in over 24 hours.  Yesterday, Deborah confirmed what I had suspected is the reason for my Republicosis.  When the Oncologist increased my pain medication that made me more prone to Republicitis.  I found a stool softener that I can take with my stent.  That made me more prone to Republicosis.  I kept taking it and a laxative at max dose, so when the shit hit the fan, the shit really hit the fan.  It took four days of Imodium to finally have a better day.  Now it’s a matter of getting my condition stabilized on the right balance of medications.  It will stake some time.  Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, but she won’t come until the evening, so I should be in the saddle tomorrow.  Tuesday is a flush your Republicans day.  I sure hope I have no more to flush.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:22 (average 6:36).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Driven over the edge by his expulsion from Twitter, a deranged Donald J. Trump ordered his two adult sons to hand out flyers with his tweets on them.

The incident occurred at three o’clock Sunday morning, when Trump, wide awake and in a state of extreme agitation, had an idea for a tweet but no platform on which to broadcast it.

Wearing his bathrobe, he summoned his adult sons to the Oval Office and scrawled his tweet on a piece of paper with one of the Sharpies that had served him well in the past.

Reportedly, Trump then commanded Eric and Don, Jr., to go to the nearest copy shop and order ten thousand flyers containing his tweet to hand out on street corners.

According to Trump’s plan, supporters desiring to retweet his tweet would also go to copy shops and hand out flyers, a system he claimed was “better than Twitter.”

Dang Andy! I suspect that the twit* will get writers’ cramp so fast that he’ll stop abusing tweets and go back to abusing twats!  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From Crooks and Liars: If only Rep. Devin Nunes had somewhere like a television station to run to so he could communicate with other conservatives. After the news that Amazon is booting the far right social media site Parler off of its web hosting service, Nunes ran to Fox “news” to gripe to host Maria Bartiromo about how terrible it is that they will no longer have the platform to spread their lies and hatred unabated.

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

Let’s call this what it is. Treason is not included as a right included in the First Amendment. Can you count Nunes’ lies?  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From OPB (Hat-Tip Daily Kos Elections Digest): U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, considered the most moderate Democrat in Oregon’s Congressional delegation, reportedly told House Democratic colleagues on Friday that he was against impeaching President Donald Trump for inciting the mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol.

Then Schrader likened the attempt to remove Trump to a “lynching,” according to reports from ABC News.

The comment on a caucus call drew immediate criticism from some of Schrader’s allies.

Mark Wiener, a powerful Portland political consultant who has worked for Schrader for years dating back to when the congressman served in the Oregon Legislature, quickly tweeted out that his company, Winning Mark, would be severing ties with the legislator.

“Comparing the impeachment of a treasonous President who encouraged white supremacists to violently storm the Capitol to a “lynching” is shameful and indefensible,” Wiener tweeted.

I supported Schrader, even though he’s a “moderate democrat”, but this goes way too far. He needs to be primary challenged in 2022.  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Without Accountability, the Next Coup Will Succeed

 

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, is guilty. All must be punished. As long as the Republican Reich exists, America will not be safe!  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): JOAN BAEZ ~ Joe Hill ~

 

Ah… the memories! Wherever people are trying to defend human rights, Republicans will be trying to murder them!  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

7 Days (1 Week) Until the Big FLUSH!!

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Sep 112020
 

It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox.  Debora just called and she’ll be here in a few minutes.  She just left, and for a dead man, I’m in good shape.   I’m still very tired, and my back hasn’t recovered from Wednesday.  However, I’m in the saddle today, because my 9/11 article is too important not to publish. Tomorrow, WWWendy is coming very early so she go to Crater Lake in the Cascades.  Therefore, please expect no more than a late Personal Update.  JD, if Bill Maher publishes tonight, would you please cover it?  TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:15 (average 4:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0911TrumpVirusMap

Click for interactive map

US Cases: 6,589,020
US Deaths: 196,345
Plus thousands of Trump’s GOP murder victims Republicans are hiding from us

Where WWWendy is going: Crater Lake

0911CraterLake

Short Takes:

From  YouTube (Oregonian Channel): I-5 visibility near Wilsonville during Oregon wildfires

 

This is about 18 miles from me. Here it isn’t quite that bad.  RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): How Fox News covered the Woodward recordings of President Trump

 

Trump has argued that he did not want to cause panic. That’s like yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre. That’s a lie, because the primary tactic of Trump’s* campaign creating panic. Furthermore, when the crowded theatre really was on fire, Trump* yelled, “The fire is a hoax! Stay in your seats!” Now the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, and the Republican Reich are piling on the BS.  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of past protest): Eric Burdon & The Animals Sky Pilot

 

Ah… the memories! Protest like the 60s!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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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!!

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Jun 222020
 

It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox.  I’m expecting a visit from the Providence doctor shortly.  This is my only article today.  Oh God, it’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:30 (average 5:06).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump*Virus Update:

0622TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 2,357,323
Deaths: 122,259
Recovered: 980,367

Short Takes:

From Media Matters: In 2015, after a white supremacist gunned down nine Black worshipers in a Charleston, South Carolina, church and calls to dismantle the symbols of racism and slavery grew louder, Fox figures rallied around the Confederate flag. When state leaders, led by then-Gov. Nikki Haley, ordered the flag’s removal from public buildings, Bill O’Reilly used his Fox prime-time perch to say it “represents, to some, bravery in the Civil War because the Confederates fought hard.” Then-Fox personality Kimberly Guilfoyle speculated about whether the American flag would be next.

In 2017, when a white supremacist mowed down a crowd of protesters at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — which was spuriously organized around the city’s plan to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from a local park — the same pattern emerged. Fox figures defended President Donald Trump’s false equivalence between white supremacists and the counterprotesters [sic] at the rally. And they asked whether book burning or removing the U.S. Capitol stone by stone would come next.

Today, the Confederate battle flag and other racist monuments are back in the news. Amid continued nationwide protests over police brutality against Black Americans in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, protesters have begun toppling statues of Confederates and colonizers alike.

The Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, will defend racism as long as the racist Republican Reich exists. That’s why every Republican in office is one Republican too many!  RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Stung by the paltry turnout at his Saturday-night rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Donald J. Trump’s campaign has announced plans to hold his next rally in the bunker beneath the White House.

In announcing the rally, Brad Parscale, the chairman of Trump’s reëlection campaign, denied that the choice of venue reflected a tepid level of enthusiasm to see the candidate speak.

“The bunker holds forty people,” Parscale said. “That is a much larger seating capacity than Joe Biden’s basement.”

Despite the choice of such an intimate venue, however, Trump campaign sources are privately worried that they may have difficulty filling the bunker.

Dang, Andy! At least the Republican Reich will spread less of their Trump* virus plague that way!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past):  The Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Ah… the memories!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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Apr 292020
 

The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.

For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus.*


SHE’S ALIVE

Image source: News Break NG

Elisa Granato, one of the first recipients of a trial vaccine for COVID-19 at the University of Oxford, has been the subject of false reports that she had died shortly after receiving the vaccine last week, Full Fact and Reuters have found.

However, Dr Granato (she’s a scientist herself) tweeted at the weekend that she was “doing fine” while the university stated in response to a Reuters’ query which confirmed that she was “alive and well”. The UK Department of Health and Social Care also tweeted that the news was “completely untrue”.

Dr Granato is one of the 800 participants who will either receive the trial vaccine or a control vaccine as part of the study.

ANTI-VAXXERS ON THE WARPATH AGAIN

Image source: Facebook

The Facebook post, which was shared in the US, Canada and Australia, offered advice on “how to legally decline a vaccine” but has been debunked by fact-checkers at AFP and Lead Stories.

The post suggests people should ask whether a vaccine (and presumably any future COVID-19 vaccine) contains “MRC-5” and whether it this could lead to an “iatrogenic reaction”. If the doctor administering the vaccine answers in the affirmative, as their Hippocratic Oath compels them, then a person apparently has the right to decline. “This is how we can legally (and respectfully) decline their offered mandated services and there is absolutely NOTHING they can do about it!”

But AFP found that while there were ways to refuse a vaccine legally in either the US, Canada or Australia, they were not those listed. For example, some Australian states mandate vaccinations for children enrolling in childcare or school, however, the vaccination itself is not compulsory and people maintain the right to choose whether to receive a vaccination.

 

SCAMMED

In Australia, digital scammers are using the coronavirus pandemic to con them into buying goods, sharing personal information and installing malicious software on their computers. This may well be the case in other countries too.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says that since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, it has received more than 1000 reports of bogus coronavirus-related schemes by scammers impersonating banks, retail stores, and the Tax Office, while the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has warned of scams involving fake Post emails.

In one case study detailed by the centre, a US-registered cyber attacker managed to send text messages to Australian phones looking as if to have come from official ‘myGov’ sources. The link in the message led to a website hosting a banking Trojan known to target Android phones to steal personal financial information.

 

FROM AMERICA

Image source: YouTube: Fox News

Comparisons between the coronavirus and various causes of death have been rife around the world with commentators, politicians and CEOs pushing for economies to reopen and for a return to business-as-usual.

One such comparison was made by TV’s “Dr Phil” — real name Phil McGraw —claiming during a Fox News interview that 45,000 Americans die every year in road accidents, 480,000 from smoking and 360,000 in swimming pools. The first two numbers were correct but, in reality, only 3,709 drowned in 2017, including those people who drowned in natural bodies of water and baths, not just swimming pools. An overstatement US by almost 10 times the actual figure, as PolitiFact found.

However, these apples-and-oranges comparisons are beside the point according to Arthur Caplan, the founding head of the division of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine.
“The issue isn’t how many people die of car crashes or swimming pool accidents or strokes or whatever. The question is whether they all happen at once and overwhelm the healthcare system.”

Given the massive amount of attention already given to Mr Trump ponderings whether disinfectant could be injected into the body to kill off the virus, or whether “very powerful” light could be a potential treatment, I will refrain from a detailed debunking of his suggestions here.

 

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19**

#18: A few drops of hydrogen peroxide in the ear canal “This does not sound plausible. Liquids won’t penetrate the eardrum. In fact, it seals off the middle ear and prevents that from happening. Some drugs can be absorbed through the skin, but hydrogen peroxide is not one of them.” Dr Mark Prince, quoted by Lead Stories

 

*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.

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Apr 052020
 

It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox.  WWWendy is here and gooping, while I finish.  This is my only article today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:41 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0405TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 311,656
Deaths: 8,454
Recovered: 14,828

0405TrumpVirusData

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: The National Incompetence Stockpiles, the federal reserves of inanity and ineptitude to be drawn upon in times of crisis, are at “full capacity,” the Government Accountability Office announced on Saturday.

According to the G.A.O., the Incompetence Stockpiles are so well stocked at the moment that they are in danger of overflowing.

“The sheer tonnage of failure and impotence that is being dumped into the stockpiles on a daily basis is straining their ability to contain it,” the G.A.O. statement read.

Davis Logsdon, a professor at the University of Minnesota who has written the definitive book about the National Incompetence Stockpiles, said that the nation’s futility reserves stand at their highest levels ever, eclipsing the record stockpiles established during the tenure of President George W. Bush.

“The Bush Administration tapped the National Incompetence Stockpiles when it invaded Iraq and responded to Hurricane Katrina,” Logsdon said. “At the time, it seemed as though the stockpiles would never be fully replenished, and that makes the Trump Administration’s achievement all the more striking.”

What can I say, Andy? You could not have nailed this better!  RESIST!!

From YouTube (Raw Story Channel): Devin Nunes: Homeless people are the ‘zombie apocalypse’

Barf Bag Alert!!

Nincompoop Nunes had it bass-ackwards. If America has a zombie apocalypse, it’s the Republican Reich. This is the garbage that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, feeds their deplorable sheeple.  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Rolling Stones – Angie (HQ)


Ah… the memories!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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