Today’s high will be only 75° to 80°, but since the sun just hit the brickwork, I’ll have to button up with the AC in an hour or two. It’s also very busy day here at the CatBox. Store to Door is delivering a big load of groceries for me to put away. It’s Monthly Report Day, and WWW Wendy will get here late this afternoon to destink the TomCat. I hope you all have a cooler, less stinky day.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:29 (average 4:39). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Vox Channel): This anti-sex trafficking law could end internet freedom
No decent people want to support sex-trafficking, but Republican pseudo-Christians, the opposite of Christians, have used sex trafficking as smokescreen to attack legitimate sex workers. Democrats went along on the correct belief that, if they didn’t, they would be painted in the media as supporting underage sex slavery. This law is wrong. RESIST!!
From YouTube (Oregonian Channel): Portland Burgerville workers approve federally recognized union
Kudos to the unionizing workers! Oregon leads the way! RESIST!!
From NY Times: Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, allowed a lobbyist friend to play an unusually influential role in setting his agenda during a visit in December to Morocco, according to internal communications related to the scheduling of meetings reviewed by The New York Times.
Just months after helping to organize the trip, the lobbyist, Richard Smotkin, was hired by the government of Morocco as a $40,000-a-month foreign agent, according to filings with the Department of Justice. Mr. Smotkin participated in several meetings with Mr. Pruitt in Morocco, including with representatives from some industries, according to participants on the trip….
…Members of Congress had questioned whether there was a legitimate government reason for Mr. Pruitt to travel to Morocco and also questioned the cost of the trip. Moreover, the swiftness with which Mr. Smotkin then received the Morocco contract raises questions about whether the trip helped Mr. Smotkin secure the deal.
This is corruption as usual, when Republicans are in power. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
He already knows who’s naughty and nice!
20 Responses to “Open Thread – 5/2/2018”
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6:28 This is the first puzzle which I know for sure I’m doing for the third time (experience doesn’t help.)
Tom Tomorrow is always good, but this time he hit it right out of the park.
Fascist snowflake of the day. (Very funny)
Vox – If this law passes, how will Republicans, especially Republican Congressmen, find sex objects?
Oregonian – Kudos indeed. Now we need to unionize everything so people will be able to afford fast food and these heroes can stay employed.
NYT – It’s so much corruption as usual that Pruitt probably can’t understand why anyone would question it.
Cartoon – From your cartoon to God’s monitor.
RESIST AND PERSIST !!!
GOOD NEWS! (To be balanced by some impending “Bad News”)
My brother’s endoscopy and colonoscopy were unremarkable (a small polyp – but nothing ominous).
His (Hemoglobin (hgb.) is up to 8.1. Not great so he still feels tired. But I think I’ve mentioned that you don’t want to get them back to normal because then the bone marrow’s feedback mechanism kicks in and says “Got enough – I can shutdown for a bit).
He will have a “swallow camera pill” that records his entire GI tract (I did NOT get all the specifics on if it’s returnable or not) that the GI doc can then review. (Doc is an Asst. Prof. at U of South Florida Medical School).
Having a CA (cancer antigen) 19-9 to be sure there’s nothing going on with his atrophied pancreas.
Still leaves the question of WHY is his blood count dropping so regularly.
AND the bad news is that his son is scheduled to fly back to San Francisco tomorrow. He agreed to stay for a few more days (despite having obligations back home) – but now with the good news he’s planning on going.
Maybe I’ll be able to convince him to come back and finish up all the loose ends …
The news seems good, best to all!
Even though the cause of your brother’s anaemia is still unclear, the health news in general is good, so hold on to that and give yourself a breather too, Nameless. Best wishes to all of you.
I’m confused – is it the camera, or the GI tract you are wondering about returning? Yes, I know it’s serious, but maybe one little chuckle won’t hurt. I do hope the cause of the blood loss is found, and fast, and that it is fixable. More prayers coming to you of course.
Nope. They are flushed, unless you want to dig them out to take pictures.
Thank you, Nameless for your update. Your brother (you, & family) are in my prayers.
Vox: On point, Joanne. lol
OC: Great!!! I’m jealous though, I don’t see TX getting on the bandwagon, to help our folks here. dammit.
NYT: How sickening can this guy get?? Pretty sickening!
Cartoon: ‘Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice…’ ….and it ain’t Santa either.
Hi, Wendy!!! Hope that you get all your chores done, and get a chance to relax this evening. Take good care, and Thanks, Tom.
Vox: I strongly supported that law at first, but after reading the counter-arguments I have changed my mind. And to think that I signed a couple petitions in favor of it.
Joan, your cartoon made me squawk loud enough to startle my cats!
Ruh roh! I hope you petted them back into serenity.
I can’t take credit for this one, it was sent to me by my California cousin, but it was too good not to share.
Speaking of colonoscopies, mine in February revealed FOUR polyps –
30mm (1.18 inch), 15mm (.59 inch), 7mm (0.27 inch) & 8mm (0.31 inch)
All were removed on the day, it was nasty painful for a while & thankfully the pathology results revealed a ‘low grade cancer risk’ for all four beasties!
Good to hear. I had a polyp removed in my first procedure, many years ago, am due for a, presumably last one this year.
Glad all your ‘beasties’ were all caught early and removed before they turned into something even more beastly, Animae.
I’m glad you got those taken care of, and congrats on making it back to C2. I hope you stick around here too.
Vox: This would not be the first reasonable sounding law to have a paradoxical effect.
Oregonian: Wonderful!
‘Toon: Hey, he can be my Santa Claus, any time!
Vox: Again a vague law with broad and unknown consequences sails through Congress when now one’s paying attention, all deflected by Drumpf and his minions.
Oregonian: ???
NYT: “It makes it almost [emphasis mine] look like it was part of a business cultivation effort,” said Meredith McGehee, executive director of IssueOne, a nonprofit government ethics group.” Ya think? The list of investigations against Pruitt keeps getting longer, yet he’s still there.
Cartoon: Nothing will come out of Mueller’s investigation until he’s 100% sure of its accuracy.
You know, this probably isn’t a useful or maybe even a practical idea, but is there any way you could add a layer in insulation to your wall? Anything to slow down the transfer of heat from the inside surface of your wall to the air in your room would help.
Lathe and plaster. And the building is closing soon.
Puzzle — 4:24 I don’t recommending eating the fish as it is poisonous, and the eel might very well be too. Trying to eat the eel could very well turn into an electrifying experience!
Vox — Exploitation is wrong and Republicans should be looking at themselves first. Sex workers are part of the oldest industry known to humans (predates Christianity) and are entering into a consensual arrangement. Sex trafficking and sexual slavery on the other hand are newer (but not new) and not consensual in nature. One is driven by the worker and the client, the second by people looking to profit from the sale of others or sale of their services. It is the second that the law should go after.
The Oregonian — Kudos to the Portland Burgerville workers! May they be Republican free!
NY Times — CORRUPTION, thy name is Pruitt Republican!
Cartoon — Love it!!! I agree, he already knows who is naughty and nice!
It was a very busy day yesterday with physio, teaching etc. I did not get home until late hence commenting this morning. It has been sunny and warm here too, getting up to 23 C (73.4 F) inland where I live. I will be really busy this weekend so I am preparing now a bit — fund raising gala on Saturday evening at which I am scheduled to be a speaker; Alzheimer’s walk on Sunday for which I have raised over $1,100; then a medical appointment on Monday; a Family Council meeting at New Vista Care Centre for which I am an interim chairperson, and then it is back to physio and teaching. I may be scarce for a few days.
Try not to overdo it!
Thanks all. Hugs!