It’s a very tired day, here in the CatBox. JD, would you please cover Bill Maher? I have another lead story that needs doing. Yesterday they increased my Fentanyl dosage to 25 mg, so I’ll be in less pain starting with my next patch change Monday. The PET scan was not good. My oncologist is seeking insurance approval for a drug called Pembrolizumab. The chances of severe side effects (excessive immune response) are less than 5%. If it works, which is a long shot, it will tag my cancer cells with markers that allow my own immune system to recognize and attack them. If insurance will not approve, because it’s a long shot, or if it doesn’t work, I’ll be fortunate to see 2021. I hope you have a great weekend.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 5,098,494
US Deaths: 164,144
Short Takes:
From Alternet: The Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally in 2015. This year’s rally, now underway, is expected to attract 250,000 people.
It would be too much to expect the millions of Americans who choose to celebrate their personal identity with intentionally loud and purposely obnoxious, high-polluting machines, operated at speeds in excess of 70 mph on our nation’s highways, with zero protection between themselves and the roadway, all to care equally about potentially infecting other people with an invisible virus.
Still, for at least a discrete subgroup of those folks who claim the “individual freedom” to face a fatality risk 26 times the rate of other motorists, attendance at the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota this year in the midst of the deadliest global pandemic in over a century, signifies a quantum leap of sorts in both irresponsibility and crass disregard not only for their own lives, but for the rest of the people in this country as well.
Certainly many bikers are not Republican fools. They will not be there. The deplorable Republican Sheeple will spread Trump’s* Republican plague far and wide! RESIST!!
From NY Times: Jerry Falwell Jr., one of President Trump’s most prominent and controversial evangelical supporters, will take an indefinite leave of absence from his role as president and chancellor of Liberty University, the board of trustees announced [pseudo-Christians delinked] on Friday.
The news comes days after Mr. Falwell posted, and then deleted, a photograph on Instagram of him posing alongside a woman with his pants unzipped and his arm around her.
Mr. Falwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier in the week, he apologized for the photo.
Franklin Graham, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, defended Mr. Falwell in an interview on Friday evening.
“He is a great leader and he has taken this school — it is one of the largest universities in the United States. He’s done an incredible job,” Mr. Graham said. “He is a great leader and I certainly support him.”
I thought you might appreciate this follow-up. I wonder how many BJs Graham has gotten on Falwell’s yacht. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast of protest): Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction
Are we in the eve of destruction from the Republican Reich? Kudos to left-wing demonstrators! RESIST!!
Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!
11 Responses to “Open Thread – 8/8/2020”
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Ouch. that’s not good news. Yes, I’ll pick up Maher. Eventually. (Probably sooner than later, but don’t tell Mozart.)
Meidas Touch
Gonna throw in a well-reasoned Beau. (Stick with him.) (On the t-shirt, read the “3”s backwards.)
Cartoon – So true.
Map – Past 5 million. Of course.
Sturgis – If only we could build a fence around them and require them to stay there until they test negative. Not that that would be fair to the good people of Sturgis – I assume there are some.
Falbadly – Someone on Daily Kos, on the basis of the background of the picture, priced out that yacht at over $30 million. Mmm-hmm.
Past – Considering last night’s massacre, we may well be.
Meidas: No, the real hoax, projected far and wide, has been Trump, in all of his adult life!
Beau: What if we are having a vast health crisis because Trump made it a political issue? “Discern fact from fiction?” Hey, man, this is why Trump loves the uneducated. Beau just elucidated the thread beautifully, if sadly. “If we want to have a fair and just society,” (be still my heart) we need to be rid of McCarthy, McTurtle, and their entire crew of scum, because they do not want that. “We’ve always done it this way,” is at the heart of conservative thinking, and come from their anxiety about change. Defend the status-quo, at all costs, is their motto. It’s beyond time, but the ripeness is more apparent than ever!
Ok, so, IF you get the medicine, and it flags those nasty, out of control cells, how much benefit
‘Toon: that was exactly the point of Newt’s outrageous “Contract With America,” as it was really a “Contract On America.”
TVU: Just look at all those red states with no mandate at all! Will there be a new Oklahoma Land Rush after they all return to the soil?
Alternet: The owner of the auto shop to which I took my cars for the last 30 something years, is something of a biker, and has been to the Sturgis Rally. He’s older now, and a cancer survivor, now, and I expect, is not there, nor will he be going. But, just a Trump wants Florida to vote by mail, because of his aged fans, here, who are at most risk from Covid, the fools who attend Sturgis may not be able to vote in Nov., as it is hard to do so from the “other” side, as I understand it.
NYT: Like Jerry, Franklin is a poor excuse for a human being, and would see no reason to not support the other hypocrite. Liberty U’s Law School sends out graduates who have been gaslight into believing that the founders had no qualms about not separating the state from the church.
BOP: We could well be, my friend! If tRump holds on to the WH, it will only be a matter of time.
Cartoon: Oh, but of course!
TVU: Numbers remain the same.
AN: No masks, no social distancing…. 250,000 attendees over 10 days and riding their hogs, and live music….oh boy! Then they all go home…to spread it around….boy oh boy!
NYT: Welp, there’s the preacher doing his thing. Not saving souls either. Not good. At. All.
BFTP: WOW! What a song!
Glad that they increased your dosage for your patch. Hope that your oncologist gets the med you need, and that it works for you. Fingers crossed for you. Get your rest, take good, good care, and Thanks, Tom.
*This just in: “My lovely wife just said, ‘Everytime they ask Joe Biden about taking a cognitive test, he should just say ‘Person, woman, man, camera, TV. Next question.'” ~ Christopher Titus ~
2. “You ever get the sense that the only reason Trump is running for re-election is to avoid prosecution?”
~ Lincoln Project ~
3. “We should do like BBMM did to Obama. “Do not allow trump to appoint nor fill any new seats, or pass any legislation because it’s a voting year and we should wait to hear what the people say about their votes..”
~ William D. ~
4. “Putin is making use of trump’s psychopathology. No other President would have sold out our troops and Nation, as he has done.” ~ Lynn K. ~
Thanks, Joanne for the videos.
Thanks for the update TC. For what it’s worth, I know someone who got desired results with Pembrolizumab.
Megawealthy evangelical leaders’ scandals seem to run in cycles of multiples at a time (think back on the Bakers, etc.). Less well known, a megachurch pastor who recently resigned after letting a pedophile child of his work with youngsters in his church (without informing people of that characteristic of his offspring) within the past couple weeks’ news cycles. Wonder who will be next?
“The equivalent of half of the state of South Dakota’s estimated 2019 population of 884,659 attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2019, according to the rally website and media reports. About 490,000 people were at last year’s 10-day rally.
The rally is on for August 7-16 this year after the Sturgis City Council voted 8-1 Monday night to host the rally. “The event will have significant changes to city-sponsored events with the intention of safeguarding the community and residents, “a city news release said Tuesday.””Although Sturgis and its main street are the central location of the rally, not all the 490,000 people who attended the 2019 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally were always in that location. Rally activities and visitors are spread throughout the Black Hills areas. And not all attendees came on the same day of the 10-day event. ”
https://www.keloland.com/keloland-com-original/motorcycle-rally-will-have-significant-changes-according-to-the-city-of-sturgis/#:~:text=D.%20%28KELO%29%20%E2%80%94%20The%20equivalent%20of%20half%20of,in%202019%2C%20according%20to%20the%20rally%20website
An estimate of number of Hells Angels participating may be a small fraction numbering in the 100s based on what I found on past years pre-rally event attendance. Can envision media coverage of various club members who get diagnosed advising others to do all they can to avoid getting it, etc. later this month.
TC…I think it’s time you got a break! A BIG break! Hoping for the best….pam
Certainly not the news you – nor any of us – wanted to hear. But from what you’ve shared, I think you’ve got a solid, straight-shooting oncologist – and that will be an important and comforting factor.
It you think that’s there something we could do to make this process easier for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. Trust me, we’ll be here for you – if even at a distance.
Right ON, right on, Nameless.
Cartoon: They’re good at doing that.
TVU: Still climbing. They’ve found a glitch in the system in California that wasn’t reporting the numbers accurately. They said they’re working on it.
AN: I understand the importance of their gathering, but to be doing it without masks or social distancing, not wise, since they come from all the different states. If they contact Covid-19, they’ll spread it when they return to their home states.
NYT: Finally caught up to him. He thought that he’d get away with it. Wish we’d be so lucky with tRump’s evilness.
BFTP: Scary with all that’s going on.
I appreciate that Evelyn is fighting for your health. After seeing what JL wrote about her friend’s experience with Pembrolizumab. I feel you have a great chance too.
I will be praying for you and that your insurance will come through for you too.
Take care. Thanks TomCat
Cartoon: That’s Republicans these days for you! They have tumbled a long, long way dow from Abraham Lincoln.
Virus Update: Guess which states are going to see more COVID-19 cases in coming weeks.
Jerry Falwell, Jr. proves just how close to the tree the acorn can land. So does Franklin Graham.
The “Eve of Destruction” is precisely where we are right now. We have just a few months to save not just our country, but possibly even our entire civilization. Voting tRump’s orange arse out of the Oval Office, though, will be just the beginning of what we need to do.
I’m sorry that you got the news I feel you anticipated, TomCat, but it is good to hear that Evelyn hasn’t given up fighting for you and is looking into another drug that may give you a reprieve. Fingers crossed that she can make it available to you and that your insurance will cover the costs. Also good to hear that your patches are finally ‘upgraded’; let’s hope they won’t hesitate so long should the dosage need to be increased in the future.
3:38 Hard to take a picture of.
Cartoon: And that’s no spelling error.
Update: It’s simple, I think. Those states that are returning to “business as normal” can’t have people going around with masks on, can they?
Alternet: On the one hand, those Trumpian bikers gathering and infecting each other in South Dakota with permission of its Trumpian governor isn’t such a bad thing as those are the “troops” Trump will rely on to fight for him when he doesn’t want to leave the Oval Office. If they are sick or ostracised from their hometowns, they won’t put up much of a fight. On the other hand, when these Trumpian bikers return infected to their home states and refuse to wear masks to protect others from their infection, a lot of innocent people will be infected.
NYT: Another one bites the dust. Amazing how these men think they’re infallible…but with their followers as braindead as theirs perhaps to be expected.
BOP: We’ve come full circle, haven’t we.