TomCat

Jan 082017
 

Portland is under an ice storm warning.  Fortunately Wendy is an Iowa girl with a 4 WD truck, so things like that rarely stop her.  She just texted that she’s on the way and should be here before I finish writing this article.  On today’s schedule is emulsify the stinky TomCat, do the dreaded task, cook a casserole, and some light housekeeping. Fortunately, she’ll be done before this afternoon, when freezing rain and wind gusts to 50 MPH are forecast.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:54 (average 4:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos:

A little over a week ago, House Republicans began their attempts to turn our government into an old-timey Stalin-esque politburo by floating out a ban on video and camera use in Congress by lawmakers. They were trying to rid themselves of having the American people actually see how full of shit they are when they attempt to pass crap laws or sit on their manicured fingers while the nation waits for them to enact meaningful legislation. Wednesday, the House Republicans voted to adopt their new rules for the 115th Congress, first session—H. Res. 5 allows fines to be imposed on any “Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner for the use of an electronic device for still photography or for audio or visual recording or broadcasting.”

A fine imposed pursuant to this para- 11 graph shall be $500 for a first offense and 12 $2,500 for any subsequent offense.

Democrats are unified in their defiance of this terrible attempt to thwart democratic practices in our country.

“What other ways will they deprive us for communicating with the American people?” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asked before Tuesday’s vote. The fines come as a response to a sit-in led by Democrats last year, in which dozens of legislators took control of the House floor to urge Congress to pass additional gun-control measures following a mass shooting at a Florida nightclub in June. After the sit-in began, Republicans cut camera feeds to the House floor, and in response, Democratic lawmakers used apps like Periscope to live-stream footage of the protests.

Here’s a visual example of elected officials actually doing what they were elected to do and attempting to get meaningful public safety legislation voted on.

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It’s nice to see that all Democrats are not turning balls up, like Chuck "my ass is greased for Republicans" Schumer (DINO-NY), whose leadership I have opposed since the day that Leg Hound Harry announced his retirement. RESIST!!

From KP Daily Funnies: The Shocking Truth About Planned Parenthood

 

Support Planned Parenthood! RESIST!!

From CNN: Several of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees have still not been properly vetted less than one week before hearings begin on Capitol Hill, the Office of Government Ethics said in a letter to Democratic senators Friday.

"The announced hearing schedule for several nominees who have not completed the ethics review process is of great concern to me," OGE Director Walter M. Shaub wrote in a letter to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "This schedule has created undue pressure on OGE’s staff and agency ethics officials to rush through these important reviews."

Shaub — who said OGE hasn’t received initial drafts from some nominees — continued: "I am not aware of any occasion in the four decades since OGE was established when the Senate held a confirmation hearing before the nominee had completed the ethics review process."

Bought Bitch Mitch demanded full disclosures, including financial, on all Obama’s appointees eight years ago. There’s a reason Republicans don’t want the ethics reviews completed. Can you guess want it is? RESIST!!

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Jan 072017
 

We’ve been waiting for some time for the report on Vladimir Putin’s (R-RU) interference in the US election to harm Hillary Clinton and assist Trump.  We may never find out "how" the intelligence community knows what it does, largely because Putin would kill our HUMINT assets, if he knew who they were.  The "why" is actually fascinating, but I think they missed an angle.  And the lies coming from the Tangerine Traitor are deplorable.

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Russian president Vladimir Putin interfered in the US presidential election to aid Donald Trump, according to a declassified assessment by the NSA, CIA and FBI.

“We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump,” the agencies found in a long-awaited report that stands to hang over the head of the incoming Trump administration.

The report (pdf), for weeks the subject of leaks that have incensed and vexed Trump, contradicts the contention from his transition team that Russia did not prefer him in the 2016 election, as well as Trump’s insistence that the culprits behind the hacks of Democratic political figures are fundamentally unknowable.

The report keeps classified any crucial technical data demonstrating Russian culpability, which means its release is unlikely to persuade skeptics that the intelligence agencies have definitively proven their case. Nor does the intelligence assessment claim that Russian interference was decisive in the election.

Though the report lacks detail, never before has the US intelligence apparatus publicly assessed a foreign power to have interfered in an election for the benefit of an incoming president… [emphasis added]

From <The Guardian>

Photo Credit: Daily Kos:

I have read the report.  You can too.

The best explanation as to why Putin did what he did. comes from Rachel Maddow.

I agree with everything she said, but here’s the other angle.  Had Clinton been elected, she would have opposed Putin’s international abuses of power and war crimes to expand Russia’s sphere of influence.  As long as Putin strokes his pet’s ego, Trump will roll over and give him free reign.

Rachel also covered Trump’s lies.

For those of you who cannot watch the video, let me reiterate.  The Fuhrer said that Report said that Russia had absolutely no effect on the election.  The report actually said that the report does not cover whether or not Russia had an effect on the election.  The Fuhrer said that the Report said Russia had tried to hack Republican Party computers but had failed, because Republican cyber security was so supereior.  The Report actually said that Russia successfully hacked Republican computers, but had opted not to make that information public.  I don’t think Trump would go so far out of his way to try to cover that up, if Putin wasn’t blackmailing Republicans with the information he obtained, and that explains why I chose the graphic I did.

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Jan 072017
 

I’m still buried in chores, and I was feeling quite tired, so after doing my research this morning, I took an upside down cat nap, that Lona had sent from Oz.  As a result, I’m running way late and hurrying.  Today and tomorrow are holy days in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My Broncos are done for the season, but if your team is still meditating, may they bask in the Orb’s blessed light.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:59 (average 4:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Still Supporting Donald Trump? This Message Is For You | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

 

For the first time in this series I have to disagree with Keith. If the vast majority deplorable Trump goose-steppers saw Keith’s video, they would roar at Keith with rage, because the things about Trump that Keith calls "illness" are the same things about him that Republicans love. RESIST!!

From YouTube (TYT Channel): Bernie Sanders Destroys Trump From The Senate Floor

 

If course Trump was lying, and I said he was at the time he twitted those tweets. He’ll never admit it. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: An alarming report issued by heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday asserts that the Twitter account of President-elect Donald Trump was successfully hacked by a four-year-old child.

Profilers and cryptologists who studied Trump’s Twitter feed believe that the account was first hacked during the 2016 campaign, when the child was three.

“The hacker would often wake up in the middle of the night, in an addled and cranky state, and start tweeting,” an intelligence source said. “This disrupted sleep pattern is consistent with a suspect in the three-to-four-year-old age range.”

Sorry, Andy, I don’t buy it. The garbage that floods the nation from the Fuhrer’s Twitter feed is way below the emotional maturity level of the most socially inept four year old. RESIST!!

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Monica!!  Go visit Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten!!

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Plugging the Pipes

 Posted by at 10:53 am  Politics
Jan 062017
 

Have you ever had your sewerage back up?  Now, I’m not talking about a minor problem but a major, BIG TIME back up that has erupted all over everything.  Now think about your bathroom full of crud and your toilet full of crud.  Now tell me the characteristics of the turd that is three from the back and two deep in the toilet bowl.  You can’t, and you are probably questioning my sanity, because, when the world is full of crap, nobody pays attention to one single turd.  That is exactly the strategy the Republican Party will be employing next week.

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Senate Democrats are frustrated that Republican leaders have scheduled six confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees next Wednesday, the same day the president-elect will hold his first press conference in many months.

Democrats oppose several of the appointees and hope to drag out the vetting process, thus maximizing the public exposure of their complaints. They are concerned that with multiple hearings occurring simultaneously, it will be more difficult to fully question and evaluate the nominees in public settings. They’re also concerned that the schedule coincides with Trump’s press conference – and will take place the day after President Obama’s final speech in office – further taking attention away from the confirmation process.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday he had shared his concerns about the schedule with his Republican counterpart, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and hoped for a solution to “alleviate the crunch.”

“That is mostly unprecedented in the modern era of Cabinet considerations, happening only once in history,” Schumer said of the six hearings in one day. “That’s not the standard."

Schumer said “mostly unprecedented” because six confirmation hearings for President George W. Bush’s nominees were held two days before his 2001 inauguration.

They’re jamming them together so that they receive less scrutiny and attention individually,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. “I regret that there are so many hearings bunched together."

Republicans, for the most part, dismissed these concerns…

From <Real Clear Politics>

The press will pay little if any attention to the hearings, because Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten is holding his first press conference since last July, when he asked Russia to hack the Democratic candidate.

Rachel Maddow thinks Trump’s intent is to stifle coverage.

I think she has a point.

There can be only one way to proceed.  Use every dirty trick the Republicans used against Obama to block every nominee.  They can’t block a good one.  Hell, if there were a Department of Animal Husbandry, Trump would appoint Michael Vick to head it up.

RESIST!!

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Jan 062017
 

I fired the mail order pharmacy I’ve been using for over five years today.  I had put them on notice after I went without insulin for four days because of one of their several major screw ups, that they were on notice.  Ten days ago, I ordered 100 insulin syringes.  This morning they gave me a "courtesy call" to inform me that they no longer fill prescriptions  for syringes.  If they wanted to be courteous, they could have informed me a LOT sooner. I have a less that week’s supply left, so I have to pay $12.95 for overnight shipping from another online pharmacy.  Portland is under another winter storm warning.  ARGH!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:23 (average 5:35).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): Stop Jeff Sessions

 

If Sessions is confirmed, rename DOJ to Department of Injustice. In addition, Alabama’s Fuhrer Bentley would fill Sessions’ Senate seat, and Bentley likes Judge Roy Moore! RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: The will of the American people is not represented by the people taking power. Donald Trump lost the election, by nearly THREE million, and yet there he is ready to infest the Oval Office with his odious presence. In the Senate, Republicans may hold a Senate majority, but add up the votes of every senator, and the 48 senators in the Democratic caucus received 78.4 million votes, while the 52 GOP senators received just 54.9 million votes. Americans have picked Democrats to run the government, yet it’s Republicans in charge. What we have here isn’t a democracy, it’s a mockery of one.

So Democrats in Congress must act to represent that nullified American majority, and the best way it can do that is by halting all work. Just bring it in to a standstill. Pass continuing budget resolutions to keep the government running, but otherwise make sure that not a shred of Trump’s agenda, or that of the undemocratic GOP majority makes it through.

Filibuster everything, as long as the GOP majority allow it. Deny the use of unanimous consent to waive the rules for things like the post-cloture 30-hour period. And deny it for EVERYTHING, even the most routine of Senate business. Grind that f-er to a halt.

This is exactly what I’ve been saying since Putin, Comey, and Stein joined forces to hand the White House to Resident Rectum. RESIST!!

From NY Times: For a band at a tiny, little-known, historically black college, it seems in some ways to be the gig of a lifetime: a chance to march and perform at the Jan. 20 presidential inaugural parade in Washington. Some of the musicians at Talladega College have been excited to see the capital for the first time.

But because the president-elect is Donald J. Trump, the school has become the subject of an impassioned national outcry, with online petitions, threats to end donations and a flurry of how-could-yous from alumni who feel that performing in the parade would betray the values of an institution founded by newly freed slaves 150 years ago.

On Thursday, after days of speculation that the college administration might bow to the pressure and remove the band from the parade roster, the president of Talladega College, Billy Hawkins, issued a statement confirming the participation of the band, the Marching Tornadoes, and argued, in essence, that the 58th presidential inauguration is about something bigger than Mr. Trump.

SHAME! They are betraying Black Americans everywhere, by allowing that rabid racist to use them as tokens! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

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Jan 052017
 

I’m getting ready to leave for today’s Physical Terrorism with Courtney, aka Lady Torquemada.  It’s 21° outside.  I’ll be wearing jeans, a heavy T-shirt, under a thermal sweatshirt top, under a hoodie, a faux fur Russian hat, and ski gloves.  This will be my coldest trip since losing my leg.  This is my only article today, as I’ll be quite tired when I return.  I’ll finish this then.

I made it back safely with good news.  My progress is such that  Courtney is cutting me back from two sessions to one session monthly.  That will save me $25.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:09 (average 4:53).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Surprise, surprise. Congressional Republicans don’t want to know—or don’t want the public to know—just what exactly Russia did to influence the November elections, and Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, the guys who were supposedly going to stand up to their fellow Republicans and demand an investigation, are backing down. McCain and Graham have been calling for a select committee, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that investigations through existing Senate committees are enough.

Like I said a few says ago, McConJob and Lindsey Poo were just posturing to look better than they are. As I expected they are now goose-stepping in lock step with the Tangerine Traitor’s Republican Rectum Reich.

From The New Yorker: Amid reports that Charles Manson is ill, the Donald Trump transition team has removed his name from its list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

For President-elect Trump, the development was a serious setback, since Manson had reportedly topped the short list of Supreme Court picks since his name was first floated last December.

At that time, Trump said that Manson’s extensive experience with the judiciary made him uniquely qualified to “shake up the Supreme Court.”

Dang Andy!! Charlie is a perfect match with Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten.

From NY Times: Mexicans Are the Nafta Winners? It’s News to Them

The Gray Lady misses the point entirely. Whether Mexican workers are better off under NAFTA than American workers, or vice-versa is not what NAFTA is about. Neither are.  NAFTA benefits greedy 1% vulture capitalists.

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Jan 042017
 

Future Resident Rectum, Fuhrer of the Republican Reich, the Reich on the right that is always wrong is already exhibiting the behavior of past fascist and National Socialist tyrants.  Robert Reich, the Reich on the left that is always right, has listed fifteen warning signs we are seeing.

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As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:

1.  Exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.

2.  Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.

3.  Call anyone who opposes them “enemies.”

4.  Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.”

5.  Hold few if any press conferences, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements.

6.  Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.

7.  Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even violence against them.

8.  Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties

From <Robert Reich>

Click through for the other seven.  Robert Reich is spot-on for each in his analysis of every one of them.  You can use this information to keep publicizing the fascist roots of these actions, as we can be sure he will commit several daily.

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Jan 042017
 

I’m writing later than normal today, because Store to Door is coming with my groceries for the week, and I have to be up and awake when they get here.  Then Wendy is coming this evening to ungrungify the TomCat.  Tomorrow, please expect no more than a Personal Update from me.  I’m venturing forth at a time when the temperature will be near 20° for an appointment with Courtney, my Physical Terrorist.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:33 (average 5:11).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (TYT Channel): Megyn Kelly Leaving Fox News

 

What a terrible move by NBC! When she gets her daytime show, protest to and boycott the sponsors. This is what qualified her to get her job at the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise.

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RESIST!!

From All In: Protesters arrested in Sen. Sessions’ office

Larry Cohen, Chair of the Democracy Initiative, a coalition opposing Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions’ nomination as Attorney General, joins Ari Melber to discuss the sit-in and subsequent arrests happening at Sessions’ office today.

 

Kudos to the protestors!!  RESIST!!

From Rev. John Pavlovitz: I’m a Christian and a pastor and I stand fully against Donald Trump.

Here are 25 reasons why, in no particular order:

1. Because peace-loving Muslims should have as much religious freedom in America as peace-loving Christians.
2. Because LGBTQ people are beautiful and they deserve every right and liberty this country has for its citizens.
3. Because I have a wife and a mom and a sister and a daughter, all of whom I love and respect.
4. Because Black Lives Matter.
5. Because character still counts.
6. Because declaring war isn’t something responsible leaders do cavalierly or for cheap applause.
7. Because a person’s right to marriage shouldn’t be the jurisdiction of someone currently on their third.
8. Because to legitimately claim Christianity you need to at least slightly resemble Jesus.
9. Because we’re all immigrants here.
10. Because I teach my son not to be a bully.

Amen!! Click through for the other fifteen!  How different authentic Christians are from, Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians!

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