Personal – Page 414 – Politics Plus

Open Thread – 1/6/2017

Posted by TomCat at 10:53 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

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:

0106Cartoon

Open Thread – 1/5/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:05 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

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.

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 1/4/2017

Posted by TomCat at 2:09 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

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.

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!

Cartoon:

0104Cartoon

Open Thread – 1/3/2017

Posted by TomCat at 10:13 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 032017

After getting yesterday’s articles published, I set up a new spreadsheet for tracking my 2017b blood sugar readings, and two new One Note Notebooks for 2017 PP articles and 2017 household records. I reordered prescription meds. I planned my grocery order for this week. Then I made all the graphics and collected all the data for today’s Monthly Report. Winter has returned to Portland with sub-freezing highs at least until Sunday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:31 (average 4:36). To do it, click here. Hoe did you do?

Short Takes:

From The Rachel Maddow Show: Trump business entanglements survive Indonesian mining scandal

Rachel Maddow follows the intertwined threads of an Indonesian corruption scandal, an American mining company, and the business conflicts of Donald Trump and a new member of his administration, Carl Icahn.

Welcome to Fascist Republican Rectum Reich of Ameristan, a country where one Indonesian criminal is about to have more influence with the government than all the combined fools that voted for Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten.

From The Last Word: Did Donald Trump commit treason?

Lawrence addresses questions of whether Trump’s praise of Putin is treasonous with a look at history – specifically, an accusation of treason against presidential candidate Richard Nixon in 1968. Author John A. Farrell joins.

It’s a very complex issue. I have repeatedly said war must be declared for treason to take place, but when I said it, I was not considering that a foreign cyber-attack on our election is an act of war, even if we do not choose to retaliate militarily. On that basis, I would consider Trump a traitor. Furthermore, treason, as a way to obtain the Oval Office, seems to be an ongoing Republican tactic.

From NY Times: House Republicans, overriding their top leaders, voted on Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.

The move to effectively kill the Office of Congressional Ethics was not made public until late Monday, when Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that the House Republican Conference had approved the change. There was no advance notice or debate on the measure.

The surprising vote came on the eve of the start of a new session of Congress, where emboldened Republicans are ready to push an ambitious agenda on everything from health care to infrastructure, issues that will be the subject of intense lobbying from corporate interests. The House Republicans’ move would take away both power and independence from an investigative body, and give lawmakers more control over internal inquiries.

The "top leaders," now joined by the Fuhrer, are merely posturing to effect a pretense of ethical concern. Corruption is the only modus operandi of the Republican Rectum Reich.

Cartoon:

A flashback to the happier days of 2013, when the worst we had to worry about was Drill Baby Dingbat.

Open Thread – 1/2/2017

Posted by TomCat at 10:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 022017

It's a very busy day, and the tasks at hand keep increasing faster than the available timed to do then. Just finding material for today's articles. I shall catch up sooner or later.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 3:22 (average 5:39). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

0101Broncos24-Raiders6

They did not make the playoffs. Mike Shanahan announced his retirement yesterday. I'm hoping they tap Wade Phillips.

Fantasy Football Report:

This is the final report of the year for our own Fantasy Football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

Playoffs:

17Playoffs

Scoreboard:

Scoreboard

Congrats to Jack for winning the playoffs. I have already submitted my intent to keep the league going. If you will not be participating next year, please let me know ASAP.

Short Takes:

From The Hill: Senate and House Republicans are headed for a clash over whether to tackle Medicare reform under President-elect Donald Trump.

Senate Republican leaders prefer to focus narrowly on an ObamaCare replacement bill that does not contain changes to Medicare — a cautious approach that reflects their slim majority.

But House Republicans, firmly in control of the lower chamber, want to aim higher. They say unified Republican control of government is a chance to finally enact the entitlement reforms that they’ve been talking about for years.

Rep. Pete Roskam (R-Ill.), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over healthcare, said voters have endorsed the Republican argument that Medicare needs to be reformed.

This is not an either/or issue. It's None of the Above! RESIST!!

From CNN: A Texas lawmaker is lucky to be alive after an apparently stray bullet hit his head during a New Year's celebration early Sunday, authorities said.

State Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez, D-Weslaco, said his wife had just given him a kiss shortly after ringing in the new year with family and friends, and the next thing he knew, "it felt like a sledgehammer hit me over the head."

A bullet fragment had just punctured the top of the south Texas legislator's head.

Martinez said he had just stepped outside a home in a rural neighborhood north of Weslaco when he was hit.

IMHO, they should be looking for the one of Fuhrer's Ammosexual assassins. RESIST!!

From HRW: Some senior Israeli officials have been encouraging Israeli soldiers and police to kill Palestinians they suspect of attacking Israelis even when they are no longer a threat, Human Rights Watch said today in an analysis of those statements. Other Israeli officials have failed to repudiate the calls for excessive use of force.

Human Rights Watch has documented numerous statements since October 2015, by senior Israeli politicians, including the police minister and defense minister, calling on police and soldiers to shoot to kill suspected attackers, irrespective of whether lethal force is actually strictly necessary to protect life.

“It’s not just about potentially rogue soldiers, but also about senior Israeli officials who publicly tell security forces to unlawfully shoot to kill,” said Sari Bashi, Israel advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Whatever the results of trials of individual soldiers, the Israeli government should issue clear directives to use force only in accordance with international law.

I bet Butcher Bibi's butt buddy, the Fuhrer, wants popcorn to munch, while they watch the videos. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 1/1/2017

Posted by TomCat at 7:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 012017

Because today is such a busy day, I’m actually staying up last night to get as much of today’s work done in advance as I can. Finding two more short takes this morning took some doing. Go Broncos!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:13 (average 5:38). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Salon.com: 2016 was a challenging year for LGBT rights. A year after the Supreme Court legalized equal marriage 5-4 vote, an unprecedented number of bills targeting queer and transgender people were introduced to state legislatures. According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 200 anti-LGBT bills were debated by states across the U.S., including Massachusetts, Illinois, Louisiana, and Montana. Many failed, unable to make it out of committee or vetoed by state governors. Others passed.

The 10 public figures listed below were those most active in creating a climate of bigotry and hate this year, in which a backlash to LGBT equality flourished. If 2017 is just as bad of a year for queer folks as the last one was, you’ll have these people to blame.

1. Pat McCrory, Governor of North Carolina
…
2. Mike Pence, Vice President-Elect [Resident NOT President]

I shared two Republican homophobes. Click through for the other eight. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): There’s a reason they hate us

Barf Bag Alert!!

If the Republican Rectum Reich hates them, that’s more than sufficient cause to love them. RESIST!!

From Think Progress: It’s now 2017 and we are down to the last 20 days of Barack Obama’s presidency. In 2012, prognosticators were very confident about what would happen to America by now because of Obama’s reelection. Let’s check in and see how their predictions turned out:

1. Gas was supposed to cost $6.60 per gallon.

In March 2012, on the floor of the United States Senate, Mike Lee (R-UT) predicted that if Obama was reelected gas would cost $6.60 per by the end of Obama’s second term. Lee said that gas prices would rise 5 cents for every month Obama was in office.

That’s one. Click through for the other three. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

0101Cartoon

Open Thread – 12/31/2016

Posted by TomCat at 12:07 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 312016

It’s the last day of what has turned out to be the worst year for the US in our history. The Siberian candidate is upon us. For me tomorrow is a perfect storm day. I need to transition all my personal record keeping, all my prison volunteer group record keeping, and all the tools I use to manage my PP writing to 2017. In addition, it’s the day I do the data collection for the PP monthly report, which may be a day or two late. On top of that, It’s a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. My Broncos went from Super Bowl Champs to not even making the playoffs, so tomorrow is their last meditation of the year against the Raiders. It will be televised here. And finally, it’s a Wendy day. In short, I’ll be trying to put five pounds of shit in a one pound bag.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:37 (average 6:00). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (TYT Channel): Former New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is in hot water after publicly posting racist comments on Facebook. Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian, John Iadarola, and Grace Baldridge, hosts of The Young Turks, discuss.

Paladino is a Republican. Would that all racists, Republicans, were fired for their hate speech. "I’m so tired of liberals going out of our way to be fair to fucking assholes!" Kudos to Ana Kasparian! Big time AMEN! RESIST!!

From The Hill: President-elect Donald Trump is considering George Conway, husband of top adviser and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, to be the next U.S. solicitor general, Bloomberg reported Friday citing two sources familiar with the matter.

I’m not surprised that George Conway is getting a pimp fee for the Fuhrer’s grabbing activities. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: The Portland Press Herald is reporting M.D. Harmon, a well-known conservative newspaper columnist, has died after a gun was improperly fired in his home by a visiting teenager. Harmon was showing one of his guns to the young man:

Police say the 71-year-old Harmon died at his home on Brunell Avenue after a handgun he was showing a teenage boy went off. The 16-year-old boy was handling the gun at the time.

Harmon, a steadfast defender of gun rights and champion of conservative viewpoints, was a longtime Maine Sunday Telegram and Press Herald editor and columnist. He worked for the newspapers for 41 years before retiring in 2011, although he continued writing a weekly column.

Republican Ammosexual karma! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

1231Cartoon

Open Thread – 12/30/2016

Posted by TomCat at 12:18 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 302016

The last year of comparative liberty is about to come to an end, and I shall be quite busy with record keeping. I just received my annual Social Security letter. My rent has increased $15 per month in the last year, medical copays – $30, groceries – $20, medical transit – $15, so that’s $80 per month hitting only the obvious. Fortunately, I received a generous Cost of Living Adjustment to help defray that expense. I got a whole dollar every month. And in the coming Republican Rectum Reich, I may not even get that, although it’s possible that they will defer the change a few years to get past the 2020 voting.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:09 (average 6:37). To do it, click here. How did you do.

Here is one of my gifts from Wendy.

1230MyGift

And, to bless your eyes after that assault on them, here is one of my gifts to Wendy.

1230WendyGift

She considers it a bad idea to wear it to the middle school where she works, but will wear it to her bartending job.

Short Takes:

From YouTube (RWW Channel): RWW News: Bakker: Hell Opposes Trump Because He Supports Righteousness

Barf Bag Alert!!

This is the same Jim Bakker that cheated on Tammy Faye and defrauded over 100,000 supporters out of $millions through assorted PTL Network scams. He certainly recognizes his own king in Trump. The Fuhrer is so righteous he called Ivanka a "piece of ass". RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Capping an extraordinary year for the former television host, the Kremlin has named Donald J. Trump its Employee of the Month for December.

“No one has worked more tirelessly for the glory of the Fatherland than Donald Trump,” the Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an official statement. “He has set a high bar for all Kremlin employees, and for that, we salute him.”

To mark the honor, Trump’s name will be added to a plaque that hangs in the hallway outside the Kremlin’s H.R. office.

According to Kremlin sources, Trump faced tough competition in the Employee of the Month voting, besting both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ExxonMobil’s C.E.O., Rex Tillerson.

OK, Andy, I give up. Is it satire, or are you actually suggesting that Putin (R-RU) honor his whore? RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: Republicans have no idea how to replace Obamacare and continue some semblance of care for the 20 million people the law covers, so they’ve come up with a solution: delayed implementation on steroids.

That’s right—Obamacare [repeal] is so “unpopular” that the GOP is trying to avoid backlash at the polls by delaying the effects of implementing it, potentially until after the next presidential election. Sahil Kapur writes:

Republicans are debating how long to delay implementing the repeal. Aides involved in the deliberations said some parts of the law may be ended quickly, such as its regulations affecting insurer health plans and businesses. Other pieces may be maintained for up to three or four years, such as insurance subsidies and the Medicaid expansion. Some parts of the law may never be repealed, such as the provision letting people under age 26 remain on a parent’s plan.

House conservatives want a two-year fuse for the repeal. Republican leaders prefer at least three years, and there has been discussion of putting it off until after the 2020 elections, staffers said.

Sheer cowardice! Talk about trying to untether themselves from the damage they will inflict on tens of millions of Americans. They repeal it, they own it! Doesn’t matter how long they delay implementation in order to lay the blame at someone else’s doorstep.

This is classic Republican projection. We need to hammer home the damage this will do, especially to states in thrall to the Republican Rectum Reich, every day until the Republicans are defeated. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

1230Cartoon

Older Entries Newer Entries