Open Thread – 3/16/2019

Posted by TomCat at 9:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 162019

It’s a comparatively warm day here in the CatBox as we enter a week of above average temps here. Please expect no more than Personal Updates with no links messages on Care2 tomorrow and Monday. Tomorrow is a very busy TomCat de-stink day with WWWendy. Monday is dentist day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:36 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Huffington Post: Australian Senator Fraser Anning blames Muslims for the shootings at two mosques in New Zealand that left at least 49 dead in their places of worship.

0316Anning The politician drew immediate criticism after he released a statement on Friday declaring that the shooter ― an avowed white supremacist ― was motivated not by bigotry but by the “increasing Muslim presence” in Australia and New Zealand.

“Whilst this kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence,” he wrote. “Let us be clear, while Muslims may have been the victims today, usually they are the perpetrators.”

This bigoted and dangerous point of view is one that Anning has been peddling for some time. In August, he called for a “final solution” to the Muslim “immigration problem,” evoking a reference to the Nazis’ “final solution” terminology used to target Jews during the Holocaust.

This proves that excrement need not be American to be Republican. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): FACADE OF PLASTIC PIETY

Amazing, Don! The problem is not from Christianity. It’s from Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christianity, the opposite of authentic Christianity. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: In an interview with Breitbart, Donald Trump had a not-at-all-subtle message for his opponents. “I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump,” he claimed. “I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough—until they go to a certain point and then it would be very bad, very bad.”

Trump doesn’t make it clear who “they” are, or exactly what would have to happen before his collection of soldiers, officers, and bikers would be released to make things “very bad.” Not that details are required. Trump is making it clear he thinks he has the muscle on his side to get his way by brute force, no democracy required.

Brute force was the way of the extreme right even before the Republican Party became the Republican Reich by putting the extreme right in charge. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

A Not So Fun Friday

Posted by SoINeedAName at 1:25 pm Politics

Mar 152019

ADDENDUM

I found two sites that have transcripts of Waleed Aly’s commentary:

https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/the-most-dishonest-thing-would-be-to-say-that-i-m-shocked-20190316-p514q2.html

Australian Muslim TV host Waleed Aly presents striking response to Christchurch terrorist attacks

(Hope just URL links work – otherwise, Copy/Paste I guess)

For at least two reasons, it seems inappropriate to post a “Friday Fun” after the massacre of 49 of our brothers and sisters in New Zealand by a crazed white supremacist.

Many moving words will be spoken (but certainly not by Twitler, who is totally tone deaf and lacking in any empathy), but I found these by a Muslim to be worth sharing. (And it’s one of those rare Tweets that comes w/ CC.)

“You’ll have to forgive me, these won’t be my best words…”

On this heartbreaking day, Waleed reflects and calls for unity. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/mIOI0eGamb

— The Project (@theprojecttv) March 15, 2019

And on a personal level, I finally got an appointment to deal with an abscess of the deepest fang-bite from the little critter.

Today is Day 27 of antibiotics, and I started last week asking to be seen by the Wound Clinic. But all I got was an extension of my Augmentin. So I tried again this week, but learned my PCP is out of town.

So I saw a Nurse Practitioner from the clinic this morning and she started draining the abscess, which she cultured. (Draining an abscess is something I would not sign up for as a Camp Activity.) And I had blood drawn and an X-ray of my hand.

Then she had her nurse give me a shot of Ceftriaxone … in my bottom. (I asked her if she got Hazard Pay or a Bonus for that task.) I don’t EVER remember getting an antibiotic shot my entire life.

And now I’m on Clindamycin.

But I got an appointment w/ the Wound Clinic this Monday. So I’m hopeful things will start turning around.

ADDENDUM

Lona mentions in her Comment that the right-wing author of comment in the Tweet is Australia’s Senator Anning – he got egged for his hate-mongering. Not condoning it, but the egger got roughed up pretty bad by Anning’s goons.

The National Emergency

Posted by TomCat at 10:18 am Politics

Mar 152019

The United States is facing a national emergency of unprecedented intensity at our Southern border. Armed thugs have murdered families, brutalized hundreds, and kidnapped and stolen children. They are not criminals from the drug cartels. They are the minions of Resident Donald Trump and the Republican Reich. They have locked thousands of children in hot desert cages, and even though the courts have ruled against them, their abuses continue.

Nearly nine months after the Trump administration officially rescinded its policy of separating migrant families who have illegally crossed the border, more than 200 migrant children have been taken from parents and other relatives and placed in institutional care, with some spending months in shelters and foster homes thousands of miles away from their parents.

The latest data reported to the federal judge monitoring one of the most controversial of President Trump’s immigration policies shows that 245 children have been removed from their families since the court ordered the government to halt routine separations under last spring’s “zero tolerance” border enforcement policy. Some of the new separations are being undertaken with no clear documentation to help track the children’s whereabouts.

Images of crying mothers and children at the border last year prompted an intense backlash across party lines, with all four living former first ladies and Melania Trump expressing horror at the policy. But despite President Trump’s June 20 executive order rescinding it, the practice was never completely suspended…. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Yesterday the House bill to rescind Trump’s bogus emergency was rescinded.

We’re still seven short of an override of the coming veto.

Nobody understands the real emergency better than Sen. Jeff Merkley [D-OR]

Oregon leads the way! We need to keep their plight on the front burner.

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 3/15/2019

Posted by TomCat at 10:17 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 152019

I don’t know why, but I overslept and feel very tired today. I’ll just get done ASAP.

Jig Zone:

Today’s took me 3:44 (average 5:38). To do it, click here. Yow did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): During Fox News’ emergency meeting with ad buyers, protesters tell advertisers to #DropFox

Kudos to the protestors. The Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, deserves extinction. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Progressive Politics Channel): CNN Wants To Teach You About Socialism

We are a mixed economy. Fire and police protection, for example, are socialized. Ideal Communism is a state where there is no government. Everyone contributes according to their ability and consumes according to their need. It does not exist on any national scale. Modern Communism is a dictatorship pretending socialism. The Republican goal is plutocratic fascism. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Offering an upbeat assessment of the headline-grabbing college-admissions scandal, Betsy DeVos said on Thursday that bribing colleges gave students “a really neat opportunity” to learn math.

The Secretary of Education suggested that, rather than keeping children in the dark about the bribes that enable their college acceptances, “Parents should sit around the kitchen table with their kids and work on some fun math problems together.”

“Let’s say it’ll cost Amber seventy-five thousand dollars to get into Stanford, and it’ll cost her twin brother Dylan seventy-five thousand to get into Georgetown,” she said. “How much money total will their parents have to wire?”

“Or let’s say Jenna has a 470 verbal score, but she needs a 730 to get into Yale,” DeVos said. “How much will she have to pay to get her score changed?”

Andy, she might not have said that, but you stole her idea. RESIST!!

Cartoons:

Ryan may be gone, but the goal remains.

Samantha Bee from 3/13

Posted by TomCat at 10:11 am Politics

Mar 142019

It’s that time of week again, and here are three excellent video clips from Sam’s show last night. Enjoy!

Is Tucker Carlson a White Supremacist?

Tucker Carlson is something even more evil than a white supremacist. He’s a Republican. Ol’ Crackernuts is one to remember!

The Great Ilhan Omar Debate

As I have said before, it was poorly stated, but not hateful like the hate that gushes from the Republican Reich.

#MeToon

Kudos to the #METOON women. I hope nobody else hires the man.

Thanks to Sam for a good show.

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 3/14/2019

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

Mar 142019

WordPress installed an update from 5.1 to 5.1.1 and, in the process, screwed up compatibility with the ARK Comment Editor Plugin that we use. There is no trouble replying to articles. But here’s how we need to reply to comments, until they fix it. The comment form at the bottom for a reply to the article works. Make your reply to a reply there, but do not click the Submit Comment button. Then click the Reply link under the comment to which you are replying. When the fractured,. empty comment form opens, click its Submit Comment button and your comment will be posted in the right place. I’m sorry for the inconvenience and am getting pissed off at the WordPress folks.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:17 (average 6:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (NY Times Channel): Who Is Beto O’Rourke?

I listened to him this morning in Iowa. He knew his material. He related to people where they are. He answered questions with progressive solutions. I wish he had more seasoning, but he’s totally constipated. (He has his shit together :-)). RESIST!!

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Liberal Redneck – Rich Kids, Poor Parents, and the Least Surprising Scandal Ever

Stealing education was the next logical step for behavior typical of the Republican Reich. RESIST!!

From NY Times: After days of mounting pressure, the United States grounded Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft on Wednesday, reversing an earlier decision in which American regulators said the planes could keep flying after a deadly crash in Ethiopia.

The decision, announced by President Trump, followed determinations by safety regulators in some 42 countries to ban flights by the jets, which are now grounded worldwide. Pilots, flight attendants, consumers and politicians from both major parties had been agitating for the planes to be grounded in the United States. Despite the clamor, the Federal Aviation Administration had been resolute, saying on Tuesday that it had seen “no systemic performance issues” that would prompt it to halt flights of the jet.

That changed Wednesday when, in relatively quick succession, Canadian and American aviation authorities said they were grounding the planes after newly available satellite-tracking data suggested similarities between Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia and one involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 in Indonesia in October.

Finally! Normally this announcement would come from the FAA, which has the authority to ground those planes, but Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten claimed credit for it. He lied that they were grounded only because he had declared a so-called “national emergency” to do so. On the other hand, it’s more of a national emergency than his freaking wall. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Impeach?

Posted by TomCat at 10:37 am Politics

Mar 132019

Nancy Pelosi has angered some of my progressive friends by taking the impeachment of Resident Donald Trump, the Cantaloupe Criminal, the Tangerine Traitor, off the table. Don’t get my wrong! I would thoroughly enjoy seeing the Fuhrer of the Republican Reich kicked from the White House into a 6 X 8 with bars. That’s a TomCat wet dream! Nothing could be more just. But if we consider it seriously, is it really a good idea?

Democrats are largely lining up behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her wait-and-see strategy on any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Moderate and even some of the most liberal House Democrats said they were supportive of the speaker after she told The Washington Post that she’s not for impeachment, at least for now. Impeaching Trump is “just not worth it,” Pelosi said, unless there’s overwhelming support. While some in her caucus may disagree on certain points, the majority of Democrats endorsed Pelosi’s approach.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said a unilateral pursuit of impeachment by Democrats would be an “exercise doomed for failure.”

“I see little to be gained by putting the country through that kind of wrenching experience,” he said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said impeachment “has to be a bipartisan effort, and right now it’s not there.” Cummings said his sense is that “this matter will only be resolved at the polls.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Yahoo News>

Here’s a video:

Here’s my take on it.

If we impeach now, we do get to tell the story through the Impeachment Managers. But we have other ways to tell the story. The process is likely to take a year or more to complete, to the exclusion of everything else. Voters are likely to say “Democrats don’t care about us. They just want to get Trump.” Don’t You think we can use the time more effectively by demonstrating how we would govern to voters?

But what if Republicans supported impeachment too? Consider this the only way Republicans would support impeachment is by deciding Trump had become such a severe liability that they would fare better in 2020, if Pence were their Fuhrer. Now Pence would commit every evil act that Trump would, but he would act sneaky instead of Trump’s normal obvious rampage. Would either the Democratic Party or the American people be better off under Pence? Do you want Republicans to fare better in 2020?

As appealing as impeachment is, I think we should impeach him at the polls.

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 3/13/2019

Posted by TomCat at 10:37 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 132019

It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox. Store to Door is delivering groceries later. This evening WWWendy comes to destink the vile TomCat. I’m feeling s tad more geriatric today. Judge Jackson sentenced Paul Manafart to 3.5 years in addition to his other sentence.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:59 (average 5:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Years of Laura Ingraham’s anti-immigrant commentary

Barf Bag Alert!!

Ingraham and other commentators at the Republican Reich ministry of propaganda, Faux Noise, should be required to wear their sheets and hoods, when on camera. RESIST!!

From Reuters: The parliament will vote on Wednesday on whether to leave the European Union in 16 days without an agreement as the government said it would eliminate import tariffs on a wide range of goods in a no-deal Brexit scenario.

British lawmakers on Tuesday handed Prime Minister Theresa May a second humiliating defeat on the Brexit plan she had agreed with the EU, plunging the country deeper into political crisis.

The turmoil leaves the world’s fifth largest economy facing a range of scenarios – it could leave without a transition deal; delay the March 29 divorce date enshrined in law; May could hold a snap election or try a third time to get her deal passed; or Britain could hold another Brexit referendum.

The best way for the people of the UK to show that they are not Brexit Bridiots is to hold another Brexit referendum, defeat Brexit, and dump their right-wing government. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: It would be a giant leap to say that the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people on Sunday was caused by the U.S. government shutdown, but there is reason to believe the aircraft’s safety may have been compromised by the impasse Donald Trump forced over funding for his vanity wall.

The crash apparently bore similarities to that of Lion Air flight 610, which went down near Indonesia last year. And a new software fix to address what happened during that flight was significantly delayed in part because of the shutdown.

Quartz:

After the Lion Air crash, the FAA—which, with EU airline regulators, generally sets the tone for aviation safety worldwide—issued a new “airworthiness directive” to US operators of the Boeing 737 8 and 9 planes, warning that an “unsafe condition” exists on the models and providing flight crews “with runaway horizontal stabilizer trim procedures to follow under certain conditions.”

Straightforward safety upgrades to the jets’ software to fix the automated safety feature, were originally expected in January according to multiple reports. But they were delayed until April, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 10, because of “engineering challenges,” “differences of opinion” between federal and Boeing officials, and the 35-day government shutdown, during which “consideration of the fixes was suspended.”

Don’t tell the Republican Reich. If they find out they helped kill all those black people, it will be party time in GOPville. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

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