Open Thread – 8/8/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:36 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Aug 082020

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:

0808TrumpVirusMap

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!!

Open Thread–6/21/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Jun 212020

It’s a better Sunday, here in the CatBox. My Fentanyl patch has helped my pain level and reduced my use of Oxycodone considerably. Tomorrow I have a morning visit from a Providence Home Health doctor, so how much I publish will depend on how long she is here. Kudos to all Dads.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:18 (average 5:42). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0621TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 2,331,673
Deaths: 122,005
Recovered: 973,061

Short Takes:

From Alternet: On Friday night, Attorney General William Barr issued a statement saying that the U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffry Berman, had resigned. That was a lie. Not only had Berman not resigned, he had told Barr repeatedly that he would not resign, and had turned down other roles at the Department of Justice. So, about an hour after Barr’s statement, Berman issued a statement of his own, telling Barr to stuff it. Actually, Berman stated that he had been “appointed by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York” and that he would only step down “when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate.” Berman is in the middle of a number of highly sensitive investigations, including an ongoing investigation of Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani and his associates in Trump’s Ukraine scandal. So his removal clearly signals that Barr is, once again, placing Trump’s desires far ahead of such arcane ideas as justice, or the nation.

On Saturday afternoon, Barr produced a new statement. He’s given up the pretense that Berman has resigned. Instead Barr says, “I have asked the president to remove you as of today, and he has done so.” According to Barr, this makes assistant U. S. Attorney Audrey Strauss the new acting U. S. Attorney, but considering Barr’s knowledge and application of the law, odds are he’s simply lying again. Hilariously, Barr claims there’s no danger of there being an issue with ongoing cases because … the inspector general will see to that. As everyone knows, Trump and Barr just respect the hell out of inspectors general.

SDNY’s Geoffrey Berman has resigned. Perhaps he’ll have time to testify to Congress now.

Criminal Fuhrer Trump* claims that Barrf did this on his own. He claims he had nothing to do with it. One, or far more likely, both, are lying. Barrf lacks the authority to fire a US Attorney. RESIST!!

From YouTube (John Pavlovitz Channel): 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER TO SAY TO GRIEVING PEOPLE. How Our Words Can Magnify Other’s Loss

Very well said, by an Authentic Christian (the polar opposite of a Republican pseudo-Christian). I could not agree more! RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel):Facts don’t support what Trump, Pence say about coronavirus

Trump* Virus is an ongoing disaster, just like criminal Fuhrer Trump and the Republican Reich, who are making it so much worse. Here in Oregon, the most recent spike comes from a Pentecostal Church in Eastern Oregon. There Republican pseudo-Christians (the opposite of real authentic Christians) are practicing Republican guidelines on Sunday and infecting their neighbors Monday through Saturday. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): “REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFE” THE MARMALADE ~ 1969 – original recording ~ HQ AUDIO

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Racist Attack and Desecrating a Church for a Photo-op

Posted by TomCat at 11:46 am Politics, Religion

Jun 032020

A few days ago cowardly criminal Fuhrer Trump had a case of buk-buk-buk-buk-bone spurs and hid in the White House bunker for fear that they might hurt him. He had expected to cover it up, but someone leaked it to the press, and before he knew it, people all over the country were laughing at him. The last times he felt that humiliated is when the existence of the pee-pee tape, became public and when people learned that Stormy spanked him. He needed to put on a show to appear heroic.

After a weekend of protests that led all the way to his own front yard and forced him to briefly retreat to a bunker beneath the White House, President Trump arrived in the Oval Office on Monday agitated over the television images, annoyed that anyone would think he was hiding and eager for action.

He wanted to send the military into American cities, an idea that provoked a heated, voices-raised fight among his advisers. But by the end of the day, urged on by his daughter Ivanka Trump, he came up with a more personal way of demonstrating toughness — he would march across Lafayette Square to a church damaged by fire the night before.

The only problem: A plan developed earlier in the day to expand the security perimeter around the White House had not been carried out. When Attorney General William P. Barr strode out of the White House gates for a personal inspection early Monday evening, he discovered that protesters were still on the northern edge of the square. For the president to make it to St. John’s Church, they would have to be cleared out. Mr. Barr gave the order to disperse them.

What ensued was a burst of violence unlike any seen in the shadow of the White House in generations. As he prepared for his surprise march to the church, Mr. Trump first went before cameras in the Rose Garden to declare himself “your president of law and order” but also “an ally of all peaceful protesters,” even as peaceful protesters just a block away and clergy members on the church patio were routed by smoke and flash grenades and some form of chemical spray deployed by shield-bearing riot officers and mounted police… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Reverend describes being pushed out from church for Trump photo-op

Maiming peaceful protestors demonstrating legally? Injuring clergy as they ministered to injured demonstrators? Desecrating’s the church by instigation violence there? There is only one word sufficiently vile to describe such anti-Christian behavior: Republican. And guess who made it happen for his Fuhrer?

Attorney General William Barr is facing demands to step down after the Washington Post reported Tuesday that the nation’s top law enforcement official personally ordered police to beat back peaceful protesters gathered near the White House Monday evening to clear the path for President Donald Trump’s walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Two anonymous federal law enforcement officials told the Post that “the decision had been made late Sunday or early Monday to extend the perimeter around Lafayette Square by one block.” An unnamed Justice Department official said that Barr on Monday afternoon “went to survey the scene and found the perimeter had not been extended.”

“The attorney general conferred with law enforcement officials on the ground, which the official said is captured in a video of the incident,” the Post reported. “He conferred with them to check on the status and basically said: ‘This needs to be done. Get it done,’ the Justice Department official said.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

That’s right! It was Barrf! To make matters worse, Trump never opened his Bible (as if he ever has). He never prayed. It was all just a photo-op! How disgusting! How vile!

RESIST!!

Personal Update–5/23/2019

Posted by TomCat at 9:50 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

May 232020

Last Tuesday I was so sick that I could not stand up. WWWendy called my oncologist and called 911 on her instructions. They has to haul me out of here on a gurney. My chemo knocked out my immune system and I picked up an infection. The resulting Republicosis was so severe that I was pumping out fluids faster than I could rehydrate. I became so dehydrated that I ended up in Intensive Care, where they pumped fluids into me through my port and two other IVs. On Wednesday night, they released me from Intensive Care, but kept pumping we full of Ringers Lactate and Antibiotics. They never did identify the bug, but after my white blood count returned to normal, they released me yesterday afternoon with three more antibiotics. Obviously, we’ll need to make some changes in my chemo. WWWendy is going in with me Tuesday. JD, would you do Bill Maher? Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, so please expect only a Personal Update.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:10 (average 4:45). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0523TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 1,648,283
Deaths: 97,732
Recovered: 403,312

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Contact Tracings Show Risk Of Coronavirus Spread Through Churches

As a Christian, (authentic Christian, not Republican supply-side pseudo-Christian [anti-Christian]) I believe in freedom of religion, as defined in the First Amendment. That does not include murdering innocents by infecting them with Trump* virus. RESIST!!

From YouTube (TomCat Channel): WWW 0522 2

Now isn’t she as gorgeous as a Republican is ugly? RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Peter Frampton- Baby I Love Your Way

Ah… the memories. RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–5/9/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:15 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

May 092020

It’s a very painful day, here in the CatBox. The Radiation Oncologist told me to expect increased pain for a few days and a week before relief. Tomorrow and Monday please expect no more than a personal Update or an Open Thread. Tomorrow is a WWWendy Day, and Monday is my chemo infusion.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:54 (average 5:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

This is another oldie!

Trump* Virus Update:

0509TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 1,325,521
Deaths: 78,762
Recovered: 223,937

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a test result that he called “a tremendous relief,” the Attorney General, Bill Barr, has tested negative for integrity, Barr confirmed on Friday.

Barr submitted to the test after learning that he had come into contact with career Justice Department prosecutors who were found to be integrity carriers.

“When I learned that there were still people at the Justice Department with integrity, I was understandably furious,” Barr told reporters. “I told them to go home at once.”

Barr said that he was putting into place new protocols that would require Justice Department employees to be tested for integrity before entering the building.

But Andy… Barrf need not worry about catching integrity. He’s immune. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): U.S. Logs Record High Unemployment Numbers – What Comes Next?

This is the other half of the Republican Reich crisis. The first half is Trump* virus. The second is the Republican depression of 2020. The solution? Flush the Republican Reich! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Matthew’s Southern Comfort – Woodstock

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–4/30/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:49 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Apr 302020

It’s a crappy day here in the CatBox. I spent a lot of time on the throne this morning. The problem with eating goop is like the problem with computer programming. Goop in; goop out. I talked to Megan (my PCP) and Evelyn’s (my Oncologist) nurse this morning. We all agree that the best way to deal with Republicosis is Imodium AD. Thursday is send Republicosis to criminal Fuhrer Trump* Day!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:09 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0430TrumpVirusMap

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Vice-President Mike Pence has started wearing a mask after Anthony Fauci told him that it will protect him from women, Fauci has confirmed.

After seeing video of a maskless Pence touring the Mayo Clinic, on Tuesday, Fauci said, “I knew I had to come up with something fast” to get through to Pence.

Fauci immediately got on the phone with the Vice-President and informed him that “clinical research” had demonstrated that a mask is “an effective female-repellent.”

I believe you, Andy. That brown-nose sycophant, Pence, would love ensure that the use of his butt is reserved exclusively for his beloved criminal Fuhrer Trump*. RESIST!!

From Alternet: Countless non-fundamentalist churches in the United States, from Catholic to Lutheran and Episcopalian, have embraced social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic and temporarily moved their activities online. But many Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals have been irresponsibly downplaying the dangers of COVID-19 and doing so with deadly results: journalist Alex Woodward, in the U.K.-based Independent, reports that the pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 30 pastors in the Bible Belt.

“Dozens of pastors across the Bible Belt have succumbed to coronavirus after churches and televangelists played down the pandemic and actively encouraged churchgoers to flout self-distancing guidelines,” Woodward reports.

What Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians (the polar opposite of authentic Christians) fail to realize is that their false god carries a pitchfork and has horns, cloven hooves, and a pointy tail. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): From Ukraine to Coronavirus: Trump’s Abuse of Power Continues, featuring Robert Reich

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. Criminal Fuhrer Trump* exactly reflects the values and policies of the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich. Every Republican in office is one Republican too many. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast): If it be Your will – Leonard Cohen – Lyrics

I hadn’t heard this before, but given my current situation, it really hits home. RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Trump* at the National Prayer Breakfast

Posted by TomCat at 10:44 am Politics, Religion

Feb 072020

A Dominionist cult, commonly known as ‘the family’ holds a supposedly non-partisan annual religious event called the National Prayer Breakfast. Presidents (and Residents) of the United States routinely attend. It’s normally pretty low key, as the family uses it to present themselves as mainstream and cover up who they really are and what they really do. But someone forgot to tell that to the criminal Fuhrer Trump*.

At the 68th, and perhaps last, National Prayer Breakfast, the main remarks were made by the former president of the American Enterprise Institute (and Post columnist) Arthur C. Brooks, who spoke on the themes of his wonderful 2019 book “Love Your Enemies.” President Trump then prefaced his speech by saying: “Arthur, I don’t know if I agree with you. But I don’t know if Arthur’s going to like what I’m going to say.”

It was a strange moment in U.S. religious history. The command to love your enemies, of course, came from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. “Love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to them that hate you.” It might be expected for a president to express how difficult obeying such a mandate can be. Trump decided to dispute the command itself. And some in the crowd laughed.

The purpose of Trump’s sermon at the Hilton was, in fact, to put his enemies on notice. Those who pursued impeachment were “very dishonest and corrupt people.” “They know what they are doing is wrong,” he continued, “but they put themselves far ahead of our great country.” Congressional Republicans, in contrast, had the wisdom and strength “to do what everyone knows was right.”

Trump proceeded to make a thinly veiled attack against Mitt Romney of Utah, the only Republican senator to vote for the president’s removal: “I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong.” And then a shot at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): “Nor do I like people who say, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ when I know that is not so.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Of course, every insult Trump* hurled at Democrats was a projection of what he and his Republicans Reich routinely do.

Trump waves ‘acquitted’ headline, takes shot at Mitt Romney in speech

Portman has his head up Trump’s* ass. The only message that Senate Republicans delivered is that there is nothing too evil for Senate Republicans to help Trump evade the consequences for doing it.

Joe Reads Bible To Critique Trump’s Prayer Breakfast Speech

Joe should not be surprised that the so-called believers there sided with Trump instead of Jesus. The NPV is sponsored by the Fellowship Foundation, aka ‘the family’. A Dominionist cult, they believe that they need to take over government to make the earth fit to receive Republican Supply-side Jesus on his return. Their vehicle they use to achieve this end is the Republican Reich. They are NOT Christians. Not all Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians are Dominionists, but all Dominionists are Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians.

Lawrence: Prayer Breakfast Rant Shows Trump Doesn’t Understand What Love Is

Very astute, Lawrence. The inability to experience love in relationships is a common symptom of Narcisistic Personality Disorder.

I’ve heard it said that Trump* has no soul. But he has what he is… an ass-soul!

RESIST!!

Esther and Assassination

Posted by TomCat at 8:24 am Politics, Religion

Jan 072020

Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, the polar opposite of real, authentic Christians, love to twist the Bible to meet their own perverse ends. One of them, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is now driving Fuhrer Trump’s* foreign policy. Not only is he committing war crimes, but also, he is casting his Fuhrer as a Biblical character. How sick!

The Washington Post has reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was the main force that pushed Trump into assassinating Iranian Major General Soleimani. Pompeo, according to a New York Times reporter, had a fixation with a bible passage about Queen Esther protecting Israel from Iran. Pompeo’s extreme hostility towards Iran is motivated by his extreme religious beliefs.

www.nytimes.com/…

In November, Mr. Pompeo told a reporter for The New York Times Magazine that the Bible “informs everything I do.” The reporter noticed an open Bible in his office, with a Swiss Army knife marking his place at the end of the book of Queen Esther.

Mike Pompeo is a conservative evangelical Christian who believes in the rapture and that God is working through Trump and himself… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Here is Pompeo interviewing on CBN (a pseudo-Christian propaganda outlet, that specializes in soaking watchers for money).

EXCLUSIVE Secretary of State Pompeo to CBN News: God May Have Raised Up Trump Like He Raised Up Queen Esther

Barf Bag Alert!!

So they see their role as protecting Israel from Iran. They are not. They are just creating more chaos.

Remember. These people are NOT Christians. They are the same people, who opposed Jesus and had him murdered. He called them Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. Today they are called Republicans. This is what Jesus said about them, from Matthew 23:

23 Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

2 The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. 3 So obey everything they teach you, but don’t do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else.

4 They pile heavy burdens on people’s shoulders and won’t lift a finger to help. 5 Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels for everyone to see. 6 They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the meeting places. 7 And when they are in the market, they like to have people greet them as their teachers.

8 But none of you should be called a teacher. You have only one teacher, and all of you are like brothers and sisters. 9 Don’t call anyone on earth your father. All of you have the same Father in heaven. 10 None of you should be called the leader. The Messiah is your only leader. 11 Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others. 12 If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored…

…23 You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you’re in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the important things you should have done, though you should not have left the others undone either. 24 You blind leaders! You strain out a small fly but swallow a camel.

25 You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you’re in for trouble! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, while inside there is nothing but greed and selfishness. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of a cup, and then the outside will also be clean.

27 You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show-offs. You’re like tombs that have been whitewashed. On the outside they are beautiful, but inside they are full of bones and filth. 28 That’s what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good.

29 You Pharisees and teachers are nothing but show-offs, and you’re in for trouble! You build monuments for the prophets and decorate the tombs of good people. 30 And you claim that you would not have taken part with your ancestors in killing the prophets. 31 But you prove that you really are the relatives of the ones who killed the prophets. 32 So keep on doing everything they did. 33 You are nothing but snakes and the children of snakes! How can you escape going to hell?… [emphasis added]

RESIST!!

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