Sep 282021
 

Yesterday, I did finish organizing my evening meds. I also placed a grocery order to be delivered today. I even worked a little bit on that front panel I mentioned last week. It rained a little, which is now supposed to continue for a few days.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Hill – Biden administration moves to preserve DACA after court ruling
Quote – A federal district judge in Texas ruled in July that the 2012 DACA program violated the Administrative Procedures Act. The decision left intact the program’s benefits for some 600,000 people otherwise unable to obtain legal status after being brought to the U.S. as children. But it blocked any future applications, leaving thousands of young immigrants in limbo.
Click through for story. The delay from July to now is because it was appealed. But this is good news.

The Daily Beast – Arizona Dems Threaten Sen. Kyrsten Sinema With No-Confidence Vote
Quote – “The Arizonans who did the work to elect Sinema have had enough of her betraying the voters who put her in office. It’s time for her to show the bare minimum of accountability and stop obstructing the agenda that Democrats, including her, campaigned on and were elected to deliver. Sinema is setting her political future on fire. If she doesn’t change course drastically and soon, it will be too late,” Kai Newkirk, a Democratic organizer in Arizona, told The Daily Beast.
Click through if you like – It doesn’t go into the consequences of such a vote.

The Guardian – John Hinckley, who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan, to be freed from restrictions
Quote – The US district court judge, Paul L Friedman, said in Washington during a 90-minute court hearing that he would issue his full ruling this week. “If he hadn’t tried to kill the president, he would have been unconditionally released a long, long, long time ago,” Friedman said. “But everybody is comfortable now after all of the studies, all of the analysis and all of the interviews and all of the experience with Mr Hinckley.”
Click through for details. Actually, he probably was never quite as insane as present-day MAGAts are. But I would still be nervous if I lived nearby.

Food for Thought –

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Feb 222021
 

I’m not sure what happened this morning.  One possibility is that lightning struck the Bonneville Dam, a major source of hydro-power on the Columbia River, upstream of Portland, causing a massive flood at all points downriver.  However, the volume was insufficient and did not stink.  Therefore, I have to attribute it to the other possibility.  I finally Republicated.  I’m still exhausted, but I’m feeling much better.  The week will still be a little crazy as I’m going to the hospital on Thursday for a CAT Scan to see dust how much worse my tumors are.  OGIM!  Have a great day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:44 (average 5:27).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: …How do we keep this sense of Democratic unity in the all-important mission of getting important things done for regular people going?

Here are my guide posts:

1. Understand that Democrats hang together or we hang separately. That old line of Ben Franklin’s at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed was not meant as a joke or clever word play: it was quite literally true and deadly serious. Unfortunately, this moment in history finds us in a similar moment, as that gallows the insurrectionists were building at the Capitol are a deadly sign that the threat is real. We Democrats need to deliver real things for real people over the next two years, or we are going to lose control of the government to a political party which just overwhelmingly rejected the idea that a president who encouraged a coup should not be punished for it.

We need to work together to get anything done, and we need to get substantial things done in order to win in 2022. With the margins we have now, there is literally no choice in the matter. We all know that opportunities for compromise with the Republicans will be few and far between, but compromise between Democrats is mandatory if we want to get anything done. So for my progressive comrades, we need to get everything we can on every bill we can, and then compromise and move on to the next chance. If we can convince the last few swing votes on at least reforming the filibuster, that should work out reasonably well for us, and even if not, there should be a lot we can get into the second reconciliation bill as well as more executive action.

…Conclusion

Passing legislation with the narrow margins in the House and Senate is going to be an intense challenge, requiring Democrats to stay together and requiring everyone to compromise and work things out in good faith. Biden has started off in much stronger political shape than the last two Democratic presidents, and we are on the verge of passing the biggest and boldest recovery package in the history of the republic. We need to methodically get that done, and then build on the success with another reconciliation bill where we can do bigger long-term things.

I’ve included the first of four guide posts and part of the conclusion. I fully agree and strongly recommend that you click through for the rest. We need to overcome the urge to in-fight.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): U.S. Reaches Grim Milestone of 500,000 Covid Deaths

 

What a sad day. Of course Trump** virus would have killed thousands, even if Republicans were not doing everything they to give welfare for billionaires precedence while fighting to evade spending to save American lives!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Mr. Bojangles – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – [With Lyrics]

 

Ah… the memories!!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Don’t Let Republicans Steal YOUR Future!!

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Jan 172021
 

It’s a groggy day here in the CatBox.  I slept very well last night, but one good night after several bad is not enough for recovery.  My pain level is gradually starting to improve.  This afternoon, I’m going to watch my confiscated Portland Chiefs Play the Browns.  I’ll be in the saddle for MLK Day tomorrow.  Expect evil actions from the Republican Reich.  To stay safe, avoid them.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:37).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From NY Times: President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., inheriting a collection of crises unlike any in generations, plans to open his administration with dozens of executive directives on top of expansive legislative proposals in a 10-day blitz meant to signal a turning point for a nation reeling from disease, economic turmoil, racial strife and now the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol.

Mr. Biden’s team has developed a raft of decrees that he can issue on his own authority after the inauguration on Wednesday to begin reversing some of President Trump’s most hotly disputed policies. Advisers hope the flurry of action, without waiting for Congress, will establish a sense of momentum for the new president even as the Senate puts his predecessor on trial.

On his first day in office alone, Mr. Biden intends a flurry of executive orders that will be partly substantive and partly symbolic. They include rescinding the travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries, rejoining the Paris climate change accord, extending pandemic-related limits on evictions and student loan payments, issuing a mask mandate for federal property and interstate travel and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from families after crossing the border, according to a memo circulated on Saturday by Ron Klain, his incoming White House chief of staff, and obtained by The New York Times.

The blueprint of executive action comes after Mr. Biden announced that he will push Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion package of economic stimulus and pandemic relief, signaling a willingness to be aggressive on policy issues and confronting Republicans from the start to take their lead from him.

He also plans to send sweeping immigration legislation on his first day in office providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people in the country illegally. Along with his promise to vaccinate 100 million Americans for the coronavirus in his first 100 days, it is an expansive set of priorities for a new president that could be a defining test of his deal-making abilities and command of the federal government.

Isn’t it wonderful to look forward to government actions we can support?  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From Daily Kos: A few weeks ago, it was still possible to compare the daily deaths from COVID-19 to some past events. 9/11. Or Pearl Harbor. Or D-Day. But all of that went by the wayside as the number of those falling to the virus each day passed 3,000. Then 4,000. 2020 likely saw an unprecedented use of “unprecedented,” and when it comes to the pandemic, that bit of justified awfulness is far from over.

Even in the middle of a pandemic that is killing Americans faster than any war in history, there are still some situations that stand out for the extra awfulness that people can show to each other. That’s certainly true of the Republicans in Congress who refused to wear a mask even as they were huddling together under threat of death from a rampaging mob. As a result, at least four members of Congress have since tested positive.

But there may be no better example of just how terrible people can be, than a tiny group called “Citizens Against Tyranny” in the mid-sized city of Roseburg, Oregon.

As the La Grande Observer reports, this group formed for a specific purpose — to punish anyone who complains about violations of safety regulations connected to COVID-19. That includes publishing the names of anyone who reports safety violations to Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on “The LIST.”

Two women, both senior citizens and Douglas County residents, were recently fingered by this organization. Their names were published on a website called citizensagainsttyranny.net as part of “The LIST,” and they were labeled “Filthy Traitors.” The words were spattered in red, as if to indicate blood.

This group, which labeled two elderly women “filthy traitors” for upholding a law that’s meant to save not just their lives, but also the lives of their fellow citizens, is supported by Republican state lawmaker Dallas Heard. Which might not be surprising, since in a December session of the Oregon legislature, Heard declared that attempts to halt the pandemic were “campaign against the people and the children of God.” At that point he ripped off his mask and stormed out of the senate. Heard doesn’t just support the Citizens Against Tyranny, he has encouraged it in a plan to ban all those who the organization has doxxed from being served by any local business. “Their faces and their names and what they did must be known,” said Heard.

I ashamed to admit that Oregon has a senator as evil as Missouri’s infamous Jerk-off Josh Hawley, but ours is just a state senator. The “Children of God” worship Republican-supply-side Jesus, the deity with horns, cloven hooves, a pointed tail, and a pitch fork.  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): THE YOUNGBLOODS Let´s get together 1967 Chet Powers´s song

 

Ah… the memories. I have understood for about twenty five years that fear, not hate, is the opposite of love. Hate is a symptom of fear. Understanding that makes it easier to understand the Republican Party.  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

Wednesday, Dump Trump** Hump Day,

Is the Big FLUSH!!

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Aug 192020
 

It’s a busy chemo day, here at the CatBox.  Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today/s took me 3:04 (average 5:03).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Long Take:

Democratic National Convention: Day 2

 

Elect our Presidential nominee!

RESIST!!

 

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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DNC Report: Day One

 Posted by at 11:23 am  Politics
Aug 182020
 

I have to admit, I was worried about how Democrats would handle the new format for the Democratic National Convention.  It was necessitated by the Republican plague, Trump* virus.  They did quite well, and I was particularly impressed with Bernie’s speech.  Nevertheless, I felt sorry for Bernie.  He spoke before Michelle Obama, and Michelle not only rocked the house, she rocked the nation!

0818DNC

Democrats kicked off their virtual nominating convention Monday with a focused denunciation of President Trump, showcasing dozens of testimonials that culminated in lancing criticism from former first lady Michelle Obama, who cast Trump as incapable of meeting America’s needs and said Joe Biden would usher in racial justice and ease the coronavirus pandemic.

In the centerpiece speech of the night, a searing indictment of her husband Barack Obama’s successor, Obama declared that Trump has mishandled the pandemic and failed to respond to outcries over the deaths of Black Americans. She warned that the nation would suffer more if he is elected to a second term.

“Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can: Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us,” she said, before quoting a line Trump used about covid-19 [sic] deaths in a recent interview: “It is what it is.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Click through for much more.

Here is the complete video (2 hrs.) for night one.

Democratic National Convention 2020 – Night 1

 

If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend watching it.

RESIST!!

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Aug 172020
 

I’ve been watching political conventions on TV every year, since I was a child.  The one exception was the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.  I was busy demonstrating and trying to defend myself against a police riot.  This year, there will be a completely unique convention.

0817MonDNC

On Monday, CNN gave an overview of the major speakers to expect on the kickoff night of the Democratic National Convention, as the party holds its nominating ceremony virtually for the first time in history.

It will be a convention unlike any other: The coronavirus pandemic forced Democrats to scrap their planned in-person Milwaukee convention,” said the report. “Instead, speakers will deliver speeches from locations across the country and without the large in-person crowds that are traditionally seen at these events. All eyes will be on how smoothly the transition to a virtual convention works.”

“Top speakers of the night include former first lady Michelle Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and a Republican — former Ohio Gov. John Kasich,” continued the report. “Obama and Sanders are two of the most popular figures in Democratic politics. Kasich, a former presidential candidate, is emblematic of the kind of anti-Trump Republican who Biden is hoping to win over in November.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Raw Story>

Click through for much more info.

CNN talked about the whole convention, not just tonight.

The DNC will look a lot different this year

 

I hope it goes well.  I’ll try to include the full video from the night before every day.

RESIST!!

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Jul 312020
 

It’s another sweaty, stinky day here in the CatBox.  I had a rough night last night, because I ate supper too fast and plugged my esophageal tumor.  I spent most of the night imitating criminal Fuhrer Trump’s* AG.  The blockage didn’t clear until this morning.  Tomorrow please expect no more than an Open Thread or a Personal Update.  It’s a WWWendy day and the TomCat could not be more stinky.  I’ll try to swap the Politics Plus Poll, if I can, but it will probably have to wait until Sunday.  TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:43 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0731TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 4,638,288
US Deaths: 155,371
World Cases: 17,553,155
World Deaths: 678,097
Trump’s* Share of World Deaths: 22.9%
US Share of World Population: 4.3%

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Morgan Freeman Reads Rep. John Lewis’ Last Words

;

His own epitaph was a fitting memorial to a hero that will still be remembered as a hero one hundred years from now, if we can prevent the Republican attempt to convert the US from democratic republic to Nazi Reich.  RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Group prepares for chance Trump refuses to concede election

For more information about the war game they took part in click here. If this doesn’t scare the shit out of you, WAKE UPRESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of protest): The Chicks – Not Ready To Make Nice (Official Video)

 

Many, myself included, think that this song was partially directed at the Fuhrer of the 4th Reich, GW ChickenHawk, aka Crawford Caligula. He demanded that they back down on their true statement that his war for oil and conquest was fraudulent. How much worse is the Fuhrer of the 5th Reich? Support left wing protestors!  RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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Go, Joe! Go!

 Posted by at 10:29 am  Politics
Jul 272020
 

As of today, there are 99 days left until election day, and hopefully, not much longer before the US has a President for the first time since Obama left office.  It would be hard for things to look much better for Joe Biden.

0727ElectionMap

The polls say things are looking very good for former Vice President Joe Biden. Polling averages show the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee ahead in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona. And some eye-popping surveys even have him leading President Donald Trump in Texas, which hasn’t gone for a Democrat since 1976. But is it all too good to be true? Many Democrats certainly seem to think so.

“I don’t trust polling,” Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell recently told the Atlantic. “I don’t believe that Biden is 16 points up in Michigan; that’s a bullshit poll, and it’s the same people who said Hillary [Clinton] had it in the bag.”

Dingell is among the Democrats traumatized by polling missteps last cycle, which led surveys to overlook the strength of Trump’s support in key battleground states including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — three states Clinton was counting on to win the election. In a late-October survey of Wisconsin, for example, the Marquette Law School poll had Clinton up by 6 percentage points, while Trump ultimately won the state by 0.7 points.

After the election, pollsters conducted an autopsy of why there was such a disconnect between state polls and the final electoral outcomes (though perhaps less so than some Democrats believe).

The review, led by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), identified multiple factors: For one, some pollsters failed to weight for education — so more educated individuals who favored Hillary Clinton were overrepresented in samples and skewing the results. For another, many surveys missed the wave of undecided voters who may have broken for Trump at the last minute.

Importantly, as many pollsters frequently emphasize, the way polls are interpreted also matters: These surveys, after all, are intended to be a “snapshot” in time, and not necessarily predictive of the election’s final result. It’s worth noting, too, that there are variables that make every cycle different: According to a mid-July New York Times analysis, because of the polling lead he currently has, Biden would still win key battleground states if the polls had errors comparable to the ones they saw in 2016…  [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Vox>
Map credit: medium.com

Trump won these key states in 2016. Now, he’s losing them

Of course, the worst thing we can do is to become complacent and overconfident.  That could give Trump* at least four more years man maybe make him permanent Fuhrer of the Republican Fifth Reich.  Nevertheless, day after day of ever increasing horrors can tire us to the point of PTSD.  Therefore, it’s important that we recognize the light at the end of the tunnel to give us hope.  Go, Joe!  Go!

RESIST!!

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