Open Thread–4/1/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:12 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 012020

It’s another tired day here in the CatBox. I’ve been very busy researching my medical way forward. I did order one thing from Amazon that should help with both Trump* and cancer: 100 barf bags. I just learned I get my port in next Monday and have my first infusion the following Monday. This is getting too real! WWWendy comes this evening to de-stink the TomCat and help with chores. I’m ready for a nap, and it’s only 8:30. Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:33). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Jen Sorensen Cartoon:

Embedded with permission from Jen Sorensen.

Trump* Virus Update:

0401TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 188,881
Deaths: 4,066
Recovered: 7,251

0401HospitalBeds

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Donald J. Trump should use this time when he is staying at home to repeat first grade, the nation’s teachers are urging.

Carol Foyler, the executive director of the National Alliance of Elementary Educators, said that the homebound Trump has a “golden opportunity” to use remote learning to repeat the first-grade curriculum.

“At a time when many of our nation’s children are being homeschooled, this seems like the perfect time for President Trump to learn the basics of reading, writing, and math,” she said. “By June, he could be reading ‘Hop on Pop’ and ‘Go, Dog, Go!’ ”

Sorry, Andy. I just can’t believe this one. All elementary educators are bright enough to be certain that criminal Fuhrer Trump* would flunk first grade. RESIST!!

From Alternet: Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s financial disclosures from late February and early March are simply fascinating. We already knew that Loeffler sold off a lot of stock in early February, while buying stock in a company positioned to do well during coronavirus shutdowns because it provides online meetings. But the hugely wealthy senator’s money moves didn’t stop there.

Loeffler sold off $18.7 million in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Loeffler’s husband, Jeff Sprecher, is the CEO of the company and she used to be an executive there. Loeffler and Sprecher also sold shares of retail stores including Lululemon and T.J. Maxx, while making another really interesting investment. This time, they bought shares of a company that makes protective gear being used in hospitals fighting COVID-19.

She did not even warn her own constituents, let alone the rest of us, that she knew the Trump* virus pandemic was about to strike. How many thousands did she and Republicans like her murder by choosing to line their own pockets, instead of doing their job? RESIST!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): How to Prepare for the Trump Recession with Robert Reich

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, cares only for grabbing power and providing welfare for billionaires. All of Robert’s proposals are spot-on, but only as a start. I will not survive the Republican Recession. I hope and pray you do! RESIST!!

From YouTube: Canned Heat – On The Road Again [HQ]

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–3/28/2020

Posted by TomCat at 12:47 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 282020

This is my only article today, because I’m running so late. Three software items needed to update. My research took much longer than usual. There was a SNAFU converting my meds to liquid, and I spent two hours on the phone cleaning up the mess, and then, my computer ate this entire article, so you’re reading a rewrite from scratch. Please expect no more than Open Threads or Personal Updates tomorrow and Monday. Tomorrow, WWWendy plans to lower my ears, before de-stinking the rancid TomCat. We also have a lot of gooping to do, so it will be a very busy day. Monday I have a consultation with Evelyn and pick up a big bottle of pain meds. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:07 (average 4:18). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

It’s that GOP glow!

Trump* Virus Update:

0328TrumpVirus

Cases: 104,429
Deaths: 1,708
Recovered: 2,530

I hove no doubt that US cases/capita are artificially very low, because criminal Fuhrer Trump* has made getting a test virtually impossible.

Short Takes:

From Vox: President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will not adhere to a portion of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill that would authorize an inspector general to oversee how $500 billion in business loans will be spent.

In a statement released early Friday evening, Trump announced that he had signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security or CARES Act, a relief package aimed at mitigating some of the economic fallout caused by efforts to allay the spread of Covid-19.

That bill also establishes a Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) within the Treasury Department to audit and investigate half a trillion dollars in loans for large businesses. In his signing statement, Trump said that this provision raises “constitutional concerns,” adding that his administration would not comply with such an official’s request for documents.

Congress also has oversight, and if criminal Fuhrer Trump* stonewalls again, it’s time for Congress to make him criminal Fuhrer Trump**. Nobody else will have ever been impeached twice. RESIST!!

From TPM: President Donald Trump reportedly wants his own personal touch on the assistance checks from the $2.2 trillion relief package.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump is pushing for his signature on the $1,200 checks that many individual Americans will soon receive now that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has been signed into law.

Don Hammond, a former official at the Treasury Department, told the Wall Street Journal that a disbursing officer’s signature would ordinarily be on the checks.

Under the new law, single American adults making $75,000 or less will receive $1,200, while married couples will receive $2,400 if they earn a combined total of $150,000 or less. The amount gradually decreases for those making over those two income figures.

There is no way that criminal Fuhrer Trump* should be allowed to take credit for the aid to common people, that he fought tooth and nail against, as an election SCAM. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Blues Magoos- ‘We Ain’t Got Nothing Yet’

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–3/21/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 212020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. I had trouble keeping breakfast down. I had to wait a couple hours to finish it. Tomorrow please expect no more that an Open Thread or a Personal Update, as WWWendy will be here to de-stink the vile TomCat, help with chores and parade in her Wonder Woman Wendy romper! Have a great weekend!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:32 (average 7:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0321TrumpVirus

19,823 cases

276 deaths

147 recovered

0321TrumpVirusTests

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Virus Scandal: Senators Accused Of Profiting Off Coronavirus Info

MSNBC was wrong not to include Diane Feinstein [DINO – CA]. It opens the network to charges of bias. More important, as a Democrat, I want to know when one of ours acts like a Republican. Di-Fi is a stinking DINO piece of shit and deserves the same treatment that Republicans get. If anything, we should be harder on her. Democrats to not applaud and encourage corruption, greed and hypocrisy from our representatives the way Republicans do. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Amid speculation that United States senators might soon be working remotely, Senator Richard Burr on Friday demanded guarantees that senators working from home will still have access to insider-trading tips.

Speaking from the well of the Senate, an impassioned Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, said that a “system needs to be put in place—not tomorrow, not next week, but today—to insure that senators receive the insider-trading information that is both our lifeblood and our birthright.”

Burr blasted the Obama Administration for not establishing contingency plans to safeguard the steady flow of stock tips to U.S. senators in the event of a pandemic, nuclear war, or asteroid strike.

Why am I not surprised, Andy? This is straight news, isn’t it? RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Trump rants at reporter asking about scared Americans

Of course it’s normal for people to be scared. A real President would offer comfort and support. Criminal Fuhrer Trump* is NOT a real President! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Righteous Brothers – Soul and Inspiration

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–3/16/2017

Posted by TomCat at 11:17 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 162020

It’s a hectic day, here in the CatBox. First, I overslept and got up 90 minutes late. Then I spent 90 minutes on breakfast. It’s a pain, but it’s been several days, since I last lost a meal. Then my oncologist sent me an extensive online questionnaire, and I spent 30 minutes on that. Needless to say, I’m behind schedule. Tomorrow, I have my initial visit to Evelyn Brosnan, my oncologist. I have to be in the lobby before the birds wake up, so please expect no more than a Personal Update from me, most of which I will do tonight to give me a fast escape in the morning. Oh God, it’s Monday Hugs!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:00 (average 4:37). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0316TrumpVirus

0316TrumpVirusTesting

Short Takes:

From Willamette Week: As Oregon Gov. Kate Brown weighs whether to close down bars and restaurants or institute a curfew, at least 360 medical professionals are asking U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for more dramatic action to keep people apart—or, in the parlance of the pandemic, to engage in more social distancing.

Those medical professionals signed an open letter tonight calling for federal action on the new coronavirus outbreak.

“No one should leave their homes in impacted regions except for medical care, essential supplies, essential work services and compelling other reasons that are clearly defined,” they write. “Virtual work options should be encouraged for all businesses, whenever possible.”

I fully agree with these Oregon medical professionals, but because Oregon leads the way, Kate should have been first to close down bars and restaurants. RESIST!!

From Alternet: The Kushner family is trying to cash in on the pandemic that could kill millions of us.

Oscar Health, the health insurance company co-founded by Jared Kushner’s younger brother, announced Friday it has launched a testing center locator for COVID-19. It shows where more than 100 centers are in the United States. The company is also offering a risk assessment survey and means to talk to a doctor online.

The coronavirus is predicted to kill anywhere from almost 500,000 Americans in the next year to more than 5 million. At least 62 people in the United States had died by Sunday; 3,130 have tested positive.

Do you remember when Kushner said he was delaying a response to “study” the situation? Now we know that sleazy son of a bitch was delaying a response to maximize personal profit from the suffering of others, without caring for the additional Americans, who will die because of the delay! Well, what the hell should we expect from someone, who would marry a Trump*? RESIST!!

From The Guardian: The Trump administration has offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive access to a Covid-19 vaccine, German media have reported.

The German government is trying to fight off what it sees as an aggressive takeover bid by the US, the broadsheet Die Welt reports, citing German government circles.

The US president had offered the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac “large sums of money” to gain exclusive access to their work, wrote Die Welt.

According to an anonymous source quoted in the newspaper, Trump was doing everything to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus for the US, “but for the US only”. [emphasis added]

That’s is just about as vile as a dirty bastard can get! Trump* virus is a worldwide problem. Solutions need to se shared freely with all patients, who need them, and all governments need to share in reimbursing the companies, who develop those solutions, for their work. Trump* and the Republican Reich would put the solution under their RepubliCare plan: If you can pay, you live. If not, Republican let you die for no extra charge. See below! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Association Cherish 1966

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Open Thread–3/15/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 152020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. WWWendy is due in about ten minutes, so I’ll have to finish this after I am de-stunk. This is my only article today.

Jig Zone:

Today’s took me 2:56 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoons:

Vintage 2018 and unchanged, except Lyin’ Ryan is flushed.

Trump* Virus Update:

0315TrumpVirus

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Raw Story Channel): Fauci refuses support Trump lie that Obama is to blame for coronavirus testing failures

Whose fault are all of Fuhrer Trump’s* crimes? Someone else’s! RESIST!!

From CNN: The nation’s top infectious disease expert on Sunday did not rule out supporting a temporary national lockdown of the country’s restaurants and bars in order to curb the spread of coronavirus, saying he’d like to see a “dramatic” reduction in activity in order to fight the disease.

Asked by CNN’s Brianna Keilar on “State of the Union” if he’d like a “national lockdown” where people are being told they need to stay home and out of restaurants and bars, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said he’d “like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction that we see” in those places.

“Whatever it takes to do that, that’s what I’d like to see,” Fauci added.

I think it needs to be done, in addition to locking Trump* in a Mar-a-lago rest room. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the Past): Simon and Garfunkel – Homeward Bound (1966 – Live)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Open Thread–2/24/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:28 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 242020

Yesterday WWWendy and I cooked up a storm. We made liquified Progresso Italian Wedding Soup and crackers, liquified Campbell’s Chunky Sirloin Burger Soup and spaghetti, liquified chili con carne, rice, mixed veggies, tomatoes, jalapenos, and chili powder (watch out Squatch), liquified fried eggs, hash browns, and milk, and liquified sliced peaches and cottage cheese. The chili was damn good, for baby food. The Chunky (NOT!) Soup wasn’t bad. The eggs and taters were a problem, because they glopped-up in the fridge overnight. I needed to add a load of milk to soften it up. Then it hardened while I was eating it. Bring on the heartburn. It will be trial and error. Today was supposed to be a lazy day, but I had to work on my grocery list and schedule my PET Scan (for Friday) and Lift rides. Oh God, it’s Monday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:31 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: In an unapologetic display of animal cruelty, an anonymous group of terrible people released over two dozen pigeons into Las Vegas, with political accessories affixed to their heads. The group, which will not be named here, released the abused birds on Tuesday, in a “sarcastic” protest of the Democratic presidential debate the next day.

0224MAGAPigeonsinLasVegas

Republicans have no qualms about cruelty to animals. Look how cruel they are to people. And why did they need birds in the first place? Deplorable Republicans also wear MAGA hats, also squawk and tweet about their criminal Fuhrer Trump*, and also shit all over everything. RESIST!!

From NPR: The daredevil “Mad” Mike Hughes was killed in a rocket launch gone wrong Saturday in Barstow, Calif., two witnesses to the accident confirmed. He was 64.

It was the third launch for Hughes in one of his homemade rockets and part of his eventual plan to be able to determine for himself, up in the sky, if Earth was as flat as he proclaimed to believe.

Anyone, who would get in a homemade rocket to prove the earth is flat, was so stupid, that he has to be a Republican. Condolences to his family, but I’m sure glad Trump* can’t appoint that dingbat to head the National Science Foundation.

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Gerry & The Pacemakers – Ferry Cross The Mersey (1965)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Open thread–2/23/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:42 am Open Thread, Politics

Feb 232020

It’s a very busy day, here in the CatBox. WWWendy worked late at her night job, so she’ll be a bit late today. We have a ton of stuff to do. Happy Sunday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:24 (average 5:27). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Sen. Bernie Sanders Is The Projected Winner Of The Nevada Democratic Caucus

Kudos to Bernie, and sad condolences to Liz! I’ll post the delegates total, when Nevada is done counting. RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Anderson Cooper on Rod Blagojevich claim: Just nuts

Blago comparing himself to Nelson Mandela is like comparing a steaming pile of shit to a Rose. Blago is calling himself a ‘Trumpocrat’. He’s no kind of …crat. The way he talks and acts, he’s an dishonorary Republican, like that other famous Illinois political criminal: Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley. RESIST!!

Also from YouTube (CNN Channel): Warren insults Bloomberg after Nevada caucuses

While her candidacy is in deep doo doo, we owe Liz a major debt of gratitude for exposing Bloomberg to America. Her insults are far less than he deserves. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Mamas And The Papas – California Dreamin’. Audio Gold Song ful HD.mp4

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Open Thread–2/22/2022

Posted by TomCat at 9:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 222020

The labs are in, and the news is bad. I do have esophageal cancer, probably in stage III. That gives me a three year survival rate of 32%, with chemo and radiation. The next stage is a nose to knees Pet Scan. So it’s not a happy time in the CatBox. I plan to get our hosting paid at least a couple years in advance and take steps to transfer ownership of Politics Plus to Nameless, Lynn, Joanne and Lona on my passing, so the community here will survive me. I plan to dedicate whatever time I have left to do as much good as I can. I’m very tired. I had an emergency Republicosis run at 1:30 AM. Fortunately, I made it to the throne without accident this time. Tomorrow, please expect no more than an Open Thread. It’s a WWWendy day, and we have lots of extra work, using the new blender to prepare food less likely to get stuck in my tumor. Have a great weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:37 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From ProPublica: President Donald Trump’s new acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, used to do consulting work on behalf of an Eastern European oligarch who is now a fugitive and was recently barred from entering the U.S. under anti-corruption sanctions imposed last month by the State Department.

In 2016, Grenell wrote several articles defending the oligarch, a Moldovan politician named Vladimir Plahotniuc, but did not disclose that he was being paid, according to records and interviews. Grenell also did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which generally requires people to disclose work in the U.S. on behalf of foreign politicians.

FARA is the same law that Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates were convicted of violating. (Manafort went to trial. Gates pleaded guilty.)

Although such behavior would disqualify a Democrat, in the Republican Reich, proof of such criminal corruption must be tendered by all applicants seeking employment in high office. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): GHOST DONALD IN THE SKY – Parody

Wonderful! May your song be prophetic about the political demise of every Republican politician starting with Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch and continuing beyond Criminal Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten*! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Byrds – “Mr. Tambourine Man” – 5/11/65

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Older Entries Newer Entries