Open Thread – 12/24/2019

Posted by TomCat at 9:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 242019

Yesterday was not my day. The gastroenterologist told me I need to get an endoscopy, or camera down the throat. It’s a same-day inpatient procedure at the hospital. She told me that I have already eliminated the foods I should avoid, and that I have already tried all the palliative medications she could give me and that I am currently on the the one she would recommend. They can’t offer more relief because they don’t know what’s causing it. The length of the wait is because this week and next are holiday weeks. I’ll be scheduling on the first Tuesday I can get. That’s the day of the week WWWendy can take me home. Next, my oncologist called. Those nodes in my left lung are carcinomas, so I’ll have to have them surgically resected. ARGH!! Stay holiday safe please!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:55). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the news from our own Fantasy Football League.

Congrats to Vivian and me for winning our games. Kudos to me for beating the Regular Season Champion and for the highest single-week score of the season. This weekend, I play Vivian in the Super Bowl, WWWendy plays Squatch for 3rd place, and Patty Monster plays the empty team and will win 5th place. Perhaps we can get Colleen to join the league next year. Good luck to all!

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Scientists have discovered a powerful new strain of fact-resistant humans who are threatening the ability of Earth to sustain life, a sobering new study reports.

The research, conducted by the University of Minnesota, identifies a virulent strain of humans who are virtually immune to any form of verifiable knowledge, leaving scientists at a loss as to how to combat them.

“These humans appear to have all the faculties necessary to receive and process information,” Davis Logsdon, one of the scientists who contributed to the study, said. “And yet, somehow, they have developed defenses that, for all intents and purposes, have rendered those faculties totally inactive.”

Actually, Andy, that strain it not new. It is a devolution to a pre-hominid state: Sphincterpithicus Republicanis. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Washington Post Channel): Track Santa around the world

Santa, save lots of reindeer turds for Trump* stockings in Palm Beach. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Country Joe McDonald – I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag

This was one of my favorites, back in the day. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by TomCat at 8:09 am Holiday, Politics

Nov 282019

I’m not thankful for Trump.

I am thankful for the faith to force myself up each day.

I’m not thankful for Safeway.com.

I am exceptionally thankful for Wendy!!

I’m not thankful for Bought Bitch Mitch or Devin Nunes.

I am thankful for all of you.

I’m not thankful for pseudo-Christians.

I am thankful for the strength to

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 11/28/2019

Posted by TomCat at 8:08 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 282019

It’s a holiday, here in the CatBox. After publishing my articles for you, I intend to be lazy for the rest to the day. Tomorrow I may publish little. Finding material on Black Friday is almost as hard as finding integrity among Congressional Republicans. Although I will be alone today, WWWendy made me a special holiday dinner. It will include stuffing, green beans, gravy, and one small, finely diced dawg. Yum! Thankful Hugs to all!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

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

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From ProPublica: Three women say they faced sexual misconduct by Gordon Sondland before he was the U.S. ambassador to the European Union and at the center of the presidential impeachment inquiry. They say he retaliated against them professionally after they rejected his advances.

In one case, a potential business partner recalls that Sondland took her to tour a room in a hotel he owns, only to then grab her face and try to kiss her. After she rejected him, Sondland backtracked on investing in her business.

Another woman, a work associate at the time, says Sondland exposed himself to her during a business interaction. She also recalls falling over the back of a couch trying to get away from him. After she made her lack of interest clear, she says Sondland called her, screaming about her job performance.

A third woman, 27 years Sondland’s junior, met him to discuss a potential job. She says he pushed himself against her and kissed her. She shoved him away. She says his job help stopped.

Now we know the real reason Putin’s Pervert picked him: to join the Fuhrer’s pervert parties. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): FDR Learned The Hard Way Not To Tinker With Thanksgiving

FDR learned. On the other hand, the Republican Reich never learns. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Vox Channel): Why you always seem to have room for dessert

Now I understand why I need to eat different breeds of dawgs, instead of the same breed every day. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Creedence Clearwater Revival: Fortunate Son

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Newer Entries

PHP is a programming language used to build websites. We have it at all through our hosting partner, BlueHost. In order to update it, we have to go through Bluehost. During his life, TomCat was the only one who had access to our account there. I (JD) am now the only one. I have been to BlueHost and investigated updating our PHP to 8.3 or even to 8.1. I found instructions to do so - in fact, I found two conflicting sets of instructions. I went through one set of the steps and got the message that Our site could not handle 8.3, but that it had successfully updated to 8.1. I then went back here to see what it looked like. But I couldn't get in - either as an administrator or as a reader. It was just gone. I had to reach BlueHost by phone. It was determined that Politics Plus is in fact not compatible with any version of PHP newer than the one we have. BlueHost therefore uninstalled it for me, and the site came back to normal. Of course, like everyone else, I care about security. But I also am aware that TomCat elected to use different providers for several of the services that BlueHost provides, for instance backups. We are backed up daily - but not by BlueHost. However, out PHP is through Bluehost. I feel that if they are not worried about the older version, I am not going to worry about it. I believe that our security here is all or mostly through WordFence, whom I trust.