Open Thread – 8/21/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:16 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 212020

It’s a better day here in the CatBox. I’m never pain free, but I’ve recovered sufficiently from my trip that the pain is back to a manageable level. I still have no side-effects from the infusion. Tomorrow please expect no more than a Personal Update from me. It’s a WWWendy day and we did so little on Wednesday, after she got me home from the hospital, that we have more gooping and chores to do than normal, in addition to the routine flea bath and patch change for the TomCat. JD, if Bill Maher puts a show up tonight, would you please cover it tomorrow? TGIF!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:03 (average 8:58)(?!!?). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0821TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 5,747,604
US Deaths: 177,457
Plus the many GOP plague murder victims Republicans are hiding from us.

Long Take:

Watch: Democratic National Convention: Day 4

Magnificent speech! Elect the first President since Barack Obama! RESIST!!

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isn’t conducting raids or offering weapons training to individuals [Republican Ammosexuals] on how to arrest [murder] immigrants, it is treating immigrants in its detention centers wrongfully. In another incident of violating religious rights and plain human indecency, advocates and lawyers are demanding that ICE stop feeding Muslim detainees pork. Last year, agents allegedly fed a man only pork sandwiches while he was in their custody, despite knowing his religion restricted him from eating pork. In a similar case, attorneys representing Muslim detainees at the Krome Service Processing Center in Miami-Dade County are demanding federal agents stop forcing Muslims in custody to choose between eating rotten meals or pork-based options.

In partnership with civil rights organizations Muslim Advocates and Americans for Immigrant Justice, attorneys from King & Spalding LLP sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE with their request Wednesday. According to the letter, ICE officials have allegedly been forcing Muslim detainees to choose between eating rotten halal meat or pork sausage, pork ribs, and other pork-based ingredients. The letter demands that ICE and DHS officials immediately provide non-rotten, edible food that does not violate one’s faith. Advocates noted that the pre-plated expired food has caused detainees to suffer stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea amongst other health issues. Despite this ICE continues to ignore their pleas.

You can be sure that this hateful policy comes from the top. RESIST!!

From NY Times: Late last month, as the Texas Republican Party was shifting into campaign mode, it unveiled a new slogan, lifting a rallying cry straight from a once-unthinkable source: the internet-driven conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

The new catchphrase, “We Are the Storm,” is an unsubtle cue to a group that the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorist threat. It is instantly recognizable among QAnon adherents, signaling what they claim is a coming conflagration between President Trump and what they allege, falsely, is a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile Democrats who seek to dominate America and the world.

The slogan can be found all over social media posts by QAnon followers, and now, too, in emails from the Texas Republican Party and on the T-shirts, hats and sweatshirts that it sells. It has even worked its way into the party’s text message system — a recent email from the party urged readers to “Text STORM2020” for updates.

The Texas Republicans are an unusually visible example of the Republican Party’s dalliance with QAnon, but they are hardly unique.

Here is the complete list of Republican officials who are not nut-jobs: [list starts here

list ends here]. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of protest): I Think My Dog’s a Democrat Bryan Lewis Official Video

If the owner is a Republican, than that dawg is a hell of a lot smarter than the owner! Kudos to left wing protestors! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread – 8/20/2020

Posted by TomCat at 12:16 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 202020

It’s a busy, tired, painful day, here in the CatBox. My infusion yesterday went well, and I’ve had no side-effects, so far. However, except for an hour in the infusion recliner, I had to be in my wheelchair from 9:30 AM until 8:30 PM, and that’s so hard on my back that maximum pain killers barely takes the edge off the pain. Store to Door delivered groceries today so I had to unpack them and put them away. In addition, I spent over an hour on the phone on medical mayhem. JD, would you please cover Sam Bee, as I’m doing something else. Have a great day, everyone!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:18 (average 6:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0820TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 5,702,837
US Deaths: 176,396
Plus all the GOP plague murder victims Republicans are hiding from us.

Long Take:

Watch: Democratic National Convention: Day 3

Kamala was magnificent. Barack Obama actually called criminal Fuhrer Trump* a threat to democracy. Such a statement by a former precedent. That and the nomination of the first African American and Asian American for VP make this a historic event! RESIST!!

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Sen. Susan Collins has, of course, expressed her concern about the sabotage of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) at the hands of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. What Collins doesn’t want all of her constituents—the people for whom she calls the USPS “a lifeline,” the “seniors, veterans, and those in rural areas who are depending on reliable mail delivery for essential goods and services”—to find out is that she’s the person most responsible for this mess.

DeJoy can say he’s making all of the cuts to services because of the dire financial situation of the USPS. Yes, we know he’s doing it to try to right the election for Trump, but the financial crisis at the post office has given him the opportunity to do so. And Collins, more than anyone else, is responsible for that. She’s the one who engineered this crisis. In 2005, Collins introduced the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), which required the USPS to prepay the next 50 years’ worth of health and retirement benefits for every postal service employee. It is the only federal agency that is saddled with this requirement. At the time, she was the chair of the Senate government oversight panel, and she got the bill through her committee and onto the floor in 2006. It passed on a voice vote on Dec. 20, 2006 in the lame duck session before Democrats took back control of the Senate.

What the legislation required of the USPS was to calculate the entirety of its pension costs for the next three-quarters of a century—75 years—and spend the next decade putting away enough money to cover the majority of them. Which is insane. And has accounted for nearly 90% of the service’s red ink in the past decade. Right now, the USPS is $160.9 billion in debt for what it owes to prepay retirees, and has years’ worth of operating deficits because it can’t generate revenue under the restrictions placed by the law.

Collins is great at pretending she’s a center-left moderate, but she’s more like Goose Step Gordon Smith, the Senator I worked to help Jeff Merkley [D-OR] defeat. She’s always with us, when we don’t need her, but against us, when we do. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Raw Story Channel): Sandra Smith grills Kayleigh McEnany about Trump’s praise of QAnon

Once again Kayleigh Lie-a-Lot proves she is a Republican with a PhD (piled higher and deeper) in Bullshitology. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of protest): Family Guy – Republican Town Song

Is this great satire or what? Kudos to left-wing protestors! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Personal Update – 8/19/2020

Posted by TomCat at 6:50 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

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!!

Open Thread – 8/18/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:22 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 182020

It’s a hot day (high 80°s), here at the CatBox. Yesterday my visit with Diana was routine. She’s a very nice lady, who pulls no punches and tells it like it is, but does so with compassion. Tomorrow is my first Pembrolizumab infusion at the hospital. I’ll leave after lunch on a TriMet Lift van, and WWWendy will pick me up between 4:30 and 5:00 PM. When we get home, it will be a regular WWWendy day with TomCat destinking, patch changing, food gooping, and chores. So I’ll be taking a morning nap to rest as much as I can first. Therefore, please expect no more than a Personal Update from me. Assuming that I have no adverse reactions, I’ll be back in the saddle on Thursday. Tuesday is flush Republicans day. Lower the lid so none get away.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:16 (average 5:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0818TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 5,613,357
US Deaths: 173,778
Plus the many GOP murder victims Republicans are hiding from us

Short Takes:

From Willamette Week: A right-wing “flag wave” event in downtown Portland on Saturday ended with a far-right protester firing two gunshots into a crowd of Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

Seaside, Ore., resident and conservative activist Haley Adams advertised her Aug. 15 “Rally Against Domestic Terrorism” as a “flag wave” and stressed the group’s intent to remain peaceful. About 25 people attended the rally in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center.

This reporter saw several members of the protest arrive with weaponry—they open-carried a Scorpion 9 mm carbine and an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Others held Mace, paintball guns and a 9 mm handgun.

The flag wave rally exchanged chants and taunts for approximately an hour with a group of Black Lives Matter protesters before Adams’ group embarked on a march through downtown Portland. Counterprotesters [sic] followed closely, and there was a small exchange of violence between the two groups: Flag wave protesters were seen Macing BLM protesters and shooting them with paintball rounds and hard plastic pellets. Counterprotesters [sic] returned fire with Mace and Silly String.

At approximately 1:35 pm, about 15 conservative protesters retreated into the SmartPark garage at Southwest 4th Avenue and Yamhill Street. Ten minutes later, three cars sped out of the garage and down 4th Avenue. The driver of one car—a blue Dodge Dart—fired two shots at a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters as he left but didn’t hit anyone. Some of the BLM protesters recovered a 9 mm casing at the scene of the shooting.

When Republican Ammosexuals say “peaceful”, this is what they mean. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Bernie Sanders on How Democrats Can Win the Working Class

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right! Combined with Bernie, he’s twice as right. The Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, are wrong and need permanent vacations behind bars! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of protest): Vote Him Away (The Liar Tweets Tonight)

Amen! Amen!! Amen!!! Kudos to left-wing protestors! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread – 8/17/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 172020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. Diana, my palliative care nurse will be here shortly for my routine weekly visit. The same stories still dominate the news, so my research took an extra long time. It’s a relatively cool day: only 95° Angry smile . Oh God, it’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:48 (average 4:24). To do it, click here. Hoe did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0817TrumpVirusMap

Click here for interactive map.

US Cases: 5,569,520
US Deaths: 173,143
Plus all the many GOP plague murder victims Republicans are hiding from us.

Short Takes:

From Euro-News (Hat-Tip Lona): CLIMATE JUSTICE

This is where Kamala Harris comes into her own. While she was district attorney of San Francisco, 15 years ago, Harris created an environmental justice unit, which specifically existed to deal with cases of environmental crime.

Harris identified that “crimes against the environment are crimes against communities, people who are often poor and disenfranchised,” as she said to the San Francisco Chronicle in 2005.

The nexus between socio-economic disadvantage and environmental damage is something Harris has sought to address consistently – long before terms like ‘intersectional environmentalism’ even existed.

More recently, Harris has sued major oil companies after they violated environmental legislation, and after the devastating Refugio oil spill in 2015, the company responsible (Plains All American Pipeline) were indicted on 46 criminal charges.

The following year, after Volkswagen was found to have cheated on its diesel emissions, Harris secured a €73m settlement from the car manufacturer for the state of California.

Although many so called progressives, aka regressives, have whined incessantly that Harris is a “corporate Democrat”, her track record on the environment is quite good. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Raw Story Channel): Trump claims ‘dogs’ are getting mail-in ballots

Barf Bag Alert!!

If criminal Fuhrer Trump gets any more full of shit, we’ll have to paint a crescent moon on his forehead. Obviously it is my feline proclivity to be biased against dawgs, but if they could vote, they would be far more responsible than Republican Sheeple. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of protest): ANTI-REPUBLICAN FUNNY SONG

This song is ten years old. It was spot-on then, and the Republican Reich is so much worse now! Kudos to left-wing protestors! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Personal Update – 8/16/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:16 am Politics

Aug 162020

It’s a stinky day here in the CatBox. WWWendy is on the way, and this is my only article today. I’m sorry to report that the wrong brother died. May your Sunday be cooler than mine (100°+).

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 5:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Take:

From YouTube (a blast of protest): Open Mike Eagle – Happy Wasteland Day

I’m not an fan of either rap or hip hop, but even I like this one. Kudos to left-wing protestors! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread – 8/15/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:33 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 152020

It’s a steamy day, here in the CatBox. Portland is under an Excessive Heat Warning today and tomorrow with temperatures of 100°+ both days. With my O₂ concentrator acting like a space heater, and when the sun hits my big windows in the afternoon, the A/C unit is hard pressed to keep it in the 80°s inside. Tomorrow WWWendy is coming to destink the foul TomCat, change my pain patch, goop, and help with chores. Therefore please expect no more than a Personal Update from me tomorrow. Have a fine day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:03 (average 4:40). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

It’s Republican SOP!

Trump* Virus Update:

0815TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 5,478,009
US Deaths: 171,568
Plus the many plague murder victims Republicans are hiding

Short Takes:

From ProPublica: Guards in an immigrant detention center in El Paso sexually assaulted and harassed inmates in a “pattern and practice” of abuse, according to a complaint filed by a Texas advocacy group urging the local district attorney and federal prosecutors to conduct a criminal investigation.

The allegations, detailed in a filing first obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, maintain that guards systematically assaulted at least three people in a facility overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — often in areas of the detention center not visible to security cameras. The guards told victims that no one would believe them because footage did not exist and the harassment involved officers as high-ranking as a lieutenant.

According to the complaint filed with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and shared with prosecutors, several guards “forcibly” kissed and touched the intimate parts of at least one woman. She faces deportation next week — meaning investigators could lose a key witness. Her attorneys have requested that immigration officials pause her deportation pending a review of the matter.

The best defense that those Republican perverts have is that they were following the example of their Fuhrer. RESIST!!

From NY Times: President Trump’s top two officials at the Department of Homeland Security are illegally serving in their positions, with appointments that violated the laws governing who can fill Senate-confirmed posts, according to a report released Friday by the Government Accountability Office.

Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, and Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, his deputy at the sprawling agency, are serving in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which specifies orders of succession when senior officials resign, according to the G.A.O., Congress’s nonpartisan watchdog.

The report said the improper appointments began after Kirstjen Nielsen was forced out of office as the department’s secretary in April 2019.

“Because the incorrect official assumed the title of acting secretary at that time, subsequent amendments to the order of succession made by that official were invalid,” the Government Accountability Office said on Friday. The agency said that Mr. Wolf and Mr. Cuccinelli “are serving under an invalid order of succession.”

Should anyone be surprised that Republicans are not following the rules? The Republican SOP that rules and laws are for others, not them, has been in force for decades. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of protest): Bruce Springsteen & Joe Grushecky ☜❤☞ That´s What Makes Us Great (ANTI-TRUMP-SONG 2017 )

Amen! Kudos to left-wing protestors! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread – 8/14/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:36 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 142020

It’s a sickly day here in the CatBox. I experimented with a new kind of goop this morning, and sometimes such experiments fail. It blocked my tumor, and I spent most of the morning throwing up. On the plus side, most of my goop experiments have been successful, giving me a variety of tasty things to eat. TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Speaking of goop, today’s took me 3:29 (average 5:22). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Republicans HATE this treaty, ratified unanimously by our founding fathers.

Trump* Virus Update:

Click for interactive map

US Cases: 5,418,071
US Deaths: 170,446
Plus all Trump’s* Murder victims Republicans are hiding from us

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a blistering takedown of Joe Biden’s running mate, Donald Trump on Thursday accused Senator Kamala Harris of maliciously speaking in complete sentences.

Blasting her penchant for hewing to the rules of grammar, Trump said, “A lot of people are saying, mean, nasty, disrespectful. To a new level, like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Sad,” he said. “Sick and sad.”

I’m not buying that fib, Andy! Trump is much too racist to say any minority can speak in complete sentences. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Trump Speechless After Reporter Asks If He Regrets Lying To Americans

The lies are bad enough. Even worse, he and the Republican Reich have murdered over 8.52 Americans with their Trump* virus plague for each of those 20,000+ lies! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of protest): DUMP TRUMP SONG – Leigh & The Dumpettes

Amen! Flush!! Kudos to left wing protestors! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

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