Open Thread–6/2/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:24 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 022020

It’s a very busy day, here in the CatBox, so this is my only article today today. JD, you might want to cover the new John Pavlovitz video. WWWendy got back to town late last night and is coming to de-stink me this afternoon. I could not need it more. I received a reply from my palliative care team. They upped Oxycodone my dosage to 5 – 10 mg every 4 – 6 hours as needed, so when I’m in my chair, I’m gradually increasing my dosage to find the minimum that works. This morning I had a video visit with Megan, my PCP. She took me off of insulin, simvastatin, and lisinopril. After that, I ensconced my butt on the throne for about an hour. I unloaded virtually everything that had collected since leaving the hospital and before. It was done in a healthy fashion, but I swear that some of the Republicans that came out of me met Abe Lincoln personally! Tuesday is flush Republicans day! I did!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:50 (average 5:17). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0602TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 1,862,343
Deaths: 107,066
Recovered: 615,654

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: A controversial new study suggests that the United States of America could benefit from having a President.

The study has raised eyebrows by claiming that a President could be helpful in unifying a country and, in a best-case scenario, providing moral leadership.

“At a time of crisis, a President could be a galvanizing figure who leads a country to a better future,” the study theorizes. “He or she could bring a nation together rather than tear it apart.”

In one of the study’s most radical proposals, it argues that a so-called Justice Department could include an Attorney General appointed by the President to uphold the rule of law.

But Andy, if the US had a President instead of Resident Trump*, then Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch and Barrf could not run the Republican Reich! RESIST!!

From YouTube (Lincoln Project Channel): Flag of Treason

The Republican Reich, led by criminal Fuhrer Trump*, is the party of hate, the party of racism, and the party of treason! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Rolling Stones – Paint It, Black (Official Lyric Video)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–6/1/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:27 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 012020

It’s a busy, stinky day here in the CatBox. By now WWWendy is on her way home, and I’m looking forward to her return, BIG Time. Her cell must be out of range of a tower. I took Nameless’ advice and shot a portal message to my palliative care team, as I’m hurting pretty bad. Oh, God! It’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 3:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0601TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 1,839,119
Deaths: 106,241
Recovered: 599,875

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Police Join Protesters In Demonstrations Across U.S.

I often get down on police at demonstrations, as I have witnessed far too many instances of harm, up to including death, inflicted on peaceful demonstrators by fascist Republican police, through their vicious use of violence. Kudos to those cops, who did the right thing by joining the demonstrators, including some here in Portland. RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Trump briefly taken to underground bunker amid protests

I don’t doubt for a second that criminal Fuhrer Trump* demanded that secret service take him to the bunker, because he suffered a severe attack of bone spurs. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Beatles – Don’t Let Me Down

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Personal Update–5/31/2020

Posted by TomCat at 7:51 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 312020

It’s a very tired day here in the CatBox. I don’t feel at all sick, but I’m going back to bed to keep it that way. Have a great Sunday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:06 (average 5:09). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

Cases: 1,819,792
Deaths: 105,634
Recovered: 535,379

RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–5/30/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:43 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 302020

It’s a painful day here in the CatBox. Sitting in my chair to write exacerbates my spinal cancer pain. The pain seems to become severe about two hours before my Oxycodone dose. I’ll talk to my palliative care team on the 16th. Wendy is alive and well in Wyoming. Have a great weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:53 (average 4:19). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0530TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 1,795,635
Deaths: 104,581
Recovered: 519,709

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: In case there was any questions about Jo Rae Perkins’ devotion to the cultish QAnon conspiracy theory universe—raised, no doubt, by her campaign statement last week after she won the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate race in Oregon—she answered them fulsomely the next day in interviews.

Thank God this Fascist dingbat is running against Jeff Merkley. She doesn’t stand a chance! RESIST!!

From YouTube (John Pavlovitz Channel): HOW TO PROTEST RACIAL INJUSTICE THE “RIGHT WAY”

John Pavlovitz epitomizes what it means to be a real authentic Christian, as opposed to a Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian. Republicans are not racist, the Pope is not Catholic, and bears never, ever shit in the woods! RESIST!!

From YouTube (Trey Crowder Channel): Liberal Redneck – Minnesota Burning

You have to hand it to Trey. How often is it that you get to heat such profound truth in that accent? RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): John Denver – Take Me Home, Country Roads (Live from The Wildlife Concert)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–5/29/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 292020

It’s a tired day, here in the CatBox. It reached 92° here yesterday. While the A/C kept it bearable, it was too muggy to facilitate sleeping well. WWWendy, who thanks you all for your good wishes, left town this morning. When I texted her, she had just passed Pendleton, so she probably is in Idaho by now. Updating you on my medical mayhem, on Tuesday I have a video conference with Megan, my PCP. My PET Scan is on Tuesday 6/9, and my follow up with Evelyn, my Oncologist, is Tuesday 6/16. TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:30 (average 5:41). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0529TrumpVirusMap

Cases: 1,771,614
Deaths: 103,417
Recovered: 499,109

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Servers belonging to the social-media platform Twitter burst into flames on Thursday, after the company attempted to fact-check all of Donald Trump’s tweets.

“We knew that fact-checking Trump’s tweets was going to put a strain on our system,” Jack Dorsey, the C.E.O. of Twitter, said. “We had no idea that it would result in columns of fire shooting forty feet into the air.”

Reportedly, an explosion in the server fact-checking Trump’s tweets about Joe Scarborough ignited a blaze that quickly spread to a server furiously vetting his tweets about Barack Obama.

Dang Andy! Aren’t the folks that run the Twitter shitter bright enough to store all Trump’s* tweets on asbestos servers, only? RESIST!!

From NY Times: The Trump administration is preparing an executive order intended to curtail the legal protections that shield social media companies from liability for what gets posted on their platforms, two senior administration officials said early Thursday.

Such an order, which officials said was still being drafted and was subject to change, would make it easier for federal regulators to argue that companies like Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter are suppressing free speech when they move to suspend users or delete posts, among other examples.

The move is almost certain to face a court challenge and is the latest salvo by President Trump in his repeated threats to crack down on online platforms. Twitter this week attached fact-checking notices to two of the president’s tweets after he made false claims about voter fraud, and Mr. Trump and his supporters have long accused social media companies of silencing conservative voices.

The concept of free speech to the Republican Reich means Republicans are free to muzzle Democrats and stifle everything we say . Also, Republicans are free to lie continually with impunity and without oversight. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): It’s Time to Send Trump and McConnell Packing

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich in the right, the Republican Reich needs to be obliterated. From top to bottom, every Republican in power is one Republican too many! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing

I love the guitar playing! Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–5/28/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 282020

It’s a hot busy day, here in the CatBox, with 89° forecast. WWWendy is coming, and we have lots to do to get me ready for her five day trip. Have a great day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:00 (average 5:10): To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

Cases: 1,747,781
Deaths: 102,197
Recovered: 490,256

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In an escalation of his spat with Roy Cooper, the Democratic governor of North Carolina, Donald Trump is demanding that the 2020 Republican National Convention relocate from Charlotte to Moscow.

“North Carolina has been difficult every step of the way, and meanwhile Moscow has always been very helpful to me,” Trump wrote, in one of a series of early-morning tweets.

Additionally, Trump argued, moving the R.N.C. to Moscow would save the Republicans millions in airfare. “The most important people working on our 2020 campaign will already be there,” he tweeted.

Well, Andy, I see you’re doing straight news again. Is Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch dancing for glee? RESIST!!

From Alternet: Trump and Republicans don’t want mail-in voting this November because it blows up a couple of their most effective voter suppression schemes.

In presidential elections dating back to 2000, there’s been noticeable media coverage of long lines in majority-black precincts; commentators sometimes wonder out loud why people would have to wait in line 8 hours to vote in, for example, inner city Ohio in 2004 or Milwaukee in the 2020 primaries.

Leading up to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s contest with Stacey Abrams in 2018, the Atlanta Constitution-Journal documented how 8 percent of the state’s polling places had been recently closed, hitting rural black areas particularly hard. The Washington Post chronicled how broken voting machines—and the long lines they create—were largely confined to downtown Atlanta and black suburbs and rural areas.

The effect, of course, is to discourage voters from showing up or staying in line, particularly those people who are paid by the hour and have to take time off work to vote.

“The strongest tool Americans have to prevent Republican attempts at voter suppression is mail-in voting.”

In a Republican Reich, voting while Black or Latino is a felony. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): People Are Strange – The Doors [The Very Best Of The Doors]

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–5/27/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:18 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 272020

It’s a hot time, here in the CatBox, with the next three days forecast in the 80°s. That’s not too bad in itself, but it’s a little strange for May. Yesterday my Oncologist and I agreed that since my treatment had almost killed me from septic shock, we needed a new plan, and she had one ready. First, I’m going to have another PET Scan to verify the progress of my disease, and see if there is a tumor in my liver that they can biopsy. If there is, Evelyn will get me into a clinical trial, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. They analyze the DNA of my cancer and design an individual drug that specifically targets my cancer, without targeting me. I’ll keep you posted. Tomorrow, I’ll probably have no more than an Open Thread or a Personal Update. WWWendy will be gone this weekend. She’s driving to Wyoming for a family reunion first thing Friday morning. She will return Monday night. Please pray for her safety. As a result, my next two WWWendy days are tomorrow and Tuesday. Will I be stinky by Tuesday, or what? Happy Hump day to all!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:33). To do it, click here.

Cartoon: