Open Thread – 11/14/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:42 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 142020

It’s a busy day here in The CatBox. WWWendy is coming, and so is a notary for my will. I have no more news on Nameless as I slept all afternoon and night. He hasn’t replied yet today. Tomorrow my schedule is up in the air, as I have a video meeting with former prison volunteers and prisoners. Have a great weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:39 (average 5:18). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: In an interview with VICE News Tonight on Wednesday, two members of the grand jury investigating Breonna Taylor’s fatal shooting by Lousiville, Kentucky, police shared why they decided to speak up and describe how the proceedings took place. “I needed Breonna’s mom and the community to know that it wasn’t the grand jury that made this decision. It was Daniel Cameron and his office,” one of the jurors said. Both requested to remain anonymous. “Puppets, we were used as puppets,” the second juror said. “They thought we were just gonna do exactly what they told us to do. Keep our mouths closed and just vote on this and walk out of that room, and it didn’t happen that way.”

The two jurors in the Taylor grand jury first spoke up last month against the lies Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron told throughout the investigation and trial. Cameron claimed that the grand jurors in the case agreed that officers involved were justified, and announced as a result that no charges would be pursued against the Louisville Metro Police officers who killed Taylor during a botched no-knock warrant execution.

Following the announcement, an anonymous juror identified as “Grand Juror #1” by attorney Kevin Glogower said that the grand jury not only disagreed that certain actions taken by the police that night were justified, but that it was never given the opportunity to indict any officer for homicide.

“I came out of my chair and said he just lied,” Juror #1 told VICE on how he responded to the announcement of no charges. He then filed a motion to allow the 12 jurors to speak publicly about what happened during the trial. In a rare incident of grand jury records being made public, a judge ruled that records could be released in order for jury panelists to speak publicly about the case, Daily Kos reported. Days after the motion was approved, a second juror confirmed Juror #1’s statement that charges to consider were limited.

Both jurors spoke to VICE Media Wednesday to give some insight into how the trial took place; one even brought a notebook with notes taken during the trial. His notes depicted not only how he responded to the evidence presented, but how he processed it, giving a glimpse into how the jurors were thinking during the trial.

If the DA in any grand jury case decides he wants to keep a grand jury from indicting a ham sandwich as non-kosher, he can claim that he went to a kosher deli for a ham and cheese. It’s really that easy, because that’s the only evidence they hear. The only reason the cops weren’t indicted is to help Republican police cover-up the murder they committed. RESIST!!

From Willamette Week: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s chief of staff Nik Blosser is leaving her office to join the transition team for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

In his new role on the Biden-Harris transition team, Blosser will serve as the state lead in the intergovernmental affairs office. Brown says Blosser’s early and continued involvement in the pandemic response gives him “a unique understanding of the needs of Americans suffering from COVID-19 and the needs of the communities they live in.”

“I am heartened that President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris and their transition team have selected Nik for this important role,” Brown said in a statement Thursday. “He has my full support, and I am confident he will help President-elect Biden and his team support states in their approach to this crisis and the long recovery that will follow.

Joe and Kamala have gotten themselves one thoroughly qualified staffer in Blosser. Oregon leads the way! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast for Women’s Rights): The Most Perfect Album | Dolly Parton | 19th Amendment

Full equality for women is certainly long overdue. They would have equality if Republicans did not demand they be kept barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen and owned. I just hope Dolly doesn’t burn her bra in protest. The fire department might not be able to put it out. RESIST!!

66 Days Until the FLUSH!!

Open Thread–2/7/2020

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

Feb 072020

It’s a lazy day here at the CatBox. On the plus side, I kept my food down yesterday and my breakfast, today. On the minus side, although my phantom nerve pain is gradually diminishing, it has cost me enough sleep over two nights that I’m dead tired. TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:57 (average 4:53). To do it, click here. How did you fo?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Alternet: Fox News host Sean Hannity boldly defended President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, by accusing Democrats of supporting “abortion after birth.”

There is no such thing as “abortion after birth,” as many on social media pointed out.

“It’s the party that wants to nationalize everything,” Hannity told his Fox News viewers. “Even supporting infanticide, and abortion after birth, as the Virginia governor told us.”

Again, there is no such thing.

Abortion after birth, were that possible, might not be all that bad in two instances. Hannity is one. The other wears an asterisk. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Iowa Caucus Glitch, Biden’s Drop, and Trump’s Acquittal

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right in everything he said. The Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, aka the Fifth Reich, is so evil that Hitler, Fuhrer of the Third Reich, stopped playing chess with Scalia long enough to express his envy of Fuhrer Trump*. I do like Lawrence’s idea of reorganizing the states to equalize the Senate and Electoral College. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman (from Black & White Night)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Protecting Roe

Posted by TomCat at 9:52 am Politics

Nov 302019

So, what’s my opinion about abortion? Well, I’ll tell you what. It doesn’t matter. First, I have no intention to do any more reproduction. Second, as romantically involved as I’d love to become, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten how. And most important, the only people, whose opinions do matter, are pregnant women, and then, only insofar as their own bodies are concerned. However, I will share the opinion that a woman’s right to choose is under assault by the Republican Party like never before.

Abortion is still technically legal in America, but more than 19 million U.S. women live in areas with less than one health center or provider for every 1,000 women in need. This is largely because clinics have been hindered by Targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP), which limit abortion access by forcing clinics to comply with absurd rules that are cumbersome and medically unnecessary. This obvious targeting of abortion providers, which has undoubtedly contributed to 275 abortion clinics closing since 2013, begs the question: If the constitution really does protect a woman’s right to choose, how can lawmakers get away with these blatant attacks on choice?

The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which affirmed a woman’s right to choose, is often referred to as “the law of the land.” However, it’s actually a Supreme Court decision, not a law, and that distinction is incredibly important. As Trump politicizes the court with his promise to appoint anti-Roe justices, the ruling is vulnerable. As writer Megan McArdle put it, “what the Supreme Court gives, the Supreme Court can take away.” To make matters worse, Roe is already built on shaky ground. The 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, which provided the precedent for Roe, concluded that bans on using contraception are unconstitutional because of a right to privacy, as implied by an amalgamation of constitutional amendments. For Roe v. Wade, the justices decided that if the right to privacy supports the right to contraception, it should apply to abortion as well. As journalist Adam Liptak describes on The Daily, Roe’s lawyers believed it was too soon to argue for reproductive rights on the basis of equality, forcing their argument to rest, instead, on a right that isn’t explicitly stated in the Constitution. Ironically, the argument that won Roe v. Wade also made the decision especially precarious.

Roe came under further attack in the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, which allowed states to regulate abortion before viability with one stipulation: these regulations can’t place “undue burden” on the woman. Unfortunately, the decision fails to define what “undue burden” means, allowing legal wiggle room for the TRAP laws of today. Anti-choice activists have capitalized on this vulnerability by using the loopholes created in Casey to pass legislation that has limited clinics or forced them to close by imposing ridiculous requirements on them. Take, for example, the last abortion clinic in Missouri, which is currently hanging on by a thread because the state government refuses to renew its licensing. The intention of these laws is ultimately to have them challenged in the courts until a case reaches the Supreme Court, presenting the justices with a clear opportunity to overturn Roe.

If the U.S. wants to truly solidify the right to an abortion, therefore, we have to codify Roe as the actual law of the land. This would protect the right to choose from the shifting politics of the Supreme Court and severely limit a state’s ability to restrict abortion. It would also move repealing Roe into the hands of Congress and an electorate where 77% of people oppose overturning Roe…

Inserted from <Women’s Media Center>

Please click through for the rest of this fine article.

Rachel Maddow covered this issue in three segments. In the first, she covers the history of Republican hate and violence against abortion.

Violence, Threats Have Marked Anti-Abortion Protest Since Day One

In the second, she covers the TRAP laws Republicans are currently using in their war on women.

Abortion Clinics Face Down Myriad Pressures To Remain Open

She closes with a dire warning!

Trump/McConnell Supreme Court Poses New Threat To Roe V. Wade

The Republican Reich must be stopped before THIS happens AGAIN!

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 11/27/2019

Posted by TomCat at 9:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 272019

I’m very tired here in the CatBox. I woke up shortly after midnight, and I tossed an turned the rest of the night. I think I’m going to have to use some tunes again, while thinking of new ones. The good thing about good music is listening to it more than once. It’s a WWWendy night. Pardon my brevity hugs!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:38 (average 4:52). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Full Frontal Channel): After #MeToo Pt 1: Sam Bee and Tarana Burke Talk Past, Present, & Future of #MeToo

While in exceptionally rare cases, people in the #MeToo movement go too far, I fully agree with and support the organization. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Why It Matters Trump Knew About Whistleblower Before Releasing Ukraine Aid

What we have here is a bank robber, who kills a guard, blows up the vault, and removes money. Then, he sees the police at the door, so he shoves the money back in the vault and says he committed no offense. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past rerun):

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.