You had your two terms now ride off into the sunset

 This should be the fitting response when Trump finally leaves office.  The only reason he parted ways with buddy Bibi and signed a ceasefire deal with Iran is the price of gas and what that would mean for Republicans in the midterms.  No other reason.  He should never have started that war to begin with.  Trump starts the mess and then pivots all statesmanlike to make peace kind of digging out of his own hole.  The whole Trump term somehow reminds me of a Brady Bunch episode when they don't know how to do the laundry, a touch of a male Lucy then the MAGA-ites celebrate the art of it all.

Are we piling on Trump?  For sure but he who can dish it out should also be able to take it.

You work like an animal your whole life then retire with a bad back

 Looking up retirement videos on YouTube.  Contradictory chaos.  Everybody says something different.  I saw many videos that said retire early, retire now even if you can't afford it.  Others said never retire.  Many of these retirement vids are geared more towards the upper-crust white middle-classers even the wealthy with titles such as "Can You Retire On 500K?"  That's rough, that's shaky but I think I can do quite nicely thank you.  The average person maybe contemplating retirement can't relate to such professional advice.  I doubt many of the poor Yonkerites in my neighborhood even have financial advisors or portfolios.  Who are these YouTube content creators talking to?  Sampled a few of these and it all seemed a bit Trumpy to me.  Take a break go back to the Sasquatch video.

Excuse me I have to go put some cream on my hip right now.

Making the most out of the Trump Presidency

 Got a birthday card once from my late aunt God rest her soul.  No money in it just a greeting.  Kind of the same feeling I have about the Trump 2nd Term.  Getting the most out of a given situation.  Life gives you lemons make lemonade.  RFK Jr. as HHS Sec'y at least he got the petroleum out of pasta.  Trying to think what else.  So maybe we need to be philosophical about the Trump Administration.  With the latest inanities, calling inflation great and the UFC event scheduled at the White House maybe just see the Trump Presidency for entertainment purposes, some light froth in between serious Administrations.  You like Curly or Shemp?  Rubio is the only one who looks uncomfortable like he's trying to be a serious statesman amid the bufoonery.  When it's all over there will be a collective WTF was that?

And now a word from our sponsor;)

He's feeling no pain

 

I'm one of those shoppers who don't pay too much attention to prices.  I only buy a few items at a time now a little bit each day.  Just throw the items in the carriage and keep moving.  I'm not like the mamacita you see at the supermarket with five credit cards pulling two full carriages.  By my logic since I'm not buying a lot the grocery bill shouldn't be that high so why is the readout at the register always saying 50 60 70 or sometimes 80 dollars?  Oh wait when did coffee become so expensive?  Looking at the receipt again and Hefty garbage bags in double digits.  The cartons of Fancy Feast way too high but I already knew that so I buy the single cans more often now.  More variety that way.  Be that as it may I still won't buy toilet paper at the Dollar Store.  Your finger might poke through.  The POTUS is on record about not caring about all of this.  Hannity probably doesn't feel much pain at the pump.  Trump is the first president in modern times whose priorities doesn't include the economy apparently.  Depends on who you talk to.

My cat won't let me blog.

Since this is of some interest to people

 It is not a consuming issue for me though I am aware of it.  Talking about Bari Weiss the new editor-in-chief over at CBS News.  Not popular among many journalists at the moment.   Said to be right-leaning in favor of Trump.  Did shelve a story at the last minute that 60 Minutes was going to run about CECOT the notorious El Salvodoran prison where many of the illegals were sent.  Aired about a month later after being picked up by a Canadian streaming app.  So that was pretty much on the back burner for me until it took a harder edge the other day with the firing of longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.  Now it peaked my interest.  Pelley had a kind of meltdown at a staff meeting ripping Weiss and his new executive producer a couple of new ones and was subsequently fired by Weiss for cause.  Lest this turn into an essay I'll save other thoughts about Mr. Pelley in the Comments section.

A quick google.  Weiss is liberal on social issues but more conservative even outspoken on other issues like woke and cancel culture and DEI.  Voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.  Describes herself as "politically homeless."  Even if you subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Trump somehow put her in charge at CBS News that's only one network.  This hardly amounts to State-run programming.  Big snookers.

It's a story.  Worth doing a blogpost on.

Most of what Trump does doesn't benefit the average American

 From vanity projects to personal political vendettas.  The vomit of his own mind.  The presidency for him is nothing more than an extension of his own personality.  The wars.  So far the only country he has benefited is Israel.  Domestically the only thing he seems to care about is immigration.  Judge ruled he has to take his name off the Kennedy Center.  He wasted our time.  Has he made it easier for anyone to afford a home or buy health insurance?  War abroad and ICE coming to a town near you.  Throw in the settling of old political scores and this is about as broad and multifaceted a presidency as you're going to get from Donald J. Trump.  He's so bad he makes you want to stick a Vance sign on your front lawn.  Almost.

I was thinking of adding a ballroom to my house

 Not for entertainment but for security reasons.  Let's relive the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Gin it up.  You have to leave the country first to apply for a green card.  Tucker Carlson is a domestic terrorist.  Oh btw just saw a vid on YouTube.  The reason why you don't see Bigfoot in the open woods as much is because he spends most of his time underground in cave systems and tunnels coast to coast.

We are living in what I call the Post-Reason Age.

Financial thoughts while pipe smoking

 In between the Cavendish and Burley I tend to cogitate on money matters a lot during my pipe sessions.  Get a lot of solicitations in the mail.  Pre-approved personal loans, home equity, credit cards.  The big come-on with the loans is paying off high-interest credit card debt.  However if your minimum payment isn't that high to begin with I don't see how this holds you back.  How many loan sharks are okay with paying them back 80 or 100 bucks every month over the course of twenty years?  OK so you take out the loan or loans and wipe out your Visa and Mastercard obligations so now you owe monthly payments on the loan which is probably bigger than your minimum credit card payments were.  Now you get another loan solicitation in the mail to pay back your other loans.  The never-ending cycle of debt.  Also Tom Selleck wants to talk to you about something. 

Maybe go off the grid and live in a cave for five years?

Odd woman out

 I don't think she ever really fit in.  She always opposed invading Venezuela and going to war with Iran.  Talking about Tulsi Gabbard who just stepped down from her post as the Director of National Intelligence.   The cover story is that she resigned to be with her husband in his battle with bone cancer.  There are reports the CIA raided her office and took back some JFK and MK-ULTRA files about to be declassified and released to the public  There are other reports the WH forced her to step down.  Maybe a little of everything. 

I think Tulsi Gabbard was initially happy to join the Trump Cabinet because she supported the version of Trump that he campaigned on.  Must be a relief for her.

Cat people and dog people

 

Early on growing up we had mostly dogs.  An occasional cat but mostly canines.  My folks picked up a stray mutt on a street corner once.  Had Mickey for a while.  Had a couple of German Shepherds.  Beautiful animal, good for protection but don't seem to live that long.  Sometimes they have problems with the hind legs.  Then for whatever reason we shifted totally to felines.  They're low maintenance compared to dogs.  For the most part you don't have to housebreak them unless they have some type of emotional issues going on.  You don't have to walk them three times a day even in Arctic conditions.  They sleep much of the time and as a bonus help control the rodent population.  They're also cleaner than dogs.  We had a dog once and every now and then we'd put him in the car and drove to a wooded area.  If there was a dead animal around he liked to roll around in that. A cat would never do that.  Am I biased?  Maybe.  Dog may be man's best friend but but a cat ain't that much work.

It's a cat thing.

The elusive nature of Trump's greatness

 It always escapes me.  Driving my Trumper friend home the other day and he always brings up politics.  He said Trump loves America then he starts talking about Obama.  When was the last time Obama was president?  Welcome to the retro grievance department.  Of those remaining and dwindling few who are digging in their heels still defending Trump my question is 

WHY???

Gloss over Trump's dementia

 Focus on the Left.  Seems to be the strategy of Trump's dwindling stalwarts.  Big Blue Wave coming this Fall.

If Bigfoot fought a hippo who would win?

 YouTube running out of ideas.  I once got in my feed how would a corpse look after ten years.  I never searched this subject.  I have no interest in this subject.  I'm guessing pretty bad.  Maybe it'll turn up again like a bad penny.  John Wick vs. Jason.  I almost clicked on this one.  YouTube is the McDonaldizing of information.  Guy trying to replicate quicksand in the lab.  My journey through toenail fungus.  The podcasters all like to talk about what the other podcasters are saying instead of just you do you.  Young Turks is good.  Jimmy Dore is funny.  Jim Gaffigan just bounced back into my feed.    Cats are too fast for rattlesnakes.  Honey badgers don't give a rat's ass.  They'll chase a Sasquatch.  The algorithm must know I'm old.  Starting getting how to properly use a cane in my feed.  Watched a couple.  Kind of counterintuitive.  You use the cane on the opposite side of the bad leg.  I now keep a cane in my car.

YouTube.  Every night at least one hour for me.  Metal detectors......

The only aliens Trump likes

 My friend kept talking about some UFO dump today.  Another distraction?

What's in your wallet?

 Are you better off under Trump?  This is the basic question.  The price of groceries.  Pain at the pump.  I've had to resort to coin to cash conversions of late.  I own property.  Any buried treasure in my backyard?  Been pondering. Have even thought of getting a cheap metal detector to find out.  Indian head pennies.  Artifacts.  Jimmy Hoffa?  Far as I can see I can't join any class-action lawsuits.  I've never been molested in an Uber or a Lyft.  Never lived or worked close to Camp Lejeune.  I still got a ton of pennies to go through to convert to spending money.  Call it the Christian Brothers/Tobacco Fund.  Will also help with the Fancy Feast.

So ask your Trump cultist friends and co-workers what's in their wallet.  The bottom line:)

Is it a ceasefire or did Hegseth run out of ammunition?

 Hegseth pleads with Congress for a trillion dollars more to continue with the Iran War.  Lawmakers want to know when he plans on wrapping things up.  Before Taylor Swift releases her next album?  No stimulus checks from the Trump Government yet.  No gas rebates, consumer tariff refunds.  Nothing.  Also Trump wants Jimmy Kimmel fired (again) and ABC's license revoked over some Melania joke.  Most folk ain't up that late anyway.  Every president has been made fun of by the late-night comedians.  Goes with the territory.  No president has ever made an issue about it before.  You have a planet to run ya know?Meanwhile YouTube is demonetizing platforms over what it considers inauthentic content.  The stuck poop videos get to stay though.

Forge ahead or cut your losses?

 We all make bad decisions in life at which time the most basic simple course of action is to cut your losses, regroup and recover, learn and go forward.  One can easily apply this to the Iran War but I'm thinking of the Republicans here.  The choice is simple and stark.  Impeach Trump now or lose the midterms.

So that's my anti-Trump post for today.  Shame we always have to spend so much time talking about the man.

Don't stand so close to me

 What we know about the shooter.  A not uncommon phrase now during the Era of Trump.  31-year old teacher from Torrance, CA taken into custody for charging a security checkpoint and firing shots at the WH Correspondents' Dinner last night.  Secret Service man injured not seriously.  Suspect - Cole Tomas Allen.  He is also a Caltech grad, has a degree in computer science and is also an indie video game developer.  Authorities now perusing his writings which Trump calls a manifesto.  It was said he was targeting Trump Administration officials.  The POTUS now says we have to work to resolve our differences.  Ya think?

As The Trump World Turns;)

Trump got in because the Left is weak on certain issues

 This needs to be said.

The Left would like to tax the wealthy into oblivion.  As soon as they start talking about wealth redistribution they give off communist vibes.  The Left acts like illegal immigrants have the same right to be here as you and me.  The open borders crowd.  The Left is perceived as being soft on crime.  Also anti-religion at times and the list goes on.  So now the political pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme of Trump.  The Left helped to elect Donald Trump.  That and the rest of us bought into the consumate bullshit artist. 

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I've never understood trickle-down economics

 Say a wealthy doctor owns a mansion in Scarsdale he's so overflowing with money there are coins and money on the sidewalk that passerbys happily pick up.  I've never experienced this myself walking past a wealthy person's residence or place of business and paper bills wafting down from the sky.  The notion did indeed start with Reagan though.

I understand dribble-itis though.