Trump wants to get rid of the penny

 Have to agree with him here.  He has instructed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies calling it wasteful.

I have tons of pennies at home accumulated down through the years that I don't know what to do with.  I could put them into those little coin wrappers but I got better things to do with my time.  Could take them to the Coinstar kiosk at the local supermarket but again other things on my plate.  Don't know my true net worth because I haven't counted them yet.  Ain't gonna remodel the kitchen with it.

A total waste.  Trump is right.  Won't even get you a bus ride these days.

Taylor Swift and Kelce

 I don't give a rat's ass.

Mindless in Gaza

 In addition to Canada Greenland and the Panama Canal Trump now wants the Gaza Strip.  He said at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it would be a good idea if the U.S. took control over it.  I didn't know Gaza was for sale.  Trump says it could be rebuilt into a Riviera of the Middle East but first the Palestinians should get out and live somewhere else.  Egypt?  Jordan?  Yonkers?  Many are calling this a call for ethnic cleansing but it is sure to appeal to the far-right elements in the Israeli government. 

Every president tries their hand at peace in the Middle East.   The Trump Plan a golf course some hotels and casinos in Gaza but no Palestinians allowed.  Is there a Nobel Prize in the works?

Make America Great Again just not yet

 Or as my Momma used to say it has to get worse before it gets better.

I think;)

Trump is just a sad sack at this point. He's joyless.

 He always looks angry.  He's a political grinch.  He's trying to be a micromanager with his endless executive orders trying to dictate things like what federal agencies can and cannot say.  Nobody likes a micromanager.  It's actually the opposite of true conservatism and limited government. He's mean-spirited as if he feels having empathy and compassion are unmanly.  He's impulsive with tariffs and says Americans can expect some pain but he ran on optimism and making a better economy for all.  Ronald Reagan actually embodied true optimism and hope.  Trump is depressing in tone and substance.  He makes it up as he goes along.  At work we call this bullshitting your way through.  May well go down in history as a bizarre presidency and not much else.  His first term seemed more muted even normal to a point say what you will.  It's as if his political id has taken over.  I spend more time cringing than clapping lately.

It's still way too early but the trajectory is bad.

Tariffs on Greenland?

 I'm not getting it.  Nobody wants to retire and move to Greenland.  It's a strategic military location and is said to have rare mineral resources.  OK.  25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting today but Trump cut China some slack with only 10% tariffs.  His endgame may be to end the federal income tax and fund the government with tariffs.  Is he shifting the Overton Window?  What's the deal with Greenland?  Can't really put a golf course there.  The subject never came up on the campaign trail.  Look every president does things we disagree with.  Biden didn't do enough to protect the gray wolf.  There was his covid authoritarianism.  I always thought it would be interesting to have one of the Star Trek spinoff shows do an episode on the crew encountering the race of Covidians who always stand six feet apart and worship a Fauci-like figure but I digress point being Trump is taking things to another level and how did the National Review become part of the MAGA cult?  When he's done deporting can he get back to the price of Fancy Feast?  Health care?  Families shouldn't have to go bankrupt because somebody has cancer.  Homan is in his glory but can we take a breather?

BTW can Trump at least slip in a stimulus check or two to my direct deposit?

Trump 2.0 - Back With A Vengeance

 ICE raids, Homan to talk to Canadian officials, Colombia caves and takes in the aliens, Laken Riley Act, Gitmo again, political retribution, firing inspectors general, tariff threats, funding freezes, eclectic Cabinet picks, executive orders, rescuing TikTok, no DEI, calls to Denmark, J6 pardons, Trump threatens BRICS, Hannity interview, Trump offering to buyout federal workers, Meta to pay Trump $25 million, DOGE, Rubio to visit Panama, Israel/Gaza, Trump goes after Buttigieg over DC plane crash, Bob Menendez angling for pardon, Greenland for sale? Gulf of Trump.

And it's not even 100 days.

The RFK Jr. confirmation hearings

 

Rather intense.  Dems didn't warm up to him but no Repubs really came out against.  Said he's not anti-vaccine but pro-safety.  Not against the measles or polio vaccines or kids getting their shots.  Says he'll keep more in line with Trump's views on abortion mainly being an issue for state control.  Appeared at points to confuse Medicare and Medicaid.  No discussion of roadkill recipes.  Another day of questioning. 

Thoughts?

In a surprise move Homan deports himself

 What do you guys think of the ICE raids?  They haven't hit Yonkers yet but I didn't check the list.  Obama holds some sort of record for deportations.  Unk Joe deported his share without the fanfare.  Are there any women out there who find Homan sexy?  Can Homan deport Diddy?  The Pope and the Bishops have issues with Homan and Trump and Vance said some things.  Is Melania going back to Slovenia?  Maybe Gordon Ramsay can have a spinoff Top Illegal Chefs winner doesn't get deported.  Selena Gomez was crying.  Maybe we need a boring president like Gerald Ford.

Forgive the clickbait. 

Government by executive order

 Trump's executive orders continue at a dizzying pace.  Covers all situations and issues great and small.  Might issue an order stating SNL should go off the air.  Trump operating in this make-believe monarchical framework of his.

Reading A LOT about ICE raids.  One news item said they went into some Chicago elementary school later amended to oh no that was the Secret Service.  What would either of them be doing at a grade school?  Is Trump planning a visit?  Did some student write an anti-Trump essay?

Not getting the TikTok ban temporarily on hold.  Has to do with data mining by the Chinese government.   So the Chinese government peers into my boring life and today learns I plan on cleaning the attic.  Not sure how this violates the national security though but I'm not as bright as the smarty-pants over at the National Review.  YouTube is funny.  Watched some attic ladder installation videos last night.  One said so easy a 10-year old could do it all you need is a drill a saw and a couple of other things then you'll see some false comment like "thanks Frank the Handyman I did it."

I'm just a rambling man;)

How much weight do Executive Orders have?

 I mean beyond the merely administrative technical stuff.  They never really impressed me as having the permanence of real law and besides that they can be legally challenged.  Laws or proposed laws have to go through the cumbersome process of passing through legislative bodies first where they are then debated and discussed.  Executive orders instead give off a whiff of whimsical autocracy.  "I hereby declareth I don't like polka dot ties."  The other thing that strikes me as silly is each succeeding president can simply issue executive orders that are the exact opposite of those of the previous Administration.  Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico.  I don't care if he wants to rename it the Gulf of Yonkers it has no weight with scholars or academics or meets international standards of acceptability.  How 'bout the Yucatan Peninsula?  What strikes Trump's fancy here?  Where does it end?  There's a whole bundle of Trump executive orders dealing with immigration alone that are sure to be challenged in the courts.  This is not the way government is normally run it just gives any new president a sense of ephemeral power.  It's like a make believe scepter.  Go play with your crayons.

How 'bout an executive order that declareth that henceforth and going forward there shall be no more executive orders?  Forevermore.

Diddy was going to perform but he couldn't make it

 (Alternative title: Rough Day For Shaw)

Quite a pageant.  The swearing-in ceremony was quite long.  Had a strong religious, Christian flavor.  An all day affair.  Watched Trump's Inaugural Address.  A lot to go through comment accordingly.  Wants to put an American flag on Mars and Musk was ecstatic.  Said in his speech there are only two genders and that he would sign an executive order declaring such.  Who knew such a simple biological fact would be so controversial.  There was the parade and then an address by Steve Witkoff Trump's special envoy to the Middle East who was instrumental in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.  Earlier Trump had already signed his first few executive orders back at the office.  These were mostly technical in nature having to do with things like cabinet and sub-cabinet appointments the most notable being going forward all flags will be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day.  I had hoped to publish something earlier in the day but it was a long wait before he signed a few more executive orders at the Capitol Arena the most notable this time being sending a letter to the UN saying we are withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty then it was off to the Oval Office to sign a large number of other executive orders.

A LONG day.  TikTok also back online thanks to Trump at least for the time being.  Sounds like a deal is in the works.

The Eskimos probably think we're a bunch of wussies

 Inauguration events gonna be indoors.  Gonna be too cold outside.  One of the coldest inaugurations on record.  Fresh out of pipe tobacco and cigars.  Gotta make a trip today.  Gonna be a cold week.  Take three puffs and go inside?  Don't know if Hulk Hogan is gonna yell "scumbags".  Not gonna watch I'll see it on the news later.  Moanin' Homan rarin' to go.

Paying a mortgage on a house that no longer exists

 The finer details for survivors of the LA fires

Even if reduced property taxes no matter what.  Good to know.

Basic thuganomics. 

Of bluster and bullshit

 Should I keep my autograph book handy in case Homan and crew come to my workplace?  Greenland, the Panama Canal, the annexation of Canada, mass deportations...Trump is not going to invade a NATO ally.  It's not worth going to war over the Canal.  We never had a state the size of Canada makes no sense and we don't have the infrastructure for mass deportations.  Not so much in the hot air category though is a serious growing consensus that Trump is the one mostly responsible for this historic ceasefire/hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.  He even sent a Middle East envoy over there to take part in the negotiations and this is all pre-the Inauguration.  Biden has issues with Trump getting most of the credit.  Don't be jealous.  As for Trump being an expansionist president in the Polk tradition I highly doubt it.

So what is bluster, what is la mierda and what's the real deal here?  We'll just have to wait and see.

Bibi was only playing around

 He bombed a few hospitals in Gaza but Trump has promised "all hell will break loose" in the Middle East if Hamas does not release the rest of the Israeli hostages by the time he is inaugurated.  I almost said installed as Trump has a kind of monarch complex.  It won't be good for Hamas or anybody else he said.  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Also where can Netanyahu travel these days?  The ICC has issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and the Polish PM said he'd arrest him if he comes that way.  Our own House in turn has voted for sanctions against the ICC.  If Trump follows through on his threat to unleash hell in the Middle East he too could wind up on the ICC docket someday.  Meanwhile Trump said he will sign 100 Executive Orders on Day One.  About what?  Sidewalk cleaning in Yonkers?  Also where is T. Swift these days?  Will she send a multi-million dollar aid package to LA County?

What's so funny?

 So I was watching some streams of the Carter funeral just now.  EVERYBODY was extremely somber.  The Clintons, Kamala, Bush et al first row and in the second row sat Obama and Trump.  NOBODY talking to each other just immersed in their own grief.  Everybody looked absolutely grief-stricken like you're not supposed to pass away at 100, everybody but Obama and Trump who were amiably chatting away and then Trump said something to Obama and Obama suddenly broke out into his wide trademark grin and started laughing at something.  Melania had some kind of Amish mourning outfit on and Kamala looked back at Obama and Trump for a moment like they're not in keeping with the solemnity, nay the gravity of the occasion.  This is being analyzed from many different angles and I haven't heard a theory yet.

It's all shtick folks;)

Trump got a better deal than Martha Stewart

 RE the Trump hush money criminal case in which he was convicted of 34 felonies which is more than some serial killers might get the judge in the case Juan Merchan today sentenced or shall we say gave the President-Elect an unconditional discharge and wished him Godspeed in his second term.  No jail time, no probation, no fines even.  None of his rights have been restricted.  My TMI closet is already full but for those who are interested in this kind of stuff Trump was convicted of among other things falsifying business records to arrange a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  Basically a soap opera crime.  Now without this hanging over his head he can focus on more important matters like invading Greenland and ending birthright citizenship.

What happened to the drones?

 Lots of assorted topics out there not really coalescing into a blogpost per se.  The LA fires and the politics of the LA fires.  Elon Musk opiner-at-large now wading into British politics and the groomer gang scandal which is at least ten years old.  Melania's outfit at the Jimmy Carter funeral.  Congestion pricing in NYC.  TikTok.  Just off the top of my head 17,000 doctors signed a letter opposing RFK Jr.'s nomination to be HHS Sec'y.  That one kind of surprised me.  Diddy updates.  Mangione.  My God it's COLD outside!!!  The Trump Follies.  News cycle going too fast for me.

The drone thing.  Wha' happened?

Whatever happened to the mass deportations?

 We may need to strike the S off TDS and just call it TD or Trump Derangement.  The senior editors over at the National Review think taking Greenland by force is not a totally insane idea and Hannity is glossing all the lunacy over by simply posting Don Jr.'s nice video of his trip to the autonomous Denmark territory to make Greenland great again nothing bellicose about it (library word look it up). Meanwhile Germany and France are warning Trump over his threats.  Whatever happened to no new wars and working to end the ones we have now?  What does the MAGA base think of these latest developments?  Trump is either in the pre-Alzheimer's stage dementia or both.  There would have to be serious closed-door discussions at this point about possibly invoking the 25th Amendment Section 4 somewhere down the road.  Meanwhile Homan is probably thinking we got the buses all lined up for the migrants why are we now switching to geopolitics all of a sudden?  He ain't even president yet.

Hell's going on?  I'm willing to eat my vote.  Maybe they'll make a movie about it someday.  "Life Inside the MAGA Cult."

I didn't vote for Trump so he could rename the Gulf of Mexico

 I also didn't vote for Trump so he could use military force to take Greenland and take back control of the Panama Canal.  He didn't rule that out at his Mar-A-Lago news conference.  Plausible scenario: Trump is officially deemed Nutz as per the requirements of the 25th Amendment Section 4 and JD Vance becomes president.  I don't hear other conservatives even talking about this despite Trump's growing list of strange obsessions.  Trump has lost sight of his own MAGA mission.  His mind has become like one of those Monty Python animated cartoons I watched growing up.  He and Biden can become roommates in some kind of ward or home (needs script).  Unless this is all shtick. 

Why not Puerto Rico becoming the 51st State?

 It's already a U.S. territory.  In the wake of woke Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's resignation Trump is again saying Canada should merge with the U.S. to avoid tariffs and enjoy lower taxes.  He also wants to buy Greenland from Denmark and says we need to retake control of the Panama Canal.  I'm getting a spooky feeling this is not going to be a normal presidency.

Don't know if this is a false issue or not

 I wasn't actually going to say anything about Jimmy Carter.  Am I required to?  So the latest Trump controversy is the President-Elect is upset that the Dems want to fly the flag at half-staff on the day of his inauguration to honor the recent passing of Jimmy Carter.  So my thing is today is January the 4th.  The inauguration is still slightly more than two weeks away.  HOW LONG are the flags supposed to fly at half-staff anyway?  What's the rule on this?  Sure when a former head-of-state dies there'll be three funerals and the whole thing will go on for a month so I guess the funereal feelings can well wash up against Jan. 20 but again if anyone knows the rule on the flag thing let me know.

There's always been a kind of rough consensus that Jimmy Carter wasn't a great president but a decent human being.  There were the long gas lines and the Iranian hostage crisis but he also negotiated the Panama Canal Treaties and of course is well known for the Middle East peace accords.  He did better work post-presidency.  Took up a hammer and nail for Habitat for Humanity and put his work pants on.  A devout Christian also taught Sunday school.  Made it to the 100 Club with Kirk Douglas.  Must've been all the peanuts.

Thoughts?

Never understood congestion pricing

 Don't get me wrong traffic can sometimes be existentially annoying.  You're stuck in traffic, you made a wrong dietary decision earlier in the day and your stomach is now percolating.  Heard of a story of a woman who ruined her front car seat once because they were blasting rocks on the Sprain Parkway in Westchester and so some lanes were closed.  "OH God please deliver me and I promise to be good!"  Also from a philosophical standpoint we're all given a finite time on this Earth and being stuck in traffic is totally wasted and non-productive time you can never get back.

Having said that I don't understand the whole logic behind congestion pricing.  Set to start in Manhattan starting January the 5th.  If you dare to enter the Congestion Relief Zone (sounds like a cold remedy), generally the Central Business District below 60th Street your E-Z Pass will be charged a toll.  The tolls on trucks depending on size range from $14.40-$21.60 during peak hours.  There are discounts for driving after dark.  NJ has been fighting this tooth and nail. People can't help it if their jobs take them into certain areas.  It's like they're being punished and it's an effort to control human behavior.  Yes I'm aware that congestion pricing has been around since the 70s and has been tried in places like Singapore and London and that many economists are in favor of it and sing of the bennies but I think it's loopy, harebrained and unfair.  It needs to be shelved permanently. 

The whole subject makes my head congested.

Day One of the New Year

 A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the entrance to the Trump Hotel in Vegas.  Being investigated by the FBI as a possible terrorist event.  Driver killed and a few others suffered minor injuries.  Also a truck plowed through crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans around 3 in the morning and killed at last count at least 15 revelers and injured 35 others.  42-year old Army vet and Texas native Shamsud-Din Jabbar was the driver and killed in a shootout with police.  Had an ISIS flag in his pickup.  Both the Cybertruck and pickup both rented through the car renting app Turo.  Possible link between the two events being investigated.  FBI thinks Jabbar was not a lone wolf but possibly had terror associates.  NYC and Yonkers recorded their first murders of the New Year.

Not an auspicious start.  It would have been really nice not to have anything to blog about today.  Ease into the New Year ya know?

Have a Happy New Year!

 It should be an interesting 2025.

For your consideration

 Considerable discussion has been given to the Dead Internet Theory.  My own view we're at least halfway there.  As far as conspiracy theories go there are scraps of truth.  This is a real post btw.  I really do have to cut my sidewalk grass in Yonkers.

I'll always watch a good Nosferatu

 Don't go to the movies much anymore.  Most of the great movies have already been made.  Ever wonder how many movies are actually in existence?  Has to be astronomical.  Out of the sheer number of movies that have been made how many are actually worth watching?  For me a golden age was the 70s throw in the late 60s.  Do you have a favorite movie critic?  Rotten Tomatoes - BOTH Citizen Kane and Casablanca got 99% fresh scores.  So who was the 1% who didn't like them and why?  I wanna hear their thoughts.  Roger Ebert tended to overreact to movies he didn't like.  You can criticize the excessive violence in I Spit On Your Grave but I found it interesting as a cult classic.  Ebert thought it was the worst movie ever made.  More worthy candidates for that one.  How hard is it to be a movie critic anyway?  All you have to do is meet a deadline.  You ain't spitting chickens for a living.  Bruce Lee movies.  He actually made fighting off an army of fifty men believable that's how well the fight scenes were choreographed.  The only one to come close imo is Jet Li.

Thoughts on the movies?

One might mistakenly think Elon Musk is the incoming president

 Nominally tapped to cut government waste and inefficiency with Ramaswamy he sparked a MAGA civil war the other day (see previous post) and now writes opinion pieces for German newspapers.  Writing in Die Welt he said the AfD is the best hope for a dying Germany.  AfD is a fairly new political party there gaining a lot of populist support and could be a player in that country's upcoming snap elections on Feb. 23.  Could become a strong voice in the Bundestag or lower House.  I'm your Captain Google doing your work for you so you can relax.  AfD as in Alternative for Germany (Deutschland).  Many call it a far-right extremist and radical party mostly focusing on moving the migrants the hell out or in some cases at least forcibly assimilating them.  You will speak the German.  Vance also supports the AfD.  Many folk find Musk and Vance's support of the party alarming.  Homan might be considering some work over there when he's done over here.  Meanwhile Laura Loomer's blue check on X is currently under review.  I don't know what that means exactly.  In other news......

But what about our guest lettuce pickers so our H-1B visa holders can enjoy their salads?

MAGA CIVIL WAR ERUPTS

First off Trump hired some Indian-born foreign guy to be his ai advisor.  Now presidents need ai advisors?  Musk and Ramaswamy are all for extending the stays of our highly skilled foreign workers in the tech field.  Musk says a shortage of them is the main problem facing Silicon Valley and Ramaswamy called American culture mediocre (think Family Guy and Judge Judy - editor).  MTG kind of agrees with them.  Trump ally and hard-righter Laura Loomer, Matt Gaetz and the hard-core MAGA base say they're straying from the original MAGA policy on immigration.  Nikki Haley took issue with Ramaswamy's X post.  Things are getting heated.  Pass the popcorn.

BUT WHAT DOES HOMAN THINK???

Forget about retaking the Panama Canal

 President-Elect Trump is putting too much on his plate.  Focus instead on 3 main areas: the economy, border security/illegal immigration and foreign affairs.  THAT'S IT and maybe scale back on the social media posts.

Biden may as well pardon Diddy at this point

 In addition to son Hunter President Biden has also pardoned about 1,500 Americans mostly released to home confinement during the pandemic for non-violent drug offenses.  Being with the missus can be punishment enough.  In addition Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 federal prisoners on death row who will now be serving life behind bars.  Not a supporter of the death penalty myself but didn't know Biden was such a passionate opponent.  Trump has promised to become an execution machine while in office.  Is there anything not on Trump's to-do list?

Biden also pardoned the mailman for delivering the mail late.

Happy Holidays to you and yours

 

Whatever you celebrate.

2024 Year End In Review

 Trump Trump and Trump. 

Building a better blog

 Cats?  Pipe smoking?  The Middle East?  No foreign policy post for Dennis Rodman in a Trump Administration?  My drone is better than your drone?

Recent case in Yonkers.  A couple brought a very young cat which was severely injured to a local vet clinic and dropped it off without giving their names or phone numbers.  Anonymous good Samaritans but there's a bad twist.  Cat later died and tested positive for rabies.  The County Health Department is desperately trying to track the couple down to have them tested for the virus.  Got me googling rabies again with my hundred other topics.  Rabies is still generally considered fatal but...

As always though talk about anything you like.

The Dummies Guide to the Middle East

 I'm not one of those knowledge off the top of my head type guys.  I'm more of a Captain Google tbh.  Wikipedia the Assad dynasty in Syria and you could easily go into the wee hours.  Get your brandy snifter.  Bashar al-Assad during his earlier life actually graduated medical school and then went to London to train to be an eye doctor but was recalled back to Syria after his older brother died in a car crash and he then became heir-apparent to the regime....military academy...Syrian occupation of Lebanon...Arab Spring...Syrian Civil War...war crimes...human rights violations...chemical weapons...the UN, Obama, Trump.  Turkey's Erdogan later became a kind of foe and worked behind the scenes...LOTS to go through.  Bashar al-Assad has now been ousted as we all know by rebel forces and the head of HTS an al-Qaida offshoot is practically running the new government.  Turkey is heavily involved and the new HTS-led Syrian government is trying to moderate its image.  Putin has granted al-Assad and his family political asylum in Moscow.  He may have brought a bag of gold coins with him.  He always wore nice suits and believed in climate change and even recognized the State of Israel in private.  Otherwise a brutal dictator.

There I've done my homework.  Trying to give this blog some heft.

Word on the street is Homan is going to start deporting in Chicago

 Who elected this guy?  He's like a law unto himself.  When does he hit Yonkers?

RFK Jr. meeting with the Senators this week

 To shore up support for being confirmed as Secretary of HHS.  Possible topics of discussion:

Dead bear cubs.  Whale heads.  Cap'n Crunch.  Chocolate Twinkies.  The benefits of drinking raw milk from a bucket after squirting it from a cow's udder.  Under his tenure where to go for a tetanus shot if you step on a rusty nail.  How he seduces so many women (is it the croaky voice over a romantic candlelit roadkill dinner?)  Will we all have to shop at Whole Foods from now on?

Not a shoe-in by any stretch.  I give it about a 50/50.

No drones over Yonkers yet

 If there were I would simply chalk it up to Yonkers keeping track of who's not cutting the grass along their sidewalk and who's late on their property taxes.

Mysterious SUV-sized drones have been spotted flying over areas of New Jersey and New York.  Aliens?  Some weird social experiment being run by a university?  Google?  Iran?  China?  Putin?  The FBI?  The CIA?  The military?  Some brilliant 10-year old young Sheldon type kid operating a fleet of drones from his parents' basement?  A plan to rescue Diddy?  Some type of Trump illegal immigrants surveillance project?  Is Homan operating these things?

People are alarmed.  Congress is concerned.   The FBI doesn't have answers.  Somebody knows something. 

Homan's gonna kick some illegal ass

 I have a better proposal.  First off absolutely secure the border.  Plug that thing with Flex Seal if you have to.  Maybe let a few of the top chefs through but THAT'S IT.  Next absolutely deport the criminal element and expeditiously at that.  Get The Rock to help if you have to.  Now here's where I get off the MAGA road.  Of the remaining millions who haven't committed any crimes and are hard-working have them maybe pay a fine and some back taxes like Hillary said once.  Then they have a choice.  Take the citizenship test and learn English or else you have to leave.  You can't stay here perpetually in this quasi state.  You have to become official.  Call it forced assimilation if you like but it's less medieval. 

So that's it.  Let's move on.

Throwing the illegals under the bus for a pardon

 That's the liberal take on NYC Mayor Eric Adams' meeting with incoming border czar Tom Homan at Gracie Mansion today.  Sure he might need a pardon someday but he's not throwing them under the bus.  They might wind up on the bus though.

Your .02.

Let's go on a ramble

 

Talk about what you like.

Ah well there's always ice fishing

 MN Governor Tim Walz was "a little surprised" he and Kamala Harris lost the presidential election to Donald Trump.  He feels "I did the best I could."  Not in the VP debate with Vance you didn't you knucklehead.   In his first post-election interview with KSTP a Minnesota news outlet he said "It felt like at the rallies, at the things I was going to, the shops I was going in, that the momentum was going our way."  Rallies can be a lot like rock concerts.  You go to a blink-182 concert and you think the whole world likes blink-182.  So puberty blockers and transgender surgery for minor kids had nothing to do with your loss.  It's really that the rest of the country isn't progressive enough is his take.

I hope you run into a nice school of yellow perch.

Health insurance is great until you get sick

 That's the sentiment of many.  In the wake of the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last Wednesday outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel many folk have gone on social media and unleashed a torrent of vitriol against the health insurance industry in general and Brian Thompson and United Healthcare in particular.  Seems some ai-driven program denied the claims of at least one-third of United Healthcare subscribers who actually had to use their insurance.  The wonders of our health insurance system - you pay into the program your whole life, you get really sick one day and finally get a notice in the mail "Claim Denied" and have to foot the bill yourself.   You're not Diddy.  Never understood how so many cancer survivors and their families use up their entire life savings and eventually go bankrupt.  I thought that's why we have health insurance.  Hannity would probably say at least that's not socialism.  Health care in America.  I thought Obama fixed all that.  I can't wait for the Singularity.

Christmas At Mar-A-Lago

 Would make a great holiday special.  Hosted by Joe and Mika.  Special appearances by Mark Zuckerberg and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.  Trump jokes Trudeau looks like Fidel Castro's son.

Homan Fights A Migrant Caravan.  With Chuck Norris.

Whoopi Goldberg - Keeping It Psycho.

Life In The UK special.  Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi talk about life in the Cotswolds region in South West England after moving there following Trump's election.  Special appearance by John Cleese.

You got any better ideas?

I don't recall......

 During my 60+ years on this Earth I don't recall any other president who right after he won the general election we talked about it non-stop everyday right up until the day of his inauguration the following January.  That's almost a good solid 3 months of hype if you do the math and that's the way it's headed.  Normally since Jan. 20 is still aways away, we haven't even made it through Christmas yet you would think this would be a good time to discuss a garden-variety of other subjects no?  Also not getting the continued uproar over the Hunter Biden pardon.  Presidents have the power to pardon, many pardons are controversial but at a certain point it's time to move on.  I don't care if Jon Stewart and some MSNBC host are upset.  Also why is Whoopi Goldberg acting perpetually deranged?  She looks like some medieval gladiator in a movie with a pickaxe.  Put her in a movie with Jet LI.  She looks like she could scare a pitbull.

Everybody calm down.

Back In The Day

 Saw an old video of Hillary talking about the problem of illegal immigration.  Deport the illegal criminal ones she said and the rest who are hard-working should have to pay a big fine and back taxes and LEARN ENGLISH to eventually become citizens.  Protect our borders and learn the language?  She out-Trumped Trump.  Give her a MAGA hat.  These were the Democratic talking points back in the day.

There really is not going to be any massive detention facilities for the illegals waiting to be deported.  How long would they take to build? Are they going to sprout up like McDonald's and dot the landscape?  "Mommy what's that?"  Are the Ancient Aliens gonna come back and spring them up out of the ground like the pyramids?  Then the immigration courts are gonna be clogged up for years and you'll be spending $40 for a head of lettuce.  Ain't gonna happen.

And a happy TDS to you:)

What do Donald Trump, Joe Biden and NYC Mayor Eric Adams have in common?

 All three believe our legal and justice system has been compromised, that they or in Biden's case his son have been the victims of political prosecutions.  Watched a recent Jimmy Dore podcast in which he talked about the media and Hunter Biden.  I'm taking an idea from there and expanding on it here. 

Trump of course has had his myriad legal problems.  There was the hush money case in Manhattan and the Jack Smith legal bundle since dismissed.  Hunter recently convicted of federal gun charges since pardoned by his father.  Read the WH statement about selective prosecution.  Then there is the complex case of NYC Mayor Eric Adams to go on trial next April.  Charges include bribery, corruption, wire fraud and donations from foreign nationals notably the Turkish government.  Adams too feels it's all a political witch hunt.  Now on to the main point.  Biden and Adams now have a special camaraderie with President-Elect Trump.  If you notice Trump and Biden are now BFFs and Adams has pledged all he can to help Trump deport criminal illegal aliens from NYC.  The common thread in all this is all three see the justice system as being corrupt.

It's not about the Rule of Law.  The legal and justice system is part of the swamp is what all three are saying in their own way.  That's the case that Trump, Biden and Adams are making.  Selective prosecutions, the weaponization of our justice system.  Who else will join the growing list?  That's the main thesis for today folks.

I haven't read the Trump Bible

 

I've drifted away from reading.  Haven't read a book cover to cover in probably years.  I'm more into pipe smoking and pondering and a little yardwork from time to time.  Reading is mostly a sedentary activity.  You're not circulating the blood.  Helps your mind but maybe not your health.  If anything I'm a skimmer and a scanner.  I like the field guides and a few reference works.  Worked in a public library for a few years back in the day.  Books more important than food for some folk.  One guy checking out the latest spy novels said he doesn't care if Village Hall burns down but not the library.  Consider the tons of books in the library that just sit on the shelves gathering dust and never get read.  Do most authors need another source of income to get by?  Ever read a toothpaste tube?

I pardon thee son

 President Biden pardoned son Hunter who pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges and was convicted on three gun charges.  Reverberations on Capitol Hill as expected.  I really don't have an issue.  Blood is thicker than water.

Rachel Maddow and the Covid Chronicles

 Maddow has issues with Trump's cabinet picks particularly Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to head the NIH.  He was a signer to the Great Barrington Declaration out of Stanford University which was basically against covid lockdowns in general and said herd immunity is the way to go.  There was an important caveat to this however: targeted protection for the most vulnerable groups (e.g. the elderly, people with co-morbidities etc.).  In other words during that covid timeframe you didn't invite Grandma over for the holidays.  We all understood this, everyone was on the same page but Maddow has outright lied about Dr. Bhattacharya and his views.  This wasn't exactly the Swedish model that basically said go about your business and the deaths will frontload early and then level off.  In the U.S. we had one of the highest covid death rates despite the lockdowns and mitigation efforts the 6 Foot Rule not even based on science as Fauci later admitted.  No matter to Rachel Maddow.  We also have early footage of Maddow stating emphatically that when you get covid-vaccinated the virus can't use you as a host and transmission stops with you blah blah blah which we now know is not true.  My brother has been hyper-vaccinated which is what most doctors still recommend these days and he still came down with a few cases of hardcore covid.   I'm not even clear whether Maddow and her hero Dr. Fauci even believe we have functioning immune systems but many people say she's in the pocket of Big Pharma and the military/industrial complex.  Word on the street is she's dragging MSNBC down the tubes with her.  Rumor is Musk might buy MSNBC outright.  Maybe Walmart, maybe Yonkers, maybe a feral cat colony island.  The times they are a'changing.

Trump has a lot on his plate on Day One

 We keep hearing about DAY ONE.  Most incoming presidents might move a painting around and kick the furniture a little but not Trump.  On his to-do list:  Secure the border, deport all the illegals, impose massive tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico and Drill Baby Drill!  He has so much on his plate for Day One he's just trying to get ahead of it all.  Homan is probably fighting a bunch of illegals in the parking lot as we speak.  Trump might address the Nation any day now.  The thought occurred if they had already 25th Amendmented Biden by now Kamala Harris could at least say she was president.   Put that on the resume.

This term "anti-government"

 Been meaning to do this post for awhile.  When the SPLC and the ADL list someone or a group (usually conservatives) as "anti-government" or "anti-government extremists" you're supposed to go OMG No! but the phrase itself is not automatically good or bad.  In order to be pro-government you have to have a government worth supporting.  If you oppose the governments of say North Korea or Putin's Russia nobody says that's a bad thing.  A libertarian supports limited government.   Only an anarchist is opposed to all government.  Most of us just pay our taxes and follow the law.  To be 100% pro-the government you're probably a fan of statism which is really worship of the State.  Most of us criticize government from time to time.  Property taxes are too high too many regulations whatever.  I think this term "anti-government" is used most often by aggressive defenders of the status quo. It is designed to intimidate you into not criticizing the government or the State TOO MUCH.  If you or your group wind up on the SPLC and ADL lists your political philosophy is automatically assumed to be bad and people are supposed to avoid you.  They mix you in with the Nazis and the skinheads when maybe all you wanna do is eliminate the federal income tax.  I always say as usual do your own research and have a nice day.

Is being over-informed a good thing?

 A lot of old people watch the news all day.  Had an uncle watched the news at 5 a fire in Brooklyn.  Then he watched the news at 6 the same fire in Brooklyn.   OK so now you're extremely well-informed now go watch a movie.  Old people also big on the weather.  I don't have to look at my weather app anymore.  A customer tells me what it's gonna be.

Being overly or extremely well-informed also means absorbing through a kind of unconscious osmosis the biases of the mainstream press.  Watched the PBS Newshour last night.  Story about "Rising Hate."  They had on an "expert" from the Southern Poverty Law Center who tied it all into MAGA and Trump's cabinet picks.  RFK Jr. might be a little quirky but he's a hater?  The SPLC is a lot like the ADL.  They hate conservatives and conservative groups.  No counterpoint on the Newshour of course. 

Maybe I'll rename myself the Grouchy Blogger.

The Trump legal bundle is being dismissed

 As in have a nice day.  DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith says let's move on.  No community service in Yonkers when he leaves.  Nothing.  Meanwhile Trump has said he will impose massive tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on Day One.  A lot on his plate on Day One.  Securing the border, deporting the illegals, tariffs.  So who's coming in from the North anyway?  The illegal French?  Canadian drug cartels?  It's so much bloviating.  I think Day One will be more like settle in, move the furniture around and have a cold one.

A Room With A Liberal View

 Lots of people wondering how "The View" has been on the air for 30 years.  Basically a bunch of liberal chicks sitting around a table with one token conservative.   Sometimes they start yelling.  I thought "The View" was supposed to be a light and frothy show.  Instead you get Whoopi Goldberg's anti-Trump meltdowns.  The other one Sunny Hostin who I never heard of before says uneducated women voted for Trump meaning they never went to college.  So wait a minute your WHOLE education up to but not including college doesn't count?  Then she says racism and misogyny also were big factors that got Trump in.  The price of pet food had nothing to do with it?

Word on the street is "The View" might be on the chopping block along with Morning Joe.  Elon Musk might buy everything that's not nailed down.  Maybe buy Yonkers who knows?

Wondering how long this is gonna take

 The Senate has A LOT of Trump nominees to go through.  The Gaetz thing - for me it wasn't the sexual rumors just that every time I saw a newsclip of him he was being combative.  Temper issues.  Reminds me of the neighborhood hothead.  Someone's dog craps on his lawn and they have to call the police.  I think RFK Jr. will be the most controversial.   Maybe Tulsi Gabbard.  The ones like Dr. Oz unless he went to a Diddy party should breeze right on through.

Political junkies

 Perpetually pissed off about politics.  They may not be able to unclog a toilet but politics is the subject they know best.  Most people might know their local representatives but the political junkie knows every Congressman and Senator in all 50 states and their respective scandals.  It's hard to keep up to speed with them.  "What do you think of Mr. Pepperidge's nomination to be Assistant Secretary of the sub-Interior?"  Who?  My late aunt God rest her soul passed away a few years back from a cancer.  Politically conservative they say she argued politics with her liberal son-in-law right up 'til the end.  Dunno.  I'd be pondering my mortality.

When I came back from my 3 year blogging hiatus I had to google Tulsi Gabbard.  I'm always a little behind the curve and a day or two late on today's news.  Gotta take care of the feral cats.  Half of my YouTube search history is about health problems.  Rearranging my finances.  Puttering around the house.  I'm busy.

What's up with the political junkies?  Like a bunch of angry nerds.

Pre-inaugural bloviating

 Prediction -- There will be no mass deportation of non-criminal illegal aliens not unless Trump doesn't mind people paying $40 for a head of lettuce.  Meanwhile Morning Joe and Mika are catching flack for meeting up with Trump at Mar-A-Lago.  The Left doesn't like don't hate - participate.  Trump told them he wants to work with Democrats.  Damned if you do damned if you don't.   Wondering any illegal help at Mar-A-Lago?

The media are in denial about their own relevance anymore

 They couldn't even influence the election.  They relied heavily on the fake polling industry to show a neck and neck race to motivate people to vote for Harris but Rasmussen were the only ones predicting a Trump landslide and if you notice they never quoted the Rasmussen numbers.  The American voters have spoken.  The media doesn't respect landslides or the will of the people.  You can give The New York Times and The Washington Post to people for free and many are not gonna read it.  Good for lining a birdcage or wrapping fish.  Now Trump's Cabinet picks are no good.  Expect four more years of a negative drumbeat from the msm.  Meanwhile the rest of us have moved on.

The great MAGA betrayal

 So about Trump's cabinet picks I'm hearing this and I'm hearing that.  Bunch of rabid war hawks being nominated going against all the MAGA principles.  Others not happy about Marco Rubio being tapped as Secretary of State.  I'm hearing that Matt Gaetz is the least likely to get confirmed and it has nothing to do with the edge of seventeen sex allegations.  Everyone on board 110% pro-Israel of course.  Huck even opposes a Palestinian state.  Gabbard is in there.  RFK Jr. ready to run wild.  A FOX News host running Defense?

We have aways to go before the Inauguration.   Normally this is boring and dry stuff for me.  I'm not a political junkie but Trump's cabinet picks are generating quite a bit of discussion.  There is even some talk of MAGA protesting Trump.  Me?  I just live my life and feed the cats.

The question is Diddy do it?

 The trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs is set for May 5th of next year in Manhattan.  Diddy is charged with racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution.  Other charges can be added.  If convicted Diddy faces life in prison.

The feds have 100 electronic devices of his they got from his LA mansion and Miami estate and are currently trying to extract data.  We're talking terabytes of information here!  Maybe Bill Gates can help.  He is currently in a federal lockup in Brooklyn and a bail package seems unlikely.

He ain't livin' right.  The saga of 50 Shades of Diddy continues.

RFK Jr. hit the honey pot

 RFK Jr. tapped to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.  A powerful post which oversees the CDC and the FDA.  Cross-pollination or people who were once in Big Pharma now working for the FDA a big issue for Kennedy.  Also don't expect any massively expedited vaccines on the market without long-range safety data first.  Operation Warp Speed belongs on Star Trek.  Dunno about the raw milk.

An interesting and eclectic Cabinet.

When did loyalty become such a dirty word?

 Trump filling up his Cabinet posts quick.  The msm is spinning everything he does in a negative light saying he's packing his Cabinet with fierce loyalists.  When I was growing up the word "loyalty" had more positive connotations.  Loyalty used to be considered a virtue.  A dog is loyal to its owner.  A wife or husband is loyal to their spouse.  A worker is loyal to their company and doesn't sell trade secrets.  I could use a few fierce loyalists in my own life.

BTW where is the Bobby slot?

A welcome oasis away from TDS

 

Might be a good time to showcase some of my photography.  I don't have any cryptids though.

Cranberry Lake Preserve.  West Harrison, New York. 

The existential meltdown continues

 I have actually read in some online forums about people who have broken down emotionally and mentally over the Trump victory and have to be counseled.  I kid you not.  Now let's remember Trump also won the popular vote and his victory was big enough you could call it a mandate.  The legacy media is pretty much dead at this point as they're not as influential as they thought they'd be.  People are gravitating more towards alternative independent media like Joe Rogan and not even giving a passing thought to what the New York Times has to say these days.  Ole Gray Lady hubris.

Whither this blog?  Start any post even mildly favorable to Trump and there's threadshitting.   I don't plan on this place becoming a dumping ground or landfill for Trump hatred over the next four years.  Criticism yes but there's a fine line between that and unhinged, valid takes and deranged rhetoric.  I'm also seeing a lack of critical thinking skills like Trump wants every Latino person who voted for him to leave the country.  That's just low-effort shitposting.  Another one people who haven't gone to college don't know how to vote that's just plain intellectual snobbery.  You know some calculus and some Nietzsche that makes you special?  Saw a bumper sticker once that said "Without Truckers America Stops."

Word of advice to the Democrats:  Next time leave Taylor Swift out of it.

Trump's war on women continues with his selection of a woman to be his Chief of Staff

 Little known Susan Summerall Wiles or Susie Wiles for short.  Was Trump's campaign manager.  67-year old grandma and daughter of the late American football player and broadcaster Pat Summerall.  Back in the day involved in Reagan and Florida politics.

The New Republic.  I used to read this when it was just a mag in Barnes and Noble.  Kind of a liberal version of National Review I would read it on occasion.  With Michael Kinsley as editor I found it a tolerable read.  He's gone on to other things and now it's just straight up deranged political commentary basically untreated TDS.  Reminds me of the scene in Easy Rider when they drop acid in the cemetery.  

Is Trump gonna find a role for Snoop?

Is Pfizer working on a pill for TDS yet?

 You can find people melting down over the Trump victory all over the Internet.  It's entertaining to watch tbh but truthfully if these people keep this up over the next four years their health is going to suffer.

Joe Scarborough and Al Sharpton talking racial smack over at MSNBC saying black men didn't want a woman for president.  Now there's two sober analysts.  Thought - Maybe black men don't like the price of food like the rest of us.

America's mental health crisis continues.

My take on the Trump victory

 Kamala Harris should never have been the Democratic candidate.  Exit polling showed most voters had concerns about the cost of living and the economy.  The incumbency or in this case part of the incumbency doesn't normally win with that kind of data.  The Democrats should have gone with someone outside the WH and surprised there was no real discussion of this apparently between the time Biden dropped out of thr race and the start of the DNC.  They may have still lost with another candidate but their chances would have been at least slightly better imo.

There will be the liberal wailing and gnashing of teeth over the next four years.  Also Trump will be dealing with a hostile media on a daily basis led by the New York Times.  As my friend said let the man do his job and finish the work he started.  IF he had won the last time against Biden he'd be nearing the end of his second term right now and liberals and the Left could finally get on with their lives or at least be free of the TDS episodes and suffering.  Instead this is what you got deal with it.  You're out of tune with the American people.

Today is Election Day

 

Watching election integrity like a hawk.  Top issue for many voters.  I think this election has brought out a lot of weird anxiety and stress in people.  It's hard to not become too emotionally invested in this but half the country is going to wake up upset tomorrow morning assuming they don't resolve this by 11:00 tonight.  Whatever the outcome if it's close the next president does not have a mandate.  Some talk of a Trump landslide although most polls don't reflect that.  

Take it easy.

MAHA vs. The Raspberry Zinger

 Sounds like a Japanese monster movie.

The Jr. influence.  Trump has promised if elected to stop fluoride from being put into our nation's water supply.  I really don't have an issue with that.  Why was it put in in the first place?  I drink a fair amount of tap water and still had a tooth decay on me.  People point to scientific consensus.  Bear in mind though scientific consensus was once in favor of lobotomies and electroshock therapy.   Just sayin' consensus sometimes evolves and isn't etched in granite.  Don't know if RFK Jr. plans to ban fluoride from toothpaste though and we may have to all switch over to Tom's of Maine.  I kind of prefer to not get cavities.

Lots of pro-abortion ads on the TV.  There might be some people out there who are ok with paying higher food prices for the next four years so long as they can arrange for an abortion.  Talking about the Harris voters.  Worked in a library once and the older secretary told me that back in the day people didn't even like to use the word "abortion."  Had a negative connotation.  Now it's like hey abortion.  They say nobody is really for feticide though.  People just do it a lot it seems.

Election Eve.  Just rambling:)

The media's last-ditch effort to influence the election

 Jeff Bezos has warned a Trump victory would mean the death of corporate media.  Some people feel the polling is a little sketchy.  I'm no data scientist but I'm seeing my poll is better than your poll.  Saw some Rasmussen interpretation last night that there's some indicators Trump could win in a landslide.  Another analysis - Harris needs her entire blue wall to win.  If Trump chips away at that it's over.

The last thing the msm came up with, I mean after the Liz Cheney thing was Trump simulated a sex act on a mic at a rally in Milwaukee on Friday night.  This was only after his mic wouldn't work right for a whole hour.  Sometimes people get punch drunk from stress or overwork.  I'm sure you've dealt with them.   You go to work and someone's acting a little too zany.  Drudge ran with the headline though with a short clip on X.  Is Drudge still around?

The legacy media.  Where do we go from here?

Liz Cheney's Ahab-like obsession with Trump

 It's existential at this point.  Does she do anything else with her time?  It's like her sole mission in life now is to STOP TRUMP.

When stupid things are said always reach for the most hyperbolic explanations first.  It makes for good political theater.  Technically Trump said nothing about Liz Cheney facing a firing squad for treason.  He was talking about her being a war hawk, an armchair warrior who would not hesitate to put our boys into harm's way.  She's out of office now anyway.  The best thing that could happen to Trump right now is a good case of laryngitis.   Her rhetoric is no better saying this is how dictators destroy free nations.  There could be any number of nutjobs out there right now who could take her words quite literally.  Maybe that's what some on the Left want.  She could've just called him a dumbass and left it at that.  Incidentally in the eyes of the Left when did the Cheneys become less than evil?  Dick Cheney's Halliburton and missing WMD days is more like an original Batman episode, dated but watchable but now the Left has moved on.

We're in the home stretch.  If Trump loses Liz Cheney will have accomplished her mission and hopefully find another purpose in life.  If he wins it will be another four more long and agonizing years for her and the Left.  Pop a Prozac.

Back in the day we called them stray cats then the breed became romanticized

 

Sometimes alley cats.  Now they're referred to simply as ferals.  Stylistic changes in the language over the years.  I'm always a step or two behind.  Actually cat groups, cat people or the cat industry have come up with official more technical definitions for each.  I don't inquire I simply help when I can.

This is Charlie who I've blogged about before.  Neighborhood tom who now allows me to pet him.  Comes around fairly regular.  All my cats are fixed so there's no shenanigans going on.  Incidentally Google always corrects it to Tom like that's his name.  Clean cat for a feral.  I think the neighborhood people look after him.  Dead rats and mice fairly regular sight around here.  Cats doing their job.  Unfixed toms have a big face.  Mr, Galaxy calls it a face mask to help protect them during cat fights.  Stay out of trouble Charlie.

Tip:  Pulled chicken which you can get at many supermarkets these days share it with the cats.

The POTUS - a crabby nasty man. Grouch. Worse than a curmudgeon.

 I watched the newsclip a few times and Biden does appear to call Trump supporters garbage.  This was in response of course to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's comments at the recent Trump MSG rally where he called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage."  If you do a bit of a deep dive into this you can make a fair case Hinchcliffe was making an environmental joke that was miscast as a racist joke.  PR has a serious problem with overflowing landfills.  Most people probably don't know this.  I didn't know this.  Some comedians make obscure allusions as if they're common knowledge.  It absolutely should not have been said however which leads us to Trump's press conference from a garbage truck.  There's still time for him to drive a Mister Softee and hand out cones to the kids.

Biden is bitter he was cast aside but it was best for the country.  He could pass away at a UN General Assembly meeting say.  He's a Weekend At Bernie's thing waiting to happen.  Quick get the body double!  Conspiracy theorists think they're around.  Uncle Joe.  Obama fancies himself some elder statesman, an elegant commentator who has to give his Cliffs Notes views on everything.  In his younger days he could have been an underwear model smiling back at you from a package of Hanes.  I hear Whoopie Goldberg had some kind of meltdown.  I have to look that one up.

I'm not bored;)

Ethnic humor doesn't fly anymore

 The NYT has studied Trump's campaign speeches and says they have grown harsher and darker.  Trump throws in a penis joke to lighten the mood and there's a bee in everyone's bonnet.  Ethnic humor -- You might be able to get away with a few Irish jokes but the better comedians have moved on.  Back in the day on his radio show Stern used to say A LOT of racial things.  Didn't stop Kamala from talking with him though.  Just watched the 12 minute clip of comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump's recent MSG rally and a small portion was devoted to what you would call racial humor.  Yes cringe - groan.  Times change.  Every once in a while you need to open up the window and look outside.  Jon Stewart defended him as a roast comedian who once roasted Tom Brady.  My take calling PR a floating island of garbage is rough even by ethnic humor standards.  Having said that it doesn't affect the race in the least imho.  On the other hand the Left's claim that Trump has it on his bucket list to be an aging Hitler now that's HILARIOUS.  A tyrant for life with dementia.  ROFL!!!

Play to your base but govern from the center

 

Ever wonder why Trump is campaigning as such a right-wing hardass?  Many people are making the mistake that he's an aspiring dictator or fascist.  However there were no mass deportations of illegals in his first term and there won't be any in a Trump second term.  Play your base like a fiddle then when in office govern more pragmatically.  In a second term he can do what he wants but doesn't have to answer to his base anymore since there's no third term for presidents.  Least that's the way I see it.

Escape from politics

 

Where do I sleep?

The Joe Rogan Prolonged Experience

 Did some checking.  Trump on Rogan clocked it at 2 hours and 58 minutes.   The Godfather was 2 hours and 55 minutes.  Both epics.  Now there's pressure building on Kamala to go on like JRE is some type of requirement.   Her CNN Town Hall with Anderson Cooper didn't go too well what has she got to lose?

Dems gloomy all of a sudden like resigning themselves to a Trump second term and getting ready to point fingers.  The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times have failed to make endorsements.  Kamala vague on her economic plans just that she loves the middle-class and everyone needs more money.  Where did all the joy go?

Trump has the gift of gab.  Kamala always looks like she just took a pill and the side effects are starting to kick in.

Dunno.

Kamala Harris playing the Nazi card

 Quick recap - Trump's former Chief of Staff John Kelly said in interviews with The Atlantic and The New York Times that Trump fits the definition of a fascist and prefers the dictator approach to government.   He also claims Trump admired the loyalty of Hitler's generals and that Trump said Hitler also did some good things.  Kelly is coming out with this kinda late almost like an October Surprise.

Harris on X:  "Donald Trump is out for unchecked power.  He wants a military like Adolf Hitler had, who will be loyal to him, not our Constitution."  Also @Kamala HQ:  "Trump said he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler had.  He wants a military that is not loyal to the Constitution, but loyal to him...This is a window into who Donald Trump really is from the people who know him best."

My sober analysis (it's still early in the evening).  All these allegations are not in the realm of established fact but the msm is treating it as such.  How do you fact-check hearsay?  It's possible it's true.  It's possible it's not true.  It's also possible there's some missing context or grayscale.  Harris playing the Hitler card doesn't help people pay the mortgage or the rent or put food on the table.  So far it's an academic discussion that may not sway the undecideds.  She's looking to seal the deal on this.  Throw some pasta against the wall and it might stick (old chef showed me that).  It's a lazy approach imo.

I don't know if everybody's going mental or what's going on

 

Lost Sparky last night.  Had to be at least 16 years old.  Probably old kidneys.  Last couple days not really eating but drinking lots of water.  Mainly sleeping and using the litter box. He hung out on the patio last night.  Nice night.  Clear sky rather balmy with a good moon.  Took an old bath rug from the bathroom and sprinkled a good dose of catnip on it to relax him.  Woke up this morning and he hadn't moved from his sleeping position when I went to bed.  After a few minutes knew he was gone.  Sad but kind of expected it the last couple of weeks.  He didn't seem to suffer much.  Grateful for that.  Family as they say.  Always a part of me.

Called my sister early this morning to see if she had a box for me to put him in to bury him in the backyard by an old rose bush.  As luck would have it have today off.  While sitting in the lounge chair with my first cup of coffee waiting for her to get back to me the home health aide had GMA on.  The very FIRST story, the TOP story was Trump's former Chief of Staff John Kelly saying he thinks if Trump gets elected to a second term he'll become a Hitler.  First off we don't have the political system for aspiring dictators.  How in hell is that even supposed to happen?  So much for dialing down the political rhetoric in the wake of the two recent attempts on Trump's life.  Has Pfizer or somebody made a pill for TDS yet?

So now I'm down from six cats to five.  Unless Elon Musk gives me some grant money I'm gonna stick with the five for now.  Don't know about the media.  They wouldn't be trying to influence the election would they?

Is McDonald's now a swing state?

 Media giving this maybe more attention than it deserves.  As we all know Donald Trump worked the fry station at a Philadelphia-area McDonald's over the weekend and held a kind of impromptu news conference through the drive-thru.  He has called into question Kamala Harris work history saying there's no evidence she worked at a McDonald's during summer break while attending Howard University.  Media giving this LOTS of attention calling to task his lies and baseless claims once again.  On a scale of 1 to 10 it hardly registers with me.  It's really not that important.  Everyone knows Trump talks out of his ass.  Maybe what we should be asking is was RFK Jr. okay with his stint at McDonald's???  He took Jr. on board to make America healthy again.  Is Jr. pissed?  I mean Trump could have put the produce away at a Whole Foods or something.  Does Bobby feel used in any way?

I like McDonald's btw.  Kamala Harris and Trump both like McDonald's.  The media taking this way too seriously imo.  Bobby probably confused at this point.

The ghost of Arnold Palmer was appalled by Trump's crude remarks

 It's hard to find decent coverage of the elections these days at least in my curated newsfeeds.  Heavily anti-Trump it's almost as if they're trying to influence the election.  Ya think?  Trump can't serve fries at McDonald's without a negative spin.  No longer objective news that pretense has been long abandoned with the rise of MAGA.  We're engaged in trivialities in these final days.  Kamala Harris has time for Stern but not the Al Smith dinner.  Did she have a souffle in the oven?  Bill Maher is gibbering about this and that.  He's kind of lost me.  The whole election thing is like a bad dream.  What does any of this have to do with the price of Fancy Feast?

To prognosticate or not to prognosticate

 Normally I would not prognosticate a presidential election this close but I will although not with supreme confidence as there will be millions of Americans default voting against Trump.  It will come down to the economy as it usually does.  Harris can point to this or that positive economic indicator but what people are paying for groceries is still too high.  Too many people still remember the Trump pre-pandemic economy when a trip to the supermarket was more normal.  This remains an albatross for Kamala Harris.  People also have been paying too much at the pump although I went to the station the other day and the cost took a remarkable dip.  What a coincidence!  Most voters are not academics and don't intellectualize that presidents don't really control the price of oil.  It was the Biden/Harris Administration during this time.  Correlation in the public mind and that's usually enough.  That the polling is still this close shows the defects in Trump's personality have had a negligible impact.  Disposable income trumps Trump you could say.  I want more disposable income to buy cigars.  To the undecideds Harris might be different than Biden but why take the chance?  If you vote wrong that's a long four years.  Trendy issues like climate change and trans issues those are more issues for the Left imo not bread and butter for most folk.  Abortion could have a significant but overall limited impact since people's views run the gamut.  It's the economy stupid.

Trump wins.  Not by a landslide but he comes out on top when the dust settles.  My somewhat shaky prognostication.

Last Tango In Yonkers

 Yonkers, NY.  Also known as The City of Gracious Living and the Sixth Borough of NYC.  Lots of movies filmed in Yonkers.  I may need to get out more as I haven't heard of most of these:

Who Made Tony Soprano, A Journal for Jordan, Halston, The Irishman (my friend told me about this one), Cruise, Ben Is Back, Breakable You, The Book of Henry, The Drowning, Chuck, Paterson, Meadowland, Freeheld, Get Ready for Ricki, The Adderall Diaries, Still Alice, Presto......I did see Freedomland (2006) though as I remember them filming here.  Starring Samuel L. Jackson they filmed parts in the Mulford Gardens Housing Project which was torn down years ago to make room for nicer townhouse style low-income housing.  Lots of TV shows filmed in the Big YO as well.  Not up on most of them either. 

Don't know if this has anything to do with the City of Yonkers' obsession with mow your front grass and keep your sidewalks clean at all times as the movie scouts may be driving through.  BTW the Yonkers property tax.  You're killing me.

50 Shades Of Diddy

 Not a whole lot to report on the culture front.  Actor Robert De Niro thinks Trump won't relinquish power if elected to a second term.  He needs to reacquaint himself with our system of government first.  84-year old actor Al Pacino now has a 1-year old son.  Don't play too rough and give Dad a hernia.  The T. Swift/Travis Kelce romance.  Pop star Sabrina Carpenter getting competition from upstart Chappell Roan.  I was driving to work this morning, stopped off and sent in my mail-in ballot for Trump/Vance then on the radio they were talking about the sad and tragic death of 31-year old One Direction member Liam Payne who jumped or fell from his room in a Buenos Aires hotel.  TMZ facing backlash over pics they posted of his. The Al Smith Dinner tonight.  Trump came but Kamala Harris didn't.  She sent in a pre-recorded video instead.  Who does this?  NY Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan disappointed.

Got anything? 

Trump is pretty fly for a white guy Part 2

 Apparently there's an issue with not enough black men who are automatically going to vote for the Harris/Walz ticket.  Heresies and blasphemies!  Obama has admonished them and now Kamala Harris has promised $20K in forgivable government loans for 1 million minorities to start businesses.  Harris also wants to legalize pot not an uncommon position but is also looking at it from a business potential angle.  I recently took out two loans through my union but nothing in the fine print about not having to pay them back.  On the pot front my neighbors are big potheads.  I'll be enjoying my fine Navy Flake MacBaren's pipe tobacco on my front porch and the smell of pot is always wafting over from the porch next door.  Modern-day Americana.  Norman Rockwell with a modern flair.  

So too many black folk have a nostalgia for the Trump first-term pre-pandemic economy.  Even the Trump loathing media admits the price of groceries was lower back then.  Black voters thinking out of the box.  A problem for the Dems.

Medical records I'd like to see

 Kamala Harris has released her medical records to goad Trump into releasing his.  Trump's physician said he is in excellent overall health.  Remember this is a man who once underwent a colonoscopy without anesthesia.  Kamala - Trump health nothing to see here.  RFK Jr.'s medical file might be interesting though.  Here is a man who once said worms ate part of his brain.  Sounds like a House episode.  Also and we don't know this for a fact but there is a good chance he has eaten roadkill sometime during his life.  He says you can get some sort of license for this.  Guess he keeps it in his wallet.  Is it laminated?  How often do you renew it and what is the fee?  He's driving home along the parkway somebody hits a deer and he's automatically thinking of the best recipe for venison.  His voice.  I don't know if he's given an official medical reason for this but people are curious.   The Jr. health file might be a treasure trove of medical esoterica.  A real rabbit hole.

Michael Moore is a freak

 Left-wing documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has urged Biden being a lame duck president to sign off on some far-left action items with the stroke of a pen.  Point 1 Joe Biden has always been a moderate-liberal Democrat his whole political career.  Point 2 Kamala is putting off progressives for now to appeal to the more centrist middle-class.  Point 3 Biden probably wouldn't know what he's signing anyway.  Moore should instead compete in a doughnut eating contest with Chris Christie.  Meanwhile Obama who fancies himself some sort of elder statesman is advising black men to not stray off the Democratic plantation and to vote for Harris/Walz.  I don't know about you but I've had enough of this election cycle.

If Trump wins on Nov. 5

 It would have been better off if he had won the last time around against Joe Biden.  He would have been nearing the end of his full presidency by now and the era of MAGA would be coming to an end.  We could all be talking about other subjects.  The trend lately has been to give most recent presidents two terms.  Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama.  This is why at the time I thought the American people would reelect Trump.  This gives the president the opportunity to finish the work he started  and gives his foreign policy a certain stability.  World leaders are used to dealing with him.  Instead we got Sleepy Joe.  IF Trump wins now there's talk of riots.  Why I don't know.  If he had won against Biden we wouldn't be going through this.  I make no case that the election was bad just that the American voters should have reelected him the last time for practical reasons.  Not voting for him this time because his personality has reached a critical mass for me.  Other conservative bloggers have said this is not the way to go but to each his own.

This was a tentative blogpost of mine since if Kamala Harris wins on Nov. 5 this thread will have little to no value.  However if I'm reading the polls right she just might come out on the losing end.  IF Trump wins but the election is close he clearly has no mandate and will govern a divided country.

The feral cat that liked people but hated his own kind

 

Many years back.  Would come around come in the house and sit on my father's lap while they were watching Judge Judy.  Loved people but hated other cats.  I don't recall him meeting another cat and liking him or at least tolerating him.  He felt the whole property belonged to him.  Did he pay the mortgage?  We named him Smokey.  He always had some sort of digestive problem and eventually passed away.  We never took him to the vet because of his anti-social attitude towards the other cats but took care of him as best we could.

A quick tip regarding cat rescues.  Another cat was trapped up a neighbor's tree once for a couple of days.  Maybe chased up there by a stray dog.  Called the Yonkers Fire Department and explained the situation to the lady.  She said just open up a can of cat food and leave it at the bottom of the tree and he'll eventually come down.   Nope.  I guess fire departments don't do cat rescues anymore.  At a loss I said to Dad I have an idea.  I got their big comforter from upstairs and we went next door into our neighbor's yard and we stretched out the blanket good and wide and held it right there underneath where the cat was sitting on a branch and we gradually coaxed him to fall into the blanket like a trampoline.  He was slightly bloodied from being scratched by some twigs on his way down but not the worse for wear.  We never officially adopted him but named him Lucky.  Would've been a nice YouTube video but nobody was around to record it.

From the Cat Diaries.

Hurricane season is upon us but debate season is over

 As we all know during a recent campaign stop in Wisconsin Trump called Kamala Harris mentally disabled from birth while talking about the Biden/Harris approach to dealing with illegal immigration.  He didn't say she lost her critical thinking skills but said what he said and took it to another level.  Conservatives have memory-holed this since they're default voting for Trump anyway.  A debate with a mentally disabled person should be a cakewalk for him.  Why wouldn't he go for it?

Trump may well win.  The polls show a clear horse race but if he loses the political autopsy of MAGA won't be hard to figure.

I got 99 problems but 'gators in the floodwaters ain't one of them

 There's always people worse off than you.  Back to back monsters Helene and Milton.  Hurricane Milton wreaked absolute havoc as it made landfall late Wednesday knocking out power to millions of Floridians as expected and spawned at least 150 twisters!  At least four deaths.  Tampa wasn't hit straight on by the Category 3 system though.  The fabric roof of the stadium used by the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg was completely ripped off.  Rather than be a Captain Google you can just surf the rest of the details.

I can't wait for the politics of this.  Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Trump.  Gotta put a spin on everything.

Our thoughts, hearts and prayers;)

The only problem is Woodward isn't a trash writer

 I'd sooner trust him than Tom Selleck trying to sell me a reverse mortgage.  Woodward's new book War - According to the book Trump and Putin had at least seven private calls since Trump left office.  Also Trump allegedly sent Putin Covid-19 test machines during the peak of the pandemic when there was a shortage.  Trump calls Woodward "a storyteller who has lost his marbles",

POT - KETTLE - BLACK

Steven Cheung Trump's communications director said Woodward's book is "the work of a truly demented and deranged man" who suffers from TDS.  Did he make up Watergate too?

There's other stuff in the book.  Lindsey Graham calls visiting Mar-a-Lago like visiting N. Korea everybody has to clap when Trump enters the room.  Biden's complicated relationship with Netanyahu and his angry tirades over the Israel/Hamas War yada Yada.

I'm no fan of the media by any stretch but it ain't Maury Povich writing.

The Democrats and their hurricane-making machines

 Latest conspiracy theory being peddled by Marjorie Taylor Greene.  I'm beginning to think she might be a left-wing plant to make conservatives look bad.  The Democrats can't even make health care affordable for most Americans how are they gonna control the weather?

On to Trump.  The New York Times is taking his latest campaign rambles and rants, lies and misinformation very seriously indeed but they're missing something big time here.  Let me illustrate with an anecdote.  Back in the day we lived close to an older couple.  The elderly husband eventually developed Alzheimer's.  The wife asked my sister for a favor if she could just take him out and walk him around the block.  Nice day and a group of black guys hangin' on the corner.  As my sister and her ward got closer he started using the N-word.  Why this even came out in an Alzheimer's state is itself an interesting question.  I mean why not "look at the pink elephant"?  Anyway he was like "look at the (N-words)" etc. etc. They were naturally getting a little upset, just a tad mind you until my sister explained to them he had Alzheimer's.  They completely understood and let it go.  Last time my sister took him out for a walk btw.  Now my point about the Ole Gray Lady and the mainstream media in general.  IMO Trump has some cognitive issues.  Something is off.  Don't think it's weed.  Might be pre-Alzheimer's, dementia or something else.  DO NOT treat Trump's pronouncements and latest utterances as you would a normal person.  You don't fact-check some old guy in a nursing home say who's rambling on about when are the elves gonna bring in his food.  You let it ride but that's the problem with the msm they're missing the bigger picture.

Having said that I don't know what the problem with MTG is.

Why doesn't Oprah fund Planned Parenthood?

 Planned Parenthood is not a self-reliant organization.  They suck heavily from the teat of government.   I mention this because I see on my newsfeed that Vance said Trump would take a chainsaw to PP if elected.  Oh the humanity!  Nobody is saying PP would cease to exist however and it's almost as if the headlines are conflating the two.  St. Jude doesn't suck from the teat of government but relies heavily on private donations.  But PP is a public health group you say.  OK but a mainstay of their business is performing abortions.  Abortion is arguably the taking of a human life etc.  Maybe Taylor Swift can run the whole operation.  Not understanding why it's axiomatic and morally obligatory for taxpayers to fund them in the first place.  Just my view.

Cap'n Crunch causes cancer?

 RFK Jr. is making all kinds of claims about the food we eat.  This seems to have caught fire in conservative media which is usually wary of the potential for a nanny state.  Apparently the federal government is still after him for cutting the head off a dead whale back in the day.  Isn't there some kind of statute of limitations for whale head cutting?  Actress Cheryl Hines is reportedly looking to divorce him over an alleged affair he had.  Maybe it has more to do with the lack of junk food in the house.  Personally I will risk cancer for a chocolate Twinkie.  Meanwhile Melania Trump wrote some book and disagrees with her husband over abortion.  Couldn't this wait until after the election?  Hasn't she ever heard of put it in the 'fridge it'll keep?  Melania your husband is trying to run a campaign.  At least I think he's trying to run a campaign.  Raspberry Zingers are to die for.  Is that to be taken literally?

House ferals - Misty

 Went from squirrel meat to Fancy Feast.  We began putting collars on them.  Always preferred the breakaway kind in case the cat gets snagged on something.  They always lose them.  The engraving on the tag isn't cheap either.  Misty was a favorite of the toms in the neighborhood until my sister finally took her to the vet.  No trapping involved.  Misty would make herself right at home in a nook of the house and simply put the critter in the carrier is our strategy.  Some vets now offer 3 year rabies shots but you have to ask for them.  All vets are big on gums and teeth.  They ALWAYS check out the mouth and usually recommend dental work which can run well over $1,000 in some cases.  Not saying they're wrong but most folk probably can't afford it.  Don't have pet insurance but it's worth considering.  My folks were in a pet food store once.  Another older couple shopping for their cat.  The wife was very finicky about what to get.  The old guy grumbled you don't even care about my dinner like that.  It's a cat thing you wouldn't understand.

Fact-checking the fact-checkers

 I've always felt the so-called fact-checkers come to the conclusions they want to come to.  A lot of people know the fact-checkers are biased.  They always seem to be helping the liberal cause if you notice.  Confirmation bias.  One of my issues is the sheer speed with which they come to some of their conclusions.  Let's say a Bigfoot was spotted in Central Park.  Less than a day goes by and Snopes will authoritatively pronounce it false.  Yes a ridiculous example for levity's sake but as usual don't take their word for anything.   Do your own research.  If your conclusions dovetail with those of the fact-checkers all well and good.  If you feel as Joe Rogan does that they're full of shit that's fine too as you've probably done more homework than them anyway.

When it comes to hard objective news the msm is great.  The horrible human tragedy of Hurricane Helene they can be relied upon for giving you the most basic facts of the situation.  Our hearts and prayers.  Other stuff however the social and the political area I find myself gravitating more towards independent media.  Sure Russell Brand is big on clickbait but you get more on your plate.  Everybody's biased but you're a grown adult you can figure it out.  You don't need everything handheld for you by the fact-checkers and the strained puree of data they give you.

Have a good day.  Don't be lazy.  Do your homework. 

Does your vet need to know Shakespeare?

 Does your gastroenterologist need to know calculus?  How many existentialists does it take to change a light bulb?  You do not need to be a well-rounded individual unless you're Chris Christie.  Many conservatives like Charlie Kirk are now making the case that you do not need a liberal arts college education to get ahead in life.  Worked under a young and talented chef back in the day.  He had a little higher education under his belt but he preferred to dive into the labor market at an early age.  You learn by doing.  Teach kids how to make money.  I vastly recommend trade schools over college unless college is your thing.  I'll never forget the tour our chef friend took us on at the famed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park New York.  Young people zeroing in on their passion that's what it's all about.  In France our chef friend said chefs are practically revered.  He also said if you're a chef you'll never be out of a job.  College graduates on the other hand often have trouble landing their dream job right away.  Paying back student loans another current issue although the CIA costs a pretty penny too.

College.  What a racket.