Archives for November 2020

Monday November 30, 2020

Election Day -27

50 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

I keep remembering this fact. I’m walking around, doing something unrelated and then it comes up in my mind again. I can’t shake it.

Inauguration is January 20^th; Donald Trump was told on January 28^th 2020 how deadly the virus was. 

In other words eight days short of a year since we know for a fact that Satan knew about the deadliness of the virus. 

A Whole Year.

A whole year and what have we as a nation done to fight this virus? 

Where is the leadership?

How hard would it have been to …

That’s the sad thing.

It would have taken next to no effort to …

Face reality?

How sad is that?

I know. More excuses.

And I suspect that the new administration will be blocked and fought all the way.

I hope I’m wrong, but there is no evidence to suggest that the Republicans in power are interested in solving problems this country is facing. 

They seem to all be living in that alternate universe.

It’s sad. It’s pathetic. And, it’s dangerous.

Dangerous to us in the real world.

Okay onto the real world:

Elise Jordan asked, “When is it going to end?” (I’ll address that a bit lower down in this screed, but it is safe to say we are near the end of the election and in the middle of the fascist plan to rule this country. More below.)

Satan spent $3M to have votes recounted in Democratic counties in Wisconsin, because well there obviously had to be fraud. Donnie picked up 45 votes in one county and Biden got that plus 87 more in another county. So Biden netted 87 more votes. That works out to $375,000 per vote that Satan paid to give Joe those extra votes. Now the pres is saying it wasn’t about the vote count, but the illegal votes cast. Herein lies a real danger.

With the three judge panel rejecting Trump’s case, his attorneys could ask for the whole court in the Federal court in PA to hear the case. After that gets rejected he could take it to the Supreme Court where he can hope to have them overturn the election. It is in the realm of possibilities. Stay tuned. Stay strong.

Pennsylvania had another case filed by a Republican, which also got thrown out. This was filed by Representation Mike Kelly who thought that the Mail-In Ballots were unconstitutional because of the no-excuse clause. The case lacked “due diligence” according to the rejection, and the no-excuse clause had been on the books for some time, Like over a year. Therefore, it seemed odd that all of a sudden he was interested.

Then we get to the interesting problem Republicans find themselves in. They are caught between their rhetoric and reality. There are at least three different cases here:

One – is Satan’s claiming the election was rigged and unfair.

Two – is they’re saying they are for not spending money and the shrinking the debt when they have spent more than any administration in history and put us further and further in debt.

Three –  they are already bitching about Biden’s picks for cabinet positions and what are they going to say after the gems they approved for Satan?

Let’s start with the election. After 2016 the president was so concerned about the rigged election he appointed a guy to head up CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency). The result was that no threat came, or they were all thwarted. One way they did this was to have paper ballots. This may come as a shock to some people, but if you have paper ballots you can go back and count them again, and compare that to what the machines counted. (That is provided you don’t have punch out hanging chad ballots like they did in Florida, which gave the election to W.)

It turned out the counts agreed. Gee. Where’s the fraud?

CISA increased the use of paper ballots from somewhere in the 80 percent range to 95%. This prevented states like Georgia from using only the machine count and then wiping the machines so they couldn’t be audited in the 2018 governor’s race. In fact, Georgia became a model for a fair untampered election this year. The Secretary of State, a life long Republican, was rewarded by attack tweets from Satan and death threats from others. Chris Krebs the man heading CISA was fired for doing his job. 

So Republicans now need to choose, “Do they want free and fair elections or do they want them rigged so they can win?” 

The debt is another problem for the Republicans. They rail against the debt when they are not in power and spend like drunken sailors when they are. They have no room to talk.

Point Three – They are already gearing up to not block some of Biden’s picks for cabinet positions. The one they really want to target is Neera Tanden who is CEO of The Center for American Progress. We’ve been part of an event on diabetes with that organization. No wonder Republicans don’t like her; she does stuff! Stuff that helps people (oh the gall.) She’s worked with the Clintons and Obama and she considered a liberal. But worst of all, she speaks her mind. Apparently, she has out-tweeted Satan (87,000 to 51,000) and – this is stunning – Republicans can find something they don’t like about her in those tweets! Progressives too! (Remember she worked for the Clintons? OMG!) 

This is a strong woman who stands up for herself and others. The spineless Republicans (that is repetitious because as far as I can tell they are all spineless) don’t like her. OMG. I am shocked. Shocked I tell you. 

Meanwhile the Republicans continue to deny the election results, refuse to wear masks, and have the largest outbreaks of Covid. Weird huh? 

Ice T’s father-in-law is Steve “Stone Cold” Austin. He was a big time no-masker. That apparently changed when he got Covid and was laid up in the hospital for a month struggling to breath. Lying in one place for a month, at night he could hear people crying out in pain. Some did not make it. He did, but he’s on oxygen now. His body felt like it was being stabbed with needles all over. He lost 30 pounds. His lungs are permanently scarred. He’s a believer now.

Republicans and you have a choice – listen and learn. Or not.

Be like Steve? Or learn from his experience.

Your choice, your life.

But for the sake of the rest of us. Wear a mask. Not for you, but for the rest of us. Did I say that already? Oh. Good.

Hey, it could be your good deed for the day, every day! Just sayin’ 

PS Dead Santa, Hung Santa, Santa is open! Pass him the ball! Santa’s driveway B-ball court.

“A Darling Misfit CHRISTMAS”

A review.

If you want a new holiday album, this is it.

Kat Robishaud’s “A Darling Misfit CHRISTMAS” has tunes on it that could become classics – for sure. 

The first three songs: “Cheer Up, It’s Christmas,” “Quiet Christmas Night,” and “Merry Christmas, My Love” are bouncy sing-a-long classics with an uptempo slightly rock feel to them.

Then we get to what makes Kat – well Kat. “The Gremlin Song” I’m listening and getting breakfast ready and I say to myself, “Did she just say the F word?” Likewise, with Christmas Miracle it’s like one of those upbeat downer songs. He ( she has Brendan Getzell sing the lead here ) sings about his Christmas and how he’s upbeat while everything in his life goes wrong.

But … but the coup d’etat (or is it piece d’resistance?) is her “The Star Wars Holiday Special.” Kat has a Broadway voice and it comes out her in full bloom. I could see this becoming the center of a Christmas Special. She and Mr. Getzell team up in a delightful musical vocal back and forth wherein Kat describes a lost Star Wars Christmas Special Show. I won’t tell you much about it except Chewbacca has a family and they miss him very much because he’s busy smuggling across the galaxy. And and why haven’t we heard about this show? George Lucas hates it. “He does? Why?” asks Getzell. “He knows what he did,” responds Kat. (Or words akin to that.)

Listen if Broadway can make a musical about Jagged Little Pill certainly Kat can do her Star Wars Holliday Special.

Several of the songs are repeated on the album with the note in parens “(clean version)” and one has “(radio edit),” which is another way to say the same thing.

Kat has a delightful sense of the stage and it comes out in her cover tableau picture. It’s a perfect still painting like representation of a modern Christmas (circa mid Twentieth Century ?) There’s the Christmas tree, the plum pudding, wrapping paper and implements, a record player with record. Kat is seated on the floor holding a festive glass of punch (or is it pudding?) She has one leg sticking out showing off her red tights and plaid slippers. Her hair is pure white done up in two side buns. She is staring out directly at the camera – porcelain doll like. Wait, why is she wearing a bra outside the red top?

“It’s fashion, Rick.” She told me. 

And there’s a gold death skull at the base of the tree and a white alien head hanging, Is that a winged gremlin? 

Wait til you open the cover and see the pic inside.

https://www.katrobichaud.com/store

I recommend the album, which you can order from her on-line store.

I would also recommend her “Misfit Cabaret” album and her album “The Design,” which she made almost a decade ago. 

In her photo is that album the Harry Belafonte or Michael Jackson Christmas album on the floor? So much to unpack – still.

• Wait. Maybe that was their best? OMG. That’s pathetic.

Sunday November 29, 2020

Election Day -26

51 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

I ask this question because if the case that just got thrown out of a Pennsylvania court is an example of the president’s best case I have to say, “Well, Golly Gee.”

Here’s an excerpt:

“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”

The three judge panel noted that the allegations and grievances amounted to “nothing more” than allegations that poll watcher were restricted and that mail-in ballots were allowed to be fixed by the voter for technical defects. 

Surprisingly, the judges did not mention that the poll watchers bitched about a woman not wearing a name tag and therefore said all the ballots she was inspecting should be thrown out. Likewise, they didn’t mention how some poll watcher seemed bent on intimidating those counting the ballots. Nor did they mention the poll watcher who wanted all the folded ballots thrown out. You know, the ballot that had to be folded to fit in an envelope. Why? Because they were folded.

Here’s another excerpt:

“The Campaign tries to repackage these state-law claims as unconstitutional discrimination. Yet its allegations are vague and conclusory,”

Huh. I guess if you rant and flap about that isn’t enough?

Wait, there’s more:

“It never alleges that anyone treated the Trump campaign or Trump votes worse than it treated the Biden campaign or Biden votes.”

The court went on to say that the Campaign’s claims have no merit. No Merit. Wow. Is that like, I dunno, making stuff up? Yeah. I think so.

The court also pointed out that :

“The number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000-vote margin of victory. And it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters,”

The lawyer for Satan tweeted:

“The activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania continues to cover up the allegations of massive fraud,”

However, it should be pointed out that all the lawyers were appointed by Republican presidents: 2 by W, and one by Satan.

The judges went through each claim and rejected it. Point by point they rejected whatever was claimed. 

Apparently, the judges thought it necessary to point out some FACTS and TRUTHS to these lawyers, who seemed to not know some basics. The judges wrote:

“Voters, not lawyers, choose the President. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections,”

Huh? Who knew?

The judges went on:

“The ballots here are governed by Pennsylvania election law. No federal law requires poll watchers or specifies where they must live or how close they may stand when votes are counted. Nor does federal law govern whether to count ballots with minor state-law defects or let voters cure those defects.

“Those are all issues of state law, not ones that we can hear. And earlier lawsuits have rejected those claims. Seeking to turn those state-law claims into federal ones, the Campaign claims discrimination. But its alchemy cannot transmute lead into gold.”

Ouch.

PS In the recount in Wisconsin that Satan paid for it was discovered that Joe Biden picked up votes. Way to Go Joe! 

PPS https://www.djtrumplibrary.com

PPPS Amusé Bouche – That’s French for “Amuse the Mouth.” In other words, “make it one bite.” Here, master chef Shelby has taken plantains, cooked them then smashed them into mini-muffin cups and baked them. Once baked she adds fresh tomato, avocado, orange pepper, and onion. Drizzled with olive oil. Fabulous. She described them as “Enjoy it because I’m never making these GD things again.”

Saturday November 28, 2020

Election Day -25

52 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

John the Baptist showed the way for Jesus*.

The four hundred Greek mercenaries caught in the middle of the Persian Empire and fought their way out showed that the empire could be defeated. The Tea Party showed what exactly? 

Depending on how and when you look at the Tea Party you can draw different conclusions. It certainly showed that a mass of pissed off people could effect the political outcome in this country. It also showed how a movement could be co-opted. In their case by rich and powerful interests who used it and those people to further their agenda.

*John did say someone would come after me, but let’s not forget their were lots of fellows wandering around the Levant saying they had “good news,” and that news was stand up to the Roman Empire. The Romans treated all of them the same. They rounded up the lead guy and his followers and killed them, typically by crucifixion. A little trick they learned from the Persians.

We can ask ourselves how will Satan be viewed in the future by history? Is he the harbinger of things to come or the culmination of something? 

One could argue that Reagan and George H. W. Bush began the slide downward of the middle class and the attack on our democracy and its people. This led to W and to Satan and the continuation of the rich becoming richer and more powerful. When the gap between rich and poor increases the chance for democracy and fairness lessens. This is a clear throughout history. 

Let me put it another way with a different headline:

THE RIGHT LOVES SOCIALISM except when it doesn’t apply to them.

Bankers love to get bailed out by the government.

Oil men love to get tax write offs.

Corporation like to have loop holes so they pay no taxes.

Farmers like grain subsidies.

These are all forms of the government giving money to particular groups. That’s called socialism. 

One of the stunning statistics I heard an economist mention was that the money spent on propping up our economy through the pandemic was enough to give every family (maybe it was individual) $25,000.00. Think about that. How do you think giving people a bunch of cash would have helped the economy? Okay, too much too fast would have caused prices to shoot up and people would have gone crazy. But what if the government had slowly doled out that money over the months? Socialism! For the poor, that’s no good. Give it to the rich and the bankers. Let them pay their stable boys and rebuy stock, that will help the economy. Yeah, right. How many times does Charlie Brown have to attempt to kick the football?

John Dillinger was asked why he robbed banks. He replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”

If you look at the amount of financial resources the rich have and the amount the rest of us have there isn’t much of a comparison. Essentially they have it all. We would be better off if this were not the case. The question is what to do about it? I like the idea of taxing based on the value of all your assets. Two percent was suggested in the last presidential campaign cycle. While some boo-hooed the idea don’t forget that is the standard fee bankers and money managers charge annually to manage your money.

The other advantage it has is that it would eliminate the game played by the rich and corporations of moving assets off shore to avoid taxes. This would mean that if there was no benefit to keeping money stashed in the Caymans or Ireland that it would come back here. 

One person said I didn’t talk about what I had for a Thanksgiving meal and that I was too absorbed by one of my topics – nrop (it’s spelled backwards.) This is not true. I did show a picture of our appetizer – the phyllo dough stuffed with brie cheese and honey topped with almond slivers. But to answer the question – TURKEY. We had turkey with a honey glaze on it. The vegetable side was the new dish. It was a Brussel sprout leaf, garlic, and pistachio pan fried dish. Delicious.

But if I haven’t mentioned this before, and I don’t think I have, but I thought of it. If the president should pardon anybody I suggest Ron Jeremy. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Oh and remember the monolith found in the Utah desert? My friend Kathy, who lives in Seattle sent me this note:

Years ago that monolith was found on a small island in a small lake just blocks from my house.

Later it was found on the top of kite hill at Magnuson park.  Then it disappeared.

So there you have it.

PS The Brussel Sprout leaf, garlic and pistachio pan fry.

Two vids for encouragement and uplift (and to show how I can waste time on click-bait):

https://talentrecap.com/watch-10-year-old-earns-sofia-vergaras-first-ever-golden-buzzer-on-agt/

https://talentrecap.com/the-most-watched-audition-on-agt-2020-by-far-is-an-11-year-old-with-a-very-unique-talent-and-personality/

Friday November 27, 2020

Election Day -24

53 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

The above headline has nothing to do with anything. I just saw it as I was getting ready to write and, well, it is Black Friday so why not? This raises the question of how is your fairy Garden growing? (Doing?)

Went to the grocery store this morning. No one was there. The help outnumbered me by a lot.

Okay, so, I was going to tell you why the Thanksgiving screed got delayed in posting. Well, this is my excuse. 

Shelby was in the middle of beginning the preparations for our Thanksgiving Day meal. I had just finished my walk and was getting ready to take a shower when we got a message that we were going to do a Zoom call with the kids in a few minutes. The call began we had just finished catching up and looking at the cutest grand baby in the world when the doorbell rang.

I went to the door to discover a WAWA bag on our Welcome mat. The young woman who delivered it was walking toward her car. I knew it wasn’t for us. As she got into her car I waved and yelled, but to no avail. She drove off. I brought the bag inside. It contained a 20 oz Coke bottle (cold) and a turkey meal (hot). The meal had two plastic containers: one appeared to be turkey and one appeared to be dressing. The bag had a small order slip stuck to it with tape and the WAWA bag was marked “Door Dash” and had a the name Na Lee on it. Otherwise there was nothing to tell us whom it belonged to.

As soon as we hung up with the kids I called WAWA. They said to call Door Dash. The nice man with the Indian accent didn’t even want to take the information down. He said he had no way to tracking it. Either I could keep it or throw it out.

I looked up The last name on facebook and decided the woman in Singapore did not order it. Nor did I think the thirty or so people in Vietnam and South East Asia had ordered it. There were two folks with that name in Virginia, but they were up in the Washington DC area. We posted on the neighborhood website – nothing.

I thought about the folks in the other sub-division who had the same house number as we do and with whom I have become friendly delivering mail we get for them. Maybe there’s another house in our development with the same number?

Oh yes said Shelby I think we have gotten mail for them and they live on the road behind us, and they have an Asian name.

The kid got in the car and drove over there. Rang the doorbell. I heard a loud voice yelling “Mom!” 

Moments later a young Asian woman opened the door. I held up the bag. Told her what happened. She said thanks for walking it over. She said she didn’t have time to cook as she was getting ready to go into work. She was also trying to stay behind the door as it seemed she had just gotten out of the shower.

Who goes to work in the late afternoon? I had to think she was a nurse or front line worker of some kind.

I’m glad we were able to solve the mystery. 

If I had written this up and posted it yesterday I would have said my good deed for the day was done.

However, because I didn’t and that counted as yesterday’s good deed, there’s still a chance for you.

Happy Black Friday! 

PS Spotted on the road the day before Thanksgiving! A Ford Falcon. My brother says it’s the original year – 1960. This car in its day was considered a piece of shit. I remember Rob’s friend, George Fonde, commenting about a Falcon, saying, “Yeah, 2 speed automatic with a tach.*”

It turns our according to my bro that this is a riff on something Eddie Haskell said on Leave It to Beaver. Eddie said he put a tachometer on his car. When asked what the rpm read he replied he didn’t know because the engine didn’t rev that high to register.

* The Falcon was made with an automatic two speed transmission. The joke here is that you need a tachometer to tell you when the engine is revving high and thus time to shift gears. That makes sense if you have a manual transmission but not an automatic because an automatic transmission will shift gears on its own. Therefore the tach is not needed. Get it? (Ha ha ha ha) No? Oh sorry. Go back to “*” and read again. 

This reminds me of what I really wanted to write about. This is a boffo idea and shows the importance of having lots of stuff (or ideas) lying around. 

Let’s start in the middle with an interview with Joe Buck. He’s a well known sportscaster who calls both baseball and football games. In March when things had dried up he did a fishing tournament, which he said was a terrible experience. The fish weren’t biting. The fishermen had on mics and earpieces and didn’t turn them on or muted them. Joe didn’t know much about fishing. It was ninety minutes of torture – live.

The other opportunity, which he turned down, was to announce for a porn channel. He was asked to sit at his desk, watch folks going at it and announce the play by play. I thought about that. I tried to imagine what he would have to say. I thought about baseball references. The size of the guy’s bat,  the bases stolen or taken. Two balls deep in the count – home run! 

I realized that after a few minutes of this it would be repetitious because porn, unlike sports, the outcome is pretty well known. So are the formations and plays. Then I thought about my boffo idea, which has been stolen before with auto GPS systems. My idea was to have different voices for your GPS system. I like the idea of having Chris Rock yell directions at me, others like Batman or Samuel L. Jackson. Then the GPS folks started doing it.

Do you see the opportunity here? Yes, have different actors narrate the porn. 

Brilliant.

I’ll leave it there.

PS Christmas preparations (not mine. Someone in the neighborhood.) Or maybe a fairy garden. You be the judge.