Trump's people are falling left and right. Almost all right. Okay, all right. His family is dropping out or being pushed out as well. Or maybe they think they've milked this cow for all its worth and its time to look else ware. Mr. Trump doesn't see it that way, but who can say about his family. There was a time when a president could count on his family to stay out of the limelight except when, on que, they stood by his side.
Well all except "Billy Beer" Carter and a few others. But not as many as Trump family members who actually think they can run America's interests around the world. And do it without a security clearance. Speaking of which, why do you suppose his son-in-law can't get one? Is it because he owes foreign governments or their leaders, more money then even his father-in-law claims to have?
Why, Junior thought he could go on a business trip only and give a speech on behalf of Daddy until he got stopped in his tracks and had to make a decision- business or statesmanship. So he worked on his business skills. But he'll do well in business. After all if you're doing your Daddy's business and Daddy's telling you what to do and say, and Daddy's a billionaire, how can you miss.
That's not to say that junior isn't a really smart fella, its just that he hasn't shown it yet. Maybe he's waiting until Daddy goes into a home that will feed him pabulum and wipe the drool off his chin and maybe even give him a crew cut. I don't think mom will visit him there.
But its not just family that's doing a missing in action act. He's had more people quit or been fired in one year than any other president. And the thing is, more than half of the appointment positions haven't been filled yet. He's losing them faster than he's appointing them. But it may not be surprising not to have most of those positions filled. After all, qualified professionals are unlikely to want the jobs.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Private Conversations.
Ya know President Trump is the kind of guy I would like to sit down and have a cold one with. Well all except all his bragging. And his appointing his family to high positions even though they can't get a security clearance. And then there's that firing of Comey and nearly firing his Attorney general. And what about badmouthing the NSA, CIA and almost any other agency that might find out about Russian friendships and a ton of other nonsense.
Other than those things, it might be fun to talk to a president over a couple of beers. After all, how many people get to talk things over with the Donald? So lets see, what could we talk about? Well, no matter what I ask about, I'd hear how bad Russia investigation is and what a waste of time. So sad And then its his turn and he a asks me how large I think the inaugural speech crowd was, which was the largest in history.
Then the conversation turns to current topics. He says he's got Kim by the short hair and Kim's afraid of me. I think I'll shoot down his next rocket. It'll be okay because he's afraid of me. So I ask about Israel. Ya know, they love me over there, they love me. And Netanyahu is completely innocent of all this fake news and he loves me and he'll be exonerated of any wrong doing. And by the way, Obama really screwed up Between Obamacare and the Iran deal, they hate America, but I'm gonna fix that. They're gonna love us.
Well, except for all that fertilizer, I think it'd be .... Well not so great as you'd think.
Other than those things, it might be fun to talk to a president over a couple of beers. After all, how many people get to talk things over with the Donald? So lets see, what could we talk about? Well, no matter what I ask about, I'd hear how bad Russia investigation is and what a waste of time. So sad And then its his turn and he a asks me how large I think the inaugural speech crowd was, which was the largest in history.
Then the conversation turns to current topics. He says he's got Kim by the short hair and Kim's afraid of me. I think I'll shoot down his next rocket. It'll be okay because he's afraid of me. So I ask about Israel. Ya know, they love me over there, they love me. And Netanyahu is completely innocent of all this fake news and he loves me and he'll be exonerated of any wrong doing. And by the way, Obama really screwed up Between Obamacare and the Iran deal, they hate America, but I'm gonna fix that. They're gonna love us.
Well, except for all that fertilizer, I think it'd be .... Well not so great as you'd think.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Inequality Ain't Fair.
Hey guys, do you really understand inequality? An article in the BBC suggests you really don't. Just take a look at the difference between rich income and poor income. Upper income families earn 7 times what the medium-income families earn, and they call a medium -income family as one with $96,500 a year. I can tell you this much, I'm definitely not in a medium income family.
But income doesn't tell the difference between rich and the rest of us. The top 0.1% own 22% of all wealth. The wealthiest 5% of households own 91times as much as the medium households. And the new tax law will increase that imbalance. The bottom 20% in American will get about $40 extra, but the top 20% can count on $5420. And the richest 0.1% will make $61,920. In other words for every dollar you get the 0.1% get $1548. Which would you rather have?
Inequality is a fact of nature. There has always been and will always be inequality. Just not so much. This country can't continue down this path. By 2025 that 0.1% will get $152,200 while we still get $40. Does that seem fair to you? That's the reason for the "Tax the rich" grumbling. It's the only way to stop the imbalance.
The rich do not share their wealth with us. They never will unless they are required to. Why should they? They're comfortable, if you're not, its your fault. But not necessarily. They may be smarter than you, or they parents were. That doesn't make them more deserving. At least not that much more deserving.
But income doesn't tell the difference between rich and the rest of us. The top 0.1% own 22% of all wealth. The wealthiest 5% of households own 91times as much as the medium households. And the new tax law will increase that imbalance. The bottom 20% in American will get about $40 extra, but the top 20% can count on $5420. And the richest 0.1% will make $61,920. In other words for every dollar you get the 0.1% get $1548. Which would you rather have?
Inequality is a fact of nature. There has always been and will always be inequality. Just not so much. This country can't continue down this path. By 2025 that 0.1% will get $152,200 while we still get $40. Does that seem fair to you? That's the reason for the "Tax the rich" grumbling. It's the only way to stop the imbalance.
The rich do not share their wealth with us. They never will unless they are required to. Why should they? They're comfortable, if you're not, its your fault. But not necessarily. They may be smarter than you, or they parents were. That doesn't make them more deserving. At least not that much more deserving.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Semi-Automatic Zip Tied.
Hey folks. A local church is having a blessing of semi-automatic rifles. And since it's close to an elementary school, the students will be bussed that day to another building 17 miles away. Don't even ask. I'm not gonna tell you how to get there. But isn't that great? You should ask your pastor or priest to bless your semi-automatic rifles sometime. I'll bet he or she'll be proud to do so.
This church that's doing the blessing is the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, aka Sanctuary Church, and the preacher doing the blessing is Rev. Hyung Jin Moon. Rev Moon is the son of Sun Hyung Moon, founder of the Unification Church in the 1950s. As I recall, it caused a bit of a stir back then.
But stir isn't the right word for this silliness. Do we really need to have our guns blessed? If that's the case then lets take it a step further. We should bless all the nuclear weapons in the world. Now the Unification church assures that all rifles will be unloaded and have a zip tie for safety sake. But pastor Moon refers to himself as the "Second King and anointed heir to the True Father."
Rev. Moon has "called his followers to arm themselves to defend their families, their community and the Nation Of Cheon Il Guk." All this according to the Scranton Times Tribune newspaper. As I said, we need to bless all the atomic bombs and missiles. Not sure what good that would do, but hey, why not do it.
Now if any schools are located near any nukes, they can bus the children to a safe location about 500 miles away and lets hope its not too close to another bomb. Its called religious freedom and there will be police invited to oversee the whole blessed thing. And I'm serious about blessing all the nukes. If we can't send them all to North Korea then at least put a Zip Tie on all of them. Maybe a Zip Tie on all the leaders who seem to be looking for a fight too.
This church that's doing the blessing is the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, aka Sanctuary Church, and the preacher doing the blessing is Rev. Hyung Jin Moon. Rev Moon is the son of Sun Hyung Moon, founder of the Unification Church in the 1950s. As I recall, it caused a bit of a stir back then.
But stir isn't the right word for this silliness. Do we really need to have our guns blessed? If that's the case then lets take it a step further. We should bless all the nuclear weapons in the world. Now the Unification church assures that all rifles will be unloaded and have a zip tie for safety sake. But pastor Moon refers to himself as the "Second King and anointed heir to the True Father."
Rev. Moon has "called his followers to arm themselves to defend their families, their community and the Nation Of Cheon Il Guk." All this according to the Scranton Times Tribune newspaper. As I said, we need to bless all the atomic bombs and missiles. Not sure what good that would do, but hey, why not do it.
Now if any schools are located near any nukes, they can bus the children to a safe location about 500 miles away and lets hope its not too close to another bomb. Its called religious freedom and there will be police invited to oversee the whole blessed thing. And I'm serious about blessing all the nukes. If we can't send them all to North Korea then at least put a Zip Tie on all of them. Maybe a Zip Tie on all the leaders who seem to be looking for a fight too.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Arm Who or is it whom?
Arm teachers? What a dumb idea. I don't want my grandchildren's teacher leaving the room, leaving my grandchildren alone with no adult in the room so he/she can go confront the shooter. A shooter who is most likely armed with a machinegun type assault rifle, with only a handgun. It's a dumb idea, folks.
Its so dumb an idea that only Republicans who bow to the wishes of the NRA, would agree to. And a pay bump for these sacrificial lambs? Who's gonna pay for that? You are, and me. Any way you slice it, we're gonna pay for some teacher to be one of the first ones shot, leaving my, and your, children or grandchildren without a teacher to help protect them in their classroom.
Who thought this dumb idea up? I think it was the NRA, but I'm not sure. But they and the Republicans jumped on the idea. Lets face it, Republicans never liked the idea of public education. They want only private schooling, for those who can afford it.
Maybe a better idea would be to hire a squad of combat veterans for every school building. That would set them back a pretty penny, wouldn't it. Ye see, the only solutions that the NRA and the Republicans can come up with exclude firearms controls, age requirements, and the like.
I tell ya, they're full of dumb Ideas. Ideas that even their own constituents don't want. And they're against ideas that even their own party rank and file want. It's just plain and simple dumb.
Its so dumb an idea that only Republicans who bow to the wishes of the NRA, would agree to. And a pay bump for these sacrificial lambs? Who's gonna pay for that? You are, and me. Any way you slice it, we're gonna pay for some teacher to be one of the first ones shot, leaving my, and your, children or grandchildren without a teacher to help protect them in their classroom.
Who thought this dumb idea up? I think it was the NRA, but I'm not sure. But they and the Republicans jumped on the idea. Lets face it, Republicans never liked the idea of public education. They want only private schooling, for those who can afford it.
Maybe a better idea would be to hire a squad of combat veterans for every school building. That would set them back a pretty penny, wouldn't it. Ye see, the only solutions that the NRA and the Republicans can come up with exclude firearms controls, age requirements, and the like.
I tell ya, they're full of dumb Ideas. Ideas that even their own constituents don't want. And they're against ideas that even their own party rank and file want. It's just plain and simple dumb.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Professionals Can't Be Wrong.
Not everybody knew this, but for some considerable time, James Buchanan was considered to be the worst president in American history. Columnist Gail Collins tracked down a poll given only to political scientists and the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section, you know, people who know about such things.
The second worst was William Henry Harrison. Now, I have to admit, I never met either one of these gentlemen. Mainly because they served more than a century ago, which puts them before my time. But they must have been pretty bad presidents. I mean, how bad must you be to be the worst ever? Harrison only served one month for goodness sakes.
Well anyway, the new poll apparently has come out and both have been able to rise in their standing by one place, to next to last and third to last. Their fans and family must be pleased with this advance. According to Ms. Collins there have been other changes to the rankings. Bill Clinton has fallen out of the top ten to 13 and Barack Obama is in the top ten of the best presidents we've ever had.
So! So Gail, I hope she doesn't mind my calling her by her first name, wrote this opinion without ever mentioning the new last place entry. She leaves several hints, well actually more then several and one somewhat more than a hint. Still you've got to wonder, or maybe not. For some it may be an easy call, for others, well lets say they have yet to see the light. But the pros have seen it and they're not impressed.
The second worst was William Henry Harrison. Now, I have to admit, I never met either one of these gentlemen. Mainly because they served more than a century ago, which puts them before my time. But they must have been pretty bad presidents. I mean, how bad must you be to be the worst ever? Harrison only served one month for goodness sakes.
Well anyway, the new poll apparently has come out and both have been able to rise in their standing by one place, to next to last and third to last. Their fans and family must be pleased with this advance. According to Ms. Collins there have been other changes to the rankings. Bill Clinton has fallen out of the top ten to 13 and Barack Obama is in the top ten of the best presidents we've ever had.
So! So Gail, I hope she doesn't mind my calling her by her first name, wrote this opinion without ever mentioning the new last place entry. She leaves several hints, well actually more then several and one somewhat more than a hint. Still you've got to wonder, or maybe not. For some it may be an easy call, for others, well lets say they have yet to see the light. But the pros have seen it and they're not impressed.
Friday, February 16, 2018
No Arrows Either.
"Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Yeah, we've all heard that one many times. The thing is though, if people didn't have semi-automatic assault rifles, maybe fewer people would kill fewer people. That would be an improvement, wouldn't it? There are numerous ideas that would help cut back on the killings we keep seeing. Maybe the NRA has some good ideas. And there certainly are many other groups that could make smart suggestions.
One group that could make great suggestions and make them into laws, is the U.S. Congress. Now don't you think they could make some great suggestions and pass them into laws? Well why aren't they doing something about it. At least research the problem in an honest way and come up with sound legislation that they all could vote yes on.
Oh come on now. I shouldn't be so silly. Congress isn't going to pass any legislation that would in any way harm the sale of guns. After all the gun manufacturers lobby wouldn't go along with that. And the NRA would explode any chance of reelection of any legislators who would vote for any such legislation. Why would the NRA fight legislation that would harm sales of military style rifles? After all isn't the NRA a sportsmen's organization? And nobody uses such rifles for sports, like hunting, right? Then what's the problem with making it harder to convert semi-automatic to automatic?
It all has to do with profits. Plain and simple, it's all about money in the pockets of the gun manufacturers and the NRA. Ya see, the NRA gets too much of its money from the makers of semi-automatic guns. The NRA is not about to cut it's own financial throat just to do the right thing. Maybe we need to eliminate the sale of bullets. After all, guns aren't nearly as dangerous if they aren't loaded.
One group that could make great suggestions and make them into laws, is the U.S. Congress. Now don't you think they could make some great suggestions and pass them into laws? Well why aren't they doing something about it. At least research the problem in an honest way and come up with sound legislation that they all could vote yes on.
Oh come on now. I shouldn't be so silly. Congress isn't going to pass any legislation that would in any way harm the sale of guns. After all the gun manufacturers lobby wouldn't go along with that. And the NRA would explode any chance of reelection of any legislators who would vote for any such legislation. Why would the NRA fight legislation that would harm sales of military style rifles? After all isn't the NRA a sportsmen's organization? And nobody uses such rifles for sports, like hunting, right? Then what's the problem with making it harder to convert semi-automatic to automatic?
It all has to do with profits. Plain and simple, it's all about money in the pockets of the gun manufacturers and the NRA. Ya see, the NRA gets too much of its money from the makers of semi-automatic guns. The NRA is not about to cut it's own financial throat just to do the right thing. Maybe we need to eliminate the sale of bullets. After all, guns aren't nearly as dangerous if they aren't loaded.
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Court-mandering Made Easy.
Pennsylvanians should all know that the State Supreme court instructed the state legislature to redraw all district lines because of the extensive gerrymandering done after the 2010 census. Both houses of the legislature are Republican controlled. To date nothing has been done. They waited for the U.S. Supreme court to overturn the Pa. court. It did not.
Now there are two days left to accomplish the redraw and have the governor sign off on it. Did I mention the governor is a Democrat? Of course if the table was turned we'd be in the same boat. The draw to cheat is so pervasive in most governing bodies, that we can't win. But come Friday, if its not done, the State Supreme Court will do the redrawing. How refreshing.
My hope is that it will teach the legislature a lesson. My fear is that it won't make a lasting impression on them at all. Why not? Because Republicans and Democrats, left to their own devises and control over their own venues can't change. Its not in their DNA to change.
There was a time when the two parties could sit down and hash out their differences. Most of you aren't old enough to remember that. And someday it will happen again, but not now. It'll take many elections over many years to change out the old tired tribalism for a new nationalism. When politicians will want to work for the betterment of society. What am I saying? Chances are that won't happen, unless we all get involved. So when do you suppose that might be?
In the meantime, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will be setting the boundaries of the districts in this state. I'll bet your state could use some adjustments as well. Whatta you think?
Now there are two days left to accomplish the redraw and have the governor sign off on it. Did I mention the governor is a Democrat? Of course if the table was turned we'd be in the same boat. The draw to cheat is so pervasive in most governing bodies, that we can't win. But come Friday, if its not done, the State Supreme Court will do the redrawing. How refreshing.
My hope is that it will teach the legislature a lesson. My fear is that it won't make a lasting impression on them at all. Why not? Because Republicans and Democrats, left to their own devises and control over their own venues can't change. Its not in their DNA to change.
There was a time when the two parties could sit down and hash out their differences. Most of you aren't old enough to remember that. And someday it will happen again, but not now. It'll take many elections over many years to change out the old tired tribalism for a new nationalism. When politicians will want to work for the betterment of society. What am I saying? Chances are that won't happen, unless we all get involved. So when do you suppose that might be?
In the meantime, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will be setting the boundaries of the districts in this state. I'll bet your state could use some adjustments as well. Whatta you think?
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