TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME

 

Whenever I have some non-complimentary things to say about Donald, several of my relatives accuse me of having Trump Derangement Syndrome, that Wikipedia defines as thus:

 Trump derangement syndrome (TDS) is a pejorative term, used to describe criticism of or negative reactions to President Donald Trump that are perceived to be irrational and to have little regard for Trump's actual policy positions. The term has mainly been used by Trump supporters to discredit criticism of him, as a way of re-framing the discussion by suggesting that his opponents are incapable of accurately perceiving the world. Some journalists have used the term to call for restraint when judging Trump's statements and actions.

Despite the usage of the term syndrome suggesting a medical condition, TDS is not an official medical diagnosis. A 2021 research study found no evidence to support the existence of TDS among Trump detractors on the left, but instead found bias among his supporters.

 I would like to follow up on the last sentence, and posit the following:

    There are two distinct types of TDS, one that can be labeled TDS-RL for Trump Derangement Syndrome-Radical Left, and a second one labeled TDS-RR for Trump Derangement Syndrome-Radical Right. 

I believe that TDS-RL was a primary reason that Trump won the 2024 Presidential Election.  The Democrats bought into the idea that attacking Trump as the pernicious, narcissistic, misogynistic, felon, faux-Christian, sexual predator con-man that he is would surely convince voters to support Harris.  Obviously this failed.  Voters wanted clear statements on the border, illegal immigration, the economy, on men in women's sports, etc., and they got Harris saying that she couldn't think of anything that she would have done differently during the previous four years.

Similarly, I believe that TDS-RR was also a signficant reason that Trump won.  The avid Trump supporters, who are akin to a cult, support Trump regardless of whatever outlandish lies he tells.  The main thing that they care about is "Trump owning the libs" via his rhetoric, even though his policies are most likely going to have an adverse effect on many of his supporters [excepting of course his buddy billionaires]. Too bad these folks didn't actually read Project 2025.

MY CANDIDATE

 

MY CANDIDATE

Was not born into a family whose considerable wealth was obtained primarily by real estate profiteering

Was not sent by an excessively stern father to a military boarding school for children of the wealthy

Attended a highly selective university, and does not make the false claim of “graduating number one in my class” without ever being on any honor roll

Does not aggressively hide SAT scores and grades

Did not receive 4 draft deferments, and then after medical examination being declared fit for service, mysteriously develop bone spurs, receiving a 1-Y and then a 4-F total exemption from serving

Did not claim that his greatest contribution to the war effort in Vietnam was “not getting a sexually transmitted disease” for which he claimed to deserve the Congressional Medal of Honor

Did not get “a small loan of a million dollars” [actually $14 million] from his dad to get started in the real estate business

Never stated "I do play with the bankruptcy laws—they're very good for me” nor used bankruptcy court six times to avoid paying contractors, small businesses, bank creditors, and stock and bond holders

Did not have to pay a settlement of $25 million for making false claims and defrauding students

Did not violate state charitable fund-raising laws, resulting in a cease and desist order and distribution of remaining funds

Was not named in a lawsuit, along with Jeffrey Epstein, for repeatedly raping a 13 year old

Never bragged that one could “Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Has not been accused by at least 25 women of sexual misconduct

Has not paid porn stars and other prostitutes hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep quiet

Is not a serial adulterer who has been unfaithful to each of his three wives

Knows that there are approximately 60,000 Corinthians, and that there are two letters in the Bible dictated by Paul and written by amanuensis Sosthenes to the ancient Corinthians

Has asked God for forgiveness

Respects and supports our allies, and does not praise and support dictatorial adversaries

Has not had any close associates and advisors prosecuted and sent to prison

Does not demand fealty from everyone in his domain and expelling everyone considered disloyal

Does not promote conspiracy theories and false narratives

Does not refuse to release IRS tax forms

Does not mock disabled persons

Does not mock families whose sons have died in service to the USA

Does not mock and bully anyone who happens to have a different perspective or opinion

Does not display classic characteristics of severe narcissistic disorder

Does not live in an alternative reality that is unencumbered by facts and science

Does not listen to only sycophants, ass-kissers and power-hungry self-promoters

Does not claim that he is above the law

Does not claim credit for successes that are not his and blame others for his failures

Does not view the Presidency as a personal piggy bank for himself, family and associates

Does not put himself above the law and direct associates to do the same

Understands the importance of a vital and independent Fourth Estate

Understands why the flu vaccine does not protect a person from coronavirus COVID19

Understands that a President is working in the best interests of all in this country, unlike the current POTUS who considers the 53.9% of USAians who did not vote for him the enemy

Understands that bipartisanship, collaboration and compromise are required to address the nation’s pressing needs regarding health care, immigration, the environment, and other major issues

Understands that the Presidency is not a monarchy

Does not play golf

Actually reads

Tells the truth

KICKIN' IT WITH KIZ

Whenever I get an attitude about some stupidity in sports, I will shoot off an email to one of the Denver Post sports writers.  I have been pleasantly surprised that they actually read my rants and often reply.  One of my favorite writers is Mark Kiszla - Kiz is a favorite because he is funny and insightful, but more importantly I generally agree with him!  I've written to him a couple of times, with my latest affirming his rant that Michael Malone, the Denver Nuggets head coach, was wasting the opportunity to let a potential superstar, Michael Porter Jr, play rather than languish on the bench.   On February 29 Kiz wrote some blistering commentary regarding Malone's blindered approach to playing Porter - you can see it all here, but it may require a subscription to access, so I will clip some below:

There are too many apologists for the Nuggets. After the blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, it’s time to get real. Stacked against the toughest competition, you’re left with little reason to believe Denver is a championship-winning team this year. They have the talent, no doubt, but haven’t found the right formula to this point.

G.C., keeping it real

Kiz: Could it be the Nuggets’ starting five needs an overhaul? Although there are matchup exceptions to every rule, this should be the lineup introduced before the game and on the floor at crunch time: Nikola Jokic at center; Jerami Grant at power forward; Michael Porter Jr. at small forward; Will Barton at shooting guard, and Jamal Murray at point guard.

It amazes me Porter can get pulled for making a mistake, but Harris is allowed to continue to shoot – er, throw – balls off the side of the backboard. If the Nuggets want defense, play Torrey Craig. Harris should be sitting on the pine, compass in hand, trying to locate the basket.

Dan, Sarasota, Fla.

Kiz: Harris is last week’s news. The Nuggets have a MPJ problem. If Malone leaves Porter to rot on the bench, maybe Denver can trade him away in 2022 for a future second-round draft choice.

The Nuggets have got a lot of problems, Kiz. Harris is one of them. Paul Millsap is another. But the biggest problem of all is your friend Malone and his loyalty to Harris, Millsap and Craig.

Steven, problem-solver

Kiz: What did Forrest Gump’s momma used to say? Stubborn is as stubborn does. Or something like that.
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So, after the above appeared in the Denver Post, I sent a short email to affirm Kiz' perspective on the MPJ - Malone 'situation.'  Well, the very next game, Malone sat MPJ the entire game!!  So, I sent another email to Kiz saying basically that apparently Malone reads Kiz' column!  Interestingly, Kiz used our brief exchange in his next column:


Looks like Nuggets coach Michael Malone reads your column, Kiz. And he decided to show that sports guy only the coach decides if Michael Porter Jr. gets off the Denver bench.

Douglas, the wily professor

Kiz: After Malone complained about his team’s poor defense, I guess we should’ve seen a DNP coming for Porter in the victory at Charlotte. But let me point out something I bet Porter also duly noted. He scored a team-high 19 points and added eight rebounds during a decisive home victory over the Hornets in January, then plays zero minutes as Denver squeaks by the same team in March? Hey, if Malone wants to make an example out of Porter, that’s his business. But it’s also how a coach can destroy trust with a young player.
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So, henceforth you all may refer to me as The Wily Professor!!

TOO MUCH LIZZO

Disclaimer - I have seen Lizzo only a couple of times on the morning news programs.  She is apparently a popular musician, but I know nothing of her music [of course I know next to nothing about any 21st century pop stars].  She appears to be the physical antithesis of lily white anorexic-looking Taylor Swift, another star whose music is not in my repertoire. But, the point here is not about music, it is about obesity.

 

I mean seriously, does anyone really want to see this? Now I expect to be accused of "fat-shaming" to which I respond, if that's what one chooses to call obesity as a health problem, so be it.  I won't make a long list here, but just Google obese celebrities and obese musicians to get a glimpse of what I am talking about.  Lizzo, her ilk and those who enable, accept and "celebrate" obesity are doing a serious disservice to the public.  Obesity is a harmful health pandemic, and diminishes almost every aspect of health.

Here is the 2018 map of obesity in the US:

All states and territories had obesity rates of greater than 20%, with only Colorado, Hawaii and DC being less than 25%. 

Note the progression of obesity in the map below:

Even more telling is this map, beginning in 1985.  Colorado's obesity rate of today, around 23%, would have made Colorado the most obese state in 1985!!

Although causes of the obesity epidemic are complex and multifactoral, the bottom line is that fat folks consume more calories than they expend - I know this from personal experience!  And sadly, the older one gets, the more difficult it seems to expend calories!! 

There has been a fair amount of buzz lately about "Blue Zones", those areas in the world with long lived healthy people.  Blue Zones has even been commercialized.  My encouragement to anyone who gets around to reading this post is to assess one's weight in relationship to being obese or overweight, set a target weight if you would like to lose some pounds, and then plot a strategy to get to that target.  I am not suggesting that one needs to be skinny, but am suggesting that there are target weights that maximize health.  For those who might say "Well Uncle X was obese, and he lived to be 80", I say, "Well Uncle X might have lived to be 100 if he wasn't obese." 😋

COMMANDER IN CHEAT

 

For a very long time, sportswriter Rick Reilly has made me laugh with his insightful story telling. Reilly has a new book, Commander in Cheat:  How Golf Explains Trump, and the Denver Post ran a column about the book, Trump and his cheating at golf - humorous but also disturbing.  Here is the story:

Rick Reilly to Trump: Let’s golf
Colorado native’s book, “Commander in Cheat,” just released
The Denver Post
7 Apr 2019
By Matt Bonesteel

  Elsa, Getty Images

Sportswriter Rick Reilly has challenged President Trump to a golf match.

We haven’t heard much from sportswriter Rick Reilly since he wrote his last ESPN.COM column in 2014 and last appeared on the network itself in 2016, but he’s been keeping busy, most notably with writing “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump,” which was released last week.

Based on the advance notice and a Golf.com excerpt, the book is about exactly what its title suggests: that Trump’s extremely casual attitude toward the rules of the game are a reflection on his presidency as a whole.

Reilly — a Boulder native who attended the University of Colorado, a onetime Denver Post sportswriter — is making the promotional rounds as the book goes on sale, making a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC. And if there’s one surefire way to sell a book, it’s to challenge the sitting president of the United States to a $100,000 golf match.

“I want to play him,” Reilly said. “I think I’m a 4.5 (handicap). He’s a 2.8. If he plays the 2.8, I’ll play him for 100 grand, (with the money going to) either of our charities. But the rule is, we can’t play his course, we can’t use his cheating caddies and there’s gotta be a rule guy with each of us, and I’ll play him all day.”

“He cheats like a Mafia accountant,” Reilly said. “He cheats crazy, he cheats whether you’re watching or not, he cheats whether you like it or not. He tried to cheat Tiger Woods in a match, Tiger hits it like this, he hits two balls in the water, doesn’t count either and pretends that he almost tied Tiger Woods. So it doesn’t matter whohe is, he has to be the winner.

“What really bothers me is that he told people on the campaign trail ... he said: ‘I’m a winner, you gotta vote for me because I’ve won 18 club championships’ — he says this three or four times — ‘and that’s against the best players in the club.’ But I knew he was lying because he told me how he does it. Whenever he opens a new course that he buys, he plays the first round by himself and calls that the club championship, puts his name on the wall.”

Reilly also said Trump tells his courses to award him the club championship because of a score he shot at an entirely different course, and that he claims club championships when they’re really the senior club championships.

Trump won his latest claimed club championship — his 20th — last year at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., but Golf.com’s Michael Bamberger discovered that it only came about after Trump challenged that year’s actual club champion — Ted Virtue, the CEO of a New York investment firm — to a nine-hole match-play contest, which Trump won and thus declared himself co-champion (though a plaque on his locker lists him as the sole winner).

The president’s oncourse cheating has been well-documented, even before Reilly’s book came out, a notion that has not been dispelled by a number of his famous playing partners:

• Suzann Pettersen, LPGA pro: “He cheats like hell. So I don’t know how he is in business. They say if you cheat at golf, you cheat at business. I’m pretty sure he pays his caddie well, since no matter how far into the woods he hits the ball, it’s in the middle of the fairway when we get there.”

• Actor Samuel L. Jackson, when asked who was the better golfer: “Oh, I am, for sure. I don’t cheat.” Jackson also alleged in 2015 that one of Trump’s golf clubs tries to bill him for membership fees even though he was not a member.

• Alice Cooper, 1970s shock-rocker and noted golf enthusiast: “The worst celebrity golf cheat? I wish I could tell you that. It would be a shocker. I played golf with Donald Trump one time. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Trump, who many admit actually does have some skill as a golfer, has denied just about all of that.

In his 2004 book “Who’s Your Caddy?” Reilly told tales of caddying for the “great, near great, and reprobates of golf.” One of those people (the latter category, one has to assume) was a pre-presidency Donald Trump, a round Reilly was asked about in 2015 by The Post’s Ben Terris.

“Reilly told The Washington Post about an afternoon when Trump wrote down scores he didn’t actually achieve on his scorecard, conceded putts to himself by raking the ball into the hole with his putter rather than striking it properly (‘He rakes like my gardener!’), and even called a gimme — something a player might claim for a two-foot putt — on what should have been a chip shot,” Terris wrote.

“‘He took the world’s first gimme chip-in,’ Reilly said. At one point, Trump, after taking a number of second shots, told Reilly to ‘make sure you write that I play my first ball. You don’t get a second ball in life.’ In life, it may or may not be true that a person gets a second chance; and yet, as Reilly wrote, on holes 1, 13 and 17, Trump did indeed get a second ball.”

Responded Trump, then running for president: “I always thought he was a terrible writer. I absolutely killed him, and he wrote very inaccurately. I would say that he’s a very dishonest writer . ... I never took a gimme chip shot ... I don’t do gimme chip shots. If I asked his approval, that’s not cheating, number one. Number two, I never took one.”

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

I tend to agree with those who say "If you cheat at golf, you will cheat at anything." I don't need to recount all of the ways that Trump is a cheater, but below is the ultimate reason why any discerning voter should not support Trump!!!!

2019 NCAA ACADEMIC BRACKET

I may have missed last year's Academic Bracket, but here is this year's.  Visit this site for the story accompanying the bracket, and fore an image that can be enlarged.

THE APOSTATE'S GREED

 

There was a bit of a kerfuffle a while back at the funeral of President George H.W. Bush.  President Trump and Melania declined to read along with the recitation of the Apostles' Creed while all of the other former Presidents and First Ladies joined in.  I thought it a bit odd at the time, and awaited to see what the responses might be.  I expected the hard-core, evangelical right wingers would be quick to give a pass, and I was not let down.

Franklin Graham compared Trump’s failure to recite the creed (which declares belief in God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit) to his own unwillingness to sing in church.

Robert Jeffress opined "There are times in my own church services when I fail to sing the hymns or recite the Scripture because I’m distracted by my own thoughts. I imagine the leader of the free world has a few things on his mind, as well."

Good old boy Ted Nugent claimed "The president participated in a public ceremony in his capacity as head of state, not as a Presbyterian.  As such, he has no obligation to declare those theological truths, or any others, aloud in public."

And Jesse Lee Peterson, a far-right radio host and Christian pastor, has a defense for Trump’s seemingly un-Christian characteristics. According to Peterson, the Creed is a “phony act” that is not a “Christian thing to be reciting.”

But the video below takes the cake.  It's worth watching the whole thing, but is essence, Melania has recruited The Donald to join the Remnant Catholic Church who claim to be the only true Christians. And as such, they cannot participate in any church rituals other than of the Remnant Church.

BYE BYE CALIFORNIA

A friend in California forwarded to me the dire warning below, so I thought I'd better post it for all of you California folks who are doomed - doomed I say!  A quick online search for the author only reveals arrest records for obscene behavior, and date warnings to stay away from this guy.  Sure am glad we will be back in Colorado when the left coast bites the dust.

 

May 14, 2018
Considering the Massive California Earthquake

Author: Donald Richard Lobb

Copyright: TXu2 - 061 - 464

My pseudonym is Donald Strong Feathers. In this paper I foretell of the upcoming violent disaster on the West Coast. Holy Spirit born and bred, I am a seer and a visionary since childhood, giving Him all of the credit. He made the following tale evident to me such that many may survive, that precautionary and recuperative preparations be instituted, and that I might receive a measure of recognition: “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the oxen that treadeth out the corn.”

Originally dubbed “A Warning Shot over the Bow,” this preliminary warning event is fast approaching! My thesis statement involving a study of electromagnetism is this: "The phenomenon of dark matter and dark energy coming to light across America." In 2016 I discovered that the magnetic fields in and around the West Coast are fracturing, thus allowing the formation of elusive magnetic monopoles, perhaps as the result of mixing with dark matter as it “comes to light.”

However, this brief reveals a tangent topic of extreme importance: The Great California Earthquake and the Amazing "Warning Event."

Magnetic fracturing allows tectonic forces that have been building for decades to release. It is also possible that the immense pressure is causing the fracturing. These underlying pressures have been noted by scientists for many years.

Mid-to-late summer of 2018, only months away as of this writing, a tearing and an opening on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, not too many miles beyond the California coastline, will result in the underwater eruption of superheated gases and magma from deep within the earth – similar to an underwater volcano. As these gases boil, expand and push the seawater,creating hurricane force winds, a tsunami wave will arrive on the West Coast. This 40 or 50 foot wave will cause widespread damage – and this is just the warning shot!

Then, early next year the continental plates will suddenly and violently shift, destroying and drowning the “City of Angels.” An immediate and accurate death toll of seven million is expected, ten million “when all is said and done.” These are the words of the Holy Spirit!

Use your imagination: Millions of desperate, fleeing people inundate nearby cities like Phoenix, Sacramento and Las Vegas – hungry, homeless, injured, traumatized, and destitute. He has said that the population of Phoenix alone will triple. As resources are consumed, bread lines will result. Roadways will be congested, and crime may very well become rampant as police and fire departments are overwhelmed, banking and finance systems overtaxed. Perhaps the collapsing of government will result in the recent, somewhat paranoid predictions of “martial law.” I am giving a forewarning.

Although this paper was first written and distributed in the summer of 2016, just after I discovered what I believe are "magnetic monopoles," earthquakes are notoriously difficult to accurately predict. However, the Holy Spirit suddenly chooses to revisit this catastrophic situation, firmly and dramatically.

These are His exact words, and this is the summer of the warning event:

“hurricane force winds” Such an event would require a huge, volcanic type of eruption through the floor of the Pacific Ocean, a huge tear in the crust in water shallow enough to create an incredible disturbance.

“one tsunami big enough to cover a house” Underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis. The impression is of a sizable tsunami, but a very manageable one. These two events create a highly unusual scenario.

“bringing the carefree days of summer to an early end” In Southern California, that could be July or August.

“but that will not be the violent one” The warning event is an example of the Grace of God. Only a few short months later will come the violent shift and the resultant disaster, beyond human comprehension.

“ten million, when all is said and done” As I pondered, I received a dire warning specifying an unbelievable final death toll after all of the injuries and exposure, the crime and madness.

Donald Strong Feathers

THE OUTLAW JEFFEY SESSIONS

Some of you may remember this Clint Eastwood movie - unfortunately Josey Wales had far more redeeming characteristics than AG Jeffey Sessions. I have always considered Sessions to be a duplicitous reprobate of the CINO variety, but his recent blinkered actions regarding marijuana prompted this particular rant.  Sessions cherry picks which issues he believes are federal in nature versus which he believes belong in the realm of state's rights.  He simply follows his own personal preferences, even though on the marijuana issue, he is willfully ignoring the preferences of the majority of states, the majority of the electorate and the majority of the science.  Hopefully he will go down in flames during one of the current inquiries into obstruction of justice.  The following posters pretty much sum up the despicable actions of this man:

 

 

 

Poll will appear at the bottom of the Planet Boulder Home Page.

CU - THE RISE, THE FALL

After numerous dismal seasons, CU Football had a modestly successful run in the fall of 2016.  The were 10-4 overall, and 8-1 in the weak South Division of the PAC-12.  They got whupped by Washington in the PAC-12 Championship, 41-10.  They were invited to the Alamo Bowl and again got whupped, this time by Oklahoma State 38-8.  The Athletic Department as so head-over-heals with themselves that they put out a self-congratulatory commemorative tome called The Rise.  You too can have a copy for $39.95.

Most of us on the academic side of CU saw The Rise as The Ruse, intended to get the big donors and alumni all fired up to give more money to the Athletic Department.  Some of us [including yours truly] even opined that the 2016 season would be a flash in the pan.  A fellow named Jake Shapiro put it well in this article "Don't Expect the Rise to Continue at CU in 2017".  Well Jake, I and many other doubters were proven correct.  This season's Buffs were pretty much an embarrassment, winning 5 and losing 7, and winning only 2 PAC 12 games.  Needless to say, there was no bowling for this mediocre, at best, team.  Some of us are awaiting the Athletic Department's commemorative book for this year entitled "The Fall".

And now we'll move on the CU Men's Basketball season, which looks to be another over-hyped, underachieving gaggle of Boyle recruits.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED COVER JINX

If I was a gambling man, I could have made some serious scratch betting on my analysis of the outcome of the World Series.  Some of you may know about the legendary jinx associated with being on the cover of Sports Illustrated - read about it here.  After the Astros won the series, there has been much hullabaloo about how Houston has forever ended the SI Cover Jinx, like here and here.

But these folks are completely missing the mark.  They are basing their claims on this cover from 2014:

  

However, this is a faulty analysis.  Yes, the Astros certainly overcame the 2014 Cover Jinx, but there was a much more damning cover for the Dodgers this year - this one:

It seems pretty clear to me that being proclaimed the Best Team Ever is much more of a jinx that simply predicting who might win the World Series [although it was quite prescient].  The two fellows on the cover would probably agree that they under-performed in the Series. 

DRAFT DODGER DONALD

Time to stir the pot a bit, and hopefully start a national movement [a tad overly optimistic??]  One of Trump's favorite tactics for engaging his adversaries is to give them a disparaging nickname.  Regardless of the level of truth, it has been highly effective.  Lyin' Ted and Crooked Hilary are two of his pejoratives that helped him vanquish both Cruz and Clinton.  So, I think that it is time to pull the turnabout-is-fair-play gambit.

DRAFT DODGER DONALD

 

Read a detailed account of Trump's dodging here.

Some quotes from the article linked above:

"But in 1968, when he was a 22-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate, Trump was a tall, fit athlete who played football, tennis, and golf. His age and clean medical history qualified Trump as a perfect candidate for the draft to serve in the United States Army and fight in the Vietnam War, but he avoided combat after receiving a 1-Y medical deferment, which he has said was due to "bone spurs in his heels." "

Trump in Middle

As a draft dodger, Trump never knew the horrors of war, but in 1997, he laughed when telling radio host Howard Stern that avoiding sexually transmitted diseases was like his "personal Vietnam." "It is a dangerous world out there. It’s scary, like Vietnam. Sort of like the Vietnam era,” Trump said to Stern, discussing his sex life. "I feel like a great and very brave soldier.”

"Unlike the 2,709,918 soldiers who fought in Vietnam, Trump never served. He wasn't injured like the 304,000 Americans who fought in the war, or among the more than 58,000 killed in combat. Despite this inexperience, he is now in charge of the U.S. armed forces, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, and the Marine Corps as commander-in-chief. As president, he is tasked with dictating to all military generals and admirals which battles should be fought, where they should be fought, and who gets to fight in them on behalf of the United States."

 

Trump is just another in a very long list of "chicken hawks" - folks who talk the tough talk but did not walk the walk when it came to giving two years of their lives to the USA.   To see a list of such pussies [not in the Trump sense of the word] visit here.  

 

TWENTY FIFTH AMENDMENT

 

I believe that it is time for Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:
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Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

TRUMP'S THEME SONG

 

THE TAX MAN COMETH

With tax day just around the corner for many of us, I found the data regarding who pays what for income taxes to be quite interesting.  First, looking at this chart, you will see that the top 1% of income folks pay almost 40% of income taxes, and the top 20% pay nearly 95% of all taxes.  Notice that the bottom 40% receive a portion of the taxes rather than paying.

 

Here is the actual dollar breakdown [with some discrepancies from above chart]:

Next is another look at the income tax data.  A whopping 45% of households pay no income tax.

 

 And who are these folks who don't pay income tax?

And lastly, where does it all go?  [this is pre-Trump who proposes to increase one of the biggest players while decimating some of the smallest players]

BETTER WATCH WHAT YOU EAT

I will admit that I like to have a bit of fun with folks who hold that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and must be read literally [translation - you must read it like I read it 😊].  So, just to make sure that your diet complies with the rules, here is a list of clean things that you can eat, and unclean things that you must avoid - eating the latter makes you unclean and thus worthy of punishment! Note the final word of caution.  I will confess to breaking some of these rules, but not repent!!!!

A General List of Biblically Clean Meat:

Antelope
Bison
Buffalo
Caribou
Cattle
[Beef, Veal]
Deer
Reindeer
Gazelle
Giraffe
Goat
Hart
Ibex
Lamb
Hogget
Mutton
Moose
Ox
Roebuck
Sheep

A General List of Biblically Unclean Meat:

Alligator
Armadillo
Badger
Bat
Bear
Panda
Beaver
Caiman
Camel
Cats
Cheetah
Cougar
Jaguar
Leopard
Lion
Panther
Tiger
Crocodile
Dogs
Coyote
Fox
Hyena
Jackal
Wolf
Elephant
Frog
Gorilla
Groundhog
Hippopotamus
Horses
Donkey/Ass
Mule
Onager
Zebra
Kangaroo
Llama
Lizards
Mice
Mole
Monkey
Baboon
Chimpanzee
Muskrat
Newt
Porcupine
Possums
Rabbit
Raccoon
Rats
Rhinoceros
Salamander
Skunks
Snakes
Spiders
Squirrels
Swine
Boar
Hog
Pig
Peccary
[Bacon, Pork, Pork-sausage, Ham, Lard]
Toad
Turtle
Wallaby
Weasel
Wolverine

A General List of Biblically Clean Fish: (with Fins and Scales)

Albacore
or Crevalle
or Horse Mackerel
or Jack
Alewives
or Branch Herring
or River Herring
Anchovies
Black Drum
Bluebacks
or Glut Herrings
Bluebill Sunfish
Bluefish
Blue Runner
or Hardtail
Bonitos
Boston Bluefish
or Pollock
Bowfin
Buffalofish
Butterfish
Carp
Chubs
Bloater
Longjaw
Blackfin
Cod
Common Sucker
or Fresh Water Mullet
or White Sucker
Crappies
or Black Crappies
or White Crappies
Flounder
Dab
Gray Sole
Lemon Sole
Summer Flounder
Winter Flounder
Yellow Tail
Frost Fish
or Ice Fish
or Smelt
Groupers
Black Grouper
Gag
Nassau Grouper
Red Grouper
Yellowfish Grouper
Grunts
White Grunts
Yellow Grunts
Gulf Pike
or Robalo
or Snook
or Sergeant
Haddock
Hake
Halibut
Herring
Lake Herring
Sea Herring
Kingfish
Long Nose Sucker
or Northern Sucker
or Red Striped Sucker
Mackerel
Menhaden
Mullet
Muskeilunge
or Jacks
Pickerels
or Jacks
Pig Fish
Pikes
or Jacks
Pompano
Porgy
Scup
Red Drum
Redfish
Red Horse Sucker
Redfin
Red Snapper
Salmon
Chum
Coho
King
Pink
Red
Sardine
or Pilchards
Sea Bass
Shad
Sheepshead
Silver Hake
or Whiting
Silversides
Spanish Mackerel
Striped Bass
Trouts
Gray Sea Trouts
Weakfish
Lake Trout
Sand Sea Trout
White Sea Trout
Spotted SeaTrout
Tunas
Bluefin
Yellowfin
Skipjack
White Fish
Yellow Perch

A General List of Biblically Unclean "Fish & Sea Foods": (without Fins and Scales)

Abalones
Bullheads
Catfish
Clams
Conch
Crabs
Crayfish
Crawfish
Crawdad
Cuttlefish
Dolphin
Otter
Eel
Jellyfish
Limpet
Lobster
Marlin
Mussel
Octopus
Oysters
Paddlefish
Porpoise
Scallop
Seal
Shark
Shrimp
Snails
Squid (Calamari)
Stickleback
Sturgeon
Swordfish
Walrus
Whale

A General List of Biblically Clean Fowl:

Chicken
Dove
Duck
Goose
Grouse
Guinea Fowl
Partridge
Peafowl
Pheasant
Pigeon
Prairie Chicken
Ptarmigan
Quail
Sagehen
Sparrow
Teal
Turkey
And Other Song Birds

A General List of Biblically Unclean Fowl:

Albatross
Bittern
Buzzard
Condor
Coot
Cormorant
Crane
Crow
Cuckoo
Eagle
Flamingo Grebe
Grosbeak
Gull
Hawk
Heron
Kite
Lapwing
Loon
Magpie
Osprey
Ostrich
Owl
Parrot
Pelican
Penguin
Plover
Rail
Raven
Roadrunner
Sandpiper
Seagull
Stork
Swallow
Swift
Vulture
Water hen
Woodpecker
All others not specifically listed as clean.

A General List of Biblically Clean Insects:


Crickets
Grasshoppers
Katydid
Locusts

(Most insects except a few in the locust family are unclean)

Note:
Animal Shortening, Gelatin, Jello, Marshmallows, etc. (usually contain pork-based gelatin), any saltine cracker that states it uses animal shortening (usually lard), and anything else that states it uses animal shortening.

IF IN DOUBT, AVOID ANYTHING NOT SPECIFICALLY LISTED AS CLEAN!

PS by me - I note that eating other humans is not mentioned

TRUMP VERSUS NORDSTROM

KAKISTOCRACY

kak·is·toc·ra·cies. Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens. Origin of kakistocracy. Greek kakistos, worst, superlative of kakos, bad; see caco– + –cracy.

This is a new word for me, to be added to other -cracies such as the diametric meritocracy, and unacceptable -cracies such as plutocracy and theocracy.  Most troubling about the current US kakistocracy is its fundamental practice of passing off lies as alternative facts.  Indeed, such alternative facts can lead to completely misguided policies that unfortunately resonate with a certain portion of the population.  The list of such prevarications is too long to even summarize here, and grows daily.  However, I would like to examine the executive order on banning certain immigrants.

The President's pretense for the EO is to "make America safe."  Although I realize that many Trump supporters are immune to facts, let's just have a look at some data.  First, let's review the number of terrorist killings in the US since the 9/11 attacks - in the fifteen years after 9/11, jihadists have killed 94 people inside the United States, right wing extremists have killed 50 and left wing extremists, 5. 

Next, here are data that summarize the foreign born terrorists by country of origin, total number of terrorists and total number of deaths from 1975 to 2015.  Note that to date, in 2017, not a single Syrian has killed anyone in the US via a terrorist attack.  The nations on the President's banned list have produced zero terrorist killings in the last decade or so.  Even Obama critic-in-chief Charles Krauthammer believes that the EO immigration ban is "stupid." 

Terrorists

Murders

Saudi Arabia

19

2,369

United Arab Emirates

2

314

Egypt

11

162

Lebanon

4

159

Kuwait

2

6

Cuba

11

3

Kyrgyzstan

2

3

Pakistan

14

3

Palestine

5

2

Armenia

6

1

Croatia

9

1

Taiwan

1

1

Trinidad and Tobago

2

1

Afghanistan

3

0

Algeria

4

0

Australia

1

0

Bangladesh

2

0

Bosnia

1

0

Dominican Republic

1

0

Ethiopia

1

0

France

1

0

Ghana

1

0

Guyana

2

0

Haiti

3

0

India

2

0

Iran

6

0

Iraq

2

0

Japan

1

0

Jordan

4

0

Kazakhstan

1

0

Kosovo

2

0

Libya

0

0

Macedonia

3

0

Mexico

1

0

Morocco

3

0

Nigeria

1

0

Serbia

2

0

Somalia

2

0

South Korea

1

0

Sudan

6

0

Syria

0

0

Turkey

1

0

United Kingdom

3

0

Uzbekistan

3

0

Vietnam

1

0

Yemen

1

0

And if it's the safety of Americans that is a Presidential priority, here are some interesting data of one's probability of succumbing to a terrorist attack versus other ways of buying the farm:

And here are the actual US mortality numbers for 2014: 

So, given the data, what would a rational proposal to "keep Americans safe" look like? Since suicide is the 10th leading cause of American deaths, and homicides are right up there as well, it would seem worthwhile to implement policies that would lower such deaths.  This of course would require a serious discussion about controlling the possession of guns, and we all know that that won't happen in the near future.  Indeed, this administration wants to, among other things, loosen any requirements for gun purchases by the mentally ill, and lower the restrictions on silencers and imported weapons.  That should really help solidify these data!!!