Tip of the Iceberg

The Shadow Knows

Trumped Again!

Hilarious 404 page from the President's re-election website.

Click graphic for larger view.

Yes & No

Yes on the 7th one, No on the 9th.

Hail to the Chief

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.

Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!

Politics, Religion and Food

I just got through reading an article linked to on Facebook - I won't link to it in this post because that's not the gist of this rant - but it was how we (people) should have a more plant-based diet.  I wouldn't disagree with that, but articles like that always start off some vicious arguments and there were plenty under the piece.  I've found that often the comments are more entertaining than the article.

That's something I've noticed since I've been online for these last 17+ years;  of course, politics and religion have always sparked some contentious debate, a long time before there were forums and message boards, but I'd say the next most hotly discussed topic is food. (and movies, TV shows and music would be close behind)

In fact, one of the first times I was ever savaged online was in a chat room and someone mentioned they were making a pineapple upside-down cake.  I mentioned that I don't care for pineapple and I was attacked before they let me explain that I have an allergy to pineapple, that it makes my throat itch. (as do several other tropical fruits, such as kiwi fruit, papaya, and sometimes oranges)

The next time I saw a "food fight" break out was over whether to put chili in beans.  The recipe said "real Texans" would never dream of it.  Personally, I don't care for beans in my chili, but I'm also a "real Texan" and enough of one to not stick my nose into someone's business - if they want to put beans in their chili, then that's fine with me.  If they invited me to dinner and their chili had beans in it, I am also enough of a Texan to not criticize my host.  No, I'd eat it and probably would ask for seconds.

(funny - I don't really like beans in my chili, but I put a can of chili - Texas Wolf Brand - when I make beans)

I recently saw a dispute over goulash, of all things.  The recipe wasn't even titled "Hungarian" but the comments got heated over just what was "authentic".    Call it what you like, call me ignorant for calling it that, but just don't call me late for supper!

I can semi-understand arguing about politics and religion, esp. if someone insults your candidate/party or your faith, but to argue about food?  Ridiculous.  I wish I could draw - I'd make a graphic of God wearing an Obama t-shirt while eating a cheeseburger as He was kicking Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi down to Hell along with the Muslims.

That way I could piss off the Republicans, the vegans, the gays, the Democrats, and the radical Islamists in one fell swoop.

I might even draw Him with a pistol stuck in His belt, just to piss off the gun-grabbers.

Most Pro-Trump County

What's Your Republican Name?

Your Republican Name Is: Randy Wesley

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer.

What's Your Republican Name?

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Randy Wesley? Really?

What's Your Democrat Name?

Your Democrat Name Is: Xavier Benjamin

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer.

What's Your Democrat Name?

Bing Weekly News Quiz

I check out the Bing home page nearly every day, not only for their fantastic daily changing themes, but also because I accumulate points towards Amazon gift cards.  It's not all that much, but I can usually get enough each month for a $5 Amazon credit.  (I just redeemed several months worth and paid for nearly half of a 5TB external hard drive)

I also like to take the Weekly News Quiz and after finishing up and getting my score, enjoy seeing - depending upon how well I did - what "kind of week" I'm having.  If my score is good, it tells me I'm having a week as good as - for example - some latest sports champion or record breaker and if it's NOT a good score, it compares my week to some poor slob who just had his world crash down around him.

I aced this week's quiz and this was my result:

To be honest, I wish I had missed a few just so I wouldn't be compared to THAT S.O.B. 

I wouldn't want to be like him, even if I had five times his money.   I don't have much hair either, but at least I buzz mine off w/ clippers and don't try some ridiculous comb over.  I'm also proud to say I don't whine if things don't go my way or tell lies about those who oppose me.

"The Trump train rolls on."  Sadly, yes.  I'd cheer if a train ran OVER Trump,  though. 

Ancient Words For These Times

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.

But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.

 For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men.

 He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.

 ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman Statesman, philosopher and orator (42 B.C)

psittacism

psittacism noun [sit-uh-siz-uh m]

1. mechanical, repetitive, and meaningless speech

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There's a lot of psittacism going on now leading up to the election.

kakistocracy

kakistocracy noun [kak-uh-stok-ruh-see]

A form of government in which the worst persons are in power.

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I was unfamiliar with this word, but definitely familiar with the definition. To paraphrase the Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart in a 60's obscenity case: "I may not know how to define it, but I know it when I see it."

Follow the Money

Note:  The following is meant to be a mini-rant and a bit of trivia but is also a semi-snarky review of the new Fox series Minority Report based upon the 2002 hit movie.

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I was torturing myself watching the fourth and latest episode of Minority Report last night when I noticed something strange;  when a man is attempting to buy some fake I.D.,he plops some banded currency on the table, then reluctantly throws down some more on top of it.  The scene went by fairly quickly, but not so quick that I couldn't make out the face on the $500 bill:

(click for larger view)

Yes, that's President Obama on the bill and it proved to me that Hollywood is indeed full of leftist partisan hacks.  Andrew Jackson notwithstanding, I've always thought the portraits on American currency were intended to be of good Presidents or at least of people who made a significant contribution to society.

Why Obama?  If he deserves to be on a bill, then - in all fairness - so does G.W. Bush;  after all, both of them certainly spent enough money, printed more than their fair share out of thin air, too.

Be that as it may...and I certainly didn't mean for this to turn into a political rant...I believe that's the last episode I will watch.  If Minority Report had been anything but a ubiquitous, poorly done police procedural show (albeit set in the future) I would have given it a proper review. 

My recommendation?  If you're watching it now and enjoying it, please be my guest and continue doing so.  I just don't think it's going to last long, that's all.  What's wrong with it?  Oh, if I only had enough time and space to list the things.  I had high hopes for the series, but IMHO (and according to the ratings), it doesn't have much of a future, especially considering how many Obama dollars much money it's got to be losing. The show is visually appealing, the special effects are pretty good and the acting isn't horrible...but not even the gorgeous Meagan Good can save this series.  The potential was there but it was wasted.

On a related note:  I noticed a woman on the hundred dollar bill, so I took a screen shot, rotated it to get a better view but still didn't recognize the face, but did see it was Australian currency. (or maybe American money honoring Australian notables)  Thanks to the world-wide interwebs, I was able to find out the woman was Dame Nellie Melba, a noted opera singer of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century. I had never heard of her.

My only hope is that if the world lasts to the time this TV series takes place, we'll honor folks like her much more than we do those such as President Obama.

Comical Corrupted Content

I was on Yahoo earlier, reading some articles and a link caught my eye:

Now, I'm not particularly a fan of Mr. Trump;  I don't think I've watched more than a few minutes of any of his reality TV shows and I certainly didn't like how he used eminent domain to acquire properties upon which to build his casino in Atlantic City some years back, but I do like the way he is stirring up the Republican presidential primary race - and treating the media with disdain and putting them in their place, long overdue -  and truth be known, although I wouldn't vote for him, I agree with much of what he says.  THAT said, this is what I got when I clicked on the link:

I have never seen that error page before.  Funny, though, considering what I was clicking on.  If Trump sees it, there will be hell toupée.

The Haircut

From the archives:
One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.'

The florist was pleased and left the shop.

When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.'

The cop was happy and left the shop.

The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.'

The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

Mike Rowe For President

No, no joke.  Mike Rowe For President 2016.  Why, you ask?

Well, we know he's a hard worker and willing to take on unpleasant tasks from his stint on Dirty Jobs. Sure, he's never been a politician, but that's a big plus in my book.  He's been an opera singer, a pitchman, a spokesperson, a narrator, motivational speaker and currently is promoting mikeroweWORKS, a foundation which is focused on the decline in the blue collar trades and the crumbling state of the infrastructure.   Plus, he doesn't suffer fools lightly. (and, if you read that Facebook post, you can see he's mastered the art of diplomatically telling someone to go to hell without saying it directly.)

What?  Those jobs don't qualify someone to be President?  Well, over the last 40 yrs., we've had a peanut farmer, a B-List actor, a sexual addict, a frat boy of privilege and our first black president who had little experience and even fewer qualifications before being elected.

Rowe is handsome, articulate, accomplished, youthful yet experienced in life and has a great sense of humor.  I don't know 'bout you, but all things considered, that's more than enough to be President of the United States.

I don't know which political party Rowe would run under, but I'd hope his campaign would be independent of either two main parties.

So, yes...Mike Rowe For President.  I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

sinistral

sinistral \ SIN-uh-struhl \ , adjective

1. left-handed.
2. of, pertaining to, or on the left side; left (opposed to dextral).
3. (of certain gastropod shells) coiling counterclockwise, as seen from the apex.

Origin: Sinistral is related to the word sinister and meant "unlucky" when it entered English in the 1400s. It was extended to mean "on the left side" in the early 1800s.

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After Obama was first elected President in 2008, a slew of articles popped up on the 'net saying his being left-handed was more proof that he is the Antichrist.  Now, I don't care for his policies, but I'm fairly sure he's not the Antichrist, but who knows?   For that matter, Tim Tebow is also left-handed.

My childhood friend and classmate Janice is left-handed, but she couldn't be the Antichrist either, as she was and still is a devout Christian...although I always thought she was a little bit evil for not letting me copy off her during tests.  To be fair, it wasn't just that she wouldn't let me, but she sat to my right and her writing hand was curled around her test paper and blocking me from seeing her answers.

Wiki says 10% of people are left-handed and that they are generally more successful, talented and make more money than righties.   There have been many great left-handed athletes. (not that Tim Tebow can be included in that group)

So, being left-handed doesn't mean that President Obama is the Antichrist, just that he needs special clubs for all the golf he plays. 

You know, maybe God is left-handed, if only out of necessity.  After all, the Bible says that Jesus sits on His right hand.

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hokum

hokum [hoh-kuh m] noun

1. out-and-out nonsense; bunkum.

2. elements of low comedy introduced into a play, novel, etc., for the laughs they may bring.

3. sentimental matter of an elementary or stereotyped kind introduced into a play or the like.

4. false or irrelevant material introduced into a speech, essay, etc., in order to arouse interest, excitement, or amusement.

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hokum - you can see a lot of it on C-Span

Especially defined by #'s 1 & 4.

glib

glib [glib] adjective, glib·ber, glib·best.

1. readily fluent, often thoughtlessly, superficially, or insincerely so: a glib talker; glib answers.

2. easy or unconstrained, as actions or manners.

3. Archaic. agile; spry.

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I'd say glib describes just about every politician.

Well, maybe not George W. Bush...at least not the "fluent" bit.