Basta!

Addition April 5: Scott Pruitt - BASTA!  Sirens to rush him through town, soundproof phone booths, 24/7 security, First class travel - including trip to Morocco with 2-day stopover in Paris for staff of 7, and virtually free rent in DC thanks to lobbyist - and Das Trumpf says he's doing a wonderful job!

(This New Yorker cartoon has him pegged!)

Dept. of stupidity , circa April 3, 2018: Das Trumpf just announced military personnel on the border to protect us - should I laugh or cry? Wait! do I hear the caravan wheels from the South trundling northward?  Basta already!

Borowitz's recent New Yorker satirical column on Ryan/McConnell miraculously "functioning" without spines was timely - a medical puzzle; even more of a mystery - how do they function without guts?  Basta!

More basta: watching our evening dose of MSNBC I was struck by the deluge of pharma ads/promises of health/youth. "Tell your doctor" - who, unfortunately is often too busy, over screening, over diagnosing, over treating and over  prescribing. Medicalization of this country is furthered by sensationalist style medical reporting, horrific tv advertising and medical centers equally concerned with profits and cures. For those of us getting older - there seems to be no shortage of ridiculous medical procedures that will make absolutely no difference for an elder's remaining years - other than  relieving us of funds.

Must reading: every book written by Dr. Nortin Hadler (most recent: Rethinking Aging).He writes for the medical profession and the lay public with carefully researched statistics to back up his statements. 

On an upbeat note: the Netherlands doing their thing - fighting waste and pollution using products often thrown out. "Soups and chutneys made from wonky vegetables, beer from stale bread, cider from blemished apples and soaps from discarded orange peels are selling fast in a branch of Jumbo, one of the biggest Dutch supermarket chains." Gotta love their slogan: “Waste is Delicious”  (Verspilling is Verrukkelijk). Program is supported by a local university as part of a new national program, United Against Food Waste.

Seasonal Music (New Yorker magazine)

"No smarts, energy or chemistry"

A Comedy Item: 

Trump says he'll succeed with Putin where Bush, Clinton, Obama failed

"Bush tried to get along, but didn't have the 'smarts.' Obama and Clinton tried, but didn't have the energy or chemistry," the president tweeted.

Just in case you missed  this - courtesy of NBC. OF course our "stable genius"
has it covered - he just bows down and prays every day that Putin doesn't spill the beans.
But - sooner or later.......beans have a way of spilling......and I'm opting for sooner!

In the meantime, master "deal maker" is playing games with tariffs and livelihoods. Still waiting for the Congressional butts to get out of their chairs and say ENOUGH already!!!!  And the newest budget - I can't count that high - but if we need money maybe Das Trumpf can ask his "banker" Pootie boy to advance some more?

And how about the newest characters in the Asylum: (courtesy of Fox TV)
John Bolton - a war monger who flies off the handle easily.
Joseph Di Genova and his wife, Victoria - a pair of lawyers who pimp for Fox.

But there's hope - this bright spot: Former U.S. Army Intelligence Office Lt. Col Ralph Peters resigned from his "commentator" job at Fox . He called them a propaganda machine, saying they  “dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the Courts and the intelligence community … all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of ‘deep-state’ machinations”........

A sweet ending: how about a nice piece of halvah - the newest favorite of chefs? I loved this sweet as a child - my mom would buy it by the piece in the local "appetizing" store (NYC Zabar's got started as an appetizing store!). Now I see that chef's are dressing it up for desserts in upscale restaurants and some are even crumbling it into breading material for chicken and other foods. What could be bad?

"Money Makes the World Go Round" (apologies to Cabaret)

Just finished reading Red Notice -  a fabulous page turner of a book by Bill Browder (grandson of Earl Browder who was the standard bearer of the Communist Party in the United States in the earlier part of the 20^th century). Grandson Bill is now a citizen of the UK and a British financier. He is the CEO and co-founder of the Hermitage Capital Management and was the first hedge fund manager in Russia.  

 The book reinforced my belief that Das Trumpf’s  "friendship" and glad mouthing of  Pootie boy (he never did anything wrong!) is all about money: Putin has it and Trump needs it;  it’s obvious our "stable genius" can't say anything bad about his "banker Putin". I call Putin his banker because nobody else will advance/lend money to the Trump clan which is bleeding cash. (As he continues to bleed this country at the same time.)

Put this book on your "must read" list.

Last week's  American Experience TV show The Bombing of Wall Street (PBS) offered up a fascinating picture of terrorism in NYC which  occurred in 1920. A horse drawn wagon packed with explosives was set off in front of JP Morgan at midday when many workers were going out to lunch. Based on a book by Yale Historian Beverly Gage, the documentary served up some disturbing behavior by our government in their attempts to apprehend the culprits, get rid of immigrants (most who were innocent!) and how Mr. Hoover/FBI got his start.  

The PBS program can be streamed on your computer (free) until early March. Lots of food for thought.

Lies, anyone? Herr Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister was an expert dispenser of lies. His method: tell big or small lies enough times, repeat, repeat -and people will believe you. Sound familiar?

One of  our country's lie dispensers (who unfortunately has a bigger vocabulary than his boss), is Stephen Miller. Last year the White House asked Health and Human Services (HHS) to report on the cost of refugee resettlement in this country. The  study showed revenue generated by these newcomers (through local, state and Federal taxes)  EXCEEDED the costs of resettling them by $63 BILLION dollars. Miller had told HHS at the beginning of the study not to "embarrass the President". Seeing the results, Miller demanded that HHS "recalculate the numbers" - and when they didn't - he did it himself.
Goebbels technique in action:  according to several news sources, the White House went into LIE mode and denied the whole report.

There isn't much I can add to the incredible comments by students at the Florida school after the shooting. Teen-agers articulate beyond their years have little patience with the hypocrisy of our legislators. I hope they will be able to nudge the congressional NRA recipients off their butts!

Waaaa! I want a parade!

If any of you missed the Borowitz column today satirizing Das Trumpf's newest request I've posted the link below. Of course you all remember he didn't serve in the Military because his doctor said he had "bone spurs".

From New Yorker magazine:
“Regrettably, we have no choice but to issue thousands of deferments,” a Pentagon spokesman said.
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/military-refuses-to-participate-in-trumps-parade-citing-bone-spurs

So - what are the odds of him getting his request filled? How many mouths could be filled with the cost of bringing even only one tank to rip up D.C. streets?
Waaah - Putin gets parades, baby Rocket gets parades and Macron got his parade (forgetting that Bastille Day has a bit  more meaning than our wild leader's desire to feel important). 
"I want my own parade!!!!"  Waaaah!

Of course with his limited vocabulary we would not expect Das Trumpf to understand the word "treason".  If you don't stand up and wildly applause Das Trumpf when he's spewing platitudes and garbage you're committing and act of treason? 

Heil Napoleon Adolf Trumpf!

Quick cure for hearing/memory

Senator Perdue is now saying his leader did not say shithole.
Makes me wonder - first he said he didn't recall hearing that expression at the meeting - where Senator Durbin and Graham emphatically recalled hearing the word.
(One well known journalist suggested that he get a hearing aid.)
Next, on a TV talk show Perdue  regained his memory/hearing and said his leader did not say shithole.  (Obvious why he's against a health plan - he cured himself!)

In October last year, Senator Perdue stated that the crushing national debt  was the greatest threat to the security of the United States. So, in December 2017, Senator Perdue voted for a tax plan that will increase the national debt a few  trillion dollars. That kind of logic matches his memory and hearing problems.

Perdue's background - a specialist in outsourcing jobs.  (Anyone remember his well-spoken leader's promise:  "We're bringing back jobs"?) Perdue "outsourced" thousands of jobs in the South - including Haggar and Pillowtex.  Reports on the Pillotex firm folding stated he managed to reap millions for himself  while 4000 lost their jobs in one day in North Carolina.

What's next? Who knows;  the gutless, spineless collection of characters inhabiting Washington offices does not instill optimism.....hope....good times....not even the status quo.

It's hitting the fan!!!!!

OMG - so glad Senator Durbin was at the White House meeting and corroborated Das Trumpf's words. (Of course, when potus tweeted this morning he claimed he didn't say shithole!)
Also, last night I was delighted that Lawrence O'Donnell reminded TV viewers that Das Trumpf was only continuing in his father's footsteps: daddy was a member of the Klu Klux Klan  and marched in New York City  (1927)  protesting the City's predominantly Catholic police force.
And let's not forget later years when Donald was a big boy and helping daddy to manage their real estate holdings, he was taught how to keep apartments lilywhite - no blacks need apply.
Das Trumpf a racist? Heavens to Betsy!

When will our esteemed representatives in Washington rise up and say/do something?

And no visit to London? Doesn't like the location of the Embassy? The truth:
Soooo afraid of the awful reception he'd get. They may have voted for Brexit - but they're not about to damage their diplomatic standing by recognizing a shithole purveyor! 

BTW: NPR couldn't say shithole on air - but they can constantly repeat
the name Arpaio - the convicted (and pardoned by Das Trumpf) former racist, disgusting Arizona sheriff . Guess they want him to have more name recognition now that he's running for the Senator from Arizona?

An over the top "GENIUS"

It's been a long time since I posted on this blog; no fun writing when you're sooo depressed with the shenanigans in Washington DC.
A warm cruise in the Caribbean at the end of December with daughter Joan and granddaughters Sarah and Miriam helping to celebrate my 89th birthday was therapeutic.
So back to the DC  swamps populated by reptilian creatures who, like other snakes don't understand the concept of country over party.  (E-mails to my sad substitute for a senator -Cornyn- are
occasionally answered by form letters that have nothing to do with my questions or subject matter.)
And almost all his Republican congressional friends continue to sit on their rear ends looking for ways to distract and even "lie" about any evidence that points to messing around with the last presidential election.

 After a few days of the media's juicy reporting on Wolff's new book, Fire and Fury  
Das Trumpf 's riotous tweet today is marvelous - (where are his handlers?)
I'm a genius....and a very stable genius at that".....and of course he noted one of his chief assets:
being, like, really smart"......
This genius tweet takes the cake; any doubts about his psychiatric "shortcomings" have just been dumped into the ever filling DC swamp.

And  yesterday the "Bobbsey" twins Grassley/Graham came out with their ridiculous, obfuscating garbage about the Steele dossier - after a year of wasting government time/money with their investigations to see if they could keep Das Trumpf safe from harm and protect their own needy pockets.
It's all about money -  as Joel Gray sang in Cabaret: "Money makes the world go around....A buck or a pound Is all that makes the world go around, That clinking clanking sound Can make the world go 'round."

Or, if you prefer Mamma Mia: Money, money, money, Always sunny, In a rich man's world

What a way to begin 2018 - looking for some political miracles - like Beto O'Rourke for Texas Senator  -   (bye bye Ted!)

 NCL Pearl - Miriam, Joan and Sarah Lorber, Ben and I sailing from New Orleans, Dec. 2017

Abrazos, besos, cheers and good health to you all in 2018!