Sanctions, POTUS cleaners and Pig Wings....

Politics: Annoyed  is an understatement  when referring to our fraudulent Royal Orange King and his  "courtiers" who recently lifted sanctions on yet another group of rich Russian thugs - and the end result will help Putin acquire more undeserved riches.

Added garbage: the illustrious Treasury courtier Mnuchin pushed for this- he's a buddy of Len Blavatnik - who is rich enough to play every side of the aisle - Mostly Red, (M.McConnell  is the lucky recipient of some of his millions - surprised?) some Blue and he sweetens the damage by including big bucks to Harvard Medical School. His family came from the Ukraine in the 1970's - he earned graduate degrees from Columbia and Harvard) and he's "ungeshtupt with gelt" - couple of billion - mas o menos. But I guess the more you have the more you want; Blavatnik is a buddy of Derapaska - and all buddies lead to Putin!  And Pootie boy is cozying up with China, making nice with Little Rocket  - and can you smell WWIII???

Whatever happened to the  McCarthyites and other Republicans who used to see Communists under every chair, table or bed and now are so chillingly quiet as Putin, his oligarch buddies  and flock of slaves (many former hard core Communists) work hard at destroying us and other democratic countries?

Needed: Laughter! I'm always glad to have a laugh in the kitchen - where I spend most of my happy hours. Just got a news release that made my day!

Something new from the innovative New Metro Design Group (I use their remarkable BeaterBlade attachment on my KitchenAid Mixer which scrapes the sides of the bowl as it mixes!): the ANGRY POTUS Microwave Cleaner!

Using language familiar to this creature: ANGRY POTUS is absolutely the greatest, bigliest way to clean your microwave. All you have to do is remove POTUS’ hair - add vinegar and water, stick him in your microwave for 3 minutes on medium high. Hot steam comes out of POTUS’ head – really! – which softens crusted, stuck-on microwave dirt and stains. Let POTUS sit for about two minutes- remove him – and wipe the inside of the microwave with a sponge or rag. Voila! Sparkling clean – BIGLY!!! About $15 at Amazon. (There's a less  expensive model – ANGRY MAMA – available if you have a problem cooking the Orange King!) 

More foodie news:
Robots on campus in Virginia: If you're a student, faculty, or staff member at the Fairfax VA campus of George Mason University and feel the need for a nosh - contact your local robot:  Sodexo Inc. and Starship Technologies launched robot food delivery services to the campus. The service is supposed to integrate with student meal plans and food and drinks will be delivered anywhere on campus!

And if you see Pork Wings on the menu next time you eat out - not to worry,  pigs are not flying (as of now) .This item on the menu refers to cuts from the animal's leg known as shanks. The Pioneer Meat company in Michigan gets the credit for promoting this relatively new snack type food. Their pig wings include a small attached bone (from the hog's fibula) making it easy to hold while nibbling. The company estimates  about 5 to 7 million pounds of pig wings are sold annually at this time!

Ninety - or Chai 5!!!* for me. A bumpy year for the Orange King!

Welcome to 2019!
What's on the Orange King's agenda? How about some more delusions? Like
"I could be a great general!" Really? Not after the podiatrist in his father's building attested to Orange King's "bone spurs" - (unfit for military). Podiatrist  was rewarded with quick repairs to his apartment by landlord Fred Trump!

The Orange King's  "friends/sycophants" are rolling their eyes after his story about Russia's invasion in Afghanistan. My own take on Afghanistan: no need to be there - takeovers tried since mid-19th century - and everyone left - the Brits, the Russians, etc. After 18 years of wasted men and money maybe it's time for us to leave; I'm assuming Orange King wants to leave because he sees no Trump Towers rising there. (Probably the only time I agree with the King.)

And Nancy Pelosi is a shining example that age "numbers" are meaningless when you're a smart, politically savvy politician. Brava Nancy!!

The new House Representatives added a bit of spice with a newcomer from Michigan, Democratic Congresswoman Rashida  Tlaib. She's interested in impeaching the Orange King and used an expletive to express herself at a party:  Democrats will “impeach the motherf….r” Although this is not my choice of words and does not really advance the Democratic Party’s  goals it's interesting to note the rush to criticize her.

How quickly we forget – especially if the speaker is a “man”. Dick Cheney once told Sen. Patrick Leahy to “go f..k yourself” on the floor of the United States Senate. He did not apologize – but went on to say that he believed his colleagues felt the same way and his comment was “badly needed to be said”!  (He received praise from Conservatives and was seen as “strong”.)

 Like father, like daughter -  Cheney’s daughter, a congresswoman from Wyoming was also quick to criticize Tlaib!

Fun stuff:

I celebrated my 90th birthday on the Celebrity Infinity - a short cruise in the Caribbean with most of my family. My "kid" cousin Florrie, her daughter Barbara and granddaughter Carly really surprised me - timing their arrival in Fort Lauderdale in time to greet me before we boarded our ship. (Florrie, my closest favorite cousin will reach the ChaiXFive in May!)  And thoughtful Carly came supplied with Prosecco for a toast!

I love travel on any water - ocean, river, whatever. Where we sail is not too important. We sailed on Celebrity's Infinity and once again - I can only rave about the service level on Celebrity ships. Every staff member - from officers to those polishing hand rails was always quick to ask if we needed help and,

always with a smile. Interesting note - I was able to rent a walker for my husband for the cruise and it was waiting for him in our cabin when we arrived! (We just left it in the cabin when we disembarked; Celebrity wheeled my husband on and off the ship with their wheelchairs.)

Celebrity staff sent flowers, champagne, wine to my cabin and posted a big Happy 90th sign on my door.





Happy group - Sarah, Miriam, Joan, Susan, Lee . me, standing; Ben sitting.

Birthday cake in the Tuscan Grill Restaurant:

Celebrity Infinity docked in Cozumel







*For my friends who are not familiar with CHAI: "Chai" is a word formed by two letters in the Hebrew alphabet: Chet (ח‬) and Yod  (י‬); the combination means  "alive", or "living".
 If one assigns numbers to the Hebrew alphabet, chai adds up to 18 and this is considered a lucky number. Chai X five thus equals 90!

Cruising across the pond in your tenth decade - what a wonderful tonic!

Just returned from a November 15-day westbound transatlantic cruise" from Southampton, UK  to Fort Lauderdale, FL. on the wonderful Celebrity Silhouette.
Absolutely delightful - despite one stormy day. After the dark clouds left we sat on our balcony enjoying balmy sunshine! Who would've believed that November in the North Atlantic could  be so pleasant? It helped that I selected a cabin on the port  (left) side of the ship - since I assumed (or hoped) that going west, we would receive late morning/afternoon sun. So - when we weren't eating, playing bridge, attending cocktail/tea parties or playing trivia - we sat on our balcony and enjoyed reading, playing gin rummy or snoozing!
The ship's first port was Boston and we met our granddaughter Sarah for lunch at the No Name restaurant on Fish Pier - not far from the ship. (She came from her school, Brandeis University, in Waltham.)
Next port was  New York City   - sailing under the Verrazano  Bridge and  saluting the Statue of Liberty; we were invited to view our NYC arrival from the  ship's helipad which was exciting (and chilly); staff handed out blankets and hot chocolate to warm us up!
We docked  at 55th St. and 12th Ave. and remained overnight - not leaving until the afternoon of the next day! This was special since we got to visit our kids/grandkids Laura, Dave, Evan, Jeremy in Chappaqua!
Laura arranged for a car to pick us up at the ship and return us after our visit. What a fantastic treat!
The ship continued on to Bermuda and we disembarked in Fort Lauderdale -flying home to El Paso.

So why was this such a great cruise? After all we've been doing this for more than 25 years - on almost every cruise line/river ship/barge - here and abroad. But  when you're in your 10th decade - getting frailer - can't really handle stairs....like my Ben -  vacation options diminish.  The level of service on this Celebrity ship was phenomenal. Wherever Ben walked (with his cane)  someone on the staff asked if they could help lend  a hand in walking, carrying a cup/plate,  holding the elevator, whatever. Didn't matter if it was a ship's officer or someone polishing the stair railings.... kind, thoughtful service was the watchword.  Ben needed a wheelchair for getting on and off in ports and the ship's staff couldn't do enough to make sure Ben was comfortable.

Which explains why we're returning to Celebrity this December - for a five day Caribbean cruise with Joan (and granddaughters Sarah and Miriam) and Susan (and Lee) to celebrate my 90th!! This time we'll be on an older ship, the Infinity - but I'm expecting the same wonderful service!

Photos below show Celebrity Silhouette docked in Bermuda, the Library, Trifle dessert day at the buffet lunch (Ben's highlight!)  Ruth and Ben - and the lawn at the top of the ship.

 

Invasion of five-year old children without shoes

Lies are getting bigger (Fuhrer style)!
Our Orange King is sending thousands of troops to the US Mexican border for the coming "invasion"! That's what the Trump network (aka FoxyNews) is advising - and they're doing their best to remind viewers constantly about the upcoming invasion.....? The worst part - people living thousands of miles from the border - believe this is an imminent threat!


In the meantime, the Orange King continues to spend your money - on campaign trips, needless posting of troops, National Guard and more. And when there's no more money - he'll reduce Medicare, S.S. and anything else that might help the middle class!

And to extend his exposure before election day, the Orange King serves up bigger and more lies - how about the U.S. "birthright" challenge: "we're the only country" etc. BIG LIE!

Crooked voting machines; sending wrong voting addresses or moving polling places (especially if there are students or minorities involved)  - I find it so hard to understand why the Orange King has such devoted followers; do they really believe he cares about them?

Mendacity rules - hard to laugh......

Haven't posted since August 24 - so depressed at what's happening in this country. Mendacity is still the rule - and I feel hopeless since I don't have political clout or money to counter the lies.
The orange king's mantra: Deny, Deny, Deny is now chanted by all his courtiers and slaves.
And the orange king continues to gloat over his court's accomplishments while campaigning (at our expense) and criticizing/calling names of any who might dare to speak up against him.
For a brief moment I had hopes that Flake and Collins would show some gumption. Collins is either stupid or getting paid off by McConnell and Flake apparently wants to run for president so he's avoiding stepping on toes and antagonizing possible sources of funding.
And Manchin? A Democrat? Where coal is god? Impossible
So I will cast my vote in November and hope that the Democratic Party doesn't shoot itself in the foot before then and mess things up.

Wouldn't it be great if Beto gets elected?

LIES untruths, distortions, fabrications, misstatements, fibs, LIES LIES and more LIES!

The "lies" finally became "print worthy" in  the Washington Post! Previous mentions included "untruths" "distortions" and assorted euphemisms ascribed to the Orange King since he ascended to the throne. But after more than 8000 well documented lies ,WAPO decided it was time call a lie  a lie - in easy to see black and white print.
Sarah, the Orange King's lie purveyor took offense when a reporter asked how could the King deny hush payments for his sexual adventures when there are tapes recording his words.....Sarah's lie: I can tell you the "king" (she calls him President) did nothing wrong!!!!

As usual, the New Yorker magazine's cartoonist Kuper nails it:

Reality checks:
Lindsey Graham in January, 1999 - pontificating about President Clinton and reasons for impeachment:

“So the point I’m trying to make is you don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic, if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role......... 

Because impeachment is not about punishment.  Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”

Really? My goodness Senator Graham - you don't think it's necessary to clean the Orange King's White Castle? What dictionary does Graham use for defining honor and integrity?

In 2016, Mitch McConnell refused to hold hearings on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. He said it would be wrong to confirm a nominee during an election year……really?

But it's ok to hold hearings on a flawed wannabe judge who's buddies are refusing to release all his former writings? Like you can't mess with the President because he's so busy ruining the country (oops, spell check :I meant running) and he doesn't have time to appear or prepare for court? Yeah - he's working on his golf game.

Just another day in the swampy kingdom we call Congress.......

Nasty Nunes and friends in the Swamp World

Devin Nunes has  made it clear that Congress’s #1 job is bending over backwards for his Orange King - forget about the oath to his country! Hopefully the leaked recordings will bring him down the same way the clandestine tapes worked at a Romney fund raiser when he was aiming for the White House.

And what’s new with Half-Pence? Space has become his shtick and he claims that once upon a time it was “peaceful and uncontested” but now? Oh boy – it’s  “crowded and adversarial.” So,  sucking up to his Orange King's request, he wants to hurry up and create a new military branch – the Space Force. Oy!

But on the other hand - we can put Half Pence in a spacesuit and send him to outer space to examine the real estate. Maybe he can grab a few bargains while prices are low?

OMG – what’s next?

And grab your handkerchief to weep for our Secretary of Education, Poor Betsy DeVos . One of her 4 yachts, moored on U.S. lakes, slipped away from its mooring, got a few scratches and needed repair work….oh dear – do you think she can afford the repairs? Oh yes – she has them registered outside the U.S. – so she doesn’t have to pay use and other taxes levied on stateside moorings. How the rich get richer……

Changing the subject to tastier items:

Don’t plan on a European beer trip this year – not a good summer over there.

 U.K. had to ration beer during the World Cup because of a carbon dioxide shortage, but now  it’s even worse -  a barley shortage (due to extreme heat – crops drying up all over Europe) will result in sky high prices for consumers.

Since April the price of French barley has shot up by 35 percent.  

So you’ll drink something else? Price of gin and whiskey -  made with barley – will also rise.

But – there’s a silver lining: winemakers are happy since the hot summer will be great for quantity and quality of this year’s wines.

P.S.No shortage of beer if you’re remaining stateside this year; at the end of June there were  6,655 craft breweries in the U.S! (30 years ago there were less than 200.)