Blog Catalog

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Entertainment Overnight -- Donald Trump Version




Big man, pig man
Ha, ha, charade you are
You well heeled big wheel
Ha, ha, charade you are
And when your hand is on your heart
You're nearly a good laugh
Almost a joker
With your head down in the pig bin
Saying 'Keep on digging'
Pig stain on your fat chin
What do you hope to find
Down in the pig mine?
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry

Bus stop rat bag
Ha, ha, charade you are
You f*cked up old hag
Ha, ha, charade you are
You radiate cold shafts of broken glass
You're nearly a good laugh
Almost worth a quick grin
You like the feel of steel
You're hot stuff with a hatpin
And good fun with a hand gun
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry

Hey you, Whitehouse
Ha, ha, charade you are
You house proud town mouse
Ha, ha, charade you are
You're trying to keep our feelings off the street
You're nearly a real treat
All tight lips and cold feet
And do you feel abused?
You got to stem the evil tide
And keep it all on the inside
Mary you're nearly a treat
Mary you're nearly a treat
But you're really a cry


(Scathing) Quotes of the Day on Donald Trump -- From a Long Time Republican


Image result for stupid trump

Fantastic, spot on writing today on this President and what he's doing to us, all of us, the Presidency and nation from the New York Times.

The Full-Spectrum Corruption 

of Donald Trump


Just a few---of the best--quotes.

First up, just the byline alone:

Everyone and everything he touches rots.

Going on from there.

A party that once spoke with urgency and apparent conviction about the importance of ethical leadership — fidelity, honesty, honor, decency, good manners, setting a good example — has hitched its wagon to the most thoroughly and comprehensively corrupt individual who has ever been elected president. Some of the men who have been elected president have been unscrupulous in certain areas — infidelity, lying, dirty tricks, financial misdeeds — but we’ve never before had the full-spectrum corruption we see in the life of Donald Trump...

...the moral indictment against Mr. Trump is obvious and overwhelming. Corruption has been evident in Mr. Trump’s private and public life, in how he has treated his wives, in his business dealings and scams, in his pathological lying and cruelty, in his bullying and shamelessness, in his conspiracy-mongering and appeals to the darkest impulses of Americans. (Senator Bob Corker, a Republican, refers to the president’s race-based comments as a “base stimulator.”) Mr. Trump’s corruptions are ingrained, the result of a lifetime of habits. It was delusional to think he would change for the better once he became president...

In any case, the Republican Party’s as-yet unbreakable attachment to Mr. Trump is coming at quite a cost. There is the rank hypocrisy, the squandered ability to venerate public character or criticize Democrats who lack it, and the damage to the white Evangelical movement, which has for the most part enthusiastically rallied to Mr. Trump and as a result has been largely discredited. There is also likely to be an electoral price to pay in November.

But the greatest damage is being done to our civic culture and our politics. Mr. Trump and the Republican Party are right now the chief emblem of corruption and cynicism in American political life, of an ethic of might makes right. Dehumanizing others is fashionable and truth is relative. (“Truth isn’t truth,” in the infamous words of Mr. Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.) They are stripping politics of its high purpose and nobility....

A warning to my Republican friends: The worst is yet to come. Thanks to the work of Robert Mueller — a distinguished public servant, not the leader of a “group of Angry Democrat Thugs” — we are going to discover deeper and deeper layers to Mr. Trump’s corruption. When we do, I expect Mr. Trump will unravel further as he feels more cornered, more desperate, more enraged; his behavior will become ever more erratic, disordered and crazed.

And the source.

Peter Wehner


By Peter Wehner
Mr. Wehner served in the previous three Republican administrations and is a contributing opinion writer.


The Star Has It Right Today About Any Possible Panhandling Ordinance


Yes sir and ma'am, I think our Star newspaper has this correct today.

Image result for panhandling

Kansas City's panhandling proposal 

would wage war on the poor


Not only is this obviously and logically an abridgment of people's First Amendment Rights, as the Star so rightly points out, but what, exactly, are we attacking here? What are we, as a city, trying to correct?

If they're out there, possibly humiliating themselves, begging, after all, frequently either in boiling hot or freezing cold temperatures, and harming no one, what's the problem? As a supposed "Christian nation", why wouldn't we leave them alone? Where's the harm? Or are we just ashamed we have poor in our midst and don't want to be reminded? Or, worse, we don't want outsiders, visitors, seeing we have poor?

What is it, exactly, Kansas City?

They inconvenience us while we sit at the traffic lights?

The writer/author Studs Terkel once said he intentionally kept money on him in case he crossed paths with anyone asking for help. He said he knew it was tough out there and they didn't do this because it was fun. Or easy.

But we'll have none of that in our evirons, eh, Kansas City?

How dare they be poor. Or mentally-challenged. Or to have made poor decisions. Or whatever.

Right?



Sunday, August 19, 2018

This Orwellian Presidency


Did you see this? The latest out of Rudy Giuliani's mouth? And in public? On tape, no less?

Giuliani says 'truth isn't truth' 


I'm telling you, beyond all the rest of the bizarre acts and behaviors and statements from this President and people in his administration, it's clear this is the most Orwellian President and Presidency ever.

Never forget:

Image result for war is peace freedom is slavery ignorance is strength

Which reminds me of another quote that so predicted and reminds me of this man, this supposed leader, this President, tragically.

Image result for As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents,

God help us.

And if he or she can't help us then forgive.

#vote


I Have Great Neighbors


Check that out.


I've no idea who they are and they don't know me but these are some great neighbors, that's all I can say.

Smart. Educated. Intelligent.

Heck, I bet they're even good-looking.



Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.


Saturday, August 18, 2018

Entertainment Overnight -- Birthday Edition


Happy birthday, Shelley Winters, born this day, 1920.



This, boys and girls, is what TV used to look like, believe it or not.


Whither Boomers?



Personally, I see a lot of postings online, advertisements, promoting living abroad for retirement. (Yeah, I know. It's coming up, for better and worse). Just a few examples:






And check this out. Even AARP is pointing the way.


And the thing is, I get the feeling a bunch of us Boomers are going to go be expats in other nations like Mexico, Belize and yes, as shown in the picture above, Portugal. Check out the reasons:

--The dollar goes further 
--Health care isn't as absurdly, obscenely expensive 
--There isn't as much wealth inequality in other nations and finally, a big factor is that 
--No other nation has as many guns and shootings and killings as we do in the US

One more thing. Better, older, saved architecture. 

Oh. Another. The food. Frequently in these places, great food.

Yeah.

I see a LOT of us leaving.


Star Wins Big Award



Yes sir and ma'am, our own Kansas City Star won a terrific award this week for its report on Kansas government keeping information away from its own citizens.


The award is for this series:


Fantastic.

With this thought, it's the perfect time to say the Star needs to do more hard-hitting articles like these. This is what newspapers are for. This is why we need newspapers generally and the Star, here, locally. If the Star doesn't do it, no one else will. Certainly not some local blogger.

We need them to do more hard-hitting articles like these on state and local governments in the area and on both sides of the state line. This and do more articles on local people in the metropolitan area. Both types of these articles will gain far better readership for them, too. 

Total wins for all of us.


Friday, August 17, 2018

Catholicism: Sexual Abuse Over the Centuries


So one more time the story breaks. This, a few days ago.

Catholic Priests Abused 1,000 Children 

in Pennsylvania, Report Says 


Again.

One more time.

This one, below, was just last year.


This next one was from this July, before this latest Pennsylvania incident was reported.


Not only have they abused children but they've abused nuns in the religion, too.

How long are we going to put up with this?

How long are we going to tolerate Catholic Priests abusing students, children and yes, nuns, too?

How long are they going to get away with it?

How long are Catholics going to sit in the pews, listening to these men, then giving them money and supporting them?

What kind of insane world is this?

Image result for catholic church and sexual abuse

This episode, just announced, goes back decades. It's been estimated it goes back about 7 decades, to be specific. Seventy years.

Seventy years of children being abused. Boys and girls. Students. Children.

But please, keep in mind, this has been going on, as said in the headline here, for centuries.

Centuries.

Hundreds of years. Literally.

Some reminders: This one especially resonated with me due to the numbers of children found who had died. Had been killed.




This sexual abuse of children has not only occurred through the centuries but across the globe, across the planet, nation to nation.




This was revealed this week, too.

Head of Catholic Bishops Paid Pedophiles to Disappear

Too frequently, repeatedly, in fact, up to now, this is what we've gotten in response, from the Church and its leaders.

Image result for catholic church and sexual abuse

When do we all, around the world, nation by nation, finally say and demand "Enough!"?

When do Catholics?

Link:



Saturday, August 4, 2018

With All This Plastic In Our Oceans...


I keep seeing, day after day, video on all the plastic in our oceans and on sea life, choking, killing them. Maybe you've seen some of them.







So with all this, is anyone asking what the cruise ships are doing with their waste from onboard?

Are they still dumping? Indiscriminately?

Shouldn't there be laws, international laws, all making this illegal?

Can we not all agree on that?


Friday, July 27, 2018

Has Interweb Social Media Peaked?


Yesterday, it was Facebook.

Image result for facebook logo

Facebook stock drops more than 20% 

after warning that revenue growth will take a hit



Today, it's Twitter.


Image result for twitter logo


Twitter Reports Q2 Drop in Users, 

Stock Falls 12 Percent



I ask, has social media peaked?

Are we tired of this now?

Are we moving on, as a society?


Look What Missouri City is 2nd Worst in the Nation for Property Crime


There's an article out today on MSN ranking the cities with the highest and lowest rates of property crime.

20 Cities With the Highest and Lowest Rates 

of Property Crime


And a Missouri city is in the 2nd to worst spot on it.

And it's not St. Louis.

And it's not Kansas City.


It is, however the "Queen City of the Ozarks."

2. Springfield, Mo.

Population: 168,307
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 74.88

So much for the stereotype of Midwest towns as safe, sleepy places. In Springfield, the property crime rate is more than eight times higher than of the city with the lowest property crime rate.

Springfield, unfortunately, isn’t alone in the neighborhood, if it can make them feel any better. Not that far away Little Rock, Arkansas is 4th worst in the nation.

4. Little Rock, Ark.

Population: 198,800
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 63.23

Most of the cities with high property crime rates aren’t necessarily prone to violent crime. However, Little Rock is the exception. Reviews.org says its analysis found the Arkansas capital would be a contender for a spot on a top-10 list of violent crime as well.

What’s truly odd is the city is in the number one slot.

1. Salt Lake City, Utah

Population: 193,918
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 75.4

Can you believe it? Salt Lake City, capital of Utah and home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka the Mormon Church), has the highest property crime rate in the country according to Reviews.org. There were 75.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents in 2016.

I thought those Mormons were law-abiding and had everything under control out West. Clearly wrong here.

The great news?

Kansas City is nowhere on the list.

Have a great weekend, y'all.


Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Quotes of the Day -- On Presidential Treason and Why We Must Speak Up and Out


Image result for trump putin

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." --Albert Einstein

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." --Thomas Jefferson

"Softest on the people who need discipline, hardest on people who need compassion." --Unknown
"He who does not oppose evil, commands it to be done." --Leonardo Da Vinci

"What you allow, you encourage." --Carrie Heinze-Musgrove

"Your silence is consent." --Plato

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." --Desmond Tutu

"Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor." --Ginette Sagan

"Every social injustice is not only cruel, but it is economic waste." --William Feather

"Standing up to bullies is the hallmark of a civilized society." --Robert Reich

"One does not have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and absence of understanding are sufficient." --Charles M. Blow

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever humans endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormenter, never the tormented." --Elie Wiesel

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest it." --Elie Wiesel

"You think that your silence on certain topics, perhaps in the face of injustice, or unkindness, or mean-spiritedness, causes others to reserve judgement of you. Far otherwise; your silence utters very loud: you have no oracle to speak, no wisdom to offer, and your fellow people have learned that you cannot help them. Doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her voice? We would be well to do likewise." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." --Martin Luther King Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." --Martin Luther King Jr.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." --Martin Luther King Jr.

"There are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice." --Ayaan Hirsi Ali

"I chose to defend human rights because I cannot maintain my silence in the face of injustice."  --Chen Guangcheng

"The more you answer the injustice of others, the more you heal your own soul."  --Julia Post

"If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it." --Zora Neale Hurston

"I have come to believe that the one thing people cannot bear is a sense of injustice. Poverty, cold, even hunger, are more bearable than injustice."  --Milicent Fenwick

"The glaring injustice is there for all who are not blinded by prejudice, to see." --Bram Fischer

"Real love cannot be silent in the face of injustice." --Mel White

"I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." --Lily Tomlin

"Do not tolerate brilliant jerks, the cost to teamwork is too high." --Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO

"It takes a village to raise a child, and it also takes a village to allow the abuse of one."  --Unknown

"As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, and one for helping others." --Audrey Hepburn

"The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings." --Albert Schweitzer

"What does it mean to hold space for someone else? It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgment and control."   --Heather Plett

"Remember: Oppression thrives off isolation. Connection is the only thing that can save you. Remember: Oppression thrives on superficiality. Honesty about your struggles is the key to your liberation. Remember: Your story can help save someone’s life. Your silence contributes to someone else’s struggle. Speak so we can all be free. Love so we all can be liberated. The moment is now. We need you." --Yolo Akili

"It is precisely because of my love for humanity that I get enraged at systems that prevent people from flourishing and being free. It’s frustrating to see my righteous anger at unjust systems misinterpreted as hatred for individuals, but it’s more frustrating to see the oppressed suffer while those maladjusted to injustice remain silent. I won’t be silent. Silence is violence. "--Nyle Fort

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out for I was not a socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists and I did not speak out for I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out for I was not a not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me."  --Martin Niemöller

"Whether you give a man a fish or teach him how to fish, your job hasn’t changed. Your job is fish. It is not to make value judgments about whether the person is deserving of fish. It is not to criticize the person for not knowing how to fish already. And it is certainly not your job to stand around and debate the relative efficacy of fish charity vs. fish education while the person in front of you goes hungry. This person is your fellow human. Your job is fish   --Unknown

"Have you ever wondered what you would do during the civil rights movement? Stop wondering. It is the civil rights movement. What are you doing?"  --Chris Savage

"Certainly, I think there is a lot to be gained from people gathering together to show solidarity. But in a world where the institutions that we’re protesting in front of are losing their legitimacy and their power, I’m not sure that this has the impact that it once did. If we think of evil as this one person, this one big event, then we tend to want to match that with one big display of resistance. But actually, if evil is banal — a set of ordinary, mundane decisions day by day — then maybe we have to start living differently day by day."  --Pollack


Treasonous Trump Coming to Town


So President Trump is reportedly coming to Kansas City on July 24 to host a luncheon for Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley. 


Hawley is running against Senator Claire McCaskill for her seat in Congress. The luncheon reception costs $1,000 per person, $2,000 per couple. A couple can pay $10,000 to attend the luncheon reception and get a photo with Trump. If they still want one, that is, after today's rather treasonous events.

Image result for treasonous trump

Let's get out there and protest, folks.

Whatya' say?


Monday, July 16, 2018

Common Items That Are Actually Luxuries We Already Take For Granted

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Herein, as I said, luxuries, true luxuries of modern life we take for granted--and that are actually relatively new, too, being less than 100 years old, most of them.

  1. Heating in our homes, furnaces, for when it's cold
  2. Cool air from a machine in that same house when it's otherwise hot out
  3. Machines that can and do whisk us across our cities, states or even nations, quickly and easily
  4. The cooling and/or heating of those machines
  5. Hot water for the using
  6. Cold water
  7. Toilets. Enough said.
  8. Grocery stores loaded with food
  9. Food, abundantly, readily available
  10. Extremely affordable food
  11. Blue jeans (Yes, blue jeans).
  12. Medicines available to cure us, frequently quickly
  13. Affordable medicines. More true in the rest of the world than the US but still true, even here where health care is far too high priced.
There are more but that's enough for now. That's a lot, certainly.

A great deal to appreciate that we may, as I said, take for granted.

Have a great day.


Sunday, July 15, 2018

The Nightmares That Have Been This Overseas Trip and the Only Three Explanations for Donald Trump


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This trip President Trump has made to Europe--England, Scotland and now, on to Helsinki--has been yet one more collection of fiascos, no surprise, for the nation, what with the his insulting the Queen of England and so, the UK people, to start.

Twitter counts ways 

US President Donald Trump 

'insulted' the Queen


Then he insulted their Prime Minister, Theresa May.

Donald Trump Attacks Theresa May 

Over Brexit;

 Brits Slam 'Rudeness


Not done there, he had to insult our NATO allies, as well.

Trump NATO summit starts with insults 

to US allies


Then, of course, once that damage was done, the next day he took it all back.

President Trump denies 

he criticized British prime minister


A couple days ago, at his golf course---of course--in Scotland, he called the EU an enemy.

On eve of Russia summit, 

Trump calls European Union 'a foe'


The EU.

An enemy.

Our largest trading partner, hands down.


And now, to wrap up this nightmare of an overseas trip, he is to meet with our self-sworn enemy, Russia, and their President Vladimir Putin, for a completely private meeting--translators only. This goes against all national and international protocol and security, both. No President has ever had such a meeting, nor should they, without advisors and witnesses, overseeing said meeting.

Ladies and gentlemen, honestly, this President is one of three things. He is either 
  1. really, densely stupid, 
  2. insane or 
  3. treasonous to our nation and doing all this for Russia 
It's one of those three. It's got to be. There are no other explanations. What else is there? What else could it all be?

Seen on Facebook earlier today:

"So, lemme see if I get this.

Two of the most powerful men in the world, rightly or wrongly, are having a one-on-one in secret.

Both are world-class liars.

Putin is a long-time professional KGB (secret police & intel agency rolled into one) operative, thug, cold-blooded murderer, greedy authoritarian head of Russia who may have something (well, DOES have something but we don't know what just yet) on Trump, who is an easily manipulated con man, grifter, ignoramus wannabe authoritarian leader of the U.S..

What could possibly go wrong?"


--Gordon E Moore, friend of a FB friend