Saturday, November 26, 2016

OPEN LETTER TO DONNIE DRUMPF

Those who live by and follow the rules
Are foolish, naïve and simply called fools
But if you can cheat and lie through your teeth
The masses all power to you will bequeath.

And once you’re in office all policies change
Your agenda and schedule you rearrange
Then laugh at the idiots who voted you in
And remember to lie again next time to win

But when you are found out as evil and phony
Claim that the media feeds us baloney
You cheat and you steal to gain personal worth
You’re really no better than scum of the Earth!

Monday, November 14, 2016

MAJORITY RULE IS A JOKE

Hey did you hear the one about Majority Rule in America?
No?
Okay but before I explain it I wonder if you’ve ever seen this bridge I have for sale.
Two things we Americans were proud about have gone the way of the dodo.
We used to be considered and even hated as the greatest most intelligent country in the world.
And as “W” loved to say about terrorists, “They hate us for our freedom.”
Well mark November 8, 2016 as the date we showed the World how wrong they all were!  We lost the title of most intelligent nation with the election of the worst and least qualified President in the history of this nation!
As for the freedom we thought we had that will start eroding in Three – Two – …

But what about the majority rule we used to point to?
Well for one thing the Republican Party started dismantling that with their long range gerrymandering plan, an insidious way to block a majority of voters in any one region from gaining control over their government and therefore their lives.
The following are but a few examples of our lost innocence and our equally lost rights.

Congress:
The Senate consists of 100 people so it’s simple, if 51 Senators vote one way it’s done, right?
Don’t be naïve; you need to get 60 votes for a majority.  Math teachers across the country should be scratching their heads and my old one is spinning in her grave!
And the minority can even block a majority without doing anything.  Just the threat of a filibuster or saying one will start a filibuster is enough to bust up any possible progress.
Of course with the soon to be new Congress any filibuster performed by the meek Democratic Senators, the ones on the left of the aisle without any balls, will be to stop the reversal of progress made during the last 5 decades.

The Popular Vote:
If a majority of people in America vote for one candidate that person wins right?
Naïve again! This popular belief has been proven wrong again.  You can win an election by over 600,000 votes and still lose the Presidency in America due to an arcane useless and annoying old stupid system called the Electoral College.  Sadly the name belies the fact.  The anti-popular vote counter is not a college. In fact I doubt it would qualify as kindergarten! There is no intelligence in using this old measure and it is way past time to abolish it!  Republicans of course would never allow this to happen so unless Americans wake up and suddenly start reading and learning we are stuck with the Electoral Pre School forever.

Money Trumps All:
Since too many people in America no longer have the time or sadly the intelligence to read and actually understand half the issues a well placed and highly funded advertisement campaign can fool all of them.  The ads are glitzy and may even contain a celebrity or two.  They are repeated over and over and over as if by some ‘black site’ torture specialist until the viewer (they don’t read anymore) has no concept of what is true and what is incredibly not. The under educated masses then follow blindly what they’ve been told is fact.
So in a way this is the only time majority rules – Money spent.

Evil Beats Nice:
Tap into hate and fear like Hitler and you too can be a winner in America today!
It turns out it is easier to shout hate than love. Peace is by definition quiet. Hate is anger filled rage. The decibel level of hate drowns out all other emotions and even though many more people would rather have peace the loud minority, just as a few rotten apples, ruins the entire electorate!

And Finally Tradition:
President Obama was a very good president and also a very good man with an incredibly good family.
The hate that must’ve been festering in the minds of racists across America had no place to go in a peaceful society.  It had to be suppressed in quiet groups of White Supremacists or KKK clans.
But an evil man realized the anger just below the surface of these cretins and he tested the waters with a campaign of distrust about the President’s heritage.
His mean spirited conniving plan to draw out the basest emotions of the lower than scum of the Earth creatures worked and he became legend.
Intelligence said this would never work her and now.
The smartest among us felt that no Hitler like fuehrer could muster enough support to take over in 21st century America.
Once again the majority was wrong.
The idiots of the minority were able to muster enough votes and fool the majority into staying home instead of voting. “Nothing to see here, run along. He can’t win so don’t bother voting and wasting your time. Oh look at that cat video. Aren’t cats so cute?”
And so America is now in the hands of a racist evil child molesting tax evading pussy groping ego maniacal anti Semitic anti minority anti humanity anti climate change dictator loving violence promoting Russia loving turd and his equally evil in every respect vice president who famously thinks evolution is a hoax.  In his case he happens to be right since his intelligence is somewhat beneath that of a chimpanzee!


And so the majority has to sit and wait and pray that they can survive the next few years of the reign of terror we allowed to happen.

Oh, and abut that bridge - Leave me your contact info in the comments.  I'll make you a great deal!

DOUBLE STANDARDS AND FALSE EQUIVALENCIES

Our culture has long accepted double standards as standard operating procedure.
It is pervasive in our humor:
            Man on park bench talking to friend:             “I know a place where for $5 they give you a beer a sandwich and take you in the back to get laid.”
            Friend: “What? For $5 you get a sandwich a beer and get laid?”
            Man: “That’s right, a beer a sandwich and get laid FOR $5!”
            Friend: “So you’ve been there?”
            Man: “No, but my sister goes all the time!”
The double standard is also evident in our general parenting culture.
Consider stories of a father warning his daughter to stay away from aggressive boys at parties or on dates but congratulating his son for ‘getting lucky!’
One wonders with whose daughter the son is having that luck!
And of course the double standard has been in our business world since, well forever!
According to statistics women on average get paid 78% what men do for the same work! 
That appears to be up from previous polls.
So at least we are moving in the correct direction, right?
Wrong!
It is clear that our political world views women as inferior or at least the electorate feels that way.  And that does not bode well for equality.
And if you wish to analyze why the people who voted in the last election felt that a woman could not do the job a man could you don’t have to look too far.
The answer is in front of your face and in nearly every newspaper.
Look at the media!
The man lied every time he opened his mouth but the media never once held his feet to the fire. He was given a pass even when his lies contradicted his previous lies from a few minutes earlier.
But the media pursued and harped on allegations that the woman lied because she had said she was a different person in private than in public.
Really?
Is this earth shattering news?
Who among us are not different in that way?
In fact if you wish to be honest at least with yourself think about how you act with your parents; your children; your best friends; your casual acquaintances; your boss; or your siblings.
Forget the Three Faces of Eve; most of us are more akin to Sybil!
And as for false equivalencies let’s use the father-son-daughter analogy from above let’s look at the two candidates for the highest and most important office in America.
On the one hand we have a man who is alleged to have had sex with several underage girls and does in fact have a court date to discuss this disgusting predatory behavior.  He has also allegedly assaulted, groped and possibly raped many of age women.  He certainly bragged about his prowess in that regard noting that his celebrity afforded him carte blanche when it came to women and their bodies.
And then on the other hand we have a woman who has done none of those reprehensible things but whose husband had fooled around, consensually with other women.
How could these stories be reported with anything like a similarity?
CNN constantly had well respected knowledgeable reporters and analysts who favored the woman paired against the most racist lying team of supporters for the man as if they were equals.
The woman’s side discussed policies and fixes for all our problems in America while the man’s group merely said “Wrong!”
And for every new scandal or absurd utterance or non policy statement made by the man the media also reported their concern over 6 year old emails by the woman.
And when the woman apologized for the very slight error of doing what her predecessor had done with her emails it received very little air time. It remained the single most damning thing she had done in 30 years of public service.
Of course over the same 30 years the man did nothing to promote mankind and in fact harmed humanity with his deliberate frauds.
But through it all the media placed both the man and the woman on equal footing.
This ultimate betrayal of our trust allowed a man with the least qualifications to be anything other than what he is and always will be, a con man to be considered the equal to a woman who far out shined him in every possible important way.
One media company that cannot or should not be allowed to use the word ‘news’ anywhere in its title has stayed the course in their incredibly unfair and biased coverage of the man and the woman.
On Fox and Friends Thursday, November 10 at 8:30 am Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade, those pillars of lies, injustice and the un-American way insisted that the Department of Justice under President Trump indict, convict, and imprison Hillary Clinton for her use of a private server.
Equivalency alert!
There is international precedent for governments imprisoning their opposition.
These include Putin’s Russia, Yanukovych’s Ukraine, Maduro’s Venezuela, Military Junta’s Myanmar, Kim Jong-un’s Korea, Khamenei’s Iran, Museveni’s Uganda, Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Sen’s Cambodia, and Mubarak’s Egypt.
On final equivalency and this one may be the scariest of all.
What is happening here and now in America is eerily equivalent to 1930s Germany.
And so we now must face a future with a disgusting evil racist pig in the White House who has already surrounded himself with a team of even worse disgusting and evil racist pigs.
Shame on all of you who voted for the man because of his gender.
Shame on all of you who voted for candidates that had no chance of winning.
And even more shame for those of you who did not vote at all.  You may not want your freedom but your apathy could very well be the reason the rest of us lose ours!
Is this our new standard?

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

RIP AMERICA

The world knows how awfully stupid the voters of America were yesterday.
Let's hope we survive this disgusting piece of shit!
As for your rights, you just elected a Supreme Court that will systematically disassemble all of them for the next 3 decades.
And to those of you who helped this know nothing dictator and his whore into office I hope you pay dearly for it!

Saturday, November 5, 2016

VOTE! IT'S YOUR RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN!

Our elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
But why did we choose Tuesday?
According to people in the know the reason is we do not wish to infringe on anyone's Sabbath & those Sabbath days are generally Saturday & Sunday.
They also felt that Monday might be considered a travel day returning from wherever so Tuesday was the next and best choice.
BUT THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY AND WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO BETTER!
I propose all ALL STATES should have a minimum of 2 extra early voting days and the polls should be open on the Saturday & Sunday before Election Tuesday! 
If Saturday is your Sabbath you may vote on Sunday and vice versa!

Another reason for this easy fix to an unnecessary problem is that many people who would like to vote have jobs and many of them will not get paid for the time they have to wait on line at the polling place to exercise their Constitutionally guaranteed right to vote!
Of course that assumes they can find a polling place since one political party is making it harder and harder for the masses to vote by closing as many of them as they can.
So just as important to the above early voting days suggestion is the plea that we make ELECTION DAY A PAID NATIONAL HOLIDAY!
And while I have my preference as to which Political Party I support in this and every election you will note that I do not care who the people who would benefit by this simple fix vote for!

That's because voting is one of our most important rights and it should be made easier not harder.
Our Democracy should not disenfranchise any citizen PERIOD!!!



IF YOU AGREE PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND ASK YOUR CONGRESSMAN OR WOMAN TO HELP GET THIS DONE!

AND OF COURSE VOTE!

Thursday, October 27, 2016

THE DEMOCRATIC CHORUS LINE

Kiss your ass goodbye
The GOP demands it
They will never let you win
So your only choice
Do not let them in, vote for Hillary!

Only eight Supremes
They always block our choices
We can only sit and steam
Waiting for them to leave and join lobby firms
As they end their terms

Why?
Why do they persist?
While we all get pissed
We must all remember!

Kiss your ass goodbye
Unless the Dems take over
We must vote GOP out!
Won’t forget, can’t regret
Voting for all Dems

We must vote for Dems!
Only vote all Dems!

Gone, all our futures gone
If we let that con
Man into the White House!

Don’t kiss your ass goodbye
But think about tomorrow!

(Think about tomorrow)
You must do the real right thing
Don’t forget, won’t regret
What you do for you, you must do for you!

Vote for Dems and you!


Apologies and thanks to all the wonderfully talented people below!

Songwriters
Marvin Hamlisch;Edward Kleban
Published by
SONY/ATV HARMONY;AMERICAN COMPASS MUSIC CORP.;WREN MUSIC CO.
Song Discussions is protected by U.S. Patent 9401941. Other patents pending.

Friday, October 21, 2016

HOW DO YOU SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?

Please try to sing the following to the tune of Maria from
The Sound of Music.
Click the above for the tune




His swagger is annoying but it fits his pompous stare
He speaks on every subject but the truth he tells is rare
And there upon his old head is that really ugly hair
He doesn’t even know our Constitution

He loves to fondle women and then say it wasn’t so
And when it comes to cheating you in business he’s a pro
The man is really dangerous from head down to his toe
He simply should be in an institution

But Ivanka says a word in his defense
At least he’s chosen Pence

How do you solve a problem like the Donald?
How do you stop a bigot in his tracks?
How do you dump a loser like the Donald?
Before the GOP entirely cracks

Many a thing the Party tries to tell him
Many a thing the jerk should understand
But how do you make him hear
Impossible I fear
How to his massive ego make a dent?
Oh how can you solve a problem like the Donald?
Curtsy and greet our Madame President!

When we hear him we’re confused
More disgusted than bemused
And we never know exactly what he’ll say

As predictable as weather
And as smart as pre-tanned leather

He’s a jackass
He’s a moron
He’s Repub

Like a virus he will fester
In real life he’s just a jester
He will put the middle class all out of work

He is evil; he is crass
Has his head way up his ass

He’s a headache
He’s a danger
He’s a jerk!

How do you solve a problem like the Donald?
How do you stop a bigot in his tracks?
How do you dump a loser like the Donald?
Before the GOP entirely cracks

Many a thing the Party tries to tell him
Many a thing the jerk should understand
But how do you make him hear
Impossible I fear
How to his massive ego make a dent?
Oh how can you solve a problem like the Donald?

Curtsy and smile for Madame President!

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

VOTE FOR YOUR OWN BEST INTEREST!

People who worked their entire adult lives and shared their salaries with Uncle Sam's IRS and didn't live so high off the hog as to be thought of as extravagant may be forgiven for expecting to be able to retire in relative comfort.
One of the ways they can do so is by tapping into their retirement accounts and adding a small but nice monthly stipend from the Social Security Administration (SSA.)
The money they receive from the SSA is actually their own money.
This money was automatically deducted from every paycheck from their lifelong salaries and placed in a holding fund to be doled out on a monthly basis once they retire.
And of course this money is taxed because, absurdly why not?
This is not an entitlement in the nasty sense of the word as used by the GOP but rather a withdrawal as from a bank account into which you have been depositing for decades THAT YOU ARE MOST CERTAINLY ENTITLED TO GET BACK!
But the SSA oversees the funds as a pari-mutual ponzi-like account for all retirees.
This means the money that was deducted while you worked goes into the fund to be paid to those who retired before you. And when you retire the money that is deposited into your bank account is that which is being deducted from current workers.
Will the money be enough to live on?
Perhaps.
But with a constant rise in the cost of living you will need a like increase in the amount you receive in your SSA check.  This yearly adjustment is known as a "Cost of Living Adjustment or COLA.
It is not a sugary soft drink but can be sweet when you realize how much more things cost while you are no longer working.
Last year Congress in their infinite wisdom, and mainly because the Conservative Republicans have been in control decided that retirees did not need an increase even though most of their costs rose.  In fact even the costs associated with Medicare, a key point of a retiree's healthcare did go up noticeably and will most likely continue to increase every year forever!
In fact just about everything a person needs to purchase in order to live comfortably cost more EXCEPT for the price of a gallon of gas.
You see the SSA uses the price of a gallon of gas AND ONLY THE PRICE OF A GALLON OF GAS to determine a retirees COLA.  This even though as we age we tend to drive a bit less and even stop driving altogether in our later years.
So why use that one component?
Who the hell knows!
I guess one could say, There's no damn reason for it, it's just our policy!
For the coming year retirees can look forward to an embarrassingly low 0.3% increase - A ZERO POINT THREE PERCENT COLA!
Talk about no sugar!
So Congress thinks the cost of living only went up that tiny amount?
REALLY?
I hate to sour you on the issue but Congress gave themselves the slightly higher raise of 1.6%!
So I guess their cost of living went up more than us regular humans.
GUESS AGAIN!
Want to really get upset?
Here's the real salary and benefits these DC do-nothings get!
Notice that on top of a nice salary they are allowed to keep their outside income. This means they will make sure their outside DC concerns are well taken care of.  And if it takes time for them to do so tough. I mean it's not like they can be fired, right?
They also get healthcare for themselves and their families.  I wonder if people like GOP family values hypocrite Newt Gingrich gets healthcare for all three of his wives and families.
They also have an allowance which kind of fits since most of them act like children!
The allowance is so that they don't have to use any of their ill-gotten salaries, outside money and hidden under the table slush funds on such mundane things as stamps.  And they need many stamps so they can send out mailers to their constituents touting the wonderful job they are doing and explaining why they need you to donate to their reelection campaign and to buy more stamps they don't pay for!
And depending on when they were elected they even get a very nice pension FOR LIFE!  Just like the rest of us, right?
But they are in government and many consider their jobs to be civil service.  And we all know civil servants aren't very well off.
Really?
Our leaders can tell you any story they like but they are not your average civil servants ala the postman or sanitary engineer.
Check this chart of our leaders by wealth. Note the numbers on the right ARE IN MILLIONS!
Note the first name on the list is repugnant Republican Darrell Issa who's net worth exceeds that of the total of the next three members of Congress.
Issa's wealth is massive and is supposedly the result of his car alarm business. But there are many questions since his business ethics are lower than those of Donald Trump, and that's saying something!
Issa, who loves to go after any Democrat as corrupt actually belongs in jail for his long list of well known crimes!
But back to humans:
Retirees, and there are more every day, week, year are basically screwed for another year.  But this can change and it's up to you.
We have 3 weeks to go until a very important election.  If everyone who is retired, will eventually retire, knows a family member who is retired or is going to retire or just plain wants to know that a lifetime's worth of work with a portion of one's salary being taken into the SSA should be able to retire comfortably and receive the healthcare he or she deserves MUST VOTE THE DO-NOTHING GOP OUT OF CONGRESS!
If we can turn both chambers of Congress blue (Democratic majority) we can ensure getting a fair Supreme Court Justice with a 5-4 majority and all that goes with that.
When voters go into the polling booth they tend to think the other guy is bad but their rep is good.
THINK AGAIN!
All of our futures depend on getting the GOP out of Congress!
Think they are worthy of your support for more terms?  Just look who their pick for President of the United States is this year!
What more do you need to know?
If we can turn Congress blue every one of us can proudly say 'America is saved and we helped!'
And the collateral benefits could very well be the overturning of Citizen's United, possibly the worst ruling ever by a SCOTUS.  It is right up there with the appointment of G W Bush as President even though he finished behind the actual winner Al Gore in 2000. (Thanks Chad!)
There are 14 days left until November and only 20 days till November 8th and the most important election of our lives so you don't have to wait too long to do the right thing!
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

THE CRAVEN

Once upon a midnight dreary
Whilst I pondered weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious election cycle I had known
Suddenly a thought so fleeting
As if yonder sheep were bleating
And nefarious words appeared as if by ghost they had been flown

There upon my ‘puter screen POW
Are these words to be consumed now?
How could such a childish rant be thought and lo be written down?
Yet with sorrow didst I read it
Devoid of truth and lacking sane wit
Were these words the product of a clear mind or a sick sick clown?

Sadly thought I this cannot be
From this terror please set me free
For my soul is far too tired and heart skips oh too many beats
Yet I note that many out there
Think this heathen with the strange hair
Worthy of our nation’s nod despite insane 3 am tweets

Let us not be building fences
As if we fear Señor Wences
Don’t lump all from other lands with hatred and a pillory
Turn away from fear, hate and sin
Repubs be gone let hope and love win
With head held high stand tall and vote the right choice clearly Hillary



Should We Trump?


Monday, September 26, 2016

OF LUGGAGE & LAVENDER - PART VI (of VI)

Breakfast at the Friday Harbor Suites was followed by a fast turn around and departure for the Washington State Ferry.


A few photos of the harbor area before departing is in order.



This would take us to Anacortes and our last coach ride of the tour to Seattle and the familiar Warwick Hotel.







Is that a sub??
The Russians are coming,
The Russians are coming?
Tiny lighthouse on
an equally tiny island





We dropped our bags and took a quick walk to the famous Pike Place Market.

I wonder what the market specializes in?

I think it may have something to do with the sea.

The market runs for many blocks and in some spots 3 levels with arts and crafts sprinkled in with the obvious.                            
After eating and window shopping I negotiated for a better price on hermetically sealed delicious salmon.
Who knew you could actually negotiate to get a better price just by talking too much?  Luckily I have been known to have that skill.
From the market you can see the fisherman's pier and the ferris wheel we visited a few ferry rides ago.






Armed with back pack filled with boxed salmon we moseyed to the monorail and a short, one stop trip to the Space Needle. The elevator to the 520' top moves at 10MPH.  Sadly your tummy only moves at 9mph so wait a moment before getting off.

The views from the top are quite breath taking as well.













You can see the world from up here!






But as beautiful as it was up there the beauty down below was even better!

Because that's where we found the Seattle Center's exhibit of Chihuly Glass.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we had never heard of the place or Dale Chihuly's product but will now never forget it!
Here are but a few examples of his immaculate pieces, believe me I took more photos: (As always you can click on any photo to enlarge it.)














































































































































We considered purchasing a few of these works of art but felt it would be hard to get them in our luggage what with all the lavender we bought so we reluctantly passed.  Prices for any of the individual works was quite reasonable. Most were in the $10,000 to $25,000 range but you could get a steal at $5,000 on a couple.



Before heading back to the Warwick we stopped in for a drink at the museum coffee shop.



Even this place was adorned with artwork, on the walls, ceiling and embedded in the glass museum box tables. 


Every table had a different inset under glass.  Very clever!









Our last night on the RST ended on a high note, at least dinner-wise in a private dining room at the back of LolaRestaurant.

This was touted as Greek food but it was Greek food like a pair of Crocs is Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers or Camden, NJ is Santorini, Greece.

The program wrap included a final speech from Roger and the sharing of emails for all the weary but satisfied travelers.

Even the subway stations have examples of artwork with murals on most of the walls.





 We took the light rail directly to the SeaTac airport for our flight back to reality.

Cheers to those who journeyed with us:
Allen & Sue; Ann & Trish; Ginny; Edna; Michael & Vi; Avery & Debby; Marion & Tom; Elaine & Bill; Nancy & Phil; Susan & Dan; Wayne & Bobbie; Louise & Richard; Henry & Mary; Anna & Buck; Jack & Doris; Bev; Gayle & Sharon; Rebecca & Kate & of course Roger.


We trust all had a safe trip home, may the road always rise up to meet you!