Saturday, October 15, 2016
RIP, Helga Frank
I didn't realize that Helga passed away in August. Such a sweet soul. Always liked and admired her immensely.
Helga Frank and Katherine Arthur - friends!
Helga Frank and Katherine Arthur - friends!
Damaged Brand
Time to get on it:
As Politico pointed out on Friday, at the end of September the company, led by Trump and his three oldest children, announced its new hotel brand would be called Scion. That means “descendant of a notable family,” noted the press release.
What’s really notable, of course, is that Scion is the rare—and possibly singular—venture of the Trump commercial empire that does not wear the blustering patriarch’s name like a badge.
Doom And Gloom
Paul Ryan on the prospect of Hillary as President:
That's an aesthetic judgment, of course, subject to one's taste. There are other values than color and excitement. Hitler's Germany was a pretty exciting place. Exciting autobahns and stadiums and Volkswagens and torchlit rallies. Not interested in going back, however.
“What vision do Hillary Clinton and her party offer the people? They want an America that doesn’t stand out. They want an America that is ordinary. There is a gloom and grayness to things,” he continued.
That's an aesthetic judgment, of course, subject to one's taste. There are other values than color and excitement. Hitler's Germany was a pretty exciting place. Exciting autobahns and stadiums and Volkswagens and torchlit rallies. Not interested in going back, however.
Illegal As Fuck, Which Of Course Means The New Mexico GOP Is Eager To Do It
Ted Cruz's baby!:
The mailer shows a woman in a cold blue hue peeking through her blinds. “When the Democrats win the election and you didn’t do your part… your neighbors will know,” it reads, in all caps.
The back shows a map of houses, some tagged with red check marks in blue pinpoints.
“Do your part in this election,” it says. “After all, voting is a matter of public record.”
October Rain
It's raining. Very un-California-like. Like universal laws have been bent for some god's whimsy.
0.65 inches of rain on Friday at Sacramento Executive Airport - enough to already make this the wettest October in Sacramento since 2012.
0.65 inches of rain on Friday at Sacramento Executive Airport - enough to already make this the wettest October in Sacramento since 2012.
We Regret Any Embarrassment
Resuming basement cleanup. Stumbled across this in a 2005 Harper's Magazine:
A story headlined "Syria seeks our help to woo U.S." in Saturday's "Weekend Australian" misquoted National Party senator Sandy Macdonald. The quote stated, "Syria is a country that has been a bastard state for nearly forty years," but should have read, "Syria is a country that has been a Baathist state for nearly forty years." "The Australian" regrets any embarrassment caused by the error.
Dragging Carlos Slim Into It Too
In addition to all the rich Jews of the world, Trump is blaming Carlos Slim, the richest person in Mexico, and much richer than Trump will ever be, for all his problems. I hope it's true, but it's probably just coincidence. For someone at Slim's pay grade, dealing with Trump is like stepping in dogshit, and there's no reason he would like tracking it around the house any better than any other Mexican:
Donald Trump will broaden his attack against the media to hit globalism and the Clinton Foundation by charging that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is part of a biased coalition working in collusion with the Clinton campaign and its supporters to generate news reports of decades-old allegations from several women.
What If Only Goths Were Allowed To Vote?
Voters want to know:
People began imagining other "if only" scenarios. For examples, what if only goats were allowed to vote?
Or how would things look if only dogs were allowed to vote?
Or what if the election was decided by goths?
Donald Is Finally Being Held Responsible
Donald hates being held accountable for anything!:
The problem is that the media has taken his own words about how he lunges at women and starts kissing and groping them, and turned up real-world instances of him allegedly doing so. Trump is used to getting away with this sort of chatter, these sorts of actions. He’s not getting away with it now, and it infuriates him.
So disruptive is this rare moment of accountability to everything Donald Trump’s ever known in 40-plus years of public life that he can’t just blame the media, either. He can’t just blame the Clintons. That he’s losing the presidential race, and facing public allegations of past sexual assault from more women every day is, in his mind, the sign of a global conspiracy. It's all he's got.
Cancel the Last Debate
I was thinking this myself last night. Time to pull the plug:
He’s demonstrated (along with his running mate) that he has no interest in dealing with “truth” and “reality.” Tallying up his comments in the second debate, he likely said more lies (33!) than truths. You cannot debate a pathological liar. The rules of the contest assume a certain level grasp of reality that are no longer present on the Republican side.
So what would people see in a debate? Clinton trying to retain her dignity next to your worst drunk asshole uncle? That does nothing to serve democracy. In fact, it cheapens it.
People have all the information they need to make their decisions. Pull the debate.
How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind
Funny and perceptive article:
The rural folk with the Trump signs in their yards say their way of life is dying, and you smirk and say what they really mean is that blacks and gays are finally getting equal rights and they hate it. But I'm telling you, they say their way of life is dying because their way of life is dying. It's not their imagination. No movie about the future portrays it as being full of traditional families, hunters, and coal mines. Well, except for Hunger Games, and that was depicted as an apocalypse.
Consent Is The Key
Butt Boil himself:
RUSH LIMBAUGH: You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is? One thing. You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element. Do you know what it is? Consent. If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it's perfectly fine. Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there's no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Why the Republican Party is Going to Die
Even conservative intellectuals are beginning to get a clue:
This revisionism, according to Roy, points to a much bigger conservative delusion: They cannot admit that their party’s voters are motivated far more by white identity politics than by conservative ideals.
“Conservative intellectuals, and conservative politicians, have been in kind of a bubble,” Roy says. “We’ve had this view that the voters were with us on conservatism — philosophical, economic conservatism. In reality, the gravitational center of the Republican Party is white nationalism.”
Conservative intellectuals, for the most part, are horrified by racism. When they talk about believing in individual rights and equality, they really mean it. Because the Republican Party is the vehicle through which their ideas can be implemented, they need to believe that the party isn’t racist.
So they deny the party’s racist history, that its post-1964 success was a direct result of attracting whites disillusioned by the Democrats’ embrace of civil rights. And they deny that to this day, Republican voters are driven more by white resentment than by a principled commitment to the free market and individual liberty.
"Masterminds" and "Deepwater Horizon"
This afternoon, Joe the Plumber returned from two months as a carnie with California Carnival, in order to visit with Bella, and pay back some money he owed me. To celebrate, we went out to eat. Joe wants to write a screenplay about carnival life.
We went to see the (based on real life) armored-car-robbery comedy movie "Masterminds", with Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig. Very funny! A must see!
Then, we went to the adjacent cinema and caught most of "Deepwater Horizon", with Mark Wahlberg. That is an excellent drama about the terrible 2010 Gulf-of-Mexico accident; fraught with tension and reminiscent of 1997's "Titanic". Highly-recommended!
We went to see the (based on real life) armored-car-robbery comedy movie "Masterminds", with Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig. Very funny! A must see!
Then, we went to the adjacent cinema and caught most of "Deepwater Horizon", with Mark Wahlberg. That is an excellent drama about the terrible 2010 Gulf-of-Mexico accident; fraught with tension and reminiscent of 1997's "Titanic". Highly-recommended!
Cleaning Gutters III
The annual ritual of cleaning gutters culminates with climbing to the summit of the house, a pitched pinnacle 2.5 floors above the ground, where I do two tasks.
First, I wrap the furnace chimney with duct tape. I started doing this in the 90's, when the chimney started dropping bricks on unsuspecting passersby. The logical thing to do would be to remortar the chimney, but that's a lot of work, so instead I just cut away old duct tape and put new duct tape on. That duct tape works!
Secondly, I take the pole branch cutter and do primitive bonsai on the bottom of the leaf canopy of the oak tree extending over the house. That oak tree makes me uneasy. It's not counterbalanced in any kind of meaningful way, so some rainy, blustery evening I'm sure a ton of wood will crash through the roof. To kick that date as far into the future as possible, I concentrate on cutting branches on the far end of the moment-arm of the canopy, so when that branch finally falls, only 1,800 pounds of wood will fall through the roof, rather than a ton.
Waving a pole branch cutter around on the pinnacle of the house reminds me of a crab or a praying mantis waving its arm around. Sometimes praying mantises even join me, and we wave arms together. This year, I saw no praying mantis, but I did see an enormous butterfly - a monarch?
Climbing down from the summit is probably the most dangerous thing I do all year at the house. I use two ladders. The ladder from the shed roof to the bedroom roof isn't on a flat surface, so I have to call upon rusty rock-climbing skills and move as slowly and deliberately as possible in order not to topple as I dismount.
As I get older, scrambling over the roof will get harder. I remember taking ballet in the 80's from aging George Zoritch, who in his day was one of the greatest ballet stars in the world. One day, Zoritch showed up to class limping, with bruises on his face and his arm in a sling. He got overconfident on the roof of his house. If it could happen to him it certainly could happen to me. Important to stay focused and humble!
Rain is forecast for Friday in Sacramento - early for the usual California rainy season (which typically starts Nov. 1st). I'm as ready as I've been in years!
First, I wrap the furnace chimney with duct tape. I started doing this in the 90's, when the chimney started dropping bricks on unsuspecting passersby. The logical thing to do would be to remortar the chimney, but that's a lot of work, so instead I just cut away old duct tape and put new duct tape on. That duct tape works!
Secondly, I take the pole branch cutter and do primitive bonsai on the bottom of the leaf canopy of the oak tree extending over the house. That oak tree makes me uneasy. It's not counterbalanced in any kind of meaningful way, so some rainy, blustery evening I'm sure a ton of wood will crash through the roof. To kick that date as far into the future as possible, I concentrate on cutting branches on the far end of the moment-arm of the canopy, so when that branch finally falls, only 1,800 pounds of wood will fall through the roof, rather than a ton.
Waving a pole branch cutter around on the pinnacle of the house reminds me of a crab or a praying mantis waving its arm around. Sometimes praying mantises even join me, and we wave arms together. This year, I saw no praying mantis, but I did see an enormous butterfly - a monarch?
Climbing down from the summit is probably the most dangerous thing I do all year at the house. I use two ladders. The ladder from the shed roof to the bedroom roof isn't on a flat surface, so I have to call upon rusty rock-climbing skills and move as slowly and deliberately as possible in order not to topple as I dismount.
As I get older, scrambling over the roof will get harder. I remember taking ballet in the 80's from aging George Zoritch, who in his day was one of the greatest ballet stars in the world. One day, Zoritch showed up to class limping, with bruises on his face and his arm in a sling. He got overconfident on the roof of his house. If it could happen to him it certainly could happen to me. Important to stay focused and humble!
Rain is forecast for Friday in Sacramento - early for the usual California rainy season (which typically starts Nov. 1st). I'm as ready as I've been in years!
Unhealthy Trump Country
Rife with addictions:
Jacob Howell, a 33-year-old recovering from a heroin addiction, has a familiar story. His mom introduced him to methamphetamine at age 15, then he got hooked on painkillers prescribed for swelling in his leg, then he switched to heroin.
He’s stayed off drugs for a year now. He likes Trump, thinks he has “the business sense” to help the country. But he doesn’t believe Trump — and certainly not Hillary Clinton — is going to improve Austin’s health.
“No,” he said. “I don’t think they care enough about us.”
Cleaning Gutters II
Today's gutter-cleaning concern is, where did that enormous black widow go?
Last I saw, the black widow was descending on a thread from the gutter. I whacked the thread, and the black widow - vanished.
Last I saw, the black widow was descending on a thread from the gutter. I whacked the thread, and the black widow - vanished.
Chaos At The Flame Club
If Bella hadn't gotten sick we might have been involved with this shooting too. We often passed by at 1:30 a.m. The place made me uneasy, given that so many people were in cars in the parking lot, and comparatively few inside. A lack of control:
It was getting close to last call early Saturday morning at Flame Club, a midtown dive bar known for its cheap drinks and understated vibe, when Diana Anderson and her friend Tanya Faison spotted trouble brewing.
Two men at the bar began raising their voices, then swinging their fists.
“Everybody get out!” a manager yelled, and dozens of people abandoned their beers and cocktails and poured out the door.
“As soon as we got outside, we heard gunshots,” Anderson said. Their first instinct was to leave. But as they ran from the bar at 16th and V, “something told me I needed to go back,” Anderson said. They returned to find two men lying on the ground, and one was not moving. Anderson, who said she has long been certified in CPR but had never had to use it in an emergency situation, stepped in.
Locker Room Language
Smh. And now, he's blaming Beyoncé for locker room language. No shame:
Kanellis was shocked when Trump ousted her from his reality show for failing to meet his sky-high standards of boardroom decorum. “Some of the comments I've heard in the past in the boardroom had been 100 times worse than what I said,” she told Niagara Frontier Publications. Indeed, according to a recent Associated Press investigation, Trump was a regular perpetrator of “locker-room talk” in the boardroom.
Putin's Parrot
It's disturbing that Kremlin mistakes in reporting Hillary's E-Mails are appearing in Donald's mouth less than 24 hours later. Donald is simply Putin's Parrot:
Russian intelligence → Wikileaks → Sputnik → Donald Trump → Trump’s followers … all in just a few hours. The process was almost certainly greased by having Sputnik know in advance what the intelligence team had hacked for the latest Wikileaks agitprop, but that’s still impressively fast movement of talking points from Putin’s desk to the Mohegan Sun Arena outside Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Cleaning Gutters I
Cleaning gutters; trimming hedge (storm's coming Friday). One year, I found a bullet in the gutter, but this year, so far, meh, silverfish.
Stress Positions
Torturing the deserving:
The infighting’s only going to get worse from here, folks. Some members don’t need Trump at all, some absolutely, and many more are somewhere in between. Trump himself will watch all of this play out on cable news, soaking it up with sadistic glee. If punishing Republican members of Congress for no reason beyond a passing fancy is his end goal, he’s running the most professional campaign of our lifetimes.
Sunday, October 09, 2016
Mr. Pussy Grabber
Mr. Pussy Grabber tried to grab an election out of his whatever, but his 'mopey tantrum' missed. "Just words." Huh. Words get people killed at his level.
Wow, Even The Gropenator Is Bailing
He knows how this story ends:
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Saturday morning that he will not vote for the GOP presidential nominee this year following Donald Trump’s obscene sexual comments about women.
"For the first time since I became a citizen in 1983, I will not vote for the Republican candidate for President,” the former governor of California said in a statement.
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