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The Case Against Trump And once again I remind everyone--

My wife passed away near the end of September 11 years ago. One of her favorite holidays was Halloween, and so we decided to hold her wake on that night. I rented out the clubhouse here at my townhome complex, and some very good friends gathered to eat, drink a bit, and reminisce about their favorite things about her. After a while, it became a little warm, and so we opened the clubhouse doors to get a little of the cool, crisp late October air. A few minutes later, a little kid in costume stood in the doorway, and said, "Trick or Treat!" An old friend of ours looked at me and smiled as we bot

No, the heart of the Ukraine scandal was Trump and Giuliani. They made it very clear that what was important to them was that Ukraine announce that they were investigating the Bidens, and that they were willing to withhold approved aid until they got the announcement. It was the announcement that was important to them, not evidence of wrong doing or exoneration. The important thing was to score the political hit. Speaking of exonerating evidence, Joe Biden has been exonerated of wrong doing in Ukraine by multiple parties. This includes a Republican led Senate investigation that

A man in Phoenix called his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and said, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough." “Pop, what are you talking about?” the son screams. “We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the father says. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so will you call your sister in Chicago and tell her?” Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. “Like hell they’re getting divorced,” she shouts, “I’l

For those who don't subscribe, the BOH went up today with the Adventurers Club and a lot of other material! I don't know what it looks like yet: I only did the scanning; clean-up was left to other volunteers. Still, it's the cheapest way there is to read the old stuff!

Fred Rogers never talked down to anyone. He treated everyone with respect and compassion. He always told the truth, and didn't shy away from addressing difficult issues. No wonder this administration doesn't understand that that comparison is no insult.

To expand on that last thought, it's taken me decades to figure out exactly why I think it is that the people who were drawn in to run for Republican office haven't grasped the idea of compromise. But here it is (I'm very rambling tonight but hopefully this makes sense). In the 1970's, the Republican party had moved away from ideology. It was vaguely pro-business but it was difficult to point to a set of principles and pull together a group of voters to tell them "we're moving in this direction". Gingrich won election to the House in '76 or '78 and immediately began agi

There is a lot I could say, but the flotsam and jetsam rising to the top of my brain is pretty much this: at this time next year, I hope all of us are still around and commenting on these boards. Maybe some of us are getting to be old codgers, but this is a damn wonderful community. I've never met any of you in person and maybe never will, nor am I the best or most prolific writer here, but dang, this is a great community of nut-jobs to be part of. Stay safe and I look forward to your next posts!

Well, if there was any evidence that the administration was "aggressively protecting the vulnerable" then maybe that would be a real strategy, even if I disagreed with it. But the administration has put out a mandate that nursing homes have to test, without giving them money or testing kits. They haven't provided PPE sufficient for nursing homes or VA hospitals, much less more broadly. The "vulnerable" in the US includes those who have heart conditions, asthma, other lung problems, diabetes, and who are old...according to the government. I have asthma, a hea

They get really tetchy when you move their carts, too. I remember one woman whose cart was almost completely blocking the aisle. I shifted it a little sideways and said, "There, now it's blocking the *entire* aisle. That was what you were aiming for, wasn't it?" She didn't seem to appreciate my help.

She beat out John Bonham for Drummer of the Year one year. Bonzo once confronted her and said she couldn't even last through one Zep song. So she sat down and knocked out three in a row.

I feel like I should be a better human being, and care about that. But at this point I just can't.

And I want to go back to the office without risk of getting a life threatening illness; I want my daughter to grow up in a world that doesn’t involve fascism. I want a leader who isn’t bull horning for racism, and who at least at the basic level, can get through 5 sentences without lying. I want a pony. The options are what they are. I get it. But. This is the system. These are the current rules. We have to play by those rules and we have to play to win. The only way to achieve that, currently, again, from a non-Trump point of view, is to vote Biden/Harris or, preferab

I'm the exact opposite. I could sign my name 5 times, and at least 2 wouldn't match. I keep joking that if my handwriting gets any worse I'll have to go to medical school.

STUPIDLY ASKED QUESTIONS The questions below about Australia, are from potential visitors. They were posted on an Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have a sense of humour. Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (UK). A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die. Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA) A: Depends how much you've been drinking. Q: I want to walk from

Because of course they did: Senate Republicans offer constitutional amendment to block Supreme Court packing From the article: "Make no mistake, if Democrats win the election, they will end the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court, expanding the number of justices to advance their radical political agenda, entrenching their power for generations, and destroying the foundations of our democratic system," [Senator Ted] Cruz said in a statement. "We must take action before election day to safeguard the Supreme Court and the constitutional liberties

I dropped off my ballot at one the of 48 early voting stations in Clark County about an hour and a half ago.

I've played in a few campaigns over the decades where the DM made every session a nail-biting near-death experience. Over time the players can become fatigued and demoralized as their cherished characters nearly die again and again. Nihilism can set in or sometimes players will skip a week purely to catch a breather from the action. It's important to let the characters (and their players) catch their breath, feel heroic or simply experience how powerful they've become over the course of a campaign. It's like a palate cleanser. It resets the taste buds for the next delicious

OMG, it's jumped species!

It's a stabacus.

I want better candidates to vote for. Same as I did in 2016.

I remember that Star Trek episode

Within limits, sure. It's easy to say "the government will pay for it", but that does not make it free. How much more taxes are you willing to pay (not impose on other segments of the population - pay yourself - "who should pay taxes?" is a completely separate question from "what should taxes pay for")? Or, what other programs (being realistic) are you willing to cut? More funding for COVID, so less for other medical conditions? More old people get hospitalized, so reduce social security benefits (or tax them more heavily) to compensate? A special medical tax? Just like the d

The theater industry has been on the ropes for years, pinched between the extortionist terms of the film distributors and their own business costs. AIUI their only significant source of profit is the concession stand, where the the extortionist film distribution costs are passed down to the rest of us. (In particular, the distributors offload all the risk onto the theaters, taking around 90% of ticket sales for the first couple of weeks of a movie's run, then allowing the theater to keep more of the box office takes for subsequent weeks... if the movie doesn't flop.) I genuinely believe tha

SOON

A physics teacher, an engineering teacher, and a shop class teacher all get on a plane. As they're getting comfortable, the pilot comes in over the intercom. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen," he says, "I understand we have some teachers on our flight. We've got a special treat for them: the plane we're sitting in was actually constructed by their students!" The physics teacher and the engineering teacher look at each other, shriek, and start beating on the locked door. Meanwhile, the shop class teacher is lounging in his seat, cool as a cucumber. Eventual

"Water is wet" is dead on. Good article, but it confirms more than anything. I honestly think that's where a lot of the outrage is in this country. The two sets of law and rules. People KNOW life's not fair, what is pissing them off is that our governments and the laws the produce seem to set things up as much as it can for MAXIMUM unfairness. "Corporations are people, my friend" but I've yet to see a corporation executed in Texas even when its actions cost lives. A rich kid kills four people drunk driving, has it blamed on Afluenza, and gets less jail time

Trump was a catalyst, but the recipe for this condition had been simmering in American politics, and society, for a long time. I believe Trump, or someone like Trump, was needed at this time to make it boil over, so everyone could see it and feel it. Like the civil rights movement, the Great Depression, the Civil War, sometimes it takes frightful events to force a nation to course-correct. I'm hoping it doesn't get as bad as those, but the precedents are frightening. Yet they're also hopeful, because after each crisis America has emerged better.

Two submissions to the this year's Wildlife photo contest. I feel the turtle picture is particularly appropriate for 2020.

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