We should acknowledge the one positive thing that Mr. Chump's campaign has done; the American public has seen how the sausage is made. The hard facts of party infighting, media manipulation, lies, damn lies, and statistics, are all in plain view, like it or not.
My breaking point came when I started learning about Rule 9 of the Republican National Committee. Why am I doing this? It serves no purpose except to stoke more idle speculation about the body politic, and it has become tiresome. I'll still read what others have to say about this national trainweck, but Que sera, sera. There are other worthy topics of discussion.
-----
In 1991, at the end of the Cold War, the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists stood at 17 minutes before midnight. It is now 3 minutes before midnight, where it's been since last year.
There is a lot of sabre rattling going on; India/Pakistan, North Korea, and the Big Dog, Russia, with the most nukes on the planet. It doesn't ease my mind that our Air Force has been test dropping mock nukes in the Nevada desert recently. Routine exercise? Maybe, but it should be a matter of concern. There are too many crazy people in the ranks of international leadership.
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"...here I think of Old Dog and me and a young man of fifty at the latest seminar, all of us mateless, discussing relationships, but women really hate that crap."
In defense, I'd like to point out that we were talking about relationships and not the nuances of grabbing any pussy. I think the subject was brought up by the youngster of the group, perhaps agonizing over the fact that he may end up like a couple of geezers of his acquaintance.
As for what kind of crap women hate these days, I haven't a clue. It hasn't come up and I'm not about to start any fracas with the ladies in the venue. Always trying to keep it friendly, folks.
-----
Another topic at the latest seminar was YouTube, when I asked Uncle Ken if he'd viewed the Keith Olbermann rants. He was quite vehement in his rejection of YouTube, stating "I'd rather read a book."
I like to read books, too, but I was surprised at the intensity of his opinion. There are some things that aren't in books, sometimes because the market is too small. It takes a lot of dough to publish a book which may not be commercially viable. A video, in some cases, can make it easier to acquire new knowledge.
For instance, a while back I was looking for a good recipe for biscuits and gravy. There were plenty of written recipes, but it was the abundance of online videos that helped me understand what makes a good sausage gravy. Watching the cook prepare the gravy, in real time, is the kind of thing you can't get in a book.
Another situation is when I built my first 3D printer, which was a kit from a Kickstarter project. There were no written instructions, and the online documentation from the project creator was very weak. But a series of amateur videos on YouTube got me up and running with no problems. Damn thing worked the first time I fired it up.
Of course, there are a lot crap videos on YouTube, maybe upwards of 90%, but I don't watch those. Besides, where else can you see Nicky Minaj shake that booty, on demand?
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Go Cubs Go!
It was something of a mystery as to why Nixon didn't, as one of his advisers advised, make of the tapes a bonfire on the White House lawn. I think most likely he thought, like so many politicians do, that he would never get caught. Also I think he thought history would record him as a great genius. And I'm sure he thought he could use them against his people if the need arose.
I wonder why there hasn't been more speculation as to what happens if Dumbo meets an unfortunate accident before the election, and come to think of it, after he won, but before he is sworn in,. I wonder if we had a record of Pence's google searches if we would find anything,
We had this question before, who is really a republican or democrat. I suppose the republicans could tighten up their rules as to who is allowed to vote in their primaries. That would keep folks like Dumbo and some of the more extreme tea partiers out, but then who would they have left? I guess the big question is whither do the Trumpists drift after he goes down in flames? Does Dumbo keep it up? Do they find another leader, but who could replace Dumbo? I think maybe Pence could ride the wave between the two factions, but who knows?
This whole thing has men across the country thinking back on their locker room experience, and I guess we remember different locker rooms. Back in my teens, probably the only time when I spent time in actual locker rooms, I heard talk not that different from what Dumbo has spouted, but even then it would be from the mouth of some big mouth asshole, that nobody dared challenge, because we didn't know much about that stuff. And certainly after 25 I never heard talk like that.
Let's take this particular quote:
Did you ever hear anybody say anything like that without everybody around them rolling their eyes and thinking what an asshole?
Old Dog seems to think it is not such a big deal, and if it was just those few phrases we have heard so far maybe it isn't (I still think it is), but it comes in context of all the other remarks he has made, like blood coming out of Megan Kelly's Whatever. And maybe we can shrug it off, and here I think of Old Dog and me and a young man of fifty at the latest seminar, all of us mateless, discussing relationships, but women really hate that crap. And they have been voting for the last hundred years.
And then there is the landslide effect among Republicans who see the ship sinking and are ready to abandon it in a heartbeat anyway, and Dumbo's quotes give them a chance to do that and seem a little noble at the same time.
I'm sorry that I am taking up so much Beaglesonian time with politics, but that will be all that will be going through my mind until election day, and probably a few days afterwards. There is one other thing occupying my mind, and I know we almost never speak of sports, but I have to say this morning after coming back from a three run deficit to take the lead in the top of the ninth and holding it in the bottom to take the series and stand one opponent away from the World Serious, Go Cubs Go!
I wonder why there hasn't been more speculation as to what happens if Dumbo meets an unfortunate accident before the election, and come to think of it, after he won, but before he is sworn in,. I wonder if we had a record of Pence's google searches if we would find anything,
We had this question before, who is really a republican or democrat. I suppose the republicans could tighten up their rules as to who is allowed to vote in their primaries. That would keep folks like Dumbo and some of the more extreme tea partiers out, but then who would they have left? I guess the big question is whither do the Trumpists drift after he goes down in flames? Does Dumbo keep it up? Do they find another leader, but who could replace Dumbo? I think maybe Pence could ride the wave between the two factions, but who knows?
This whole thing has men across the country thinking back on their locker room experience, and I guess we remember different locker rooms. Back in my teens, probably the only time when I spent time in actual locker rooms, I heard talk not that different from what Dumbo has spouted, but even then it would be from the mouth of some big mouth asshole, that nobody dared challenge, because we didn't know much about that stuff. And certainly after 25 I never heard talk like that.
Let's take this particular quote:
- "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."
Did you ever hear anybody say anything like that without everybody around them rolling their eyes and thinking what an asshole?
Old Dog seems to think it is not such a big deal, and if it was just those few phrases we have heard so far maybe it isn't (I still think it is), but it comes in context of all the other remarks he has made, like blood coming out of Megan Kelly's Whatever. And maybe we can shrug it off, and here I think of Old Dog and me and a young man of fifty at the latest seminar, all of us mateless, discussing relationships, but women really hate that crap. And they have been voting for the last hundred years.
And then there is the landslide effect among Republicans who see the ship sinking and are ready to abandon it in a heartbeat anyway, and Dumbo's quotes give them a chance to do that and seem a little noble at the same time.
I'm sorry that I am taking up so much Beaglesonian time with politics, but that will be all that will be going through my mind until election day, and probably a few days afterwards. There is one other thing occupying my mind, and I know we almost never speak of sports, but I have to say this morning after coming back from a three run deficit to take the lead in the top of the ninth and holding it in the bottom to take the series and stand one opponent away from the World Serious, Go Cubs Go!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Tapes? What Tapes?
It was indeed during my Bircher days when all that Watergate crap was going down. Lots of people were wondering why Nixon didn't just destroy the tapes, or why he even had them made in the first place, and I thought the Birchers' theory made at least as much sense as anybody else's. Of course it was just speculation, but I don't think those questions have ever been definitively answered to this day. The reason I brought it up is that it's the earliest memory I have of somebody deliberately making a tape or video of themselves doing something wrong, although it seems like people do it all the time nowadays. Okay, maybe it's not all the time, but you can't help but notice when something like that hits the news, and you have to wonder what they were thinking. You also have to wonder why those TV people kept that Trump tape all these years. It was recorded by mistake and wasn't used in the interview. Why didn't they just erase that part of it?
I don't think the Republican establishment can dump Trump at this stage of the game. He was duly nominated by a majority of the delegates at the convention, and I don't know how they could un-nominate him now. Similarly, I don't know what the procedure is for replacing a candidate who dies or becomes incapacitated before the election. I seem to remember there is something in the constitution about that, but I couldn't find it tonight. I also don't know how the Republican Party could get rid of the people who support Trump. If they are card carrying party members, I suppose they could be expelled from the party, but that wouldn't stop them from making speeches and stuff like that.
I haven't spent a lot of time in locker rooms either, but I remember hearing guys talking like that about women, and not just in high school either, but of course they didn't talk that way when women or children were present. I always wondered if the women talked the same way about us when we weren't around, and I think at least some of them did. My hypothetical wife used to work in a factory that was mostly women, and she said that the girls on the midnight shift would put a drunken sailor to shame. There was a guy that I knew in the army who came up here to live after he got out. He got a job at that factory, and they put him on midnights because nobody else wanted it and he was low seniority. He quit after a week or two because he couldn't take the sexual harassment that those women were dishing out. Of course they didn't call it "sexual harassment" in those days because that hadn't been invented yet, but that's what it would be called today, and those ladies would be in big trouble.
I don't think the Republican establishment can dump Trump at this stage of the game. He was duly nominated by a majority of the delegates at the convention, and I don't know how they could un-nominate him now. Similarly, I don't know what the procedure is for replacing a candidate who dies or becomes incapacitated before the election. I seem to remember there is something in the constitution about that, but I couldn't find it tonight. I also don't know how the Republican Party could get rid of the people who support Trump. If they are card carrying party members, I suppose they could be expelled from the party, but that wouldn't stop them from making speeches and stuff like that.
I haven't spent a lot of time in locker rooms either, but I remember hearing guys talking like that about women, and not just in high school either, but of course they didn't talk that way when women or children were present. I always wondered if the women talked the same way about us when we weren't around, and I think at least some of them did. My hypothetical wife used to work in a factory that was mostly women, and she said that the girls on the midnight shift would put a drunken sailor to shame. There was a guy that I knew in the army who came up here to live after he got out. He got a job at that factory, and they put him on midnights because nobody else wanted it and he was low seniority. He quit after a week or two because he couldn't take the sexual harassment that those women were dishing out. Of course they didn't call it "sexual harassment" in those days because that hadn't been invented yet, but that's what it would be called today, and those ladies would be in big trouble.
It's getting old
It seems likely to me that Mr. Chump didn't know the mike was live; he was set up for a television interview and the cameras were outside the bus. Note how his vocal demeanor changed when he exited the bus and went into his act with the lovely young associate. Once he knew he was on camera he slipped easily into his more public persona.
Regardless, the public outcry over this blunder baffles me, as if it is the most morally repugnant thing that has ever occurred. A couple of guys yakking about getting some action does not deserve this hue and outcry, as distasteful as it may have been. It smacks of hypocrisy. And nobody has mentioned that this was a rare admission of failure by Mr. Chump; his efforts to hit on the married lady were for nought.
What is sleazier, in my mind, is his interview with Howard Stern where he accepts Stern's assessment of his daughter Ivanka as a "piece of ass." That is an attitude of a pimp, not a father. I don't think Mr. Beagles would have taken it too kindly if any of his daughter's suitors would have spoken in such a manner. "Gee, your daughter is quite a piece of ass, huh?" I like to think that some facial reconstruction would have been in order. And the fat fool continues to bloviate about his "respect for women" when he has shown little for his own daughter.
-----
A good explanation of the Twatwaffle's behavior is in a recent Salon article where he is described as a dummy. It makes sense to me.
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/09/stupid-and-contagious-what-if-donald-trump-is-not-dumbing-down-and-actually-is-this-dumb/
-----
Once this election is over, I wonder what the long term effects will be. Knowing what can happen during a campaign, what kind of people will be drawn to public service or decide to run for office? They may have already disqualified themselves by foolish tweets and Instagram photos of spring break in Florida. Will they be excused for their youthful indiscretions?
Regardless, the public outcry over this blunder baffles me, as if it is the most morally repugnant thing that has ever occurred. A couple of guys yakking about getting some action does not deserve this hue and outcry, as distasteful as it may have been. It smacks of hypocrisy. And nobody has mentioned that this was a rare admission of failure by Mr. Chump; his efforts to hit on the married lady were for nought.
What is sleazier, in my mind, is his interview with Howard Stern where he accepts Stern's assessment of his daughter Ivanka as a "piece of ass." That is an attitude of a pimp, not a father. I don't think Mr. Beagles would have taken it too kindly if any of his daughter's suitors would have spoken in such a manner. "Gee, your daughter is quite a piece of ass, huh?" I like to think that some facial reconstruction would have been in order. And the fat fool continues to bloviate about his "respect for women" when he has shown little for his own daughter.
-----
A good explanation of the Twatwaffle's behavior is in a recent Salon article where he is described as a dummy. It makes sense to me.
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/09/stupid-and-contagious-what-if-donald-trump-is-not-dumbing-down-and-actually-is-this-dumb/
-----
Once this election is over, I wonder what the long term effects will be. Knowing what can happen during a campaign, what kind of people will be drawn to public service or decide to run for office? They may have already disqualified themselves by foolish tweets and Instagram photos of spring break in Florida. Will they be excused for their youthful indiscretions?
Bumping off Trump
Dumbo knew the mike was on. He didn't care, how could anything coming out of his mouth be bad? Wasn't he God's gift to women? They should be grateful for any attention he gave them. I don't spend a lot of time in locker rooms, but there are plenty of times when it's just us guys, and plenty of times when some of the guys are assholes and I've never heard anything like that.
And how about that Billy Bush? What a sycophant, following Dumbo around with his tongue hanging out. Surprised it took them so long to fire him.
Who believed that the white house tapes were under the control of somebody besides Dick? It sounds like Beagles was still in his Bircher days.
Believe Uncle Ken, Trump is just a big fucking asshole. Doesn't everything he has done back that up? You know I almost feel sorry for the Republicans, it's not really their fault, although I think coddling the likes of Sarah and the tea partiers helped pave the way, But Trump may have happened anyway. And certainly they passed on the chance to slap him down early on, but nobody, myself included, thought he had a snowball's chance. And now Dumbo is riding the elephant, and he doesn't give a shit about the health of the beast, and the reps are stuck. If they denounce Trump, they will lose the support of his people and the dems will tar them with the Trunp brush anyway.
When Christianity was finally championed by Constantine there was some talk among the Christians about whether those who had gone along to get along should be kicked out of the church. I wonder if the reps will boot the Trumpists. Probably not, there are too many of them.
And there has been some talk from Cruz about why are these revelations coming out now, specifically he is wondering why they didn't come out when he was mano a mano with Trump, specifically did the dems hold back then so that they could face the easier to beat Dumbo. I don't know that Lyin' Ted looked harder to beat than Trump at the time.
Just a digression. How come Trump has no universally accepted sobriquet? We have used several at the Institute and not one has managed to stick, likewise the lame stream press. The Foxies have been using The Donald and Mr Trump. Mr Trump, like they are first and foremost toadies and they want the world to know it.
I don't think we know what role, if any, the dems had in leaking the video, or in sending those pages of his tax return, and why only those pages. I expect we will find out when the hurly burly of the campaign dies down.
Yon Pence does not have a lean and hungry look, indeed he is something of a schmo, but next to Dumbo he looks like a noble statesman. There has been some talk about somehow slipping Pence in for Trump, nothing easy, but at this point what do the reps have to lose? I'm thinking of some kind of palace coup, but as long as we are speaking of Cassius, I wonder what would happen if something bad should happen to Mr Trump.
And how about that Billy Bush? What a sycophant, following Dumbo around with his tongue hanging out. Surprised it took them so long to fire him.
Who believed that the white house tapes were under the control of somebody besides Dick? It sounds like Beagles was still in his Bircher days.
Believe Uncle Ken, Trump is just a big fucking asshole. Doesn't everything he has done back that up? You know I almost feel sorry for the Republicans, it's not really their fault, although I think coddling the likes of Sarah and the tea partiers helped pave the way, But Trump may have happened anyway. And certainly they passed on the chance to slap him down early on, but nobody, myself included, thought he had a snowball's chance. And now Dumbo is riding the elephant, and he doesn't give a shit about the health of the beast, and the reps are stuck. If they denounce Trump, they will lose the support of his people and the dems will tar them with the Trunp brush anyway.
When Christianity was finally championed by Constantine there was some talk among the Christians about whether those who had gone along to get along should be kicked out of the church. I wonder if the reps will boot the Trumpists. Probably not, there are too many of them.
And there has been some talk from Cruz about why are these revelations coming out now, specifically he is wondering why they didn't come out when he was mano a mano with Trump, specifically did the dems hold back then so that they could face the easier to beat Dumbo. I don't know that Lyin' Ted looked harder to beat than Trump at the time.
Just a digression. How come Trump has no universally accepted sobriquet? We have used several at the Institute and not one has managed to stick, likewise the lame stream press. The Foxies have been using The Donald and Mr Trump. Mr Trump, like they are first and foremost toadies and they want the world to know it.
I don't think we know what role, if any, the dems had in leaking the video, or in sending those pages of his tax return, and why only those pages. I expect we will find out when the hurly burly of the campaign dies down.
Yon Pence does not have a lean and hungry look, indeed he is something of a schmo, but next to Dumbo he looks like a noble statesman. There has been some talk about somehow slipping Pence in for Trump, nothing easy, but at this point what do the reps have to lose? I'm thinking of some kind of palace coup, but as long as we are speaking of Cassius, I wonder what would happen if something bad should happen to Mr Trump.
Monday, October 10, 2016
The Microphone is Always On
The first rule of gun safety is to handle every gun as if it was loaded. There is an old saying that many people have been shot with unloaded guns, but it's frequently misinterpreted. What it really means is that people have been shot with guns that were believed to be unloaded, so you should treat every gun as if it was loaded, even if you know it's not.
Maybe there should be a similar rule about microphones. Treat every microphone as if it was on, even if you know it's not. The reason I say this is that I looked up the latest Trump scandal, the one with Billy Bush on the bus, and it appears that Trump was speaking informally with Billy and didn't know that his microphone was on. I seem to remember that other politicians have had this problem over the years. The one that immediately comes to mind is when Mitt Romney said something disparaging about poor people while he was running for president. It may not have cost him the election by itself, but it certainly didn't help.
Then there are the guys who deliberately make a video of themselves planning a crime, or bragging about one after the fact, and then post it on the internet. What are those people thinking? The first time I remember hearing about something like that was Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes. There was some speculation at the time that Nixon either was unaware of the tapes or did not exercise control over them, which implied that Nixon himself was under the control of somebody, probably David Rockerfeller. Other pundits believed that Nixon knew exactly what he was doing and wanted to preserve it for posterity, figuring that history would vindicate him.
The same might be said about Donald Trump, he is either under somebody else's control, or he is incredibly stupid, or incredibly arrogant. Then again, maybe it's like Ken has said, Trump is just an asshole. Be that as it may, this incident dates back to 2005. Why is the media dredging up this ancient history, can't they find enough current Trump atrocities to report?
Maybe there should be a similar rule about microphones. Treat every microphone as if it was on, even if you know it's not. The reason I say this is that I looked up the latest Trump scandal, the one with Billy Bush on the bus, and it appears that Trump was speaking informally with Billy and didn't know that his microphone was on. I seem to remember that other politicians have had this problem over the years. The one that immediately comes to mind is when Mitt Romney said something disparaging about poor people while he was running for president. It may not have cost him the election by itself, but it certainly didn't help.
Then there are the guys who deliberately make a video of themselves planning a crime, or bragging about one after the fact, and then post it on the internet. What are those people thinking? The first time I remember hearing about something like that was Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes. There was some speculation at the time that Nixon either was unaware of the tapes or did not exercise control over them, which implied that Nixon himself was under the control of somebody, probably David Rockerfeller. Other pundits believed that Nixon knew exactly what he was doing and wanted to preserve it for posterity, figuring that history would vindicate him.
The same might be said about Donald Trump, he is either under somebody else's control, or he is incredibly stupid, or incredibly arrogant. Then again, maybe it's like Ken has said, Trump is just an asshole. Be that as it may, this incident dates back to 2005. Why is the media dredging up this ancient history, can't they find enough current Trump atrocities to report?
In and under the bus
In keeping with tradition, Columbo took priority over the latest debate. But since only thirty minutes had lapsed I decided to take a peek, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I mean taking a peek in the literal sense, as I had the sound turned off.
,
It was a good opportunity to study their movement, facial expressions, gestures, and body language, without the distraction of their annoying voices. First thing I saw was Pumpkin Head standing only a few feet behind the Big Girl (who appeared quite short, actually), and I thought, WTF? It may have been meant as an intimidating gesture, but it looked awfully creepy to me instead. Then he was walking around, as if unsure of what to do. He didn't look like he was having a good time; witness the way he gripped the back of his chair and the way he crossed his arms. I'd label it defensive frustration.
The difference in their responses to the audience questions was revealing. He stood in one spot and kept his distance, whereas she approached the audience and seemed much more engaged with the person asking the question. I don't know what she said, but her confidence was apparent and it looked like she knew what she was talking about, if eye contact is any indication. Whenever she smiled I knew that the Twatwaffle had said something really stupid.
Overall, I'd give her the big win but I might change my mind if I find out what they were actually saying. The pundits say it was ugly, but I haven't reviewed the tape.
-----
I read about that pre-debate business with the former friends of Bill. Not a good tactic, but desperate people do desperate things, no? And that audio clip with Billy Bush on the bus...Oy! I've never heard of anyone grabbing a pussy; it doesn't seem physically possible unless you have really small hands. Presidents require tact and discretion, which this guy doesn't have by any measure.
Maybe the best is yet to come. A former producer of The Apprentice says that the bus tape is nothing, and there are much worse things that were said, all recorded for posterity. But those tapes are property of Mark Burnett, the guy who owns the rights, and the participants have signed documents stating they will be penalized 5 million bucks if the tapes are leaked. It just so happens there are crowd-funding projects already in play to raise the money, and maybe someone like Mark Cuban will pony up the cash, just for laughs. Plenty of fun times are still ahead...
-----..
I think Pence will get fed up and bail; he certainly has all the justification he needs. Such an action will put him in good stead with whatever is left of the Republican Party when this circus finally leaves town. Is that the knife you are thinking of, Uncle Ken?
,
It was a good opportunity to study their movement, facial expressions, gestures, and body language, without the distraction of their annoying voices. First thing I saw was Pumpkin Head standing only a few feet behind the Big Girl (who appeared quite short, actually), and I thought, WTF? It may have been meant as an intimidating gesture, but it looked awfully creepy to me instead. Then he was walking around, as if unsure of what to do. He didn't look like he was having a good time; witness the way he gripped the back of his chair and the way he crossed his arms. I'd label it defensive frustration.
The difference in their responses to the audience questions was revealing. He stood in one spot and kept his distance, whereas she approached the audience and seemed much more engaged with the person asking the question. I don't know what she said, but her confidence was apparent and it looked like she knew what she was talking about, if eye contact is any indication. Whenever she smiled I knew that the Twatwaffle had said something really stupid.
Overall, I'd give her the big win but I might change my mind if I find out what they were actually saying. The pundits say it was ugly, but I haven't reviewed the tape.
-----
I read about that pre-debate business with the former friends of Bill. Not a good tactic, but desperate people do desperate things, no? And that audio clip with Billy Bush on the bus...Oy! I've never heard of anyone grabbing a pussy; it doesn't seem physically possible unless you have really small hands. Presidents require tact and discretion, which this guy doesn't have by any measure.
Maybe the best is yet to come. A former producer of The Apprentice says that the bus tape is nothing, and there are much worse things that were said, all recorded for posterity. But those tapes are property of Mark Burnett, the guy who owns the rights, and the participants have signed documents stating they will be penalized 5 million bucks if the tapes are leaked. It just so happens there are crowd-funding projects already in play to raise the money, and maybe someone like Mark Cuban will pony up the cash, just for laughs. Plenty of fun times are still ahead...
-----..
I think Pence will get fed up and bail; he certainly has all the justification he needs. Such an action will put him in good stead with whatever is left of the Republican Party when this circus finally leaves town. Is that the knife you are thinking of, Uncle Ken?
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