I like a president who practices what he preaches. He says he won’t allow companies to move their production to China.
Yet, he can’t even talk his own daughter into making her stuff in America.
How is he going to prevent Ford from going to Mexico?
I believe avoiding annihilation of civilization by nuclear escalation is more important than worrying about the content of 30,000 deleted emails and the supposed “danger” this put our country in.
Posted in Political | Tagged Trump | Leave a Comment »
A good friend on Facebook posted this today:
My husband made a very astute observation after watching last night’s debate. He said Trump has a lot in common with Sarah Palin…no grasp of how government really works, oblivious to foreign policy, prone to unintelligible rants, easily distracted, refusing to take direction from anyone and a willful disregard of preparation and professional behavior. If she “can see Russia from her front porch” just imagine what Trump can see from his Tower LOL!!!
— N.M.
I used to be a member of Toastmasters International. Before your first speech, you learn to prepare so you know the subject matter cold. You learn about the audience and the room. You know about the position of the microphone, the arrangement of the stage, and you know if you are being recorded.
Trump showed up yesterday to stand in front of 100 million people so unprepared, thousands of first-week Toastmasters would have done a better job. His body language, which communicates 70% (or more, depending on who you listen to) of the message, made him look puerile.
He acted like a flustered 5th-grader:
Clinton: “Trump did this and that.”
Trump: “Did not!”
Clinton: “Trumps said this and that.”
Trump: “Never said that!”
He hardly answered any questions, and mostly rambled his stump speech phrases, sometimes repeating himself four or five times with the same message in the same segment. He wasted precious minutes being defensive rather than imparting new information.
He bent down into the microphone like it was the first time in his life he had used one. Since he has spent the last year in front of microphones, this behavior was inexplicable. He was obviously flustered and nervous, and got more so as he realized how his performance was becoming unraveled as the evening progressed.
He yelled and interrupted. He stated obvious falsehoods and repeated them.
He didn’t behave in any way like a man who was prepared for the event. No entry level Toastmaster would ever show up so unprepared for his first speech. But Trump showed up obviously planning on just winging it in front of 100 million people.
This is testament to his unbelievable ego. He thinks he is above preparation. He is above facts. He is above playing by the rules. He must think we’re all beneath him, idiots. It’s obvious that the man cares about nobody and nobody’s feelings but his own. It showed last night in the debates.
Yes, N.M., I can’t imagine what he will be able to see from the top of his tower.
Posted in Political | Tagged Presidential Debates, Toastmasters, Trump | 4 Comments »
Did I just hear Trump say that he never said Climate Change was a Chinese Hoax?
Here are 54 statement by Trump related to Climate Change.
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/418542137899491328
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/349973299889057792
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/316252016190054400
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/475668993928212480
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/435574043354611712
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/270628609817976834
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/435393088383889408
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/412159674042294272
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/326875628966117376
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/349973845228269569
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/512246203967619072
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/338448296022511618
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/488825209189711873
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/427226424987385856
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/417818392826232832
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/488926006225285120
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/431018674695442432
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/428418323660165120
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/653385381526806528
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/404420095113715712
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/408977616926830592
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/319377285687939072
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/428416406280241153
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/408380302206443520
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/521862351218573312
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/489381851350319107
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/407505938774757376
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/568387798924963840
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/493935815207043072
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/420333882597466112
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/450964791985971200
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/326874524576526337
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/422819593120256000
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/568021533131718656
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/408018451362766849
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/416909004984844288
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/334254335116587008
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/535102735830773760
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/338978381636984832
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/428954382915223552
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/417816035107299328
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/264010129106665472
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/488813607958757376
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/264007296970018816
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/427556692109574146
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/412162068989874176
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/440811151283486720
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/326781792340299776
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/408983789830815744
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/416539702096052224
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/338429342646423553
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/402217536751951872
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/423179182198104064
- https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/314744479821205505
Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Trump, Trump on Climate Change | 1 Comment »
Here is a poem I wrote more than ten years ago for my son’s 17th birthday:
Now that you are almost grown,
With arms more strong than mine,
You’re not quite eighteen yet and gone,
Let’s celebrate one more time.I don’t know what to give you, son.
But gas and clothes and food.
You take your time, be with your friends.
When you are in the mood.Let’s have some fun, let’s eat some cake,
Together while we can.
And celebrate your seventeenth,
Soon you will be a man.Here is some money, use it well.
Just one thing I’ll make clear:
I’m proud of you, and you’re still mine,
For one more real short year.
Posted in Poetry | 4 Comments »
Come on, take a wild guess!
He does not pay any taxes, that’s why!
It would not look good on the résumé, would it?
But come on, Donald, there is nothing to be ashamed about.
According to this article in Market Watch, 45% of American households, roughly 77 million, paid no income tax in 2015. So Trump is no different from almost half of the American households.
Donald, think of all the supporters you could gain from showing your tax returns! They’d all vote for you because you’re one of them!
Posted in Political | Tagged Americans Who Pay No Taxes, Trump, Trump Tax Returns | Leave a Comment »
Here is an interesting set of suggestions to Donald Trump on how to behave himself in the debates. This is from a Trump supporter who will be rooting for him. It makes total sense to me. Kudos to the writer. Of course, I am hoping that Trump stays Trump, who knows better than to listen to any advice, even if it’s good advice.
Here is the link to the post:
My advice to Donald Trump per the debate: Be a Dad for America in the same mode as you are being Dad for your kids.
Source: Dear Donald Debate Bits
Posted in Political | Tagged Trump | 2 Comments »
I came across this post on Facebook today:
I wonder what the person posting this is offering as an alternative? In his post, he is not offering anything. So I must assume that he advocates abolishing the food stamp program altogether.
Does he know:
Close to one in six children (16.2 percent) lived in families that faced difficulties affording adequate food (“food insecure”) in 2010. Close to 1 million children lived in families that had to substantially change their eating patterns or reduce food intake as a result of inability to afford an adequate diet. Food insecurity among families with children would be even higher without SNAP benefits.
I have written plenty about food stamps in posts in this blog. Just search for Food Stamps and see. Here is one with statistics on the food stamp budget and the Afghan war.
I have also analyzed the use of food stamps by state and have found the red states, where the politicians who condemn food stamps the most come from, are using food stamps almost at twice the rate as the blue states.
Let’s for a minute ignore all the other myths being spread about food stamps and just focus on children. It’s not the fault of the children that their parents are poor. I myself grew up in a poor family, and I remember how scary it was as I got older and I realized that my mother often didn’t know where the next grocery purchase was coming from. So what are we suggesting we do with those children who are hungry?
Let them starve?
Don’t tell me that comparing feeding animals in National Parks is in any way related to hungry children. Wild animals forage and sustain themselves, or they die. When humans can’t forage and sustain themselves, before they die, they turn to crime. What other choices do they have?
We can turn off the spigot of food stamps and see what happens. It won’t be pretty.
Or we can keep our senses, remember to compare the food stamp budget to other insanities we spend billions of dollars on every month and year, and make an effort to force Wal-Mart and other companies to pay their employees adequately so they don’t have to rely on food stamps.
Then we can focus on education of our children, and raising an educated generation with skills that the economy of the 21st century badly needs and is willing to pay for top dollar.
But if we want our children to stay in school and pay attention, we must make sure that they are adequately nourished. And that is one of the reasons why we have a food stamp program.
If you have other, better suggestions, I am listening.
Posted in Sustainability | Tagged Food Stamps | 1 Comment »
[click to enlarge]
- The gas mileage is about 1/2 or 1/3 that of conventional cars. For somebody driving all day long, that will make a huge difference.
- The engine is off when the car is standing, at a red light, or in traffic, or in a taxi line. It burns no gas and does not pollute when it stands.
- The back seat is roomy and comfortable.
- Toyotas just don’t break down. The reliability is phenomenal.
I guess I am part of the Priushood.
Posted in Good Product, Sustainability | Tagged Prius | Leave a Comment »
On the evening of September 17th we watched the movie Sully. We all know how it ends: On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger has to land US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 with 155 people on board, in the Hudson River in New York City after both engines stall from severe bird strike at an altitude of only 2800 feet. All survive.
In the morning of September 18th, the day after watching Sully, I was scheduled to fly to Phoenix on an — you guessed it – Airbus A320. I always sit in the exit row, and when I sat down in seat 11A, I checked out the door, the handles and the instructions like I had never done before in 40 years of flying as a passenger.
Sully had me scared of flying.
It was comforting to know the outcome of a disaster movie involving an airliner in advance. But that did not prepare me for the emotional intensity of the film. Sully (Tom Hanks) is a hero, and a very different hero at that. He is an unassuming man who believes he just did his job. The movie focuses mainly on his defense after allegations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that he could have safely returned to the airport, rather than ditching the plane as he did. But Sully knew he did the right thing, and the drama in the movie revolves around the inner turmoil of a man expert in his trade, who knows he acted correctly, who is celebrated as a hero, while at the same time he is being attacked for making a severe mistake.
In Sully, director Clint Eastwood puts us into the cockpit of that ill-fated flight and gives us a firsthand view.
Tom Hanks does an excellent job acting as Sully. Christopher Orr in the Atlantic called it a silly movie. I disagree.
I liked it a lot. I had tears in my eyes as I watched. It was an experience.
And I think about flying just a bit differently now.
Posted in Movies, Three Stars | 2 Comments »
One conservative blogger I actually for the most part respect and like is the Chiefio. However, in his post about Trump’s childcare speech, he praised Ivanka and suggested she would be a great first woman president.
Seriously?
I think I need to unsubscribe from the Musings from the Chiefio.
Here is his statement:
Oh, and Ivanka did a lead-in speech that was just great. I’d like to see her as the first woman President. MUCH better than Hillary. Smarter, brighter, positive outlook on life, more eloquent. She’d make a great First Lady President. Maybe in 2020 or 2024 … Whenever Daddy Trump is back running the Trump Companies and they can spare her…
What the heck?
Are we now a monarchy where kids gets the titles of their daddies like the old Pharaohs, or the Roman emperors, or Saddam Hussein, or Kim Jong-un?
It’s already an abomination that George W. escalated to the presidency. There have got to be millions of better qualified people in our country than those awful choices that bubble to the top in our flawed system.
Now just because Ivanka was elevated to the national spotlight by her crazy daddy’s endeavors does not qualify her in any way to be president.
Suggesting that Ivanka, who would be a nobody without her Trump’s notoriety and money, is qualified to be president is a slap in the face of every hard-working female politician and public servant in this country.
I have worked my entire career serving government, and I know dozens of powerful women who have dedicated their entire lives to public service at all levels, starting as teachers and educators, and growing into ever higher positions. Many have doctorate degrees in law, education or human services fields and all of them are eminently more qualified for high public office than Ivanka Trump.
She may be a smart and intelligent woman, but I know hundreds of the like. Growing up with a silver spoon, even if the spoils of the spoon were ill-gotten by a conniving and ruthless daddy, does not a public servant make.
Posted in Political | Tagged Ivanka Trump, Trump | Leave a Comment »
One of the most common arguments in favor of Trump I hear by all upstanding Americans who support him: He’s a successful business man, and America needs a successful business man for a president.
I call bullshit.
- This argument is often made by people who have never run a business and therefore have no idea what it means to be a business man. In my opinion, running a country, being a statesman, is nothing like running a business.
- Being a statesman you have to have class. Trump has no class. He is a boor.
- Bill Gates is a successful business man, too. He’s not qualified to be president just because of it.
- If being a successful business man is sole qualification, does that mean that the richest one is the most qualified? Of course not.
- The Forbes list of billionaires includes heads of drug cartels. They are, by money standards, very rich. Does that qualify them to be president?
- When you study Trump’s business success you find numerous occasions where he screwed the little man by not paying him for his services and by filing bankruptcy to get out of his overextended positions. Is that called success? Not in my book. It’s called being a con man.
- I have been a business man all my life. I don’t have a building or airplane or helicopter with my name on it, but I also never screwed people out of their money, and I have never filed bankruptcy when things got tough. I believe I am a successful business man, but I don’t believe I am therefore qualified to be president.
Posted in Business, Political | Tagged Trump | 3 Comments »
I finally found a Trump supporter — this morning when I went to buy coffee. (I noticed a Trump bumper sticker on his car.)
“Hi,” I said. “Noticed your Trump bumper sticker.”
“Yup,” he said, a bit defensively.
“I hope you don’t mind my asking, but I’m curious. Why are you supporting him?”
“I know he’s a little bit much,” said the Trump supporter. “But he’s a successful businessman. And we need a successful businessman as president.”
“How do you know he’s a successful businessman?” I asked.
“Because he’s made a fortune.”
“Has he really?” I asked.
“Of course. Forbes magazine says he’s worth four and a half billion.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s been a success,” I said.
“In my book it does,” said the Trump supporter.
“You know, in 1976, when Trump was just starting his career, he said he was worth about $200 million,” I said. “Most of that was from his father.”
“That just proves my point,” said the Trump supporter. “He turned that $200 million into four and a half billion. Brilliant man.”
“But if he had just put that $200 million into an index fund and reinvested the dividends, he’d be worth twelve billion today,” I said.
The Trump supporter went silent.
“And he got about $850 million in tax subsidies, just in New York alone,” I said.
More silence.
“He’s not a businessman,” I said. “He’s a con man. “Hope you enjoy your coffee.”
— Robert Reich
Posted in Political | Tagged Trump | 3 Comments »
This is fascinating. Watch this guy build a hut in the woods with his bare hands. This is the guy you would want to have around if society were to ever collapse. Check out his blog. It’s full of projects like this. No tools. You need an axe, sharpen a stone!
I built a tiled roof shed to provide a fire and rain proof shelter for working on projects during wet weather and for storing firewood. The shed houses the very kiln used to fire its own tiles.
I cut timber using the stone hatchet and took it to the building site. 6 Upright posts were stuck into the ground about half a meter. Mortices were cut into the horizontal beams using a stone chisel to start with, then had there mortices enlarged using hot coals and a blow pipe to burn them out more. These beams were put in place and rafters were lashed on with lawyer cane. The wood that the tiles sit on are about 50 cm apart. The finished frame was 2 x 2 m in floor plan, 2 m tall at the ridge line and 1.5 m tall at the sides. This roof angle is about…
View original post 762 more words
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Today Trump conducted a “press conference” in a new hotel bearing his name. An investigative reporter checked out the décor and found the rooms were filled with stuff from China and many other countries, but hardly anything from the USA.
This is the man who proclaimed on national TV that he would force Apple to manufacture in the US, and who would not allow companies to leave the US. I have always wondered how he is actually planning on doing that.
However, he couldn’t even outfit his own hotel with goods made in the US, where he has complete control over everything that is bought.
Really? Why doesn’t he start with himself and show us how it’s done?
Because he doesn’t have a clue, and he makes things up as he talks.
Posted in Political | Tagged Made in China, Trump | 2 Comments »
