Prognosis; Halloween; Trick or Treat;

My adventure today.

Elaine and I braved the bumper to bumper traffic on the Baltimore Beltway and eventually ended up at a strange location.  The ladies there all wore prisoners' stripes, and the men all had shirts that had "jail officer" written on them.  One of the men checked his crystal ball and told me something about what I had been dreading for weeks.  In fact, I haven't been sleeping very well at all for the last week or so, and having nightmares when I did sleep.

Okay... let me translate this for you.  the prisoners were nurses, and the officers were doctors at the Urology office in Baltimore County.  I had a CT-SCAN recently to see if a spot on one of my kidneys had suddenly become cancerous.. as is the usual case.  Doctor Lowentritt said that he was happy to tell me that the spot had not grown at all in the last year.  So, at the moment, I don't have to worry about a cancer diagnosis.  I just need to get another scan in September 2017 and come to visit him again on Halloween next year.

WHEW!  Now I can relax for another year!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Unfortunately, we don't get Trick or Treaters in our Village.  A shame.  I leave our porch light on anyway, just in case.  But, so far, in ten  years, not one kid has shown up.  I guess I'll have to eat the candy all by myself.

When I was a kid, we did not have Trick or Treat yet.  But.. we had lots of Trick.  On Halloween night, we would soap windows, cut clotheslines, dump garbage cans, and perform other activity that I would rather not talk about.  A few years later, the greed impulse set in and Trick or Treat was born. Kids could now put aside their criminal tendencies and stoke their candy furnaces.  Smart move, home owners!

When I was 8 years old or so, my Aunt Marjorie would treat all of the neighbor kids to a ghostly tour of our basement.  She would have us all sit in a circle near the coal bin and pass around grapes for eyes, corn for teeth, seaweed for hair, and lots of other stuff that her creative mind would come up with.  She scared the hell out of the little kids.. and probably some of the older kids as well.

She would follow it up with a costume contest.  Check this picture of one of Marjorie's contests at our New Bedford home in 1943..

Here is a picture of my daughter, Elizabeth, getting ready to go Trick or Treating.

My son, Chris, usually was encased in award-winning costumes:  Here is one of them:

He was a body-builder even as a young kid.

My daughter, Diane, liked the Gypsy motif:

We had a lot of fun at Halloween.  Here are some of our friends who shared our fun:

Have a good and safe Halloween!

Boston Food; Caption Contest; Elephants

Sunny and very hot in the sun.  I was happy, my New York Times showed up today and I was able to do my three puzzles... the spelling bee, the acrostic and the "twistee" whatever its called.  This makes me happy and also pushes some blood through my brain and that has to be good for it.

Boston Food

I mentioned that the Carroll Lutheran Village is having the "CLV Express" visit to Boston. This will take place next Friday, November 4th.  I said that I would list the food that is to be served:

"Great Beginnings"

Sam Adams Beer
Meatball with Marinara Sauce
New England Calamari
(with Lemon Butter and Banana Peppers)

"Starter"

New England Clam Chowder

"Entrée"

Lobster Roll with Baked Beans and Corn
New England Boiled Dinner
(Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes and Carrots)
Portuguese Chicken Stew
(with Chorizo and Potatoes)

"Dessert"

Indian Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream

What do you think?  Can they do it and be authentic?  Elaine and I opted for the Lobster Roll.  I hope they have improved it since that last time we had it.  The meat was chewy.. because they cooked it too long.  Also, it was on the "wrong" type rolls.  We were looking for the rolls like they sell at the New Bedford, Massachusetts McDonalds.  We'll see.  Maybe the new chef from Massachusetts will get it right.  Hope so.

New Yorker Caption Contest

Every issue, the New Yorker publishes a captionless cartoon and asks it's readers to submit one.  Elaine has submitted these for years now.  Some of her captions are great in my estimation.  But, she hasn't won yet. 

Yesterday, we received our current New Yorker issue and turned to the captionless cartoon.  We were given until yesterday to come up with a meaningful caption.  So, we were locked out.  Instead, I thought that I would show you the cartoon and some captions that I thought of.  (I suggest that you get hold of new issues of the magazine and try this contest.  It's another thing that bends your mind.)

Suggested captions:

"Do you think if we ignore it, it'll go away?"

"Why do you think that I'm voting for Mr. Trump?"

"You have to stop bringing home these strays!"

"Did you find anything in the 'Lost and Found' section?"

"What weighs five tons and lives in our house?"

"I don't care if Macy's said you could keep it!"

"Aren't you carrying this election thing a little too far?"

"That reminds me.  We need to pick up your suit at the cleaners."

" Couldn't Mr. Ringling find another place to house his retired elephants?"

"That's a lot of bull!"

"Therein hangs a tail."

"Isn't Noah missing this one?"

That Reminds Me

This is supposedly a true story:

At a conference where new electronic machines were being displayed, visitors were encouraged to get a tour of an amazing new computer.  A young teenager was interested in one machine and asked the salesman to give him a demonstration.  The salesman did not see a sale there, and therefore rudely told the kid to get lost or he'd call a cop.

A little later, the salesman took a hurried restroom break and left his computer on.   The teenager, who had been lurking nearby ran up to the computer and quickly changed the password to ELEPHANT11 and ran off with a smile on his face.

............(and they never caught me)

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Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me; Scores; Longevity; Garlic; National Anthem; Relative's Ashes

I couldn't wait.. I had to talk about the things I learned today on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!

Cures for Insomnia

Three solutions for insomnia were offered, two of which were made up.

1.  NAPFLIX -  A television channel showing boring stuff, like curling contests, burning log fires, sleeping animals, knitting, etc., guaranteed to put you to sleep.

(For years now, whenever I try to watch baseball, I fall asleep.  Works for me.)

2.  CLAMMY PAJAMMIES:   Sleep clothing that you can put into your refrigerator, so that it's coolness will lull you to sleep... just like frogs and snakes in hibernation.

(The other day, I took my sleep clothing out of the dryer before it was completely dry.  The coldness and dampness bugged me too much to allow me to wear them for more than 5 minutes.  So Clammy Pajammies would not be for me.)

3.  CATATOMIC:  A company that comes into your bedroom at night armed with a couple of cats that are trained to "make biscuits" on your legs, back or buttocks.  This is supposed to calm you way down so that you sleep soundly.  (You can have your choice of cats.)

Well... which one of these three solutions is the true one?  Yes, of course, it's NAPFLIX.  Watch for it's ads.

What's Your Score?

China is developing a rating system for everybody in their vast country.  Everyone will be given a score from one to ten, just like at a beauty contest.  One wonders how they will do it, what the categories will be, and who will make the final decision on each person. 

How would that work in the United States?  I think that Donald Trump already uses such scores on those females he loves, hates and/or fondles.   I guess Rosy ODonnell rates a one, as well as Carly and Megan.  But, beautiful women like Ivanka must be a ten.  If Trump becomes President, how would he rate Andrea Merkel? 

Want to Live to be 100?

Some study says that if one wants to live a long life, it is necessary to have sex every day and eat garlic every day.  (Could the two really go together?)

Elaine gets deathly ill when she eats garlic.  We have to be very careful when we order food at a restaurant or the Bistro.  I, on the other hand, love garlic, and I miss it.  When my grandkids would visit in their younger days, we would make "garlic eggs"..  my grandson, Dylan, especially liked it, and I think he might even make it today.

Italian immigrants often made their kids wear cloves of garlic around their necks, to ward off colds, flu, and vampires.  I guess the smell kept the other kids away and therefore germs could not be passed to the garlic owner.  Sounds like a good idea to me.

Our National Anthem

Did you know that there are four stanzas to  our National Anthem, and at least one of them bad-mouths the poor British sailors caught up in the bombardment of Fort McHenry?  I'll have to investigate that some more.

Keep Your Deceased Relatives With You Forever?

A company is now making drinking, eating, cooking, and baking utensils from your deceased loved ones ashes.  So, every time you take a sip of brew from the "Grandma Beer Glass"  her memory will visit you again.. and again. 

..........Bye for now.................

FBI and EMAIL again; Gun Violence; Senior Citizens; Mental Floss; Politics; Early Voting; Early Voters

A cool, sunny Saturday in Westminster, Maryland.

Think about these things:

Why did the FBI director communicate only with Republican legislators about their latest review of EMAILS?

On an average day in the United States of America, seven children and teen-agers will be shot dead!

How many Halloween kids will survive this year?

Old Folks

Life is a lot better for senior citizens today than it was years ago.  Consider the following information outlined in Mental Floss for November/December 2016:

Aristotle described senior citizens as "overly pessimistic, distrustful, malicious, suspicious, and small-minded."

In 19th Century England, old folks were often just stuck into workhouses, where they got to "crush horse bones for fertilizer or unravel old rope to recover the threads."

An then we have senicide (i.e., relieving old people of the burden of living)  For instance: in ancient Sardinia, "sons sacrificed fathers over the age of 70 to the god Cronus."

So, some of our ancestors tried to prevent aging.  The Greek physician, Galen, suggested that old people "drink donkey milk or human breast milk."  He also recommended that they "go horseback riding, avoid eating cheese and snails, and take regular baths."

Today some societies honor their older adults better than we do.  For instance, "members of a tribe in Fiji pre-chew food for old people who have lost their teeth."

Incidentally, this article in Mental Floss appears in their last issue!  I love that magazine and am sorry to see it end.  It's one of the few publications that I get that make me want to read it, cover to cover, as soon as I get it.  But all good things must come to an end, I guess. 

Politics

Elaine and I voted last night.  Early voting is big this year. We arrived at the poling place an hour before it closed and had to wait in a long line.  But it went fast and we were able to do our duty quickly.   The checkers did their duty, reviewing identification, asking questions, and explaining how to vote.  I can't imagine how such procedure could be "rigged." 

Lots of young people were in line to vote.  One young man looked to be 13 years old and wore a "make America Great Again" sweatshirt.  This worries me.  These youngsters did not live through WWII and have no concept (probably) of the damage that a blustering, lying, outrageous man can do to a country.  Hopefully, the election will not be close and Mr. Trump's followers can just fold their tents and disappear for four years.

John Winiak, friend of mine from Toastmasters, and a Democratic "voice in the wilderness" of Republican Carroll County, had a great letter to the editor of the local newspaper today, outlining the bad character and ideas of Mr. Trump.  He named all of the County's legislators who are backing Mr. Trump... including Susan Krebs, which is a surprise to him... but not to me.

Enough!

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Smart Trees; Coincidences; Michael Phelps; Frank Zappa; Joe Pyne; The Internet; Bill Clinton

Another nice cool Fall day.

Intelligent Vegetation 

 A German forest ranger, Peter Wohlleben has written a book that says that trees can probably speak for themselves, if we would only shut up and listen.  The title: "The Hidden Life of Trees" tells how "trees protect their young, communicate through underground networks and develop sophisticated social communities."

Wohlleben told the Guardian newspaper recently:  "The thing that surprised me most is how social trees are.  I stumbled over an old stump one day and saw that it was still living although it was 400 or 500 years old, without any green leaf.  Every living being needs nutrition.  The only explanation was that it was supported by the neighbor threes via the roots with a sugar solution... Trees are very interested in keeping every member of this community alive.

What are the odds?

Chuck Shepherd mentions a couple of events that seem to me to be amazing coincidences:

Breakfast Time?

A truck hauling ham recently collided with a truck hauling eggs.

Home Run?

Pro baseball player, Brandon Thomas, of St. Louis, Missouri, hit a bases-loaded home run .. over the fence, into the adjacent parking lot, where the ball smashed the windshield... of his own car.

Local Philosopher-Hero

Baltimore's super Olympian, Michael Phelps wisely says:  "I think goals should never be easy.  They should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time."

Local Musician-Philosopher

Readers Digest says that in the 1960's, Joe Pyne began an interview with Baltimore's own Frank Zappa by saying: "So, I guess your long hair makes you a woman."  Zappa responded: "So, I guess your wooden leg makes you a table."

During the 1960's, my late wife, Elaine and I watched the Joe Pyne show every Sunday evening.  Joe was a nasty guy, but he did expose a lot of con men, like the Filipino charlatans taking money for doing phony bloody tumor removals.  I think you can still see some of his programs on YouTube.

The Internet

Jon Winokur compiled some comments in the Funny Paper:

Bill Clinton said:  "When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the Worldwide Web.  Now even my cat has its own page."

Jarod Kintz:  "The Internet's a great way to meet people.  You never really know someone until you see their fake profile."

Ruadhan J. McElroy:  "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; those who can't teach, police grammar on the Internet."

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New Chef; Boston; Clowns; Old Mother; Mouthwash; Separated Twins; Political Payback; Sexting; Hog Heaven

Cool... 50 degrees.. but nice and sunny.  Brisk.  New England type weather.

New Head Chef at our Village

The main chef at Carroll Lutheran Village where we live, is moving on in November.  To take his place, a guy with a wonderful handlebar mustache is taking his place.  His name is Kevin, and he is from Fitchburg, Massachusetts.  (Incidentally, he knows about the rivalry between New Bedford and Fall River, Massachusetts.) 

So.. next week, our main dining room will have a "Trip to Boston."  I'll mention the food in another blog entry, but it will be at least these food types:  Yankee, Irish, Portuguese, and Italian... all food types familiar to those, like me, who were brought up in Massachusetts, and who spent a good deal of time in Boston (the "Hub of the Universe.")

More from the New York Post

(Don't you just love this "scandal sheet?"  Everything it prints is basically the truth, although slanted way to the right, and often misstated.   But it's fun to read, at least for me.  No where near as disgusting as those tabloids that one has available at Super Market checkout lines.)

Clowns

Working clowns are complaining that their bookings have dropped sharply, even though reports of "bad clowns" have been debunked.  Cyrus Zavich, also known as Cido the Clown, says: "You fear you are going to get jumped because you're dressed as a clown."

Old Mama

Spanish doctor Lina Alvarez, left the Lugo Hospital with her third child.  Doctor Lina, who is 62 years old, says that women should not be afraid to have babies even though they are getting older.

 Old Fashioned Punishment

A teacher at Camp Curtin Academy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, washed a ten-year old's mouth out with soap after he argued with a fellow student.  The police say that the teacher's action does not amount to a crime. 

An amazing week!

Some things happened during the famous week ending June 20, 2014 that I meant to report on.  The Week magazine did it for me:

Babies And Massachusetts Again

Linda DaSilva gave birth to a son prematurely.  A second son, a healthy twin, was born three weeks later.  How about that?

Karl Rove type Political Payback Poop

The embarrassed mayor of San Marino, California was caught on camera tossing a bag of dog poop on the sidewalk of a neighbor who opposed his policies.

Was he bored?

A Seattle anesthesiologist allegedly sent 45 sexts with a girlfriend during a 90 minute surgery.  Yes, he did have his license suspended.

Hog Heaven?

Randy, an aptly named guinea pig escaped his cage and snuck into the female enclosure, where he impregnated 100 females. 

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Morning Glory; Funny Words; Fad Diets; Rising IQ; Mensa; Intertel; Memory Triggers

Cool, sunny, pleasant.  Fall winds blowing leaves off the trees.  We had an amazing discovery today.  I planted morning glory seeds last spring and we got lots of foliage, but no flowers.  However, today, Elaine noticed two blue flowers suddenly appearing.  Close examination showed another one as well, and lots and lots of buds.  Will they all bloom before a hard frost?  I don't know.  And, why didn't they bloom before now?  I have a lot to learn.

Funny Words

The Writers Digest suggests that we use funny words whenever possible in our writings. It's an easy way to add humor.  Here are a few:

bamboozled
canoodle
caterwaul
cattywampus
conniption
girdle
hornswoggle
kahuna
kerplunk
kinkajou
knickers
mugwump
noggin
persnickety
rapscallion
snuffle
succubus
tuchis
wombat
wonky
zeitgeist

Fad Diets

The Sodexo Corporation reminds us of some of the crazy fad diets over the decades: (Wait a minute... some may not be so crazy!)

1920:  The Smoking Diet
1930:   The Banana and Skim Milk Diet
1940:   The Master Cleanse Diet (lemon juice, grade B maple syrup and cayenne pepper.)
1950:   The Grapefruit, Prayer, and Tape Worm Diets
1960:    The Cabbage Soup Diet
1970:     The Diet Pill Diet
1980:     The Low Fat Diet
1990:     The Adkins Diet
2000:     The All Natural Diet
2010:      The Balanced Diet

I had my best results with the Adkins Diet.  How about you?

Hey Mensa Members... check this out.

James R. Flynn has written the following book:  Are We Getting Smarter? Rising IQ in the Twenty-First Century. 

Jim thinks that today's folks are a lot brighter than our ancestors.  At one time, he identified a phenomenon now known as the "Flynn Effect," a rise in IQ scores since 1930.  This is not just in the United States, but around the world.  What has caused it?  Better communication?  Better tests?

I belong to Mensa and Intertel and I've learned that we have members who are only two years old. Huh?  How did they get tested?  I'll have to look into that.

Perhaps these are examples of high intelligence   (in my progeny of course):

My daughter, Elizabeth, never crawled, but at just 8 months old, stood up and started walking... and she hasn't stopped yet.

My daughter, Diane, started talking at around 5 months old.  When we took her to a restaurant, she would immediately start a conversation with anyone nearby.

My son, Christopher, at around two or three, would sneak down during the night of Christmas eve and put together all of the toys that I expected to have to do on Christmas day.  It was so nice to come down that morning and see everything assembled already.

Memory Triggers

Here are some memory triggers to help you visualize numbers when you dazzle your audience during your mental/ESP routine:   (I'm not sure who gave them to me.. but it was not Father Janaites, who gave me a different set of triggers.)

1.  Magician's wand  (looks like)
2.  Swan  (looks like)
3.   Three Leaf Clover
4.   Table (4 legs)
5.   Pentagon
6.   Golf Club  (looks like)
7.   Lightning (looks like)
8.   Hourglass (looks like)
9.   Pipe (looks like)
10.  Bat and ball (looks like)
11.  Abraham Lincoln  (Feb 11 was his birthday)
12.  Columbus (Columbus Day in October)
13.  Friday the 13th
14.  Valentine (Feb 14)
15.   Income Tax (April 15th)

See  how easy it is. 

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If I only had a Brain

Nice cool sunny blustery Fall day in beautiful downtown Maryland.


Here is something I really like.  The melody has been stuck in my brain for weeks.  Perhaps if I put the lyrics down here, my mind will clarify and I can move on.:

  IFI ONLY HAD A BRAIN

I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers,
Consultin' with the rain;
And my head I'd be a scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain.

I'd unravel ev'ry riddle for any individ'le,
In trouble or in pain
With the thoughts I'd be a thinkin'
I could be another Lincoln,
If I only had a brain.

Oh, I could tell  you why
the ocean's near the shore
I could think of things I never thunk before,
And then I'd sit and think some more.

I would not be just a muffin,
My head all full of stuffin',
My heart all full of pain;
I would dance and be so merry,
Life would be a ding-a-derry,
If I only had a brain.

Ain't life great!  Happy Halloween!


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Funny Times: Mr. Trump; Cows; Citizenship; Polling Places; Rifle Permits; Archie Bunker on Voting;

A remarkable Fall day!  The wind is gusting and the sun is shining.  The sound of the wind in the trees is refreshing.  I sat in the sun and wind on our deck for over an hour and breathed in all that cool air.  Exhilarating!

If you can get a chance to look at the Funny Times for November, 2016, do so.  It's chock full of jokes, articles and cartoons pertaining to our current Presidential election.  Mr. Trump appears to be "God's Gift to Cartoonists."  If he gets to be President, cartoonists will be so happy.  But, if he loses, as even Republic pundits seem to admit, he will sink to just another small footnote in the History books.  I wonder how he will like being called a "loser."  It is too bad that Joe Biden can't take him "out back of the gym" and do to him what we always had to do to bullies in the past.  It's called "comeuppance."

There is also a lot of other great stuff in the November Funny Times.  For instance, quotes about cows:

Ogden Nash: "The cow is of the bovine ilk;
                        One end is moo, the other, milk."

Dave Barry:  "Scientists tell us that the fastest animal on Earth, with a top speed of 120 feet per second, is a cow that has been dropped out of a helicopter."

The Harper's Index reported in the Funny Times reveals some interesting facts (at least to me.)

A total of 23 countries offer citizenship in return for an investment commitment. (I was surprised to read somewhere this week that anyone from another country can quickly become an American citizen if they invest $500 million in our country.  Is this right?  Who knows if that is true?)

There are an estimated 2,400 polling places in the U.S. that are situated in Islamic community centers and mosques.
A total of 40 states allow open carry of assault rifles without a permit. (What do  you think about that, Canadian citizen?)

There are 9 states in which bestiality is legal.  (huh?)

Surprising situation:

The Funny Paper also had a couple of it's pages containing some scatological articles and cartoons.  I was surprised by that, because I think it is unusual.  They really don't have to go there.  I think that it lowers their allure. ( Funny for adults shouldn't be what is funny for junior high schoolers, as Mr. Trump must be finding out. IMHO)  I think they just tried it out to see if their readers object.

Depressing

Elaine and I were watching Mr. Trump talk at a rally in Gettysburg, PA.  After a few minutes, we had to stop because he got us so depressed.  Please.  The country is not in as bad a state as Donald says.  Also, he has now started to bad-mouth Michelle Obama.  Who will he pick on next, Mother Theresa?

Voting Information from Archie Bunker

"What's wrong with this?  It looks like representative government to me.  Salvatory, Feldman, O'Reilly and Nelson.  You got an Eyetalian, a Jew, an Irishman and a regular American.  That's what you call a balanced ticket."

Mrs. Jefferson: "Mr. Bunker, you haven't voted since 1960?"
Archie: "Well, I musta had things to do!"
Edith: "Yes.  Something was always coming up.  Once he had to mail a letter - and once -"

"Whoopee!  Youth is voting!  'And a little child shall lead them!'  Whoever said that didn't know nothin'!!"

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Montessory Visit by GrandParents; Books; Pizza

Sunny and 70 degrees... some rain around supper time.

Grand Friends Day

Elaine and I attended the Montessori School open house for Grandparents of their students.  Both of Elaine's grandkids go to that school, and we were able to visit Lily and Luka in their classrooms. This was our third year to attend and, as usual, we had a good time.

The Headmistress mentioned that they try to teach the kids to listen to others and to engage in meaningful conversations.  They are told that conversation should be KIND, TRUE, and NECESSARY.  I like that.

We had to get up at 5:45 am to make it by 8:30 am.  And we did make it... sleepy as we were.  There was a Continental breakfast waiting for attendees.  Grandparents came from all over the place, including Belgium, Peru and Russia.  The Russian man knew no English and I was tempted to try some of my very rusty Russian on him.. I thought better of it because that language, as well as my other ones, has died from non-use.  I'm lucky to still be able to speak English.

Lily and Luka are also lucky.  They have three sets of Grandparents.  One lady from Kansas City thought that Elaine and I were Francine and Neal, and kept saying nice Yiddish things to us, a bit of which I understood.  She could speak English all right.. she just wanted to connect.

As part of the morning, we visited a Book Fair put on by the school.  I purchased a bird watching book: Spot the Bird.  As you see a bird, you put a sticker next to its picture in the book.  Seems like a little fun for Elaine and me.

I also bought a Junior High School kind of book called:  Fright-lopedia. Scary stuff to prepare for Halloween.

I asked the Headmistress if any of the kids belonged to Mensa?  She had never heard of it.... huh! When I explained it, she said that she did not like the idea of grouping kids by IQ.  I had to agree with her, even though I still think that some kind of measurement must be made to ensure that people with the same kind of "smarts" could get together and perhaps solve some of life's problems through brain power.

Some of my greatest "mind adventures" took place at Mensa meetings, and the Mensa Bulletin has remarkable articles that force you to use your Brain.  I'm thinking about putting up a notice where I live to see if there are any Mensa members living here besides me.  I'd like to see us have a monthly meeting to discuss... well.. everything!

After our Montessori adventure, we went to Kenilworth and ate some PIZZA!  It tastes real good when you don't have it very often.  We ate it at a table near the dried out central fountain where elves are building a railroad village for Christmas. 

Afterwards, Elaine shopped a bit and I bought another book: Scandalous Baltimore!... or some title like that.  It outlines twenty or so "scandals" that took place in our fair city over two hundred years.  Lots of stuff about Edgar Allen Poe, Al Capone, and other notables like H.L. Mencken.  Also, remember that there is a reason one of the nicknames for Baltimore is Mobtown.

After all this, we hurried home to find out what stupid thing Mr. Trump said or did today.

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After the Third 2016 Presidential Debate

Another beautiful very warm Fall day. I think some high temperature records were broken.

After the Third Debate

Mr. Trump believes that he won the debate.. as we expected him to believe.  He was doing fairly well until he got tired and started laying out his old crap... and some new crap.

For the Latinos:  "those bad hombres"

For the women:  "she's a nasty woman"

For the Patriotic: He said  that he might not recognize Hillary as President if she won.  Today, at a rally in Ohio, he said further that he would however definitely recognize whoever wins the election... as long as it was him. 

A lot of people, including me, consider his talk in-American, if not treasonous.

For a good rebuttal to all that Trump said, I refer  you to the speech given by President Obama in Miami today.

Trump says that Clinton had access to the questions for the debate, and that is why she answered them so well.  Wait a minute... didn't the moderator, Chris Wallace, have control of the questions, and isn't he the Sunday anchor of Fox News?  Mr. Trump should not alienate the only news outlet that still supports him.

Trump says that there is voter fraud... an independent study reported only 31 cases of voter fraud in one billion ballots.

Trump says that all of the women complaining about him are all lying.  Sorry, Donald, that didn't work for Doctor Huxtable, and people liked him a lot more that they like you.

Napoleon crowned himself once, and I was reminded of that when I read a piece by Patricia J. Williams in the Nation Magazine for October 24, 2016:  I quote:

"Trump's scattershot broadsides- against women, men, cheaters, haters, Mexicans, Muslims, and crying babies- are crosshatched in ways that make pushback a challenge for many traditional pundits and advocacy groups.  Trump possesses a singular ability to mix the poisonous waters of the culture wars into colorful new hybrids of exotic demonization.  His words rain down like cluster bombs, exploding in so many pieces and directions that one scarcely knows how to assess the damage.   His concept of civic worth is so exclusive that he enfranchises, privileges and anoints no one but himself. 'I alone,' he declared during the Republican National Convention, speaking as though he were an emperor."

Calvin Trilling had a poem about the debates.. also in the Nation Magazine for October 24, 2016.

"A blowhard's ID is revealed by one sign:
How quickly the boasting turns into a whine."

President Obama said the truth when he referred to Trump as a whiner.  God help us if he becomes President.  (Of course, this is Only My Humble Opinion.)

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Trump again; Kosher Meals; Tube Chat; What Americans Want; Baltimore; Health; French Towns; Cod Fish; Misprint

Sunny and 84 degrees.... Summer has come back!

I'm getting sick of hearing Trump's voice and his stupid statements.  How do we shut him off?  I have a lump in my stomach when I think of all of those gullible people who believe everything he says. Why can't they see the con man that I see so clearly?

Today, I drove through a large part of Carroll County... I saw lots of "Trump" signs and absolutely no Clinton signs.  But, of course, Carroll County has always been a Republican county.  Democrats have had to change their affiliation to Republican to win an election here. It will be interesting to see how the new residents in Westminster vote.  There are a lot of them.

"Trump gets his exercise by gesticulating at rallies." says Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

Obituary in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Faced with the prospect of voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, Mary Anne Noland of Richmond chose, instead, to pass into the eternal love of God on Sunday, May 15, 2016, at the age of 68."

Interesting Events

A lot of Scottish prisoners are becoming Jews in order to get kosher meals.

The London Subway system is advertising for people to engage in TUBE CHAT, so that people can become more friendly, like in the U.S.

What Do the American People Want?

Will Durst, in the Funny Paper, lists the things that the American people really want.  Here are some of them:

The American people want drive-thru nickel beer night.

The American people want to lose weight by eating potato chips.

The American people want the Supreme Being to help their team beat the other team totally oblivious that fans of the other team expect the same thing.

The American people want to make society safer with more guns.

The American people want better schools and roads by paying fewer taxes.

The American people (68% of them) still believe that professional wrestling is legitimate.

The American people love the Home Shopping Network because it's commercial free.

Baltimore Stuff

In October, 2015, Baltimore handed out its first citation to a restaurant for repeated violations of the city's trans-fat ban.,  The name of the eatery: Healthy Choice.

Health

Mark Twain: "Be careful about reading health books.  You may die of a misprint."

French Towns with Silly Names

Trecon - tres con: very stupid.

Monteton:  my nipple

Mariol:  dumbass

Amazing Information

WWDTM reports that studies have found that Atlantic cod fish have accents that southern and more  northern lady cod fish can't understand.

French police brought a mime in for questioning, but he wouldn't talk.

R. L. Stine:  What do you get when you cross a dog and a frog?
                     A dog that can lick himself from across the room.

Misprint

The Australian Morning Bulletin reported on a misprint: 

"The story said, 'More than 30,000 pigs were floating down the Dawson River.'

What piggery owner Sid Everingham actually said was: '30 sows and pigs,' not '30,000 pigs.'"

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