Today, I just want to be Prepop, commenting on the world that interacts with me... or, rather, me interacting with the world.
El Presidente and Friends
I just got very depressed reading about Jared Kushner's financial activity. There was a long article today in the Washington Post. If true, there is a lot of "hanky panky" going on to get his lenders to lower their demands in exchange for access to Mr. Trump and/or things that are happening in the White House. I hope it is not true... but we'll see.
The newspapers are predicting a "shake up" in the White House. The main hit will probably be on Mr. Spicer... poor guy... how would you like to answer unanswerable questions by the Press. Unanswerable because the President keeps changing what he says he has said... and Sean has to try to figure out what the latest Tweet or other utterance means. Most of the time, what he says is later contradicted by Donald. And sometimes it is a like. (In my opinion.) What a job! However, a "normal" person would probably have quit by now.
And Mr. Pence utters so much dribble that it makes one gasp. (Again, in my opinion, of course....I wouldn't want the "thought police" to come after me for slandering a Government official.") Just think of what it will be like when Mr. Pence becomes President.
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Keeping Up With the News
At a function the other night, I was sitting next to a very nice person. She is a very good Catholic and goes to mass every day. She mentions that she doesn't watch much TV. Just the game shows. And, sometimes, usually once a week, she watches the evening news and that way she knows what is going on in the world.
She voted for Mr. Trump because he was "going to ban abortions."
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Bullying
It stirred my juices to see Mr. Trump push the Prime Minister of Montenegro our of his way so that he could get out front in a "photo op."
I've mentioned this before. I was a tough but gentle kid. When I went to Summer Camp I was given the job of beating up bullies. Some of these kids later became my friends and they usually did not display bullying tactics again. Hurray for me! Thankfully, I did not become a bully myself.
My juices have always been stirred up when I see people picking on other people. In school, I made sure that kids being picked on became my friends. Example: Courtney Gilbert dressed in his late father's 1930's suits and soft hats.. you know that this made him a prey to bullies. .(This was in grammar school.) We became friends and nobody picked on him any more. He was a great person to be friends with. He's the guy who had a mystery story published in "pulp fiction"... the detective in the story was named "Joe Vaughan."
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Aghast at Ghastly Documents
Das Bild reports that Heinrich Himmler's lost office diaries have been found in Russia. You remember old Heinrich.. he's the guy responsible for planning the mass killing of millions of Jews. Here are notes for a couple of days in the diaries:
Herr Himmler has a pleasant massage shortly before he had a group of Poles executed and their families sent to a concentration camp.
Herr Himmler watched over the gassing of 400 women and girls, and then dressed for a festive evening function with fellow SS officers.
What a sweetheart!
A Great Idea!
Charles McGrath writes that British novelist Penelope Lively "is fascinated by contingency .. the idea that an entire life is shaped by small decisions that seem inconsequential at the time." She wrote a book called "Making It Up" in 2005. In this book she imagined "all the different directions her life might have taken."
I think that it would be fun, imagining how one's life would have turned out if one zigged instead of zagged at that fork in the road. For instance, for me:
What would have happened if I had chosen the "Classical Course" in High School, in stead of the "Business Course?" I wanted to study Greek and Latin.. instead, I learned to type.
What would have happened if I had told Walter Wilson that I didn't really want to go for a ride in his "new" old jalopy? I never would have met the pretty girl who later became my beloved wife and the mother of my three great kids.
What would have happened to me if I hadn't told my Uncle that I wanted to get into the Air Force instead of the Army as my draft letter strongly suggested. Instead of becoming a cryptographer, I probably would have learned how to shoot a rifle at North Koreans.
What would have happened if I accepted the job of Budget Analyst at Indian Head, Maryland rather than the job of Claims Authorizer at Baltimore, Maryland? My kids would not have met and married the persons they did meet and marry.
Doesn't this bend your mind!
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