Some Political Odds and Ends

The Week magazine for December 8, 2017 posted the 3 winning terms for their contest to describe the "current epidemic of political anxiety."

Ken Meier:  Post-Trumpatic Stress Disorder

Clare Christiansen:  Whitehousen by Proxy Syndrome

Margaret Weiss:  Democrazy

I love them!

In the same issue, it was reported that president trump has told a Republican Senator and aides that "he's no longer sure it's his voice on the infamous Access Hollywood tape..."

Earlier today, I found some messages that I created because of my case of "political anxiety."  Check them out..  I'll be publishing them on Facebook from time to time.

And my favorite:

Well, el presidente has now managed to get the United States removed from the status of the most important leader in the world to the status of a third-rate dictatorship and he seems to be happy about that.  Unbelievable!

Suckers!


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More Mental Stuff; Knock,Knock; Dream; The Great Pumpkin

Yesterday, I talked about the music in my head.  That reminded me of a famous "Knock, Knock" joke:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Cecil.
Cecil who?
Cecil have music wherever she goes.

So... I also have music wherever I go.. all the time.  And I'm OK with that.

Let me also tell you about a strange dream I had last night.

In my dream, I was laying in bed... just as what I was doing while dreaming.  All of a sudden, an enormous smiling moose winked at me.  So, to be friendly, I invited him over to see me.  But, as he got near to me, I saw how enormous he was.  He did look a little tired too, so I decided that if he fell asleep, he would fall on me and crush me.... so.... I made him disappear.

But, when he was gone, in his place was a small table with lots and lots of pebble-sized pills laying upon it.  That was strange, because I never consumed any pills that looked like them.  So, as I sat up and examined them, I noticed that there were 4 pretty blue pills mixed in.  (Viagra?)  That intrigued me, and as I reached for them, a small Chinese man suddenly appeared and said:  "Those are mine!" .. And then.... I woke up.



Now, just what could a psychologist make out of all of that?  I'm afraid to find out.

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Got to go.. but before I do, I want to remind you of something that Linus said:

"There are three things that one should never discuss with other people: 

Religion

Politics

The Great Pumpkin

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Mental Fitness

Let me tell you about my Train Your Brain session today.  TYB is a fun session.. one hour each month..  where we try to break simple puzzles of all kinds.  The leader is very good at finding topical puzzles for us.  While the puzzles are seldom very taxing on our brains, the session causes us to look at the world a little differently, at least for a little while.

Before each session, the leader talks to us about articles and books she has read on how to keep our old tired brains functioning.  Today, she mentioned five easy steps that we can take to attain Mental Fitness:

1.  Visualize goals

I am able to do this, usually.

2.  Meditate

I have  been unsuccessful at meditation.  Probably because I can't shut off the two programs that are constantly "on" inside my head. 

The first program plays Morse Code for everything I think or say.  I don't always pay attention to this and it is always a surprise to suddenly zero in on the dots and dashes circulating in my cranium.

For example:  Let's say that I'm reading about classical music in the BBC Music magazine.  If I stop and listen to my Morse Code, it could be spelling Mozart or Verdi or the name of a musical instrument.  Weird!

The second program plays music all the time. Usually it is tunes that I have heard a couple of days ago.  Sometimes it might be the theme music for a TV sitcom that I liked years ago... often from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. (Again: Weird!)

For example:  Now that we have brought Alexa into our home, I ask her to play some favorite music that Elaine and I like:  Usually:  The Carpenters.  In that case, when I concentrate, I can hear Karen Carpenter singing one of her songs..in my head... everywhere and at all times.

Surely, someone else somewhere suffers from these brain maladies..  actually, it doesn't bother me.. I kind of enjoy it.  When I  read of some nutjob doing something dumb because the voices in his head told him to, I believe him that he has heard something.  He probably just has misconstrued the meaning of what he has heard.

3.  Stop Multi-tasking

I have always been unable to do this.  Life is too complicated.  However, I must admit that when I concentrate a little on the task at hand, I do a better job than otherwise.

4.  Keep a Journal

I think my  blogs count.  I've kept diary type writing for years and have fun reading old entries. 

5.  Read Books and Magazines

Of Course.   Saint Augustine wrote that the most valuable thing he learned in school was READING.  Without  the reading skill, nothing else can be easily learned.  How true. 

Why can't politicians pass a law allowing free schooling for all children?  We are being overshadowed by students in other countries, where students do not have to worry about amassing a large student loan debt.  And now, I believe that our new GOP Tax Scam eliminates a deduction for student loan payments.  I could be wrong.

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Some Old Stuff

I'm making a concerted effort to get my junk in order before I hurtle off this mortal coil.  I am eliminating one whole box of "stuff" each week and also reading 10 magazines from my big pile of them.  Now..  by talking about it, I may be tempted to stop.  Let's see how my resolve holds up.

Anyway, here are a few old items that I have come across while searching through my ancient archives:

TRIAD note from 2014:  New scam:  "get free diabetic strips"  ..  Someone calls you and says, "Do you have diabetes?"  If you say "yes,"  the caller offers to give you diabetic strips for free, from a special government program.  All you have to do is give the caller your Medicare number.. which is also your SSN.

The caller then can make some fake Medicare claims related to diabetes.

Now.. 2017, Elaine and I both get free strips via Medicare, but we have to fill out a form for the pharmacist, explaining how often we use the strips.  I'm a little confused about this because WalMart sells strips like I use "over the counter" and rather cheaply.



Family Note from 2014:  Nephew-in-law, Michael, sent me some great linguica... lots of it! It was frozen, but I was able to break it down in smaller amounts for our freezer.

Now.. 2017, I thawed some linguica and included it in my latest endeavor at soup making.  I named my soup:  Quelle Surprise! (translated to Kale Surprise)... the surprise part is my inclusion of spinach, because I didn't use kale.

My late and beloved wife, Elaine, liked to make delicious New Bedford style kale soup. Daughter Elizabeth tried it and said she liked it, "all except for that green stuff!"

Now.. that frozen linguica that I used was 3 years old... and I have lots and lots and lots of frozen linguica left over..  I wonder how long I can use it.

Family Note from 2017:  Whaleman Statue in New Bedford.  My wonderful sister in law, Janine, sent me a pewter belt buckle in the shape of the New Bedford statue.  A great gift!  Here is a picture taken when the statue was dedicated.. around 1909 or so:

My grandfather, Arthur S. Vaughan worked in his father's funeral shop when the guy who posed for this statue passed away.  He was an enormous man and there were no caskets big enough to contain him, so my grandfather found a piano case somewhere and they used it to hold the big corpse.

TRIAD discussion item from 2014:  A Baltimore policeman slit the throat of a 7 year old Shar-Pei, because "the dog had nipped at the hand of a woman."  Why did he kill the dog?  The owner said that the dog had "escaped" from her house and it was not a naturally vicious dog.  (The officer who killed the dog was named Bolger... any relation to the notorious Boston criminal, Whitey Bolger?)

Someone said, "Why did they have to kill the dog?  Couldn't they just have sicced a cat on it instead?"


Mensa Bulletin note from 2011:  Begging the Question.

The meaning of Begging the Question has eluded me for years, but
Douglas Perret Starr of Jackson, Mississippi has actually looked the phrase up and says:

"To beg the question means to use an argument that assumes as proved the very thing one is trying to prove... and 'loosely'evade the issue."

Sorry, Doug, but I still don't understand the phrase.
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Damn cold weather!

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Prepop Wants to Know

Questions for Monday, December 4, 2017

Before I start.. I hope you all saw the Pumpkin Moon last night.  Yes... it was a perfectly round, orange creation! (The Great Pumpkin is what I think Charlie Brown would call it.)  I could have looked at it for hours.  How about you? 

And now.. to some questions that are "eating at" my psyche and keeping me from getting good nights' sleep:

1.  Why did one of Trump's lawyers say that he was the "sloppy" tweet creator that was put out over Trump's name?  Did he really write it?  Why?

2.  In the "sloppy" tweet, Trump says that another reason he fired Flynn was because he had "lied to the FBI."  If so, then wouldn't that mean that Trump was breaking the law by asking Comey to "go easy" on Flynn?

3.  Why didn't Trump mention Flynn lying to the FBI earlier than the other day?

4.  Why is Trump now saying that the voice attributed to him where he is supposed to advocate "grabbing" doesn't sound like his voice and is probably not him?

5.  Why is Trump bringing up the "birther" issue again?  Distraction or idiocy?

6.  Is it true that a "typical" meal for Trump was 2 McDonald's Big Macs, 1 Fish Fillet Sandwich, and a large "slurpy," or did I mishear that?

7.  Is Trump going to fire Rex Tillerson?

8.  Is Trump going to try to fire Mueller?

9.  Will Trump pardon Flynn?

10.  Does Trump owe billions of dollars to Russian banks?

11.  Will Jared Kushner be charged with a felony by Mueller?

12.  What will happen if Trump insists on pushing Jerusalem as Israel's capitol?

13.  Does the law of averages hold that one of North Korea's rockets will explode on the launch pad?

14. Can our techies trigger a reactor problem in North Korea... as was done in Iran some time ago?

15.  What gems are held in the 500 page tax bill that will be voted through by the Republicans, even though nobody has had time to read it all?

16.  Will Mr. Moore get elected in Alabama?

17.  If elected, will Mr. Moore get ejected by Republican Senators?

18.  Why did Trump tweet three misleading videos from a discredited British source?

19.  Will Britain rethink Brexit?

20.  Will the Republicans shut down the Government later this week?

21.  Why doesn't Congress take the steps to rein in, and/or impeach Trump?

22.  Now, sexual abuse accusations have been leveled toward Opera Conductor James Levine..  who is next?

23.  Is the alleged butt grabbing done by Al Franken somehow as bad as what Weinstein, Ailes, O'Reilly, Trump.. et al..  did?

24.  How much money has Trump made from his DC hotel since his election?

25.  What is going to happen on DACA?

26.  Will we ever see Trump's tax returns?

27.  How many Americans will lose health insurance if the Tax overhaul package kills Government subsidies?

28.  (I could go on and on.......maybe later.)

                                                               GOTCHA!

Prepop Sez Words and Observations for October 2017

Some more Facebook entries about the day's events.


     October 1, 2017   Intensive-blame-caster.

(Trump is fighting with the "female" mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico.)

     October 2, 2017  "Why?!!"

(Shooting in Las Vegas)

     October 3, 2017  "New silencers!??"

(NRA sponsored bill is in Congress... just what we need!)

     October 4, 2017   "Guns!"

(When will we learn?)

     October 5, 2017   "Congress, please wake up!"

(Re: gun control)

     October 6, 2017   "Ban bump stocks!

(!!)

     October 7, 2017   Check out October 7, 2016 events.

(Trump's "locker-room" remarks.... plus a lot of other stuff on that day.)

     October 8, 2017   "Locker room?"

(What Trump said when reminded about his 10/7/16 remarks.)

     October 9, 2017   "He's a corker!"

(Senator Corker and Trump are having a feud.)

     October 10, 2017   "White House Adult Day Care?"

(Senator Corker's remark about Trump's "house.")

     October 11, 2017   "The smartest President."

(Trump says he is.)

     October 12, 2017   "Abusing women."

(All over the place now... starting with Trump.)

      October 13, 2017   Thought:  Sick people will soon pay more!

(Trump killing more Obamacare rules.)

Word:  "Hater in chief"

(So says the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico.)

     October 14, 2017   Sycophantic-delight.

(Fun for Pence and other ass-kissers.)

Thought:  Leo Rosten says:  "It is the weak who are cruel, and gentleness is to be expected only from the strong."

     October 15, 2017   Bad decisions made on Friday the 13th.

(Re:   Trump's decision on Iran and Obamacare)

     October 16, 2017   Thought:  Senators should keep the "blue slip" process, where two Senators from the nominee's state must agree and accept that person for the Senate to vote on the nominee.

(Unfortunately, the GOP Senate (Grassley?) dropped the "blue slip" process.. now it is ok for non-lawyers and such to get voted on.

     October 17, 2017   "Hurricane Harvey W"

(Harvey Weinstein rears his ugly head.)

     October 18, 2017   "Half-baked and spurious."

(McCain's views on Trump's ideas.)

Question: Who would win?  The draft-dodger or the war hero?

(Trump vs McCain)

     October 19, 2017   "Mr. Zig-Zag"

(Trump's confusing switching of opinions.)

     October 20, 2017   "Bubbles"

(Mike Pence' nickname)

     October 21, 2017   Suggestion for America in the 21st century:

S'il vous plait - pensee!

     October 22, 2017   Motto Redux: 

Make America think again!

     October 23, 2017   A Falstaff in the flesh!

(Mr. Trump of course, and probably also, Harvey Weinstein.)

     October 24, 2017   Media Giants Dream Team!

(Weinstein, Ailes, Cosby, O'Reilly and Trump...  with waterboys: Weiner and Clinton)

     October 25, 2017   Human types of Mencken's Boobus Americanus:

(Donald Trump:  Homo Eruptus
Harvey Weinstein:  Homo Erectus)

     October 26, 2017   Ego affirming statement for today:

"One of the great memories of all time."

(Yes, this was, of course, Trump, talking about himself.)

     October 27, 2017   1.  The corruption is getting overwhelming.

2.  How about some 'trickle up' for a change?

     October 28, 2017   "La comedia e stupenda!"

(re: La Boheme)

     October 29, 2017   Book to read:  "A Citizen's Guide to Impeachment"  by Barbara A. Radnofsky (Melville House 2017)

You have to read this!

     October 30, 2017   Personal Note: Internal blemish is not cancer.  !!!!!!

     October 31, 2017   tergiversate

(Trump uses diversions to avoid damage to himself.)

However:  later, Tom Zirpoli says Trump is not that smart.  Instead, he tweets to draw attention to himself.. which he continues to need.  (This is a lot about a kid throwing a tantrum.  But will Trump go away if we ignore him?)

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