Trump and the UK; Repeal of Obamacare; GranMa SEZ; Murder Stats; Coming Out; Pothole Praying; Lincoln SEZ

My views are included in the following:

Politics

The United Kingdom Parlement will be deciding whether or not to bar Donald Trump from England because of the dumb things he says. . I doubt that they will bar him because he feeds them lots of money and has several outstanding billion dollar deals in the mill with entities in the UK.  I think that the US should bar him from  the USA.... only kidding.. our Constitution allows dumb speech like he spouts.  The  only way his utterances could be curtailed, would be if what he said  was intended to stir people up so that there was a "clear and present danger" to the American people.

Here we go again!

Both the Senate and the House have passed "another" bill to repeal Obamacare and cut spending on Planned Parenthood.  It is awaiting the President's veto.  The Republicans are readying a "task force"  to try and override the veto.  Good luck.. ... and are they still investigating the Benghazi situation?  And  Obama's birth records?  Can't these guys see themselves... they are really pathetic.  Just visualize how it would be if any one of them was the President.  Why can't they find a decent candidate?

Gun Control

From time to time, I will include good ideas from Elaine Lottes (GranMa).. they will come under a separate title:

GranMa Sez:   "Forget about GUN control.  Instead, use BULLET control.  Restriction of ammunition.  Guns do not work without bullets."

Murder Statistics

Both New York City and Baltimore had close to the same number of murders in 2015... 344 murders for NYC with 8.4 million population ... and also for Baltimore with 620,000  population. Think about that for a while.

In 1993, Baltimore had a record homicide rate of 353.  At that time the population was 720,000.  Hey!  What happened to cause the 100,000 drop in population in 22 years?

Come on out

Jon Winokur writes about Bob Smith who said: "It wasn't easy telling my family that I'm gay.  I made my carefully worded announcement at Thanksgiving.  It was very Norman Rockwell.  I said 'Mom, would  you please pass the gravy to a homosexual?'  She passed it to my father.  A terrible scene followed."


Pothole Solution

Chuck Shepherd writes the streets of Jackson, Mississippi, which have massive potholes, but no money in the city's budget to fix them.   The Mayor isn't worried.  He is a church pastor and says: "I believe we can pray those potholes away."

Abraham Lincoln on Ambition

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed by my follow man, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem."

..................enough..........................................

Life is Short; Lottery; The Producers; Le Gourmet Bag; Black Hole; Doodles; Hydrogen Bomb; Selfie; Lincoln

Temperature is in the 30's, but sitting in the brilliant sun with SuZee, it feels like it's 80! 

This morning was interesting.  Somehow, I didn't get included in the email that canceled the meeting that I showed up for.  So I had my own personal little meeting. (Like Jefferson dining alone?)

After my meeting, and after almost getting clobbered by an impatient car driver, I found            Books A Million, in the Town Mall... and was able to get Life is Short (No Pun Intended)  by the "Little People" that Elaine loves to follow on TV. 

Next, I bought a lottery ticket for Elaine... as a chance to win about a half a billion dollars.  The odds are a little high..  perhaps 350 million to one.  Good luck to her.

Funny Movie

Yesterday, Elaine and I watched the latest movie version of The Producers.  Marvelous!  I wonder what the Germans think about this movie.  Can they see how silly all that Nazi stuff was?  Whenever I hear Mr. Trump speak, I'm reminded of things that Hitler said.   The Republicans have agreed to support him as their candidate if he gets selected.   Yeah.. I'll bet!  So.. if he doesn't get supported, will he create a third-party candidacy?  If so.. Hillary is a shoe-in for the Presidency.

French Food Crisis

The French have never gotten in to the "Doggy Bag" program.  But, now, the French Government is complaining that too much food is being thrown away.. especially true in 2015.  So, the populace is being prodded to begin taking home the food that isn't completely eaten in the restaurants.  (Tourists have been the only ones to do this for years in France.)  The receptacle will be called "le gourmet bag".

Excuse me!

Scientists report that they have found a "burping black hole"  in a "not so far away" galaxy.

Burning Question

Do  our doodles get better as we age?

Here we go again!

North Korea claims to have detonated a hydrogen bomb over the  weekend.  Scientists did note a slight earthquake reading from the test area.   NK is trying to develop a submarine-launched missle that could reach the west coast of the US.

I remember, during WWII, one of my "gang" had been brought to New Bedford, Massachusetts from San Francisco, because there had been "bombing" in California.  None of us kids believed that such a thing was occurring.... however, now, history reveals that some bomb-laced balloons did float over from Japan and a few detonated on US soil.

Recognition

I took a selfie and saw my grandfather.

Hat Trick!

Abraham Lincoln's silk stovepipe hat was part of his office.  It served as his desk when he would jot notes on its flat top and also his file drawer where he would keep his datebook,checkbook, and letters.  When he would think of an idea, he would scribble it on a piece of paper and then insert it in the hatband.

..... adios......

TV Service; The Bachelor; Love !; Movies; Fairy Tea

Another brilliantly sunny day... but cold!  Very cold!

TV Service

The Comcast/Infinity Technician showed up on time this morning and got our TV working as well as possible, considering that we do not have the latest cable box... (I wonder why nobody said anything about that before....)  So... when we get the new "X1" box, all will be well. (Don't count on it.)

We now have a total of 5 remotes that we have to use in order to get all of our channel allotment... I'm hoping that our new cable box will let us cut this number down.  Meanwhile,  Elaine will be happy that now she can watch broadcasts of The Bachelor..  and tape them if she wishes.

The Bachelor

Last night, I was able to stretch up to our existing cable box and get it to give us a channel where The Bachelor was playing.  Elaine loves that show.  To me.. it looks and sounds like a bunch of drunken high school girls acting like morons.  I did sit down and watch about 30 minutes..  I thought it was really funny how one of the girls (Lacey) kept monopolizing the bachelor.. and she kept complaining to  him that he did not make eye-contact with her.  Poor bastard...if he picks her, his life will be a continuation of this activity, I'm sure.

And where do they get these bachelors?  I think this guy is a pilot, Olympic swimmer, body-builder, ... probably a linguist and certainly he loves little children and fights for peace on earth.

This show, in my opinion, places young people in a terrible light and is an insult to everyone.  Stupid Stupid Stupid!

Love!

These empty-headed women all claim they are just looking for love, and love is all life is all about.. right?  How about these popular movies, which reflect America's  Love Affair with Love:

Love 1927  Gretta Garbo
Love Affair 1932  Humphrey Bogart
Love Before Breakfast  1936  Carole Lombard
Love Affair 1939 Charles Boyer
Love and Learn 1947  Jack Carson
Love at Twenty 1963
Love and Larcenry (sp) 1963 Italian.. Vittorio Gassman
Love and Marriage 1964 Italian
Love and Kisses 1965  Ozzie Nelson
Love and Pain 1972
Love and Anarchy 1973 Italian
Love and Death 1975 Woody Allen
Love Affair 1978  TV
Love and the Midnite Auto Supply 1978 Rory Calhoun
Love at First Bite 1979  Dick Shawn
Love and Bullets 1979 (British)  Charles Bronson
Love and Money 1982
Love and the French Woman  (?) French
... and lots more.. I counted 96

Love Poem?

I'm not sure where I got this or who wrote it.. but I like (love) it:

The wonderful love of a beautiful maid,
The love of a staunch, true man,
the love of a baby unafraid,
Have existed since life began.
But the greatest love.. the love of loves..
Even greater than that of a mother,
Is the passionate, tender and infinite love,
Of one drunken bum for another.

Love Dialogue

"Do you love me, dear?"
"Dearly, sweetheart."
"Would you die for me?"
"No, my pet, mine is an undying love."


Expressing Love

I was brought up in New England, where the words "I love you"  were seldom said, even when you loved someone deeply.  So, when my kids were born, I found that even though their mother said it often, I was more conservative with my expressions.

Then I discovered Leo Buscaglia (the Love Professor).. who said very loudly..."If you love somebody, look them in the eye and say it!"  I did what Leo told me to do and I find my life has been richer and more pleasant.  I think that my family, and Elaine and her family, know that I love them.. because I keep telling them.  And... guess what.. I usually get  something back that strokes my furnace: "I love you too."

Do you love Tea?

Some time ago, Chuck Shepherd told us about magic tea leaves, picked by fairies using just their mouths..in ancient times,  such leaves produced tea that brought prosperity and cured diseases.  Now, a Chinese tea plantation wants to duplicate the process, and  has been trying to hire 10 female virgins to pick tea with their teeth and drop it into small baskets worn around their necks.  They are trying to recruit virgins with strong necks, strong lips, and large breasts.



............................................enough............................................................

Winter; Vampire; Beaver; Johnnie Carson; XFINITY; Happy Birthday; One Meatball; Joe O'Gorman

Brrrrr!  At last it's Winter.  Cold wind bringing the wind chill down close to zero.  I tried sitting out in the sun this morning... but I could only stay there for 5 minutes. 

This morning, I went to LabCorp to have blood drawn.  That is necessary for the heart catherterization procedure I'm to be subjected to on January 15th.   I'm not looking forward to it.

While waiting to be stuck, I watched an episode of Leave it to Beaver on something called Antenna TV.  Which reminds me.. my daughter, Elizabeth lent me a disk with Beaver episodes  on it.. I watched most of it and I guess it's time to give it back to her. 

Jerry Mathers is still around and he announced that he found a cure for diabetes.  He said it worked for him... but it sounded suspicious to me.

Antenna TV for 11 pm tonight will be showing an entire Johnnie Carson Show.  I wonder if they do that every night.  His shows were so much better than anything currently playing on late night TV.  I always thought that someone could make a bundle by just playing his shows on a regular basis.

The blood-taker, Shawn.. a nice young lady who has three children.. 18, 19, and 10.  She said they all had a nice Christmas and she is so happy that her kids are never in big trouble... however, she also wishes that they would stop "sassing" her.  I told her not to worry.. a couple of my kids had me going when they were teenagers.. but they really turned out well and are good, honest, upright citizens, with children of their own.  And... they sure are good looking!

After this little session, I went into the Comcast office to let them know that our remote does not work with the recently installed modem.  It was ok as long as you didn't need to use a "1".  They gave me a remote that is supposed to work with XFINITY... at home, I couldn't get the remote to work at all and called the 800 Comcast number..  They arranged for a technician to visit us tomorrow and straighten everything out.  Meanwhile, I get good exercise by changing channels for Elaine by reaching up and punching buttons on the cable box.

Happy Birthday!

When I was an AARP President, I received a lawyer's letter saying that our club would have to pay a royalty every time we sang "Happy Birthday".  I think it was around $25..  they did say that we could have "life time" permission to sing it, by paying something like $200.  My response to them was: "Go to hell!!"  No lawyer showed up to sue me.

Now, a judge has ruled that Warner Music (who claimed royalty rights to the song) never owned any rights to the song.  Harper's Index indicates that Warner Music made $2,000,000 annually from this "cash cow."

Only One Meatball?

My daughter, Elizabeth, bought me an XM radio receiver that I keep in my "man cave".. I had been keeping it on the Opera Station... but since Margaret Jongquist died, I decided to try some other stations.   Apparently, the Met made some kind of deal with Margaret to introduce hundreds of opera performance tapings, and they insist on playing them every few hours, even though this poor woman died last October or November.  Hearing her vibrant (though dead) voice disturbs me a bit.

So, right now I'm tuned to the 1940's station and they are playing the famous "One Meatball" song.  I love it.  "You get no bread with one meatball."  .. for your 50 cents, little man.

Another Friend Passes

One problem with living in a retirement community is that people die quite often.  Such was the case of a nice guy that Elaine and I knew.  Joe O'Gorman, who grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts died this last Saturday.  Joe was in the Genealogy Club with me and Elaine and we had dined with him and his girlfriend several times.  I enjoyed hearing his Massachusetts accent.. that also had a hint of an Irish brogue in it.   He was a funny man.. and conned me into buying drinks at one function... and he did that just as you would expect a Boston Irishman to do. 

Joe had only lived here about a year.. and he had made himself a nice boyfriend to a scooter-ridden lady.  I hope she doesn't take his passing too hard.  But, it's probably not the first man of hers that has died.

Rest in peace, Joe.


.......................................enough.......................................................

Yiddish Insults; Teachers as Role Models; Sleep; Granma Sez; Trump and Clinton

Another Sunny day in Westminster, Maryland.  I spent some more time on my back porch emptying water from some containers.  Now I need to shovel dirt and dead plants into garbage bags.  That's a job for the future.. for now, I was able to sit in the warm sun and do a German crossword puzzle.  SuZee kept me company until a dog barked somewhere and she disappeared.

Jewish Genealogy?

Since one of the choices Ancestry.com lists as possible relatives for me was Jewish, I think that might be nice... but first, I want to think about Yiddish.. some examples below from Lita Epstein's book: If You Can't Say Anything Nice, Say It In Yiddish (The Book of Yiddish Insults and Curses.):

I wish you a sweet death: a truck full of sugar should run over you. 
A zisn toyt zolstu hobn a trok mit tusker soldid iberforn.

If anyone writes you, they should write you doctors' prescriptions.

Shraybn zol men dir re tsept n.

Onions should grow on your navel.
Zol dir vaksn tzibbeles fun pupik.

May a cannon ball split your skull.
A harmat zol dayn klop tseshmetern.

May all your teeth fall out, except one to give you a toothache.

Ale tseyn zoln dir aroysfaln, nor eyner zol dir blaybn - oyf tsonveytik.

Wow... a little violent, don't you think?

Elaine's son in law, Mat, is related to people who ran the Yiddish theater in New York City.  I'm not sure, but I think it's being revised.. There may also be a couple of Yiddish newspapers left in the world.. and, of course, Yiddish lives in Israel (or so I've been told.)   Yiddish uses German as a basis and therefore should not be hard to learn for those who are fluent in that language..  And  one must learn Hebrew letters..  If I were younger, I would pursue such learning.  (When I first was stationed on a mountain top in Germany during the 1950's.. since I had 8 hours each day waiting for radio messages and I had time to try to learn German,  French, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.  Of  course, this was too much to do.. so, after a while I slowed down on everything but German and French.)

Role Models?

I am upset about a picture shown by the Carroll County Times of teachers staging some kind of "walk-out" because of disagreement.  I agree with the teachers on their dispute... however, in the picture, all of the teachers are dressed like bums.  I hope I am wrong about this, and that it was "dress down Friday" or something like that .  But.. if these teachers stand before their classes dressed as shown in the picture... I think they make a big mistake.  How about pressed clothes.. no holes in dungarees.. no dungarees..  no piercings.... More professionalism is needed.   My daughter, Elizabeth, always looks professional while she works at school. .. I guess I am just old-fashioned in this regard.


Sleep?

For years, I slept less that 5 hours a night.  I wanted to watch the Tonight Show and the After Tonight Show and then, I needed to get up early to lift weights.  And I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning.  Now... AARP says that those people who sleep seven hours at night, have a better score on cognitive tests than those who don't. Well.. now that I'm an old dude, I sleep more than seven hours at night.. but I am not going to take any more tests at my age.

Granma SEZ

My partner, Elaine, often throws off little gems of wisdom.  She told me that I can quote her if I wish.. which I will do.

Politics

My radio is on.. CSPAN.. The Donald is being interviewed.. he says that Hillary caused lots of death. during her Government service.   Each Republican on one of the CSPAN reruns today said that Trump will probably be one of three candidates:   Clinton (Dem); Unknown (Rep); Trump (3rd Party).. This, of course means that Hillary is a "shoe-in" for the Presidency.

....enough....

Sunny day; Posters; Guns; Community Service; Super Food; Bugs; Palindromes

This is another log entry from 5 years ago. Side effects from a medication have taken over my brain for a little time. So, this is a little like those shows that do reruns from time to time.

Sunny Saturday

1.  I tried to siphon some water out of porch containers with a hose.  Didn't work.  So, instead I used a pan to bail 50 pan-fuls.  Tomorrow, I'll try to do 50 more.  That'll show those mosquitoes who is boss!
2.  I scrubbed some of the white fencing around the porch... too tough to do for an old dude.. so, instead, I sat down in the sun and did a couple of 1915 crossword puzzles.
3. I cleaned up two cat throw-ups.  SuZee is very liberal with these.  You remember SuZee.. the famous disappearing cat... nobody but Elaine and I have ever seen her... she has an uncanny ear for encroaching humans..  whenever I see her race downstairs, I know that in a couple of minutes, human contact will be attempted with us.   This should be good for us when lenders try to corner us.

ART Appreciation 101

The New York Times  year-end sale of posters and prints is very interesting to me: 

Marc Chagall's Magic Flute Poster..$225.
Renoir's Dancing Peasants Print.. $150.
Some Like it Hot movie poster.. $2,800.

You can see what Americans value these days.  Although, I loved the movie named.. especially the actors like Marilyn Monroe!

The OK Corral 

Great day for gun owners in Texas.  Today, they can begin to carry their pistols in holster belts.. just like Gunsmoke...  Somebody sent me an NRA propaganda piece that tries to convince people that gun control doesn't work in those places where it is in effect.  A slick piece, but full of holes, if one asks the right questions.  One argument is that if even one of the victims of the crazy couple in California had a handgun, they could have shot the perps and solved the problem.

Suppose they missed the perps and hit a hostage?

What does a Caregiver do?

Some folks have asked me that question.   AARP put out a list of Caregiver duties.. here are just a few of them:

1.  Take in their mail.
2.  Do their shopping.
3.  Go to the Post Office for them.
4.  Water their flowers.
5.  Do their dishes.
6.  Wash their clothes.
7.  Arrange for housecleaning.
8.  Take out their trash.
9.  Tell them jokes.
10.  Get them newspapers.
11.  Take them out to eat.
12.  Cook for them.
13.  Mow their grass.

Now... there are lots of senior citizens who need to have these chores done for them... also, there are lots of  High School seniors who need to  do community service in order to graduate.  Why can't  we effectuate a match-up?

When I lived in Gamber, Maryland, one of our neighbors was a big-shot educator.. and he had an 18 year old son who was about to graduate from High School.   His community service was sweeping his family's sidewalk, mowing their grass and raking their leaves . What the hell kind of community service is that?

Super Food

The Bottom Line company mentions a new super food:  Spirulina..  this remarkable food does the following: 

1.  Raises hemoglobin (iron carrying component of red blood cells.)
2.  Prevents the release of histamines that worsen allergic symptoms.
3.  Reduces risk for cataracts.
4.  Reduces blood sugar level and risk of diabetes.

They do suggest that you talk to your doctor first before trying.

Bye Bye Bugs

Bottom Line also mentions that there is a new spray that is harmful to bugs, but not to people or pets.  It is called Green Bug All Natural and costs $32.95 a quart.

Palindrome Winner

Mark Saltveit runs an award ceremony called The SYMMYS Competition.

Jon Agee won the contest lately for his palindrome:  Go hang a salami! I'm a lasagna hog!

....................enough..............................

TRIAD, scams, Italian, DNA, plumbing

My doctors ganged up on me recently and mandated my dropping 11 of my 12 activities.  I decided that they were probably right.. I was trying to do too much with this old body of mine... so I opted to only stay as coordinator of the Carroll County TRIAD Chapter.  This is a National organization, developed by AARP to get senior citizens involved in the prevention of crime.. and the organization includes ties with all of the Police entities around the Country.. and is designed to bring interested elderly persons into meaningful discussion with Police.  We meet on the third Thursday of each and every month at the Westminster, Maryland Senior Activity Center.

I live in a Continuing Care Community of 700 persons, whose average age is probably 80.  I've mentioned to many of the residents that I want to help them avoid losing their money to scammers and have heard from some of those who say they have just barely avoided being caught.. .. however, I am suspicious that some of them and  some of the quiet folks have already been caught.

One lady receives email messages every day from deposed Nigerian and Ghanan officials who have millions of dollars just waiting to be released to her as soon as they receive an advance payment.  I hope she has never sent them anything... but I am suspicious.

A month ago, while waiting in line at a local supermarket, an elderly lady in front of me was putting $100 bills into a clerk's hand as she counted.. 400, 500, 600... She was purchasing International Money Orders to send to Lagos, Nigeria.   I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she knew who she was sending this money to.   She said: "Yes, a very nice lady that I know."   Sure.

Anyway.. today is New Year's day.. the second day that I am posting to my new Prepop Sez blog.  If you haven't read the one for yesterday, I wish you would.. because it is there that I talk about my first-born granddaughter, Heather.

Who's Your Daddy?

In my on-going quest to find out just who the hell was my father before I die... I took the Ancestry.Com  DNA test.  In the results were potential 1st and 2nd cousins shown for me.  The results point (not conclusively) to people named Gifford, Peckham or Holland.  A person with one of those names may be the person I'm looking for.  I've been told that some of the suspects may have been "hell-raisers".. one might have been a physician.. and one some kind of merchant.   All of them were born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The DNA results do indicate that I could possibly be English, Italian, Jewish, or perhaps even Portuguese.  I have already pursued my possible Italian roots.. which turned out badly, in my opinion, becaused I had been told for 60 years that the person involved was indeed my father.  Well, since I have always tried to learn something from every experience,  I have a knowledge of Italian... at least enough to do Italian crossword puzzles.

Speaking of learning from everything and everyone.... I had a programmer working for me at the Social Security Administration who had to be let go.  I tried really hard to find something to be learned from him.   I finally did... His name was Harvey L...  His initials were HL.. which solved a minor problem for me... I could never remember which faucet was hot or cold...  HL=Hot Left.  Thank you, Harvey!

Bye for now.