A Cry for HELP from Foreign Allies

Why are you letting our Bozo push you around?  Just when people like me think there's hope that one of you might call his bluff and stand up to the bully, you fold like our Republicans.  Just like you did when Hitler was rising to power - remember Neville Chamberlain's mistake?

Who the hell does Trump think he is?  Terrorizing anyone who doesn't agree with him (take your pick); threatening countries unless they vote for his buddy (Brazil); threatening to withhold funds from bonafide institutions (universities and FEMA) unless they march to his tune; ordering ankle bracelets for released, non-violent detainees from ICE detention (where are they gonna go, Mexico?); pressuring the one Republican Senator (Josh Hawley),  who joined Democrats to support a bill that would prohibit lawmakers, future presidents and vice presidents from trading stocks thus limiting corruption (from their insider information)...until Trump's call, after which the bill was amended to exclude the current President and Vice President.  Tell me that doesn't sound fishy.  What would you think if it was happening in Ukraine?

He's no money manager - he's declared bankruptcy at least 4 times, and now he's doing it to the United States.  Building a God-ugly ballroom like his golf courses, with lots of gold and tacky fixtures, for 200 million; renovating his 'free' plane from Qatar to the tune of  934 million or so...and today they've just voted to allow him to keep the plane when/if he leaves office; all while slashing every government program, including Medicaid and SNAP benefits for millions who need it the most? "Let them eat cake," is his motto. 

And what should we all think when he either pardons Madam Maxwell or commutes her sentence somehow, you know he will.  But she fits his mold when it comes to Presidential Fitness.  Who can keep track of the reasons Trump distanced himself from Epstein:  first it was because of a real estate deal gone bad; now it's stealing employees.  He honestly doesn't realize, or care, how easily he digs his own holes, since he's manipulated the system so that ALL THREE branches of government will keep him out of trouble...OR ELSE.  Absolutely no concern for the victims.  It's all so sleazy but expected from one such as he.

We don't hear about all the pardons Trump's signing for all kinds of sleaze bags.  He has no compunction allowing people like Maxwell and the Proud Boys loose on our streets.  I really feel badly for young girls and women who are losing all rights to manage their own bodies while fighting off the Manosphere.  Better get used to the idea of staying pregnant.

Speaking of dicks, I can't help wondering the following, not only about Gaza but other places experiencing famine:  When so many of children are already starving, why the hell can't the men practice some form of birth control?  Am I the only one who wonders about that while looking at skin-and-bones infants screaming from hunger?  Sorry, but when I look at them I place most of the blame on selfish fathers whose carnal desires trump compassion and consideration for their future progeny. Can't the men have sex with one another?  So long as we're assigning blame, don't forget the Dicks.  (FYI, I tamed that from my original argument involving farm animals.)

Trump has no intention of leaving the White House until he's good and ready; so to the rest of the world, don't think you can wait him out!  Trump's agreements aren't worth the paper they've yet to be printed on, if ever.  If you don't do what he likes, he'll threaten to jack up your tariffs again, you know that's true.  Stop hoping for the best!

How many times do we all have to be hit on the head before we stand up for what's fair and right?  So go ahead, take the hits with his threatened tarriffs.  It'll hurt everyone for awhile; but many of us across the pond and our northern and southern borders predict the increased tariffs, with the ensuing price increases here, will finally push people over the edge and vote out the current administration.  BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

Let's see what Canada does, eh?

Whaddaya Gonna Say?

Trump-bump

-Trump pushed Coke to release a NEW Coke made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup.  Still makes you fat and contributes to diabetes; for the same price?  Time will tell.
- Bring back the Washington Redskins, he says.  How much is it going to cost to change all those sports team's names again, plus re-install Confederate statues?
-  Why are we investigating President Obama years later, when the THEN GOP Intelligence Community determined Russia was meddling with the election, but not with the voting machines? (Gabbi needs a ratings boost.)
- WHY are we paying attention to the BEHEMOTH in the Oval Office?

Because it's hard not to.  He controls our fates, now that Congress and the Supreme Court have capitulated before such a beast.  I used to say, "Putin's got photos," of Donald indelicato to explain Trump's fawning of the dictator during his first term.  I still believe it - that's the real reason Putin's been given carte blanche to pummel Ukraine for the next, how long, 40 days?  And then he's going to miraculously QUIT THE FIGHT...right.  He'll get another 40 nights.

But apparently JEFFREY had photos, too - why else would Dumbo be throwing all his mud against the wall to distract from his screw-ups (and cause Congress to flee early for vacation)?

- Whatever happened to that lost uranium?
- How are rural communities going to get early-warning alerts once their Public Broadcasing stations shut down?
- How's that Gaza Humanitarian Foundation going?  If your head's been in the sand, it's something the US and Israel quickly cooked up to provide aid rather than using traditional methods, like the UN.  We're way past the point of justifying everything by saying Hamas (which I don't support, don't throw that back at me; I'm making a point).  Between May 27 and July 21, 766 Gazans were shot around GHF's distribution points.  Who's surprised, especially after Trump wanted to shoot protestors the first go-around; probably still does?
- Will I be able to afford fresh fruits and veggies after my SNAP benefit's cut (not that I really can now); or will I be back to 'lips and toes' hotdogs towards the end of the month?

Stock Market Scarf

Trump and his bullionnaire-led teams are doing a bang-up job decimating government programs with nary a thought to the consequences on real people, particularly the poor.  My grocery bill hasn't gone down and neither is there affordable housing available; but those issues don't matter to our Head of State, I use that term loosely.

But Crypto investors are making a killing, and we did get a new flagpole.  How about spending some of those funds withdrawn from Harvard to bankroll research for MEN TO CARRY THE BABY, instead of laying all those woes on Women?  It's already OK for them to stay home and improve their cooking skills.  I'll bet that would be popular with at least half the population; but the halls of government in every state are still overwhelmingly men.  Ladies, why do we continually vote for these machistas?  Are we watching The Stepford Wives come to life?

By all means, let's focus on banning contraceptives, I predicted that in 2022.  In 2021, I predicted them making M and F the only identifiable sex, and that's already come true. So as a reader, if you think my views are way 'out there' with no chance of coming true, I'll point to my track record; this isn't the first time I've written, 'told you so.

She Sells Sea Shells

In conclusion, I'll make a plea to any Republicans reading:  please buy things on my Etsy shop so I can save up enough to leave the country, that's what you want in the end.  I've got some cool Seashells from Puerto Rico, Hummels from Germany, Scarves from Mom and other interesting items you won't find on Amazon.  Dem's are invited, too.  Thanks!

Red Velvet Blues

I regret not having any photographs from the tale I'm about to tell, but Amy was too busy throwing baking pans around the kitchen; noise which hopefully muffled any 4-letter words spewing from (our) spinning head like a busted fire hydrant in summertime.

So you'll have to visualize, just as I imagined my Red Velvet cake pops resembling this photo, blatently swiped from what I thought read 'Basics with Balls' - but it's actually 'Basics with Bails', here's Bailey's website to give full credit for her beautiful results.

Last fall I attempted, twice, to make Pumpkin Spice Cake Balls.  Cake Balls are simply crumbled up baked cake; mix in some frosting to bind; roll into balls; and coat with Almond Bark, Melting Wafers or Chocolate.  Simple, huh? The first time took me 6 hours and I made quite a mess, but they tasted really good and my co-workers enjoyed them.

The Spartan Way

I stared at this morning's headline about the ending of two programs providing assistance to the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. I thought of the sweet couple who sold me my teardrop: he was deaf, she wasn't, but both worked as teachers for a school for the deaf, not far from Portland.  Why would anyone cancel funding for the deaf, blind, any so-called handicap members of our society?  I thought of the Gerard Butler movie, 300; and the idea of tossing unacceptable newborns into the sea, or whatever.  I couldn't read any more.

Did I hear correctly that the new quota for picking up illegals is going from 3,000 a day to 7,000?  If they're already swiping personnel from other decimated agencies to support ICE, who'll be left to protect the rest of us?  Home-grown crazies are just as dangerous and deadly as crazies smuggled in, look at most mass killings.  It's the Under-30's who seem to be particularly nuts, so let's just round them up until they turn 40.

But 7,000?  That now pertains to anyone here illegally (as were many of my generation's grandparents) and who may have been here for, what, up to 70 years, with nary a traffic ticket?    I've asked this question before:  Who is the Government going to detain when they're finished with the dangerous dark-skinned illegals?  Are they going to go after light-skinned nationalities, or will they get a pass?  I'm biased there because of late-husband Tino's illegal status, another story; but the whole thing reeks of Hitler's idea of the Master Race. Even just a smidgen of similarity should scare the bejesus out of you.

If Joe Biden had made one fraction of the decisions Trump has since January, Republicans would be screaming for daily cognitive testing.  Why are they letting Trump do whatever he wants, acting as the spoiled child he remains?  Vindictive, he is, slandering those who won't do his bidding.  We'll all be required to take loyalty tests to acquire something-or-other currently taken for granted but which will become preferential treatment, mark my words.  Passports, for instance.  Can't travel overseas unless...  Or,  Highly preferred interest rates for loyal subjects citizens only.  I'm no longer in that market, and I hope to be overseas before the Passports change - volunteering somewhere remote.

So whaddaya think of the new FLAGPOLE installed in front of the White House?  Takes away from the nice view of the stately building, but I'm guessing it gives Trump a rise each time he looks at it, so he doesn't care.  I'm hoping the next president with good taste moves it, why not next to the Washington Monument for scale; and gets rid of the Goldoval Office.  It's not one of Trump's casinos, although I take that back.  He's used to hosting high-rollers in the dark, surrounded by tacky glitz and barely-legal incentives.

When Did I Start Failing the 'Pencil Test'?

I just tried it with an eyebrow pencil I don't use.  Wait - suck in the stomach, that oughta  help.  Nope.  Other one, too?  DAMN!  Mentally I feel around 38, but physically - everything's dropping faster than my SNAP benefits. If I live long enough there'll be nothing left but a puddle on the ground.

This is my 'Month of Mourning;' I included that phrase in this year's calendar design.  The 7th would have been my 31st wedding anniversary with #3, Tino; I like to believe we'd have lasted this long.  Tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary of BC's passing, sniff sniff.  Ex-Man #1 passed away on the 13th; Ex-Man #2 on the 27th; my dear friend Mary would have been 70 on the 21st, if she hadn't passed 26 years ago; and the 22nd's The Captain's birthday, he's still vertical.

I don't view all those occasions on the same level of grief, of course; and there are too many other sad anniversaries throughout the year.  But I told myself that if I indulge in the sniffles over things long gone, I'll relegate it to July.

From this year onward, I'll include the sad occasion when Trump's Big Beautiful Bill was signed, wasn't that on the 4th; which will financially screw me but won't go into effect until after the 2026 elections so I won't know how bad for quite some time.  They he'll REALLY let (us) have it.

I've been asked more than once,"Will the bill affect (my) SNAP or Medicaid?"  Of course it will.  But if elected officials won't do anything about it and 78 million voted for the Originator, what sense in me getting upset?  I'm not in the mood to fight City Hall.  Besides, I've learned that things generally work out better than I plan, and I'm done worrying.

Bad Ideas Often Lead to Good Times

(Final leg of a recent cross-country trip.)  I was out of Iowa in no time and into Nebraska, April 17th.  This was, indeed, the same route I'd taken with BC back in 2016; and where we were caught in a hellatious hail storm which cracked my front windshield.

When I travel I don't bother with GPS, Google Maps or anything else which might alert me of possible danger, except the FM radio.   So when I heard on the radio, "Strong thunderstorms with hail possibly the size of golf balls," I pressed the pedal to the metal to get the hell through the state. This map is fuzzy, but I was right in the middle of the orange area.  

So I raced across Nebraska to North Platt, where I chose an $80 motel not far from the Interstate.  It looked nicer than the others from the outside, but I was jaded.

Lo and behold, I was pleasantly surprised the room was clean and had sheets.  I mentioned the approaching storm to the woman at the desk but she'd heard nothing; so I figured I'd gone far enough to prevent the possibility of my rental being pummeled by ice.