$19 Left in SNAP and Three Weeks To Go

I was about to turn this off for the night, but I'm p...d.  I went shopping this week (after receiving my SNAP) and I've got $19 left until next month.  I'm sick of hearing about billion-dollar ballrooms and the idiots who have no idea that's even a 'thing'.  Or the fact that the Saudi Prince got p...d at Trump after he said we'd escort ships through the Strait without consulting them; so President DJT called it off  within 24 hours (plus he can't risk his royal son-in-law's business dealings).  Kinda surprised his Generals, but what do they expect?  That's how coups begin.

I thought we were supposed to be the biggest and baddest?

So Trump caved for Prince Slit-their-Throats; but when NATO countries were mad they weren't consulted what did he do?  Threaten this-and-that like a child having a tantrum.

So anyway, we're supposed to be footing the bill for all this with shit-eating grins on our faces.  I've said before that since I'm not getting a tax break, how about helping a bit with (our) SNAP instead of cutting our benefits.

I am SICK TO DEATH of hearing stories about the uber-wealthy.  SICK TO DEATH of those who think what's going on is fine.

"Yippee!!" they say, "...the stock market's soaring and  more people are using credit cards!"

DUH, that's how you survive when you don't have cash to buy the things you need.

I was recently hit with a close-to $4,000 car repair, which is about what I paid for it in 2018.  Partially paid with cash; much with a credit card.  Perhaps, because that's still stinging, that's why I'm so angry at the Upper Class; who can easily toss $4,000 for a bottle of wine, and easily stroll past misery without a glance.

Thanks a lot, ever-Trumpers. May you reap what you sow.

Cheap Imitations

President Trump may have remodeled the Oval Office to resemble Buckingham Palace,  but it's as genuine as a Rolex knockoff.  Our President is likely the only person unaware much of the world is laughing at his bad taste and Superiority Complex:

"A superiority complex is a behavior that suggests a person believes they’re somehow superior to others. While not an official diagnosis, symptoms of it can occur with some conditions. People with this complex often have exaggerated opinions of themselves. They may believe their abilities and achievements surpass those of others. However, a superiority complex may actually be hiding low self-esteem or a sense of inferiority."

We knew that already, didn't we?

I read that during the King's visit, Trump had Jackie Kennedy's portrait hung in the Oval Office.  I don't know what anyone else is supposing, but I think it's a set-up to have Melania's portrait hung opposite, as if to suggest their good-tastes were equal.

We know the truth to that, too, don't we?

All in all, you have to hand it to Charles's constitution - how he could sit in that gaudy office and be fondled by Donald - must have really turned his royal stomach.

Americans are quite grateful for his visit; most especially his speech before Congress, touting the importance of Separation of Powers.  And the Republicans stood up!  So either they were grateful the King spoke the words they're too afraid to voice; or else they're imbeciles who don't know any better.

We know the answer to that one, too, n'est-ce pas?

Madame Defarge and the Epstein Class

If we were in the late 1700's, Paris, A Tale of Two Cities,  I'd be Madame Defarge, sitting with my knitting at the base of the guillotine.

40,000 Oregonians are losing their SNAP benefits, and it's happening in every state.  Not me - I'm over 64 so the work requirement doesn't apply.  But not everyone under 64 requiring SNAP to keep from starving is able to meet the 80-hour/mo work requirement, usually due to physical or mental disabilities. This, on top of fuel prices and everything else.

So the absolute GALL of Mike Johnson to ask us to pay $400 million for Trump's gaudy ballroom in order for him to host his billionaire friends and their Epstein-Class buddies.

Anyone who doesn't think we won't have a Second American Revolution isn't paying attention.

The Correspondent's Shooting

Two things came to mind after the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondent's Dinner (and the subsequent discussion of rescheduling):

1 - All those women are going to have to find another dress.  Men have it easy - they're all Penguins - but the gals?  Show up in the same dress after the entire world has seen it?  No, no, no...

and

2 - I wonder how many people BET on the chances of a shooter gaining access; and whether the shooter was successful or not.  Who's looking into that?

I'm very glad everyone's safe.  What a cluster.

Hanky-Heads

For some reason, a former neighbor popped into my head this morning while listening to news about the Iran non-war.  It was 1991 and 'Pat' had taken a new corporate position, making the move from Indiana to New Jersey.  As a cultural reference: it was the latest incarnation of Star Trek,  and Pat preferred Captain Pikard's bald pate while I'd have jumped Riker's bones if given the opportunity.  I made it a point to befriend her...East Coast people have such a bad rap...but gradually I placed more distance between us than the common wall of our living rooms.

I don't remember the conversation but I remember the moment I heard her call the peoples of the Middle East, Hanky-Heads.  I didn't have the confidence to call her on it at the time, shame on me.  She liked to drink and so did I, and during one of our 'stupors' she shared this story:

'Pat's' two sisters liked to drink, too, and they'd all go partying in Indianapolis.  One sister she described as beautiful, blonde, buxom (and well-married).  Snockererd and giggly one night they stumbled upon a wake, of all things.  Everyone's seated, soft music playing, when Blondie, in her up-to-here, down-to-there outfit, staggers up to the casket and begins sobbing and sobbing.  She finally turns and leaves the building held-up by her sisters.

Sure, it's a funny story, but can you imagine the widow?  Poor woman, she's probably been haunted by their prank the rest of her life, and likely has a very different recollection of her late husband; questioning innocuous memories.  Naively, I was shocked; for Pat appeared to be quite conservative during the daytime.

Anyway, that all popped into my head following Iran and the news (correctly) thrashing the latest White House loss:  Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the former Labor Secretary, who's leaving for personal reasons, uh-huh.  Hopefully she's not coming back to this neck of the woods, for prior to D.C. she was a Representative from Oregon who lost her bid for re-election.  She flunked out of Trumpland so I imagine will come home to lick her wounds (with her creepy father in tow), ugh.

When you hear the allegations against these people - their extracurricular (and extramarital) affairs - sure, it's not uncommon, but you'd think they'd have a higher level of decorum in their positions.

But we're a nation run by a Pig with a capital P who has no morals; who's trying like hell to reshape the future of our country regardless of him being in power: a Christian Nationalist nation, where women are once again chained to the kitchen while undesirables are chained in ICE facilities.

Nice goin' Mr. President.

Why the Rush to Leave Iran - We'll Only Head for Cuba

That was my thought this morning while listening to the Antichrist opine that a deal (so sick of that word) with Iran should be made in a few days...until it's not.  The 'war' wasn't supposed to last this long, but who in their right mind believed 2-4 weeks?  Maybe that's me - I don't believe a word coming out of the White House, period.

War #10 is about to be resolved by our President, he's claiming; doesn't matter he started it.  Of course he's building that hideous Arch as a tribute to himself as the man who got rid of despots; but he's a wimp. He goes after Maduro and Khamenei but how about Putin?  I'd have traded him for the first two, for the world would definitely be better off (but Putin's got pictures).  You watch:  he'll bust Brazil' Bolsonaro out of prison, just as he pardoned Hondoras's Hernández, the Proud Boys and the rest.

Don't worry about that Arch, if it is ever built; for it'll get torn down eventually, just like Robert E Lee statues, never fear.  We may all be dead by then, but it'll go... 

Some people may say I'm too (mentally) involved in what's going on in the world.  You mean politics?  Well that's true, because I like to stay informed, no matter how distressing.  One person I know voted for Trump simply because of RFK Jr's stand on eliminating food coloring or whatever's supposed to be bad for us.  OK, fine - except they're walking that promise back, I wonder if she knows.

Think things are going well?  It is if you're invested in the stock market.  I'm also tired of Trump  trumpeting the tax breaks everyone's supposedly getting; including Social Security for seniors.  I'm not, for my Social Security is too low to tax to begin with.  And when we DO get our January COL increase, SNAP benefits are reduced - but I've been living like that for years so I'm used to it - just FYI.

My point is that a loaf of bread and quart of milk costs the same for me as it does for Elon Musk, if he shopped cheap.  The gasoline at the pump costs the same for me as it does for you.  It costs more to buy groceries locally but it's now a $10 trip to Walmart, and prices are higher there, too.  

What harm would it have been if, in lieu of a tax break, I'd get some additional SNAP benefits (currently about $195/mo) like they did during COVID? Surely that would cost less than a day's warfare.

So I'll economize like everyone else; what's the point in complaining, Trump isn't listening.  He's aching to head for Cuba - he can't WAIT for this Iranian Deal to be completed properly, so he'll leave it half-ass like he does everything else.

Oh, wait, the Strait of Hormuz is now Fully Open, Trump says.  While writing this post, the Iranians say the same.  I don't believe either of them, for they're not reading from the same script.  But either way, Cuba, here we come?