Monday, September 30, 2019

Flowing Curves Of Beauty


I read a book on marriage that said I should treat my wife like I treated her on our first date, so we ate dinner out tonight and afterwards I dropped her off at her parents' house.




Monday, September 23, 2019

California - The New Rustbelt?


Back at the turn of the century, around 2001, my new job took me back to Ohio for an nationwide company meeting. We met in Akron. The hotel we were staying at provided a complimentary newspaper. I remember seeing for the first time, page after page of near microscopic type, listing all the delinquent tax bills of individuals and businesses, and statements that John Doe was no longer responsible for the debt of Jane Doe, etc.

On the way from the hotel to the meeting site, we'd pass by many closed and boarded up buildings on the main street of town. The Rust Belt, I thought. Being from California, I gave it little more thought than to feel sorry for the residents.

Fast forward two decades. You'll never guess what I've been seeing on the pages of my Dead Tree Newspaper. That's right! Today, there were two and a half pages full of near microscopic type, listing delinquent tax payments. And it wasn't the first time. Just like Akron, 2001.

The next time I hear Gavin Newsom or some other California Democrat crowing about how wonderful the California economy is, I've got a list two and a half pages long, microscopic type, who people who might want to disagree with them.

Flowing Curves Of Beauty


Education is important, but Happy Hour is importanter.




Monday, September 16, 2019

Corn Pop Joe

Joe Biden never made it to a Wheaties box, because of the asthma that kept him out of Viet Nam, but not life guarding or college sports. He has related though, an incident where he fought off a serial gang offender. At least, I think that's what he said!

Cup of Joe for a Joe

Green Beans Coffee has a program, Cup of Joe for a Joe that I like to contribute to now and then. Here's a sample of some of the responses I get from the troops:
Thank you so much! Much love and respect to you
Service member serving in Bagram PAX Terminal, Afghanistan 

Thank you! It’s Sunday morning and this is exactly what I needed!
Service member serving in Al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait

Michael thank you so much! Coffee is the fuel that gets me through the day. I really appreciate the gift and the support
Service member serving in Camp Buehring (Udairi), Kuwait

Thank you Michael. You're support means alot!
Service member serving in Bagram Main (south), Afghanistan

Thanks Michael! Woke up to this nice surprise this morning! I appreciate it! Davy - Baghdad
Service member serving in Union III, Iraq

Thank you Mr Butler, I appreciate the kind gesture!
Service member serving in JTC, Jordan

Thank you for your support . I appreciate it .
Service member serving in Buehring MOAB, Kuwait

Mr Butler, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. It's so humbling that folks like you are thinking of us back home and taking money from your wallet to spread a splash of cheer. From all of us... Thank you. -Nathan
Service member serving in Al Azraq, Jordan

Thank you
Service member serving in Bagram PAX Terminal, Afghanistan

Thank you sir! This made my week!
Service member serving in Al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait

Thanks for the coffee and even more for the support, Nick
Service member serving in ATOC (Ops Town) - Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar

Michael, Thank you very much for the coffee! Anthony
Service member serving in Bagram Main (south), Afghanistan

Thank you for support the deployed troops. This cup of joe has made my day better, thank you!
Service member serving in ATOC (Ops Town) - Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar

Thank you for your generosity!! It makes a huge difference.
Service member serving in JTC, Jordan

Thank you for the cup of coffee, I really appreciate it. It’s nice to know people back home keep us in their thoughts.
Service member serving in BPC Mall, Qatar


The link is here: GreenBeansCoffeeCompany if you want to give a cup or three.  I don't know about you, but the cost of a cup of coffee to someone far away from home serving their country is a small price to pay. And the rewards are worth it to me! Nobody is paying me to say this, because it makes you feel good! It's  $2.50/ cup. You can write a short message, as I usually do, or not. You can be anonymous if you wish or you can even post your email addy if you are open to corresponding.

C'mon! You've got $2.50 in the couch cushions! Give it a try! You'll be glad you did!

Flowing Curves Of Beauty


Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head, a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.




Saturday, September 14, 2019

The Trouble With Tribble

We have heard scornfully that she was Trump's FEMA employee. That is true, however, the former FEMA Official arrested was Ahsha Tribble, hired by FEMA in 2015, during the Obama administration.
"She has traveled with President Obama and Vice President Biden to disaster areas to provide technical support on Federal response activities."
Some of it must have rubbed off!

Pelosi's Botox Surprise

Friday, September 13, 2019

Happiness Is Doubled And Sorrows Halved In The Company Of A Friend

Three days before Hurricane Dorian lashed the coast of South Carolina, my friend of 40+ years called her son saying to him only, “Help!” and hung up the phone.  He rushed to her home to find her in respiratory distress.  An ambulance was called, and she was admitted to the critical care unit.
Two years ago, she nearly died.  This time around the situation was not as dire, but she remains in critical care.
Her son and widowed daughter-in-law insisted while my friend remained sedated and intubated there was no need for me to travel to see her.  I have waited on pins and needles for some sign of improvement in my friend’s condition.  It’s approaching two weeks now without success in removing the ventilation tubing or easing up on the sedation that is being administered.
I was told only two days ago that she was also being treated for pneumonia.  I feel strongly that I must leave to be with my best friend.
I haven’t spoken with co-bloggers Proof or Sig94 about posting during my absence, first because I have no notion of how long I will be away and secondly, because they have their own lives to lead and I don’t want to lay that burden at their feet.
I have queued up the very popular regular weekly features of “A Walk On The Wild Side” and “Flowing Curves Of Beauty” through the end of October.  I have notified my neighbor to scoop up my mail and keep an eye peeled on my house while I’m away.
I apologize to my readers for this abrupt notice and hope you will not abandon this blog because I have made the choice to be with my friend.
A quote I love that has been attributed to blind and deaf American authoress Helen Keller seems most appropriate for this moment in time:
“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark,
than alone in the light.”

Dem Debate Clash With NFL Football Equals Unwatchable Clown Car Shitshow


Alabama Crimson Tide VS South Carolina Gamecocks

A lot of people in the run-up to the game between the Tide and the Gamecocks are happy to remind you the last time Bama lost to an SEC East team was nine years ago in Columbia, SC when the Cocks won 35-21.

That year the Gamecocks were led by “Head Ball Coach” Steve Spurrier; the pipsqueak  known as “Darth Visor” for throwing and stomping on his visor when he succumbed to fits of anger like a brat kicking and screaming on the floor of a toy store.  The same Steve Spurrier who left a successful Florida Gators program to coach in the NFL when somebody pissed him off.  The same Spurrier who left the Redskins to come crawling back to college ball when things got bad.

Three years before he resigned in the middle of his 11th season at South Carolina, Spurrier threw some shade at Nick Saban saying, “He’s got a nice little gig going.  A little bit like Calipari.  He tells guys, ‘Hey three years from now, you’re going to be a first-round pick and go.’  If he wants to be the greatest coach or one of the greatest coaches in college football, to me, he has to go somewhere besides Alabama and win, because they’ve always won there at Alabama.”

During his post-game press conference following Bama’s drubbing of New Mexico State, Saban was asked, “What do you get out of a game like this and do you think this level of competition can get you ready for an SEC game a week later?”

His response was, “ Well look, I’ve talked about this before.  We’ve tried to schedule the best teams we can schedule and we’re trying to do that in the future as well.  We can only play the people who are willing to play us. I’ve said my opinion about playing 12 Power-5 schools.  That’s what I would rather do, but a lot of other people don’t agree with that.  I’d rather play 10 SEC games and then play two other Power-5 schools, so all the games are exciting for the fans; all the games are good football.  You wouldn’t have to go undefeated to get into the playoffs because you’d play a more quality schedule.”

“I’ve been through and covered that ground a hundred times.  If you asked me if we should play 12 Power-5 teams my answer would be Yes,” Saban continued.

So…the Tide rolls into Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia to do battle with Coach Muschamp’s Gamecocks.  Muschamp took some heat for his decision to punt at midfield on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter leading the Tarheels 20-17.  They ended up losing to the Heels 24-20.  Muschamp confessed, “ We played the percentages there with our defense, but I was obviously wrong.”

In that game, starting QB Jake Bentley suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury to his foot giving second string QB Ryan Hilinski the reins against Charleston Southern last Saturday.  Hilinksi completed 24 of 30 passes for 282 yards in their 72-10 victory.

Will Muschamp was an elite defensive coordinator back in the day, but as head coach he’s nowhere near solving the SEC.  It didn’t happen in four seasons at Florida and it hasn’t happened yet in Columbia.  He’s 12-12 through three seasons at South Carolina.

The atmosphere at Williams-Brice Stadium will be electric for Gamecocks fans.  I had tickets to the game but will not be able to attend.  My best friend was hospitalized in critical condition the day before Hurricane Dorian lashed the South Carolina coast and I have chosen to be with my friend.

I know, however, Coach Saban’s murderball will be too much for Muschamp to handle.  The game will be largely lopsided in favor of the Tide as Tua takes advantage of an inexperienced Gamecocks secondary.  Bama’s defense will undoubtedly force multiple turnovers giving Bama another blowout victory to start the 2019 season.

Funny Maine has disabled embedding his videos on other websites.  I hope you'll click on the link to watch "How Bama Fans Watched Week Two Games".

Thursday, September 12, 2019

The Trouble With Tribble



We have heard scornfully that she was Trump's FEMA employee. That is true, however, the former FEMA Official arrested was Ahsha Tribble, hired by FEMA in 2015, during the Obama administration.
"She has traveled with President Obama and Vice President Biden to disaster areas to provide technical support on Federal response activities."
Some of it must have rubbed off!

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

The “Stache” No Longer Needed

Just a little after noon today the nation learned President Trump’s National Security Advisor, John Bolton, had tendered his resignation.

President Trump said, “I asked John for his resignation, which was given this morning.  I thank John very much for his service.  I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.”

Bolton’s exit caused shockwaves throughout the DC Beltway, though there had been numerous reports of tensions between Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on some of President Trump’s biggest foreign policy initiatives, including the now-collapsed peace deal with Afghanistan’s Taliban and the nuclear talks with North Korea.

In the interim, Charles Kupperman, PhD will serve as Acting National Security Advisor.

Kupperman has four decades of national security policy and program experience serving in President Ronald Reagan’s Administration. He served in several departments under Reagan: Executive Office of the President, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the President’s General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament. He also served as foreign policy advisor to Reagan’s presidential campaign.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a key Trump ally, said he liked Bolton but that the President deserved to feel comfortable with his team.

“As National Security Adviser to President Trump, I found him to be accessible and always pursuing an agenda that not only helps the President but makes America safe.  President Trump, like every other president, has the right to a national security adviser of his own choosing.”

The Extraordinary Rebuke Of CNN By Central Intelligence Agency And New York Times

Jim Sciutto was a political appointee of President Obama working on foreign affairs when he was hired by CNN in 2013 to be its Chief National Security Correspondent.  The network never disclosed this fact to its viewers.

Scuitto reported on CNN’s air the CIA had extracted a Russian asset over concerns President Trump had mishandled classified information that might “somehow reveal details about intelligence operations.”

Scant hours after CNN’s reporting, the New York Times cited sources contradicting the story writing, “CIA officials made the arduous decision in late 2016 [emphasis mine] to offer to extract the source from Russia weeks before [emphasis mine] Trump even took office.”

The informant, recruited by the CIA decades ago, has been described as a mid-level Russian official who was outside Vladimir Putin's inner circle, and yet saw Putin on a regular basis and was privy to high-level information. This Moscow spy's intel was key to the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Putin himself ordered a Russian interference campaign in the U.S. 2016 election.

Former intelligence officials said, "There was no public evidence that Mr. Trump directly endangered the source" and current U.S. officials "insisted that media scrutiny of the agency’s sources alone was the impetus for the extraction," according to the Times.

The asset was offered extraction in 2016 over concerns about his safety but refused causing some American counterintelligence officials to become skeptical of his trustworthiness.

Even publicly there was talk that CNN's report missed the mark. Former CIA official Philip Mudd, a CNN counterterrorism analyst, took issue with the report's "political angle" involving President Trump.

“I question whether this angle of the story about whether the President’s engagement with intelligence was actually a spur in the extraction of the informant," Mudd said Monday on The Lead with Jake Tapper. "I suspect there were other issues here."

CIA spokeswoman Brittany Bramell said, "CNN's narrative that the Central Intelligence Agency makes life-or-death decisions based on anything other than objective analysis and sound collection is simply false. Misguided speculation that the President's handling of our nation's most sensitive intelligence — which he has access to each and every day — drove an alleged exfiltration operation is inaccurate.”
Numerous other holes quickly surfaced in CNN's reporting. Commentator Aaron Mate pointed out in a Twitter thread that several major news organizations had previously cited a high-level official in the Russian government as a source — suggesting the Intelligence Community itself, not Trump, had compromised the spy.

Monday, September 9, 2019

Flowing Curves Of Beauty


Studies show your best protection from attack by Big Foot or abduction by space aliens while hiking in the woods is by carrying a camera.




Saturday, September 7, 2019

Something Wonderful: Where There Is Love There Is Life


Nick and Gabi met and fell in love while attending a conference of the National Down Syndrome Society.  Nick lives in Ohio and Gabi in North Carolina.  When the conference concluded they forgot to exchange telephone numbers.

The couple met up again in Pittsburgh for another conference but were devastated when they had to leave each other again. Gabi broke down crying to her mom, telling her how much she missed Nick.

Gabi’s mom reached out to Nick’s mom and together they hatched a plan to get the lovebirds back together.  Gabi and her mom booked a flight to visit Nick in his hometown, but Gabi was told she was going to another conference and Nick was told he was going to the airport to pick up a friend who needed a ride home.
The heartwarming moment Nick is reunited with Gabi is captured on video.  Nick briefly walks away in disbelief and Gabi runs towards him dropping her bags.  As they embrace you can hear Nick say her name over and over again and if you listen carefully, you can hear him say, “This is the reason I stay alive.”
Nick’s mom said, “People with Down Syndrome have no ‘warm-up’ time when it comes to love.  They lean in and love fully.”
This is Nick and Gabi’s first relationship and their moms are confident there will be weddings bells for the couple down the road.
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”

Friday, September 6, 2019

Tasty, Tasty Cupcakes: New Mexico State Aggies VS Alabama Crimson Tide

NMSU Head Coach Doug Martin knows he faces the unenviable task of playing No. 2 Alabama.  The Tide is a lock to win Saturday’s home opener in Bryant Denny Stadium.

The Aggies, ranked as a dead-last FBS team by CBS Sports, were obliterated by the Cougars of Washington State 58-7 last week.  Can you say the Aggies are the biggest underdog to face Bama in the Nick Saban murderball era?  Sure, you can.

New Mexico State was booted from the Sun Belt Conference two years ago and is now a member of the FBS Independents.  With no conference revenue-sharing, the Aggies are relegated to playing “fundraising games” and so the school will be receive a big, fat check for $1.7 million for the privilege of getting shellacked in T-Town.

Favored by 55 points, Bama has an 83-game winning streak against unranked opponents.  Aggies’ Coach Martin said earlier this week, “I’m not so much concerned about the score as I am about us playing like a winning football team meaning that we don’t beat ourselves.”

NMSU turned the ball over three times to the Cougars of the PAC12-North Conference and allowed 618 total yards.  If that’s not beating yourself, I don’t know what is.

The Aggies will be punting the ball a boatload giving the Tide plenty of chances to score a non-offensive TD or three.  And it’s not unreasonable to assume Tua will carve up the Aggie defense before turning the QB duties to Mac Jones and chillin’ for the rest of the game.  And maybe, just maybe, we’ll also see Tua’s brother Taulia replace Jones in the fourth quarter just like he did against Duke last week.

Funny Maine, who always creates a wildly popular video of “How Bama Fans Watched…” has disabled embedding of his videos on websites, but you can view "How Bama Fans Watched Week One Games" on YouTube™ here.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Flowing Curves Of Beauty


Be kind to your children.  They're going to pick out your nursing home someday.