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Bad People

10/25/2020

Let preface this by claiming that I am not a “communist” or a “socialist” as uninformed Americans might define them. I have benefited from a form of capitalism.
But, I do believe in fairness. This might come from my character or the Christian education, which was imposed upon my in my younger years. We learned about sharing—the patron saint of my school was St. Martin; a large painting of him sharing his cloak with a beggar hung in the dining hall— and giving.
When I hear rapid supporter Republican whining about Democrats wanting to turn the country into a socialist nation, I must scratch my head. What Bible to they read? Are they bowing down to a different Jesus than the mythical figure I learned about? They seem to fear that someone might receive help…someone trying to put a roof over his or her family or feed his or her family, etc. They feel that these people will “play” the system.
No one complains about the upper reaches of society “playing” the system to become even wealthier. What about oil depletions allowances, tax write-offs, and who knows what?
A nation is sick, when a self-proclaimed billionaire pays less tax than someone working three jobs to survive. That country needs more than socialism. And, anyone waving a Bible and railing against “socialism” is a goddam hypocrite. They will give money to their “church”, so that the “preacher” can live in luxury and fly in his private jet, but will not help the poor and needy. I have nothing but disdain for these people, and not because I am a “communist” or “socialist”, but because I am a decent human being.

Un-scandal

10/24/2020

Desperate Trump Alleges Ties Between Joe Biden and Jill Biden

By Andy Borowitz

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an attempt to gin up an “October surprise,” an increasingly desperate Donald J. Trump demanded an investigation into alleged links between Joe Biden and Jill Biden.
“People are saying that he is very close to her,” Trump told Sean Hannity, of Fox News. “There’s something going on.”
Trump said that there are “tens of thousands of e-mails” between Joe Biden and Jill Biden, a state of affairs that he called “disgraceful.”
“We need to move quite strongly on the e-mails, and also on the bank records,” Trump said, arguing that money has “flowed freely” between the two Bidens for decades.
In his most serious accusation, Trump warned that a President Joe Biden would be “under the influence” of Dr. Jill Biden because of their extensive ties.
“Joe Biden has been listening to a doctor for forty-three years,” he alleged

Un-news

10/24/2020

It’s interesting: the United States has hit the highest number of infections, leads the world, but the news does not even make the top headline in newspapers. This important fact lands—as the saying goes—below the fold. People are dying and being hospitalised in record numbers, but this is not significant, especially to the leader.
In other countries, the pandemic is the major news item and lead story. Perhaps, this is because government leaders care about their citizens.

Do It,Please

10/23/2020

Americans Favor Continuing to Mute Trump After Debate

By Andy Borowitz
MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report)—Americans favor continuing to mute Donald J. Trump after the final Presidential debate, a new study has found.
In the study, which was conducted by the psychology department at the University of Minnesota, researchers measured the responses of subjects when they were told that it was possible to mute Trump.
“Using advanced imaging, we were able to gauge how they reacted to this news,” Dr. Davis Logsdon, who supervised the study, said. “The pleasure centers in their brains lit up like solar flares.”
When they were told that Trump would no longer be muted after the debate, however, the subjects reacted with “disappointment, anguish, and even rage,” Logsdon said.
“One man was reduced to tears,” the researcher said. “He said, ‘I don’t understand why they can’t keep muting him—they clearly have the technology.’ ”
Logsdon said that the study yielded many other findings, including a widespread psychological need to mute Donald Trump, Jr

Brothers in Lies

10/23/2020

I am reading the second volume of the widely researched, well-written multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Cato. I found the following passage:
“And his fellow students…believed not only that he lied them—lied to them constantly, lied about big matters and small, lied so incessantly that he was, in a widely used phrase, ‘the biggest liar on campus’—but also that some psychological element impelled him to lie, made him lie even when he knew the lie might be discovered, made him, in one classmate’s words, ‘a man who just could not tell the truth.’ Now, in 1942, he was acquiring the same reputation in Washington.”
And this, about stories he made up about his war service:
“And, Kilgore came to realise , ‘he believed what he was saying. He believed it totally.’…Kilgore came to understand that Johnson could believe whatever he wanted to believe—‘could believe it with all his heart…could convince himself of anything, even something that wasn’t true.’”
In hindsight, Johnson might have been bad, but he was not match for the current holder of the office! And, he did not avoid military service, even if he embellished his record. And, he did some good for the country, not trashing it is the current liar does

On Message

10/21/2020

New Poll Shows Trump Losing to Hunter Biden
By Andy Borowitz

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—With less than two weeks until the election, a new poll of likely voters shows Donald J. Trump losing badly to Hunter Biden.
Though Hunter Biden holds a commanding lead over Trump nationally, the poll reveals that he also trounces the President in such key swing states as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Voters preferred Hunter Biden over Trump when asked who would do a better job of “handling the pandemic,” “creating jobs,” and “caring about people like me.”
In the most ominous news for the President, if Hunter Biden were somehow prosecuted, convicted, and locked up, voters would still choose him over Trump by a double-digit margin

Saying of the Day

10/21/2020

Man desires; god commands.

Un-account-able

10/21/2020

A law requires all US citizens to reveal foreign bank accounts by filing each year a FBAR. This law was enacted, mostly, to find tax avoiders and money launderers. For the average citizen living overseas, it is a yearly pain and feels like unnecessary harassment.
That said, I wonder if the Crook-in-Chief files a FBAR. If not, this would be just one more item on the list of his criminal offenses. Like his business dealings with a construction company owned by the Iranian military.

Mouth Off

10/20/2020

I noticed that the next debate will have microphones able to be silenced by the moderator or editor or someone with a brain. Such measures are needed to throttle an uncontrollable bully. He is already complaining about the process being “unfair”.
I predict that, if his microphone is silenced, he will walk off the stage.

No Contest

10/20/2020

Fauci Admits He Does Not Have Brain Like Trump’s

By Andy Borowitz

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Reacting to the President’s withering criticism of his intellect, Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted that he does not have a brain like Donald Trump’s.
“I have to say that he has a point,” Fauci said. “My brain could never come up with the things his brain comes up with.”
Having worked closely with Trump on the White House coronavirus task force, Fauci observed, “His brain is scary.”
“It’s much faster than mine,” the esteemed virologist added. “I need hours to look at facts and data before making a decision, but he makes decisions in seconds, without any information at all.”
While asserting that Trump’s gray matter “merits further study,” Fauci said that he has a theory for why the President’s brain is so much quicker than his.
“My brain is all clogged up with decades’ worth of epidemiology,” he said. “His just has ‘person, woman, man, camera, TV.’