A Monumental Decision

The news of New Orleans removing some Confederate monuments must have reached POTUS ears as he has now directed Interior to review all the land and monuments that "belong to the people." I hope this doesn't mean drilling in Yellowstone! On the monument front I think he has his eye on Mt. Rushmore and may ask Lincoln to move over and make space. Sort of two Republicans rubbing elbows. The faces on Rushmore are sixty feet tall with an eleven foot wide mouth. That is really, really "bigly"! Watch for the want ads for sculptors!
tjs

A Friendly Foursome

Thomas Friedman tells this story of the Hindu, Muslim and Mystic playing golf in Dubai. The starter approached the threesome and asked if they would mind if a Rabbi played with them. So the foursome went off  and the Rabbi shot a 69 and the rest shot in the 90s. When they asked him how did he get so good he said "You have to convert to Judaism." A month later they all reconvened and the scores were the same, even tho they professed to have converted. The Rabbi asked "What synagogue did you get converted at?" They all said it was Temple Beth Shalom. Oh, No, said the Rabbi - that one is for tennis. Game, set and
 match!
tjs
 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/opinion/on-a-par-5-in-dubai-good-humor-and-a-respite-from-all-things-trump.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

Female Empowerment

This post is honoring Female Empowerment.
-Donald Trump, in congratulating our female astronaut in space said that "he would like to send an American to Mars during my first term or at worst during my second term." Yes, that is the worst!
-Kate O'Beirne's obit - a prominent conservative editor who said "New York is a tough town, but Washington is a mean town." Recall that Beltway quip "If you're looking for a friend in Washington, buy a dog."
-And in the spirit of meanness, Megyn Kelly's reappearance on TV has been delayed as "Fox news, which retained the right to keep her off the air until her contract was terminated."
tjs

One Hump or Two?

An article in the NYT today caught my eye. There are 100,000 wild camels in Australia, the descendants of animals imported to help build railroads. In the 1950s U.S. Lines operated a freight service to Australia. It was a three month round trip and we carried various types of exotic birds and animals. On one homebound voyage we carried several camels on a bed of sand in the lower hold. The passage from south to north carried thru various latitudes and via the Panama Canal to New York. Upon arrival at the Hudson River Pier we had to put a cleaning gang in that hold - probably at distressed wages. Nothing fazed our livestock manager.
tjs

Down Under.

 On the diplomatic front we just read that former Senator Scott Brown has been appointed Ambassador to New Zealand, not exactly a "plum" assignment, more like a "kiwi" fruit. They say it's very quiet down there. A friend honeymooned there and said that the most exciting thing to do on Saturday night is to go down to the town square and watch them shear the sheep. Baa! Of course, old Scotty who drove a pick-up truck was not really on Trump's "bandwagon".
tjs

The Genius Bar

In scanning recent political banter one observer remarked that the current occupant of the W.H. is a genius. A responder commented that "the only problem is we can't get the "genie-us" back into the bottle." Now segue to the announcement of a ten part series on Albert Einstein titled "GENIUS" commencing April 25th on the National Geographic Channel. It tries to show the man behind the mind and preliminary reviews are positive. Einstein once wrote "If everybody lived a life like mine, there would be no need for novels."
He was the real deal. And he wrote that at age 22.
tjs

What's in your wallet?

American Express, the issuer of the prestigious AMEX credit card, is wringing its hands in their failure to penetrate the millenials market, the generation that doesn't seem to have a craving for snobbery. A team of executives spent ten minutes trying to decipher the term FOLO falling back to Google to learn it meant "fear of losing out". I learned my lesson in their jargon when I asked a waitress the meaning of her tattoo "YOLO" - she said "you only live once" - I guess once is enough.
As the Irish song goes "they speak a language that the stranger does not know."
tjs

Going Down?

It was reported that Dr. Ben Carson, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was stuck in a hotel elevator in a Miami affordable housing development. After lowering safely the doors were jammed and the fire department was called to rescue as the Doctor did not have any surgical instruments in his bag. When I was young most elevators had human operators. My Port Chaplain friend was visiting a sick parishioner in a local hospital wearing his clerical garb. The operator turned to him with a smile and said "Reverend, I'se the same as you, but I works during the week."
The padre blessed him on his way out.
tjs

Primarily Political XXVI

On Facebook certain political discussions can get testy. One such exchange:
Writer - "GO TRUMP!" with five U.S. Flags.
Responder: When is he going?

Among the current buzz words I am hearing include "Trump Doctrine".......Now I have heard of the Monroe Doctrine, the Truman Doctrine, the Christian Doctrine and Teddy Roosevelt carried a big stick, but if anyone is familiar with the Trump Doctrine please clue me in.

The member of Congress who yelled "You lie!" at President Obama's State of the Union had the insult hurled back at him at a Town Hall rally this week.
tjs
 

Humor isn't dead.

Comedian Don Rickles passed away last week. His humor was based on the insult - to friends and the audience. Frank Sinatra told the following: He was having dinner with friends when Rickles walked over to his table and said " I'm with a lady I'm trying to impress. I told her I knew you and she doesn't believe me. Could you come past my table on the way out and say hello?" Frank finished his espresso and walked over and said "Hello, Don, how are you?" Rickles replied "Frank, can't you see I'm eating!" Ba-ba-boom!
tjs

Potpourri XIX

Quote of the week: Those who ignore history are condemned to retweet it." - David Brooks

Before the current administration flip flopped on their Syrian "policy", their representative was quoted saying "the Syrian people will decide who is to govern them" which prompted Chris Matthews to remark "Yes, 500,000 displaced Syrians will send in their absentee ballots."

Sportsmen/women everywhere should be thrilled after witnessing the finale of the Masters Golf Tournament.

Happy Easter to all!
tjs

Banned yet Booming

"No soup for you!" said the Soup Nazi to the Seinfeld folks. But in 1949 Mao Zedong told the Chinese "No golf for you!" as he banned the game as only for millionaires. So the Chinese president arrived at Mar a Lago without his clubs and there will be no friendly foursomes on the fairways this weekend. To follow the sport you will have to go to Augusta to watch the Masters play. Coincidentally, 1949 was the year the U.S. Lines vacated our Shanghai office just ahead of the agrarian reformers arrival. Capt. Jim Knowlton took the SS PIONEER DALE down the Yangtze River safely and I met him in Phila. later that year.
Welcome President Xi!
tjs

Say it isn't so!

Some of the folks who offer you "Seasons Greetings" may be unintentionally removing Christ from Christmas. Now we read from dateline Birmingham, England that Cadbury, the confectionery firm, has removed Easter from their annual "Cadbury's Great British Egg Hunt". - this after almost 200 years in business. John Cadbury was a Quaker and a God fearing man. He built housing for his employees and school for their children. Coincidentally, this is similar to what Milton Hershey did a century later in Pennsylvania. One hopes that this "omission" will not transfer to the White House lawn.
tjs
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/europe/cadbury-easter-britain-egg-hunt.html

Taxation with Representation

Last year my Federal Tax refund was received 33 days after filing date. This year that time span has come and gone. I chalk the delay up to three possibilities:
1 - The IRS is so busy auditing Donald Trump's submission that they have pushed me to the back of the line.
2 - The morale there is so low due to No. 1.
3 - The Treasury needs the money so I am part of their "float" interest free.
In the meanwhile I will continue my Lenten Fast and watch for the mail. Hope you fare better.
tjs

The Dandy Lion

Crayola, the maker of crayons, has announced the retirement of its "dandelion" color after twenty-seven years which sounds like REAL early retirement to me. Replacing it with a "blue hue". As a youth I used to watch the old Italian women cutting dandelion leaves in the wild to make salad. Later, as a home owner in Florida I watched as these yellow hordes infiltrated my lawn. But a "blue hue"? Traditionalists might say "Boo Hoo!"
tjs
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/business/crayon-dandelion-crayola.html?src=me