A Man for no Reasons

While our citizens are dealing with real life tragedies, is that no reason to cancel a political rally? And while our one term President is agitating the crowd, he also takes time to criticize the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers for his handling of his pitching staff. The Dodger boss was polite in reply but he might have said - Yes, we are losers and I know you don't tolerate losers so we will never be invited to the OVAL office while you occupy it. But why don't you handle the OVAL business and leave the ROUNDBALL stuff to me. Or - You are always welcome in our house and you can exchange your red MAGA cap for one in Dodger BLUE - that's BLUE as in BLUE WAVE!
tjs

MDC

Time flies! The Googler reminds me that I have reached 1600 postings - that's "1600" as in Pennsylvania Avenue! Realizing I can't hit a home run every time up keeps one humble. I thank you readers and sharers for your steadfast support. With Election Day only ten days away, I still recall my Ward Worker saying "Don't forget to pull that lever!" Amen.
tjs

Quotes of the Week

"Luck is the residue of design" - Branch Rickey former president of the Brooklyn Dodgers which phrase also applies to the modern Dodgers of Los Angeles.
"Kavanaugh, caravan, law & order and common sense" - Trump's latest motto for the midterms. Apparently his reference to "horseface" didn't catch on.
On Trump's withdrawal from a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia - "a reckless decision and not the work of a great mind" - Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

tjs

I Love a Parade

Last July 14th - Bastille Day - Trump was in Paris for the festivities. (You remember, that was the time he complimented Macron's wife on her looks). The French do parades well - military precision and costumed cavalry with plumed helmets all in line. - with the horses hooves beating on the cobble stone "Rues". Upon arrival home our leader wanted his own parade on Veterans Day, November 11th. The Military weren't fond of the idea that Sherman tanks would rip up Pennsylvania Avenue and considering the expense the idea was shelved for the moment. In a few weeks, November 11th, France is planning another parade honoring the centennial of the end of WWI in 1918. Trump says he will be meeting Putin in Paris that day but we know he is coming for the "Parade". Coming home you can expect him to reactivate Teddy Roosevelt's cavalry - the Rough Riders - so brush up your horsemanship.
tjs

Pound for Pound

The Bank of England is planning to reissue some of their banknotes. A dour Winston Churchill is slated for the five pound note, probably disappointed that he didn't get a higher denomination. Jane Austen will be on the ten. They are asking for suggestions for the fifty pound note - some suggest Margaret Thatcher as you have to be deceased. But the fifty doesn't get much use. Some think it is mostly for money laundering which the Iron Lady would not tolerate. Years ago our cargo manifests were listed in Sterling - pence - shillings - pounds. And curiously, some goods of value were priced in guineas - i.e. twenty-one shillings. And two shillings six pence was called a half of a crown - a rather large coin for your purse.
But who wants to give a tuppence for the old days.
Hail Brittania!
tjs

Palace Intrigue

It was reported that Kelly and Bolton - a couple of Johns - had a shouting match outside the oval office. It is possible that Kelly was annoyed by Bolton's bushy mustache. This recalls the story of a young Winston Churchill who also sported a mustache. After a town hall meeting a woman approached him and said "I don't like your politics and I don't like your silly mustache." Churchill replied "Madam, it is unlikely that you should ever become familiar with either."
tjs

Quotes of the week

"When an old man dies, a library burns down." - An African proverb.

On Trump: "He lives in the eternal now - no history, no consequences." - Michael Gerson

A liberal is a man too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel. - Robert Frost

Ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself. - Ricky Nelson.
tjs

Thirst Alert

Due to future droughts and climate change, scientists believe that by the turn of the century we can expect a shortage in the barley crop causing the cost of beer to double in Ireland along with a 20% shortage in the U.S.  Should we drink up now? This is a serious subject for discussion at your local bar. Even Anheuser Busch has their Director of Agronomy looking at this. And as Robert Preston's Music Man sang."the sadder Budweiser girl for me."
tjs

Word Play

In watching the current baseball playoffs you will notice six men in black - the umpiring team - who try to be unobtrusive but still in position for the "call". Occasionally, one may be struck by a batted ball but it is rare to be hit by an errant throw - which occurred in a recent game. The ump perhaps was embarrassed, but to paraphrase our celebrity apprentice - "There were no contusions and no obstructions."
tjs

Heraldic Hijacking

Joseph M. Davies was a U.S. diplomat in the 1930s who was granted a family coat of arms by the British. Mr. Davies later married Marjorie Merriweather Post who built Mar a Lago and they displayed the family coat of arms at their estate. Donald Trump began using their family seal after he bought the estate and his company has since trademarked it and is using it in marketing their properties. But Trump changed one word - replacing "integritas" Latin for integrity with the word Trump. With the stroke of a pen integrity was banished.
tjs

Quotes of the week

This is a sad one - in connection with highway accident in upstate New York.
-"It is nothing but a fine line between a stretch limousine and a hearse."

Dateline - Sydney, NSW - The famous Sydney Opera House, a World Heritage site, is having its "tiled sails" used as a billboard to advertise a horse race, which has traditionalists upset. "It is akin to putting advertising onto the Statue of Liberty" "Even Donald Trump wouldn't get away with putting advertising onto the Lincoln Memorial, but its akin to that." Don't be too sure!
tjs

To: October

One evening in October, when I was far from sober - and lugging home a load with manly pride - why my feet began to stutter so I sat down in the gutter - and a pig came up and sat down by my side. I remarked that it's fair weather when good fellows get together til a lady passing by was heard to say "You can tell a man who boozes by the playmates that he chooses" and the pig got up and slowly walked away.
Anonymous.

Saddle Up!

Alaska Airlines has announced they are including miniature horses as service animals on board their flights. These minis can run up to 100 lbs and be two to three feet high. There are only two spaces that can handle them - the front seats in coach. There are no safety belts or saddles included.  While these seats are near the lavatory it is doubtful it could be of use. Exercising in the aisle might be considered "horsing around". The horses are sturdy, have longer life spans and can help with pushing or pulling or lifting. You don't have to rein them in.
tjs
(NYT 10/8/18)

The Week That Was

It was a tough week:
-My 401K took a hit - blame the Fed.
-Both the Dems and the Eagles lost close contests.
-Trump held another rally insulting women.
but on the bright side:
-My grandson will celebrate his first birthday this week.
-Flaming foliage - late but lovely.
-Election Day only 29 days away.
Stiff upper lip!
tjs

Judgement Day

The excitement about a Supreme Court nomination reminded me of a story once told but still topical today. Back in Philadelphia there was a prominent lawyer named Joseph S. Lord whose stellar reputation soon earned him a seat on the bench. To celebrate this elevation he invited several colleagues to a dinner at one of the watering holes on Locust Street. It was a long and liquid evening and as they waited for their taxis the host turned to his friends and said "I  have an acute sense of ambivalence - I'm not sure whether I am sober as a judge or drunk as a Lord."
tjs

All Rise.

The new Supreme Court term started yesterday, October 1st , and they did their best to keep the empty ninth chair out of sight. The first item on the docket concerned the fate of the dusky gopher frog that was facing extinction by the threat of "draining the swamp" literally in Mississippi and relocating them to a similar environment in Louisiana. The eight remaining jurists seemed to be handling the situation with deep discussion and not a "croak" was heard from Mitch McConnell.
tjs