It looks like we have three days in the high 70°s, before the excessive heat returns to Portland on Wednesday. We had our blog’s fantasy football draft yesterday. By lot, I drafted last. Even though, it was the worst position, I think I did well. Wendy just left, and I feel so clean. I was getting really stinky. Tomorrow I have a routine appointment with my Podiatrist, so please expect no more than a Personal Update.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:23. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: Donald Trump is heading to November like a certain zeppelin heading to New Jersey, in a darkening sky that crackles with electricity. He is fighting crosswinds and trying new tacks — hiring the head of Breitbart News to run his campaign, trying on a new emotion (regret) in a speech on Thursday night, promising to talk more this week about immigration, his prime subject. There’s still no telling what will happen when the gasbag reaches the mooring.
It could be that the polls are right, and Mr. Trump will go down in flames. But while that will solve an immediate problem, a larger one will remain. The message of hatred and paranoia that is inciting millions of voters will outlast the messenger. The toxic effects of Trumpism will have to be addressed.
In this case, I disagree with the Gray Lady. Trump is the symptom, not the disease. Racial hatred is not Trumpism, nor is Rump Dump even it’s messenger. Racial hatred is Republicanism. And Trump is just the disobedient parrot of that message, as he squawks when he’s supposed to be dog whistling.
From PoliticusUSA: Yes. It is true. Conservatives are freaking out because lesbians can be farmers too. And apparently there is something wrong with that. What has them all worked up is the “Iowa LGBT Rural Summit,” which took place on August 18 at Drake Law School. To make matters worse, the summit was co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which joined with the National Center for Lesbian Rights…
…So yeah. Pretty scary stuff for right wingers who can never find enough stuff about which to be frightened. Rush Limbaugh launched into one of his famously incoherent rants over it, exclaiming,
“Have you heard the latest Democrat scam? Have you heard about the Agriculture Department’s financial grants to lesbian farmers? You think I’m making this up? See, this is how they do it.”
Dang!! I’d better check to make sure my breakfast cereal doesn’t have a wet spot! Seriously, I could not make this stuff up!!!
From The Oregonian: It looks like Donald Trump won’t be coming to Portland, after all.
The Republican presidential nominee on Saturday canceled his plans to appear at a fundraiser in the city and a public appearance that was slated for the same day. Trump’s Oregon campaign manager, Jacob Daniels, told OPB that the nominee’s schedule was adjusted to omit the Portland appearance after a visit to Louisiana.
Woooo Hoooo!! This proves that there is a God!! 
Cartoon:
29 Responses to “Open Thread – 8/21/2016”
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7:58 (6:24) So, OK, I got lost in the woods.
NYT – Although you are closer to accurate than the Gray Lady, she did grasp something that is valid, and that is that all the poison which has seeped out from under the rock that he disturbed will indeed have to be dealt with. Having it out in the open is very ugly. If that makes it easier for deniers to address it, yeah, that may help. But it will still be a huge and overdue task. This article just introdices a messenger who has, I believe, some good thoughts on how that can be accomplished. But it links to more of him. He has been called America's Nelson Mandela.
PoliticusUSA – Some anti-LGBTQ are that way because they are terrified they are gay and don't know it. Others are terrified tht the LGBTQ are "getting more" than they are. And then there are those that are both. Guess where Limbarf falls.
Oregonian – Good God, does someone on his staff have some brains? I mean besides the zombies who are eating them (they don't work real well after that)?
Cartoon – ABA can also stand for American Booksellers Association (and probably for about a gazillion other things). Some attorneys would contribute more to society if they did stay drunk.
I have a question that’s a bit unusual. When you lady’s go for a pedicure, do they have an option for just a toenail cutting?
When my Mom is in Rehab after her fall and hip replacement, a podiatrist came and trimmed her toenails and charged $150 … FOR EACH FOOT! (I have NO idea what the CPT code for that is, but apparently it works).
Now that she’s in Assisted Living, she gets them cut for $25 … TOTAL!
Since my Carpal Tunnel surgery I’ve lost a lot of strength in my dominant hand which makes toenail trimming very difficult, and wondered if you’ve ever seen a male at a pedicure place just getting his toenails cut.
Some places do have that option, and yes males have mani pedis, too.
Thanks – good to know. I just want them cut is all. But I suppose they probably have you soak first. I know I've always cut my nails after a shower because they seem to be "softer" & more easily managed. (But I have my Mom's toes – ugly hammer toes.)
$150 per foot??? Crap man! I go to a podiatrist bi-monthly for a total cost of $45. He clips nails, checks for corns, and checks circulation since I am diabetic. This is not covered on my provincial medical and I do not have extended health. About 6 years ago, I took my mother in since I classified her toe nails as "concealed lethal weapons". Again, he clipped her nails for the same price as mine. I know our medical systems are different, but I think your momma is getting taken to the cleaners! Is there a foot care nurse that goes into assisted living? That's who does my mums nails now that she is in a nursing care centre.
Well, my Mom's was covered by Medicare. I only learned of it by going through her EOBs after her fall & hip replacement. We both liked the Rehab facility itself and the PT, OT, etc. people. But the administrative staff wasn't very good – so I closely monitored their area, and that's how I found the $150 per foot charge.
In the 1970s, I was recently divorced and was dating the manicurist in the salon nedxt door to my office that served both genders. She used a foot soak, cut nails, removed excess cuticles, and either buffed or polished the nails. If memory serves, hands and feet were $25.
NYT: I don't see the GOP doing anything but agreeing w/ DT, and bowing down to his plans, and his horrible and sickening ideals.
Politicus USA: Love the picture, sending this to a couple of my friends. Yes….not only farmers, but teachers, and truck drivers too!
The Oregonian: WooHoo! Well, this certainly is good news for you!!!
Best to you, for tomorrow. Glad that at least you have a break in the weather. It's still raining here. Enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
The New Yorker: I have to agree with Joanne, Trump has released so many haters to hate that it will be hard to rein them in again. I really hope Clinton keeps her lead.
Politics USA: The article says LGBT. Notice that Rush is only concerned with lesbians. Females really scare this old man. I wish he would retire.
The Oregonian: You are so lucky. He all ready came to Kentucky, but only those who could afford the exhorbitant price could attend. I wish my state was at least purple.
Cartoon: Love it.
Personal Note: I may be missing a couple of days, too. Mom has been transferred to a rehab facility which is totally unsatisfactory and may be sent to a better one, either MOnday or Tuesday. I have to go to Virginia tomorrow for a funeral, one of my uncles died. I am not making this stuff up. We seem to be on a down hill slide.
Sorry about your uncle an sorry to hear about your troubles, Edie. You and your family are really having a bad time of it, aren't you. Good luck with rehoming your mother.
Thanks, Lona. I got her settled in a new place yesterday around 4pm. They started physical therapy on her today. We have to get her back on her feet before we can get her home.
Edie, I'm so very sorry. Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.
Thanks TC. The funeral was sparsely attended since most of my uncle's friends are deceased. My cousin started crying as soon as she saw us, she really needed us there. Mom is in a more efficient place now, so hopefully, I can bring her home soon.
You are a blessing for being there.
Edie, condolences and prayers. That happens sometimes – things all happen at once. But this too shall pass. I knew a woman who lost 30 (extended) family members in just one year. But the trend did turn (and not because she ran out; there were many more. Large family.)
Thanks, Joanne. I do not know how your friend survived thirty in one year. We don't have that many left in our family.
Have a safe (but sorrowful) trip
Hope your Mom finds a better facility
Puzzle — 4:15 Looks a lot like the park I walk in down around the inlet.
NY Times — I agree with you in that racism has been around a lot longer than Drumpf. But I think what Drumpf has done is make it OK, as far as the right wing nut jobs are concerned, to be more open about their racism. He is tapping into the existing racism and amplifying it.
Politicususa — It's Limbarf! , , , and the right wing media sphere. That really tells you all you need to know. They are all just as irrelevant as always.
The Oregonian — You've been blessed!
Cartoon — What do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the sea? . . . and no, not the ABA.
Finally our weather has broken too!
Today was about 24 C (76 F) with a good breeze. The next few nights should be 13-14 C (55-57 F) which is great for sleeping. But Wednesday through next weekend is set for 30-32 C (86-90 F), or as you call it, the next heat wave. Arrggghhhh!!!!!
Oh, I know the andwer to that. "A good start."
Very good!
Weekend started late for you with showering, some cool days ahead and fantasy football to play, TomCat, but it gave you much to look forward to. I hope you enjoyed it and got some energy back for the rest of the week.
NYT: The Gray Lady is right in pointing out that problems will not have been resolved when Drumpf has gone down in flames. The millions who voted for him because he amplified what they were thinking will not stop thinking the same when he's no longer saying it out very loudly. Of course Drumpf is not the disease which has affected millions and turned them into bigots, racists, xenophobes and misogynists filled with anger and rage where they were nice and loveable people before. Republicans have carefully tended to the growth of all their hate and Drumpf is just the boil on the butt of the GOP where all the puss has gathered and broken through the skin.
PoliticusUSA: "But what this episode demonstrates is that there is literally nothing Democrats can do that won’t be interpreted by conservatives as a conspiracy meant somehow to hurt conservatives." There's absolutely nothing for me to add to that.
TO: LMAO This is exactly what I predicted that would happen when you first posted that Drumpf was scheduled to visit your lovely progressive state, TomCat. I'm certainly no clairvoyant and I do not own a crystal ball, so it only goes to show how incredibly predictable Drumpf is when it comes to things that need thinking and planning. For speeches not so much.
Cartoon: I didn't know what to think of it until I glanced at Joanne's comment and the penny dropped. Great cartoon.
That makes you a psychic Napster!
TeeHee, "passing the bar" is not the same thing as "crossing the bar," though there are undoubtedly people who wish it were.
https://allpoetry.com/Crossing-the-Bar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_(law)
Sometimes you just have to laugh at the GOP nonsense – otherwise we'd all be bloody from beating our heads against the wall.
But it seems ever since the Bush/Cheney regime, folks have considered it just fine to spew hatred and be as obnoxious as possible. That needs to change in a big way…not sure Hillary can help with that but then we know it only gets worse under Trump.
Thanks all! Tired Hugs!!
America boasting re. Olympic sucess. mainly achieved by wonderful people,of colour.Ironic don,t you think.?
JUST A THOUGHT.
And even more ironic when the same people boasting are the ones trash talking the hair of the athletes.
NY Times: I do not think that Rumpy is a cause of bigotry, but do believe that he is emboldening the sickies, and that that will last beyond his upcoming defeat. Hatred is synonymous with Republicanism, but his very public pronouncements supporting it is finding resonance with the bozos.
Politics USA: How "they" do what, Rush, treat everybody equally? How dare they?
Thanks, I got her in one yesterday, she is all ready improving.