It’s been another busy day. I scheduled medical appointments, and lift bus rides. I ordered a new cover for Stumpy. Last night, I asked Wendy to measure my circumference three inches back from the tip. You should have seen the look on her face, when she asked me what on earth for. So I told her. She was most relieved, I was talking about Stumpy. 
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:15 (average 4:45). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Funny or Die Channel): Republican Tax Plan: How Much Does Jared Kushner Get?
They got that right! How much does Kushner get? Too! RESIST!!
From 11th Hour: Fmr. CIA boss Brennan: World may wonder if Trump’s just reckless
For the first time, fmr. CIA Director John Brennan takes on Trump’s foreign policy – issuing dire warnings on the threat of war with North Korea and Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.
For a former CIA Director to make such a public statement is unprecedented. RESIST!!
From NY Times: President Trump on Wednesday backed away from his endorsement of a bipartisan Senate proposal to stabilize health insurance markets, throwing the legislative effort into doubt even as the chief architect of the deal predicted that it would become law before the end of the year.
The latest actions by the White House confused Republicans on Capitol Hill and irked Democrats — but in the end, their effect was not clear. The effort to calm roiled insurance markets appears destined for a showdown in December, when supporters of the compromise, drafted by Senators Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, and Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, will have the most leverage.
The mixed signals began Tuesday, when Mr. Trump appeared to give his blessing to the deal to restore subsidies to health insurers that he said days before he would cut off. Mr. Alexander and Ms. Murray agreed on legislation that would continue federal payments to insurance companies through 2019 to reimburse them for discounts that they are required to provide to millions of low-income people who have coverage under the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.
I just received an email from Jeff Merkley [D-OR] that he supports it, but as I said yesterday, the chance of passage is slim at best. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
10 Responses to “Open Thread – 10/19/2017”
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4:21 Not a lot of nourishment, but pretty.
Stumpy.
FoD – Don’tthey say “Too right!” in Oz? Yeah. They got that TOO right. So right it’s not really funny.
11th Hour – Unpresidented too. I doubt whether anyone anywhere is wondering whether the B-Hole is reckless. Outside the US, they know damned well he is.
NYT – Well, if Jeff supports it, I have to too. So of course it won’t pass.
Cartoon – Facepalm.
Go ahead, you Republicreeps – pussy fights back! Especially at the voting booth. RESIST and PERSIST!
FOD: I’m ill over this! UGH!
11th Hour: Voice of experience. Scary!
NYT: Ditto, JD’s comment.
Cartoon: Yep!
Glad that Wendy was relieved, lol. Best to you, and Stumpy. Enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
YT/FoD: Too real!
MSNBC: When Brennan says “How Russia was able….’ he is verifying Russian interference, though not saying that the tRump people were involved, “that’s theoretical.”
NYT: tRump is able to throw many things into confusion, because he has no control over his own mind, and, sadly IS the POTUS!
FOD: Too close for comfort. Ethel never got to spin the tax-wheel an Jared walked away with another $48 million through tax cuts, but it became even more demeaning when Ethel had to give back her free bag of chips she got in exchange for medicare cuts. Now she not only have no healthcare to keep her and her husband alive, but they’ll have to starve too.
11H: It may well be unprecedented that a man of Brennan’s caliber speaks out against an American president, even if he does it on “stockinged feet” as we call it, but Brennan is a bit off the mark if he thinks the “world may wonder if Trump’s just reckless”. The world has stopped wondering about that about 8 months ago; the only thing it now wonders about is how Americans have allowed a madman to be elected as their 45th president and why they have done nothing to curb his reckless behavior that is endangering the whole world.
NYT: I’ve already commented on Drumpf’s irrational behavior in this particular case yesterday: Drumpf is f*cking crazy.
I don’t think he’s giving mixed messages at all, not in the sense that there’s any rationality behind it. He’s just asked some questions and he’s either not hearing them properly (he’s obviously too vain to wear a hearing aid which he might need at his age), or he has no clue what he is asked, or he has forgotten what he said earlier on the subject. Or a combination of these. The more questions he’s asked, the more inconsistent he gets. In all, he’s just to demented to be taken seriously any longer.
Cartoon: Oh no, they don’t! The GOP can grab their own.
Hearing loss – interesting that you bring that up. Yeah, it can happen. Both my mother and her mother had hearing loss, and I used to figure I was predestined for it. But … my mother was abused as a child, and a lot, if not all, of the physical part of that was “boxing the ears.” Before she was 20 she had a perforated ear drum from it. And I assume her mother suffered the same. That’s my 100%-German side of the family – and Drumpf comes from the German – I would not be surprised if he had his ears boxed, maybe a lot. And maybe he does need hearing aids. Good luck with that. When my Mom passed at 93, she had 80% hearing loss WITH the strongest hearing aids they could then make. (But I have stopped worrying I am predestined for hearing loss.)
I’m afraid we’re all destined to suffer some hearing loss the older we get, Joanne. It’s like needing reading glasses at some point in your life after 50.
But that’s just the normal age damage which can be resolved with hearing aids that are so small now they’re almost invisible and loaded with software to help with the specific frequencies each individual has lost. The only trouble is that too many people wait too long with accepting the fact they are getting a little deaf and then have trouble getting used to them.
If even the average older person has problems admitting to a little deafness how do you thing Drumpf is going to react, with the abundance of personality disorders he has? He’d never admit to not hearing a question right or allowing himself to be tested.
Puzzle — 4:07 Might taste a little pasty and have absolutely no nutritional value.
Funny or Die — Definitely not funny! Ethel was promised a spin at the wheel and yet got nothing, as per usual from Republicans. Of course the billionaires received everything and then some. So much for American democracy in its current iteration. As I understand, Former Chief Justice Warren Burger had a wonderful idea — one person, one vote. Past time to ensure this is the case.
11th Hour — John Brennan, who has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents, is very believable when he says it is highly “implausible” that the Russians did not have help from some Americans. Sad, very sad! Even more sad when it is the current administration.
NY Times — Drumpf long ago out shone Romney as the flip-flop king. I certainly hope that this bipartisan deal flies but with Drumpf and Republicans, I certainly have my doubts.
Cartoons — I hear the American Cat Fanciers Association is launching a suit against Drumpf for grabbing pussies, . . . er sexual assault. And that charge will enjoin all Republicans who now don’t want to be known as the GOP!
I hope everyone is drier than we are! We have had rain all week, the worst being Wednesday. It brought loads of gravel and dirty down the mountain near me into an intersection making driving dangerous. Crazy! Crazy!
Thanks all! Wet TGIF Hugs!
Oh, TomCat! I can just see the look on Wendy’s face when you ask her to “measure the circumference”! ROTFLMAO!