SoINeedAName

Friday Fun: Remember When …?

 Posted by at 8:43 am  Politics
Oct 262018
 

This “Friday Fun” is going to be a little different than other ones I’ve done.  I’m going to get up on my Soapbox and rant a little bit – so bear with me.

One of my pet peeves that really irritates me is that common ploy among pundits referred to as “Both-Siderism”.  You know – the idea that BOTH sides are guilty of something when in our hearts we know that’s not true.

But we see it in full-bloom these days surrounding the issues of violence and civility.  Pundits keep telling us that Democrats are just as guilty as Rethuglicans.

Being reality-oriented and interested in facts, I decided to actually do some research to see if it were true.

Well, it turns out those pundits were absolutely correct – and I can prove it!

Remember when Pres. Obama called Mexicans coming across our border “Rapists” and “Drug Dealers”?

Or when he called tiki-torch waving white supremacists, who held a rally for ethnic cleansing and drove a car into a crowd of protestors killing one of them, some “Very fine people”?

And do you recall when Vice-President Biden’s PAC put out an ad with gunsight crosshairs on Congressional Districts Democrats were “aiming for” – and then a representative from one of those Districts in Arizona was shot in the head?

Or how about when Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) took offense at what a reporter asked him, so he picked him up and body-slammed him to the ground – and then Pres. Obama praised him for it and called him “My kinda guy”?

Remember the time Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promised to pay for the legal defense of one her supporters at a raucous rally when she told him to “Beat the crap out of” a protestor?

And how about when Pres. Obama met with Putin and defended Putin’s hacking in an effort to influence the outcome of our elections – and it worked?  Or when he literally said he “Fell in love” with the despicable despot Kim Jong Un because of the letters they exchanged as “pen pals”?

And then there’s Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) who decided to start calling her colleagues offensive, demeaning, racist and misogynist names.

What about when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) got caught admitting to sexual assault when he said he could grab women by their genitals?

 

So, do you remember all those times Democrats behaved this way and said those things, thus documenting that, in truth, “Both Sides Do It”?

 

Yeah … me neither!

 

For the record, let’s take a look at just a sampling of the times Twitler has literally encouraged violence – courtesy of no less a reputable source than Snopes!

Trump

“I’d like to punch him in the face”

“Maybe he should have been roughed up”

“Part of the problem is no one wants to hurt each other anymore”

“I don’t know if I’ll do the fighting myself or if other people will”

“The audience hit back. That’s what we need a little bit more of”

“If you do (hurt him), I’ll defend you in court, don’t worry about it”

“I’ll beat the crap out of you”

“Knock the crap out of him, would you? I promise you, I will pay your legal fees”

 Sarah Huckabee Sanders:

“The president in no way, form, or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence.”

SNOPES – TRUMP INCITES VIOLENCE

But since it’s Halloween Time – I think I should end on a happier note.

So here’s a site with an interactive map that you can use to find out what the favorite Halloween candy is in your state:

MAP: FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CANDY BY STATE

 

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Friday Fun: Autumn Recycled

 Posted by at 8:37 am  Politics
Oct 192018
 

If you thought (or hoped) I had forgotten my annual treatise on the fantasia of fall – you’d be WRONG!  I’m not going to pass up a review of the wonders of my favorite time of year – AUTUMN!

Road in Vilnius Lithuania

Let’s start with the science story behind fall’s phantasmagorical foliage fling.

Once a new leaf is finally fully formed sometime in June, the next thing a tree spends its energy on is preparing the following year’s leaf buds.  The job of the leaves currently in place is to create and store food as carbohydrates/sugars necessary for that new leaf bud.  And unlike us, trees are unique in that they’re able to manufacture their own food/energy, courtesy of photosynthesis.

Chlorophyll is the green pigmented chemical in leaves that uses the energy provided by the sun during the process of photosynthesis to convert water taken up by the roots and carbon dioxide taken from the air into sugars and starches – nutrients that the tree needs for growth – while giving off oxygen as a by-product.

But the chlorophyll that gives trees their green of summer is not the only color pigment always present in leaves.  Working just as hard in the leaves are the carotenoids (carotene and xanthophyll).  These pigments are important in capturing light energy needed in the process of photosynthesis.  It’s just that the carotenoids are masked by the overpowering green of the chlorophyll during the summer months.

But with the coming of autumn, as daylight hours shorten and temperatures drop, cells near the juncture of the leaf and its stem start to divide very rapidly.  This creates what is called an abscission layer.  This corky abscission layer of cells is the site where the leaf will eventually break from the tree and flutter to the ground.  That corky layer then serves to protect the branch through winter after the leaf leaves.

Leaf Landing in Lake

The rapid growth of that corky layer begins to physically block transport of nutrients needed by the leaf to manufacture the carbohydrates.  Consequently the photosynthesis that’s been creating chlorophyll (which is not a very stable chemical and has been rapidly breaking down and then replaced throughout the summer) ceases.

Once the chlorophyll is gone, the carotene and xanthophyll chemical pigments that have been present all summer long now take center stage.

These carotenoids (carotene and xanthophyll) give their characteristic orange and yellow colors to not just leaves, but also to carrots, corn, canaries, and daffodils – as well as egg yolks, rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.  And they account as the predominant color in about 15-30% of our tree species – typically they’re found in the hardwood species of hickories, ash, maple, yellow poplar, aspen, birch, black cherry, sycamore, cottonwood, sassafras, and alder.

Look close – there are two girls standing in the Halland Forest, Sweden at the demarcation between the forest and the pines.

The third class of color chemicals that leaves have (after chlorophyll and the carotenoids) are the reds and purples of anthocyanin.  But unlike the other two classes, anthocyanin has not been present in the leaves the whole summer.  The anthocyanins are created brand new – just for autumn’s fall foliage!

Why the tree would expend energy, when it’s shutting down for the winter, for the creation of a new product is not understood.  But we do know the brighter the sunlight during this period, the greater the production of anthocyanins – and the more brilliant the resulting reds and purples.  This direct proportion of redness to sunlight exposure explains why the periphery of hardwood trees are bright red, while the foliage lower down and inside are the more typical oranges and yellows.

Anthocyanins also account for the coloring of cranberries, red apples, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums.  They are present in only about 10% of hardwood species – mainly maples, sourwood, sweetgums, dogwoods, tupelos, cherry trees and persimmons.

But in a few lucky areas — most famously New England — up to 70% of tree species are the type that produce the anthocyanin pigment.  That high concentration of a single color (the reds of anthocyanin) accounts for the intense but relatively brief autumnal color display in New England.  Whereas in most other areas that have a higher mix of tree varieties the colors may not be as intense, but the season lasts longer.

Of course, the reds of fall are not only in New England – but all over the world

You can see where your particularly area is in relation to reaching Peak Color with this interactive map:

Fall Foliage Map

Time to enjoy some of my new favorite photos of the fantasia of fall …

Allée of Birch Trees 

Farm in Romania

Autumn Road in New England

Park in Paris

And of course to many of us, fall means FOOTBALL!  But few places enjoy such a spectacular autumnal setting as Boulder, Colorado …

I’ll see you again next year about this time.

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Friday Fun: A MAGA Mom Has a Mega Misfire

 Posted by at 9:08 am  Politics
Oct 122018
 

In case you missed the #HimToo meme’s recent 15-minutes of fame this week, I’ll help you out.

It originally started way back as an ally of the #MeToo movement providing a platform for men to share their experiences of sexual assaults.  But just like “All Lives Matter” started as an ill-conceived rightwing backlash to “Black Lives Matter”, the #HimToo meme was coopted by Trumpkins during the Kavanaugh hearings.  It was used as a warning to mothers with fearmongering that their poor, innocent sons might well become victims of false sexual assault claims by conniving, evil females.

But since we Liberals are not immune to reality like Rethuglicans, let’s take a look at a couple of Fact Checks including Snopes: A scientific reviews shows that false sexual assault claims are very rare – accounting for only about 5 percent.  And sadly, sexual assault is actually chronically underreported.

https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications/2018-10/Lisak-False-Reports-Moving-beyond.pdf

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rape-allegations-fabricated/

But blaming victims while trying to turn themselves into the poor victim is a common Rethuglican ploy.  So of course it was greeted with open-arms by Trumpkin provocateurs.

One such MAGA Mom (BlueStarNavyMom3) stepped forward with a Tweet falsely claiming that her Navy veteran son – Pieter Hanson –  is a victim and she involuntarily signed him up for the #HimToo masses.  (I have no doubt she entirely missed the irony that she was making a FALSE claim to protect males against false claims.)

After the Tweet went viral with mocking parodies, she took the Tweet down … and then deleted her entire account.  But here’s a screenshot of it:

If you can’t read it, it says:

“This is MY son,” began his mom’s viral post, which featured a photograph of Hanson posing in his Navy uniform. “He graduated #1 in boot camp. He was awarded the USO award. He was #1 in A school. He is a gentleman who respects women. He won’t go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE. #HimToo.”

After the parodies made her Tweet go viral, one of Pieter Hanson’s brothers stepped in to shed some light on the matter:

But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some of the creative parodies!

And of course motel manager, Norman Bates – who said “A mother is a boy’s best friend.”

And Ted “Card-Carrying-Republican” Bundy

(I forgot he was a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention.)

And of course you knew you were going to get “Rolled” …

And a “stellar” appearance …

And a couple of edgy ones …

But being the true gentleman that he is (he’s also an ordained minister), Pieter Hanson took matters into his own hands wanting to “turn this around” with his very first Tweet mimicking the photo his Mom used:

Not only is Pieter Hanson “a proud Navy vet and Cat Dad”, but he’s a supporter of #MeToo – a true feminist Ally with a sense of humor!  He followed up his very first tweet with a series of photos of his cats, and a plea to Tweet posters and viewers to donate to cancer charities on behalf of his one of his other brothers, a cancer survivor and his hero.

So we’ll close with his call for cancer donations …

And you can never go wrong ending with kitty cat pictures – here are Pieter’s …

 

 

 

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Friday Fun: Trump’s “TP Emergency Alert” & More

 Posted by at 8:13 am  Politics
Oct 052018
 

While not giving up hope, it’s looking like our country will be stuck with not only the WORST PRESIDENT EVAH in the White House, but now also the WORST JUSTICE EVAH on the Supreme Court.

Of course the pundits have declared that the problem lies with the Democrats …

But before we leave Brett Kava-NAH, let’s enjoy one last laugh at his expense with a limerick:

Did everyone get their “Presidential Emergency Alert” from Twitler this week?  Well, it seems there are a couple of bugs because not everyone got the same message from him …

At least for his daughter Tiffany it was a hallmark …

But to be honest about it …

Some of us did not react kindly to getting the alert …

And some of us were lucky in getting an exceptionally truthful one …

Democrat Martin Heinrich, who is running for US Senate in New Mexico, got a very helpful reminder …

But not as helpful as the one solely directed to Twitler himself …

Yup, this will surely be one of the few highlights of Twitler’s (shortened) time in office …

Apparently not only does the entire United Nations think it’s perfectly fine to laugh at Trump – but so does his own Secret Service …

And as one sage pundit noted, Trump brought his entire Presidential Library on board on the bottom of one shoe.

But I know this is the Presidential Alert we’re all waiting for:

 

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Friday Fears: If Kavanaugh Is Confirmed …

 Posted by at 1:46 pm  Politics
Sep 282018
 

When Twitler was elected, I feared it would take years to undo the damage he would wrought.

Now less than two years after having been placed (not really “elected” by the people) in office, I fear it would take at least a decade to undo the damage he has already wrought.

If Kava-NAH is confirmed, I fear it will take at least a generation to undo the damage the two of them would wrought.

So we would do well to review some of the highlights – and lowlights – from yesterday’s historic hearing.

First, I am in utter awe of the unfathomable bravery Dr. Christine Blasey Ford displayed in her eloquent, compelling and moving testimony.  The nation is in debt to her for her boundless courage in facing the despicable republican sociopaths on that committee.

It’s doubtless that her testimony will have a greater impact among women than among men.  I couldn’t agree more with the last sentence in this Tweet urging women to vote: “We don’t have seats at the table, so we’re clearly on the menu.”

And the anguish expressed in this Tweet posted by The Volatile Mermaid:

I particularly enjoyed her own first addendum that she immediately added:

“Keeping in mind that both men have the white of way.”

Moving now to Kava-NAH, I was shocked at the anger and rage he displayed – especially when compared to the cool demeanor of Sec. Clinton during her Benghazi hearing … for over ELEVEN hours …

As well as his ”frat-boy privilege” he still clearly holds in his displays of utter contempt he leveled at Democrats, as demonstrated in this brief video exchange with Sen. Durbin (D-IL) asking Kava-NAH if he’d support an FBI investigation:

His demeanor during his testimony was anything but what an impartial judge should possess, which raises a couple of questions:

And directly related to that is what Rep. Ted Lieu fears:

So to summarize:

Certainly for me, the “Take-Home” from yesterday was …

And …

 

 

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Sunday Smile: September Has Been a Good Month!

 Posted by at 2:15 pm  Politics
Sep 232018
 

As September is drawing to a close, we can all agree that this has been a terrible month for Twitler – which makes it a pretty damn good month for us.

So let’s review some of Twitler’s lowlights and our highlights.

Let’s start back on Thursday, September 6th in the unlikely place of Billings, MT at one of Twitler’s tiresome ego-boosting rallies.  It was there we learned that not all hero’s wear capes – some of them wear plaid!

That backdrop gallery Twitler demands to cheer him on, despite being hand-picked by his handlers for their “enthusiasm”, contained a “one-of-these-is-not-like-the-others” person.  Our unlikely hero was a 17 year-old senior from Billings West High School, Tyler Linfesty – who became better known as #PlaidShirtGuy.

And oddly enough, he was just a couple folks away from a Nose-Picking Trumpkin who decided the American flag she was wearing was just the perfect hankie to wipe her nose.

After a while, Twitler’s crack-crew realized Linfesty was making an even bigger fool of Twitler than he does by himself – and so kicked him out.  But only after having the Secret Service detain him and run a check on him simply because he was not adoring enough of “Dear Leader”.

It’s like they don’t even realize our First Amendment exists – and just start with the 2nd.

Here’s a sampling of #PlaidShirtGuy’s great facial expressions, Trumpkin’s nose-picking gal and our hero’s unfortunate forced-exit.  But luckily #PlaidShirtGuy ruled the internets for days!

Even before #PlaidShirtGuy, Trump was already reeling from the Anonymous Op-Ed “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration” published in his “favorite” paper, “The New York Times”.

Naturally Twitler went ballistic:

And the sad thing is the list of people “ratting” him out is virtually endless …

Although leaked much earlier, Twitler was hit by another body-blow with the official publication of Bob Woodward’s devastating book, “FEAR: Trump in the White House” on September 11th.

And while the book is chockablock full of scathing details that we’re all familiar with by now, the truly sad thing is that the gestalt – the tenor – of the book does not surprise us one whit.  We already knew Twitler was an amoral, lying, ruthless, misogynist a$$hole before he even announced his candidacy.

But for the sake of posterity, here are two good sources for a few takeaway highlights (or lowlights, depending on perspective) of Twitler’s deeply-flawed “Crazytown”:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/us/politics/trump-woodward-book-fear.html

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/five-most-shocking-episodes-from-woodward-white-house-memoir

Stormy Daniels did not want to be left out of the bashing fun, so she too revealed a little of her upcoming book:

“He knows he has an unusual penis,” Daniels writes. “It has a huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool …

“I lay there, annoyed that I was getting fucked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart …

“It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had, but clearly, he didn’t share that opinion.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/18/stormy-daniels-tell-all-book-on-trump-salacious-detail-and-claims-of-cheating

I suspect my reaction was very similar to yours …

And of course, we’re all …

And it looks like this Thursday has the potential to become the cherry on top of a great September when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford appears before the Judiciary Committee with its 11 old, white, male Rethuglicans.

While I’m not holding my breath it’ll stop him, Kavanaugh, for his part, has been furiously prepping for his upcoming grilling (and a brand-new opportunity to lie & perjure himself some more).  But leaks show it’s not been going well for Brett at all:

But Kavanaugh grew frustrated when it came to questions that dug into his private life, particularly his drinking habits and his sexual proclivities, according to three people familiar with the preparations, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. He declined to answer some questions altogether, saying they were too personal, these people said.

“I’m not going to answer that,” Kavanaugh said at one point….

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/incredibly-frustrated-inside-the-gop-effort-to-save-kavanaugh-amid-assault-allegation/2018/09/22/6808baf6-bde0-11e8-b7d2-0773aa1e33da_story.html?utm_term=.85cc8dfb1875

Too personal?  TOO PERSONAL?!?

This from the guy who, in a Memo 20 years ago, directed his boss, Ken Starr, to ask Pres. Clinton during the impeachment procedures the following questions:

 

WARNING: NSFW – POSSIBLE TRIGGER

 

If Monica Lewinsky says you inserted a cigar into her vagina while you were in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?

If Monica Lewinsky says that you had phone sex with her on approximately 15 occasions, would she be lying?

If Monica Lewinsky says that on several occasions in the Oval Office area, you used your fingers to stimulate her vagina and bring her to orgasm, would she be lying?

If Monica Lewinsky says that she gave you oral sex on nine occasions in the Oval Office area, would she by lying?

If Monica Lewinsky says that you ejaculated into her mouth on two occasions in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?

If Monica Lewinsky says that on several occasions you had her give oral sex, made her stop, and then ejaculated into the sink in the bathroom off the Oval Office, would she be lying?

If Monica Lewinsky says that you masturbated into a trashcan in your secretary’s office, would she be lying?

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/178-kavanaugh-clinton-monica-lewin/9b9a46ab055ee2458fd5/optimized/full.pdf#page=1

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-clinton-starr.html

No wonder the a$$hole looks scared to death …

Yep, all-in-all September has been a very good month.  And it’s not over with yet!

 

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Friday Fun: BREAKING – NWS Bulletin on Tweetstorm “Donald”

 Posted by at 6:51 pm  Politics
Sep 142018
 

In response to the news that Paul Manafort has pleaded “GUILTY” and is now working with Robert Mueller III, the National Weather Service has put out this PSA:

BREAKING: The National Weather Service is warning of the approaching Category 5 Tweetstorm “Donald”.

It is expected to reach landfall early Saturday morning.

The NWS urges all Americans to shelter in place.  And to be sure they have an adequate supply of popcorn.

Phillip McCann of the NWS, echoing the president’s recent words, described the coming Tweetstorm: “It’s tremendously big and tremendously wet.” 

(Which happen to be two things Melania has never said to Twitler.)

To help, they’ve provided this rating chart of Categories:

[NOTE: I shared w/ TC that I’m having a major backyard landscape renovation done.  And today they cut my cable TWICE w/ their Bobcat.  They spliced it together – but I’m scheduled to have Comcast come out tomorrow to be sure everything is OK.  That’s why I’m so late … and limping along.]

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Friday Fun: Science Nerds’ T-shirts

 Posted by at 7:34 am  Politics
Aug 312018
 

Well, unfortunately my carpet cleaning guy texted me late Wednesday evening that he had to go to the ER & is now in the hospital for observation.  Told him I hope it was nothing major and wished him well – but I haven’t heard anything more from him.  But I’m NOT getting my carpets cleaned today.

I will say the cat is very befuddled because in getting ready I moved all the easily moveable furniture into the family room (it has a wood floor) and the guest bedroom (really didn’t need cleaning).  He misses a lot of his favorite napping spots.  Plus it’s a real obstacle course for me to maneuver around now.

So I’m throwing together a quick, mini “Friday Fun” – because next Friday I’ll be in absentia while visiting with friends from Wisconsin.

In an effort to encourage STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) studies, I’m featuring some fun, nerdy science t-shirts:

 

 

 

This one is dedicated to Twitler:

 

 

 

And a “Bonus Rebus Question” graphic.  You can put your answer in Comments:

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