I have watched the trailer for the new movie Flight Risk a couple of times, and want to see it. It will be at our fancy theater end of the month (huge reclining chairs and waiter service). We used to watch a show about people in the witness protection program that we liked (we don’t watch it now because I think we have seen every episode at least once!). When I was young, I was involved with a real estate deal that I found out was connected to someone in the witness PP, and the original crime stuff was serious and kinda scary! The deal fell through, but it involved the FBI, hidden cameras, holes in the walls, a failure by a lawyer to do something he said he easily could, and phone calls to a pay phone in a restaurant in LA at a certain time every week (from Boston). That story best told in person.
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From Huffpost: WASHINGTON — More than 22 million households could see their food budgets shrink as part of the Republican agenda to reduce federal spending. Of course, pick on the poorest folks with no lobby to help them . . . also attacking the ACA, which would take millions of poor kids off health care. “Wait, maybe they could do what George Bush said in a presidential debate with John Kerry (that Kath and I attended, in Phoenix)– just go to the emergency room for “health care.”
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Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has voiced strong opposition to removing the names of Confederate generals from US military bases, repeatedly saying the names should be changed back.
And this, about Fort Bragg, which is now Fort Liberty, and he wants to change it back:
Fort Bragg, one of the largest Army bases in the US, was named for Braxton Bragg, a general in the Confederacy and slave owner who lost nearly every battle he was involved in during the Civil War. But he was the only general from North Carolina . . .
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Title of an article in the New Yorker:
How Religious Schools Became a Billion-Dollar Drain on Public Education
A nationwide movement has funneled taxpayer money to private institutions, eroding the separation between church and state.— I have written about this before. It is a way of all of us subsidizing the private school tuition of parents rich enough to afford that, and take away that funding from public schools. The article also mentions how many private schools increase their tuition when their state or district approves of vouchers.
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In the All-Important Debate Dept:
When you store coffee cups or glasses in your cupboard, should they be right side up, or upside down? That is the question. I read an article a few years ago that convinced me that right side up was the best choice. Yes, right side up means that some dust might get in the cups. But upside down means the rim of your cups might have whatever is on the shelf or shelf paper. We have, like most folks, some glasses we hardly every use, many for company. When we have company and need extra glasses, then, we will rinse them out or wash in the dishwasher. But these things change. Like how much salt do you put on food, if any? Too much salt is bad for you, but it turns out that too little salt is bad too, even dangerous. Long distance runners get sick, even die, when their sodium blood level is too low, mostly from drinking too much water during a race. I had a doctor in AZ who ‘splained that to me more than once. The idea of drinking 8 glasses of water a day is nonsense, according to him. Anyway.
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Just noted that as of this instant, this post has 666 words, not counting this sentence!
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Just in: Michelle Obama to skip Trump inauguration –I think that is good and appropriate, just like Mike Pence’s wife refusing to shake Trump’s hand. I do remember the years of Trump leading the “birther” group.
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This: Republicans are considering an array of cuts to social programs in order to save the government money, including a change to the way benefits are calculated under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Benefits would shrink across the board under a SNAP cut included on a list, first obtained by Politico, of “spending reform options” House Republicans are looking at. – why, of course, reduce food to the poorest Americans . . . to help pay for the extension of the tax cuts to billionaires. Makes sense, right? Good morals as well as good business? But, no, we are not on the road to becoming an oligarchy.
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This: The House GOP is busy determining where to slash trillions of dollars from the social safety net to pay for even more in tax cuts for the wealthy.—MSNBC
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Headline from the New Yorker, online version:
The Inauguration of Trump’s Oligarchy
Certain business titans have made Mar-a-Lago a scene of such flagrant self-abnegation, ring-kissing, and genuflection that it would embarrass a medieval Pope.
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Have you seen Trump’s official Inauguration photo? Looks a lot like his mug shot. Robert Reich says Trump wants to be feared, not loved, like many dictators in the past.
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Note from CNN: Deep dive on the Panama Canal. CNN’s Phil Mattingly went to Panama to figure out why Trump is talking about the Panama Canal. Turns out, Trump has a business history there. – Me: I remember there was a hotel that had Trump’s name on it, and after one of his signature rude moves, the hotel chipped it off their entrance.
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And, during the confirmation hearings, a reminder:
RFK Jr. petitioned FDA in 2021 to revoke authorization of all COVID vaccines
The COVID vaccine has been credited with saving millions of lives.
And I think I am right that he got his kids vaccinated . . . . more hypocrisy and getting folks to hate and distrust their federal government (started in modern times by Reagan in 1980).
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I wonder Dept.: Why some folks name their son William while they intend to call him Bill? Why not just name him Bill?
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Yet more proof that there is no limit to how much one can spend on political campaigns, note that Musk spent $250,000,000 for candidate Trump, and is not in violation of anything. No more limits, etc. And, of course, the PACs coordinate with the candidates, even though years ago the rule was they could not. Money is speech, says the Supremes.
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All take care,
Kevin
Blog: If I understand this 