Blog: If I understand this

What?  Another Trump friend is a sex offender?  No!

Here, from MSNBC:  Robert Morris, a former Trump campaign spiritual adviser, pleads guilty to child sex abuse.  The Dallas-based ex-megachurch pastor was taken away in handcuffs and must register as a sex offender.

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Trivia: 

The average cumulus cloud weighs 1.1 million pounds.

But the air beneath it is heavier, so it floats.

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From a CNN newsletter I get digitally:  Just a couple of years ago, the US auto industry had visions of an all-electric future. Now that President Donald Trump’s administration has eliminated incentives for the technology, the future looks grim. – I have it mind that my next car will be either electric or a hybrid.  We have a charger in our garage now.  We’ll see.  I need to be convinced it is beneficial to do that, not just for me, but the planet.

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From an article by a gun safety lawyer: “Until we confront the basic truth that more guns make us less safe; we’ll continue to be stuck in a cycle of more gun violence and heartbreak.” – This would seem to be obvious, but I am amazed at how many people really think the more guns, with more firepower, carried by more people, will make us safer . . .. yeah, right?

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Tweet I saw online:

I used to have a mental illness where I thought logical thinking could change someone’s mind.

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Apropos of nothing, just amusing to me.

This from CNN:  Draft White House memo suggests furloughed federal employees don’t need to be paid for time they didn’t work during government shutdown. Proposal would break precedent.

Goes against law Trump signed in his first term. – Well, hell, if Trump signed it, he probably had his fingers crossed behind his back . . .

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I like Robert Reich and get mail from him.  Here’s a recent quote:

Last month, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote that “Trump is showing growing signs of dementia.”

“He’s increasingly unhinged,” he wrote in an opinion piece. “He’s 79 years old with a family history of dementia. He could well be going nuts.”

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Didja Know:  That there are such things as Bitcoin ATMs, and they are often used to scam people. Not sure how that works, but some victims put a bunch of money into a machine, to send to someone, I think.

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And in the rest of the world:  Police in Western Australia have seized guns and suspended or cancelled permits for dozens of gun owners who are linked to sovereign citizen ideologies, which reject government authority.

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From BBC:  The US Senate rejected a measure on Wednesday that would have barred President Donald Trump from using military force against the boats. – So, another example of Congress failing to assert its authority, in this case, to wage war (essentially).  And, yes, allowing Trump to withhold funds allocated by them is another example.  And the Congress has the power to stop this, but dear friends, it is controlled by the Republicans.

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Fact of the Day You Probably Know:  Dogs do not see just in black and white.  They can see several colors.

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I don’t read Ziggy all the time, but occasionally he hits a nerve.

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From ABC News:  Emergency Medicaid for undocumented immigrants made up only 0.4% of total Medicaid spending in 2022, a new study finds. – Don’t worry MAGA people, facts do not get in Trump’s way!

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Interesting fact:  Eight of the top 10 states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans.

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Good News Dept.:  MIT has rejected Trumpy’s demands in exchange for funds. I hope others follow.

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And more good news, in re: to endangered species:  The new research offered one glimmer of hope, as populations of the green sea turtle are rebounding thanks to conservation efforts. Found in tropical and subtropical waters worldwide, itis now listed as of least concern rather than endangered, as populations have increased by around 28% since the 1970s.

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From MSNBC:  America First?’: Stephanie Ruhle slams Trump’s $20 billion Argentina bailout

“If Argentina does default,” Ruhle explained, “it is a $20 billion loss for us. The Fed will be left holding a ginormous bag of pesos worth nothing.” – Ah, but it does pay to be a friend of Trumpy!  Now he makes foreign aid his decision.

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The Republicans have waged war on the Internal Revenue Service for as long as I can remember.  I am convinced that they underfund it to make it harder to audit people, especially the ultra-wealthy.  The average person has taxes taken out.  If the IRS takes too much, it’s up to you go get some back.  As Leona Helmsley (remember her?) once said, “Only the little people pay taxes.”  And that’s not even talking about tax havens, like Mitt Romney’s favorite, the Cayman Islands.

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This is Insane Dept.:  Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested there may be a link between autism and circumcision while reasserting the unproven theory that Tylenol causes the disorder. – I can’t even comment on this.

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Republicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bears

One of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction, is the subject of an effort for cutbacks from Republican lawmakers who now feel they have the political will to do so. – What did whales ever do to Republicans?

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In baseball:  I was miffed a couple of times this year when our manager did not try to bunt a winning run in from third.  My research indicates that statistically he is right – the odds of the batter getting a hit, or a sac fly if less than two are out, are better.  But bunting used to be more a part of the game, and I guess I miss it.  I had fun coaching some kids in baseball, long ago, and teaching them to bunt because they couldn’t hit.

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Well, depending on where you live, tomorrow is either Columbus’ Day or Indigenous People’s Day.   I have ranted before about the cruelty, including murder, that Columbus inflicted so I won’t repeat it.  But think about how “Euro-Centric” our versions of history have traditionally been taught — in my day, anyway.  How does one “discover” a part of the world where over a million people already live?

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What’s going on in the US is not just politics.  It is an attempt to move power more and more to the president, and his right-wing advisors.  I sometimes think that this will not end until Republicans come to their senses.  Even when Trump leaves, if Vance or someone like him gets in, it’ll be the same or worse.   At my age, I can write a bit about things, as I like to do, and write checks to pols and groups I support, which I/we also do.  We could say that divisiveness and anger are long term problems, too.  I almost cannot even talk to anyone that I know is a Trumper – about anything.  Sad.  We must press on.  Educate the young?  Send Musk to Mars?  Send Trump with him?

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All take care,

Kevin