Investigation Obstruction
November 8, 2018President
Trump fired U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions yesterday, making Matt
Whitaker the acting U.S. Attorney General and in charge of special
counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
Whitaker has publicly outlined strategies to stifle Mueller's investigation.
This constitutional crisis will be protested today at 5am (local time) at the
Minnesota State Capitol and at locations
across the country.
Music Association: Pointer Sisters - FiredTwin Cities Calendar for November 8, 2018
The Dust and Snow Settle
November 7, 2018The results of Tuesday night's election are in, and the divided country is still divided.
The Republicans gained two U.S. Senate seats. The Democrats gained 27 seats in the U.S. House and seven Governors' chairs.
The
clear winners of the election were the printing companies with all the
over-sized postcard business. Several forests of trees sacrificed
themselves for the divided electorate. The TV stations airing all the
commercials won too. During the news, there were back-to-back-to-back
commercials about the same candidate: they are bad, they are good, they
are bad...
make up your mind!
(To be read in the voice of Lewis Black with fingers pointing everywhere and nowhere.)
About
1.5 million more people
can vote due to the Florida felon ballot initiative. That's a positive
against voter suppression. But please don't think they will all vote
the same way. There isn't a demographic in the United States that all
votes the same way. Votes may tilt one way or another, but it's like
the stock market -- past results are no prediction of future behavior.
Call in all the experts, question their expertise, and toss them out.
The
ABC News big round room of analysts sitting around an empty floor
superimposed with red and blue graphics was either funny or silly...
for solid minutes. TV is rarely the
go to place for information. The Minnesota Secretary Of State website was the fastest, most reliable source of local election counts.
Unofficially, Minnesota had a
great voter turnout of 78%.
That's taking all the votes for governor (1097361 + 1392345 + 68665 +
26779 + 1148 = 2586298) divided by the number of registered
voters at 7am ( 3315438, which does not account for same day
registering) and then dividing the voters into the registered voters
(2586298
÷ 3315438 = 0.78007732312).
Now
that the dust and snow and confetti and wild dreams have settled to the
ground of reality, it would be wonderful if Congress and the state
legislatures could come together on obvious issues.
I am deluded with hope.
Music Association: Al Green - Let's Stay Together
Vote
But Be Mindful Of The Riggings
November 6, 2018Look out for voter suppression and voter disenfranchisement this election -- the riggings.
The documentary
Rigged - The Voter Suppression Playbook is currently available for free viewing on YouTube.
Music Association: Blondie - One Way Or Another
Another Reason To Vote
November 3, 2018
A plane went over with a banner. Know what it said? Neither do I. Except I know it said there is
way too much money in political advertising.
I voted early recently. Usually they give out a sticker saying, "I Voted."
Not this time. This time it was a button.
Cool.
Music Association: 10000 Maniacs - These Are The Days
Adorable Little SuckersNovember 2, 2018
My
cat was watching a tiny spider trip-trip-tripping its way up the wall
and then down the wall with a remarkable lack of coordination.
You'd think with eight legs they would get at least some of them going in a coordinated effort.
It
reminded me. Last week, a trail of balled light purple octopuses led
the submersible Nautilus to the largest cluster of deep sea octopuses.
The nursery of brooding females were tucked into nooks and cracks off
the coast from Monterey, California. With their eight legs outwardly
wrapped around them, the lavender ladies were each hugging dozens of
white incubating eggs. They were in the dark until the Nautilus
submersible parked in front of them with their brights on.
Music Association: The Beatles - Octopuses Garden
Don't Be Afraid... Don't Be Very Afraid
October 31, 2018A pirate hobbled in this morning with some sort of orange gourd strapped over one of his eyes.
I asked him, “
What's that on your face?”
“
Arrgh, yes,” he replied, “
it's me pumpkin patch!”
Start
a list of all the things you hate about yourself, you
know, the way you drive, the way you talk before thinking, wait this
should really be in list form because it will get kind of long, so it
was...
the way you drive (sometimes)
that you don't have enough money
the way you talk before thinking (sometimes)
that look you're giving me right now
Now do a list of all the things you hate about others, you know...
the way they drive (sometimes)
that they have too much money
what they say (sometimes)
that look they give you
Take the list about you and make it about them and take the list about them and make it about you.
You and them. Them and you.
When I was a kid, I used to say “
I hate...” (something) and my mom would say, “
Don't waste your hate.”
She implied that hate was valuable, but I don't think that's what she meant.
None of those things you listed about you or them is worth the hate. Imagine you are on your deathbed...
Wait a second, spellcheck recognizes “
deathbed
”
as a thing but not Arrgh? Deathbed? Can you go into a Bed Bath &
Beyond store and buy a deathbed?!? Certainly a deathbed would satisfy
two of the three conditions of Bed Bath & Beyond as both a bed and
the launchpad to the beyond. Somebody famous recently died in the bath.
Does that make it a deathbath? Spellcheck says no.
So imagine
you're on your deathbed or in your deathbath. Do you think you will
really care how much money you had compared to somebody else? Or how
you rated as a driver?
Researchers interviewed people on their
brand new deathbeds about life regrets, and most people had regrets
relating to love and relationships and connections.
People were dying for more love, not for more hate.
When you are dying, you will no longer be afraid. Fear drives hate. Stop being afraid now. Stop hating.
Music Associations: Pink Floyd - Us and Them
& Blue Öyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper
Significant Others
October 25, 2018
Late
at night when deliriousness meets the mattress, my better half and I
get silly.
It's never the same, almost never planned, usually something
started by me but the best stuff starts without me and I just twist it
into some origami of ridiculousness. I have no improv training and
hardly any theater experience except for all these years of goofiness.
I play things straight, and she couldn't be straighter. I practically only
laugh when she does, and last night I couldn't stop laughing.
What
it was about doesn't matter. It really doesn't. It's about the quick
back and forth more than anything. It's a special language.
The best health care, mental health care, and life care is a great loving, understanding, and over-the-top comedic relationship.
I just wish more people had someone to get goofy with and laugh until it almost hurts.
Music Association: The Spaniels - Goodnight Sweetheart
By The Numbers
Florida Wind Map
October 14, 2018With
the devastation of Hurricane Michael, it is interesting to learn that the
Florida Building Codes say Michael took a wrong turn.
The
Florida Building Code says different parts of Florida have different
wind speed requirements. The Florida Keys might have to withstand 180
mph wind gusts. Miami only has to withstand 160 mph wind gusts. And
Mexico Beach only has to withstand 130 mph winds. Michael got up to 155
mph. Still, most of the damage occurred to older structures.
Hurricane Michael may have “damaged” the
statue of Nathaniel Greene
in Savannah, Georgia by putting googly eyes on it. Savannah police are
looking for whoever vandal-eyed the statue or any eye-witnesses.
Music Association: Madness - Our House (In The Middle Of The Street)
Everyday
Rain
October 8, 2018We've
had rain, misty rain, all-out downpours, and drizzle.
A
week ago I heard Minnesota soybean and corn farmers needed a clear day
to harvest the crops.
They have not had it. It
hasn't rained all the time, but there also hasn't been a clear day to
dry up muddy fields.
Climate change maps show a
wetter Minnesota -- a crop damaging, business and home damaging wet.
Music Associations: Carpenters -
Rainy Days And Mondays
Prince - Purple
Rain
Cascades - Rhythm
Of The Rain
John
Fogerty - Have You Ever
Seen The Rain?
John
Fogerty - Who'll Stop The
Rain?
Beatles - Rain
Creed
- Rain
I'm rubber, you're glue...
Trump
Paper
October 5, 2018
Yesterday,
on his way to Minnesota of all places, this happened. Toilet paper was
stuck to President Trump's shoe on his way up the stairs to Air Force
One.
Yet the Internet thinks it was the
Constitution that was stuck to his shoe. Or his tax return. Or the
New
York Times investigation into the half billion dollars Fred
Trump put in his son Donald's name to avoid taxes. Or else TP stands
for trade partnerships.
The next
president will have a tough act to follow.
Music Association:
Koethe - What You Left BehindMovie Association: Wag The DogIn Indonesia
Quake,
Tsunami, & Rubble Claim 1349 Lives
October
3, 2018At
least 1,349 people in Palu have been killed by the combination of a
ground-liquifying 7.5 magnitude earthquake, a huge tsunami funnelled
into a bay, and raining rubble.
Palu is a city on
the island of Sulawesi, the world's 11th largest island.
About
200,000 people are without food and shelter.
Music Association: Alabama
Shakes - Hold On
Voter
Suppression
Music
Videos
Landmine
Hopscotch
Superman
Impact
Investing
Holiday
Gifs of Cats and Kittens Part 1
Part 2
Part
3 Part
4 Part
5
Southdale
Hennepin Library
Wonder
Woman
Food
Fraud
