J-j-jolly M-m-monday, F-f-friends!

Posted on December 10, 2018 by jilldennison under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays

That sound you hear is my teeth chattering, and all the typos in the forthcoming post are a result of my hands shaking. It’s c-c-cold!!! And it isn’t even winter yet! I am ready for spring … perhaps I’ll plant some flowers here …I presume you are all surviving this harrowing season? I have given up on trying to convince the girls that we ought to skip it this year, and am rather just going with the flow, trying to keep up with baking, shopping, decorating, wrapping and so forth while carving out a bit of time to breathe. It’s about the best I can hope for at the moment.

Grab a warm drink & a Christmas cookie (I baked them just for you guys!) and let’s go find something to start the week out with a smile, or possibly even a chuckle, shall we?

It has been cold here, with temps in the teens the past several days, but not nearly as cold as it is for our friend Hugh out in Minnesota! Last Wednesday in southern Minnesota, a tractor-trailer got stuck on an icy hill. Luckily for driver Craig Helgeson, Lizzie and Jacob Hershberger enlisted the help of their team of 13-year-old Belgian draft horses, Molly and Prince, to give the stuck truck a hand. I was actually amazed that only two horses were able to pull that much weight on an icy slope, but they did it. See for yourself!

Remember a few weeks ago when I told you about some ugly food-themed sweaters out for Christmas … I think one was Taco Bell and I don’t recall the other. Today I have found yet another, but frankly, I kind of like this one.After all, who doesn’t love the Dough Boy? General Mills said the sweaters are available in two designs that each feature the Pillsbury Doughboy enjoying the Christmas season. The first sweater (pictured above), titled “Let it Dough,” features the Doughboy and Pillsbury crescent rolls, while the other, dubbed “It’s Lit,” features the mascot with a decorated Christmas tree.

You can get on on Pillsbury’s website for a mere … well, scratch that, for both sweaters are temporarily unavailable, but you can sign up to be notified when they become available.

From the annals of really, really bad ideas comes this …
Yep, folks, it is exactly what it looks like … a bacon vending machine. Now, I know at least one person who I shall not name here who would likely think this is a great idea and that there should be one on every street corner.

The Ohio Pork Council, a trade group for Ohio pork producers, installed a vending machine at Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences that dispenses cooked, ready-to-eat Smithfield, Hormel and Sugardale bacon. For just $1, you can get either a slice of fully cooked bacon or a handful of fully cooked bacon bits. Now, I dug out the ol’ calculator and concluded that at that rate, it brings the cost of a pound of bacon, for which I typically pay $4, to somewhere around $16. That’s some markup just for the convenience of clogging your arteries with the push of a button!

There is a bright side … proceeds will be donated to Ohio State’s meat science program.

I always enjoy some of the strange, yet humorous signs that are out there … here are a few that are guaranteed to make you either shake your head and roll your eyes, or chuckle.

I wouldn’t want to live here … self-fulfilling prophecy, etc.

I’ll take my own shower, thank you very much!

Oopsie!

And what would Jolly Monday be without one funny animal video?

Have a great week, my friends … keep warm, smile a lot and share your beautiful smile! Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa and Jolly!

Oops! I almost forgot … sorry Benjamin!

An Overflow Of Snarky Snippets …

Posted on December 8, 2018 by jilldennison under Social commentary, Political commentary, Bits 'n Pieces, Racism & Bigotry, Election 2018

Today is your lucky day! I have far more to do than I can possibly accomplish, nearly everything in the news sets me off on a grouse or a grumble, and my family has long since tired of listening to me, telling me to “go write a blog post or something”. And so you are the beneficiaries of today’s snarkiness! Thrilled, aren’t you?

I have lost count of how many times I have said we need to overturn Citizen’s United, need to remove money from the equation of elections. The utterly obscene amounts of money that are spent by corporations and lobbyists to promote candidates come with a hefty price tag … one that We The People always pay.

On November 6^th, Americans spoke loud and clear when we sent a number of women and minorities to the House of Representatives. We said, “We are sick and tired of being left behind. We are sick and tired of our voices not being heard, of only those people who have millions, or billions of dollars being listened to. We are sick of our government representing only the top 1% and to hell with the rest of us.” And so, we elected new blood, people who are not yet so jaded that they cannot see the forest for the trees. And they will do the jobs they have been elected to do, despite pressure from others to ‘conform’ to the old ways.

On Tuesday, the incoming freshman lawmakers attended an orientation event sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. The event was billed as a bipartisan event and on its website the school says the sessions are designed to help incoming House members “forge bipartisan relationships and learn practical skills of lawmaking just one month prior to taking the oath of office.” Uh-huh.

Who were the speakers at this event? Corporate CEOs and Corporate lobbyist groups. Guess who else was there? Donald Trump’s former chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn. Hold on to your hats … you’re going to love what he told the newbie members-elect …

“You guys are way over your head, you don’t know how the game is played.”

Say WHAT??? This, Mr. Cohn, is not a game … this is people’s f-ing lives!!!

Goldman Sachs, the financial behemoth where Cohn was CEO before joining Trump’s administration were at the event. The heads of General Motors, Johnson and Johnson and Boeing were there. There was not a single labor leader or community activist, nobody who represented the average citizen. Only people who represent that all-important upper echelon, the infamous 1%. And we wonder why we have the most corrupt lawmakers ever in the history of the nation? Wonder no more.

The FBI has changed its mind and decided that one of the currently most radical white supremacist groups in the nation is not, after all, an extremist group. What, they’re just a bunch of kindergarten kids going around the country promoting political violence?

According to the Proud Boys website …

Lovely looking bunch of “proud boys”, don’t you think?

“The basic tenet of the group is that we are “Western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” Like Archie Bunker, we long for the days when “girls were girls and men were men.” This wasn’t controversial even twenty years ago, but being proud of Western culture today is like being a crippled, black, lesbian communist in 1953. Our group is and will always be MEN ONLY(born with a penis if that wasn’t clear enough for you leftists)!”

The group claims not to be white supremacist, however according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) …

“Their disavowals of bigotry are belied by their actions: rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings like the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. Indeed, former Proud Boys member Jason Kessler helped to organize the event, which brought together Klansmen, antisemites, Southern racists, and militias.”

In November, the FBI categorized the group as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism”. That was actually fairly mild, if you ask me, for I would categorize them as a bunch of bigoted, chauvanistic, murderous white supremacists. But yesterday, for reasons unbeknownst to anyone of good sense, the FBI recanted, saying they did not mean to designate the whole group, rather to characterize the potential threat from individuals within that group. Would somebody please explain to me what the Sam Heck the difference is? Nobody would join the group for any reason other than to follow their violent, bigoted ways, so … why is it only certain unnamed individuals and not the entire group that pose a threat? Oh wait … perhaps one of Donnie Trump’s family is a member and that is why the designation had to be changed! I call B.S.

On November 6^th, We The People spoke. We spoke loud and clear. We made clear that we are not all a bunch of bigoted louts as some would like us to be, and we made clear that we value substance over form. We elected to the U.S. House of Representatives two very qualified women who are of the Muslim faith. Why? Because they are the best qualified to make laws that are in the best interest of the people of this nation … that is, ALL the people, not just the wealthy few.

Ilhan Omar (left) and Rashida Tlaib

The two, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are both Democrats and both well-qualified for the jobs to which they were elected.

However, there is one man, Earl Walker Jackson a protestant minister and wanna-be politician, who doesn’t think these two women should be in Congress. Why? Because he claims …

E.W. Jackson

“Folks, I’m still trying to get over this whole issue of Nancy Pelosi allowing these women — these Muslim women — and apparently other women in Congress are now going to start, if this movement takes root, are going to start wearing the hijab on the floor of Congress. So what are we now gonna do? We’re going to turn Congress into an institution of Sharia law? I mean, folks, this stuff is just crazy … Lord help us. Floor of Congress is now going to look like a, it’s going to look like an Islamic republic.”

Mr. Jackson, by the way, is African-American and a disgrace to his race, for he has often made statements that were derogatory to gays, blacks, and Democrats and other minority groups. However, he is outdone this time, for representative-elect Omar had the best imaginable response to Jackson’s bigoted statement …

“Well sir, the floor of Congress is going to look like America … and you’re gonna have to just deal.”

Yes indeed, folks, we’ve got some new blood coming into Congress!

And now I hope I have gotten enough of the snarky out of my system so that I can proceed with the weekend, for I have much to accomplish this weekend and little enough time and energy with which to do it. Have a great weekend!

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words …

Posted on December 6, 2018 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Humour, Political commentary

Jolly C-c-c-old Monday!

Posted on December 3, 2018 by jilldennison under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays

Hello friends … quick, come in and close the door … that wind is brutal! 24 hours ago the temperatures were in the 60s (F) and for just a few short hours, there was this big, bright circular thing up in the sky … it was both mesmerizing and scary!

So tell me, how was your weekend? Too short, you say? Yes, weekends tend to be that way, don’t they? And now it’s Monday and time to get back to the routine. I love weekends, but I thrive on routine, and if my routine is thrown off, I get tired and cranky, just like a toddler. Well, I found some things I hope will make you laugh today, and, I made a special treat … churros! What? You’ve never had churros? They are a fried-dough pastry, typically sprinkled in sugar, and then you can dip them in … well, anything. Dulce la leche (caramel sauce), chocolate, strawberry jam … whatever floats your boat! Try one … you’ll like it. And yes, Benjamin, I have sprinkled donuts for you, but try a churro anyway, okay?

Burger King gone to the dogs?

The press release reads …

MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The BURGER KING® brand knows that dog owners often deal with their furry friend begging for food when they order delivery. Many dog owners have even admitted to sharing part of their meal with them. That’s why BURGER KING® is providing a solution for customers who want to enjoy their order at home without interruption from their pets.

The BURGER KING® brand is launching the DOGPPER, the first flame grilled bone offered at BK® for your best friend. This dog-friendly alternative to the WHOPPER® sandwich is a bone-shaped treat with flame-grilled beef taste for the dogs of these generous owners.

The DOGPPER is available for free exclusively through DoorDash when you order a WHOPPER® sandwich*. Plus, new customers can get a $0 delivery fee with your $10+ order at DoorDash. To redeem the $0 delivery fee offer, use promo code DOGPPER from November 28 through December 4th.**

Now, I get them making a special treat for ‘man’s best friend’, but … who knew that Burger King delivers??? And what the Sam Heck is “DoorDash”??? And why would the ‘flame grilled bone’ be available only for delivery orders??? They even have a promo video featuring some adorable mutts and Willie Nelson’s You Were Always On My Mind …

A Freudian slip?

Picture it … you travel from your home in the UK to New York City, pick the special place (Times Square), drop on bended knee to offer a proposal of marriage to your one and only, and just as she says “YES!”, you get so nervous that you drop the ring … into a sewer grate! Oh, the shame! Oh, the embarrassment!Well, hats off and thumbs up to New York’s finest, the NYPD, for they noticed the incident when reviewing their surveillance footage, found the ring, and put out the word to try to find the couple via Twitter.

“WANTED for dropping his fiancée’s ring in @TimesSquareNYC! She said Yes – but he was so excited that he dropped the ring in a grate. Our @NYPDSpecialops officers rescued it & would like to return it to the happy couple. Help us find them?”

The couple turned out to be John Drennan and Daniella Anthony and through the magic of the information age, they have successfully been reunited with the ring. The police even cleaned it up for them! Well, I guess it will make a good story to tell their kids someday.

Kanye has a biggggggggg head!

Kanye West has gone from a life-sized water bottle on Saturday Night Live to a 315-pound pumpkin.Jeanette Paras has an annual tradition in Dublin, Ohio where she transforms pumpkins into your favorite celebrity according to who’s hot. And who was a better choice than Ye himself, who has been making countless headlines this year since he broke his social media hiatus.

The pumpkin started off with a sketch then took seven hours to paint. The hardest part of the entire project was putting together the giant “Make Pumpkins Great Again” hat for Yeezy. The hat took nine hours to sew.

Paras has been transforming pumpkins for 30 years. Every year, she teases, “Who will it be?” In the past she has created a Donald Trumpkin, Hillary, Kim Jong Un, she even did Kanye West before sporting a pair of glasses. “It’s just fun,” Paras said. “Who doesn’t like giant celebrity pumpkins?”

Further proof that stupidity is real …

Payless Shoesource filled a fake luxury store with its discount footwear and sold to “fashion influencers” for hyper-inflated prices. The chain said it took over the former Armani store in Santa Monica and labeled it “Palessi” before filling it with Payless shoes with inflated price tags and inviting social media fashion influencers to a party at the store.

Partygoers shelled out hundreds of dollars for shoes that normally retail for between $20 and $40 at Payless. Payless shared video of the party-goers reacting to being told the shoes they had just splurged on were actually discount stock.

The store said it was aiming to show its products are more fashionable than their regular prices might indicate. The “Palessi” customers were refunded for their purchases, while their testimonials are being used for online and TV advertisements.

Sigh.

Let’s get our smiles back in place with this …

Now, off you go to your jobs and leave me to mine! I’ve enjoyed our time together so much! Please share those gorgeous smiles … they last longer that way. Keep warm, keep safe, and have a lovely week! Hugs ‘n love from Filosofa … and Jolly (even though he contributed nothing this week!)

Stuff From A Bouncing Mind …

Posted on November 28, 2018 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Humour, Personal, Political commentary, Social commentary

Today I have a bouncy mind … too much inundation of both news and holidays, I think. Have to bake birthday cookies, do birthday cards, get a package ready to mail overseas, Trump did a convoluted interview yesterday that I’m struggling to get through without throwing something, and a new federal judge is about to be confirmed who supports extreme voter suppression. No wonder my mind is bouncing! So, I share with you a few of the thoughts that have crept out from the crevices during the bounce …

Yesterday morning when I logged onto Facebook for the first time of the day, planning to check messages and post my latest blog post, I was immediately assailed by a large message from Facebook itself, asking me to donate money to one of several charitable causes, and promising to match my donation. HAH!!! Mind you, though I haven’t much to give, I do give … I give to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, the Humane Society, the local foodbank. I give to a variety of local homeless shelters. So, it isn’t that I’m not willing to help out … it is, simply put, that I do not have any reason to trust Facebook!

Entrust my bank account number to Facebook after their recent data breach that exposed the personal data of millions of users??? And … trust them to actually match my donation? I think not. This is a case of “Let the buyer beware”. I will continue to carefully choose my own causes, thank you very much anyway, Mr. Mark Zuckerberg!

And speaking of letting the buyer beware, I am once again grumbling loudly over one of my old pet peeves. Note to all readers: If the package says “Easy open – pull here” … get your scissors and sharpest knives out, be prepared to spend a minimum of ten minutes fighting to get to the product inside the package, and while you’re at it … be sure your first-aid kit is handy! I’ve been putting it down to my being old, my hands and fingers not being as agile or strong as they once were, but even the youngster in this house has trouble opening things these days. I still get her to do it, though, for she has far more patience than I, and is therefore less likely to throw and break things. Besides, she doesn’t swear, so it is less traumatic for the kitties!

But seriously, is there any reason that opening a new bottle of ibuprofen requires a degree in rocket science? Or a bag of chicken tenders … “pull tab” it says … “tear along perforation” – what perforation??? There is no tab, there is no perforation … there is a dotted line, but it is not perforated! Get the scissors … snip, clip … okay and … nothing! I cut along the dotted line, but it is too far above that part where you can pull it open. Finally, a butcher knife right to the heart of the package does the trick. How much time was just wasted? Luckily this time only a small bandage was required … last time it was a roll of gauze and adhesive tape! And to think … people get paid big bucks to come up with these packaging designs. Sigh.

MSNBC is not one of my ‘go-to’ sources. First, they are owned by Comcast. Second, they are left-biased. Now, granted, my own leanings are toward the left of center, but when I want news, I want news … facts, reported accurately and without significant bias toward either side. As Joe Friday used to say in the old Dragnet show, “just the facts, ma’am”. That said, today I give MSNBC a thumbs-up for refusing, for the second time this month, to carry a White House press event.

The first time was on November 1^st when the network refused to transmit live a fearmongering presidential address about immigration and the caravan in Mexico. The second time was yesterday afternoon when, for the first time in about a month, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders deigned to hold a ‘daily’ press briefing. The briefing was a joke, naught but propaganda such as Larry Kudlow, Trump’s Director of the National Economic Council, saying, “We’ll see what happens. … Our economy’s in very good shape right now”. Sounds rather like a replay of something Trump has said many times, doesn’t it? Toe the party line. The entire briefing, from what I can gather, was more of the same. National Security Advisor John Bolton saying that he hasn’t listened to the audio recording of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and sees no reason to do so. Sanders herself rang in with, “I don’t think the president has any concerns about the [Mueller] report because he knows that there was no wrongdoing by him and that there was no collusion.” It was a waste of the press’ time and a waste of anybody’s time who bothered to watch it. Press briefings have become repetitious and uninformative. You may disagree, but I think MSNBC made the right decision in this case, and I’d like to see more of the media outlets be a bit more discriminating about just what they choose to waste our time with.

And so, you now know how a bouncy mind works, and I shall return you to your regularly scheduled life! Thanks for bouncing along with me today!

Jolly Monday — Funny Furries

Posted on November 26, 2018 by jilldennison under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays

Hey guys! Come in out of the cold … I hear some of you got dumped on over the weekend … last night I heard that Chicago’s O’Hare Airport had canceled some 700 flights! Luckily, I think it’s supposed to go north of us and land in Maine somewhere. Mr. LePage deserves it! So how was your weekend?

I had a really difficult time doing ‘funny’ last night, and even Jolly wasn’t much help. All the humour in my usual ‘go-to’ sources seemed a bit macabre, like the guy who was trying to steal gasoline from a U-Haul and set himself and the U-Haul truck on fire. Somehow … it just didn’t make me laugh. So, instead of a variety of humour today, I am falling back on the one thing that always works, funny animals. Jolly, by the way, is still in bed … I think perhaps he’s coming down with something.

Grab a snack and a nice hot cuppa java, and settle in for a bit of furry funnies before you set out to start the week off.

And let’s wrap up with a few jokes, shall we?

And I’m sorry, folks, but that’s all the funny I have in me for today. Share a smile, a laugh, or even a hug today with a friend, a co-worker or a stranger, okay? Keep warm, keep safe, and have a great week!!!

Snarkier Than Usual Snippets — Part II

Posted on November 20, 2018 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary

As promised, I have more snippets deserving of my sardonic wit today …

Lock her (Ivanka) up!!!

Remember the rallying cries of Trump supporters when they chanted “Lock her up!!!”, with only minimal prompting from Trump? The ‘her’ was Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent in the 2016 presidential race, and the reason for the chant was that Trump called her use of a private email server for government business when she was Secretary of State, criminal. Well, he who laughs last, laughs best, and guess what, folks? Ivanka Trump has just been found to have done that very thing that Hillary, cleared by the FBI, was accused of.

According to The Washington Post …

Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails last year to White House aides, Cabinet officials and her assistants using a personal account, many of them in violation of federal records rules, according to people familiar with a White House examination of her correspondence.

White House ethics officials learned of Trump’s repeated use of personal email when reviewing emails gathered last fall by five Cabinet agencies to respond to a public records lawsuit. That review revealed that throughout much of 2017, she often discussed or relayed official White House business using a private email account with a domain that she shares with her husband, Jared Kushner.

The discovery alarmed some advisers to President Trump, who feared that his daughter’s practices bore similarities to the personal email use of Hillary Clinton, an issue he made a focus of his 2016 campaign. He attacked his Democratic challenger as untrustworthy and dubbed her “Crooked Hillary” for using a personal email account as secretary of state.

Burn, Baby, Burn … Maybe this will finally get her out of the White House and we won’t have to look at her fat posterior and grotesque fingernails on our screens every day!

Speaking of being respectful …

Adam Schiff is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a democrat who has served in Congress since 2001. Remember Trump’s propensity for making up derogatory nicknames for people he doesn’t like, which means anybody who doesn’t bow down to him and lick his dirty boots? Remember “Lyin’ Ted (Cruz)” and “Crooked Hillary (Clinton)”, “Little Marco (Rubio)”, “Pocahontas (Senator Warren)” and all the others? Well, Trump doesn’t like Representative Schiff, so he not-so-subtly changed Mr. Schiff’s last name in one of his nefarious tweets …No, my friends, that was no typo … that was fully intentional and so far beneath what I would expect from any leader of a nation that my jaw actually dropped. This ‘man’ is a jackass extraordinaire. For his part, Mr. Schiff responded with humour, saying …

“Wow, Mr. President, that’s a good one. Was that like your answers to Mr. Mueller’s questions, or did you write this one yourself?”

I think that We The People of this nation have a right to expect better from the ‘man’ whose salary we pay and to whom we have entrusted our lives, our country, our futures. Someway, somehow, this ‘man’ needs to be removed from the Oval Office, for he is not … I repeat, he is not … even a man, let alone a president. Apologies on behalf of the sane people in this nation to Representative Schiff.

Trump in California …

Donald Trump should be shackled with leg irons to his chair in the Oval Office, for every time he is allowed out, he makes a fool not only of himself, but also of this nation. After his royal screw-up in France last week, he decided to go to California over the weekend to see how many photo ops he could get in the burned-out town of Paradise. Trump, you see, was jealous that the media was more interested in the California wild fires that were devastating the state, than in covering his every move.

Trump was not given the royal welcome he had expected, for two reasons. First, he had made his now-famous tweet on November 10^th, saying …

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”

Californians, watching their homes be burned to the ground, frantically trying to find missing loved ones, didn’t take kindly to Trump’s bombast. And the second reason the red carpet wasn’t rolled out for him is that the good people of California were too busy trying to fight the fires, salvage what they could of their lives, etc. Anyway, the red carpet was burned up in the Camp Fire.

It just can’t get any uglier

He got his photo op, although it wasn’t what he expected, and at least he didn’t throw rolls of paper towels to the victims – I suppose we should be thankful for that. But he embarrassed us all once again when he couldn’t resist repeating his prior statement and embellishing on it by saying that Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto told him that his country doesn’t have the same problem with fires because it spends “a lot of time on raking and cleaning” the forest floors. President Niinisto says he did not say any such thing, and now Finland is having great fun, at Trump’s (and ours) expense.

Well, you get the picture. But that wasn’t the end of his ignorance. The town of Paradise was completely destroyed, only Trump couldn’t be bothered to even get the town’s name right …

“I mean, as big as they look on the tube, you don’t see what’s going on until you come here. And what we saw at Pleasure, what a name, right now.”

And just minutes later …

“We just left Pleasure.”

This concludes my two-part miniseries of ‘snarkier than usual snippets’, and presumably explains why I have slipped back into the rabbit hole. Never in my life have I seen so much chaos, ignorance, corruption and cruelty in this nation. Thanks to all who voted for the abomination in the Oval Office for ruining our lives, our nation.

Snarkier Than Usual Snippets — Part I

Posted on November 20, 2018 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Free Press Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, religion, Social commentary

A few stories I read last night truly made my blood boil and make me want to punch somebody. As I am a kind and generous person who believes in sharing everything with my friends, I am sharing these stories with you so that you, too, can experience the rage that I felt.

A truly WTF moment …

There have been very few times in my life that I have actually wished something bad to happen to somebody, but this is one of those times. No, it isn’t Trump this time … it is a man named Dave Johnson. Dave is the Republican Party Chairman for Columbiana County, Ohio. He owns the Spread Eagle Tavern in Hanoverton, a regular stop for politicians running for office in Ohio, and served as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Last Sunday, Dave posted the following meme to his Facebook page …

“God’s punishment to Liberal California”??? WTF???

In the Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, California, the death toll is so far at 80 people and expected to rise. As of this writing, 699 are still unaccounted for. The fire has burned some 151,000 acres and destroyed approximately 15,000 homes and businesses. And that is only one, albeit the worst, of the many, deadly fires that have plagued California this year and last. And this excuse for a ‘man’ calls it “God’s punishment to Liberal California”? Hey, GOP … really, is this the best you’ve got to offer???

As you might imagine, the outrage was immediate and ol’ Dave took the post down later the same day, but in an interview, he stands by what he said.

“Look, that’s a meme. And it’s how I feel about liberals, but did I mean that God is going to punish everyone who lives in California? No. It’s a figure of speech, and I probably shouldn’t have done it. But I did, and it doesn’t change how I feel about what’s happened in California.”

Somebody put this man out of our misery!

Unfit to parent …

Meet Emily Scheck …Emily is 19 years old, a sophomore and cross-country runner at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. One day at the beginning of the school year, Emily received a series of angry text messages from her mother … her mother had found pictures of Emily and the woman she is currently dating on a social media site and was horrified. Emily had not come out to her parents, knowing how they would react, but now the cat was out of the bag.

Emily’s “Christian” parents insisted that she would quit college and they would seek conversion therapy for her, else they would write her out of their lives. Say what??? How does a parent just … poof … write their own child out of their life???

Emily refused to leave school and made it quite clear that she has no interest in any form of therapy. Good for her! The next day, her father traveled the 85 miles to the Canisius campus, unceremoniously dumped all of Emily’s belongings into her car and proceeded to remove the license plate from her vehicle, for he had already removed her from the family’s insurance policy. He even included her birth certificate. Her mother’s final text message was …

“Well, I am done with you. As of right now, declare yourself independent. You are on your own. Please don’t contact us or your siblings. Because you disgust me.”

As it was the beginning of the term, Emily hadn’t yet bought her books, and now she couldn’t afford to, so she was reduced to borrowing friends’ books. She managed to get two campus jobs and somehow squeeze them in along with her classes and athletic practices. Before long, one of her friends came up with an idea and started a GoFundMe page, hoping to collect $5,000 to help Emily pay for licensing her car, getting insurance, buying books, and buying food! Well, long story short, the GoFundMe quickly went to $58,000!!! Yes, you heard me right! About a year’s pay for most of us! But … the NCAA has rules, and one is that its scholarship students cannot get outside contributions. Emily would have to give the money back to the donors, or risk losing her scholarship.

Eventually, the NCAA relented in light of Emily’s special circumstances, and Emily was able to keep the money, which will help her get through the next three years of school. Isn’t it a damn shame, though, that two parents can just disown their child for no reason at all other than their religion tells them to hate gay people? Damn shame.

Jim Acosta is back … BUT …

Yesterday, Jim Acosta had his full White House press credentials returned to him, and as a result, CNN has dropped their lawsuit. I was a bit surprised, glad for Acosta, but in one sense, leery of CNN having dropped the lawsuit. It seems to me that until this is stamped “Paid”, the issue is likely to rise again and again. But then …

Later in the day, the White House released Trump’s new set of ‘rules’ by which the press must play. They are as follows:

Please be advised of the following rules governing future press conferences:

(1) A journalist called upon to ask a question will ask a single question and then will yield the floor to other journalists;

(2) At the discretion of the President or other White House official taking questions, a follow-up question or questions may be permitted; and where a follow up has been allowed and asked, the questioner will then yield the floor;

(3) “Yielding the floor” includes, when applicable, surrendering the microphone to White House staff for use by the next questioner;

(4) Failure to abide by any of rules (1)-(3) may result in suspension or revocation of the journalist’s hard pass.

My opinion? This is a blatant attempt to curtail the freedom of the press. However, given that neither Sanders nor Trump never … NEVER … answer any of the questions that are important, the White House press briefings have become a joke, and his press conferences even more so. I would love to see the mainstream media boycott the press briefings for about a week, for the really important things will be found out by other means anyway, not from Ms. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The press will, as they have been forced to do for nearly two years now, have to rely on those ‘anonymous’ and ‘insider’ sources, for that is the only way that We The People will have any idea what our paid government officials are up to.

I look for Sanders/Trump to seize on any excuse to pull the creds of reporters who don’t “play nice”, those who, like Acosta, ask the tough questions, hold the prez accountable. When that happens, I hope to see lawsuits by any and all of the media outlets. SOMEBODY needs to hold Donald Trump’s feet to the fire, and if our free press cannot do it … then who can? Who will? Think about that one.

And since I have more, but am already over 1,000 words, I shall quit for now and produce Part II a bit later. No need to thank me for sharing my angst … ’twas my pleasure!

Jolly Monday!

Posted on November 19, 2018 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays

Good morning, friends! For some reason, I’m extra sleepy this morning … probably the weather … or a shortened night’s sleep. So tell me, how was your weekend? Mine was fine … nothing spectacular, but good enough. It was the first weekend in months that daughter Chris didn’t have some band obligation to attend, so that was nice. Well, grab a snack and a cuppa and let’s go in search of something to make us smile, shall we?

Taco Bell clothing line?

Oh please, say it ain’t so! Taco Bell, the fast food restaurant chain, is getting into the Thanksgiving spirit by riffing on the tradition of the ugly Christmas sweater. The chain teamed with ugly Christmas sweater company Tipsy Elves to create two sweaters and two varieties of leggings that celebrate both Taco Bell and the tradition of “Friendsgiving,” a Thanksgiving dinner shared with friends instead of family.Now who in their right mind would be caught dead in one of these??? Oh … wait … I know who … never mind … forget I even asked.

Not to be outdone, the burger chain Whataburger has unveiled its Christmas sweater …

The sweater features Whataburger’s logo as well as French fries, snowflakes, a Christmas tree and ‘24 hours’.The sweaters quickly sold out but take heart … another batch is due on December 5^th. And don’t anybody get any ideas about getting me any fast-food clothing for Christmas, got it?

And speaking of food gifts …

What is with the food companies branching out into clothing and other non-edibles these days? Has climate change produced some chemical that is frying people’s brains? This time, it’s Jimmy Dean, makers of breakfast sausage.Sausage maker Jimmy Dean is asking customers to trade photos of their favorite dishes for free gifts including sausage-scented wrapping paper. The company said the Jimmy Dean Recipe Gift Exchange offers a variety of free gifts that customers can exchange for photos of dishes cooked from the company’s featured sausage recipes.

The exchange involves three steps:

Step 1: Cook one of Jimmy Dean’s featured sausage recipes.

Step 2: Submit a picture of your dish to jimmydeangiftexchange.com.

Step 3: Select which one of several free gifts you would like to receive.The free gifts include sausage-scented wrapping paper, a glass Christmas tree ornament shaped like a packaged Jimmy Dean sausage, an “ugly Christmas sweater” printed apron and a vinyl Christmas album recorded by Jimmy Dean himself in 1965.

The company said one participant will also win a $10,000 diamond-studded belt buckle inspired by Jimmy Dean’s famous signature belt buckle.

Okay, but WHY???

Some people in this world, I have concluded, simply have far too much time on their hands! Take, for example, David Rush of Idaho. He has been practicing for this moment … for the moment when he beat his own Guinness World record for … wait for it …Yes, folks, for eating the most kernels of corn with a toothpick. WHY???

“I practiced skewering a lot to prepare along with the size of the plate, spreading out the corn and best toothpicks to use. If you believe you can get better at something and work hard at it, you can get better at anything.”

This time, he managed 241 corn kernels in three minutes, which broke his previous record of only 236 kernels in the same time frame. With a toothpick. Anyone want to try this one at home?

Fred Flintstone … alive and well in Florida?

If you’ve been wondering lately (and who hasn’t?) where Fred Flintstone, Wilma, Barney & Betty have gotten off to … well, they retired and moved to Florida like about half the nation’s retirees do! Duh. But ol’ Fred hasn’t given up his cantankerous ways and earned himself a speeding ticket from Pasco County’s finest last week. Take a look …

Apparently Fred figured that hot Florida pavement wouldn’t do his feet much good if he had to use them to propel the car, so he is using one with an engine. Well, makes sense … he’s retired and no longer a spring chicken, y’know!

That’s a funny-looking bus …

It happened in Russia, but I can picture people here trying it … tell people they cannot do something, and they will die trying to prove to you that they can!

The Zolotoy Bridge in Vladivostok is ‘vehicles only’, no pedestrian traffic allowed, much the same as our Interstate highways here in the U.S. A group of people apparently wanted to cross the Zolotoy Bridge quite badly, so they did what any group would do … they disguised themselves as … a bus!It was all great fun until the police showed up, made them turn around, and an officer followed them off the bridge.

And that’s a wrap for this Monday … oh, I almost forgot … Jolly had something he wanted to share with you …

I found dese funny pictures just for you guys … I hope you likes ‘em.

Then why should I buy one???

Have a great week, my friends. Please share your smiles … when you do that, they are repaid 1,000 times! Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa and Jolly!

A Day For Snarky Snippets …

Posted on November 18, 2018 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Political commentary

Today just seems like a good day to release a bit of snark, don’t you agree? I’m fed about up to the gills with Trump, his mouth, his rhetoric, his immaturity, and I’m ready to vent, so …

Mr. Kellyanne ConwayGeorge Conway has the misfortune of being married to Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s “senior advisor”, or right-hand man woman. George Conway is an attorney who was actually offered a high-ranking position at the Department of Justice last year but turned it down (smart man). Conway has been a frequent critic of Trump and his policies, his rhetoric, and recently, he participated in an 80-minute wide-ranging discussion on Yahoo News’ Skullduggery where he didn’t pull any punches when it came to Trump.

Conway has created a group consisting of conservative lawyers called ‘Checks and Balances’, of which he says …

“It’s about the principles, it’s about the rule of law. You don’t have to stay silent when you see something that you don’t like that is inconsistent of these timeless principles.”

In speaking of the position he turned down at the Justice Department, he says he feels like he dodged a bullet …

“It’s like the administration is like a shit show in a dumpster fire, and I’m like, I don’t want to do that. I realized, you know, that this guy is going to be at war with the Justice Department. He’s going to be at one end, and if I get this door prize, I’m going to be in the middle of a department he’s at war with. Why would anybody want to do this?”

Trump, for the record, claims not to know George Conway …

“You mean Mr. Kellyanne Conway? He’s just trying to get publicity for himself. Why don’t you ask Kellyanne that question, all right? She might know him better than me. I really don’t know the guy.”

While Conway did vote for Trump, because he says he didn’t like the Clintons and felt Trump was the ‘lesser of two evils’, when asked if he would vote for him again, he says …

“Faced with the choice again, I would probably move to Australia.”

Conway is in favour of impeachment, saying …

“I’m open to supporting what’s constitutionally appropriate, and if any constitutional officer commits an impeachable offense, then they should be subject to potential impeachment and removal under the Constitution. Including any president.”

I still have to wonder what the conversation at the supper table is like in that household.

Here we go again …

I am so tired of this same ol’ threat coming from the ugly mouth of the ugly man in the Oval Office. It’s really getting old and tired and somebody ought to shut him up. The latest? He thinks now would be a good time to shut down the federal government if he doesn’t get funding for his abominably expensive and thoroughly useless, unnecessary southern border wall. Yawn. Who thinks it’s a good idea to shut down the government to assuage Donnie’s ego? Virtually nobody. The republicans in Congress don’t think so. The democrats in Congress don’t think so. And We The People, at least the thinking majority of us, don’t think so. It’s like the 8-year-old kid who wants a BB gun for Christmas. It’s dangerous, it’s a horrible idea, but he will throw a temper tantrum until he finally wears mommy and daddy out and gets his way.

Never before in less than two years have there been threats of shutdowns as many times as since Trump took office. It’s lost its clout, Donnie … grow a pair and give up on your damn wall. Put the nation ahead of your ego, or take your ego and go play in somebody else’s yard, please.

In the matter of the medal of honour being awarded to Miriam Adelson

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with the Congressional Gold Medal—the highest civilian award of the United States. Don’t let that fool you, for it doesn’t necessarily mean that the recipient did a damn thing to promote freedom within the nation. The intent is to “recognize those people who have made ‘an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors’”. The Medal of Freedom was established in 1945 to honour civilian service during World War II. Somehow, last week’s recipients pale in comparison to anyone who received the medal under other presidents.

Donald Trump draped the Medal of Freedom around the neck of Ms. Miriam Adelson, the wife of Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate who donated some $30 million to Trump’s campaign toward the end of 2016. Frankly, I think she should be stripped of this medal, for instead of promoting freedom, she and her husband have contributed to robbing the citizens of this nation of their freedom.

Robert Weissman, president of public interest group Public Citizen, said it was difficult to believe the decision to recognize Miriam Adelson was based on merit …

“It’s emblematic of the corrupt and transactional presidency of Donald Trump, and it is a shame, but not a surprise, that he is corroding and corrupting a civic treasure, an honor like the Medal of Freedom.”

According to E Fletcher McClellan, a political science professor at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, there are no limitations and Trump has total discretion regarding who should receive the medal. Frankly, after Adelson receiving it, I don’t see that it has meaning any longer. Such a slap in the face to truly deserving people who have received the medal in the past. At least it didn’t cost the taxpayers much … the medal is made of brass alloy and is said to cost $29.98.

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Category Archives: Bits ‘n Pieces