♫ I feel snarky, I feel snarky … ♫ Oh … hi! In case you didn’t hear, I am feeling a bit snarky this afternoon! But then, when don’t I feel snarky these days?
What the heck are they doing???
Today marks 173 years since rescuers first reached the Donner party who had been stranded by a snowstorm as they tried to make their way across the Sierra-Nevada Mountains. The Donner story is a tragic one … of the 89 people that set out from Springfield, Illinois, in the summer of 1846, only 45 would survive. But what the Donner story is most well-known for is that after they killed and ate their dogs and pack animals to keep from starving, they then began to eat their own, even killing two Native Americans who had joined their party, and roasting them.
Why, you ask, do I bring up the Donner story now? They ate their own. There is a parallel between the Donner party in 1846-47 and the Democratic Party in 2020, for the democrats seem to be hellbent and determined to lose the election in November by eating their own.
Bernie Sanders is polling at the head of the pack, a full 16 points ahead of #2 candidate Joe Biden. So, wouldn’t you think democrats would get behind Bernie, help lift him? After all, the democrats have stated more than once that the goal is to beat Trump, and much as I hate it, much as I would prefer to see a campaign based on the issues, I agree that the reign of Donald Trump must come to an end.
But, instead of patting Bernie on the back, helping make his candidacy even stronger, the pack is trying to eat Bernie! Now, what sense does that make? According to Politico, a democratic group called the Big Tent Project, has launched a million-dollar ad campaign in South Carolina and Nevada intended to bash Senator Sanders. They are running two ads. The first accuses Sanders of dumping waste in Latino communities — and profiting from it.
The second ad goes to the heart of some of the more moderate democrats’ concerns, that his plans are too aggressive, and too expensive. The script …
“Socalist Bernie Sanders promises the world. But at what cost? Sixty trillion in new spending. Losing our private health care. Largest middle-class tax hike ever. The cost? Another four years of Donald Trump.”
Wow … why not just shoot him and be done with it? The jackals who are stirring this pot are the very ones who will be handing Donald Trump the keys to the kingdom and he will stay in office until his death. With our luck, he’ll live to be 100.
Come on, democrats … wake up! Bernie Sanders is NOT the enemy, nor is Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg or Joe Biden. The enemy is sitting on his fat ass eating a Big Mac on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office! STOP the damn infighting, stop supporting groups that put out these ads! Believe me, the republicans will be running a full-throttle campaign of ads against Sanders and all the others … the democrats don’t need to join forces with them! I can hear the republicans laughing now, saying, “Hell, boys, we don’t need to waste money on ads … they’re doin’ it for us!”
“United we stand, divided we fall” – John Dickinson
“Divide et impera” (Divide and conquer) – Julius Caesar
In other news …
According to The Guardian …
“Donald Trump offered Julian Assange a pardon if he would say Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic party emails, a court in London has been told.
The extraordinary claim was made at Westminster magistrates court before the opening next week of Assange’s legal battle to block attempts to extradite him to the US.
Assange’s barrister, Edward Fitzgerald QC, referred to evidence alleging that the former US Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher had been to see Assange, now 48, while he was still in the Ecuadorian embassy in August 2017.
A statement from Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson shows “Mr Rohrabacher going to see Mr Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr Assange … said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks”, Fitzgerald told Westminster magistrates court.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who is hearing the case at Westminster, said the evidence is admissible.
Assange is wanted in America to face 18 charges, including conspiring to commit computer intrusion, over the publication of US cables a decade ago.
He could face up to 175 years in jail if found guilty. He is accused of working with the former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak hundreds of thousands of classified documents.”
Can we say … WITNESS TAMPERING????? Yet another criminal and impeachable offense to add to the ever-growing list. Yo … republican senators!!! Wake UP!!!
Okay, my blood pressure is sufficiently high … I’m going to go wash dishes and fold laundry now.
Dr. Don Rice is a Urgent Care Medicine Specialist in Lincoln, Nebraska. On Monday, Dr. Rice decided to do something special for National Random Acts of Kindness Day, so … he helped the 80 patients that came into the clinic that day by paying their co-pay for the visit! The average co-pay being around $50, Dr. Rice estimates he spent around $4,000 that day. Says the doc …
Roseville police posted on their Facebook page …
On the 14th, Jayme waited by the entrance to Axtell, placed the flowers in silver tins and handed them out to each girl as they walked into school.
Now why did he do that? Because, he said, he wanted to make every girl at Axtell High School feel special. Wow, huh? And maybe, just maybe, one of those girls was very much in need of a bit of love, needed just for a moment to feel special. We just never know, do we?
So, how was your weekend? Mind was spent in utter chaos. I should have taken pictures of my house during the building of the desk. We bought Miss Goose a new desk from Amazon and it arrived last Thursday. Now, I could have had them assemble it for an extra $150, but … nah … we can put it together. How hard can it be, after all? Probably take 2-3 hours, right? WRONG! Six hours on Saturday just to put the desk part together, then about another 5 hours on Sunday to put the hutch together and hoist it atop of it. Solid wood. Heavy — 193 pounds worth of heavy. Meanwhile, all the crappola she had in her old desk was scattered throughout the house and I damn near broke bones more than once trying to get to the washing machine, and at one point it was an obstacle course just to get to the bathroom! I have bruises and a back that seems not to want to bend, but it is complete now and she is quite happy, so … I told her it has to last her past my death, ‘cause I am never going through this again! Should have just spend the $150 for the professional installation. Here’s a look at the finished product …
Today is a special Jolly Monday, for our young friend Benjamin is on school break and will be joining us! So, grab a snack and lets find a few smiles before we have to head off to our various jobs, shall we?
Sounds simple, right? But wait … there are rules. The person Gebhart is matched up with must date him and him alone for a year before the matchmaker will be paid, and even then, he/she will be paid in installments of five $5,000 payments over a five-year stretch. If Gebhart and the gal split before the final payment, the matchmaker gets only what he or she has earned to that point. There’s also an online quiz that applicants will need to take to see if their personalities sync with his. So what, exactly is he looking for? Someone who is …
Plastic tables and chairs, nothing special … just your average kid-friendly fast food joint. But, if you happen to be in Rome, Italy, or more specifically the Roma Termini, and have a craving for a Big Mac, this is what you’ll see …
What is it, you ask? It is a small section of the Servian Wall that was unearthed during the construction of the station’s underground shopping mall, and was thus integrated into the dining area of McDonald’s.
If you’re wondering about these unique animals, the sign here explains it …
Who knew??? Well … actually … they are spray painted to look like that. But don’t worry … this is a special, non-toxic spray paint, the same that is used to number them during lambing season, and is perfectly harmless. It was the idea of the owner of the Wildlife Centre, Maxine Scott, when she first purchased the park ten years ago.
The park had already had a tradition of creating painted sheep, so she kept up this tongue-in-cheek practice. The sheep in these photos are April and Daisy. Of all the tourists that come by, it is the Americans that seem to enjoy the joke the most. She tells people that the Tartan Sheep change color often and encourages people to come back to see her ewes again.
Okay, folks, the clock is ticking and we’ve all got work to do. I have to clean up the mess from the weekend’s construction project, so … Oh, by the way, before I forget … today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day, so … let’s all try to do something nice, no matter how small, for someone. Buy a stranger a cup of coffee, take a neighbor’s trash out, or whatever opportunity presents itself, okay? And smile … share those smiles … bring one to somebody else’s face today, okay? Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa and Jolly!
By 
Come in and welcome to the weekend, my friends! This has been a strange and unsettling week both in the U.S. and other places as well … something in the air, perhaps? But, we’re not here to re-hash the gloomy week, but rather to relieve the angst it has caused us. And what better way to relieve angst than critters? It’s my go-to when I want to be cheered!
Sam discovered the best way to photograph the mice inhabiting London’s Underground was to lie on the platform and wait. He only saw them fight over scraps of food dropped by passengers a few times, possibly because it is so abundant. This fight lasted a split second, before one grabbed a crumb and they went their separate ways.
“Matching Outfits”, Michel Zoghzoghi. Michel was in the Pantanal, Brazil photographing jaguars. One afternoon, as he was on the Três Irmãos River, a mother and her cub crossed right in front of his boat. He watched mesmerized as they left the water holding an anaconda with a very similar pattern to their own.
“The Surrogate Mother”, by Martin Buzora. Elias Mugambi is a ranger at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya. He often spends weeks away from his family caring for orphaned black rhinos like Kitui here. The young rhinos are in the sanctuary as a result of poaching or because their mothers are blind and cannot care for them safely in the wild.
“Spot The Reindeer”, Francis De Andres. The conditions for photographing at the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard are extreme, but wildlife has adapted to the environment and its freezing temperatures. Francis found this composition of white arctic reindeer, which were observing him, both curious and charming.
“A Suitable Gift”, Marco Valentini. Marco was in Hortobágyi National Park, Hungary when he spotted these kestrels displaying typical courtship behaviour. Here the female has just received an offering of a young green lizard from her suitor and in this touching moment she tenderly took hold of his claw.
“Big Ears”, Valeriy Maleev. Valeriy was on a summer expedition to the Mongolian part of the Gobi Desert when he happened upon a long-eared jerboa. As blood moves through the ears of these usually nocturnal animals, excess heat dissipates across the skin and so the jerboa is able to stay cool.
“Bon Appétit”, Lucas Bustamante. Night hikes through the Ecuadorian jungle are one of Lucas’ favourite activities. With a keen interest in herpetology, he was overjoyed to spot this labiated rainfrog which are abundant in the region. It had just caught a baby tarantula and its comical expression said ‘caught in the act!’
“Mother Knows Best”, Marion Vollborn. While on a bear watching trip to the Nakina River in British Columbia, Canada, Marion spotted a grizzly bear and her young cub approach a tree. The mother bear started to rub against the tree trunk and was followed shortly by the cub, imitating its mother.
“What A Poser”, Clement Mwangi. In Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve, Clement spent time observing this beautiful leopard as she soaked up the last warm rays of the setting sun. Clement is mindful to remember to take pleasure in life’s simple moments – being all too aware that sometimes, as a wildlife photographer, you can miss the exceptional while looking for the unusual.
“Beak To Beak”, Claudio Contreras Koob. Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in the state of Yucatán is home to Mexico’s largest flock of Caribbean flamingos. This chick is less than five days old – it will stay in its nest less than a week before it joins a crèche of other youngsters who wander around the colony searching for food.
This from the man that has given the keys to the kingdom to Trump and told him that no matter what he does, as long as he is the sitting president, he cannot be charged with a crime? This from the man that has changed the laws to suit the president, has opened an investigation into one of Trump’s rivals even though it has already been proven that there was no wrongdoing? And this from the man who totally and completely misrepresented the results of Robert Mueller’s report? Are we actually supposed to feel pity for Billy boy? The man who once had a decent reputation sold his soul downriver to become one of Trump’s toadies, and now we’re supposed to feel sorry for him? No way, José!
Former Justice Department official, Matthew Miller, wrote on Twitter: “Don’t be fooled by this one, people. Barr is telling the president that his impulsiveness is making it politically harder for him to deliver the results he wants. If Trump would just shut up, Barr could take care of him much more effectively.”
I shall end with a bit of uplifting news. Former ambassador to the Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who became a central witness in the impeachment inquiry against Trump, received the Trainor Award at Georgetown University this week, in recognition of her 33-year career as a diplomat. If anybody has earned the award, it is Ms. Yovanovitch who had a difficult and unexpected role during the House investigation into the administration’s shadow diplomacy and the pressure campaign on Ukraine. She was vilified by Trump and his family, and it was later learned that Trump directly ordered her firing, claiming she had shown ‘disloyalty’ to him – sound familiar?
The latest, though, is just beyond ridiculous. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference, has “formally uninvited” Mitt to the Conservative Political Action Conference to be held the last four days of this month.
“So actually in the Constitution of the United States [if] they are found guilty of being a socialist member you either go to prison or are shot. They’re enemies of the free state. What do we do with our enemies in war? In Vietnam, Afghanistan, all those. What did we do? I agree with my Constitution. That’s what makes us free. We’re not a democracy, we’re a Republic Constitution.”
After his testimony in November, Vindman and his family received criticism and threats from Trump’s allies, including allegations of political bias and disloyalty to the US because of their refugee status.