Jolly C-c-cold M-m-monday!

Posted on January 18, 2021 by jilldennison under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays

Good Monday morn, my friends! Oops … looks like Joe slipped on the icy sidewalk … I salted it, but I guess I missed a couple of places! Hope you’re okay, Joe … come in and warm up! Brrrrrrr … it’s so cold … I’m ready for Spring! And speaking of which, it is only a short 60 days until Spring arrives! Well, another weekend has come and gone … why is it they go so fast? Anyway, to start the new week Joyful and I have baked up a few sweet treats and found a few things to kick the week off with a smile, while Jolly went in search of ‘toons. So, help yourself to a fresh-baked treat and a cuppa something warm, and let’s start this week off right!

Benjamin’s Donut

And who doesn’t love Pooh?

Today is National Winnie the Pooh Day, in honour of author A.A. Milne’s birthday in 1882. Milne’s lovable Pooh Bear, as he was fondly called, is a fictional bear inspired by a black bear named Winnie. Winnie lived at the London Zoo during World War I. The author’s son, Christopher Robin, would visit the bear often and named his own teddy bear after her and a swan named Pooh.

This friendship inspired a collection of books starting with Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926. E.H. Shepard beautifully illustrated the books. Their adventures took them and millions of children through the Hundred Acre Woods. Each character played a unique role in the books. Whether the wisdom of Owl or Rabbit leading the group awry, a celebration ensued and the story’s characters became beloved around the world.

In the 1960s, Disney bought the rights to the Winnie-the-Pooh characters dropping the hyphen from Pooh’s name. The illustrations were a bit different, too.

Milne’s stories have been translated into over 50 languages and are considered classic children’s stories today. National Winnie the Pooh Day has been observed since at least 1986, though nobody seems quite sure who the originator of the day was. Today is also Martin Luther King Day, but I will have a separate post on that later today.

My kind of job!

A U.S. website is offering $500 for an unusual short-term job: a “professional binge watcher” willing to watch Netflix and eat pizza. BonusFinder, a website dedicated to reviewing and offering deals for legal gambling sites, said the “professional binge watcher” will be called on to watch and review three series on Netflix while eating pizza takeout from various locations.

The selected candidate will be required to review each series based on story and plot lines, “Netflix and Chill” suitability, acting quality and cheesiness, satisfaction of episodes and series endings. The person will also rate the pizzas they sample for appearance and color, base texture and taste, topping ingredient quality, flavor, cheese gooeyness and value for money.

The “professional binge watcher” will be paid $500 for completing the tasks.

Now, if I watched television, I would certainly apply for this job, for I do eat pizza! However, I find that television typically bores me and I need to be doing something with my mind … that, coupled with my near deafness make television pretty much taboo for me. But, if any of you guys are interested, you can apply on BonusFinder’s website.

And now, for some fun & funny ‘toons!

“Between you and me, I thought the whoopie cushion on the throne gag was hilarious.”

Our friend Hugh has been under the weather, so Maxine brought him a little something to cheer him …

Feel better, dear Hugh! We love you!!! 💖💖💖

And of course there must be a cute critter video. Since our friend David likes parrots, and since today is his birthday, but don’t let on that I told you …

I hope you all have a decent week, and that you can keep those smiles all week long. Hey, how about sharing a few of them, too? Everybody could use a bit of good cheer these days! Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa, Jolly and Joyful!

Two Men Sans Conscience

Posted on January 16, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants

I fully intended to do a Saturday Surprise post for this morning, knowing that we could all use a break from the news of the moment, but try as I might, I was not able to do one. Sure, there were some funny cat pics, a few humorous stories, but … sorry, my friends, maybe next Saturday. For today, I am just not able to switch gears. I hope you’ll forgive me.

Guess what? Yet another lie … a BIG one

Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, has handed in his resignation, claiming that, “The attacks on the Capitol were an assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power.” However, lest you think Alex has suddenly found a conscience, he hasn’t … it’s a symbolic move only, for his resignation is effective at noon on January 20^th, the moment of Joe Biden’s inauguration, at which time he would be out of a job anyway. But there’s more here than just Alex Azar’s resignation, for he dropped a bombshell yesterday when, in an interview with NBC News, he said that the ‘stockpile’ of the coronavirus vaccine that Trump has promised exists, actually does not exist at all.

Funny that just three days prior, on Tuesday, Azar himself said that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses that had been held in reserve for second shots. There was no reserve. Alex Azar knew there was no such reserve when he said that barefaced lie. Is there any single member of the Trump administration who isn’t a consummate liar? Was that one of the job requirements, that candidates must be able to tell whopper lies while keeping a straight face? Or was there a ‘Trump School of Lying’ where they learned to emulate the Oaf in the Oval?

So, what does this revelation mean? It means that states, believing the lie of the reserve, expanded the groups eligible to receive the first dose of the vaccine, and now … there is no second dose. If it weren’t so damn tragic, you’d almost have to laugh at the name of the group responsible for distribution of the vaccine to the states: Operation Warp Speed. Warp speed, I thought, meant fast, but like everything else Trump and his cronies have touched, this has been a disaster from day #1, and far fewer people have received the vaccine than should have. And now, we find they bungled the procurement and there are no second doses to be had.

Way to go, Trump, Kushner, Pence, Azar, and all the rest. Obviously, our lives are naught more than pieces on a chessboard to you.

And speaking of idiots and the coronavirus …

Tommy Tuberville is a newly elected Senator from the state of Alabama. Tommy is 66 years of age … most people would be using Tom or Thomas by now, but Tommy is a good ol’ boy and he likes to be called Tommy.

Now, ol’ Tommy took his seat in the United States Senate on January 3^rd, and within days, he joined a group of Republican senators attempting to overturn Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election based on Trump’s outright lies of voter fraud. Wouldn’t you think he’d try to learn his job before trying to overthrow the government??? And while most of the Republicans who planned to contest the election results in various states on January 6^th backed off after the horrific attacks on the Capitol that evening by Trump supporting terrorists, not ol’ Tommy! He stuck to his guns and contested the election results in both Arizona and Pennsylvania. He showed us what he is made of – sawdust.

And yesterday, Tommy got himself in the news again. I should think it would be a requirement that every single member of Congress should have read the U.S. Constitution at least once, for Pete’s sake! On Friday, Tommy had been touring hospitals in Alabama … supposedly to get updates about the coronavirus, which he could have done from his office, but whatever. After one of the tours, he gave an interview to an Alabama television station where he said that he thought the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should be postponed until “a little later on after we got this virus behind us a little bit.”

Say WHAT??? First of all, MR. TUBERVILLE … the United States Constitution, a document that you obviously have NOT read, directs the exact time and date of the inauguration: noon on the 20^th day of January. Second, MR. TUBERVILLE … Donald Trump has bungled the federal response to the virus so badly that half of our population may be dead by the time the virus is “behind us”! For the past year, Trump and his cohorts have not done a single damn thing to stem the surge of this virus, and as a result the U.S. has the highest number of cases and the highest death rate on the planet, despite the fact that we have only about 4% of the world’s population! Donald Trump has no plan, has never had a plan to either control the virus or to distribute the vaccine. Furthermore … he has begged people to risk their lives by not wearing masks … he has called the pandemic a hoax, has lied so much that nobody even listens to him anymore! Joe Biden has a plan to help stem the surge and to distribute the vaccine. He HAS A PLAN, which is far more than Donald Trump has ever had! Why in hell would you want to delay inaugurating Joe Biden … are you really so stupid?

I honestly believe we need to amend the U.S. Constitution to say that every person elected to or appointed to a federal office MUST pass a test on the U.S. Constitution. The entire document, including amendments, is just over 8,000 words. I have read it more times than I can count, and I still have to consult it on occasion to answer a question. Consider this … an immigrant applying for citizenship to this country knows more about the document that is the foundation of our government than half of our elected representatives, and that includes the ‘man’ who has been calling himself ‘president’ for the last four years!

Since I wasn’t able to give you a nice humorous Saturday Surprise post, I do have a few ‘toons for you that I nabbed from our friend Scottie’s post yesterday …

Filosofa Is Grrrrrrrrowling

Posted on January 15, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, religion, Social commentary

Some days, you look at the news and you just want to punch something. The ‘grrrrrrrrrr’ started this morning when I read that we the taxpayers are paying $3,000 per month for the Secret Service people protecting Ivanka and Jared to rent a bathroom in the house next door, because Jared & Ivanka don’t want them dirtying their house! My first thought was that then they don’t deserve the protection of the Secret Service … and they don’t, for they are a couple of entitled snobs. And then, the ‘grrrrrrrrrrr’ got louder as the day progressed.

Has he learned nothing?

You remember Kyle Rittenhouse, right? He’s the young white supremacist punk who killed two and wounded a third with a gun at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As I wrote a while back, some influential people with more money than sense posted Rittenhouse’s $2 million bail last November. Rittenhouse was arraigned January 5^th on two felony charges of homicide in the deaths of two men and a felony attempted homicide charge in the wounding of another man. Pretty serious stuff, yes? You’d think a 17-year-old kid would be on his best behaviour, quaking in his boots at the thought of what could happen to him. But not Kyle!

Just 90 minutes after leaving the arraignment, Kyle and his mother were seen in a bar where he was drinking beer (the legal age limit in his home state of Illinois is 21) and flashing white supremacist hand signals to other people in the bar. What kind of mother takes her underage kid who has murdered two people to a damn bar??? Prosecutors have asked the Kenosha County Circuit Court to modify Rittenhouse’s bond conditions.

The office is requesting that Rittenhouse be prohibited from possessing or consuming alcohol or being in any establishment that serves it; be prohibited from making any public display of any “white power” or “white supremacy” signs, symbols, or hand gestures; and not have any contact with any known militia members or members of any violent white power/white supremacist groups including the group identified as the “Proud Boys.”

This kid needs to be locked up for life, and his mother along with him! And yet, to some he is considered a ‘hero’ … oh yeah, folks, don’t tell me racism isn’t alive and well in the United States … you need look no further than this little punk and those who applaud him. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Franklin Graham once again proves his lunacy

More than a few times, I have criticized (that’s putting it mildly) various evangelical leaders, and Franklin Graham is the one who seems to cross my radar most often. Now, let me state in advance that I am not a Christian, not religious at all, however I respect other people’s right to their beliefs as long as they don’t try to inflict them on others. Franklin Graham is an idiot extraordinaire, and once again he seems intent on proving my point.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Graham wrote, in part …

“Shame, shame on the ten Republicans who joined with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in impeaching President Trump yesterday. After all that he has done for our country, you would turn your back and betray him so quickly? We have never had a president like him in my lifetime. He gave us lower taxes, a strong economy, and low unemployment. He made NATO take notice and pay their own way. He had the guts to take on North Korea and meet with their leader personally. He didn’t let China walk all over us. Just his Mideast peace initiatives in the last couple of months deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. He has defended religious liberty like no president before him, and that matters to all people of faith. He has worked to bring prison reform and secured our southern border. He defeated the ISIS caliphate in Syria, and he strengthened our military. He was also the most pro-life president we have ever had. But the House Democrats impeached him because they hate him and want to do as much damage as they can. And these ten, from his own party, joined in the feeding frenzy. It makes you wonder what the thirty pieces of silver were that Speaker Pelosi promised for this betrayal.”

Well, I wonder if Mr. Franklin has been living in some alternative universe? The hell of it is, though, that with over 9.5 million followers on Facebook, some will undoubtedly buy into his trash talk and some will no doubt join the planned insurrection next week, fully believing that they are doing ‘god’s work’. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And speaking of religious freaks …

Brandon Burdon, pastor of Kingdom Life church in Frisco, Texas is less well-known that Franklin Graham, but no less a lunatic.

During a long rambling sermon just days after the Capitol coup, he told his (maskless) congregation to stock up on weapons, celebrated a God-ordained siege of Washington, spoke in tongues to give his statements added oomph, claimed Apple would create a national blackout, railed against FOX News and Mitch McConnell for not being conservative enough, urged everyone to stock up on generators and food, and said with absolutely certainty that Donald Trump would be president for eight straight years.

“We are locked and loaded at the Burden house. We have an executive order — not from Congress or D.C., but from the desk of the CEO of heaven, the boss of the planet. He said from his desk in heaven, this is my will; Trump will be in for eight years.”

Is it any wonder that I often say religion is the cause of most wars and most hatred in the world? I wonder how many people from Frisco, Texas will be among the gun-toting nuts planning to converge on D.C. next week?

Snarky Is Baaaaaaack!

Posted on January 14, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

My snarky side took a bit of a break after the events in my own life on Monday night, but suddenly it has returned with a vengeance! No point in holding it back, now is there?

Delusional bimbo

I had to laugh when I read that Kellyanne Conway said …

“From the time the electors certified the results to the time the president leaves office should have been spent reviewing and reliving the policy accomplishments of his four years and reminding Americans we are more peaceful or prosperous.”

We are neither more peaceful nor prosperous by any stretch of the imagination than we were before Donald Trump took office. We are more divided than at any time in at least the last 150 years, as evidenced by the events of last Wednesday and the aftermath. And prosperous? All time record high unemployment numbers, people who cannot afford to pay their rent or mortgage, and between 3,000-4,000 people dying every day of a pandemic that was so poorly handled by the Trump administration that the world looks on in disgust.

Sorry, Kellyanne, but your ‘hero’ is a big-time loser who has done more damage to this nation and its people than any other president in the history of the United States. His ‘legacy’, such as it is, will be one of death and destruction.

Republicans and impeachment

I was pleased to see that 10 republican members of the House of Representatives voted in favour of impeachment. Mind you, it’s too little too late, so I’m not going to propose that perhaps they’ve found a conscience and regret their prior sycophancy to Trump, but for this time anyway, they managed to do the right thing.

I’m also pleased to read that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has condemned Trump’s actions of last week and said he ‘might’ even consider voting to convict Trump on the impeachment charges once the charges are presented to the Senate and they conduct a trial. I’m not holding my breath, and again, it’s way too little far too late for him to redeem himself. Best thing he could do after the impeachment trial would be to resign from the Senate … he’s way past his “best by …” date. However, McConnell holds a great deal of sway with other republicans in the Senate, and if he votes to convict Trump on the charges, I believe that other republican senators will follow suit, which could result in the necessary 17 republican votes needed to convict Trump, thus ensuring that he can never again hold public office. Not even as sanitation worker or dogcatcher.

It’s interesting how some of the republicans are appalled by what Trump did, inciting a terrorist rebellion against the United States from within, but yet refuse to condemn him, saying that impeachment or any form of punishment would only further divide the nation. WTF??? How can we get any more divided?

As if

I hear Trump released a video of himself yesterday reading a statement that was obviously not written by him …

“In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers.”

Right, Donnie. I read that Ivanka, Jared and others begged him to read the statement and record the video telling him that it would boost his image among republicans who were turning against him. I actually wonder, reading those words, if somebody wasn’t off to the side with a gun pointed at his head, for this is a far cry from his words of a week ago when he said he would never concede and urged his terrorist supporters to ‘go to war’ for him.

If I had to guess, I would guess that through some other venue, perhaps one of his children’s social media accounts, he is talking out of the other side of his mouth, encouraging another terrorist riot similar to last Wednesday’s next week.

Congratulations, Donnie …

Ol’ Trumpie always declares he is first, best, and any other superlative he can think of, like covfefe. Well, he’s got his wish … he is the FIRST president in the history of the United States to be impeached twice! Way to go, Donnie … we knew you could do it!

Two worthwhile reads …

Two of my blogging buddies, Jeff over at On the Fence Voters, and Keith at Musings of an Old Fart, published excellent posts last night. I wanted to re-blog them both, but had already started this post and … well, there are only so many hours in a day and only so much energy to expend, so instead I am including a link to both here and I really hope you will check them out … you won’t be sorry!

If You Still Think The Election Was Rigged by Keith Wilson

The Big Lie(s) by Jeff Marzick

Last but not least, Don Lemon hits the nail on the head with this one …

Good People Doing Good Things — Humanity

Posted on January 13, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Good people doing good things, Social commentary

Last week, I took a hiatus from my usual Wednesday ‘good people’ posts, but I’m back this week with an all-new batch of really good people doing more than their share to make life a little better for someone.

The doctor’s Christmas gift …

I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Omar T. Atiq. Originally from Pakistan, after completing his fellowship at New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Atiq accepted a job offer in Arkansas.

In 1991, Dr. Atiq founded the Arkansas Cancer Clinic in the community of Pine Bluff to make comprehensive cancer care available for the economically disadvantaged. Prior to its opening, Pine Bluff cancer patients traveled at least 50 miles for treatment. Dr. Atiq is clear that his patients’ needs were always his top concern—not their ability to pay.

“One principle I have always followed is, I am here to see patients. For somebody to trust their lives in my hands is the highest privilege and honor I can get. We never refused any patient for any reason.”

Earlier this year, Dr. Atiq and his wife were preparing to close the clinic, as he transitions to his new role as full-time professor of Head and Neck Surgery at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. They were closely reviewing the clinic’s financial state, and what they found was astounding … some of the patients had bills in the tens of thousands, and were making monthly payments of only $5 or $10. He realized that many of the folks he’d treated didn’t have the means to pay—especially with so much added financial hardship brought on by the coronavirus pandemic

“They wanted to pay but they couldn’t.”

The total owed to Dr. Atiq by his patients was more than $650,000, and he and his wife decided to forgive his patients’ debts in time for the Christmas Holiday. Each of his patients who owed him money received this card …

“We are blessed that we didn’t need the money, so we decided to just cancel and forgo the debt—and we did.”

Dr. Atiq is, in my book, a very good people!

Anonymous Santa

The year 2020 will live forever in the history books, due to the pandemic that has killed nearly two million people around the world, and thus far has seen over 92 million cases. Needless to say, the pandemic has caused financial hardship for many in every nation on the planet. In the city of Edmonton, Canada, people woke on Christmas morning to a nice surprise …

A Santa who chooses to remain nameless left envelopes containing an inspirational rhyme along with $250 gift-cards on approximately 400 doorsteps, for a total of $100,000! I do hope this Santa doesn’t have his heart set on a Poet Laureate award, however!

The only clue to the selfless Santa’s identity was an email address at the bottom of the notes. CBC News did reach out, but the cagey old elf preferred not reveal his or her identity. The anonymous do-gooder did, however, email the network to share his/her reason for the generous act:

“I decided to do it because I know that lots of people have had a really tough year and I had the means to help out. I hope the gifts gave people a sense that the world is good and there is a brighter future not far ahead.”

One good deed leads to another

Evelyn Topper and her granddaughter, Mikayla Gounard, had been to a local coffee shop in their hometown of San Rafael, California, and it wasn’t until they returned to Evelyn’s house that she realized she no longer had her wallet. Needless to say, with credit cards and medical cards in the wallet, Ms. Topper was upset! But …

The next day, a homeless man named Sean Curry phoned Evelyn and told her that he had found her wallet in a dumpster behind the coffee shop. He made arrangements to bring her wallet to her, and Evelyn thanked him profusely. Sean, however, didn’t think it was a big deal, saying he did it because he “has a heart”, and because “that’s the way I was brought up”.

Now, Evelyn’s granddaughter Mikayla had a birthday coming up, and she had planned a “socially distanced drive-by party”, whatever the heck that is! She had asked invitees to donate to a charity in her name, rather than bring presents, though she had not yet decided on which charity.

On the day of her party, the newly-minted 12-year-old placed a photo of Curry and a collection basket next to balloons and party favors on an outdoor table in her driveway. By the end of her “Happy Birthday!” processional, she’d raised several hundred dollars. The next day, Mikayla and her mom met Mr. Curry and gave him the money, explaining what Mikayla had done. This was the result …

Says Mikayla …

“I think it’s really important that people who think that because you got pushed down you can never get back up again.”

An exec with a big heart

Ramu Dosapati lives in the Hyderabad region of India where in 2020, hardships brought on by heavy flooding and compounded by the added limitations of the pandemic lockdown left many migrant workers stranded without means of support. Now, Mr. Dosapati is a corporate Human Resources executive, but that doesn’t stop him from doing what he can to to ensure the area’s struggling workers won’t go without food and other essential items.

Mr. Dosapati has spent ₹50 lakh of his own funds (close to $61,000) to establish and run a ‘Rice ATM’, doling out rice and other necessities 24 hours a day, seven days a week to those in need.

His first step along the road to altruism began simply enough, but he had no way of knowing then just how far his journey would take him, and the amount of good he would do along the way. Dosapati had gone to the store to pick up the makings for his son’s birthday dinner. While at the shop, he noticed a woman buying an enormous quantity of chicken—close to $2,500 dollars’ worth, in fact. Intrigued, he couldn’t help but ask her purpose in buying so much poultry. As it turned out, the woman, a security guard who works at a camp for migrant workers, was buying it as a special treat for residents there who’d run out of food.

“When I asked her about her salary, she said it was ₹6,000. That made me think that if a lady with ₹6,000 salary can spend ₹2,000 on the needy, why can’t I do the same?”

Dosapati accompanied the security guard to the camp, where he made a list of close to 200 people in need of assistance. He quickly realized, however, the initial investment he’d allotted would only last a few days. Undaunted, Dosapati cashed in his retirement fund, and working with a local merchant, opened the Rice ATM food pantry. But Dospati wasn’t finished.

While he’d been working toward moving his family into a larger home and had already sold a parcel of ancestral land to secure funding, when Dosapati learned yet another new group of workers had arrived seeking aid, with the blessings of his family, he put those dreams on hold.

“That’s when my wife supported me and asked me to go ahead and carry on with the initiative.”

Since the Rice ATM launched last April, word of Dosapati’s generosity has made the rounds. With support from a number of outside sources now pouring in, the man who has truly put the “human” in human resources says he hopes to keep resources flowing for those in need for a long time to come.

Well, there you have it folks … lots of good people, young and old, from all walks of life, doing their bit for humanity. We can all do just a bit to help someone else, if we only open our eyes and our hearts.

Jolly Monday Returns!!!

Posted on January 11, 2021 by jilldennison under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays

Well my friends, once again it’s {drumroll} Monday! Yes, the weekend has gone … but there’s some good news … only 5 more days ‘til the next one! Hey! Who threw the tomato??? Our apologies for skipping Jolly Monday last week, but we’re back this week with some stories, toons and a critter video that we hope will help you start the week with a smile! So, grab a snack and a nice warm drink, and let’s see what we can find.

Yummy or Yucky?

McDonald’s is selling a sandwich made of Spam topped with crushed Oreo cookies Monday in China in an attention-grabbing move that has raised eyebrows.

Global brands from restaurants to automakers sometimes roll out offbeat products to appeal to Chinese tastes in the populous and intensely competitive market.

This is undoubtedly one of them.

“I thought it was delicious,” said a comment signed Feifei Mao Enthusiast on the Sina Weibo microblog service. “Is that because I love McDonald’s too deeply? Or is something wrong with my taste?”

The sandwich is made of two slices of Spam, a product of Hormel Foods LLC, and Mondelez International’s Oreo cookies, topped with mayonnaise.

McDonald’s Corp. said the sandwich was part of a series of “members only” promotions to be released on Mondays in China.

“There is no need to release unnecessary products,” said a comment left on the company’s microblog account. It received more than 2,000 “likes.”

McDonald’s said it planned to sell no more than 400,000 of the “Lunchmeat Burgers.” It wasn’t clear how many have been sold or how many people who flooded social media with scathing comments had eaten one.

“When you hate someone but have to invite him to dinner, you can ask him to eat McDonald’s Oreo lunchmeat burger,” said a separate comment on Sina Weibo.

A century old tradition …

The headline caught my eye … “Celebrate 100 Years of Sawing People in Half!” Um … okay. Turns out that one hundred years ago next weekend, an English magician called Percy Thomas Tibbles literally and laboriously sawed through a sealed wooden box that contained a woman.

It was a sensation and has since become one of the best known magic tricks, performed with all manner of tools and varying degrees of blood – always involving someone cut in half and nearly always with them miraculously put back together.

I’m happy to say that I never saw this trick performed. Heck, as a child I was freaked when my uncle, an amateur magician, pulled a coin out of my ear! But, I gather this is a very popular ‘trick’. According to The Guardian …

On Sunday 17 January, the Magic Circle will mark the centenary of sawing someone in half, an illusion as iconic, its president Noel Britten said, as pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

It has a “rich and fascinating” history, Britten said, although the reasons for its almost instant popularity in 1921 may not be the noblest. Suffrage was the hot topic of its day so was it “for every person who thought it was great that women were getting the vote there were other people who thought it great that a woman was being put in a box and sawn in half?”

The US magician David Copperfield will show viewers round his magic museum in Las Vegas and talk about his interpretation, using a huge “death saw” which cut through him after he failed to escape the table.

The evening will also see Debbie McGee, the partner of the late Paul Daniels on stage and in life, recounting her experiences of being regularly dismembered. “Debbie has been sliced, diced, cremated, crushed, divided and decapitated more than most so has a great story to tell,” said Britten.

Details of how to watch the Facebook streamed event will be on the Magic Circle Unlocked Facebook page.

Personally, I’ll pass … I’m just really not a fan of blood ‘n guts!

And after that, I think we need some ‘toons, don’t you?

And we can’t end Jolly Monday without a cute animal video …

Well, folks, let’s hope for a calmer week this week than last, shall we? Remember to share those beautiful smiles … we all need them right now! We hope you have a good week … keep safe and warm! Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa, Jolly and Joyful!

Snarky Snippets Is Baaaaaaack …

Posted on January 10, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I tried to do something humorous for this morning’s post, for my last several posts have been either rants or introspective critiques and I thought it was time to ‘lighten up’. However, try as I might, it just didn’t work. But I had no trouble whatsoever finding my inner snarky self … that is, apparently, the real me!

Censure???

The late Senator John McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, has been ‘censured’ by the Maricopa County (Arizona) Republican Committee. Why? Because of her support for “leftist causes” like gay marriage, larger government and “others that run counter to Republican values.” And also because she “failed” to support conservative candidates and has “supported globalist policies and candidates,” including Democrats such as President-elect Joe Biden.

Incredible, is it not? I wasn’t quite sure what, in a case like this where the person being ‘censured’ holds no political office, what it even means to be censured. Turns out, it means pretty much nothing. According to Wikipedia …

“Censure is a formal, and public, group condemnation of an individual, often a group member, whose actions run counter to the group’s acceptable standards for individual behavior. … Like a reprimand, a censure does not remove a member from their office so they retain their title, stature, and power to vote.”

In response to the censure, Ms. McCain said on Twitter “I am a proud lifelong Republican and will continue to support candidates who put country over party and stand for the rule of law.” Like her husband, Ms. McCain is a person of character … much more so than the buffoons who decided to censure her. This is yet another example of the bigotry that has become the foundation of the Republican Party in the 21^st century.

‘Patriot’???

More times than I can count in the past few days, I have heard the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol on Wednesday referred to as “patriots”. Hearing this is like hearing fingernails running across a chalkboard … it sets my teeth on edge.

NOBODY who harms others and attempts to undermine or overthrow their own government can possibly be called a patriot. Period. A patriot is somebody who cares enough about their country to defend it against enemies, not someone who blatantly attempts to destroy their country from within!

John McCain was a patriot, President Barack Obama is a patriot, Senator Bobby Kennedy was a patriot, as were Martin Luther King and the late Representative John Lewis. These thugs …

… are not patriots, they are homegrown, domestic terrorists. They are racists and homophobes. They are fools, idiots and buffoons. They are ignorant rednecks … but they are the furthest thing from a ‘patriot’.

Rather than defend their country, what they did, and what they are still planning to do, is to take away the will of the majority of people in this nation and impose their own brand of anarchy based on bigotry, based on racism and hatred. No, folks, these are insurgents, they are domestic terrorists, every bit as dangerous as members of al Qaeda, and even less intelligent. Do not make them heroes … call them what they are … the enemies of the United States.

Idiocy has a price …

In January 2019, Senator Josh Hawley, then 39 years old, took his seat in Congress for the first time as the Senator from Missouri. It was likely the first and last time. Hawley wanted to be the maverick, the one who gave voice to Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was somehow ‘stolen’ from him, was ‘rigged’, and so Hawley made great show of announcing that he would object to the electoral votes last Wednesday when Congress met to formally certify the electoral votes that declared Joe Biden the next president of the United States.

Yep, ol’ Josh was pretty proud of his sycophancy, pleased to be standing up for the voice of the electoral loser, thought he might even overturn the voice of the people. And when terrorists gathered outside the Capitol building on Wednesday morning, Josh wasn’t concerned, in fact he waved and smiled, even gave them what I’ve come to think of as the Trumpian equivalent of the Nazi salute …

And then the shit hit the fan. Those terrorists Josh thought he was bonding with stormed the Capitol building, disrupted the proceedings, caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, and left 5 people dead. And Hawley became an overnight pariah. Former Republican Senator John Danforth, Hawley’s political mentor and a fellow Yale Law School graduate, stated that supporting Hawley in his Senate bid and his prior state attorney general role was the “worst mistake I ever made in my life”.

David Humphreys, who with his mother and sister donated more than $6 million to Hawley’s campaigns, called for Hawley to be censured, having “revealed himself as a political opportunist willing to subvert the Constitution and the ideals of the nation he swore to uphold.” Hawley has since faced bipartisan calls for his resignation, to which he has responded that he “will never apologize”. But in all likelihood, his political career is as dead as the fish we had for dinner last night.

Apparently ol’ Josh had written a book … “The Tyranny of Big Tech” … that was scheduled to be published in June by Simon & Schuster. That has since been canceled, according to Simon & Schuster …

“We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: At the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat.”

Fortunately for him, Hawley’s net worth is estimated at $1.1 million, so he won’t have to worry about finding a job as a dishwasher or truck driver anytime soon.

Snarky Snippets With A Twist

Posted on January 6, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary

There is much I could find to write a scathing rant about today, but there is also some good news, so I thought just for once I’d try to focus on that. Don’t expect this to become the new norm, though!

Score one for justice!

On March 16, 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Garland is politically moderate, and Obama’s hope was that he would not be found offensive to either side, particularly Republicans in the Senate led by Mitch McConnell. His hopes were to be dashed, for McConnell was determined that President Obama would not be allowed to fill that seat. Period.

Republicans themselves had spent years suggesting Garland as an acceptable Democratic choice for the Court, and it is said that Mitch McConnell and Merrick Garland were friends. However, McConnell and other Senate Republicans refused to even so much as hold a hearing or vote on the nomination, claiming that with only eight months until the presidential election, the seat should remain open for the incoming president to fill. Some even said that if Hillary Clinton were elected, the seat should remain open for four years … or forever!

It had nothing whatsoever to do with Merrick Garland’s qualifications, and everything to do with partisanship. The Senate Republicans wanted only an ultra-conservative to fill that seat, not a liberal or even a moderate. Why? Their goal was to gain a conservative majority in the Court that would be willing to overturn two previous Supreme Court decisions if the opportunity arose: Roe v Wade, and Obergefell v Hodges.

Well, today it is Merrick Garland who will have the last laugh, for President-elect Joe Biden, who will take the Oath of Office in just two weeks from today, has announced his intention to nominate Merrick Garland as United States Attorney General! From what little I know of Garland, I think he will be a fine Attorney General, and I’m admittedly not above being thrilled to know that Mitch McConnell and his uber-conservative cronies must be pulling their hair out … or will be once today’s circus in Congress has finished.

Score two for justice!

And in other positive news, the Georgia runoff elections for Georgia’s two seats in the U.S. Senate was yesterday. While the count is only about 98% complete as of this writing, Raphael Warnock, the democratic candidate, has been declared the winner over Kelly Loeffler, although by a narrow margin of 1.2%.

The other race, being even closer, has not yet been called as of this writing, but Democrat Jon Ossoff is leading over David Perdue by about .4%, or 17,567 votes. I fail to understand how so many people in Georgia could vote for Loeffler and Perdue, both of whom have allegations of insider trading and other criminal conduct in their past. However, a narrow win is better than no win. For the sake of my own health, I have stayed largely off of Twitter today, so haven’t seen any of Trump’s tweets, but I’m sure he is crying “Foul” as loudly and ignorantly as usual. However, his voice is becoming less and less relevant, even to many Republicans.

Tidbits

Rumour had it that Trump was planning to head for his golf course in Scotland on the 19^th, the day before Joe Biden will be sworn in as President of the United States. However, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says that Trump will not be allowed into Scotland, for the country is in strict lockdown and nobody is allowed to enter, including Trump! Guess he’ll just have to settle for Mar-a-Lago for a while.

We all need a chuckle today. You’ll love this parody of Trump’s felonious phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger last Saturday, put to the Stevie Wonder song, I Just Called to Say I Love You …

The Week’s Best Cartoons: Hello 2021!

Posted on January 3, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Holidays, Political commentary, Re-blogs

I find myself unable to write a post this afternoon. The nightmares that have plagued both my sleep and waking hours have left me in a dark mood, down a rabbit hole, and anything I would write today would not be worth reading. So, I turn instead to that lady who, every week, scours the political cartoons to pick the best for our viewing pleasure, TokyoSand! Thanks once again, TS, for this terrific selection!

Just like we were, editorial cartoonists were pretty focused on saying goodbye to 2020 and welcoming 2021. Here are my favorite cartoons from this past week.

See All The ‘Toons!

Snarky Snippets For A Dreary Grey Day

Posted on January 2, 2021 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary

Okay, folks, the holidays are over and I for one am more than ready to return to my normal routine. Let’s get the tree down, pack those decorations away, finish all those leftovers, and get back to whatever passes for ‘normal’ in your household! My psyche doesn’t handle disruptions well at all.

Sorry, Louie, but the answer is ‘NO’

I told you earlier this week about a lawsuit filed by the ignoble representative from Texas, Louie Gohmert and others, that sought to attempt to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the election. The suit was a bad joke, for there were no grounds whatsoever for it, and most every political analyst and constitutional law expert said it was doomed to fail.

Well, fail it did. Yesterday, Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas ruled that Gohmert and other republican lawmakers lacked the proper standing to sue Mr. Pence in the matter. The real kicker in this ruling, though, is the fact that Judge Kernodle was appointed by Trump himself! And, to heap insult onto injury in the eyes of Trump, the Department of Justice, representing Pence, had asked the Judge to reject the lawsuit. I hear that Trump is not a happy camper about these latest developments, and Gohmert claims he intends to appeal, but with only five days before Congress meets to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win, I doubt there is time, nor is there willingness on the part of any judges to open themselves to what would follow if Pence were forced to take away the people’s will.

Score one for justice.

They never give up, do they?

This just in, as I was writing the above snippet – several republican senators, led by Ted Cruz of Texas, have signed a statement saying that they will refuse to certify the electoral votes for Joe Biden unless a ten-day audit is performed.

More grandstanding, and a move that is destined to fail, for frankly the votes of these idiots are not requisite for a majority vote to certify the results of the Electoral College. The democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate, a number of republicans have already acknowledged Joe Biden’s win and will not align themselves with these spoiled brats. The ones who have signed the statement are:

Ted Cruz – Texas
Ron Johnson – Wisconsin
James Lankford – Oklahoma
Steve Daines – Montana
John Kennedy – Louisiana
Marsha Blackburn – Tennessee
Mike Braun – Indiana
Cynthia Lummis – Wyoming (senator-elect)
Roger Marshall – Kansas (senator-elect)
Bill Hagerty – Tennessee (senator-elect)
Tommy Tuberville – Alabama (senator-elect)

And, of course, good ol’ Josh Hawley from Missouri said last week that he intends to contest the results. These people make me literally sick. They are elected to do what is in the best interest of the people of this country, not to kiss the ass of the idiot-child trying to hold on to the Oval Office by lying, cheating, and bullying. They are perfectly willing to say to us … “you do not matter, your vote does not matter, we don’t feel one whit of responsibility to you”, for that is exactly what they are telling us!

Their efforts will fail, on Wednesday, January 6^th, Joe Biden’s electoral win will be certified and two weeks later, on January 20^th, Joe Biden will be inaugurated the 46^th President of the United States. However, what they ARE doing is demoralizing us, keeping our angst stirred, and slapping us repeatedly in the face. They are putting their own desires and fortunes ahead of ours, and THAT is simply wrong! I hope the people of those states begin demanding that they be held accountable, either through impeachment or other means.

He’s stabbing his own in the back

As you all know, the Georgia runoff races for the U.S. Senate are in just three days. Polling is erratic, but one thing is for certain, that both races are looking to be remarkably close. So, what does Trump do to help his side? He basically tells republican voters not to bother, that the elections are “illegal and invalid”. This is one time that I’m applauding his false claims, for if he convinces republicans to stay home on Tuesday, so much the better for the nation.

In addition, he has been verbally attacking Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both republicans, for the past month over their honesty in certifying the election in Georgia. He claims they owe it to him to overturn the voice of the people, but both Kemp and Raffensperger remember that their loyalty is to the people of Georgia, not a two-bit madman who is attempting to hijack the election.

Last month, Trump attended a rally in Georgia (did he do any real work in 2020?) where he proceeded to spend most of his time lamenting his own situation, making his tiresome false claims about voter fraud, and yadda yadda yadda. He did Loeffler and Perdue, the two republican candidates, no favours then, and he is doing them none now. He’s scheduled to attend another rally on Monday, the day before the elections, where he is likely to further hurt their cause. I suppose we ought to thank him for the help he is giving the two democrats, Warnock and Ossoff!

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Category Archives: Bits ‘n Pieces