Ireland

Observations after a trip there: The Irish natives are generally quite wry, informed, religious, practical, polite, loquacious, superstitious, attentive, perspicacious, political and lithe.

Fractured Definition

Genome — a General Electric laboratory inAlaska studying DNA

Quid Pro Quo

Joe and Hunter Biden

               Vice President Joe Biden              President Donald Trump

Quid    Not withhold $1B Ukraine aid     Not delay $400M Ukraine aid

Type                   Explicit                                        Alleged Implicit

Evidence          Video tape                                 Phone call transcript

Quo    Fire prosecutor investigating        Investigate Biden’s previous
          Burisma corruption and then   threat and circumstances around
           appointing Hunter Biden as a    Burisma’s adding Hunter Biden
           Director at $50K per month     (with no experience) to its Board                 

Headlines

Judge blocks Trump’s plan to fast-track deportations

Xi’s historic power grab has cost China a great deal of stability

New blood tests detect 20 types of cancer ...

George Soros emerges as major founder of ‘Global Climate Strike’

Boris Johnson referred to police about talks with U.S. businesswoman

White House severely restricted access to Trump’s calls with Putin and Saudis

MORE LEAKS: Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned about Moscow interference in U.S. elections ...

Brooks: Transcript ‘pretty close’ to an explicit quid pro quo

Trump signs stopgap spending bill to avoid a shutdown

Trump’s envoy to Ukraine resigns amid impeachment inquiry

Hillary gearing up for late-stage do over ... Still time?

Elizabeth Warren financially benefited from private prisons

Fractured Definition

Diphthong — a very skimpy bathing suit worn for a very short swim.

(I may have used this one before ... but it is an opportunity for yet another pretty picture.)

Headlines

House Intel to work through recess on impeachment inquiry

White House deliberates block on all US investment in China

McConnell: If House acts, Senate must have trial ...

Senate ‘assault weapons’ has ban outlaws 205 guns

Audio of private meeting shows oil industry ripping into Trump administration

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Attorney General William Barr has ‘gone rogue’

13 House Dems don’t support [impeachment]!

John Kasich on Trump-Ukraine call: ‘Nobody talking about this’ in Ohio

Cuomo clarifies he supports impeachment inquiry after blaming ‘leftists’

Bitcoin nosedives 22% this week to lowest level since June

Epstein butler dishes on Paris pad guests including Bill Gates, Steve Bannon

Dam breaking? MSNBC says ‘Biden got a nice little deal for his boy’

Fairy Trees

A fairy house in Ireland

In Ireland most believe in fairies and fairy trees and build fairy houses to keep them happy. The stories abound how those who pooh pooh such things often end badly. My wife and I even saw recently in Ireland a multi-million re-route of a highway to keep from destroying a fairy tree ... see: Irish Times Article.

Our granddaughters believe in fairies ... and we believe in our granddaughters.

Fractured Definition

Uppity — the top elevator button at a fancy elite hotel

Powerline Pic

Greta

Where’s Charlie?

Headlines

‘Ice in his veins’: McConnell steers GOP through Trump Ukraine crisis

Wall Street Democrats warn the party: We’ll sit out, or back Trump, if you nominate Elizabeth Warren

(Whistleblower on Trump] Lays out other documents and witnesses ...

Democrats wrote to Ukraine in May asking to investigate Trump

Majority of House supports impeachment inquiry

New Beijing airport takes China one step closer to becoming the world’s largest aviation market

Rove: Pelosi’s circular firing squad ...

Olympics delays new transgender rules after scientists disagree

Democrats vow trade deal talks will continue despite impeachment push

China’s economic growth may be looking at another rough quarter

Local govts spend millions on migrants dumped by Border Patrol ...

Kevin McCarthy on impeachment: Left has ‘officially lost their minds,’

Selective Breeding

Even after a thousand years of selective breeding, if you start with a dog, you’ll not end with a cat.

Impeachment

The Orange Man and America’s Mayor —A Liberal Media View of Things

“It’s Rudy Barr the door!” — Anon.

If the Democrats want all the dirty laundry of 2009 to 20017 to be aired in public, then I suggest that they impeach President Trump and then face in the Senate the cross examination of just about every slimy dirtball operative in the Obama administration ... including, hopefully, B.O. himself. I find it hard to believe that they would allow this airing to occur ... so, I figure that they will do their best to sully Trump in the House with oodles of Schiff-Nadler innuendo ... but never quite get around to voting out the actual indictment ... delaying things so long that the 2020 election would  be adversely affected against the GOP.

I’ve got to believe that the Trump team will try to push things along as best and as fast as they can. If the Dems seem to be slow-walking things ... you’ll know that I’m correct.

In any case, things should get teal bloody .... and the media will be coining money ... one reason they are whipping up a frenzy.

Afterthought: The outcome of Trump’s impeachment cannot be good for two reasons:

1) He loses, which means that many if not all of his agenda items will be scuttled by he Libs and the Clinton crime family will be back in operation

2) He wins, which would mean that his power would be greatly increased. This might be bad if Trump believes that this is a clear mandate ... and it brings out his more autocratic tendencies.

Headlines

Trump pressed Ukraine president to work with Barr for dirt on Biden

Wall Street believes Trump is safe but impeachment inquiry could hinder trade deals

Israel president gives Netanyahu to form gov’t ...

Trump taunts impeachment Democrats. ‘Caught then by surprise’ with transcript release

White House preparing to release whistle blower complaint to Congress

Postal compromise close as US pushes for global postal reform that could impact Amazon, FedEx, UPS

Rasmussen: President approval 51% ...

Hillary Clinton: President Trump has ‘betrayed our country’

U.S., Japan reach a limited deal on agriculture, digital trade

New home sales see unexpected surge, but analyst says ‘entry level’ price is now much higher

Drone killing microwave depleted by Air Force ...

Senate staffer indicates gun control dead amid impeachment focus

Ice Age

Source: daily timewaster blog

Get your fur coats people ... it looks like we may be in for some pretty cool times ... and I don’t mean “hip.” And for you climate zealots whose time horizon is measured in the next weather forecast, it might be good to step back and take a longer view of things ... you too, Greta Thunberg?

Too Much Wealth?

Capitalism works! It works so well that socialism and communism can suck off some of the wealth it creates and it still survives. Where capitalism is left relatively unencumbered, as in the United States and parts of the British Commonwealth, it creates wealth, enormous wealth. For instance here are some of the successes of this economic system:

- A Beverly Hills mountain-top estate is valued at a cool $1 billion

- A deVinci painting recently sold in New York for $453 million (in this case the buyer rumored to be a Saudi prince)

- During the holidays due to large influx of mega-yachts, some are parked at St. Barths as far as a mile out to sea

- Bill and Melinda Gates donated §4.78 billion to charity last year but still were 12th overall in wealth. Jeff Bezos gave away $2 billion, yet was still was the wealthiest man in the world (before his divorce settlement.) Last year Warren Buffet donated $3.6 billion to the Gates Foundation.

- In the 25 years since China adopted capitalism (albeit state-controlled), it has gone from a third-world economy to the number two wealthiest nation.

But, for whatever reason, when wealth bubbles occur, there always seems to be a way to bleed off the excess:

- The Pharaohs built the great pyramids and the Sphinx

-The Catholic Church built the great cathedrals of Europe

- The Chinese Song Dynasty built the Great Wall ... and modern China builds million-person “ghost” cities

- The US multi-billionaires hold gigantic conferences on global warming

Actually the negative interests rates in Europe and Japan nay well be another symptom of too much money sloshing around. In Germany, you can loan the government one million Euros and, in ten years, it will give you back 5 thousand Euros less. Some deal! Perhaps, just perhaps those Democrat candidates advocating a wealth tax are responding to this notion of too much wealth. We’ll see.

Fractured Definition

Bushwhacked — Saddam Hussein’s ultimate fate.

Headlines

‘Seismic change’: Democrat holdouts rush toward impeachment

There’s a theory that retiring boomers cashing out will cause a ‘dark period’ for the stock market

Biden calls for Trump impeachment ...

Elizabeth Warren surges in Democrat primary

Boris Johnson says he will not quit if parliament suspension ruled illegal

‘Billionaires should not exist’: Sanders tries to outdo Warren with tougher wealth tax

Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross falls asleep during Trump’s UN speech

Romney says Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Biden troubling

Trump claims Nobel Peace Prize is rigged against him

Most of the ultra-wealthy see a recession next year and are hunkering down

British Supreme  Court rules Boris Johnson’s Parliament suspension illegal

Consumer confidence fell by more than expected in September

Children Crusades

About nine hundred years ago the elders of Europe sent twenty thousand or so of their children off on a silly, futile and fatal crusade to save Jerusalem from the infidels. This week hundreds of thousands of parents around the world encouraged their equally naive children to rail against that daemon, global warming ... caused by carbon dioxide ... otherwise essential to all life. History surely has a way of repeating its more bazaar moments.

China Juggernaught

Here are four charts that clearly depict why China has been and is an economic juggernaught ... the first chart in particular. It’s animated and deserves multiple playings. See: CNBC Article

Headlines

Bad blood: Rand Paul moves to block a Liz Cheney Senate run

Trump heads to UN with a list of deals he’s yet to close

Iran preps war ...

Pope Francis: Money is the Devil’s doing

Trump wants ‘diplomatic solution’ with Iran, Pompeo says

Democrat Adam Schiff says Trump’s Ukraine call could justify impeachment

Trade regulators approve APPLE trade exemptions ...

Hollywood joins climate strike: Kids will lead us

Iran wants West to leave Persian Gulf

Suspected drone activity diverts flights coming into Dubai, airport authorities

EU’s Juncker convinced Brexit will happen ...

Iran’s General Salami boasts ‘hidden’ military powers

Belligerent Dogma

Or dogmatic belligerence. 

OK, Pilgrims ... which national organization is more dogmatic and belligerent? The National Rifle Association or Planned Parenthood? Which one has more blood on its hands? Which holds the moral high-ground? Which one would you donate to? Which one takes your tax dollars?

Fractured Definition

Irony — why the USA does not import any more Chinese steel.

Headlines

Andrew Yang stands by comedian after SNL firing for racist jokes

Iran’s warning to Saudi Arabia about all-out war is ‘ridiculous,’ Saudi’s Al-Jubeir says

Trump pressed Ukraine to investigate Biden’s son ... Campaign rocked

Nolte: Climate ‘experts’ are 0-41 with their Doomsday predictions

Facebook announces tens of thousands of app suspensions

Pentagon will deploy US forces to Middle East after Saudi Arabia oil facilities attack

Social Security drawn outside USA jumps 40% ...

Kahn’s London: Virtue-signaling ‘car-free day’ to disrupt city

Advocacy group slams Ben Carson over reported slur of trans people

Zukerberg’s visit to DC tells lawmakers Facebook is finally taking then seriously

Judge: President must tape  testimony for trial over 2015 protest at Trump Tower ...

Tear gas, mass arrests as cops crack down on anti-Macron protests

Headlines

Trump announces ‘highest sanctions ever’ targeting Iran’s central bank

Thousand more workers furloughed with more coming as GM, suppliers idle plants in UAW strike

Number of unaccompanied alien children entering USA highest in history ...

Blue state blues: Democrats back policy that led to Parkland shooting

Trump trolls de Blasio after mayor’s withdrawal from presidential race

Trump administration faces long odds in fight with California over auto emissions waiver

NY Fed to pump $75 billion into markets daily through Oct, 10 ...

‘Largest polar expedition in history’ to probe Arctic climate

USMCA frustrations grow among House Democrats excluded from Trump talks

Trump says he doesn’t need a trade deal with China before the 2020 elections

Netanyahu clings to power as coalition talks loom ...

Warren hires Planned Parenthood leader to head campaign in Florida

Hydrocarbon Irony

I am surprised that so few people have pointed out the irony contained in Elon Musk’s SpaceX company sending one of his electric Tesla cars into orbit around the moon. Has anyone stopped to consider that the hydrocarbons burned to accomplish this piece of self-promotion was likely equivalent to those saved by thousands of his electric cars scooting about here in Earth? What about all the global warming that possibly resulted from this enormous amount of CO2 so produced? As a matter of fact, when is Musk’s SpaceX going to develop an all-electric rocket-ship so that we (and he?) can colonize Mars?

Fat chance!

Fractured Definition

Mahogany — what a mother pig says to her shoat when asked which wallow to play in.

Powerline Pic

Reference: Elaine on Seinfeld

Headlines

‘Of course I did’ Giuliani acknowledges asking Ukraine to investigate Biden

Light shows and live bands: China wants to boost its nightlife to spur its evonomy

More Fed pumping in cash crunch ...

Pentagon: Border wall going up about one mile per day

France’s Macron risks big trouble with ‘Big Bang’ reform

Warren presidency frightens investors at conference: ‘She’s not my candidate of choice’

Warren rising ... Her nomination to lose?

Tulsi Gabbard fundraiser off ‘Saudi Arabia’s bitch’ remark

Buttigieg rips Warren over ‘evasive’ answers on health reform

Facebook’s Zuckerberg met with President Trump at the White House

Trudeau leaves open possibility of more blackface photos ... Canada horrified ...

Hispanic groups side with Trump on immigration: ‘I believe n the wall’

Quotable Quote

The world has never had so much wealth with so little comfort ... so much knowledge with so little understanding. — Anon.

Fractured Definition

Tumult — the new trademark for very strong antacid tablets

Headlines

‘Feel free to leak this’: Inside the Pelosi-Nadler impeachment schism

Fed loses control of its own interest rate on day of big decision — ‘This just doesn’t look good’

Netanyahu falls short of a majority ... Cancels trip to UN ...

Study: Rate of U.S. abortions falls to lowest level since 1973

New poll shows Harris’ support has plunged 13 points in Iowa

Gun violence costs the US $229 billion annually, report finds

Health fears prompt Swiss 5G revolt ...

Martin Luther King Iii urges boycott of NFL over Colin Kaepernick

Trump blames ‘Dummy Beto’ for endangering deal on gun reform

Cramer: FedEx holds ‘most dispiriting call about the economy I’ve heard in a very long time’

Gov’t collects almost everything about everyone entering USA ...

Report: House Democrats 43 votes short of impeachment

Evolution

One wonders, among all the animals, whether the impetus for the evolution of the primate hand, instead of being a paw, a claw or a hoof, might have been influenced by onanism?

Headlines

White House intervenes in General Motors strike

Pelosi tells Cramer: Dems are hopeful they’re on ‘path to yes’ on Trump’s North American trade deal

New York Fed steps into market to move interest rates ...

Week two: More empty NFL seats

Cokie Roberts, longtime political journalist, dies at 75

Oil drops 5% on report Saudi oil output to return to normal faster than initially anticipated

USA sues Snowden over new memoir ...

Week two: More empty NFL seats

Pentagon puts breaks on 3 border barrier projects because of cost

Blackstone’s Schwarzman: China’s economic ‘miracle’ came at the expense of US and the West

NYC says 1 million kids can skip school for climate strike!

... U.S. carbon emissions at lowest level since 1992

Social-Justice Warriors

Lots of loud loquacious lecturers ... trumpeting tons of tiny tyrannical thoughts.

Soybeans

If one just reads the headlines, one would think American farmers are on the ropes. However, looking at the above chart (source: CNBC), one can see that things are not quite as bad as supposed. Add to this the fact that Trump has pumped tens of billions of tariff-collected dollars into US agricultural subsidies ... and that China has just agreed to import more US pork and soybeans ... farmers here may be doing a little better than OK ... not what the media are saying.

Lessons: Kind reader, at a moment in time there is only so much food in the world ... and always look behind the headlines ...

Stromboli

Nadler and the rest of the House Democrats after they indulged in a  “impeachment inquiry” (located on Stromboli Island). Is Pelosi playing Pinocchio?

Fractured Definition

Mortgage — a medical instrument that predicts one’s lifespan

Headlines

Trump launches ambitious play to turn New Mexico red

The spike in oil prices will have to get a lot worse before it wrecks the economy

‘Iranian weapons used’ [in Saudi oil attack] ...

Beto O’Rourke confirms, ‘Yes, I want to tear down border walls’

Obama’s team lines up to defend Andrew McCabe in court

2020 Democrats cheer the auto workers strike as they look to top Trump in swing state Michigan

Teachers in Chicago inch closer to possible strike ...

Chicago weekend: 25+ shot, 7+ killed

Judiciary chairman throws cold water on Kavanaugh impeachment

Trump rages after NYT updates story to say alleged Kavanaugh victim ‘does not recall’ incident

RASMUSSEN: Trump approval back at 50% ...

‘Locked and loaded’: Trump tweet threat to Iran

Fractured Definition

Goulash — a single rubber boot worn by a zombie

Iran

America’s biggest mistake in dealing with Iran was not retaliating when it first took over our Tehran embassy back in 1979. This was clearly an act of war ... and we effectively did nothing. It's all been downhill from then ... costing us billions of dollars and thousands of American lives. The Iranian mullahs and Quds Force are guttersnipes and need to be neutered ... with the least damage done to the Iranian people and infrastructure.

That said, the United States needs to respond only to a direct attack by Iran on our people or assets. Getting into a kinetic conflict with Iran over its attacks on Saudi Arabia is Saudi Arabia’s problem and it needs to take care if its own business. And, be not mistaken, Iran is devious and dangerous ... so any retaliation needs to be well thought-through and designed to be proportional.

Obvious Truth

Happiness can exist independent of circumstances. — Anon.

Headlines

Moderate Democrats warn Pelosi of impeachment obsession

Apple is becoming a camera company

Iran says ready for war with USA after attack allegations ...

New old hysteria: NYT tries to destroy Kavanaugh again

Tony Blair: All Brits are sick of Brexit

UAW calls a strike against General Motors for first time since financial crisis

White House expected to reveal gun control legislation this week ...

Mitt Romney says he’s not planning to endorse Trump in 2020

David Cameron: Boris Johnson didn’t believe in Brexit

Kamala Harris and Julian Castro call for impeachment of Brett Kavanaugh

Idle mines portend dark days for US coal ...

New leftist Italian gov’t ‘invites’ migrants in ...

Fractured Definition

Crockery — the increasingly obvious style of much of the New York Times’ reportage

Fractured Definition

Limber — a supple tree pruner

It’s a Terrible Life

Every time a politician lies, a devil gets its horns.

Shorter Days

As the year progresses into fall and winter, I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the lesser amount of our daylight. Whereas a few months ago, daybreak would be before 5 AM, now it is after 6 AM. Why can’t our government and the EPA do something about this? If we can send a man to the moon, we should be able to remedy this simple problem. Can we put a tax on darkness so that there is less of it? Perhaps we can convene a Paris conference to bring all nations together to decide how the United States is going to save our daylight? What does Daddy Barack Obama, Uncle Joe Biden and Auntie Elizabeth have to say about this scourge?

We need to educate our children about the penalties derived from shorter days! Less play time.... more meager crops. We need our kids to march on Washington with their teachers to demand that Trump do something about things. He has promised other stuff, so why is he conspiring to make us have less daylight? Can’t he use some of his billions to make to sun come up and go down when we want it to? Any reasonable cost-benefit analysis would suggest that, if it even sends our nation trillions of dollars further into debt, it would be worth it. It would treat us and the rest of the world to benefits beyond the debt we incurred.

Those opposed to increasing our daylight claim that is is due to the tilt of the Earth causing our seasons. Balderdash! This is all conservative propaganda! 98% of scientists say that, if this were  man-made ... it can be man-corrected. It is well beyond time we need to save all the birds who die flying south in the fall to stay warm. SAVE THE BIRDS!

Are you listening Al Gore? Time to step up again and save personkind!

Fractured Definition

Ozone — the area reserved for the chopped onion on a Big Mac (between the pickle and the lettuce)

Headlines

Trump confirms death of Osama bin Laden’s son

The US-China trade war has set in motion an unstoppable global economic transformation

Saudi shuts down half of its oil production after drone strikes ... Crude to hit $100?

Democrat senators fear Beto torpedoed gun control with confiscation push

Romney says Trump was right not to cut capital gains tax

Elon Musk is not the problem at Tesla — blame the people around him

Tropical storm Humberto lashes Bahamas, seen becoming hurricane ...

DOJ IG Michael Horowitz finishing report on FISA abuse

Yemen drones hit Saudi oil sites, including key checkpoint

Trump says he discussed a mutual defense treaty with Benjamin Netanyahu

Slow growth has not hurt Trump in key Midwest counties

Trump: Illegal immigration costs Americans $300 billion each year

Freedom

Yes, many legal and illegal immigrants come to America for our handouts and for our permissive criminal climate ... and, even though I have at times been a sourpuss, I still want to believe that our primary appeal is ... FREEDOM!

(Maybe we should try to make like-minded Hong Kong our 51st state?)

Hogtied

As long as we are talking about stopping those crazies who are jeopardizing our children’s lives, when are we going to do something about those nutjob officials who hogtie our law enforcers and create sanctuaries for criminals?