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After 37 years, E.T. comes back to visit his friend, Elliott

Somebody deserves an award for this!

Make It Snow So

I CAN FINALLY POST THIS ☃️🌲🌨 pic.twitter.com/J7McvrZXfe

— Markeia McHolidayParty 🌲 (@markeiamccarty) November 29, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving

Homeless People Are Not Bums

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It's been said most of us are one major medical event away from finding ourselves in the same position. Bills that can't be covered. Left go for medical reasons by one's employer very well could leave anyone of us SOL. This administration has a habit of discounting these people characterizing them as uneducated drug addicts. Others as illegal mooches. Still others as unwilling to work. That's simply not the case for most of those as seen in these videos.

Unless it fits their political party's playbook, Washington politicians prefer to ignore this problem. Fortunately there are real people who are trying hard to make a difference. It sure would be nice if a few of these windbags took an actual interest and help fund projects like those that help people get back on their feet

JBJ What A Guy!

With all the negativity in the news it's wonderful to hear about people like Jon & his wife doing great things. Perhaps it's because BAD NEWS screams so loud we are less prone to pay attention to quiet acts of kindness that may be all around us.

If A Cat Sang A Christmas Carol

If a cat sang a Christmas carol ...

We are excited to celebrate the holidays with @TemptationsCats 🐱 pic.twitter.com/7M5VpuREmu

— The Dodo (@dodo) November 22, 2019

Trump's Version Of Draining The Swamp

....and Taylor, dismissing everybody involved from the Obama holdover days trying to undermine Trump, getting rid of those people, dismissing them, this is what it looks like. It was never going to be claen, they were never going to sit by idly and just let Trump do this!” Rush L

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2019

..they were never going to sit by idly and just let Trump do this!”
Nor should "they". Neither Republicans nor Democrats. Trump's version of draining the swamp is to get rid of anyone who knows anything. Then replace them with folks whose only qualifications are to carry out Trump's uninformed decisions without question.

Each of the state department employees mentioned were also carryovers during the Obama's term from previous Republican administrations. Nearly each worked in one capacity or another for around 30 years. Meaning they knew their stuff. Something Donald (with his pigheadedness) has neither the temperament nor intelligence to understand. Even if he could focus long enough to take in an hour long briefing.

He always wants to be the top banana in the room. Deserved or not he feels every second is his turn alone to shine.

Forgetting about everything else I bet if his tax filings were exposed even his most ardent supporters would evaporate. I cannot even imagine what secrets they may hold. What else could explain his panic whenever this comes up. Every candidate that ever ran for president released theirs. Ask yourself why not this one?

First Day Of Impeachment Pubic Hearings

Here it is the nutshell. I'm really impressed with the competency and experience of both witnesses Taylor and Kent. On a side note Kent served under four Republican Presidents and two Democrats. Generally speaking Republican members seemed more focused on Hunter Biden then the issue at hand.

Since I don't have a life at this point I've been watching this for five and one half hours. These hearings will probably go on for weeks in the House. Similarly in the Senate. All of this could be greatly expedited if Trump himself would show up before the committee. I bet this whole thing could be resolved in less then a couple of hours. Now there would be some MUST SEE TV!!

Sometimes I Want To Kick Myself

A few days ago my overhead LED light fixture above the sink flickered then went out. It came on again for a while then went out permanently a few minutes later. I flipped the switch on the wall back and forth a few times.. nothing. Way I figured it the LED circuit started failing before it gave up the ghost.

So I took the light down. Threw it out and ordered another one. These both cost around fifty bucks each. I was disappointed cause I thought LED's were suppose to last more then two years. Soooo, the new light fixture came. I screwed it in over the sink. Plugged it in and.... nothing. What the hell!

It then dawned on me to try another plug. Damn, damn, damn. There was nothing wrong with the old light. Turns out to be the $10 double switch. It had me fooled because switches usually spark their way out or refuse to work when you turn them on. I don't think I've ever seen one go out this way.

What a freaking Dummkopf
So here I am forty bucks behind. To make matters worse it seems Amazon hooked me $7 for a two day delivery fee. When I ordered it gave me two options. (1) Free delivery with a 30 day free trial for PRIME. No thanks. (2) The other to sign up now. After looking over the screen I clicked on a less conspicuous third option which basically said no thanks to either Which resulted in what should have been FREE (with a $25+ purchase) a seven dollar 2 day delivery fee instead. Something I didn't notice at the time. Tricky aren't they. I never ran across that little scam before so I wasn't prepared for it.

Why oh why didn't I try the old light in a different socket. I'm certain a few years ago (when my mind was sharper) it would have occurred to me.

I often said to myself every time it cost me to do something stupid it is like paying for a bit of education at the school of hard knocks. Problem is I'm now 71 and it still looks like I haven't learned a damn thing!

Let's Talk About Trump's Travels

Trump has got them all beat, ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA as of May 2019 Trump's golf trips cost taxpayers at least $102 million in extra travel and security expenses, trips to Florida having cost $81 million, his trips to New Jersey costing $17 million, his 2018 two days in Scotland costing at least $3 million, and $1 million for a trip to his resort in Los Angeles None of these expenses to taxpayers include trips his kids nor his wife made separately.

To date in 2019 Trump made 106 trips outside of Washington (not including those to Camp David). 18 of these trips were made to hold his rallies for political purposes so far this year.

Trump's cost to taxpayers far exceed the last 3 presidents in his first 2 1/2 years.

Where is all this money coming from within the budget?
Seems to be a secret. I can't find a complete accounting anywhere. As far as I know an audit was never done on how much the executive branch (no matter who's in office) cost us. I think taxpayers deserve to know. Between supplies, events, White House officials, staff maintaining and the renovations at the White House alone would be unsettling.

RU A Waffle House Music Fan?

Waffle House: Jukebox Favorites Vol. 1

Trump Where Things Stand In My World

It doesn't matter what Donald says or does people have made up their minds to dig in. Same goes with this impeachment business. Far as I'm concerned whether it's tomorrow or next year members of the House send impeachment to the Senate we are going to have the same outcome. Dead on arrival. There's not a doubt in my mind. So let's stick a fork in it already. Leave it up to voters next year.

My impression is we have two kinds of people. Those who love Trump's trash talking bulling and those disgusted by it.

Frankly I'm not impressed by any of the Democratic candidates running. Each seem to being trying to outdo the other with their extremist ideas on liberalism. Trump and his supporters on the other hand would gladly walk into the gates of hell doing whatever it takes if it meant the end to Democrats. Ought to be interesting to see, come 2020, what kind of nation we become.

As for me...
I'm hoping, as unlikely as it may be, this nation will come to it's senses. I've said this hundreds of times. I'm not liberal nor conservative. I have my own ideas about how things should be. Neither party seems to fully support my views. Here are a few. Immigration: Allow a generous amount to temporarily work here on jobs Americans don't want. Farms, etc. Reinstitute the 'DACA' program. Allow a great deal more for 'refugee' status. Our main focus should be instantly deport anyone breaking our laws Others who've kept their nose clean receiving less priority. Bring back those families who've been deported because their spouse was killed in action while in the military serving this nation in hopes of earning a green card.

Reinstate our agreements Trump has broken with Iran, trade, aid, etc. To my way of thinking this creates distrust of us.

A president who speaks in support of our intelligence, state department, treasury, government programs and officials instead of casting doubt. A president should be a cheerleader not a critic of his own nation.

The U.N.'s 187 member states just passed, for the 28th year, calling for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Why the hell is Cuba considered an adversary when Trump butters up to the likes of North Korea who poses much greater threat. There are less restrictions on Americans visiting Iran, Libya, Syria, Russia or China. This makes no sense,

Someone who is for MORE regulations. Not less. But the right kind. Not ones making things so complex no one can avoid getting excessive fines. A few examples are regulations which disallow drug companies to endlessly renew patents preventing generic drugs to come to market. Disallow food ingredients till they're deemed safe by a independent test group instead of the company manufacturing them. Dittos with the airline industry and chemical manufacturers. Still other regulations requiring communications companies to end these robo calls. Which they can do if it were not for the profits they realize from them. These to name but a few.

Someone elected who would support placing a dollar limit on all campaigns. It's not as hard as they'd have us to believe. Let's say $50 million on presidential campaigns. Two or three million on congressional candidates. Nobody could exceed those limits equally. I'd even go far as require equal TV & radio airtime. It wouldn't matter if a individual candidate got 10 minutes or 10 hours. But it would require the matching amount of airtime to all those registered who are opposing them. I bet we'd see a hellva lot less of them.

I would support a candidate who favors income equality. I'm not in favor of a minimum wage as these current candidates describe one. Since each area is different I'd prefer a system which reflects the local economy. One which requires employers to pay 80% of the poverty rate in a given area. No way does $15 an hour go far in NYC. On the other hand $15 may negatively impact a businesses somewhere in the middle of nowhere. These are just a very few of the issues I'd rather be talking about rather then Trump getting impeached or not. Assuming we will survive Trump's tenure I highly doubt anyone is going to address the positions I care about. All this extremisms coming from both sides turns me off. More in this upcoming election then some others I'm...

That's where I stand at the moment

What Does A Life Sentence Mean?

Came across this little ditty in the news today. There's a guy serving a life sentence in Iowa. He's arguing for release after this happened.

In 2015 this prisoner fell unconscious in his cell after his heart stopped beating. The prison staff took him to the hospital. Where doctors were able to bring him back to life after getting his heart beating again after the fifth try. He is now claiming he's being held illegally because his "life sentence" should have been up four years ago. So far the court disagrees with him.

The judge reasoned dying doesn't earn someone a get out of jail free card. I agree this makes sense, but what does the law say specifically?

Seems to me the law should define exactly what it considers to be a "life sentence". Oft times a judge will require someone convicted to remain behind bars throughout his or her "natural life". This should be clearly defined. If one or neither is not this case deserves additional consideration

I think law should specify whether prison staff is required or not to revive a prisoner serving life. Whether or not be compelled to take such a person to a hospital if their heart stops beating. In my opinion such absence in law (clearly defining such things) needlessly opens up a state to expensive prolonged litigations.

Little Mermaid LIVE (IMO)

Off and on (between NCIS commercials) I took a peek at ABC's 'Little Mermaid' LIVE. Here's a few observations I made. The runtime for the film itself is 85 minutes. The network scheduled 120 minutes to air it. That leaves 35 minutes for intros, end credits and ads. If they had the usual number they would not have enough time. So the way I figure it they sped it up. Some of the streaming services are already known for doing this. Most never notice. Well I did. The characters were moving faster then in the original film. You can check this out for yourself via a YouTube search for sped up clips. It easy to do without changing the pitch of the voices going up. In fact I have software on this computer that can do this very thing.

Secondly I noticed the whole thing was lip synced by a previously recorded studio soundtrack. Faking audience screaming doesn't excite me either :-(

Being the film was released in1989 (30 years ago) it meant, most of the younger viewers watching never saw it before. This explains how it came in #1 with the highly desired 18-49 year old audience (about 2 million less then NCIS among all age groups). This was a positive for Disney.

For an old codger like myself, I'm not impressed. I like my singers to actually sing live. Speeding up the film and vocals takes away from what the original directors and music arrangers intended. It also makes me nervous with the characters zooming around faster then they should. Too much hype for my tastes.

That said.. I do see it as smart marketing since it captured the ratings. It was a winner for the younger crowd who may otherwise never see it. I suspect with this success Disney may consider dusting off some of the others in their archive. Nothing wrong with that. It just isn't for me.

Thoughts Regarding Allentown Election

After going over THE LEHIGH COUNT ELECTION RESULTS I have a couple of quick thoughts. Especially to those wards in downtown center city Allentown.

Politicians live and breath for vote counts. There's no point in busting their ass for people who won't bother voting. Some accuse city hall not giving a crap about them. Well apparently the feelings are mutual. My God you mean to tell me the people affected the most (in the densest parts of the city) can't be bothered to spend one or two hours of their time every few years to vote?

My district registered almost 4x's as many voters as those in some of center city. I noticed in a number of western parts of Allentown the ratio was even higher. I want to know, what is their excuse for not voting.

Trump’s Faith Adviser

‘To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God.’ — Trump’s faith adviser and ‘Righteous Gemstones’ character come to life Paula White is now an official White House employee pic.twitter.com/N88UjKjGni

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 5, 2019

What Some Companies Are Doing With Their Tax Breaks

NEW YORK POST: Apple pledges $2.5 billion to fight California’s housing shortage-- The move comes after Facebook and Google both committed $1 billion toward California housing initiatives while Microsoft Corp committed $500 million in the Seattle, Washington area.

Our despicable so-called billionaire president, who instead of trying to resolve the situation remarked "Do you see what's happening to her district?" Trump said of Pelosi's home district of San Francisco. "We call it tent city. It's terrible.

Here's why-- San Francisco is the most expensive US city for raising a family; a family of four needs to earn $148,440 a year, 'The San Francisco Chronicle' put this useful information out-- Bay Area homelessness: 89 answers to your questions

Who would ever think the day has come when corporations have more social consciousness then those elected. Yeah I know why Trump is going after Pelosi but does he have to screw thousands hoping they'll become frustrated voting for her? Did the same thing with the late Elijah Cummings district as well in Baltimore and Chicago's two mayors.

A few of the wealthy come to a point where they realize they have more money then they know what to do with. Some then decide to do good before they leave this Earth. Not Donald. He on the other hand measures his greatness in how many adversaries he can crush before his time's up.

Who Made God?

Simple question it is not. Scientist and theologians pretty much agree on this explanation which falls short. They both point out creation was formed containing both time, matter and energy. The problem is we get bogged down with this word existence. Existence is where we live. Existence itself is a product of this intelligent force. Not the other way around. Hence why labeled the creator of all "things".

Imagine if you will someone creates the most intelligent computer in the world. One that never existed before. It then sets out to discover it's creator by whatever limited means were given to it. Would it one day be able to become coequal. Perhaps it's possible over time it might be able to somewhat comprehend it's maker. Even become a close companion, but it's impossible for me to imagine it becoming human. Look, I enjoy the Story of Pinocchio as much as anybody, but really?

I think realistically this is the fix us humans find ourselves in. Just perhaps even the "creator" itself. Could it be possible this creator found itself wondering the very same thing. "Where did I come from"? Since the "eye cannot see itself" just suppose he/she/it set all this in motion hoping we'll come up with an answer. Could this be the motivation behind all of this?

It's been said "God" is complete and has all the answers. Does he/she/it? Hellva assumption from how little we understand. Lonely alone not knowing would be a hellva motivating factor for going to all this fuss. Perhaps we have a lot more in common then anyone's willing to believe. Not just curiosity but possible vulnerability as well in the not knowing.

We can safely assume is there's not a old grey bearded guy sitting on a throne fretting over every little detail of some 7 billion peoples' lives currently living on Earth. The proof lies in the fact millions upon millions have killed each other since leaving the womb... NOTHING. Governments and their leaders find no favor (despite what you heard). Storms, fire, earthquakes meteor impacts... NADA either.

We need to take a logical approach. One which assumes God isn't coming in a flaming chariot with a booming voice. If indeed this intelligence lies beyond "our existence" we need to focus on it's goals. If our purpose is for the creatior to greater understand itself it's seems to me we best align ourselves with that if we wish to remain useful.

If U Enjoy Good Old Fashion Country Music....

Check out COUNTRY ROAD TV on YouTube. Here's their official website: COUNTRY ROAD TV.COM

Here's a few tunes I thought you might enjoy.






With Riders in the Sky and Jimmy Capps

That's some darn fine music, ain't it?

A Plea For Humanity

TED Talks
In this powerful, personal talk, author and academic Juan Enriquez shares stories from inside the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border...



If this doesn't punch you in the gut nothing will.