listener--a neighbor of ours traded in her Prius on a VW electric Golf, and is well pleased with it. It goes farther than rated on a charge--about 170 miles--and the price was quite tolerable; after $12K rebates, it cost $17K. So there's another electric to look at. It charges up quite nicely on a 110V circuit in the garage.
Nothing has yet come out to suggest that Trump himself was involved in any criminal activity. But Mueller has not yet interviewed him. If Trump runs true to form, he's going to say a lot of things that just aren't true. Will he be under oath? I hope.
…Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges…subjects of investigations can easily become indicted targets...
listener—Your idea of an electric pickup puts me in mind of the Cadillac Mirage.[Click] I saw one on the highway once with a set of longhorn horns mounted on the front!
—Alan
On the MAGA front, is everyone ready for the clearance sales on pork chops, steaks and roasts? Maybe it would be worthwhile to rent freezer space-or buy an nice chinese-made freezer? Out here the farmers who have been planting almonds like crazy are starting to sweat the Chinese tariffs; I think a lot of them (I know one) voted for Trump; if so they get no sympathy from me.
Yesterday I headed out toward the rural hospital where I worked for 18 years to take care of paperwork at HR in preparation for picking up some part time per diem work for the next two or three years. I had forgotten how very long the drive is, and how I had struggled to stay alert; by the time I was a quarter of the way there I was beginning to have doubts about whether I should do it, and by the time I was halfway there I decided that I should not--the money be damned. I turned around and came back home. There is no need to tempt fate any further; I remember two retired fellows (younger than I am now) who came back to work there and had accidents that might have been facilitated by their ages--one on a completely familiar road (rolled his car off the road and down a hillside in the foothills), another on the hospital campus (trip and fall at night, flat onto his face). So, retirement is looking less like work. [Tip o' the hat to Susan.]
I'm glad you made that decision, Alan. It may be a little scary at first to be retired (and I think that's more true for men than for women). I have known men who continued to work long past the time when they were fit for it because they truly feared that if they stopped working they'd die.
You also have to remember that in retirement you're not called upon to meet as many expenses. No gas for daily commuting, no dry-cleaning bill for your work wardrobe, no extra exposure to germs in the workplace, being able to eat at home when and what you want to eat. I'm sure you'll discover more perks as you go along, just let yourself settle into it.
The GOP strategist said Trump’s misunderstanding of trade deficits could wreck many state economies that rely on business dealings with Canada.
“You want to talk about crashing the market, abrogate the NAFTA agreement, disrupt the trillion dollars of trade that flows across the border and this is what happens,” Schmidt said. “This is an incompetent president who has no idea what he’s doing, no idea what he’s talking about. The consequences of incompetent actions will be paid for by the American people.”
“We’re starting to see that now, we’re starting to see this with the market reaction,” he added. “We’re starting to see this in the bilateral China relationship, and so there are consequences for this type of action and behavior, and the American people are soon going to start paying the bill for it.”
I love it when Republicans rip Cheetolini because then then can't blame "politics".
(I really copied a giant chunk of this. If you can do it, I suggest reading the rest of it.)
"A leader attracts top talent. Trump repels even rank mediocrity. A leader models the behavior that he or she should want from his or her lieutenants. Trump is “legitimately excellent at cultivating an inner circle unburdened by legal or moral scruples,” writes Jonathan Chait in the latest issue of New York magazine.
The cover imagines the president with a snout instead of a nose. How apt. He presides over an administration of piggies gorging at the federal trough. Michael Flynn’s consulting deals. Tom Price’s private flights. Steve Mnuchin’s romantic eclipse viewing. David Shulkin’s grand European adventure. Ben Carson’s dining set. Scott Pruitt’s bargain condo.
“What’s truly shocking is how much petty graft has sprung up,” Chait notes, but not all of it is petty and none of it is shocking. The tone is set at the top, by a boss who maintains serious conflicts of interest, glories in nepotism and treats the presidency as a gilded marketing opportunity. Trump’s example is a green light for corruption.
A leader knows whose counsel to seek and whose to be wary of. Trump knows only the siren’s song of sycophants saying what he wants to hear. He’s not interested in a diversity of input and information. One obsequious, affirming channel will do.
As the Daily Beast just reported, he has let the Fox Business host Lou Dobbs participate by speakerphone in White House meetings. He golfed with a Fox News host, Sean Hannity, over the weekend. And he raptly follows the Fox News show “Fox & Friends.”
He doesn’t do what a leader should and challenge himself — and the rest of us — to be bigger. He exploits his privilege to be as small as possible. With all the world watching and potentially taking cues from him, he crassly insults just about anyone who crosses him. It’s equal parts pathology and sport.
A leader tells the truth. I needn’t extend that thought by so much as a syllable."
Spot on, Alan. You have to wonder why the police in all their gear and with all their training are so fearful of any stray movement by anyone when they're on a call that they overreact and shoot without reason.
Their training emphasizes the possibility that if they are too slow to shoot they will be dead, and emphasizes it to the point that the officers (particularly the young and impressionable ones) consider it not just a possibility, but a probability.
"Special Counsel Robert Mueller is ramping up his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible Trump campaign collusion by stopping some Russian oligarchs as they arrive at American airports and reaching out to others seeking voluntary cooperation, according to CNN.
One Russian oligarch who landed his private plane at a New York City area airport was detained and his phone and other electronic devices were checked for information.
He was asked, according to CNN, if he or other wealthy Russians had made cash donations directly or indirectly to Trump’s presidential campaign and inauguration."
listener--a neighbor of ours traded in her Prius on a VW electric Golf, and is well pleased with it. It goes farther than rated on a charge--about 170 miles--and the price was quite tolerable; after $12K rebates, it cost $17K. So there's another electric to look at. It charges up quite nicely on a 110V circuit in the garage.
ReplyDeleteAlan
Thanks, Alan!! I have nearly a year to go with my Mini, but I plan to spend the Summer test driving possibilities and gathering information.
DeleteThe Golf might be too small for Wil's and my shared purposes. I wish someone made a smallish electric pickup!
Mueller told Trump’s attorneys the president remains under investigation but is not currently a criminal target [Click] And Trump's attorneys are blabbermouths…
ReplyDelete--Alan
Nooooooooooo!!
DeletePhooey, there goes the Summer. SIGH.
Nothing has yet come out to suggest that Trump himself was involved in any criminal activity. But Mueller has not yet interviewed him. If Trump runs true to form, he's going to say a lot of things that just aren't true. Will he be under oath? I hope.
DeleteFrom the WaPo article:
Delete…Mueller described Trump as a subject of his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Prosecutors view someone as a subject when that person has engaged in conduct that is under investigation but there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges…subjects of investigations can easily become indicted targets...
--Alan
listener—Your idea of an electric pickup puts me in mind of the Cadillac Mirage.[Click] I saw one on the highway once with a set of longhorn horns mounted on the front!
ReplyDelete—Alan
On the MAGA front, is everyone ready for the clearance sales on pork chops, steaks and roasts? Maybe it would be worthwhile to rent freezer space-or buy an nice chinese-made freezer? Out here the farmers who have been planting almonds like crazy are starting to sweat the Chinese tariffs; I think a lot of them (I know one) voted for Trump; if so they get no sympathy from me.
Come to think of it, why not combine sale-price pork with sale-price almonds? Example: Crispy almond crusted pork seasoned with mustard and thyme[Click]
DeleteAlan
LOL, Alan!
DeleteI'd rather have a Subaru Baha! How I wish they still made that car!!!!
Yesterday I headed out toward the rural hospital where I worked for 18 years to take care of paperwork at HR in preparation for picking up some part time per diem work for the next two or three years. I had forgotten how very long the drive is, and how I had struggled to stay alert; by the time I was a quarter of the way there I was beginning to have doubts about whether I should do it, and by the time I was halfway there I decided that I should not--the money be damned. I turned around and came back home. There is no need to tempt fate any further; I remember two retired fellows (younger than I am now) who came back to work there and had accidents that might have been facilitated by their ages--one on a completely familiar road (rolled his car off the road and down a hillside in the foothills), another on the hospital campus (trip and fall at night, flat onto his face). So, retirement is looking less like work. [Tip o' the hat to Susan.]
ReplyDelete--Alan
I'm glad you made that decision, Alan. It may be a little scary at first to be retired (and I think that's more true for men than for women). I have known men who continued to work long past the time when they were fit for it because they truly feared that if they stopped working they'd die.
DeleteYou also have to remember that in retirement you're not called upon to meet as many expenses. No gas for daily commuting, no dry-cleaning bill for your work wardrobe, no extra exposure to germs in the workplace, being able to eat at home when and what you want to eat. I'm sure you'll discover more perks as you go along, just let yourself settle into it.
Sounds like a good choice, Alan.
DeleteYeah, it sounds like you'd have been paying too richly for that whistle.
DeleteBut it's so strange that in just a year and a half they stretched the road WAAAAAAY out...
DeleteAlan
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/msnbcs-steve-schmidt-warns-trump-starting-wreck-economy-hes-imbecile/
ReplyDeleteThe GOP strategist said Trump’s misunderstanding of trade deficits could wreck many state economies that rely on business dealings with Canada.
“You want to talk about crashing the market, abrogate the NAFTA agreement, disrupt the trillion dollars of trade that flows across the border and this is what happens,” Schmidt said. “This is an incompetent president who has no idea what he’s doing, no idea what he’s talking about. The consequences of incompetent actions will be paid for by the American people.”
“We’re starting to see that now, we’re starting to see this with the market reaction,” he added. “We’re starting to see this in the bilateral China relationship, and so there are consequences for this type of action and behavior, and the American people are soon going to start paying the bill for it.”
I love it when Republicans rip Cheetolini because then then can't blame "politics".
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/03/opinion/trump-perversion-leadership.html
ReplyDelete(I really copied a giant chunk of this. If you can do it, I suggest reading the rest of it.)
"A leader attracts top talent. Trump repels even rank mediocrity. A leader models the behavior that he or she should want from his or her lieutenants. Trump is “legitimately excellent at cultivating an inner circle unburdened by legal or moral scruples,” writes Jonathan Chait in the latest issue of New York magazine.
The cover imagines the president with a snout instead of a nose. How apt. He presides over an administration of piggies gorging at the federal trough. Michael Flynn’s consulting deals. Tom Price’s private flights. Steve Mnuchin’s romantic eclipse viewing. David Shulkin’s grand European adventure. Ben Carson’s dining set. Scott Pruitt’s bargain condo.
“What’s truly shocking is how much petty graft has sprung up,” Chait notes, but not all of it is petty and none of it is shocking. The tone is set at the top, by a boss who maintains serious conflicts of interest, glories in nepotism and treats the presidency as a gilded marketing opportunity. Trump’s example is a green light for corruption.
A leader knows whose counsel to seek and whose to be wary of. Trump knows only the siren’s song of sycophants saying what he wants to hear. He’s not interested in a diversity of input and information. One obsequious, affirming channel will do.
As the Daily Beast just reported, he has let the Fox Business host Lou Dobbs participate by speakerphone in White House meetings. He golfed with a Fox News host, Sean Hannity, over the weekend. And he raptly follows the Fox News show “Fox & Friends.”
He doesn’t do what a leader should and challenge himself — and the rest of us — to be bigger. He exploits his privilege to be as small as possible. With all the world watching and potentially taking cues from him, he crassly insults just about anyone who crosses him. It’s equal parts pathology and sport.
A leader tells the truth. I needn’t extend that thought by so much as a syllable."
California Legislature considers change in standard for use of lethal force.[Click] Maybe next they can change police training standards, which seem IMO to encourage or permit paranoid psychosis.
ReplyDelete—Alan
Spot on, Alan. You have to wonder why the police in all their gear and with all their training are so fearful of any stray movement by anyone when they're on a call that they overreact and shoot without reason.
DeleteTheir training emphasizes the possibility that if they are too slow to shoot they will be dead, and emphasizes it to the point that the officers (particularly the young and impressionable ones) consider it not just a possibility, but a probability.
DeleteAlan
https://washingtonpress.com/2018/04/04/muellers-team-just-gave-russians-landing-at-u-s-airport-surprise-visit/
ReplyDelete"Special Counsel Robert Mueller is ramping up his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible Trump campaign collusion by stopping some Russian oligarchs as they arrive at American airports and reaching out to others seeking voluntary cooperation, according to CNN.
One Russian oligarch who landed his private plane at a New York City area airport was detained and his phone and other electronic devices were checked for information.
He was asked, according to CNN, if he or other wealthy Russians had made cash donations directly or indirectly to Trump’s presidential campaign and inauguration."
Gee!
DeleteAlan