You’re not going to believe this but there is more stuff in the news other than Roy Moore’s predilection for sweet young things, some of whom are below the age of consent.
There have been a number of strange occurrences in the Middle East. Saudi Crown Prince Salman rounded up a boatload of his most corrupt relatives and is holding them under house arrest in a Ritz Carlton. That’s awfully decent of him.
Meanwhile, the prime minister of Lebanon went to Saudi Arabia last week, abruptly resigned and hasn’t been heard from since.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the Iranian backer party in Lebanon is agitating for answers, even though the missing PM is sponsored by the Saudis.
Could this have anything to do with the Hezbollah missiles that were fired at Riyadh from Yemen recently?
Oh, yeah, Saudi Arabia is at war with Yemen, which is a proxy for Iran, which it hates because Iranians are bad hombres and Shia Moslems and Saudis are wahabbi Suni moslems.
Shun the unbelievers! ShhuuuuuunnnnnnnnN.
{{rolling eyes}}
Wait, didn’t Trump nix the nuclear deal we made with Iran? Yeah, that will make it easier for us to negotiate with them.
Meanwhile (how many meanwhiles are we up to now?), Hezbollah forces in Lebanon have been amassing artillery along Israel’s northern border.
And over all of this, ISIS leader Bagdhadi has moved to a new pad in Syria, which is at war with itself, ISIS, and the Kurds.
But not to worry because Ex-Exxon CEO Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is right on it. Yessiree! He’ll just dispatch our crack team of seasoned state department diplomats to the region to get to the bottom of this and keep a lid on things until Trump can return from visiting his properties his 12 day trip to Asia and…
What’s that? What do you mean the State Department is a F#%*ing mess and 60% of our top diplomats have left since Trump took office leaving serious gaps in our diplomatic staff?
Ok, ok, let’s not panic. I’m sure everything will be ok. Who did Trump put in charge of mid-east peace?
😳
Start hoarding supplies and reinforcing the basement.
Look for gas prices to spike. Not my problem. I take a bus to work and can work from home if necessary. You Trump voters should have planned better.
Do you feel safe yet?
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Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
Happy Veterans’ Day.
My father served in the Navy in the late 1950s; he enlisted right after he graduated from high school. His ship was the carrier Ticonderoga.
This picture was taken in 1971, but the ship would not have looked too different when he served on it (the angle deck had already been added by the time Dad joined the Navy).
Is your Dad still with you, IBW?
No, he died in 2009, of complications from the removal of a cancerous lung.
He smoked for many years, but he quit 15 years before he died. He was probably exposed to asbestos during his Naval service. I remember him talking about when the jets would land on the deck, bits of the asbestos insulation would flake down from the ceiling of the enlisted quarters (and for all I know, in “officer country” as well).
Back then, of course, asbestos was great stuff–a completely non-flammable fiber which could be woven into cloth. Its drawbacks were only learned later.
I’m sorry.
Thanks.
Wiki article on Dad’s ship:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ticonderoga_(CV-14)
The great Statesman peacemaker Jared visited Saudi Arabia I think twice when all this coup was going on. This new crown prince, looks like erased all his competition by arresting them. In the good olden days, a brother would kill another to get to the throne and even imprison the father — happened in India during the Mogul rein. These are medieval motherfuckers and America is kowtowing to these filthy people.
KGB v. KFC, LOL!!
Great piece, RD.
You are all saints if you still care about what happens to the Trump voters, short of nuclear war which would kill us all.
Katie Tur said that she went back to talk to Trump supporters in central Pennsylvania and they’re all still enthusiastic.
When she asked them what they thought about the Russian investigations, they said, “You mean about Hillary?”
Trump has taken much of my empathy away which is terrible, I know, but to quote Sinclair Lewis ” Love has to stop somewhere short of suicide.”
Then there are these. Looks like there is a great divide in the R party between educated and poorly educated.
Is it possible that there are now so many people in this country with college degrees, or at least some college, that they constitute, or at least could constitute, a significant voting bloc?
Agreed. Sorry, Tom, but I’ve begun to think Alex was right about the “virtuous” common folk.
RD is so right. Moore, Moore and Moore, that is all the media are talking about. Where is that news where trump berated his predecessors while flattering third world dictators about trade agreements in the APEC summit and then the summit participants produce a report without trump at all. What did HE accomplish in this trade summit? Discuss that, dammit! Incompetence all around and that is what the news people should focus on, in addition to all the other sins.
Lewis via Sweet Sue: “Love has to stop somewhere short of suicide.”
‘Til Tuesday voiced similar sentiments:
At the Y. I lost so much weight my leggings slide down when I run.
It’s not funny. 😖
The cardio music on Spotify is pretty good.
RD, I feel like I’ve “known” you long enough to say this to you: Humble brag, much?
I have not known RD long but there is nothing humble about her bragging, 🙂 and why shouldn’t she. She has been taunting all of us (into action, perhaps?). I want to start and lose at least 20 lbs. I will start after the next two weeks; what is happening you ask? Vacation in India and you bet, I will be eating all sorts of goodies.
Kidding.
Ooops, see you were being lighthearted too, pm317.
Yeah, I was 🙂 But anybody who attains their weight goals, has my deepest appreciation.
Please eat some buttery, garlic Naan for me!
Not bragging. It’s expensive to lose 40 lbs in the last year. I’ve gone from a size 10 to a size 4. A couple of weeks ago, I tried on a pair of stretchy size 2 jeans and managed to zip them.
It’s not that hard to lose weight. Just don’t eat anything while you’re out running errands, don’t eat fast food, don’t put sugar in your coffee and restrict your calorie intake to 400 calories/meal with another 400 calories of snacks throughout your day. Then eat whatever you like.
I had a tough time running until I lost about 25 lbs. it’s easier now.
But there’s really no secret to weight loss. You just need to cut out all of the unnecessary calories. Find out how many you need to intake to lose 1-2 lbs per week and once you hit your limit during the day, stop eating.
Piece of cake!
(Only on occasion and never with ice cream)
Easier said than done, RD, though I understand what you are saying because I have done it before. Give me stress free 3-6 months and 1 hr of exercise time per day, I will be back in shape. But life keeps interfering.
See, here’s where you’re wrong. I’ve been under intense stress since last December. I just don’t talk about it much. In general, I exude stress and anxiety. But this time, I stuck up to rules listed above and it really does work.
Like I said, it’s expensive. I bought several sizes of jeans on the way down. When I went from a 6 to a 4, I just decided to go with Old Navy and Target and that’s worked out pretty well. The jeans are durable and inexpensive and on Halloween, some guy with devil horns on his head stopped me on the street and said, “please don’t be offended by what I’m about to tell you, I mean it as a compliment. Your ass looks great in those jeans.” Then he sprinted away as fast as could. That has NEVER happened to me before.
So, maybe stress isn’t all bad.
I will reply here. I am not disagreeing with any of what you said. I started my current job 5 years ago in my ideal weight hard earned with discipline like what you are talking about. Then in this new job, I went up for promotion every year and the last two were the hardest but I made it. Then I have an hour commute each way. So mostly lack of time and single minded focus on getting those damn promotions, that has been my life in the recent years. Different stress mostly from lack of time and different reactions. But the good news is I am now free and will be able to focus on my health and wellbeing and I know what to do. There is no magic bullet. Eat less and exercise.
I’ve learned my metabolism burns only 1,100-1,200 calories per day now. And I exercise bike 1/2 hr a day. It really sucks…
Off topic: 😛
I reminds me of Tim Minchin’s Storm where he says, “Do you know what they call alternative medicine that works? Medicine.”
The whole song is pretty good:
Going away for a while. Mom and I are having homemade tacos. Then it’s off to Wally World, then I have some more laundry to do. Sayonara.
Still working on the laundry, but home to stay for now.
Have fun! 😘
This is really a Christmas song, but it also works for Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day.
This is a great post, RD, putting it all out there. This Saudi stuff, Jared’s secret visits, the whole profitization of the White House to the exclusion of Every Single Value or governmental need… I can’t see how it’s going to end well, or even not disastrously. Trump praising Putin all day today. It’s just insane. He must be planning for his post-Presidency colonization of Russia with Trump hotels.
Maybe he’s inoculating his audience so when the truth comes out they’ll all yawn.
But I agree, there’s nothing good about his administration and if Harvey Weinstein could be made accountable, It would be an outrage if Roy Moore. Wasn’t.
(Remember, manga word balloons are read from the right.)
Here’s a possible answer for the Roy Moores of the world. 😈
I’d bet the farm that Flynn and Manafort are going to prison.
Thankfully, I don’t own one.