Volunteer

Two of the last three weeks I've volunteered at a Habitat for Humanity build.
Framing work is fun for me, as that is what I did to earn through college.
Now, nearly 40 years later, the enjoyment is still there, but associated with an unending muscle ache.
Still love it and am honored with being asked to be a crew leader.
Wish I had the free time for it.

Media Encourages Hamas Violence

AD, for me, is forever one of the men that earned an acquittal for OJ Simpson. For that there is no forgiveness. His editorial offerings, from the Hebrew perspective, are, in my opinion,are spot on.
Why Does the Media Keep Encouraging Hamas Violence?: If this were the first time that Hamas deliberately provoked Israel into self-defense actions that resulted in the unintended deaths of Gaza civilians, the media could be excused for playing into the hands of Hamas. The most recent Hamas provocations --

I Spent a Shitpot Load of Money But I Really Want to Balance the Budget

Earlier today we received a response letter from emailed request related to Numbers USA issues.

Thank you for contacting me regarding funding the federal government for Fiscal Year 2018. I appreciate your thoughts and I am grateful for the opportunity to respond.  On March 23, 2018, the Senate passed H.R.1625, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, by a bipartisan vote of 65-32. The President signed the bill into law the next day. I supported the legislation because it contains a number of key provisions that are critically important to the United States and Georgia. This agreement ends crippling cuts to our national defense by delivering the largest increase in defense funding in 15 years. This includes $405 million in specific funding directly for the recapitalization of the aging E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System platform, known as JSTARS and based at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Ga. Georgia families will benefit from additional funding for community health centers, school safety, training for new pediatricians and an improved federal response to the opioid crisis. Georgia farmers will see relief from burdensome regulations that were never intended to affect their operations. This bill also provides new resources for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, including critical funding for its biosecurity lab. Further, it includes funding to help maintain and improve our nation’s infrastructure and protects Georgia’s water interests. It also includes a measure that will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals while protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. Additionally, the agreement includes $81.5 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, including an additional $2 billion for infrastructure programs to repair and enhance VA medical facilities and State Veterans Home, and a $337 million increase over the president’s original budget request for construction of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation projects, such as the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project off the coast of Georgia.  While I believe this legislation was needed to fund important programs and keep the government open, the cycle of short-term spending bills that brought us to this point this spending bill is no way to run a country. We must reform our broken appropriations process and eliminate wasteful spending. To address our broken system, I have sponsored the Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act ever since I joined the Senate in 2005. Biennial budgeting would require Congress to reform the annual appropriations process with a two-year system in which we appropriate dollars in the first year and then conduct oversight on federally funded programs during the second year. I have also cosponsored a constitutional amendment that would require Congress to pass a balanced budget. As members of Congress, we are entrusted with the responsibility of spending taxpayer dollars wisely. I will continue working with my colleagues to improve our budget and appropriations process. Thank you again for contacting me. If I can be of any future assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me again. Sincerely, Johnny Isakson United States Senator

For the most part this letter is boilerplate bullshit that did not speak in any manner to my insistence that budget include funding for the border wall. Money for this, money for that but as to your concern, Mr. Voter (aka me), fuck you. The highlighted line caught my eye as an especially rich dose of dishonesty, Johnny Isakson has his name on a proposal to balance the budget, all the while not mentioning once any attempt to control costs or practice any form of self-denial.

Margot Kidder

Passed away this week.

An actress whose most prominent roll was as Lois Lane, sweetheart to Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent. A one-time girlfriend of Hugh Hefner and all that goes with that. To me Margot Kidder was a minor actor who as a model had the kind profile that photographed inconsistently, at times beautifully. With her career behind her Margot Kidder had a tough time with mental illness and drug abuse. Rest in peace.

Congress Reports

I've noticed that the Congress.org site has stopped sending me email.
Signed back up today, we'll where it goes.
Causes me to wonder if this quiet deselection is intentional.
Certainly this site in not significant in any way.
That said nobody enjoys being criticized.

So You Got Peeps?

I keep forgetting my favorite Easter cartoon, this will be a close second for next year.

That's A Shame

An Imam in Afghanistan accidentally killed himself while planting a landmine in Ferozkoh. 

Mualvi Abdul Qader, who had been [sic] leading prayers at a mosque for three years, was killed in the blast.

Original source being Pajhwok Afghan News.
Per Wikipedia, the name Abdul Qader, which is a variation of Abdul Quader, can be interpreted to mean "servant of the powerful". I suppose on this earth he was just a misguided murderer and now he is earning the name.
Karma is bitch.

A Nobel for Trump!

I hope not, at least not yet. The Nobel Peace Price given to President Barack Obama was premature and eventually proven to be unearned. At this point the progress made by the Trump administration with North Korea is promising, but only that. If the State Department has much to do with the process, the United States will revert to negotiating by making concessions as an opening offer. Also, if the North Koreans are true to their personality, any agreement made is for the purpose of obtaining those concessions without intent of fulfilling reciprocal concessions. The North Koreans are proven liars and the last three presidents have come away from agreements looking like fools for having been cheated out of concessions.

A Nobel for Trump!

President Trump's peace through strength policies are working and bringing peace to the Korean peninsula. We can think of no one more deserving of the Committee's recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world.

This is premature, if, after Trump is retired from office after his second term, consideration for the prize should follow proof of an effective agreement.
Let us hope that John Bolton can keep President Trump's council and obtain real concessions from North Korea.

New Release of Peter Strzok and Lisa Text Messages

Found access to this listing of text messages between FBI executives.
Portable Document Format (PDF)
I've read enough to sense the panic setting in.
Wouldn't mind reading what their text messages are saying these days.
Some like....

WTF, do I have to worry about being disbarred?

It reads as if they were trying to stack the team for the investigation into the fabrication they invented.
They deserve more punishment than disbarment, they deserve whatever they hand out for treason these days. I'd have no problem seeing the smug bastards hanging from a rope.

Fishing

The king wanted to go fishing, and he asked the royal weather forecaster the forecast for the next few hours.
The palace meteorologist assured him that there was no chance of rain.
So the king and the queen went fishing. On the way he met a man with a fishing pole riding on a donkey, and he asked the man if the fish were biting.
The fisherman said, "Your Majesty, you should return to the palace! In just a short time I expect a huge rain storm."
The king replied: "I hold the palace meteorologist in high regard. He is an educated and experienced professional. Besides, I pay him very high wages. He gave me a very different forecast. I trust him."
So the king continued on his way.
However, in a short time a torrential rain fell from the sky. The King and Queen were totally soaked.
Furious, the king returned to the palace and gave the order to fire the meteorologist.
Then he summoned the fisherman and offered him the prestigious position of royal forecaster.
The fisherman said, "Your Majesty, I do not know anything about forecasting. I obtain my information from my donkey. If I see my donkey's ears drooping, it means with certainty that it will rain."
So the king hired the donkey.
And thus began the practice of hiring dumb asses to work in influential positions of government. The practice is unbroken to this date.
Thus, the democratic party symbol was born.