Bush 41 Joins Barbara

George H.W. Bush has passed on.

It may be odd but (as long-time readers will recall) my clearest memory of Bush 41 is his second Presidential debate with The Duke. I watched it with an ardent liberal, who basically chose to hide under a towel after fifteen minutes. If it had been a fight, the refs would have stopped it.

The debate was most famous for The Duke's response to a hypothetical question about his position on capital punishment vis-a-vis the prospective rape of his wife. The gist of his response - I would slather the killer with oatmeal and talk him to death. OK, I may be paraphrasing a bit unfairly. But only a bit!

As bad as that response was, it was matched or exceeded by a seeming softball in which Dukakis was asked to name some of his heroes alive today. His gist: All my heroes are dead. Inspiring! Bush 41 went second, and with time to mull it over realized that heroes normally have names, so he provided an admirable list.

Obviously there was a lot more to Bush's life. There is a quote I have not been able to run down was someone's reaction to his 1992 defeat, after successfully overseeing the peaceful collapse of the Soviet Empire. Clearly it would hardly have mattered what Bush got right if he had gotten that wrong but he lost to Bill Clinton anyway. As I recall it, the quote was along the lines of "You level mountains and lose office because someone has a problem with a molehill". Not empathetic, since in 1992 it was the economy, stupid, but whoever said it had a point.

Comments

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

Lots of good media selective bias on Bush in the prev thread

[Captain Hate]

after successfully overseeing the peaceful collapse of the Soviet Empire.

Taking credit for what Reagan did while doing his best to undo all of it?

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

What AP wrote

George H.W. Bush, a patrician New Englander whose presidency soared with the coalition victory over Iraq in Kuwait, but then plummeted in the throes of a weak economy \that led voters to turn him out of office after a single term, has died. He was 94.

What some guy on twitter wrote

What is wrong with you at the AP? Bush 41 was the youngest carrier pilot in WW2. He was shot down over the Pacific. He held every major office one can hold. A thoroughly decent man, adoring husband, and loving father. What pathetic people you are

PowerLine notes fake news

The New York Times itself promoted the image of this “seeming inattention” during the 1992 campaign with its fabricated story of President Bush’s supposed amazement by a grocery store scanner. Fake news doesn’t get any faker.
https://www.mrc.org/articles/great-george-bush-sr-grocery-scanner-urban-legend-lives

WaPo tweets but forgets to fill in fields
https://mobile.twitter.com/WillOremus/status/1068731765794123778

Commenter:
There’s only two certainties in this world: SPECIFIC MEDICAL CAUSE OF DEATH and “no new taxes”

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

I had forgotten that Bush oversaw the fall of the USSR as TM notes.
Lots of bad stuff happened but nuclear war didn't break out.
Credit given.

He was a traitor to the Reagan legacy, IMO, though. And "no new taxes", yike. A simpleton played by the Dems on that one.

[Ralph L]

WaPo tweets but forgets to fill in fields

Message: We don't care

[MissMarple2]

This is a photo of the hand-written letter which President Bush left in the Resolute desk for Bill Clinton to read after his inauguration.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtVimoNWkAUhNpq.jpg:large

One would think some democrats would hang their heads in shame.

[MissMarple2]

ATTENTION!

ChiTown Lurker would like the model name of the Ikea bookcase which someone here said was perfect for storing LP's. When we were discussing Ikea the other day he forgot to write it down.

If anyone has it, he would greatly appreciate someone posting it. Thanks!

[Narciso79]

They can barely pretend to shame, but they will give it the old college try,

Clinton cut the military and intelligence budgets committing the latter to those critical hotspots of the balkans and haiti, just as al queda was on the march,

[MissMarple2]

Narciso,

I shudder to think what else happened that we still don't know about.

Remember selling the Chinese missile technology?

[MissMarple2]

Can anyone think of a LESS appealing series?

Christiane Amanpour
‏Verified account @camanpour
18s18 seconds ago

I’m so excited to announce that my series Sex & Love Around the World is now available on @netflix, @NetflixUK around the world! About keeping it real in love, romance and relationships today. https://www.netflix.com/title/81011682

[James D.]

One would think some democrats would hang their heads in shame.

Most democrats today are incapable of shame. This country would be a lot better off if that wasn’t the case.

[Jack is Back!]

Guess who's birthday is tomorrow?

[Extraneus]

Here's a fascinating 53-minute video about peregrine falcons. The fly-boys and -girls would probably be amazed at what these things can do. 200 mph and 18 G's!

World's Fastest Animal

[MissMarple2]

From World War II hero to Texas congressman, UN ambassador, CIA director, vice president and president, George H.W. Bush left a lasting legacy on this country. @BobSchieffer remembers him as "one of the kindest" people he ever met: pic.twitter.com/FPJqKkfYX4

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) December 1, 2018

Six-minute video at the link with Bob Schieffer. Very nice remembrances with some humor. (Left out, of course, was the press's role in Bush's defeat by Clinton.)

[Kevlar Kid]

The economic strategy implemented by President Ronald Reagan was the "arms race" engineered by Dr. Jack Wheeler. The bankrupting of the Soviet Union was fundamental to the collapse of the "evil empire."

I don't recall GHWB taking credit for that watershed event in human political history.

Given the illiteracy rate among American media/press organizations, it doesn't surprise that they still attribute the morning sunrise with the crowing cock.

[Narciso79]

Yes in deed, kev and rohrabachers support for the mujahadeen then, gives the lie to the slur against him 30 years later.

[MissMarple2]

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/11/30/watch-emmanuel-macron-complains-to-saudi-crown-prince-you-never-listen-to-me/

[Extraneus]

Report: ‘Paid Provocateurs’ to Lead Caravan Migrants in Storming the Border on Saturday

The plans were reported by KUSI.com reporter John Soderman via social media and broadcast. Soderman said a federal officer told him about 600 migrants led by paid provocateurs, are going to participate in the border rush to provoke a response from border patrol like last Sunday. (NBC News reported earlier the federal government had informants inside the caravan.)

Breitbart’s Brandon Darby also reported on the planned border rush :

““In talking with people, among other things, we learned that they are in fact marching again tomorrow morning to the border,” reported Darby. “We had reported earlier that agitator groups were trying to rile the migrants up to go to the border. Many of the migrants have already left here, and Mexico is putting them in an inside-shelter — a shelter that’s enclosed — maybe some 45 minutes away, and there are buses coming [and] taking people, but a lot of people chose to stay here because some of them believe that Mexico is taking them to be deported and it’s a trick, and others are staying here because they’re going to march again tomorrow. So we can expect to see some of what we saw last week possibly happen again tomorrow. They are, in fact, planning on marching.”

Darby met up with Honduran tear gas mother of nine Maria Meza and reported she and the five kids she brought on the caravan are doing okay.

...

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

Bush: founded a business, millionaire, congressman, UN ambassador, CIA chief, VP then Pres.
Wikipedia says he failed twice to win a Senate seat.

Multiple people have noted that Reagan brought down the USSR. True. But the fall of the Soviet empire was an extended event and I, for one, don't object if Bush gets some credit for not letting it spin out of control.

[henry]

I remember Bush calling Reagan’s proposals a “voodoo economics.” Had his advisor for Regulatory Economics class (McAvoy). He had some splainin to do when HW signed on as veep.

[MissMarple2]

Jim,

My feeling as well. Schieffer pointed out the danger when the Soviet Union fell and they had all those nuclear weapons.

I still cannot believe Clinton defeated him. The guy was such a goober with nothing to recommend him except he was young.

[Jack is Back!]

I did my Washington stint during the Bush 41 years. I still have my little box of White House M&M's which you could get if had lunch there, which I did once. He was very approachable as POTUS. When we had our hostage crisis during the Iraq invasion of Kuwait, we set up a senior executive task force in our DC office.

Bush 41 met with the senior executives, and gave us full administration cooperation to get them out of Iraq. We had two big jobs: PetroChem One, and the hydro project in Kurdistan. The guys at PetroChem One provided the DoD and CiA all the initial on ground info on troop traffic from Iraq to Kuwait via clumsy old Sat Phones.

[Captain Hate]

I still cannot believe Clinton defeated him. The guy was such a goober with nothing to recommend him except he was young.

Look no further than that for the rationale of the MFM being full of themselves in terms of influencing major events.

[henry]

Ross Perot snagged a lot of votes by complaining about NAFTA’s giant sucking sound (later Monica told NAFTA to hold her beer). Clinton got a mere plurality of the vote.

[MissMarple2]

henry,

I had completely forgotten about Ross Perot!

You are right, of course.

[Captain Hate]

Ah yes, Ross Perot: DJT minus a successful campaign.

Neither the "wildly popular" Slick nor Tub Dive ever got 50% of the popular vote.

[The Infamous Ignatz]

GHWB had no one to blame but himself for his loss.
"Read my lips" won him the presidency.
Lip reading cost him the presidency.

[The Infamous Ignatz]

I didn't even get this one until I read the comments;

[Jack is Back!]

A Wreath 'A Franklin?

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
23m23 minutes ago

I was very much looking forward to having a press conference just prior to leaving Argentina because we have had such great success in our dealing with various countries and their leaders at the G20....

....However, out of respect for the Bush Family and former President George H.W. Bush we will wait until after the funeral to have a press conference.
2,379 replies 2,167 retweets 10,568 likes

[Jack is Back!]

Trolling the press, once again. What do they do, bitch about it? Single DJT out for his compassion, and remorse toward a fellow POTUS?

My guess is to do nothing, including not even noting there was a presser scheduled.

[Kevlar Kid]

JimNorCal:

To your point, true dat.

Where President Reagan set his adminstration apart was the decision to use the defense buildup as pretext for what became an arms race with the Soviet Republic, pushing the economically stressed Russkies over the edge.

It was a conscious strategy that had a direct result QUICKLY.

On a weather note, hearing they may have been some snow dusts on Hamilton and other Diablo range peaks down yer way. Button up! :D

[Threadkiller]

ChiTown:

Ikea makes (or made, actually, since they're replaced the line with a similar one) the Expedit book cases, one of which is probably the best LP record storage method out there. The nearest Ikea to me is a couple of hours away, but I have recently bought items from them online and had them shipped to me.

Posted by: hrtshpdbox | November 29, 2018 at 04:36 PM

Back to bed. Not feeling so hot....

[Narciso79]

Peter Schweitzer and Jay vinik are very good to cover that period, along with the uniquely eastern European twists of sebastyen

[MissMarple2]

Jack,

That, and also this stops them from asking how he compares to Bush 41, if he is invited to the funeral, can he imagine being married 73 years to the same woman, etc. etc.

Nothing would be asked about the G20 and if we weren't hearing comparisons to Dad Bush we would be getting questions on Mueller and Cohen.

No great loss, as far as I am concerned.

[MissMarple2]

Thank you Threadkiller!

Get well soon!

[Threadkiller]

Thanks, MM. Sour stomach... :-(

I'll check in later.

[peter]

MM wrote:
I still cannot believe Clinton defeated him. The guy was such a goober with nothing to recommend him except he was young.

But he looked at his watch during the debates and had never seen a SKU scanner!

[Narciso79]

Take care, tk.

[MissMarple2]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-protests-police-idUSKCN1O0351?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5c02ab5704d30107e528c2c2&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Looks like daddy got out of there just in time!

[MissMarple2]

BREAKING NEWS: Paris on fire: Once again Macron tax protests/‘yellow vest’ protests break out in the capital of France. At least 105 people injured, dozens of cars set on fire. Police have fired tear gas & used water cannons.#GiletsJaunes
Developing... pic.twitter.com/aYuSeqjMVU

— BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) December 1, 2018

Video at link. Macron should be a bit concerned.

[MissMarple2]

Michael Tracey
‏Verified account @mtracey

George HW Bush voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and that incredibly trivial fact will animate the celebratory coverage he receives, as media honor him for representing a brand of respectable Republicanism that has since been degraded and discarded. McCain redux

[Captain Hate]

George HW Bush voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016

That he and his family preferred the company of the Clintons to the Palins is something that can't get unstuck from my craw. When you're in that position you have a responsibility to not badmouth a prominent member of your party, which is perpetually lost on the RINOs.

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

Agree with posters who point out GHWB swampiness.
A pity Ron felt compelled to name him VP.
Though his politics were bad, he differs from Clinton, Obama (and Flake) in a couple of ways.
1) put his life on the line in the military
2) did not get rich from gov service, succeeded on his own effort
3) although Bush was unsympathetic to Deplorables he did not prioritize policies to screw us over

[MissMarple2]

Captain Hate,

I read an Andrew Ferguson column this morning about GHW Bush. Ferguson was hired as a speechwriter for Bush.

What I found interesting about the article (which had some nice recollections about the man) was how much he was controlled by handlers, focus groups, and various political hangers on.

One of the things I most appreciate about President Trump is that he makes these decisions himself.

[Captain Hate]

Andrew Ferguson is a good writer; one of my faves at the Weekly Standard before it went full retard.

[Narciso79]

Se la guerre mannie:

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13364/france-meltdown-macron-disdain

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

"Looks like daddy got out of there just in time!"

Out of the Parisian (riot) frying pan, into the Alaskan (earthquake) fire

[MissMarple2]

I know I have mentioned this several times, but here is a visual display:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtQR9ruVAAA3aQT.jpg

[peter]

I got lights to put up! see ya

[Extraneus]

I like the 1977 headline, MM.

Beyond Detante: Why We Can't Beat The Soviets

[Narciso79]

That was the conventional wisdom probably from strobe talbott I gather.

[Narciso79]

His they treated someone who thought otherwise:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/128605?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

[Kevlar Kid]

the following is my response to the insanity of greater and greater media propaganda's assault on my sensibilities, the shape of my life going forward, and the otherwise debilitating impacts from feelings of powerlessness, despair, fear, and anxiety over the bull shitake i just cannot control.

the physical cost to my body, during this concerted effort to heal after 21 years of protracted illness, is too high when it's paid in terms of maintaining an "emotional shield" against evil perpetrators like the MSM, the couriers of the Deep State, and ProgTardo drones in my immediate sphere.

i'm enjoying a new freedom this morning after just 7 days of installing a new simple sleep routine.

planning the day is a loose knit sketch of the priorities added to my list of absolutes (quality sleep,physical training, yoga etc).

might appear slavish to time, but i'm approaching it as homage paid in advance to the Time/Space continuum. once paid, by planning, the "feeling" of freedom that comes from not having to think about "what comes next all day--am i doing the right thing at the right time", well, the feeling is simply extravagant and immeasureable. i LOVE THAT!!!

it feels like when i was a boy and had just finished my chores and was given the entire day up until supper to do what boys find to do.

after my return from visiting Paw in Virginny i was overcome by a feeling of dissatisfaction over having so much willy nilly in my daily routine. by comparison,Paw and Miss Pauline have a structured routine, a necessity given her onset of Alzheimer's. their "anxiety quotient" is very low as a result, even with the impending doom presented non-stop by "the condition."

attributing much of my inconsistency to having been mired in 21 years of gradually debilitating illness, i decided that 2019 would be different,deciding to take massive action to, once again, change my dance step.

i'm applying the principle "what gets measured gets managed" to revamp my overall approach to the 24 hour day.

here's how the first 7 days went.

Today: Day 8 Sleep Recovery Campaign
730p Bedtime 230a Rising time

Results for the week-- Time totals:
49 Hours Sleep Time; 119 Hours Uptime

1. Low impact/High Frequency Cardio--
16 hours/13.44% uptime

2. Yoga Practice
9 hours/7.563% ut

3. (94) Breathwork
7 hours/5.882% ut

4. (87)Meditation
7 hours/5.882% ut

5. (80)Home Chores
4 hours/3.36% ut

6. (76)Writing Practice
14 hours/11.76% ut

7. (62) Anya Pup Walks (audio books!)
14 hours/17.64% ut

8. (48) Private Time (Nutrition, Hygeine, Communion with Mrs. Kid,.)
21 hours/17.64% ut

9. (27) Business Development
21 hours/17.64% ut

10. (6) untimed crumbs (JOM outbursts etc.)
6 hours/ 5.04% ut

sometimes puzzle pieces take a while to snap into place. once they are put in their right place, forward progress can continue. the sleep puzzle piece wasn't something i understood, as i came to understand the nutrition plan that was right for me. so it is with the sleep routine--- what is right for me took a long time to find.

but now that it is here, the dividend upside looks YUGE.

Have great weekends!

Kev

[pagar]

https://www.weaselzippers.us/404287-zinke-slams-democrat-as-a-drunk-hard-for-him-to-think-straight-from-the-bottom-of-a-bottle/

"This is coming from a man who used nearly $50,000 in tax dollars as hush money to cover up his drunken and hostile behavior. He should resign and pay ---------

Agree 100%.

[Tom Bowler]

Over at the WSJ Dan Quayle said this in a tribute to Bush 41:

"[T]he economy, which withstood a brief recession that hurt us politically, was growing at a rate of more than 6% by the end of the term."

At the time I didn't realize that the economy was up to 6% growth in the final year of the Bush/Quayle administration, but there was no question it was growing. Enough so that the election year news blackout on economic good news was blatantly obvious. That was the first time that I personally noticed the media marching in lockstep to elect a Democrat.

[MissMarple2]

Here is the article by Andrew Ferguson:

https://www.weeklystandard.com/andrew-ferguson/george-h-w-bush-1924-2018

[daddy]

Apparently the Saudi Prince ain't the only guy not listening to Macron.

“#BREAKING: 19 Metro stations in the French capital of #Paris have been forced to close as #YellowVests clashes continue “

...images of French riot police advancing to fire tear gas to repel #YellowVest protesters near the #ArcDeTriomphe in central #Paris. Police report at least 80 injured, including 16 police officers, in the center of capital. Paris mayor tweets violence is “not acceptable”.

Good Morning.

[daddy]

Thanks for the Paris links Miss M.

I was thinking the Protests would have started petering out, but apparently not. Certainly looks from the videos in the threads you linked that todays protesters are much more aggressive than the ones from last week. I feel for the Police.

[Jack is Back!]

The Last To Let You Down---

This is absolutely AWESOME; a part of the military one doesn’t think about

http://www.espn.com/core/video/iframe?id=25231107&endcard=false

[MissMarple2]

Tom Bowler,

I was just discussing this on the phone with a friend of mine. Not only did they hide the good news on Bush's administration but they manufactured scandals like Willie Horton.

Meanwhile, they managed to overlook all sorts of red flags in the Clinton governorship and presented a picture of a smart, young guy who was JUST what we needed. "Rhodes Scholar! Wife is a lawyer! Youngest governor in the USA!"

[Old Geezer]

I admired Bush the Elder. Like his son he was a decent man.

He made a decision--admittedly on a very tough call--that had long term negative repercussions. He (or at least his generals) stopped chasing the Republican Guard out of Kuwait, leaving Saddam Hussein in power. Would the world have turned out differently if troops in the First Gulf War had driven all the way into Baghdad? Certainly. It's hard to tell though whether it would have been better or worse. There were a lot of dead Iraqis butchered by Saddam and his thugs in the next decade who might be alive today.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

MM, here is an Amazon page on those Expedit & other storage shelves:

https://www.amazon.com/Bookshelf-Storage-Shelving-Bookcase-Expedit/dp/B01NCJ8JXR/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543685666&sr=8-1&keywords=ikea+bookcase+expedit

[Captain Hate]

Would the world have turned out differently if troops in the First Gulf War had driven all the way into Baghdad?

Was Powell influential in that decision?

[daddy]

Last night sleeping was a bit like when you were a kid and you drove across country with your parents and you stayed in some fleabag motel where momma let you put a quarter in the thing that made the bed shake for 5 minutes. About every 30 minutes our bed would do about a 30 second shaking routine as an aftershock rolled through. The website here says we had a number of magnitude 3's and 4's last night. Our bed is on the top (3rd) floor and against the wall overlooking the fiord, and therefore the most sensitive part of the house to have quakes magnified. We have a big NBA (Basketball ) sized bed, since when I'm gone the 3 pups take my place, so it was all 5 of us last night all shaking at once, Me, Momma, Fry, Scout and Nelson:) I'm still on Paris protest time body clock wise, so I came downstairs for the first cup of coffee and those 4 can catch another few hours without me flopping around.

The company decided that Bercy is far enough away from the Arc De Triumph Rioters that we don't have to worry about being incarcerated at the Airport Hotel, so I thank them for that good bit of headwork.

For interest, here is a 5 minute compressed in time audio compilation of ATC in the Anchorage Tower yesterday, talking to arriving traffic during the Earthquake. FEDEX 49 was about an hour behind us and you can really hear the Tower Control's heart beating as he is being hammered by the quake and hollering to FEDEX 49 to go around. We were all landing on Runway 7R, the bottom east/west airport in the image they show, but we don't go too far due east because of the rising terrain, so we have to turn away from the Hills shortly after executing a "Missed Approach." Some of the other chit chat is the Tower guys talking to ground vehicles verifying that the Runways are OK for landing (No structural damage), but you can also hear that they plan on eventually abandoning the Runway and having people Taxi themselves around without direction.

[Kevlar Kid]

I can't imagine The Bath House Rat writing a letter to President Donald Trump like the letter GHWB left for President-elect Clinton.

[Captain Hate]

Les Miles level clock management by the Sooners with all timeouts used in the first quarter.

[MissMarple2]

Thanks BeenThereDoneThat! I will make sure ChiTown sees it!

[MissMarple2]

daddy,

From what I have been reading, it looks like the protests are on weekends, because most of the protesters are workers who pay the increasingly high taxes. This they work during the week and show up on weekends.

Also, yesterday the protests had spread to Belgium!

[Captain Hate]

Are the protests completely shutting down traffic at the Arc de Triomphe?

[Manuel Transmission]

My TBM buddy sent me this link this morning.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VhX3b1h7GQw&feature=youtu.be

I always enjoyed American Pie, but the pictographic embellishments really elegantly expand the beauty of story line.

For those of us old enough to have lived through all the stages of the story, it is an eight minute history lesson.

[Tom Bowler]

MM,

The funny thing was after the election, it became OK again for the press to talk about the economic recovery, which was by now well under way. By way of explanation somebody in the press gushed over how the astonishingly rapid turnaround was because of national euphoria at the election of the wonderful Clinton co-presidency.

You couldn't escape Fleetwood Mac and "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow." It wasn't just the press that was infatuated with the Clintons. In Connecticut people were driving down to the shoreline to mail their Christmas cards. They wanted to get them postmarked from the town of Clinton.

Needless to say, I didn't make the drive. I was not among the euphoric.

[daddy]

Narciso's 11:36 is a good read about Macron's problems. How odd to see a professor at a University, and a French professor no less, speaking sense.

[The Infamous Ignatz]

I don't begrudge GHWB his mushy policy mistakes as pres. He was never very conservative and I didn't expect him to be something he wasn't.

What I do begrudge him, and his son, and pretty much everyone in that useless family, is that when it was time to repay the loyalty of people like me and everyone else here and even Trump, all of whom held our noses and supported them, the lovely Bushes, wearing their ethics proudly displayed on their sleeves, sold those ethics out for thirty pieces of silver to support corrupt, scummy, tiny little Neros like the Clintons and Barry.

[Tom Bowler]

MT,

I knew American Pie was about the deaths of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. In February of 1959 I was in the sixth grade so I was alive for all of it, but I never made all of the connections in American Pie to what was going on during that time. I suppose in part it was because of my sheer laziness, but in those days it was almost impossible to hear and understand lyrics over the static on AM radio. Decades and YouTube later I finally understand what some of those songs were about.

[daddy]

Are the protests completely shutting down traffic at the Arc de Triomphe?

Captain,

From this time compressed 24 Hour Arc De Triumph Webcam It looks like traffic is OK until the protests and teargas start, then it gets completely shut down. The same Webcam shot I posted last week showed traffic just starting up again in the very early morning hours of Sunday , but it's not very late there this Saturday Evening. Looks to me like todays Protest action starts about 9 AM when the protesters start arriving.

From the top of the Arc the day after last weeks protests I could see that the Champs was lined with Police Paddy wagons, each able to hold probably 20 Arrestees.

[Old Lurker]

NOBODY can out do me for being a glass-half-empty guy.

Last night on the local news - yes she had it on before I came in at cocktail time - the local reporter babe and crew were out in Fairfax City doing a feel good story. The gist was that the County DPW Department had hired a bunch of men from the local shelter, put them in gloves and safety vests, and set them to cleaning up the city and hanging Christmas decorations. The interviews with the men were universal in their appreciation for being given the work so they could make some cash for the holidays, and the interviews with the DPW bosses probably put them all in the hospital with broken arms from patting themselves on their backs.

WIN-WIN they all said.

They were paid $10 per hour.

As I was being handed my G&T, Mrs. OL asked what I found wrong with that nice story.

Me:

1) How come I and my tenants have to pay guys like that the $15+ Minimum Wage but the county gets off with $10?

2) At $10 I might give those guys full time work.

3) If so many men were willing to do DPW jobs for $10 per hour, how come the county pays real DPW men $30 and more, huh?

Her: "How is your drink, dear?"

[Old Lurker]

Cap'n "Was Powell influential in that decision?"

As I recall, Powell was the loudest voice arguing that we stop the Highway of Death stuff and declare victory at the Kuwait border.

[Old Lurker]

Tom Bowler and MT.

Last summer Google found me several "learned" papers on American Pie, and the best had been updated when the original handwritten song manuscript had been offered up for auction.

Mrs. OL and I were fascinated at all the connections that we had missed over the decades.

Very interesting ten year slice of American life tied up in those lyrics.

[Marlene]

Good afternoon! Just back from pizza at our favorite Italian market. The Maine media is all about GHWB's connection to Maine. What is interesting and is probably a dying tradition is that the Bush family considered Kennebunkport as a place of stability in their lives. GHWB and Barbara lived in 30 places during their marriage and had a great fondness for Kennebunkport.

[Old Lurker]

Here is one of the American Pie interpretations:

https://flashbak.com/the-day-the-music-died-a-closer-look-at-the-lyrics-of-american-pie-382407/

[Tom Bowler]

Indeed, OL.

[Tom Bowler]

Thanks OL and MT for both of those American Pie links.

[Marlene]

Tom Bowler,I love your avatar! I can't believe the Old Man is gone.
Re: Don McLean and American Pie,he was in the Maine news quite a bit in the last couple of years for spousal abuse. He has a new hot girlfriend now.

[MissMarple2]

ME,

Thanks for that video. I knew some of the connections but not all. Sort of a tearjerker, since I turned 11 in 1959 and did remember that plane crash, and of course, the rest spanned my teens and young adult years.

[MissMarple2]

daddy, One of your guys did good!

A surveillance camera captured a FedEx employee going above and beyond when an American flag fell on the ground at a Maryland house. https://t.co/QsblaLGoUE

— CBS4 Indy (@CBS4Indy) December 1, 2018

[Tom Bowler]

Thanks, Marlene! Yes, it was quite sad when the Old Man came crashing down. I didn't realize McClean was from Maine. Or is he from somewhere else, then moved there?

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

" ... stopped chasing the Republican Guard out of Kuwait, leaving Saddam Hussein in power"

Yeah, I'd vote to add that one to minus column.

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

daddy, At first those after-shocks are nerve wracking. You worry that a second Big One may have hit.

But after a while it gets kinda cool, like a ride at the theme park.

At least, that's my memory from the Loma Prieta days. Some folks came to visit a few weeks later from out of state. They only got a noticeable after-shock on their last day but it was a much appreciated highlight of the trip.

[Narciso79]

So they are back at it, going after Salman, and whitaker.

[Jack is Back!]

In Re: American Pie, here is Frederick, and his music instructor at the guitar recital singing their version, back in May 2016. Don't pay attention to the interloper who can;t carry a tune in a bucket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xPuoB4WRro&feature=youtu.be

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

One for Mr PnP

[MissMarple2]

Jack,

That link doesn't work.

[Captain Hate]

Texas gets the Mad Hatter award for witless clock management in the second quarter.

[MissMarple2]

My wife watched this video and cried. Let me know what you think.

Retweet if you loved it. pic.twitter.com/1mTMnMxp9A

— Kevin W (@kwilli1046) November 21, 2018

Video at link. You have to watch the whole thing to really understand it

[MissMarple2]

daddy, look at this!!

Sotiri Dimpinoudis
‏ @sotiridi
40m40 minutes ago

Small #Update:

2 Dead
Over 50 cars burned
over 100 scooters destroyed
4 building on fire
Lots of windows broken
Over 250 people arrested
Over 220 people injured whom 34 police officers
Possible Fire-arms stolen out of looted police vehicle

#Paris
#GiletsJaunes
#YellowVests

[Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA]

.

[daddy]

Miss M,

Your 02:18 video would make a nice Super Bowl Ad if I still watched the Super Bowl.

BTW,

Momma slept with a small flashlight last night because she said the thing that really got to her yesterday when she thought the house was coming down on her was that with all the lights out the place was pitch black, which added to the terror of all the shaking and crashing dishes and inability to round up the pups. Then she suggested that somebody invent some sort of small LED light device that automatically comes on if a certain amount of shaking occurs. Battery powered perhaps, Auto-On for a selectable 1 or 2 or 5 minutes, and able to instantly be pulled off the wall and used as a flashlight. They probably already exist, but a decent idea I thought. Her iPhone was in the other room, so the flashlight function was of no use.

[Jack is Back!]

Thanks MM2,

I am re-loading it on You Tube to see if that works.

Anyone know if the SEC Champtionship is today or next Saturday?

[MissMarple2]

A highlight of the #G20 was meeting these darling young ladies, part of @USEmbArgentina ‘s Brownie & Girl Scout troop. Today we held a mock press briefing. Great job, gals! #girlpower @girlscouts @statedept pic.twitter.com/QxXPERTaj2

— Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) December 1, 2018

Cute pictures at the link.