The Complete Mc Cartney

Ok this is not exactly the complete Mc Cartney but basically it's the updated version with the two first songs changed to what I now believe are the appropriate songs to fill the slots. The previous location you had to dig way down below a lengthly David Gregory interview and I know you don't have the patience for that.  Also we're going to include the third album in the trilogy to make a complete, balanced "best of" set.

MC CARTNEY HITS AND MISSES

- - - - - DISK ONE- - - -
MUMBO (WINGS WILDLIFE)
I CAN SEE THE WORLD TONIGHT
ANOTHER DAY
BACKWARD TRAVELER / CUFF LINK
MONKBERRY MOON DELIGHT
HOUSE OF WAX
SINGLE PIGEON
TOMORROW
HIGH, HIGH, HIGH
SPIN IT ON
NOD YOUR HEAD
DON’T SAY GOODNIGHT, TONIGHT
O WOMAN O WHY?
LET ME ROLL IT
MRS VANDERBUILT
ONLY ONE MORE KISS
HELLEN WHEELS

- - - - -DISK TWO- - - - -
FLAMING PIE
MAMA MISS AMERICA TAKES 1 & 2
KREEN AKRORE
MAYBE I’M AMAZED
BACK SEAT OF MY CAR
TOO MANY PEOPLE
CAFE ON THE LEFT BANK
GIVE IRELAND BACK TO THE IRISH
THAT WAS ME
DELIVER YOUR CHILDREN
ARROW THROUGH ME
ROCKESTRA THEME
I AM YOUR SINGER
COSMICALLY CONSCIOUS
LITTLE WOMAN LOVE
MY VALENTINE
SMILE AWAY

Released March 20th 2013 on Sirius A by Burt Lombard and Jimmy Mc Culloch

BLOWING IT IN THE SEVENTIES (Mc Cartney expended album)
ACT I
Venus and Mars opening theme
Rock Show
Love in Song
You Gave Me the Answer
Cook of the House (Linda)
Time to Hide (Denny)
The Note You Never Wrote (Denny)
I Feel Like Letting Go
ACT II
Venus and Mars Part Two
Spirits of Ancient Egypt
Medicine Jar (Jimmy)
Calling Me Back Again
Sally G
Junior’s Farm
Beware, My Love
Wino Junko (Jimmy)

ACT III Played off stage in the rehab ward)
Cover of s guy snorting Cocaine powder

Jeff Sessions on verge of Confirmation for Attorney General

Jeff Sessions's name was voted out of committee to the full Senate 11 votes yes to 9 votes no.  Final passage isn't expected till later tonight.  Elizabeth Warren was ruled out of order by Mitch Mc Connell when he attacked Senator Jeff Sessions on Civil Rights.  It’s the darndest thing I’ve ever heard.  She quoted Coretta Scott King for complaining about an unjust prosecution of Blacks in a voting rights case in 1984.  Sessions indicated an eagerness to prosecute Blacks in a case where they were eventually acquitted and then was up for a judge ship in 1986.  She was reading a letter from Coretta Scott king that was entered into the congressional record in 1986.  Apparently a congressman can attack anybody and everybody in committee hearings whether the charges are true or not.  But you’re not allowed to say something that’s completely true in the hall.  Jeff Sessions is in the process of getting the final approval vote for Attorney General and the way I figure it, the more power to everybody and anybody who uses all of the political power they poses to stop him.  Stated another say, we now know that the U S Senate is on stated record as being a racist, bigoted body who denies the light of Truth from penetrating its chambers.  If anybody had any doubts about whether Jeff Sessions was a racist, this ends those doubts. 

Stephanie is still clinging to the theory that Donald Trump won’t be president for much longer.  I think these liberals are just getting desperate grabbing at straws.  I’m afraid something horrible is going to have to happen either with the economy or in world affairs before people are “disabused” of the notion that Donald Trump is the greatest thing since sliced bread.   It’s the same way the Germans and Japanese had to be “broken in spirit’ as a people being utterly defeated in war before they at last saw the light and realized they’d been under the spell of dictators.  If there is a way of somehow short circuiting the process I don’t know what it is.  Mao Tse Tung said in his little red book, “Power flows from the barrel of a gun”.  It’s still true.  

Yemen's foreign minister said Wednesday his government has asked for a "reassessment” of a U.S. anti-terrorism raid last month that apparently caused the deaths of several women and children, but he denied reports that the government requested a suspension of American ground operations.  “Yemen continues to cooperate with the United States and continues to abide by all the agreements,” Abdul-Malik al-Mekhlafi said, according to the Associated Press. He said the government “is involved in talks with the U.S. administration on the latest raid.”  His remarks followed news reports that Yemen's government had demanded a halt to U.S. special operations. He said the reports are “not true,” according to the AP.  Yemen's government controls only part of the country, which has been divided by civil war. A Saudi-led coalition is fighting Houthi rebels, which are supported by Iran. The chaos has allowed al-Qaeda to grow in strength.

 Betsey De Vos was confirmed as Secretary of Education.  Two republican senators defected but they needed three to defeat her.  Mike Pence broke the tie vote.   I’ve been saying for days now that the democrats can flap their gums all they want but Trump is getting his way and all of the cabinet appointments as well as the Supreme Court justice, will be approved almost without a hitch.  The democrats are out of political capital, pure and simple.   And I’m tempted to say the same thing about world leaders regarding Trump.  They may initially complain about his brashness or inexperience but in the end they will go along with him and make deals with him. 

There are three types of hyperbolas.  The first classic type is the one in the formula for hyperbolic trig where there is a ninety degree angle cocked at a 45 degree angle each way.  From this the calculations from hyperbolic trig are made.  A plus sign is turned into a minus sign so this type could be called a circle “turned inside out”.  There is another type of hyperbola even more basic, which is the one where a space craft overshoots a planet it’s supposed to be orbiting and goes off on a tangent out somewhere away from the planet.  This one differs from the first kind is that the angle needn’t be a ninety degree angle.  It could be between anything and a hundred and eighty.  (or 179)  This and the first kind of hyperbola have an official “midpoint”, and in this orbital type it’s the closest the space craft ever gets to the planet before it starts getting farther away.  It gains speed till it hits the midpoint and then slowly loses speed from that point on.  Both parts of this hyperbola are symmetrical.  There is a third type of hyperbola and this is a ninety degree hyperbola like the first type however it differs from both the first and second kind in that there is no official “midpoint” of the hyperbola.  It’s all how it’s grafted.  You may see a hyperbola on the national debt or some other economic debt trend and see a hyperbola- - but twenty years ago you could have drawn what looked like the same shape.  So the “midpoint” of the hyperbola in this type keeps shirting, because indeed the ‘midpoint” is a subjective experience and in fact doesn’t really exist.  There is no “mid” point.  One might say a hyperbola is the opposite of a Venn diagram.  In that diagram what’s on the inside of the circle is what’s relevant, or the data you’re showing.  But with a hyperbola it’s the information on the outside of a hyperbola that’s relevant.  I just thought that was an interesting fact.  

Taking Time to Catch Our Breath

Let's take a break from politics and talk about terms we use to describe ourselves.  I call myself a Deist for instance.  A deist is a person who believes in God but not a personal god whom you can pray to.  I am a Deist and not a Theist.  As such I could still be called an Atheist.  You follow that?  I also call myself an economic nationalist.  Apparently racists have taken to use that term now, just as they have taken to use the term "Objectivist".   It struck me that Objectivist is a polar opposite of things that are themselves polar opposites.  I an not an empericist.  Or let me put it this way.  The scientific method is a very valuable way of learning information but not the ONLY way of learning new information.  I also state there is information out there that is just as True as anything else, as true as any other known Fact, and yet there are things we may never know the Truth of.  In this way you might say I am suggesting a Being or God out there.  There doesn't necessarily have to be a Being out there but to say there is some standard or Truth or body of knowledge that isn't known to use but known by - - somebody, would be suggestive of some sort of Deity.  But if you look at it another way, an empericist and a subjectivist have in common one thing.  Both would make the statement of "Whatever my eyes see and my senses record - this is Truth".  I do not necessarily believe that.  Even that Heisenberg fellow with his uncertainty principle would state that there is a lot of illusion out there where ether waves and light is concerned.  I would say that I am an empericist as long as my empericism serves Truth.  And the minute empericism no longer serves Truth is the time I get off the train and look for some other method of acquiring knowledge, or at least "knowing what I don't know".  The subjectivist believes the world revolves around Him.  He says "Whatever I see, that's what IS".  The empericist says the same thing though his aim is a little different.  People who are subjectivists believe there is no Absolute truth.  There is only Your Truth and My Truth and nobody is entitled to say one's oppinion is worth more than another's oppinion.  The empericist on the other hand would say "There is an absolute truth and I am on the road to fining it and we're getting closer all the time".  I too would say "We're getting closer to Truth, but like the rainbow at the end of the road, I don't believe it's a goal we will never achieve.  Psychologist would say that yes there are are varying standards of what is right and moral.  And they would attach certain words to these "disagreements" or conflicts among humans.  For instance there is a thing called Projection where you project your faults on to others like a movie projector.  It's no longer you but then.  It's FROM you but you don't want to own it.  You've heard the adage "If you want to figure out what's wrong with everybody else why don't you look in a mirror".   This brings us to politics.  Some would say "well if you believe in subjectivism or lack of any absolutes then you believe that Conservatives and Liberals are equally morally justified.  Conservatives try this approach.  They have this thing called "false equivelency" meaning it doesn't matter whether they insult themselves in the process they're sticking it to You and that's the important thing.  Shawn uses this approach all the time.  But as Ghandi once said "If you have the blind leading the blind then both men fall into the ditch".  (Selah)  We liberals are better than that.  At least if you're an objectivist as I am.  But you see the labels they use on each other and it would be easy to begin wondering about it.  Thom Hartman today was reading from Mein Kamph  about the "Jewish press" and they have their cancerous sores and leshions exposed in the light of Truth or something.  But Thom Points out that all you have to do is substitute a few words and you could be talking about today.  So when you see the word "Jew" just substitute "liberal" and when you see the term "Germany" just substitute "America".  It's eye opening reading.  On top of this there is a current book out now on the liberal press that reads like a Donald Trump speech or something saying that the press can't be trusted.  Projection can be explained by the following generalizations.  If you assume that everyone is a liar than maybe you yourself are the liar.  If you assume everyone is a crook, it could be you yourself are a crook.  If you believe everyone thinks about sex 24 hours a day in every situation, than maybe you yourself are the one with the obsession.  When Thom was seven a classmate of his accused Thom of stealing his pencil box and the teacher asked Thom about it and made a really big thing about it.  Thom hadn't done it and later the other boy found the missing pencil box in his own things.  When Thom got home he asked his father about it and the father in non psychological terms explained to his son just what projection was.  The bottom line is that we liberals need to be sure of our high moral ground.  I believe in order to have high moral ground you have to believe that there is some absolute higher standard to strive for.  At times I think Thom makes too many sweeping generalizations both about human nature and economic theory along the lines of Karl Marx.  He makes certain conclusions and I''m "not ready to go there" at least yet, but I'm nibbling around the edges making one emperical conclusion at a time.  If you're at all curious I myself did not start off hating Donald Trump.  I was open minded.  Indeed many of his early ideas I actually liked.  My profound distaste for Trump now was definitely an acquired one.  I still tend to assume people are saying the Truth unless confronted by strong evidence otherwise.  This is in contrast to a Shawn Hannity aid named Linda, who constantly assumes the worst about people untill she's forced to think otherwise.  In other words I'm an optimist while it makes sense to Be an optimist.  After all the word comes from "optimal" or "best performance".   I am a believer in "optimizing" one's life.

This is Tuesday after dinner on February 7, 2017.   Donald Trump’s foreign Islamic visa policy is on trial tonight as the Ninth Circuit Court here on the left coast heard the case tonight.  Right now there is a temporary stay on the executive Visa action of the Trump administration.  This court will set about to making it permanent.  But also it will be appealed to the Supreme Court and at that time it’s believed Trump’s executive order will be upheld.  There is a whole history of executive orders.  An early one was the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln feeing the slaves in the south.  The WPA under FDR,  the Works Progress Administration, was an executive order that the Courts struck down as unconstitutional in 1935.  The order of setting up Japanese internment camps in 1942 was the result of an executive order.  Also the order integrating the Military branches by Harry Truman in 1947 was an executive order.  Also seizure of the Steel Plants in 1952 was an executive order.  I didn’t know that one was ever upheld and it sounds a tad too communistic for my taste.  Eisenhower’s order federalizing the National Guard in 1957 was an executive order that integrated Little Rock.  Also the Peace Corpse was set up in 1961 with an executive order of John Kennedy.  So far President Trump has issues over twenty executive orders.  That’s running way ahead of normal, just as we in California are running way ahead of normal in our snow pack and rain tally figures.  How many executive orders will this Trump administration end up issuing.  And are worse ones yet to come?  These are the pressing questions that keep liberals up at night.  Now we hear that women are more affected by the stress of politics than men are.  I guess this is understandable because they have a lot more to lose with abortion rights and equal pay and all of that.

The Drake Institute is one of these drug free organizations that treats hyperactivity attention deficit disorder.  I wish I had a drug free doctor.  The doctor I got as a kid was a regular pill popper or expected me to be, experimenting with first this drug than that.  But they use things like brain mapping to determine what portions of your child’s brain are being properly stimulated.  Also they do things like neuro feedback.  It’s been stated that kids don’t outgrow hyperactivity disorder.  Indeed Thom Hartman is almost proud of his ADHD.

Rhapsody in Black did songs from February of 1966.  A couple of the songs were three months late.  I think a lot of the songs were early.  Here are the songs they played.  “Do the Duck”, “This Old Heart of Mine”, “The Cheater”, “Crying Time”, “634-5789”, “Shake Me; Break Me” (or maybe it’s “wake”), “Scratch My Back”, “Hard Day’s Night” by Ramsey Lewis, “Uptight, Out of Sight”, “Get out of my Life, Woman”, “My World Is Empty Without You”, and “Going to a Go Go”, “Don’t Mess With Bill”.   “Feel So Fine” I remember vaguely.  Glenda remembered “Let’s Talk it Over” or whatever when she came to use the phone.  I went out for cigarettes at 25 minutes to four and got John Black gold.  I almost tripped over a small bike wheel.  When I returned Bill Gardener was playing a few really old songs including one from 1953 and maybe an older one than that.   Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, and Marvyn Gaye checked in with songs I didn’t recognize. 

Big Come-back Win for Patriots in Superbowl

Yesterday afternoon I tuned in FOX a little before three and they had a salute to the Hall of Fame football players from Black colleges.  There were six who are no longer with us and there were another eighteen who were introduced live.  They sang America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner.  I went for a cigarette and missed the George Bush coin toss but I saw the replay of it later.  Everybody knew the Patriots would win but how they won was very unorthodox.  I went to dinner and missed a chunk of the first half.  We had beef chow mein with chunks of beer and stuff over these Chinese style pasta noodles, which they have been using lately.  I think my plate was less filled than other people’s.  At any rate I was still hungry after eating the meal and we had canned peaches with whipped cream for dessert.   Atlanta got off to a 21 to nothing head start.  The score was 21 to 3 at half time with New England scoring a field goal.  There was the usual protracted wait before the half time show.  Lady Ga-ga gave a good performance, not that I was familiar with her music.  There were a lot of visual and pyrotechnic effects and there were no live vocals.  You could tell she was faking the keyboard playing because it was playing while she did other things.   I went for a cigarette.  Joe is for the Atlanta Falcons as was I and Jeff was routing for the Patriots.  The Falcons scored again in the third quarter making it 28 to 3 at one point leading by 25.  Then the Patriots scored their first official touchdown and missed the extra point.  They botched the on-side kick.  But then things went crazy.  The Falcons never scored again.  After one more Patriots score the commentators said “The Patriots have narrowed it to a two score game” trailing by sixteen.  It so happens that they scored on the two points afterward- - both times.  When the lead was eight points Atlanta marched down the field and were nearly on the twenty yard line ready to kick a field goal to put the game out of reach with time running out.  But they were sacked over ten years and a holding call gave them another ten point loss and they were on the 45 yard line.  To make a long story short the Patriots died it up with less than two minutes to go.  The score was now 28 to 28.  I went for a smoke knowing the Patriots had won the OT coin toss.  When I returned they were on the two yard line and scored and the winning score was 34 to 28.   I wasn’t in any mood to stick around for the trophy presentation.  This was the first time there was a come-back from more than ten points in a Superbowl game and also the first Overtime in a Superbowl game.

Then I had it on Sixty Minutes and it was the “Hamilton” play musical.  I didn’t know that the reason why Hamilton never became President was because of a sexual scandal.  After this it was the Pope’s personal choir which sings in the Sistine Chapel.  It’s a men and boys choir with no women.  They have to learn not to sing too loud or “overbearing” but to have that angelic, heavenly sound.  They talked at length about the rigorous training the boys undergo in their section of the choir.  After that it was NCIS.  Bill bought some cookies and gave me seven of them, which I was happy to have because I was so hungry.  

Donald Trump made the statement that Vladimir Putin isn’t so bad.  Yes, he’s a killer but the United States isn’t innocent when it comes to killing.  That’s almost treasonous to the Republican point of view because it’s admitting we kill innocent people in our wars.  Others were outraged by Trump’s statement.  People also took offense to Trump’s use of the term “so called judge” to question the judicial credentials of the judge who ruled against him on the travel ban thing.  President Trump's latest accusation is that "the media" as some unified entity or something - - is suppressing stories about ISIS terrorist attacks around the world, out of some seeming goal of brainwashing us or something.  Trump is losing his mind!  Jeff said that Hillary was a bisexual and has a female lover, but he’s still vote for her over Donald Trump.  One lady called on Thom Hartman’s show says an expert told her we are on the verge of “complete social breakdown” within four years.  If the blue states fight to get out of the Union they will do OK because New York and California are the producer states and the red states are the freeloader states.  But apparently those from the red states say “Oh yeah?  While we’ve got the guns on our side”.  Mike Meloy said in 2012 that if Romney got elected that year we’d get social revolution immediately, but if Obama got elected than that would be a slower process.  Who’s to say we’ll be in just a couple of months the way things are going. 

The Ninth Circuit Court upheld that Seattle judge’s injunction against the Trump administration as far as that travel ban is concerned.  The old policies under Obama are thus reinstituted and people who have been waiting to fly here from Syria and Iraq are not free to have their visas reactivated, until the window “closes”, which could happen.  It seems increasingly certain that this “travel window” is going to stay open and it’s unlikely that any people will be deported once they’re here.  That would be too much trouble. 

Virtually all Democratic senators are expected to vote against President Trump’s picks to lead the departments of Education, Justice, Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury and his top budget nominee — a historic rebuke of a first-term president’s Cabinet selections.  But clearly though people in so many areas profess resistance Trump’s policies, and they can protest till the cows come home, nothing is going to show for it in actually progress in stopping Trump from implementing his grand scheme.  If Trump wants to make people like me happy he can start by getting rid of Priebus and Bannon.  Extremists having the ear of our President is not a good thing.  Perhaps the most cabinet post is not on this list and that is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.  If he has been confirmed we’re all in hot water right now.  The Senate is scheduled to continue confirming Trump’s Cabinet nominees this week, with a vote scheduled for Tuesday to approve Betsy DeVos, nominated to run the Education Department. Senators are poised to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to serve as the next attorney general by the end of the week.  Clearly the choice of Sessions for Attorney General is going to signal a sharp turn away from filing civil rights or minority rights cases.  But those votes are expected to happen with little or no Democratic support. Only Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) has announced plans to support Sessions. As of Monday, no Democrat has announced support for DeVos, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), nominated to lead Health and Human Services, or Steven T. Mnuchin, nominated as treasury secretary. We know the Treasury guy is a crook.  They all are scheduled for up-or-down votes in the coming days.  Near-unanimous opposition to a first-term president’s Cabinet picks is rare and hasn’t happened in recent history. These are not ordinary times.  But it comes amid a growing furor among progressive groups calling on Democratic lawmakers to oppose all of Trump’s nominees and policies. A CNN poll released on Sunday showed that just 59 percent of Democrats approve of their party’s leaders, a sign that die-hard partisans want lawmakers to serve as a more aggressive check on Trump.   On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) predicted that “If not total unanimity, we’re going to have near Democratic unity in opposing the remaining nominees for President Trump’s Cabinet. But the view from where I sit is that each and every one of these battle will be futile.  And that’s something we’ll have to live with for many years.  

Which Side Donald Trump's Bread is Buttered On

The Trump administration is seeking to roll back the fiduciary rule set up by the Obama administration.  This is the rule subjecting financial advisors to the same constraints that the legal profession has always been under.  And that is to base your conversation with your client to give advice to him or her that’s in the best interest of the client and not yourself.  My only remark here is that I thought this issue had been settled a year or two ago.  But now Trump is setting about the business of taking rights away and not adding them.  However I would by no means go as far as Norm Goldman would who claims that the right to an abortion can be found in the ninth amendment.  If I were the fetus I’d ask myself, “What about my right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?”  Trump has stated that he’s going to maintain LGBT rights established by the Obama administration.  Such is the immense power of the gay lobby. 

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Sunday pointed to the Obama administration’s actions as the basis for their selection of the seven countries. Trump’sorder bars citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the U.S. for the next 90 days.  “There were further travel restrictions already in place from those seven countries,” Spicer said on ABC’s “This Week.”   6 out of the 7 countries on the list – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Syria – were targeted for regime change by the U.S. 25 years ago. Specifically,   (Indeed, the U.S. previously carried out coups to implement regime change in these countries numerous times in the past.)

The 7th country – Lebanon – dodged a bullet, and Yemen replaced it.   But the world’s leading sponsors of terror are not on the list …  CNN notes:

In the hours after its release, many questioned why the list omitted other countries with direct links to those terror attacks. The 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.    All of this information pretty much speaks for itself.  

Saudi Arabia – which is not on the list – is the world’s largest sponsor of radical Islamic terrorists. The Saudis have backed ISIS and many other brutal terrorist groups. And the most pro-ISIS tweets allegedlycome from Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Arabia is the hotbed of the most radical Muslim terrorists in the world: the Salafis (both ISIS and Al Qaeda are Salafis). And top American terrorism experts say that U.S. support for brutal and tyrannical countries in the Middle east – like Saudi Arabia – is one of the top motivators for Arab terrorists.  So whether you love or hate the idea of banning radical Islamic jihadis from the U.S. , the fact is that Trump – using a list compiled by Obama (in turn largely compiled by Neoconservatives pushing regime change 25 years ago) – is banning people from the wrong countries.

So what “fiduciary” duty does President Trump have to the nation?  He repeated that old chestnut we heard so often from the Obama administration that “It takes a thief to catch a thief”.  Have they ever done statistics on that?   We were told Trump is rich so he’s not swayed by lobbying money interest.  It’s the old Chuck Smith axiom that “The very rich have transcended their need for money”.  And yet the left charges that all Trump and those backers of his like Sheldon Adelson want to do is to get their hands on all those government programs such as Medicare and Social Security.  What I’m not seeing an alarming trend of now is the return of “get rich quick” psychology.  We hear a lot about “flipping houses” or the “greater fool theory”.  There is a renewed expectation that Real Estate prices will go on rising forever.  We have seem the return of those ads about “turning your house into a piggy bank” and living off of your accrewed home equity.  For a while the great recession scared these people off but they’re back now.  We hear in the news every day about the stock market making new highs.  This is the kind of news we frequently hear of at the tops of markets.  We are told that “you can’t trust the government because the government doesn’t produce anything”.  But what does the medical insurance industry “produce”.  Am I not by the laws of averages better off financially if I never spent a dime on medical insurance?  Why don’t more people bet on themselves staying well rather than convince themselves they’ll get so sick that they somehow “beat the system”.  The government operates on a much thinner profit margin than do private industry.  With all of that influx of capital from John Q citizen these business tycoons can get even richer.  We just told you that keeping interest rates really low plays into the hands of the very rich.  Investors in T Bills don’t get paid squat.  But the very rich can often borrow money at below the rate of inflation so it’s like they’re getting paid to take the money off your hands.  And with capital comes power to get more wealth.  Now they don’t have the constraints of doing things in the client’s interest but their own.  So the adage remains true of “investor beware!”   

The news on the soap opera is that Clowie is now being a real hard-ass about Nicole’s baby.  Not only will she not even let Nicole hold her own child but she has been taking medication so she can breast feed her baby, which she was sure to do in Nicole’s presence.  Nicole came there to tell her that she’s given up Damos and that there is now no impediment for taking back her child, if that’s what Clowie was afraid of.  After all before this Nicole and Clowie were friends.  But Clowie is a total flake and not worth having as any kind of a friend.  Her response was to call the police on Nicole saying that she was being harassed.  After this I got snacks in the afternoon from Rico.  I got two grape drinks and one package of graham crackers.  Then after deliberation I turned on Shawn Hannity for the first time in a while.  But Hanniday ran me off with that horrible country music he was playing.  It’s the very worst of both milenial music and country music.  It’s about as appealing as a main dish casserole of overcooked Brussels sprouts and broccoli.  It would stand to reason that a man with such wasted political views would have wasted tastes in music.  Shawn was bragging how Donald Trump has become more of a Born Again Christian.  Phil Robinson says so and we know he never lies.  Let’s play a game for a minute.  Suppose every historical word is true in the Bible as far as the resurrection and the Book of Acts and the writings of St Paul in the Epistles.  Even granting the sterling truth of all that where does it get you in terms of forgiveness from sin is concerned?  How many people have you met who are sinless.  That is, sin is a thing of the past for them.  They have been delivered from all sin and the consequences of it.  Well some may say “You’re being unfair.  Obviously we won’t know all that till after we die”.   So we won’t know if Donald Trump has been “delivered from all sin” till after we die.  I don’t know about you but I haven’t met that many people who have died and come back to tell us. 

More Doings of the Trump Administration

Trump is fundamentally changing the procedure and regulations around the “Voice of America” broadcast to foreign countries.  There had been safeguards to keep the thing from being too political and now those are being swept away.  On top of this Trumps wants the Voice of America to broadcast right in this country as a direct government propaganda tool.  Do we really want this?

Russian troops are creating increasing hostilities in the Ukraine and at the same Trump is lightening sanctions against Russia though he’s calling it an “adjustment”.  Now a 35 page memo has surface describing what the Russians did to sabotage the Hillary campaign, and the agent that released this information was shot twice in the back of the head in what the Russians are referring to as “a shooting accident”.  They even have a name for it SHRMSH or something, a Russian acronym, which apparently was referred to in the movie “From Russia With Love”. 

President Trump is expected to sign two directives on Friday, ordering a review of financial industry regulations known as Dodd-Frank and halting implementation of a rule that requires financial advisers to act in the best interests of their clients...  Needless to say the Republicans have been after Dodd-Frank since early 2012 when it was an issue in the Presidential campaign of that year.  People who thought Trump would look out for the little guy in financial affairs were sorely mistaken.  So what else is new?

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's administration enacted new sanctions on Iran Friday, the first concrete action after the White House put Tehran "on notice" this week.  The Treasury Department said it was sanctioning individuals and companies connected to Iran's ballistic missile program and those providing support to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force.  The moves come as punishment for the country's test launch of a ballistic missile last weekend. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said the move was "provocative" and in defiance of a United Nations Security Council resolution.  The new sanctions are designed not to violate the Iran nuclear deal, which the US and five other world powers signed with Tehran during Obama's tenure. That plan allowed for the lifting of major sanctions against Iran in exchange for a curtailment of its nuclear program.  I’m glad to hear that. 

The US economy added 227,000 jobs in the month of January and the unemployment rate rose to 4.8%.  So the first unemployment news in the Trump administration is slightly negative.  If Shawn Hannity is right employment is a failure unless we have at least 300,000 jobs to the economy.   Bobby Gindoll came into office with a surplus in Louisiana and screwed up so badly he was voted out of office.  Sam Brownback in Kansas is still in power and he has economically ruined that state.  

Robert Reich, an ex Clinton aid, was at the riot at Berkley the other night when what he described as “para-military” forces engaged in all that flame throwing activity.   Reich believes this definitely was a false flag operation.  However this story has been dropped from the news but it seems to me somebody investigate just who these instigators were.  Have any of them been identified and arrested and if not, why not?  Think about it. 

Donald Trump spoke a few words yesterday about the navy seal who was killed in a raid that was organized by the Obama administration.  Other seals were wounded and some civilians were killed including a five year old girl.  However generally the raid was a success and a lot of intelligence was gathered and we killed fourteen Al Qaeda.  This may be one area where the democrats are overreacting just a little.  Our navy seals are highly trained and rigorous in their discipline.  I think what happened with this raid could have easily happened if the raid had occurred while Obama was still president.

There is other troubling news.  It seems as if Kelly Anne Conway is making up news about a “Bowling Green Masacre” because two Iraqi terrorists were arrested at Bowling Green.  So now they make up stuff that never happened and all the liberal talk show hosts have been making jokes about it.  So just to clarify the Administration has gone through the looking glass!  Kellyanne Conway is justifying a Muslim ban based on a supposed masacre in Bowling Green, which never happened!

Now Congress ended background checks for “mentally disabeled” people on SSI who are getting funds from the government for their disability.  I have mixed feelings about this.  Thon Hartman states just now that this regulation pertains to those who got on disability because of Mental Illness, that is, because they were too mentally ill to hold down a job.  It at first blush sounds a little risky but the ACLU favors Trump and congress’s move because they don’t believe people’s rights to own a gun should be denied because of “disability”.  I think maybe we should define what we’re talking about here.  Should I rush out to take advantage and go buy a gun now?

People are concerned that Trump wants to carve out special exceptions to his “vetting” of refugees if they are Christian refugees.  Also people wonder about Trump’s concern for “Islamic terrorism” without other “terrorists” such as Timothy Mc Vey or Dylan Roof.   Apparently Trump is working off Obama's list of countries in the Mideast for US citizens not to travel to, and that's his rationalle.  But I've heard other conservatives talking about how "Christian" refugees shouldn't be counted in the "vetting" process.  

Congress got rid of a regulation barring Kentucky coal miners from throwing sludge into a local river.  Trump thinks this is a good thing.  The way people talk you’d think half the people in the states of Kentucky and West Virginia were coal miners and they don’t mind getting black lung disease of being cut off of disability just as long as they have the right to go on polluting.  The extent to which Donald Trump is biased in favor of wanton polluters will become increasingly evident as the weeks and months pass.

One thing which may absolutely shift the balance of Church and State in this country is the lifting of all political shackles from tax exempt churches.  Now they can be just as political as they care to be with overt campaigning and endorsements of political candidates.   I think the solution is don’t give ANY churches tax exempt status and that way they can be free to do what they want, but if their campaigning is on the government dime, then I have a problem with it. 

A Bunch of Aimless, Miandering News Stories

This is Thursday February 2, 2017, Groundhog Day.  The political weather is adverse.  The democrats are like people who knew there was a storm coming but did not take the necessary precautions to guard against it.  Now they’re in the unenviable position of just having to face the full brunt of it not knowing how long it would last.  They would be knowing that they could expect some major disaster but barely wanting to even think about it because as of now there is no light at the end of the tunnel.  Those on the right are loaded for bear.  Ted Cruz spoke of “obstructionist policies” after one day of not approving Justice Gorsuch after they themselves sat on the Democratic justice nominee for nearly a year and did nothing.  Their whole avowed goal under Obama from day one was obstructionist against Obama and if Obama was less than a completely successful president, they only have themselves to blame for that.  Thom Hartman had that congressman on for an hour and that conversation was completely inconsequential.

Was the riot at Berkley a false flag operation?   I just lost the rest of this paragraph.  There were protests against a Britebart speaker and I think they should have gone on and let him speak, for what it’s worth.  Because right now it really makes the progressive protest movement look bad.  One can only imagine how FOX news will cover the thing.   False flag looks like the most logical thing because the political right is the one that most profits from this coverage. 

WASHINGTON — A day after the Trump administration put Iran on noticefor its launch of a ballistic missile, a war of words erupted between the American president and the Iranian government, with President Trump insulting Tehran on Twitter and the Iranians responding in kind.  A top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday that Iran would not be intimidated by threats from “an inexperienced person.” Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, had warned Iran that it faced unspecified reprisals from the United States if it did not cease aggressive behavior toward its neighbors.  Mr. Trump echoed Mr. Flynn’s threat with a pair of early morning Twitter posts, in which he accused the Iranians of ingratitude for the nuclear deal negotiated with the West, which he asserted had rescued Iran from collapse.   The hostile statements have raised tensions between Iran and the United States to their highest levels since the signing of the nuclear deal in 2015. Some analysts said they worried that the harsh words could further escalate hostilities, and even precipitate a military confrontation, if Iran tests America with another missile launch.  My only comment here is that it’s better they let off tensions with a war of words rather than a missile launching contest. 

Now the republicans aren’t “repealing and replacing” Obama Care.  Instead there is talk about “Repairing Obama Care”.  That one is a first.  They have voted over fifty times to repeal the Affordable Care Act but now that they have the power to actually do it they are declining.  In other silly news Arnold Swartzenegger talked to Trump after Trump’s remark at the monthly prayer breakfast about “Praying for Swartzenegger’s ratings on his pathetic TV show” so Arnold responds to that “If you want we could switch jobs.  You take over my TV program and I’ll take over your job so we can all rest easy”.   President Arnold would be an improvement.  Then there was a phone call to Austrailia about accepting all of these Iranian refugees that the Obama administration had agreed to accept.  The question is whether or not they have been vetted. 

Even some Democrats are looking for a fight with Iran.  Here is the front page of the resolution introduced into the House of Representatives by Democrat Alcee L Hastings, an extremely close ally of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who had to resign in disgrace as chair of the Democratic National Committee after WikiLeaks published emails establishing her corrupt endeavours to fix the primary elections for Hillary against Bernie Sanders.  The Resolution reads “To authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces to achieve the goal of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”   There is in fact no evidence that Iran is continuing a covert programme to produce nuclear weapons. British, French and Russian intelligence all assess that Iran is sticking to its agreements and – here is a key point – so do the CIA. But when did politicians ever let facts stand in their way?  Trump’s mad visa ban, which excludes Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States which are the main financiers, armers, ideologues and exporters of Salafist terrorism, turns out to be imposed on the countries which were on Obama’s watchlist. As the Hastings resolution shows, the anti-Iranian and pro-Saudi madness is bipartisan. To include Iran but exclude Saudi Arabia is further evidence of the twisting of US foreign policyto serve the interests of Saudi Arabia and its ally Israel. 

The Democrats Should Approve Justice Gorsuch

Here are some thoughts the media has about Gorsuch.  Norman Goldman believes that he should be filibustered regardless of whether the nuclear option is invoked.  I believe this would be a horrible mistake.  You can’t really attack this man despite what follows in this paragraph.  He has impeccable credentials and seems like a fair guy who believes in the original meaning of the US Constitution, as do I.  I too believe the Court should not be in the legislating business.  Some Republicans last fall fearing a Hillary election said that they would not confirm ANY court justices for four years.  We democrats must not stoop to their standards.  Chuck Schummer wants a "concensus candidate".  They don't have the political capital to insist on that.  I know all of the arguments pro and corn and now is not the time for game playing.  But still there are concerns the media has, as follows here.  As a lawyer in private practice for a decade, President Donald Trump's U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch often fought on behalf of business interests, including efforts to curb securities class action lawsuits, experience that could mould his thinking if he is confirmed as a justice.  Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado nominated by wealthy businessman Trump on Tuesday, could turn out to be a friend to business, having represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in fending off securities class actions, one of the most hotly contested areas of corporate law.  The chamber is the largest U.S. business lobbying group.  If confirmed, Gorsuch would be one of the only current justices with extensive experience on business issues in private practice.   Securities class action lawsuits are filed by investors who allege misconduct by a company whose stock price has tanked, hurting investors' portfolios. These once-common lawsuits now face higher hurdles and are filed less often.  Congress passed laws in 1995 and 1998 making it harder to bring securities class actions. Later court rulings, including one in which Gorsuch was involved, clarified the requirements under the laws.  From 1995 to 2005, Gorsuch worked at boutique law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel in Washington, becoming a partner in 1998. He had a wide range of clients, including individuals and nonprofits, as well as various business interests. While there, he filed two briefs on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce seeking limits to securities class actions.   I guess the question for Christians is “Where is it written in stone that in order to be a Christian in good standing you must be a do or die Corporatist?

President Trump had upped the ante by being a cheerleader for the “Nuclear Option”.  He’s playing a dangerous game.  I’ve told you the risks.  2018 is just around the corner.  The battle over President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, turned immediately explosive on Wednesday, as Mr. Trump urged Senate Republicans to abandon a 60-vote threshold for confirmation and leaders of both parties strained to navigate what could become the most contentious nomination fight in a generation.  Mr. Trump advised the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, to “go nuclear” if necessary, referring to the so-called nuclear option that would scuttle the filibuster in favor of a simple majority vote on Judge Gorsuch, who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, in Colorado.  “That would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was put up to that neglect,” Mr. Trump said from the Roosevelt Room of the White House. “I would say it’s up to Mitch, but I would say, ‘Go for it.’”   Democrats are grappling with their most consequential strategic decision to date in the age of Trump: how aggressively to oppose the president’s choice for a seat many believe was stolen from their party.  This element of “being stolen” is the ghost that hangs over this nomination.  Judge Meric Garland was a moderate.  In picking him last year President Obama bent over backwards to be conciliatory.  The Republicans snubbed him. 

Rex Tillerson was confirmed for Secretary of State with many democrats breaking ranks to vote for this controversial candidate.  If they aren’t concerned about him maybe my own beliefs are a bit alarmist.  Should I really assume that “God” is on Donald Trump’s shoulder guiding his cabinet picks?  According to Nancy Bell Trump has the approval of 57% of Americans, which was a surprise to me.  If that’s true then the American people at large aren’t b uying this whole mass protest bit that’s been going on twelve days.  I would say that if I were a democrat I’d vote for Neil Gorsuch as Supreme Court justice.  The reason is self preservation because if they don’t vote for him, Mitch Mc Connell will just invoke the nuclear option so that they have no choice.  I guess if I’m going to have a fight on something I better make sure the consequences are worth it.  The word is that democrats are “slow walking” Trump’s cabinet picks and it’s taking longer for them to get confirmed than usual.  If the Democrats pick up three senators they can control the US Senate next time around.  Then they’ll have the nuclear option at their disposal and this I’m sure is giving Mc Connell pause before he imposes it. 

Now the Trump administration is "Putting Iran on notice" because of some missile launch there or something.  We know how Trump is aching for a fight somewhere.  Just remember that Jesus said "Blessed are the peace makers for God shall call them his sons".  Trump should try and hang on to that thought.  We don't need a Mideast war now.  The country is too traumatized to go through another war.  As Washington's blog pointed out the other day, we're still involved in Afghanistan for the past fifteen years.  Let's just try and wrap up that conflict successfully before starting another conflict.   

They had January of 1959 on Rhapsody in Black.  They had a lot of really obscure songs and they played a lot of blues.   They played “The Night Time is the Right Time” in a different version from what we grew up with.  They played “Key to the Highway” and “Sweet Home, Chicago” in different incarnations than we know.  They played “I’ve Had It” from the old KRTH days.  They played “Stagger Lee” by Lloyd Price, and “Say You Will” by Jackie Wilson and “Whole Lotta Loving To Do” by Fats Donino.  They played a follow up to “Rocking Robin”.  They played “Smoke Gets in your Eyes” and “Topsey Part 2”.   They played “The Lone Ranger Got Married”, which is not by the Coasters, but also played “Charlie Brown”, which is.  The last song they played was “The Twist” by Hank Ballard.