Author: Raymond

 
From North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz:

Her story was heartbreaking and it was tragic—but it wasn’t at all unusual. The room that night (just like this country) was filled with people like her: Fox News orphans, MAGA family refugees, and Trump-Train widows. I hear their stories dozens of times a day.

They are grown children, turned away by parents.
Siblings driven apart in loud tantrums or in quiet disconnection.
Extended family members relegated to superficial small talk at holiday gatherings.
Spouses feeling a new alienation in one another’s presence.
Neighbors avoiding eye contact across hedges.
Church friends exchanging uncomfortable silences.
They are people forced into isolation, or choosing it out of self-preservation.

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From David Robertson at The Moderate Voice:

Whatever name he is called by, the Messiah’s birth two millennia ago benefited everyone, including agnostics and atheists.

To understand how, we need to consider the following words of Saul of Tarsus:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Those things aren’t just sentiments. The fruit of the Spirit are put into action to the benefit of society in general.

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From The Journal of Improbable Research:

Results: Jollity has independent associations with satisfaction with health and income, male gender, younger age, and country of residence. Each one-point increase in satisfaction with health (on a 5-point scale) corresponds to a 0.79-point increase in jollity (23-point scale); each one-point increase in satisfaction with income (4-point scale) corresponds to a 0.76-point increase in jollity. Switzerland is the jolliest country in Europe.

Conclusions: The jolliest European is likely to be a young Swiss male who is satisfied with his income and health. If there is a Santa Claus effect acting to increase jollity, it probably acts not just in Scandinavia but across Mr. Claus’s broad network of contacts and admirers in many countries.

and

I suggest that the ‘‘Santa Claus’’ effect on true jollity is a negative one and that this is unsurprising if one is likely to be accosted by a disturbing character given to using the downright sinister ‘‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’’ as a greeting who plans to enter your home without permission in a most unorthodox way (Davis, 2012).

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From The Onion:

“If you have a friend who has attempted to pass off objects like a bulky bookshelf or rickety night stand, it could suggest that the person may be headed in the direction of signing a new lease,” said lead researcher Sandra Maiworm, urging Americans to keep an eye out for loved ones suddenly trying to part with their coffee maker or blender, or making seemingly innocuous comments about being unable to attend any block parties after the end of the month.

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From Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged:

This could look like a situation to play solely for laughs, if we forgot that thousands of migrant children are held in US custody, and the head of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen can’t say how many people have died in DHS custody, even though she should have intuited that this was sort of question she might have been asked in the wake of the death of a seven-year old girl, Jaklin Caal Maquin. The “wall” has become such an item of importance to DHS that they’ve lost their articles over it, because we needs wall, precious, and filthy libses thwarts us!

I have half a notion that if this wears on, instead of caving, Schumer and Pelosi should actually put DACA back on the table. Just give him the original $1.6 billion he originally rejected because he got his ass reddened by the RW talkers, and make a demand regarding how he even gets that much out of Dems. Because Trump’s cards are all on the table. He wants his wall funding and he needs it to make his base happy. (His “art of the deal” is so terribly naked and on display here.)

Dems don’t love a shutdown, but it might be really nice to see Trump’s “My way or the highway” attitude get greeted with “Eat asphalt”.

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From Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger:

A few days ago, in a meeting with Democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump threatened to shut down the government if they didn’t give him money to build a wall on our southern border. He went even further, and said he would take full responsibility for the shutdown, and would not blame Democrats. It seems that was just another of his many lies.

He followed through on his threat to shut down the government when Congress refused to give him $5 billion for the wall. But he now doesn’t want to accept the responsibility for his actions. Instead of accepting responsibility for his shutdown of the government, he is now trying to shift the blame onto Democrats — exactly what he said he wouldn’t do.

It’s not working though.

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From Jonathan Bernstein:

President Donald Trump’s border wall died yet another death on Tuesday, as the White House retreated from last week’s boasts about shutting down the government over it. Realistically, the wall has been dead for months, and perhaps since last year; Trump’s renewed bluster served only to demonstrate how weak he is, and to weaken him further for the next round of bargaining. Who’s going to believe him after so many empty threats?

The wall, in fact, offers a good example of why Trump just isn’t very good at presidenting

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From Max’s Dad:

God I need an escape from the deterioration of this entire nation. Its too goddamned much. I feel like pulling the covers up over my head and waiting for this putrid group of miscreants to go away. In the meantime, lets go to the movies.

The Mule

Clint Eastwood is really old. But Clint Eastwood is still relevant. The 88 year old directs like he doesnt have much time left. Its like a one take and I havent got time for a second. Who can forget the doll baby Bradley Cooper had to shake around to make it look alive in the horrific American Sniper?

The Mule is story of an old man, a neglectful old man who spent his whole life drinking with his buddies, growing his flowers and having nothing to do with his wife and kids. And the family hates him for it. He’s alone, he’s rejected, and he’s miserable. He’s also out of money due to the “damn internet” putting his flower business under water.

In a completely implausible scene he is offered a chance to make a lot of money just driving around. He bites. The next thing you know he’s running drugs for the cartel in his old pickup, then his new pickup. He finances his granddaughters wedding, he saves his old VFW hall, he saves his broken down home from foreclosure. He’s living high.

But then comes Bradley Cooper and Michael Pena. Working for the DEA, the two agents are after this so called Mule. They get closer and closer and the Mule begins to feel the heat.

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From Jack Jodell at The Saturday Afternoon Post:

Santa had it relatively much easier this year: he was able to determine exactly who would be given his “Donald of the Year Award” for this year of 2018 much earlier than normal, and with very little hesitation or indecision. Long time readers of this blog are familiar with this holiday award, which Santa gives each December to the one organization, group, or person whose statements or actions were so boneheaded, preposterous, and insane that they were more than deserving of ridicule.

Past recipients have included:
2017 – Presi-dunce Donald Chump
2016 – President-elect Donald Chump
2015 – presidential candidate Donald Chump
2014 – TIED – self-proclaimed killer of Osama bin Laden Robert James O’Neill and President Barack Obama
2013 – the obstructionist 113th Congress
2012 – Ex-Hostess Brands CEO Gregory J. Rayburn and his executive board
2011 – the entire Republican congressional caucus
2010 – the obnoxious Phillips “Colon Lady”
2009 – Richard Heinke, the idiot who faked sending his little boy up in a hot-air balloon just for publicity
2008 – disgraced former Democratic IL Governor Rod Blagojevich

As mentioned, this year it was all clear as a bell to Santa. He didn’t even have to designate who came close to receiving the award, because no one came within a light-year of the winner. But – to keep up with tradition, Santa DID finally note some distant also-rans…

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From tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors:

Who’s counting, you ask?

Wired Magazine has created a handy cut-out-and-keep guide to all 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations! It would be wrong to just republish their work, but I think listing the investigators and saying most of ’em have multiple investigations going on is fair play! It’s a good read!

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