On Politics
Congress failure to have a vote before leaving for the campaign trail regarding ISIS/ISIL is another example that members of Congress act with the party and personal interest first. After all, the majority of the House of Representatives skirt their responsibility while wanting to sue the President regarding use of executive powers. Vote them all out!
Did anyone see the Charlie Wilson’s War (the movie with Tom Hanks)? Discussions about arming and assisting the Syrian rebels reminds me of that movie.
A friend of mine told me that he heard a political commentator say that the reason nothing can get done in Washington is because there are too many people who are socially liberal but fiscally conservative clogging the streets. That’s a load of crap because there are very few in Congress who think that way. In other words, we are not a scapegoat!
An interesting interactive: US Presidents and their approval ratings
On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Man always taking good mood out on friends
Grasshopper dismembered by future Supreme Court Justice
Man having great time will soon have to apologize to everyone
Tense party enters third hour of unplayed acoustic guitar leaning against the wall
Man worried antidepressants will leave trace of original personality
Study finds mass extinction could free up billions of dollars in conservation funding by 2024
The Onion’s list of highlight from George Clooney’s wedding
Interesting Reads
Science is not democratic
Brookings’ on why government fails
Mutual funds’ five-star curse
Bacteria may be telling you what to eat
Teaching is not a business
Insurance companies tracking your driving
On Potpourri
This past week was simply one of those limiting my time visiting blogs. 😦
I heard this story that sounds right from The Onion (but isn’t) … It seems a reality show will determine the crew for a privately funded trip to Mars.
Blog party right here this weekend, so sure hope you stop by. Celebration starts at 12:15 am (Eastern US), so Europe, the party will be ready for your morning, and lunch time in the Lands Down Under.
No Saturday Morning Cartoon post is weekend because of the party of pre-empting normal scheduling.
Your weekend celebrations
- (Fri) Smile Day, Denim Day, Diversity Day, Borderline Personality Disorder Day, Caramel Custard Day, Techies Day, Butterflies & Hummingbirds Day
- (Sat) Cephalopod Day, Balloons Around-the-World Day, Blessing of the Pets Day, Frugal Fun Day, Improve Your Office Day, Taco Day, Ship-in-a-Bottle Day, Cinnamon Roll Day, Golf Lovers Day, Vodka Day, Toot-Your-Own-Horn Day, Animal Day, Ten-Four Day, Card-Making Day
- (Sun) Bathtub Party Day, Change a Light Day, Country Inn Bed & Breakfast Day, Blessing of the Fishing Fleet Day, No Prostitution Day, Apple Betty Day, Smile Day, Do Something Nice Day, Depression Screening Day
To send you into the weekend, here’s a mild song to enjoy – it’s the Doobie Brothers with Black Water. Hope to see you at this weekend’s party, plus have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
A Frank Angle 
The caramel custard sounds like it just might help me out with the BPD issues….thanks, Frank.
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Ponder,
Caramel itself is renown for its therapeutic value.
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And it’s so sensual….
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I’d say nothing gets done in Washington because at least one of the parties finds it much easier to get re-elected by doing nothing and blaming the other side for doing nothing. Today, this party is the Republican party. It’s tempting to blame both parties, but Democrats are a minority in the House, and thanks to filibusters, effectively a minority in the Senate as well.
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X,
Unquestionably the Do-Nothing Congress who would rather play the blame game over finding solutions. Pathetic .. simply pathetic.
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And today I learned that Clinton is the only president in the last 60 years whose approval rating IMPROVED during his tenure. Wasn’t he nearly impeached by congress critters?
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Twixt,
Oh yes … not only the threat of impeachment (an all-too-common play by the opposing party on a president), but how much money did Congress waste on the Whitewater investigation!
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Friday is always Denim Day at The Grind, Frank — and often, so is Monday through Thursday.
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Lame,
Maybe The Grind started the trend! Hope the Film Festival is treating you well.
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Mass extiinction gets a bad press in my opinion. All the best. See ya!
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GFB,
Absolutely … maybe we should declare Mass Extinction is Good Month!
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Taco Day tomorrow?
Great timing, I bought fish today at the farmers market, fish tacos for lunch tomorrow.
I’m so out of touch regarding ISIS/ISIL and the clowns in the congress.
Looking forward to the party tomorrow.
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Leo,
Cheers to your timing for your Saturday celebration of Taco Day. Bon appetite!!! Meanwhile, ISIS/ISIL is newsworthy, but certainly not the US Congress. Thanks again for the promotion!
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Polishing my tiara and hosing off the gardening clogs. I just love to dress up in my finest……see you at the party, aFA!
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Raye,
Tiara and garden clogs are perfect … and I’ll have some roses waiting for your arrival to make you feel at home.
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A national ‘smile day’ wouldn’t go amiss. 🙂 Have a great weekend, Frank. I’ll try to pop in on your party.
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Sylvia,
Smiles are worthy all days! … and I look for to you stopping by.
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A little to the side here…I just had an email notifying me of a posting you just made about Portsmouth, NH? When I went to see it, “oops, this page cannot be found” popped up. So I did go to the original story…I was particularly interested, because I just moved from that area…I lived in the next town (more working class) of Dover. Portsmouth is where we went for odd, upscale restaurants, quaint shops and “charm”—–a tourist destination city. Nice.
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Cynthia,
Yep .. .an error at this end as I hit someone’s reblog button … but here’s the link just for you … http://backroadjournal.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/portsmouth-a-picturesque-new-england-town/
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It’s Smile Day – so knew I could drop by here and grab one.
(Twilight Zone time – we’ve run across some of the same articles..oooooo)
Finally a cool breeze seems to have blown some of the mosquitoes off – so things looking good here. Have a great weekend – party on!
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Mouse,
Oh my … (regarding the articles) … serendipitous connections between Galveston and Cincinnati! Cheers that the breezes are cool and the mosquitoes are gone … well, at least for now. Hope you can stop by this weekend.
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Well, look at that! It’s Friday, I’m wearing denim and I’m smiling since I took the day off ! Looking forward to the celebrations, Frank! Happy weekend and cheers!
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Kayjai,
One would wonder if you are smiling because you are wearing denim or took the day off … I say neither because a glass of wine is nearby.
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Sad isn’t it that the average person works hard all their lives and can expect next to nothing from the government in retirement, yet the politicians who live high on the hog off our tax dollars while doing nothing useful get to collect their salary and have good medical care forever, paid for from the tax dollars of people who have far less money than they do. Perhaps that mass extinction should be of politicians?
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LB,
Yep .. the politicians have a good retirement plan … and yes … they could be the one group that the public ranks lower than lawyers … which is good for the lawyers … then again, many (if not most) of the politicians are lawyers. Throw the bums out!!!! … then throw out their replacements.
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Frank, your Portsmouth post is not coming up …
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Elyse,
A bonehead move on my part of an accidental click of a Reblog button … hopefully you will let me keep my head.
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Of course.
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Thank you My Queen … and I forever grateful.
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See you at the party!
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Resa,
Absolutely!!!!
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love the Doobies-love Black Water
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Doobies…..Yay!! 🙂 Love the Clooney highlights. I wonder how they’re going to manage without the 3 piece baking bowl set. 😕
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Sylvia,
The Clooneys may have to go to Wal Mart to fill the need. … and glad you enjoyed Black Water!
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I think they would really stand out in Walmart as the ‘beautiful people’. 🙂
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George has a good sense of humor, so I’d love to see his idea of fitting in.
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Tense party enters third hour of unplayed acoustic guitar leaning against the wall – oh, this one cracked me up, Frank! Sliding into the weekend with the Doobie Brothers – yeah!
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Lynn,
As a musician, I can see how it gave you an extra chuckle. Meanwhile, I hope you can make it to this weekend’s party!
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Sorry to be a day late on this response, but I fell asleep last night watching my longtime favorite PBS news show – The McLaughlin Group, then I fell sleep again watching the MLB Playoff game, then I fell asleep yet again watching a TV police detective show that my wife wanted me to watch with her with the promise that I wouldn’t fall asleep. Anyway, in response to the Brookings Institute report on “A Cascade of Failures: Why Government Fails, and How to Stop It,” I divide Paul C. Light’s solutions into two groups related to the two political parties, with the third group not applicable to either (party):
GROUP 1 (GOP)
Sharpen the mission
Flatten the chain of command and cut the bloat
GROUP 2 (DEMS)
Provide the funding, staff, and collateral capacity to succeed
GROUP 3
Select presidential appointees for their effectiveness, not connections
Think about policy effectiveness from the start
I liked “Tense party enters third hour of unplayed acoustic guitar leaning against the wall.”
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Happy weekend Frank, I’m only a day late but off to a good start! Have a great one ~
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Mary,
The best thing about blogs are that visitors are never late. 🙂
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Here’s one enthusiastic vote for one of your “interesting reads”, Insurance companies tracking your driving. I not only see this as inevitable, but as desirable.
It’s a jungle out there on the roads and the older and more brittle I get the more I crave some means of improving my odds against the distracted, the drunk and the sleep-deprived. If people can be incentivized to pay attention, I am all for it. I see a definite correlation between this kind of monitoring and the notion of putting individual video cams on police. People act differently if someone’s watching (and they know who you are).
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Jim,
When I heard an interview with the author, I had to find the article because I knew it was perfect for this collection … and yes … someone read it! … and you bring up great points!
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