The Trump Economy continues to disappoint

Well, it is disappointing Democrats.  New Harris poll of blue collar workers says they think that they're better off than they were 5 years ago and that the economy is on the right track:

This part is particularly interesting:

Blue collar workers are slightly more likely to identify with the Democratic party, 35 percent vs. 31 percent for Republicans. By a small margin, they think Republicans do a better job of helping blue collar Americans than Democrats, 39 percent vs. 36 percent.

I'm so old, I remember when the Democratic Party used to actively support the working guy.

Hmmm ...

I'm beginning to suspect that voting might not change anything.

Epic trolling is epic

The lunatics at PETA have rented a billboard in Maryland, with a message aimed at convincing the good citizens not to eat the local delicacy blue crab.  The caption is "I'm ME, not Meat".  Well it took only a blink of an eye before an adjacent billboard went up mocking the PETA loons.

Sorry PETA: Revenge is a dish best served cold, over spread out over newspapers, with nutcrackers and tiny wooden hammers 🦀🦀🦀 #Maryland #MarylandMyMaryland pic.twitter.com/rse0T7pP0h

— Tom Fitzgerald (@FitzFox5DC) August 30, 2018

Whoever you are, Mr. Billboard Man, a grateful Internet thanks you.

Arthur Bliss: Overture to Christopher Columbus

On this day in 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail with three tiny ships from the Canary Islands, his last port of call in the Old World on his way to the New.  1949 saw the release of a staggeringly expensive film about the explorer.  It was a box office disappointment but featured a score by Sir Arthur Bliss, a fairly prolific composer for the British film industry.  Bliss had experimented with the modernist movement but found the revenue stream more reliable with more accessible music for stage and screen.  There's a moral for modern composers in there somewhere.

Quote of the Day: Fauxahontas edition

The scene: The Queen Of The World and I are driving in the Borepatchmobile and stop at a light.

The Queen Of The World: Hey, that lady is driving an Elizabeth Warren! 

Me: ??? 

The Queen Of The World: Her Jeep is all white but it says that it's a Cherokee!

LOL.

Brad Paisley - Celebrity

Last week the Queen Of The World and I went to see Brad Paisley in concert.  Paisley is one of the best guitar players around, and seeing him live really highlights that.  He is also a surprisingly humble and gracious man: he opened the concert by thanking everyone for coming out to hear him, he had a group of active service military up by the stage at his invitation, and during the concert he went around the audience (presumably) to meet a disabled vet and invited him back stage after the concert.

When you combine that with his sense of humor which is on conspicuous display in today's song, it was a very enjoyable evening.  One interesting moment was when he performed a duet with Carrie Underwood where she participated via Facetime.  It was pretty cool.

Image copyright Borepatch

Paisley comes off as being very down to earth, in great contrast to a lot of today's celebrities.  This song makes fun of that, with a couple of very recognizable real life celebrities.



Celebrity (Songwriter: Brad Paisley)

Someday I'm gonna be famous, do I have talent, well no
These days you don't really need it thanks to reality shows
Can't wait to date a supermodel, can't wait to sue my dad
Can't wait to wreck a Ferrari on my way to rehab

'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
You can act just like a fool
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
I can throw a major fit
When my latte isn't just how I like it
When they say I've gone insane
I'll blame it on the fame
And the pressures that go with
Being a celebrity 

I'll get to cry to Barbara Walters when things don't go my way
And I'll get community service no matter which law I break
I'll make the supermarket tabloids, they'll write some awful stuff
But the more they run my name down the more my price goes up

'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
I can fall in and out of love
Have marriages that barely last a month
When they go down the drain
I'll blame it on the fame
And say it's just so tough
Being a celebrity

So let's hitch up the wagons and head out west
To the land of the fun and the sun
We'll be real world bachelor jackass millionaires
Hey hey, Hollywood, here we come

'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
Being a celebrity
Yeah celebrity

Yet another reason to love the Red Sox

The Triple Crown is one of Baseball's most challenging prizes.  It is only awarded to a player who has the most home runs and runs batted in, and who also has the highest league batting average.  To give you a sense of just how elusive this award is, there was a 45 year gap between Boston's Carl Yazstremski winning the triple crown in 1967 and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera winning it in 2012.  Most years nobody can top all three of the stats.

This year, Boston's J.D. Martinez is taking a run for it.  He's tied for most home runs at 39.  He leads RBIs with 114.  He's second in batting average with .336 - closely behind teammate Mookie Betts' .342.  That 0.006 is actually more of a challenge than you might think, but it's plausible that Martinez could pull it off this season.  There are still 27 games left, after all.

But what's cool about Martinez is that he's a strong Second Amendment supporter:

"As most of you guys know, I'm Cuban-American," Martinez explained. "Most of my family was run out of Cuba because of a brutal dictator. It's terrible…. My parents still talk about family members that are back in Cuba that I'll never get to meet. And it sucks." It sure does. Here in the United States, though, Martinez can celebrate the fact that a heavily armed citizenry helped repel subjugation. 

"I love my country," Martinez went on to tell the New York Daily News. "I stand by the Constitution and I stand by the Second Amendment."

Here's wishing Martinez success this season, and continued success as an ambassador for self defense.

Photo via MLB/Red Sox

Wow

Stolen from Bob's Facebook feed (sure wish he'd start posting more on his blog, too, hint hint) - Cassini's final picture before it entered Saturn's atmosphere and burned up.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

- John 1:4

Quote of the Day: Get offa my lawn edition

The Queen Of The World posted on the Book of Faces:

This week we went to play our usual Monday night Trivia, but this time it was a bit disturbing. The emcee that night was a young lady who, among many other examples, did not know how to spell or pronounce ‘colonel’, had never heard and had no idea what the word ‘fickle’ meant, had never heard of the ‘Pulitzer Prize’ and could not pronounce it, could not pronounce and did not know the meaning of the word ‘synonym’. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have thought too much about these (and the many other) knowledge gaps she displayed, or the fact that she had difficulty reading the questions, but it was especially disturbing when she announced her day job. 

She’s a teacher in the public school system! 

Questions abound:

• How did she graduate from high school?
• How did she graduate from college?
• But first and foremost - how is she even remotely capable of teaching ANYONE???

We knew many schools are ditching cursive, ditching basic math, ditching phonics and grammar, and many teachers are spewing their own personal political beliefs in place of expected teachings, but what a scary eye-opening to learn they’re now ditching intelligence too! This woman actually landed a teaching job! I have to wonder what motivated a school to hire this person as a teacher. 

Parents beware - get to know your teachers, get to know your schools, do whatever you have to, but please ensure your children’s education is a good one!! The future of our world depends on it! 

(P.S. This was not a case of nerves. She has been doing this job for quite awhile and was quite comfortable)

Word.

And as a footnote, the county spends over $13,000 per student per year.  For a class of 20, that's over a quarter of a mil.  And for that quarter mil, the citizens get this.

Back to school

Maybe this year she can work on listening skills.

How history is taught is stupid

Do tell.  For what it's worth, I can't find a reference to when she said this, and so it might just be another made up Internet meme.

With the Upcoming Anniversary of 9/11 - A Must Read from a Ground Zero Chaplain - A Brigid Guest Post

I've made it a point NOT to use Borepatch's generosity in inviting me to guest post to plug my own books. (and I'm working on book #5 so I've not been posting much).  So I don't.  But I read a book yesterday by one of the 9/11 Volunteer Ground Zero Chaplains  (A Chicago Firefighter) that extremely moved me.  Although it was written by a Christian Chaplain this book will resonate with anyone that had gone through tragedy or assumed the role of a soldier or first responder.

Highly recommended. . . .Brigid
----------------------------

If you are a proud American, read this book.
If you are a Christian, read this book.
If you are a first responder, EMT, paramedic, fireman, or police officer, read this book.
If you are too young to truly remember 9/11 read this book.
If you've ever questioned where God was when you suffered some great loss, read this book.

Written by a former Chicago firefighter, rescue diver, and chaplain who volunteered (5 tours) at Ground Zero this is the most amazing story of courage, faith, and humanity as I have ever read. I stayed up well into the night finishing it, even though I had to be at work early. I ended it with tears on my face and a renewed trust in God and the humanity of my fellow man.

https://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Over-Terror-Bob-Ossler-ebook/dp/B01LHU0I6C/

Heh

Now I'm of a mind that most reporters should be horsewhipped through the public square, so I'm the last person anyone would want as a Press Secretary.  Because I'd talk to them kind of like this.

The Catholic Church has a swamp that needs to be drained

In a time of universal (dare we say catholic) deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.  Click through and read the entire document which is damning.

The response so far is fascinating.  The Pope says he won't talk about it, and Cardinal Cupich says that this whole sorry mess is just a distraction keeping the Church from talking about climate change. That's what a swamp looks like.

Boy, that's some Global Warming

Unusually early snowstorms in the Rockies and Alps.  Jackson Hole, Saltzburg, Italy, and Slovenia.  Man, that Global Warming can do anything.

Remember this the next time some drooling cretin points to a heat wave or summer wildfire as "proof" of Global Warming.

Cop pulls Batmobile over

Wants a selfie with Batman.

The famous caped crusader Batman isn’t often seen on the wrong side of the law. But on Saturday, one driver in Caledon, Canada, captured a video of the costumed superhero getting pulled over in his Batmobile by an Ontario police officer.

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article217219570.html#storylink=cpy

But it turns out the “Brampton Batman” wasn’t in trouble at all. The officer just wanted to snag a picture with him, he said, according to GlobalNews Canada.

The Future is weird.

By their works shall ye know them

Senator McCain has passed over to that Undiscovered Country whose shores will one day welcome each of us.  Old NFO has some thoughts that are well worth your time.

I'm of two minds.  Old NFO highlights some of the more sordid events in his career, but his passing was a particularly nasty one (I remember what the cancer did to Dad). It brings to mind the passing of Talleyrand, foreign minister successively to French King Louis XVI, the French Revolutionary regime, Napoleon, and then Kings Louis XVIII and Louis-Philippe.  That's quite an odd set of bed fellows, and highlights Talleyrand's (ahem) flexible principles.  But the end comes for all, and Talleyrand was no exception; he fell ill and was in great pain.  It is said that Louis-Philippe came to visit his minister on his death bed.

Inquiring how he was that day, Talleyrand replied "I suffer the agonies of Hell", to which the King is said to have remarked "What, already?"

On the other hand, I recall the words from the Volgi on the event of Senator Kennedy's passing:

I’d instead ask for God’s mercy upon his soul, for if we ask only for justice, we may receive only justice, and even a saint would flinch at that.

May the Lord grant Grace to us all, even such as Sen. McCain.

J.S. Bach - Fugue in A minor performed on Guitar by Julian Bream

A friend got us tickets to the Brad Paisley concert as a birthday present, and the Queen Of The World and I went last night.  Seeing him perform live really underscores what a great guitarist he is.  That made me think of great guitarists, and when you think of that you think of Julian Bream.  Bream took an interest in guitar as a young child after hearing the music of Django Reinhardt, and taught himself to play.  He sparked an interest in Elizabethan music when he formed the Julian Bream Consort, playing the lute.  This is what caused Queen Elizabeth to award him the CBE for his services to music.

But he was always best known (on these shores, at least) for his classical guitar.  I don't know if he was the greatest to ever play it, but I don't know that he wasn't.  Here is a typical example, of a typically complex Bach fugue which really showcases his amazing talent.

Classical music concerts for dogs

This is a spoof, but it's very well done.  I love all the dogs in the audience.

More, please

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— Sal the Agorist (@SallyMayweather) August 25, 2018