By the middle of September TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND Americans will have died from #COVID19 complications. Some health experts, and those who monitor US deaths, claim the death toll is higher not less as Trump Cult claims.
My previous post (below) written 2.29.2020 marked the first US Covid death. Now we know that a month earlier (late January 2020) Trump had been briefed on how deadly and severe the pandemic might become. There is audio (from renowned reporter/editor Bob Woodward, not a deep fake) that he would “play it down.” Trump did not want to “panic” Americans. HA!
Trump
Zero Tolerance?
How distorted and unrecognizable must things become for US to realize that our grand old flag is becoming a relic, much like its confederate cousin. Red, white and blue stood for unity. Red and Blue can’t even talk to one another these days and White is now a racist point of contention– not the purity those stripes were meant to evoke. We’ve become the Divided States. #SAD but true. Continue reading
A Cultural Cold War (aka YOUR online data “weaponized”)
Regardless of whether you are a flag-waving, Trump supporting #MAGA maniac or a #BlueWave #Impeach #Resistance activist (or anywhere in between), we all must accept that some of the most extreme political #DirtyTricks were deployed during the US 2016 Presidential Election. Even worse, it continues and involves YOUR information.
50 million FaceBook accounts were exploited, 
Continue reading
Franken Flak
Seriously if the news media, or more importantly our Senators, cannot discern the difference between a silly prank and true perversion then it IS time to send all the bums home– reporters and lawmakers– and start over. We have enough idiocy in the WH.
Let’s start with FACTS. This photo of Al Franken is from 2006, during a USO comedy tour to the Middle East to “entertain the troops.” Notice the woman, Leeann Tweeden, another “performer” (she calls herself a “model” and sportscaster in her bio), is wearing a flak jacket. FULL STOP. While it may be considered poor taste to pose in the manner shown, that is not groping. As one who was groped as a young TV reporter, I know the difference; most women do.
As for the alleged forceful kiss, that’s more complicated. While our so-called “President” admitted on video tape (in 2005) that he could “grab women by the pussy” and couldn’t stop himself from kissing them, he’s not under investigation for that. Yet Senators, both Dems and Repubs, want to investigate Senator Al Franken over this “comedic” controversy. It’s a huge difference that Franken, a popular comedian at the time of this photo, quickly apologized for his actions and actually welcomes an ethics investigation. AND, Thursday (11.16), during a 45 minute segment on CNN’s “The Lead with Jack Tapper”, Tweeden accepted Franken’s apology, tearfully saying she did not want to ruin his political career. If Franken is investigated, then Trump must be also. If Franken is taken down over this, then Trump must absolutely be removed from the Presidency for admitting to far worse sexual assault violations.
At this same time we are hearing that 93-year old past President George H.W. Bush groped women when he was President and in his later years. Do you want to pull him out of his wheel chair and investigate him? Bring.It.On as the real pervert Roy Moore says.
What constitutes a pervert? Child molestation, is certainly at the top. That’s what Roy Moore is accused of– preying on and attacking under age girls. I just heard Dana Bash on CNN discuss a “Creep List” that is well known in Washington, DC. I doubt Senator Franken was on it, but I bet Trump is. It includes politicians and lobbyists who reporters and staffers (mostly females) do not want to be alone with on an elevator. If we’re going to open this long-hidden can of worms, then air it all out!
Finally, Mr. “Reliable Sources” Brian Stelter, how can CNN do a political week in review (as Dana just did) and not even mention that in the House of Representatives a half-dozen Congressmen introduced FIVE articles of impeachment against so-called President Donald Trump, accusing him of obstruction of justice and other offenses. I call him “so-called POTUS” because I am not convinced he won legitimately. I await the results of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election. That, my friends, is the primary issue we cannot be distracted from by cons, perverts and those seeking to sensationalize the news. The entire White House administration is truly a “house of cards” scandal.
Good Karma?
On the first day, actually in the first hour, of Anthony Scaramucci’s new gig as #Fake45’s White House Communications Director, he claimed Trump has “really good karma.” What? 😵
The hedge fund manager turned communicator is not Seeing Clearly* how karma works.
CNN’s lovable Jake Tapper wasn’t much clearer claiming karma “takes place in the next life.” Not necessarily.
It’s trendy thinking that yoga is primarily poses and postures and karma is only tied to the afterlife, but actually neither is true. Yoga refers to practice, usually a spiritual practice, and karma is cause and effect (which can ripen immediately or much later.) Either way Trump is FAR from generating “good karma.”
Nothing limits karmic consequences to a future life… in fact, “extreme thoughts of malice” often ripen quickly (in this lifetime.) We can “purify” (clear karma) or continue on mindlessly, uncontrollably repeating our patterns (sound like our fearless leader?) While “negative” actions can result in a miserable future life, in Buddhist thinking it’s also possible to prevent future rebirths through beneficial actions in this life. Who knew karma was so complicated, Moochie!
As you can see, it’s basically impossible for me to write about Trump without generating angst, anger and karmic consequence for myself. It’s why I stopped blogging about him. I’m convinced the candidate and and his campaign colluded in Russian espionage to get into the White House and don’t understand why the “MSM” is so willing to accept that he won legitimately. Let #Mueller or a totally independent, bipartisan commission decide that.
Why am I and others so suspicious of Trump’s Russian connections? 1) there are an INCREDIBLE number of ties and links (to use Trump lingo) so many that a Buddhist might call it “auspicious” (but that exalted term is reserved for “good karma” not dirty tricks. ) 2) follow the money. Financial trails are quite revealing. In this case, after the Donald had stiffed all the U.S. banks (call that “bad karma”), he found friendlier funding sources through Deutsche Bank, Chinese and Russian banks and maybe some in Cypress.
And, it’s impossible to search Trump topics without encountering nefarious web sites. Russian and Ukrainian hackers and bots have created so many #FakeNews sites, that unless you are a savvy web user, you can easily get sucked into scam sites and stories. I’ve noticed that if I click on some of these dubious links I get virus warnings (from my non-Russian security software) and often my VOIP (internet-based) phone rings! This happens on my desktop PC. I don’t know what the karmic consequences are of following such links on a phone or tablet. I try not to.
Bottom line: the difference between real news and #FakeNews is not what Donald Trump thinks; it’s actual, factual information on established news sites not made-up stories created by hackers. When reporters or journalists use the term “sourced” part of the sourcing is knowing who you are speaking to (okay, “to whom”– Trumpism is wearing down my standards.)
I could go on and on, but let me close where we began, with karma. When asked about the Chinese military torturing and killing Tibetan monks, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has commented: “No I don’t hate Chinese people for the terrible human rights violations their government engages in. But, I do feel compassion for the future suffering they are creating for themselves.” That answer, my friends, is good karma.
*Shameless plug for my book 😇
VERY #SAD
Our U.S. Senate just voted 52 to 46 (Friday, Feb 17) to put the final nail in the planet’s coffin. Approving Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency is truly tragic. This Republican dominated so-called Congress has really shown us who they are. TRAITORS. Yes, they’re ALL traitors and they should ALL be in jail! They have betrayed Americans and now our beautiful natural resources.
First, be proud of our Senate Democrats. They pulled several all-nighters to extend the debate time and allow the public to contact their representatives so we could oppose extreme bigots like Jeff Sessions (for Attorney General), the totally unqualified Betsy DeVoss who bought her way to Education Secretary, and the Dems testified again last night trying to stop Okie AG Scott Pruitt. Pruitt’s claim to fame has been challenging EPA rules that protect human health and the environment. As my own wonderful New Mexico Senator (D) Tom Udall says, “Pruitt is all about special interest, not the public interest.” Amen. With thousands of pages of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) material about to be released showing Pruitt’s links to fracking and oil money, we’re about to learn a LOT more about Scott Pruitt.
But, the self-serving Republicans couldn’t be bothered with facts. They’ve just been ramming through all of Trump’s appointees as fast as they can since they have the votes. They wanted NO public comment time, and the creepiest creep Senate Leader McConnell actually had the Senate switchboard disabled (using fax signal rather than phone) so we couldn’t call Congress today.
Seriously, after we almost broke the phone system with opposition calls to Jeff Sessions and DeVoss, Mitch disabled it.
Yes, the same smashed-mouth Mitch who shut down Senator Elizabeth Warren on the Senate floor as she tried to read Coretta Scott King’s (MLK’s widow) letter into the record during Jeff Sessions’ hearing earlier this month. McConnell cited some antiquated, obscure rule to silence Warren. She was told to “sit down.” In my long career of watching and covering news, and now tweeting about it, I cannot recall a male Senator being censured or told to sit down. SC (R) Lindsey Graham said, “She had it coming.” VERY sexist.
Today (after the Pruitt vote) weird Mitch had the audacity to stand on the Senate floor and attempt to make fun of progressives, calling us “knee-jerk liberals.” I say attempt, because creepy goofball Mitch doesn’t even know his name-calling facts. Knee-jerk refers to “unthinking emotional reaction”, but sadly that’s the Republicans, not us. We’re the “elitist, fact-obsessed, media” remember? We actually know stuff.
There are no more real Republicans, as I used to credit them. Trumpism has taken over the entire GOP, and it’s far from a grand old party these days!
Now if you stuck around here’s your reward. Bonus material. The REAL scoop. Trump actually is doing what he said he would. 
The real shock is that the ignorant Republicans (all of them combined) can’t outsmart him. He told you he negotiates. So, the first name he tosses out is the most abhorrent– an actual joker. If you’re gullible enough to settle for the first offer (like Sessions, Mitch’s wife or Rick Perry) then score one for the deplorable Trumpers. They’re laughing their asses off. (NOTE: Not all Trump supporters are deplorable, but card-carrying deplorables are Trumper twits.) In Jeff Sessions, we have the most bigoted, throwback imaginable in charge of the Justice Department. Funny, huh? You’ve got a hedge fund guy who scammed the system (and a lot of home owners) in charge of the U.S. Treasury. Hilarious, right? A homophobic, pro-lifer running our medical system (BTW, he also pulled scams with medical stocks) and Big Oil (literally the CEO of the world’s largest oil company, Exxon, who has pending deals in Russia) running our foreign affairs. WHY?
Don’t blame Trump, blame Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan. These Traitors, along with Lindsey Graham, and other former “Real Republicans” have a scheme that’s backfiring. They thought they could use Trump to ram through their key legislation, like repealing “Obama Care” (the Affordable Care Act) and screw poor people in other ways by messing with entitlement programs, BUT #FAKE45 is having the last laugh. (Click and read the image above.) What they’ve really done is stick America with a truly deplorable cast of characters. (Notice that when unions and the old organized labor networks pulled together, they were able to dump Puzder for Labor Secretary.) Trump negotiated in return offering up the more reasonable (and Hispanic) Alexander Acosta. Did Mitch or Lyin’ Ryan try to negotiate? Nope, too stoooopid. The original wheeling and dealing (before Repubs totally sold out) had to do with the Supreme Court pick, but that’s a longer story.
BOTTOM LINE: When Trump is inevitably impeached for all his lying, Constitutional violations, con jobs and bufoonery, we’ll be stuck with VP Pence and people totally incapable of running the departments they head. Oh, and Trump will have still made a killing with the deals and contacts he’s cultivating. The country will be bankrupt by then, real people will have suffered (and died) and our democracy left damaged by #RussianCollusion (aka Treason.) PLUS we’ve just spent somewhere between 10 and 25 MILLION in less than a month for extra security (travel and intel costs) for Trump’s weekend jaunts to Mar-a-lago and to keep the First Lady holed up at Trump Tower. Wait til we see the other bills racked up by Bannon, the Flynn fling, and all the fam hanging out at the White House.
So much for America First! (you might want to read that NPR link and also my last post on Who is Moral?
Who got duped? More than just the deplorable supporters, that’s for sure. Sad, very #SAD!
ZiaLink Ink 