Rapunzel

Agree that he has lost touch with reality. If he is really trying to convince people that he didn't want "A List" Celebs at his inauguration, then why did he even invite them or try to get them to attend in the first place? We all know how badly this is hurting his ever so fragile ego and just reinforces the fact that no one that he can't pay or who can't benefit off of him thinks he's anything other than a piece of shit (even those he is paying or has appointed, likely think that deep down, but can set it aside for their own personal gain). He has no real friends, no one wants to be around him - they will do so if they are paid or compensated in some way, but otherwise, they know he's a joke, an imbecile, a loser, a racist, homophobe, flat out moron who has six bankruptcies to his name, is an overall failure, has very little comprehension of the English language, no etiquette, no morals or ethics, and yet so badly wants to be seen as one of the elite. However, he doesn't have the qualifications, the pedigree, the diplomacy, the skill, the capability nor the ability to ever be seen as such. He campaigned saying that the people didn't want him to have these things, but he himself hungers for them. His main desire is not just acceptance into the world of the elite and powerful, but to be worshiped by them and seen as their leader. As I said, those who are part of the elite that stand to gain from him may put on a pretense of acceptance, but he is still laughed at and will never truly be taken seriously by any of them. He is a puppet, pure and simple. He is easily manipulated and easily lead. His weaknesses are out there on display for the entire world to see - especially when he Tweets and shows his complete incompetence to the whole world. The fact is, no matter how hard he tries, he is a world wide joke and deep down he knows it. I've been in Europe for the past week now and will be for another two and then heading to China, and I can honestly say that everyone I've come across in Europe is afraid of the damage he will do and also generally sees him as a laughing stock. He's a downright ignorant twit - without a doubt. No one will ever respect him - they might respect the position he holds, but they will not respect the man holding it.

I agree - if I used either, I would share them there. Since I don't, and never have, I try to bring those things up here at least so they get some exposure. Special thanks to those of you that do use social media far more than I do and can help spread the word around. ETA: Imagine Trump's face when he hears that millions have signed various petitions for Twitter to ban him - he'll lose his shit. In the "Trumpgrets" that were posted a while back, one of the main things his own supporters asked him to stop doing was Tweeting.

Yes, this is the one that I signed anyway. It looks like Lunata may have found another one as well, but the one I signed was the one that AuntiBeeSpray linked to. I don't think it would hurt anything to sign both, however. Both do appear to allow you to remain anonymous if you are concerned about that.

Actually, there is a petition on Change.org to do just that. I signed it, but didn't save the e-mail. If I can find the link again I'll try to post it.

I spend half my time in London as I'm married to a Brit and we are here for the holidays. We went to one of the bakeries nearest our home the other day and they had snickerdoodles for sale. It's not the first time I've seen them either. They aren't necessarily going to be in Sainsbury's or Tesco's, but they are here in the UK and have been for at least a few years, though perhaps maybe only at more specialized bakeries. I'm not even a huge fan of them myself, but my husband likes them and is glad they can be found at least in some places.

I was editing my post as you were posting this response, but basically I just added in that it gives me some joy just to know that it must be eating someone like Trump alive to not be able to secure talent for the inauguration, to have lost the popular vote by a huge margin, and to be coming in with an extremely low approval rating. That's the biggest benefit of this to me - is that he is so thin skinned and needs to be loved and adored that this must be killing him.

So it sounds like KISS also turned down the chance to perform at Trump's inauguration, however the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has agreed to perform. That brings the supposed confirmed performers up to two that I'm aware of - the Choir and Jackie Evancho. Might be a short night, though Trump may relish having more time to spout whatever gibberish comes out of his mouth, continue his disgusting hate speech and cheering on his supporters for being just like him - racist, homophobic, misogynistic, ignorant, twits. He'll also likely spend the evening continuing to provoke and/or insult and/or threaten every country in the world, talking about how the US needs more nuclear weapons since that will clearly make the rest of world realize that they should have fewer of them and "comes to it senses," regarding them, etc. I am so glad I will not be watching the inauguration - I want him to have the lowest ratings for an inauguration ever. That would be quite fitting for the president who, last I heard, is coming in with the lowest approval rating ever (or at least very close to it). I admit, I get a bit of a joy out of knowing that the fact that no one will perform at his inauguration, the fact that he lost the popular vote by the biggest margin ever, and is coming in with an abysmal approval rating is just eating him alive. A man with an ego like his and who likely has NPD cannot be happy about this at all and I'm just waiting for his biggest tantrum and/or Twitter Rant yet.

More classy behavior from an apparent Trump supporter at a Louisville, KY JC Penny's store who tells some latino shoppers "to go back to where they belong" and to "speak English" and states that they are "probably on welfare." She also uses several other choice words and phrases. It was caught on video. According to the person that shot the video, the woman ranting also apparently stated that believes that Trump is going to "fix" this. The link to the article also contains some of the video shot by another shopper's cell phone: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/speak-english-you-re-america-woman-tells-latina-shoppers-rant-n698776. It's a really sad world when these racists, bigots, homophobes, misogynists, etc. are now coming out of the woodwork because Trump has set the example that this kind of behavior is alright - this is becoming the "new normal," so to speak. These are the kind of people that I will not for sorry for when their healthcare goes away or is too expensive for them to afford, when social security and medicare are gutted, when they realize their jobs aren't coming back and that they are too uneducated to get any other jobs, when their homes are foreclosed on, when the cost of goods starts to rise, etc. These assholes that behave like this deserve everything that they have coming to them.

I admit, I've never heard of a Snicker Noodle, but maybe someone could create something interesting - dessert type pastas are actually starting to pop up in some places. :-) I wouldn't be surprised to see Snicker Noodles show up at a place like the Fat Duck at some point in time. I was, of course, referring to soft shell crabs being served with noodles/rice in my original post. If you consider Heinz as the real McCoy as far at Ketchup goes, Heinz is actually pretty popular in the UK. Heinz is also popular in the UK for other sauces things. They love their "brown sauce, " which is typically a combo of tomatoes, molasses, dates, apples, tamarind, spices, vinegar, and sometimes raisins or anchovies (kind of similar in taste to Worcestershire, but just slightly different enough), their Malt Vinegar (which, of course, is a must for fish and chips in the UK). They also love Heinz baked beans and whatnot.

I'm married to a Brit and we spend about half our time in the UK. We are there now (just arrived yesterday) for the holidays, and everything that Mary has claimed to be "unfamiliar" with is available over there. I have had snickerdoodles in the UK, I've had soft shell crab dishes, especially soft shell crab rolls which are one of my favorites at Japanese restaurants. I've also had them in soups, in noodle or rice dishes, served with just some steamed veg and maybe a sauce on the side, etc. There are plenty of places to find these things there. I've had them in most other cities in Europe as well, and even tried something I hadn't had before, even after living in Japan for several years, at a Japanese restaurant in Amsterdam. I love Marry and own a couple of her cooking/baking books, but if she truly wants to broaden her horizons and try some of these things, there are plenty of places to do so even within UK and certainly within broader Europe. ETA: I'm also fairly certain that Mary has been to the Fat Duck in the UK. That restaurant is known for highly inventive dishes, including desserts.

My husband and I arrived at our home in London yesterday to visit his family and whatnot for the holidays. I've now suggested that we head up to Aberdeen and go to the local pub near the golf course and buy all of those people a round. They certainly deserve it for standing up to Trump and holding on to their rights. No one in Europe that I've come across so far likes the man and they are all worried about the global impact he can have. Everyone should look at the golf course situation as an example. Even if some consider it a small thing, saying "no" to Tubby, even when he's tried to buy some of them off, is a wonderful example and tells him that not everything or everyone can be bought or bullied into doing whatever he wants. Besides, even though he's offered money in some cases, I think a lot of people have caught on to the fact that getting a dime from this extraordinary, cash poor, cheapskate who has filed multiple bankruptcies, hasn't paid taxes in close to 20 years, abuses his "charity," etc. is pretty unlikely.

Oracle has a horrible reputation in the tech industry. Their former CEO was a womanizer of epic proportions and his biggest claim to fame was that, at least at one time, he owned the biggest yacht in the world. I've met the man personally, and he's also a wanker of epic proportions. He hired Mark Hurd, who was fired from his previous company officially for misusing his expense account. He actually used that expense account to hire "marketing associates" who were believed to be escorts and soft-core porn stars (there is video of at least one of them). This is another man who I have met personally. Oracle is an outcast and not well respected at all by other companies. Just because tech companies showed up at Oompa Loompa's little gathering does not mean they support him. They are trying to find out what is happening. More interesting than what companies are on the list are those that are not on the list and those who did not attend. Many of those who did not attend, such as my own, are in the Fortune top 50 and hold a fair amount of power. I've been an attorney in tech for a while now, and I've had meetings and negotiations with many other tech companies, some of which did attend Trump's meeting and have actually met some of the people in attendance, but no one can just arbitrarily assume that just because someone attended a meeting that it means they or their company support him. ETA: Larry Ellison, Oracle's former CEO, also had multiple secretaries and support staff quit due to sexual harassment and he had a number of lawsuits filed against him. This is the only reason he was the only tech company around that would go near Mark Hurd after he was ousted as President and CEO of HP. Hurd actually had to take a fairly decent demotion to go work for Ellison.

My Tech company was invited, but we didn't go. One of our Senior Execs publically denounced Trump and expressed concerns even before the election - and he's not even a US citizen though we are US Company and have been around long before "Silicon Valley" ever existed (we are based in Silicon Valley, but have offices all over the world in multiple countries). Most Silicon Valley companies seem to have the same attitude towards Trump. He can try to sanction us all he wants, if he does that, that will only help ensure that the US economy ends up in the toilet. Trump clearly does not understand supply chains and how they work. My company manufactures some things in the US, some things in Asia-Pacific, some things in the Middle East, things in South America, and also some things in Europe, where labor is actually more expensive in the countries that we manufacture in there than it is even in the US. Several Products we make have multiple manufacturing locations - all over the world - as this helps with other logistical issues, such as lead time, the ability to get a Customer up and running again quickly, shipping costs, etc. It depends entirely on the product, where your supply base is, how your supply chain is structured, etc. It is not a black and white issue and you can't say that you must manufacture everything in the US or else. Even if the ultimate finished product is made here, several components come from other places - and not just cheaper locations. We pay a premium for certain components coming out of Japan, Europe, etc. Some components are highly customized and are made by one source only. Sole source items mean you don't have another option. If you try to develop your own in house, you're looking at increasing R&D, engineering, administrative and other overhead costs and it can also take years. For someone who supposedly went to Wharton, he doesn't even understand basic business principals. The decisions are not purely cost based - as I mentioned, we often pay more for key things or to have a world wide manufacturing base to better serve our Customers. This is part of being a global company.

The problem is that Tubby doesn't care if the planes are built on the cheap or leave out key features - he will never get to use them. The lead time for an AirForce one plane is 8-10 years. Obama has already commissioned the designs from Boeing, but Trump needs to place the order, and soon, as the current planes are over 25 years old and outdated in terms of technology. Tubby, being the selfish, ignorant POS that he is, has no motivation to place the order for the planes because they personally will not benefit him.

Trump has pretty clearly violated the Self Dealings Act per the IRS regarding his charity. He has even admitted to certain things on the advice of his attorneys to try to stay in front of it in the hopes that any penalties/sanctions would be less severe. Generally speaking, a "Disqualified Person" cannot take place in certain transactions regarding a charity. A Disqualified person is defined, in part, as: Transactions that "Disqualified Persons" cannot be involved in relation to a charity in include things such as: A. Sale, exchange, or leasing of property B. Lending money or other extension of credit C. Furnishing of goods, services, or facilities (i.e. his massive portrait that is hanging in the bar and grill at one of his own golf clubs) D. Paying compensation or paying or reimbursing expenses to a disqualified person (i.e. himself) E. Transferring foundation income or assets to, or for the use by or benefit of, a disqualified person (i.e. payouts from the "charity" to help settle various lawsuits not involving the charity) F. Certain agreements to make payments of money or property to government officials. These are considered "Self Dealing Transactions" and are prohibited per the IRS. The items I've bolded are a minimum of some of the things Trump has used his foundation for, Eric's foundation for, etc. Trump cannot use Eric's foundation in this manner either as he is a family member and, likely meets the definition of being a "Disqualified Person" in relation to Eric's "charity" as well.

I just got an update on my mobile from the BBC that says: See the article for more details: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38358177. How about those "safe zones" Trump? Clearly, as I mentioned in my initial post about this, they will target "safe zones" if they are targeting evacuation buses. Because it can't be said enough - He's a fucking moron. ETA: In addition, if they are bombing the evac busses, people won't even make it to these so-called "safe zones" anyway. How is he going to solve that minor logistical issue? I'm sure he'll say that he'll come up with something "just terrific - the most fantastic solution ever" and then proceed to give no details because he has no fucking idea.

The man is well and truly a moron with vocabulary and spelling skills worse than most 3rd graders. Actually, I apologize to third graders - they are far more intelligent and have more common sense and wisdom than this douchebag who proclaims to be "like, a smart person" who doesn't need intelligence briefings. He clearly would not be able to comprehend them anyway even if they were put into the "Dick and Jane" or "Spot the Dog" type picture books that were once used to help kids learn to read. It is now extremely obvious that his Penn/Wharton degree was bought and not earned, but I don't think there was really ever any doubt about that.

I can think of at least 4 words - He's a fucking moron. Like these so called "safe zones" won't be targeted to be bombed? The other side is just supposed to respect the fact they are called "safe zones?" Look at how many civilians have been killed already in bombings and what not - labeling something as a "safe zone" is unlikely to deter much of anything - it could even potentially have the opposite effect and make those areas a bigger target.

Twitter should ban people that do things like this. I know they could just create a new ID and come back, but honestly, they should implement some controls here as this is completely unacceptable and life threatening. I have a very close friend with Epilepsy and have seen them have grand mal seizures first hand. It is scary, and for a while afterwards the person is very disoriented, does not know where they are, can't speak properly, etc. Once they come back to a more stable state, they often need to sleep for hours to help their body and mind recover. At least, this is how it presented itself with my friend. Any person that does something like this should be completely and totally ashamed of themselves. Anyone who knows them, regardless of their politics, should block this person and no longer associate with them. This is exploiting a condition that can be debilitating and can potentially cause significant harm to another human being. My husband and I have another friend who actually died whilst having an epileptic seizure - that is how severe these things can be. Depending on Eichenwald's condition and the type of seizures he has, he could potentially have a claim for attempted manslaughter. At a minimum, he should not hesitate to go after them civilly and have the book thrown at them knowing that it is something that could have caused him permanent brain damage and possibly even his life. As an attorney, I would love to take on a case like this and I know many others who would as well - completely pro bono.

I think that, instead of showing the inauguration on TV, all the networks should show that clip where Trump asks Russia to hack Hillary's e-mail (long before the election) on a continuous loop. They can also add in clips of him mocking the disabled, the footage from pussygate, him wanting to build that "beautiful wall" and him discussing the "bad hombres" out there, wanting to deport millions, claiming millions voted illegally, the fact that he had no idea that Russia was in the Ukraine and swore that Putin wouldn't go there, etc. Basically, they should put together a reel of Tubby being an arrogant, moronic, misogynistic, homophobic, bigoted, racist, orange oompa loompa POS - His "Greatest Hits," so to speak. That would be far more entertaining, and, given the popular vote, would probably get higher ratings for the networks than showing his inauguration. I will most definitely not be watching the inauguration, nor will I ever watch any speech he ever gives or any attempt at him trying to speak on camera. I will read about things afterwards (or see it on Rachel Maddow or LOD) from reputable sources and ignore any "fake news," or that which is incredibly biased towards the "alt-right." I am going to do my part to ensure that, at an absolute minimum, he goes down as the least popular president in history and I am not going to feed his ego by watching him speak or following his Twitter or anything like that. Just to be clear, I'm not against those who follow his Twitter to keep up with his insanity, by the way. That is his chosen method of communication, especially as he has an aversion to press conferences because he likely knows he'll look like the complete idiot that he is. I just have never been one to use Twitter even long before this, but I do rely on those of you that do follow him and his asinine comments to keep me informed on this board, so I thank all of you who suffer through his ridiculous, childish Tweets and share them here so we can all keep an eye on what he may trying to distract us from or just monitor the progression of his apparent various mental issues, like his narcissistic personality disorder and his desperate need to be loved and adored.

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet or not, but it is an open letter to the Electors and it was published in several papers the other day. If you go to the link, you can read the full letter and you can also sign a petition.

I've had to have my bone marrow taken and one of my Uncles donated for my Father. In both cases, we were put out for the procedure. A couple of ibuprofen did not handle the pain immediately after (they didn't switch either of us to ibuprofen until a bit more than a week after - my Uncle went a little over that) and the site was fairly sore for a few weeks, especially if you moved a certain way or stayed in the same position for too long. The worst part is the procedure itself, and if they put you out for it, or at least give you "conscious sedation," you really won't be in any discomfort during it. Immediately after, as I mentioned, you will have pain, but it can be managed and it does heal completely. Everyone's healing process is a bit different, of course, so it's hard to really put a specific timeline on it, but this was just my experience as well as that of my Uncle. The Clarke storyline is interesting in that, when he was on Chicago Fire, they never mentioned that he had been in med school previously. Then he gets written out of Chicago Fire, and now is back as a med student on Chicago Med. I generally like the actor (he was in the show "Boss" along with the actors that play Cruz and Mouch), but I think his transition from firefighter to med student could have been a bit better explained earlier rather than just randomly mentioning to Severide in this episode that he had med text books on the shelf above his bed at the firehouse.

Finally, some action is being taken by the White House around the potential hacking/interference of the election. From Reuters: The last sentence is interesting in that it states that Trump specifically asked Putin/Russia to dig through Hillary's e-mails. This is quite a change from Trump's claim that he didn't even know Putin, never spoke with him, never met with him, etc. We all know this is bullshit even if we set the e-mails and election tampering aside. Trump has almost certainly borrowed a ton of money from Putin/Russia and most definitely has some kind of relationship with the man. What's really sad is that he doesn't realize how badly he's being played and that he claims Putin called him a "genius." Putin never used that particular word - this is just Trump's own warped, demented, self aggrandizing interpretation that he needs to feed his own, tiny ego and try to cover what he really knows deep down - he is an incompetent idiot who has no business running a lemonade stand, much less one of the most powerful countries in the world. Also glad to see that Obama has apparently warned Putin about consequences for the hacking/interference.

This episode bothered me a bit. I generally like this show much more than The Night Shift and even Chicago Med largely because of the cast. I was ticked that Raza's character and the female resident that he had started a relationship with just disappeared. The comments from those who are involved with show basically stated that they decided not to give any explanation as to where they were or what happened to them on purpose. To me, this is lazy writing and it means they couldn't think of anything original so they just decided to act as though they never existed to begin with, especially as they are never mentioned by any of the other characters. As someone who has a rare, neurological condition which causes my intracranial pressure to increase and who also has a shunt that can/does become blocked, I was put off by the way they handled this storyline. I like Guthrie as a character, but the way he pronounced papilledema was way off. Papilledema is a swelling of the optic disc. Sometimes, you can see this swelling by shining a light into the pupil and looking behind it. However, the are occasions when you can't see papilledema that way and other, more specialized testing must be done. In any case, untreated papilledema can lead to vision issues, up to and including blindness. If it is not treated in time, it can, on occasion, lead to permanent blindness. The first symptom of increased intracranial pressure is always a headache, so at least they had the girl's father - the general surgeon - ask her if she had been having headaches. I have a shunt as well, though a slightly different type from the girl on the show. They still basically function the same, however. I cannot believe that they tapped that girl's shunt in the ER - that is a procedure that is always done by a neurosurgeon and often under fluoroscopic (a type of x-ray) guidance, with the help of a specialized interventional radiologist, to ensure they hit just the right spot and don't cause additional trauma. All major hospitals in the world have these people available - I would think that a hospital that is in "Code Black" 300 days per year most certainly would have qualified personnel on hand. If they truly do not bring back Mama and Malaya, I don't think I will continue to watch. I can put aside the medical inaccuracies because I like the cast, but if they keep cutting good cast members, it just won't be worth it anymore.

The conflicts are in the lease itself. It states that no elected official can be party to it. That's where Trump may have issues and several experts have already stated that he has to give this up when he is officially President. In addition, turning it over to his kids doesn't necessarily satisfy the terms of lease either. With Tubby though, who knows what will happen. On another topic, the fact that Tubby's supporters actually booed John Glenn is unfathomable. These people are complete morons and can't recognize a true American hero. He sacrificed for this country and fought in wars before he ever went into space. He gave up large portions of his life to help and serve his country. He was the last of the Mercury 7 to survive. He truly was an American Hero - he went above and beyond what was expected of him, served our country, went into politics, and, whether or not you agree with his politics, he was truly a remarkable human being. He deserves the upmost respect. Those that boo at his name should be ashamed of themselves. Most of them probably have never even come close to sacrificing for their country or serving it in the way that John Glenn did.