HumblePi

This is a very big deal and the only reason I happened to find out is because as I was browsing channels I just happened to stop at MSNBC and Kellyanne Conway was speaking. Her usual diarrhea of words non-stop usually puts me off and I change the channel but this time I heard Mark Halperin ask her something about a meeting with the news agencies blowing up. She shrugged off the question saying that whatever transpired was off the record, it was an excellent meeting with the top executives of the major networks and blah blah blah. So I went to the NY Post to read that article myself and thought holy crap, he's absolutely demonizing everyone in the news industry and television station, particularly CNN which is no surprise. But the meeting was supposed to be a media summit, a collaborative effort. What it became was a scathing condemnation of the media and press by Donald Trump. He laid into them with ferocity calling them liars. As one source said "it was like a fucking firing squad". He sought to humiliate the best reporters in the business and that's exactly what he did. As we all have known, Donald Trump gets even he extracts his revenge. So here's what I'm wondering. Will President Donald Trump have a press corps that will accompany him basically wherever he travels, and along with him as he meets officials and basically document for the country all his open negotiations? Or, will President Donald Trump hand-pick his own press corps which would primarily be comprised of those news agencies only sympathetic to furthering his agenda and not really providing unbiased news? That is frightening because although he's not legally breaking a Constitutional law by complying with the tradition of having an official 'press corps", how can we trust his hand-picked army of people that act like Fox News, walk like Fox news and talks the talk of Fox news? I'm not suggesting they'll be from Fox news but akin to those types of reporters who will only follow and report on his bullshit stuff and never the negative side of his idiotic monkey business. You all know well what it would mean if that's his plan. I'll post the link again. http://nypost.com/2016/11/21/donald-trumps-media-summit-was-a-f-ing-firing-squad/

The season premiere was kind of dull. I was able to focus a little more on that low background music that runs throughout, my friend Marcelo Zarvos is responsible for that. Composing scores for HBO doesn't really bring much attention to the music at all but it's not supposed to, it's just supposed to be 'there' to add suspense or drama to a scene. Other than that, I was a little disturbed by the middle-aged-spread that's taken over Brenden Fraser's body. I assume we'll be seeing flashbacks of Noah and the guard and bad stuff happening that causes Noah PTSD. We'll find out soon enough I'm sure. I just need some Allison and Cole back. I'm hoping that this season won't involve so many flash backwards, flash forwards and I think there was even a few flash upside downs in last season. That gets distracting when it's overdone.

Oh God help me but I'm about to type one more of my thoughts that's another reason to send me straight to Hell but screw it, I'm halfway there already with Donald as President. It's about Barron, and I don't like pointing out the oddity of any child but I find the relationship between Melania and Barron to be a little uncomfortable. They're close and that's not a real surprise since Donald has been more of an absentee father. But I think Melania shares the floor where Barron lives. It makes sense because Donald isn't around that much and when he is he's probably out of bed tweeting stupid shit. I have seen photos of Barron and initially thought he looked sad, like the poor little rich kid. Then I thought maybe some sort of autism spectrum. Then I assumed that he was just overprotected and absurdly spoiled. What other four year old kid has a motorized mini-Mercedes to drive around? But there's a lot of square footage on the 3 floors of the Tower and who wants to subject a 4 year old to walking that much anyway? I drive less getting to the doctor and back in the next town than Barron drove in his little Mercedes to get breakfast. Okay, here's the part where I go to Hell for saying it. I almost see Damien from Omen II in his glare. He has that same 'pleasant and handsome but I'll kill you in five minutes' look about him. He has no joy in his face, that he shows anyway. I know he has developed some of Donald's OCD and likes his sheets just plain white and clean. Melania takes him to school each day. I find that a little much considering they have multiple staff and body guards that could get him off to school safely, he's 10 years old! I think my son stole our ride-on lawn mower at that age and ran away from home. He only got two blocks, no worry. Melania over-indulges him and he's reaching puberty so I'm wondering how long Melania is going to continue to be overbearing before he rebels in some way and tells her 'fuck off, I'm grown up now'.

This morning on the news they're saying it's a choice between Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani for Secretary of State. But that's all just hyperbole for the benefit of the news attention. There's no way, no how that Mitt Romney would be chosen as Secretary of State. He and Donald hate each other intensely. He dragged Mitt Romney to New Jersey just to show him off and rub his face in Donald poo. Rudy Giuliani had been promised that job long ago, no doubt about it. I absolutely HATE that he's going to be Secretary of State. He's going to be the chief foreign advisor and with his background I can't see how that's not a calamitous conflict of interest. Let me kneel down now and say a prayer to God that it won't be him. "Please God, I've been sort of good so I'll ask a favor. Please make Mitt Romney Secretary of State. Please don't subject all of us mortals to having to see that toothy sneer, that blue suit overstuffed by a thick marshmallow body, the saliva spitting rhetoric and hateful sneer. But those teeth.... Do that for us and I promise to try and convert as many Muslims to Christianity as I possibly can. I'll almost be Mother Teresa, I promise, really." The chance might be slim that my prayer will be heard but I have to try. He's an evil, evil man. (fingers crossed)

Get a load of this. I posted two of those videos on four of his recent tweets and within five minutes, they were removed. I'm waiting for the FBI to come knocking on my door. So suddenly now that he's President elect he gets to control all the responses to his own tweets. He wasn't able to remove my tweets before, now he has the POWER! Screw them too. I'm going to blame you for making me doing it. LOL!!

HAW! done

You have no idea how much I'm trying to restrain myself from posting those links on his Twitter page. They're adorable and I think he might even learn a thing or two from them. Should I?

Most rational people knew that a physical wall stretching across the Southern border was nothing more than foolishness. It's a madman talking and people liked what they heard so they believed it. It sounds like you have a lot of choices if things go bad here. Australia wouldn't be an option in my mind. England, maybe, but the Brexit may cost people since they're planning to pretty much screw middle class by raising taxes and that will create a lot of drama there. Everyone will be pissed off, but mostly at foreigners and middle class. It will be interesting to see how President Trump deals with sanctuary cities such as S.F. and L.A. He's certainly not happy about it and if he plans to document every immigrant, the cities are going to do battle with him. One thing is for sure, there's a lot of retribution in Donald Trump's plans and he's not going to stop until he extracts his justice on all those that he felt did him wrong including every Republican that denounced him. I saw Hillary Clinton today speaking at some kind of thing. She looks horrible, defeated, down and shows every year of her age.

The plan to fix our infrastructure involves selling bonds to investors. These investors can be from anywhere in the world. The thing about a bond investor, they expect a ROI - return on investment - so that's achieved simply by making the roads they repair a toll road, by making the bridges they fix a toll bridge. Basically an investor in China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia or Missouri USA can buy bonds to invest in infrastructure repair.

Wouldn't it have been smart to put in a temporary drive-through window like Burger King on the side of Trump's New Jersey Golf Club mansion? It would allow all those guys to roll up in their fancy chauffeur driven cars to the window, roll down the window, have the meeting thing and drive off. He's been 'interviewing' dozens of prospective cabinet candidates every day. Truth is, he decided long ago who's in and who's out. This is all for show.

Can I buy that with my Mike bucks?

Oh, btw.... did we forget to mention that California should consider a proposition up for vote to build a wall? No, not that one between California and Mexico, I mean the wall that California will need to KEEP US OUT. California is one State that many people are considering moving to only because it's progressive, diverse, and wanting to secede from the other States connected to it and become an independent little country. 'Calexit' is not a far-fetched idea since the State can easily support itself with all the resources and money right there. Secession could actually work well. California is more economically powerful than France and has a population larger than Poland. Point by point, California compares and competes with countries, not just the 49 other states. So, count me in if that ever happens. It doesn't hurt that marijuana is legal either, not that I partake but I'm willing to give it a go.

Away from daddy but I think Melania shares the floor with Barron and not the penthouse with Donald.

Well I had another fear strike my brain earlier when I heard that Trump has not picked his press corps. In addition to breaking with decades of historical precedent and First Amendment principles, this decision could leave Americans blind about his whereabouts and well-being in the event of a national crisis. The thought did occur to me that President Trump may be seeking to ignore the Freedom of the Press First Amendment. "A pool of reporters is in place and ready to cover President-elect Trump," he continued. "The WHCA urges President-elect Trump to allow it to do its job, including being present for motorcade movements, meetings, and other interactions. Not allowing a pool of journalists to travel with and cover the next president of the United States is unacceptable."

Don't be fooled by outward appearances. One thing that I can credit Donald Trump with is being himself. Mike Pence on the other hand is the guy to watch. I'm not a religious person, but I am a person of faith if that makes sense. But years ago I was a member of a woman's bible study group. It was just a handful of housewives that really wanted to discuss things in the Bible that we didn't understand. There was one verse that I remembered about Satan. Corinthians 11:14, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” The verses refer to Satan’s human servants disguising themselves as “apostles of Christ” and “servants of righteousness.” I'm not saying that's who Pence is, but if this truly was our 'test' then he would definitely fit the description. Satan would certainly seek to deceive us by appearing as something other than an evil creature with horns. Why does it matter? Because there is a good possibility that Pence could become president of the United States. Trump would be the oldest person ever elected to the job. He hides it well behind the constant rage and Agent Orange hair dye, but the guy is 70. At 6’3” and 236 pounds, he is overweight. He lives on Big Macs and Kentucky Fried Chicken. And then there's Steve Bannon's quote; "Darkness is good....Dick Cheney, Darth Vader, Satan. That's power. It only helps us when they (liberals) get it wrong. When they're blind to who we are and what we're doing." Excuse me, I think there's a Mass somewhere that I need to get to.

I like it and I applaud it. Those actors had a captive (literally) audience. But didn't Donald Trump and Mike Pence have the same captive audience during their rallies when they spilled out hatred for others and revenge on enemies? Why is this different? If this was Europe, Mike Pence would have had tomatoes thrown at him or a shoe like someone threw at George Bush, and that's if he was lucky. How naive can Mike Pence be not to know that his appearance at a play that's written, directed and performed primarily by actors of color wouldn't go well with people? It's hypocritical. If you're going to put out a platform that discriminates against a large population of this country, then dammit, put on your big boy pants and suck it up. Actors are artists, like writers are artists, and producers are artists. Historically, artists are the first to raise a fist against social injustice so why was anyone shocked? If this particular expression of how angry, fearful and apprehensive people of diversity are doesn't strike a chord in the minds of people, then it shouldn't be a shock when worse things could have happened. A speech given from a stage asking for the one thing we all deserve, recognition as citizens, is something we shouldn't have to be begging for from a Vice President. It's ludicrous.

Speaking of conflict of interests, his chosen few have a conflict of interest not just President-elect Trump. All those men in his top pick for cabinet members have in the past or are currently a lobbyist. Didn't he say that he will get rid of ALL lobbyists? Mike Flynn, is lobbying for an obscure company with ties to the Turkish Government Rudy Giuliani, made millions advocating for foreign clients sometime at odds with American foreign policy Paul Manaforte, he worked for pro-Russian leaders in the Ukraine, involving allegations of millions of dollars in cash payments and secret lobbying efforts in the U.S. Corey Lewandowski, spent a decade as a registered lobbyist in DC If he's serious about draining the swamp he'll have to put rules in place about people's past and not only their future and make certain that people don't skirt the rules by calling themselves lawyers or consultants. What he said while campaigning is in direct opposition to exactly what he's doing. He's not draining the swamp, he's jumping right into it.

Or, Night of the Nearly Dead

suckah!! :P I thought it might be an appropriate time to mention that it's Thanksgiving Day this week for those in the US. The four paintings done by artist Norman Rockwell was inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Four Freedoms” speech delivered to Congress on the eve of World War II. Norman Rockwell created four paintings depicting simple family scenes, illustrating freedoms Americans often take for granted. Throughout his political career Roosevelt championed the cause of human rights. Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Norman Rockwell himself was perceived as apolitical, but advocated in his own words "tolerance for differences, courtesy, kindness, and the freedoms that FDR articulated". That being said, the four paintings seem to be more pertinent today or at least as pertinent it was to those people in the 1941 World War II era. Looking ahead to Thursday, many of us will be dreading some of the interactions that may be inevitable between family members and they are not in keeping with the theme of what Thanksgiving represents. Personally, I will make it a point not to bring up politics on that day and know that's going to be extremely difficult because there's so much passion about this election. I hope everyone can put aside their differences on that one day that's a day dedicated to families coming together, not only to give thanks but to work towards a common goal.

You have a good point about the President-elect and his Tweeting habit. I doubt that's something he'll change once he's sworn in as leader of the free world. It's just hard to comprehend that the President of one of the most powerful democracies in the world chooses to tweet unfiltered. It can be extremely dangerous as it can instantly anger people and divide those who agree with him with those that are angered by his tweets. But, as you said, we will be able to instantly know where he's going, what direction he's taking as far as policy and where his 'vendetta's du jour' are. Notice body language and eyes when you watch President Trump welcome someone like Mitt Romney. He quickly glances to cameras in order for them to capture the warm, fuzzy moments. He places his hand briefly on their back as a sign of 'welcome'. I noticed in the infamous bus scene with Billy Bush that when he met Arianne Zucker he ever-so-quickly glanced at her breasts. Because ya know....."a woman can't be a 10 if she's flat chested".

Just looking at some of the suggestions for certain cabinet posts, it's obvious that both the Republicans and Democrats need to get more in line with a generation that doesn't look like their on the cusp of croaking. Seriously, they're all so old that I've wondered about a few of them whether they'll be alive in one year not four. People are tired of the John McCain's, the Jeff Sessions, Newt Gingrich's and those old elites that don't really understand or connect with today's society. The country needs young and ambition Senators to step up and to be a voice for the generations that not only represent rich baby-boomers but the younger generations as well. The worries of those are far different than their 401K's and Medicare as the older generations are. Their concerns are for their tomorrows and the tomorrows of the children that haven't been born yet. Will they even have a job in the future? Will their children and grandchildren have a safe environment to live in if we ignore vital threats facing the planet today? If we could collectively grab them all by the shoulders and shake them to bring them to their senses, maybe we could make them see that we're here and they are our only voices. I'm retired and living on what I've worked for and saved all my life. But young people today don't have the same opportunities as I had and that worries me because THEY SHOULD.

I hear you, and I understand. In this situation, on this particular thread, there's 99.9% more comments that are made out of fear, anger or dread for Donald Trump. It's getting better, but I don't think those things will go away until we see something concrete that will relieve the fear, subside the anger and make us feel confident in his Presidency. I think everyone would welcome someone with a rational voice that will bring forth a positive, hopeful and calming viewpoint. Thanks for that response. Regarding the question as to where President Trump and his family will be spending their time, NY, Washington or Mar-a-Lago; Kellyanne Conway told CNN, "Obviously if his day job is in Washington, he'll be there, that's where he will be most focused.". The secret service and local police agencies will be forced to cover his whereabouts in multiple places every week. But she said something else that concerned me even more. "Obviously it's a very unique situation when somebody who has been incredibly successful in an entirely non-political industry in a city away from Washington, D.C." and this "He knows what the job entails. He's going to have the support of his family as he always has." The Presidency will be Donald Trump's 'day job' and it sounds like his children will be taking care of the real business of steering him, advising him and making decisions for him. I think we're going to see the Presidents living quarters moved to New York City which is really bad not only for the NYPD and secret service, and not only for the people of NY who have to deal with businesses that are hurting and people's every day lives disrupted due to traffic restrictions, but to the county. This country doesn't have more symbols of National pride than exist within Washington, D.C. There's the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Smithsonian Museums, and the White House. It's our 'Buckingham Garden' of Washington and it's more than a symbol. George Washington was living in New York at the time of his Presidency, there was no White House. The White House was built 200 years ago because people felt the country needed a central place to live and work. Washington, D.C. became the nation’s capital. It is not only the home of the President and his family, it is also the place where the leaders of our country and foreign dignitaries meet and work. The White House has always been synonymous with Government, Presidency, and Democracy. Going forward, all tradition and 'sense of sameness' that we have found comforting will suddenly be discarded and replaced with a Presidency that is ever changing, more mobile and less accessible for this Nation emotionally and physically. It creates a sense of disconnect for me and I'm fairly certain others will feel that way. This stresses me out even more. *I'm editing because I just read my post and something struck me about Kellyanne Conway's words. I quoted her word-for-word and noticed that when asked a question such as 'where will President Trump will be residing?' she started her answer with the word "obviously". That wouldn't immediately strike me as odd but it did reading it a second time because she began her very next remark with the same word, "obviously". This seems very insignificant to people when it's said but there is definitely a purpose for someone to use the term. “Obviously” is a purely destructive word, it’s commonly used when a new concept or idea is being built of preexisting notions. Do the American people have a preconceived notion that our sitting President should NOT reside in the White House? Short answer, no. The word “obviously” instantly distracts us from the real point, which is that he is completely breaking with tradition by not physically residing in the White House as a permanent residence for the next four years. It's all semantics folks, but we've got to be able to read these little nuances and decide for ourselves what they are really alluding to.