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What Putin said....
Posted:Jun 1, 2017 5:30 pm
Last Updated:Jun 6, 2017 11:04 am
38690 Views

... says a lot if you have the smarts to look deeper than the surface.

Putin said....

"Hackers are free people, just like artists who wake up in the morning in a good mood and start painting."

“If they are patriotically minded, they start making their contributions — which are right, from their point of view — to the fight against those who say bad things about Russia,”

“I can imagine that someone is doing this purposefully — building the chain of attacks so that the territory of the Russian Federation appears to be the source of that attack,” Mr. Putin said. “Modern technologies allow to do that kind of thing, it’s rather easy to do.”

“I think that he was totally right when he said it could have been someone sitting on their bed or somebody intentionally inserted a flash drive with the name of a Russian national, or something like that,” Mr. Putin told Le Figaro, referring to Mr. Trump. “Anything is possible in this virtual world. Russia never engages in activities of this kind, and we do not need it. It makes no sense for us to do such things. What for?”

“We’re not doing this on the state level,” Mr. Putin said on Thursday.
End quotes.

He must be getting as worried as Trump about what will be revealed by the investigation so he is doing as Trump has been doing and trying to mislead people. Trump has been telling people for a long time now that the regular media is fake news so that they won't believe what is revealed about him.

All the evidence is there. The money links through the other countries and very rich individuals and individuals connected to the Russian government. The attempted back door secure communications that they thought would be secure from the U.S. intelligence services. The connections and meetings in other countries. The business dealings and Russian mafioso oligarchs laundering their money through Trumps real estate projects and deals. Trump is just itching to remove the sanctions on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine so that the multi billion dollar oil project that just happens to be a deal with Exxon/Mobile can get back on track. The many meetings with the known spy and Russian ambassador between Trumps closest people.

Are you so simple minded as to believe Putin?

Are you so simple minded as to believe Trump?
9 Comments
Is the sun shinning brighter....
Posted:May 17, 2017 4:31 pm
Last Updated:May 22, 2017 9:14 am
39970 Views

Poor Trump he feels so abused and picked on. He has had such a hard life. It's so unfair the way he has been treated by life.

From Trumps speech to the Coast Guard class of 2017...

“Look at the way I’ve been treated lately,” Trump said, as some in the audience burst into laughter, “especially by the media. No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly.”

But what I like is the Special Counsel has been appointed to investigate the goings on with the Trump election campaign and the Russians and Trumps obstruction of justice.
8 Comments
Happy...
Posted:May 14, 2017 8:28 am
Last Updated:May 15, 2017 10:30 pm
39728 Views

Happy "Mothers" day as Trump would likely say.

I hope all the Mothers out there have a great Mothers Day.
5 Comments
Which do you believe?
Posted:May 12, 2017 6:46 pm
Last Updated:May 31, 2017 3:00 pm
40798 Views

There seems to be two different accounts of what happened at the dinner meeting between Trump and Comey.

The following details are from a New York Times story though not all of it is here so you may want to read it in whole yourself and the NBC interview. But you should really watch NBC's Lester Holt interview with Trump

Mr. Comey's version says he was invited to dinner a one on one dinner with the President at the white house. During dinner they made small talk about the election and crowd sizes. (I wonder if Trump was looking for agreement about his inauguration crowd). Then Trump asked whether Comey would pledge his loyalty to him, apparently more then once as Comey didn't pledge the implied blind loyalty. After failing to get Comey to pledge his blind loyalty and Comey having replied to the second attempt that he would get his honesty, Trump tried a third attempt. So later in the dinner Trump said to Comey that he needed his loyalty. Comey again said he would give him honesty but did not pledge his loyalty. Trump asked asked would it be "honest loyalty." Mr. Comey said he would have that.

The story as told by the Trump side is somewhat different.

According to Trump Mr. Comey requested the dinner to ask to keep his job. At the dinner Mr. Trump asked the F.B.I. director if he was under investigation. In Mr. Trump’s telling, Mr. Comey reassured him that he was not.

Trump has been saying that the question of loyalty never came up during the dinner.

I can't wait to see SNL.

So the truth according to Trump is that he was going to fire Comey before the supposed recommendation of the Deputy Attorney General.

According to the wise and all knowledgeable Trump, the Electoral College is almost impossible for a Republican to win.... You have to wonder were this idiot gets his "Facts" maybe from that alternate universe. The presidential election has been decided by the electoral college when the popular vote was for the other candidate five times in the history of this country. Four of those times the decision went to the Republican candidate. The only time it didn't was when it went to John Quincy Adams in 1824 a member of the Federalist party, which was before the Republican party came into existence in 1854.

Trump of course claims that Comey has told him "three times" that he is not under investigation. Others have told trump that he is not under investigation also.

Oh and when you are under investigation you get all sorts of documents and everything...

Who's a "Showboat" a "Grand stander"....?

Trump talks during the interview as though the position of director of the FBI is one that he gets to decide when he comes into the office of the presidency totally disregarding the ten year appointment term.

Trump goes from saying the investigation should have been over a long time ago because there is nothing there to he was thinking of lengthening the investigation and all points in between. Smells like lies to me.

Flynn was fired by the Obama administration way back in April of 2014. Obama did it the way most leaders in politics do and asked him to resign. He didn't send it to the news media before he had told Flynn.

A certified letter means nothing in the context Trump talks about it other than it could be used against him depending on what it says.

By the way who is this "everybody" that Trump keeps saying knows this or says that etc. I suspect it may be a turd in his pocket.

Trump the twit tweeted...

Donald J. Trump ✔ realDonaldTrump
James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
8:26 AM - 12 May 2017

Somehow I'm sure that it is the president that is glad there are no tapes of their conversation and to make such a threat is clearly smoke and mirrors to fool his followers.

Do you believe what Sarah Huckabee Sanders said... "you can take full confidence in the words of the president"...?

One thing is certain all authoritarian dickheads want loyalty from their subjects and especially from those close to them.
I believe Comey's version.
I believe Trump's version.
8 Comments , 18 votes
Betsy DeVos gets a lesson.
Posted:May 11, 2017 9:57 am
Last Updated:May 12, 2017 7:00 pm
40672 Views

Betsy DeVos went to Bethune-Cookman University to give a commencement speech.

The plan to have her there was protested pretty strongly by many students, alumni and others including a petition with thousands of signatures.

The speech is supposed to be part of Trumps efforts to reach out to historically black colleges and universities.

It certainly doesn't help none that DeVos made such a self serving and either ignorant or willfully deceptive statement not that long ago about the HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).

From the New York Times...
The latest controversy began on Monday evening when Ms. DeVos released a statement shortly after meeting with several presidents of historically black colleges and universities. In it, Ms. DeVos began by praising the schools for making “tangible, structural reforms” that allowed students, often underserved, to reach their full potential.

“They started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education,” she said in the statement. “They saw that the system wasn’t working, that there was an absence of opportunity, so they took it upon themselves to provide the solution.”

Historically black colleges and universities “are real pioneers when it comes to school choice,” the statement continued. “They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.”
End quote.

DeVos ignored or maybe she just doesn't have the education to know the real reasons the HBCU's were created. They were started back before 1964, you know, when there was segregation, when black students weren't allowed to go to the regular schools, colleges and universities. Or maybe it is just some more "alternate facts" delivered by the Trump administration with the intent to further the school voucher program.

The students protested by turning their backs on her during her speech and booing her.

I think it was very appropriate.

I think it was insulting to the students to even have her there in the first place.

I don't think the school president should be fired but should certainly be informed of the idiocy of having her there and maybe have some sensitivity or should we say common sense counseling.

I think it is entirely inappropriate for Trump to be trying to win the votes of these folks by putting this idiot up in front of them at their graduation.
9 Comments
Could it be true....
Posted:May 10, 2017 10:54 am
Last Updated:May 12, 2017 10:27 am
40521 Views

Would or is Trump really considering Rudy Giuliani as the next FBI director?

It seems Rudy is denying it but as neither one of them has a very good reputation for telling the truth you can't believe them whether they confirm or deny...

I remember Rudy's performance on the campaign trail with Trump, do you? It wasn't anything that impressed me any to well.

It seems that Rudy Giuliani has his own legal problems he is dealing with at the moment and that he isn't very well liked at the FBI.

Reza Zarrab, a Turkish gold trader who was arrested on a trip to Miami and has been jailed in New York on charges of violating the United States sanctions on Iran, added Rudolph W. Giuliani to his team of lawyers. Zarrab has been accused of money laundering for Iran and in the process of these activities defrauding banks. Neither Giuliani or Mukasey, another lawyer, are scheduled to appear in court.

Rudy Giuliani made a trip to Turkey to consult with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the case, Michael Mukasey, another lawyer with his own firm and a former attorney general during the Bush administration, also hired by Zarrab went along with him.

Both Giuliani and Muskasey have represented bank firms in this case so that brings up questions about conflict of interest.

Zarrab's attorneys sent a letter to the judge saying that what Giuliani and Mukasey are up to "quite frankly is none of the government's business."

Mr. Zarrab had been arrested in Turkey in 2013 as part of a corruption investigation of businessmen close to Erdogan, the then prime minister of Turkey. Zarrab used his wealth and influence to be released from prison in Turkey.

Mr. Erdogan has criticized the prosecution and claimed there were malicious intentions. The prosecutor at the time was Preet Bharara. You might remember that Trump fired Preet Bharara even after having asked him during the transition period, to stay.

Giuliani has recommended Marc L. Mukasey, Mr. Mukasey’s , , a fellow lawyer at Greenberg Traurig, to Trump to become the next United States attorney in Manhattan.

Giuliani's company has registered as foreign agent for Turkey. You might remember that Michael Flynn also did so, though retroactively.

The corruption scandal in Turkey involved allegations of bribery, fraud and smuggling. Zarrab and the Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank were in the middle of the mess.

Erdogan dismissed the allegations as a conspiracy by Fetullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric who lives in Pennsylvania. It seems that possibly Flynn's firm may have been hired by a Turkish businessman close to Erdogan.

Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the deputy CEO of Halkbank, , was arrested in New York on charges of conspiring with Zarrab. Erdogan has continued to claim the prosecutions are politically motivated. Of course it seems that Erdogan blames everything on Fetullah Gulen. But the connections seem more related to Erdogan himself and the corruption he has had a hand in. But if you make charges against him in Turkey he will put you in prison if not make you disappear.

In other maybe related news...

The Macron election interference attempt by whomever (maybe the Russians again).

From Reuters....
The hashtag #MacronLeaks was then spread by Jack Posobiec, a pro-Trump activist whose Twitter profile identifies him as Washington D.C. bureau chief of the far-right activist site Rebel TV, according to Nimmo and other analysts tracking the election. Contacted by Reuters, Posobiec said he had simply reposted what he saw on 4chan.
End quote.

Jack Posobiec was also seen at Trump’s hotel the same evening that Giuliani was there after firing Comey.

From the New York Times...
Mr. Comey learned from news reports that he had been fired while addressing bureau employees in Los Angeles. While Mr. Comey spoke, television screens in the background began flashing the news. In response to the reports, Mr. Comey laughed, saying that he thought it was a fairly funny prank. Shortly after, Mr. Trump’s letter was delivered to F.B.I. Headquarters in Washington.
End quote.

Is it true that Comey had asked for more resources for the Russian inquiry just days before he was fired?

Is it true that the man, Ekim Alptekin, that hired Flynn has ties to Russian Dmitri “David” Zaikin, a former executive in Russian energy and mining companies who also has had dealings with Putin’s government?

What do you think of the way Trump went about releasing the information that he had fired Comey before he had even informed Comey?

money sometimes leaves an interesting trail.
7 Comments
Fucking Big Idiot's
Posted:May 9, 2017 3:26 pm
Last Updated:May 12, 2017 10:26 am
13980 Views

Interesting that Trump has decided to fire James Comey isn't it?

I wonder what it was that brought that about.

Could it be his obvious leaning toward Trump in the way he handled things last fall?

Could it be the obvious bullshit story he was weaving during his testimony before the Senate judiciary committee?

Could it be just more smoke and mirrors to obfuscate the Russian connection to the Trump campaign?

Quoted from CNN...
Comey admitted in the Senate hearing that the decision on whether to inform Congress of the re-opened investigation or keep quiet until more could be known about the contents of the emails found on the Weiner-Abedin computer made him "mildly nauseous."
But he went ahead with it anyway. And it turned out that the emails on that computer contained nothing new or revelatory. The FBI announced that on November 6, two days before the election.
That decision -- and the impact it clearly had on the election -- has been a very sore spot since November 8. This latest revelation -- that Comey overstated the number of emails that Abedin forwarded to Weiner -- will serve to grind salt into that still-raw wound.
And, more importantly, it will confirm for many Clinton loyalists that Comey knew exactly what he was doing when he sent that letter to Congress. That, contrary to Comey's assertion that "I can't consider for a second whose political fortunes will be affected in what way," he was totally aware that re-opening the investigation would have a negative impact on Clinton. And that he did it anyway.
End quote.

I wonder what Trump lackey will be selected to be the new FBI director?

What will happen to the investigation into the Russian connection?

Should anything be done about Comey's interfering actions in a political campaign?
11 Comments
News...
Posted:May 7, 2017 9:14 pm
Last Updated:May 10, 2017 8:14 am
10598 Views

Today liberty and freedom triumphed over oppression and persecution. The Russians dirty tricks didn't work this time.

A striped was arrested.

The Republicans and Paul Ryan made asses of themselves with the house version of the Trump doesn't care healthcare act and had a party afterwords. I think the people are going to be inspired to get off their lazy asses and vote for the next few elections and the Republicans aren't likely to do so well after showing their true colors. The Republicans total lack of concern or even understanding of just how stupid it is to have healthcare tied to your employment is disgustingly stupid.

The mysterious space plane sent a sonic boom that rattled east-central Florida before 8 a.m., waking residents from their weekend slumber.

Delta apparently didn't learn anything from United and is feeling the heat.

North Korea is making a new accusation against the US and South Korea, claiming that they are behind the plotted assassination of it's illustrious leader. If you could remove one word in the previous sentence...

At least 50,000 people are being forced out of the center of Hannover after five unexploded World War II bombs were discovered. Yikes, that's not very convenient. There are an awful lot of war zone left overs around the world.

U.S. border patrol agents in Arizona nabbed a woman they said was trying to smuggle 3 pounds of heroin strapped to her backside. Now that might cause you to wonder the next time you see a woman with a big ass.

Swimming in Florida is dangerous even if you are in a designated swimming area. Remember alligators are sensitive about their noses.

Always Dreaming in Kentucky.

Lots of other stuff in the news this weekend some good most not so much. What was your most interesting news article this weekend?
8 Comments
More of Trumps history lessons...
Posted:May 2, 2017 7:41 pm
Last Updated:May 7, 2017 11:12 pm
10633 Views

This link goes to an article about one of Trumps history lessons...
You will have to change the DOT's to . Maybe this will stay this way.

Do a search for

trumps historical golf course

Unfortunately the links to articles etc. haven't been working out very well so you will have to do the search if you want to read the story. The story from esquire was the one I read.
4 Comments
Do you remember the end of....
Posted:May 2, 2017 11:34 am
Last Updated:May 5, 2017 7:46 am
11999 Views

President Reagans term. You know when the Alzheimer's disease was beginning to really show. Are you seeing any simularities?

It seems Trump is an uneducated idiot moron. I'm wondering if he didn't even do his work when he went to college, maybe he paid someone to do it for him. It's clear he didn't learn anything much about history in school as has been demonstrated by his statements about historical figures. Most recently Andrew Jackson. But could it be that he is just losing it? I don’t blame him if he just isn’t up to snuff on his history lessons but if he is going to start making statements to impress people he ought to at least get his facts straight. But is it he just can’t get the facts straight because he is mentally not capable of doing so? I suspect maybe Trump was looking at some quotes from Andrew Jackson and maybe he got a little confused on the time line of things. But you see it is more than just that, he totally loses the connection from the beginning to the end of a statement and says things that are so obviously out of touch with reality and contradicting himself. It isn’t just this incident he has been doing this all along during his campaign and presidency. Of course liars and bullshit artists do often lose track of where they are and what they have said because they are just trying to baffle you and get you to join them in there deception and become a believer or follower. Of course it is also very likely that he suffers from ADHD and Dsylexia. Trumps comments often shows he is lost in his own head and has no conception of what reality is. He reads or otherwise collects some information and draws conclusions without having even understood the information or where it originated from and the meaning of it. He thinks he is a genius and has these revelations and insights that just totally ignore the reality of the situation.

TRUMP: I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, “There’s no reason for this.” People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War — if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

Why Trump is just brilliant! Why hasn't anybody ever asked "Why" about the civil war? Why didn't someone back then just work out the issues and come to a good compromise?

JOHN DICKERSON: George W. Bush said the reason the Oval Office is round is there are no corners you can hide in.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, there's truth to that. There is truth to that. There are certainly no corners. And you look, there's a certain openness. But there's nobody out there. You know, there is an openness, but I've never seen anybody out there actually, as you could imagine.

JOHN DICKERSON: But he-- what he meant was it's-- all comes --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure. Sure.

JOHN DICKERSON: --back to you.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure. It does. But I think that's true anyway. But it does, there's no question.

Trump lives in his la la land where he has no idea of what really has gone on or is going on. It's what is right in front of his face at the moment and he doesn't connect it with the knowledge base of the past or present for that matter. Lets call it very shallow thinking. Reactionary replies to what people say without that connection to the knowledge base that allows for thoughtful responses on even the simplest subjects. He's not totally gone yet but I expect he will only get worse as time goes on as that is the way these things go.

President, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union, as in South Carolina was threatening to secede from the Union. Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) died before the civil war began. The American Civil War was fought in the United States (U.S.) from 1861 to 1865. I won't say he was in today's terms a good man as he was a slave owner and also did some very abusive things to people he had power over such as the Native Americans. His temper was well known and it is said he used it to his advantage. He may not have been very wise in the dismantling of the Bank of the United States or at least in the way he did it and the fall out and actions by others that the dismantling resulted in. He was a man of his times and it is really difficult to judge someone from another time as you have way too many influences to consider. Jackson started the Democratic Party but in some ways by today's political views he might be called a Republican. The parties kind of mixed and mashed things up a bit over time.

Sometime between the 1860s and 1936, the (Democratic) party of small government became the party of big government, and the (Republican) party of big government became rhetorically committed to curbing federal power.

Do a search for
when did the parties switch platforms

I found the "us-presidents" one interesting.

I have to wonder who pointed Trump toward Andrew Jackson or did he just stumble upon him all by himself. Do you ever get the feeling Trump is looking to be someone great and trying to adopt characteristics and attitudes of "great" people from the past or at least to try and favorably compare himself to them? Is Trump trying to make America great again or trying to make Trump great?

Interesting that the Wharton school seems to be wishing that Trump would just shut up about having gone to school there.

Put Trump at Wharton in your search bar.

Donald J. Trump

Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure,it's not your fault
9:37 PM - 8 May 2013

Donald J. Trump

I know some of you may think l'm tough and harsh but actually I'm a very compassionate person (with a very high IQ) with strong common sense
10:05 AM - 21 Apr 2013

I guess it is easy to figure out where Trump has been looking lately if you read the Andrew Jackson quotes. Maybe he ought to read some of his other quotes and take them to heart. Of course any quote is better understood in the context in which it originated.

“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth cannot be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society—the farmers, mechanics, and laborers—who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their Government.”
― Andrew Jackson

“Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out!”
― Andrew Jackson

“It's a darn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word.”
― Andrew Jackson

The planter, the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer... form the great body of the people of the United States, they are the bone and sinew of the country men who love liberty and desire nothing but equal rights and equal laws. Andrew Jackson

I weep for the liberty of my country when I see at this early day of its successful experiment that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives, and the rights of the people have been bartered for promises of office. Andrew Jackson

As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of persons and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending. Andrew Jackson

I'm sure Trumps eyes lit up when he read this next one, assuming he was able to get that far.

To the victors belong the spoils. Andrew Jackson

Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error. Andrew Jackson

The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage; and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough. Andrew Jackson

Elevate those guns a little lower. Andrew Jackson

There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. Andrew Jackson

Unless you become more watchful in your states and check the spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges you will in the end find that... the control over your dearest interests has passed into the hands of these corporations. Andrew Jackson

I cannot consent that my mortal body shall be laid in a repository prepared for an Emperor or a King my republican feelings and principles forbid it the simplicity of our system of government forbids it. Andrew Jackson

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes. Andrew Jackson

Fear not, the people may be deluded for a moment, but cannot be corrupted. Andrew Jackson

In England the judges should have independence to protect the people against the crown. Here the judges should not be independent of the people, but be appointed for not more than seven years. The people would always re-elect the good judges. Andrew Jackson

Mischief springs from the power which the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control, from the multitude of corporations with exclusive privileges... which are employed altogether for their benefit. Andrew Jackson

All the rights secured to the citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing, and a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent and virtuous Judiciary. Andrew Jackson

From the earliest ages of history to the present day there have never been thirteen millions of people associated in one political body who enjoyed so much freedom and happiness as the people of these United States. You have no longer any cause to fear dangers from abroad ... It is from within, among yourselves - from cupidity, from corruption, from disappointed ambition and inordinate thirst for power - that factions will be formed and liberty endangered ...
Andrew Jackson

When you get in debt you become a slave.
Andrew Jackson

But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.
Andrew Jackson

I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic; inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country.
Andrew Jackson

The bold effort the present (central) bank had made to control the government ... are but premonitions of the fate that await the American people should they be deluded into a perpetuation of this institution or the establishment of another like it.
Andrew Jackson

There is nothing that I shudder at more than the idea of a separation of the Union. Should such an event ever happen, which I fervently pray God to avert, from that date I view our liberty gone. Andrew Jackson

The people are the government, administering it by their agents; they are the government, the sovereign power. Andrew Jackson

I feel in the depths of my soul that it is the highest, most sacred, and most irreversible part of my obligation to preserve the union of these states, although it may cost me my life. Andrew Jackson

If the Union is once severed, the line of separation will grow wider and wider, and the controversies which are now debated and settled in the halls of legislation will then be tried in fields of battle and determined by the sword. Andrew Jackson

I would sincerely regret, and which never shall happen whilst I am in office, a military guard around the President. Andrew Jackson

Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it. Andrew Jackson
8 Comments
Seems we are getting closer...
Posted:Apr 30, 2017 11:45 am
Last Updated:May 1, 2017 4:54 pm
9968 Views

How long before the revolution and will it be bloodless or bloody?

The current fool in charge is certainly not doing anything to check on wall street in fact he is empowering them.

This has been around for a while but it is still accurate in all too many ways.

.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ge7srHUx0
4 Comments
Do you think Trump...
Posted:Apr 29, 2017 8:17 pm
Last Updated:Apr 30, 2017 8:57 pm
9886 Views

should be sued for his constant bullshit lies about the various network news shows being "Fake News" when we all know that he is the fake news?
10 Comments
The Road to Grandma's house
Posted:Apr 17, 2017 12:06 am
Last Updated:Apr 22, 2017 6:43 pm
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It was Easter weekend many years ago. We were getting ready for the regular trip to Grandma’s house for the weekend. Mom had made the orange rolls early that morning and there were pies and other goodies all ready and packed in the cars. This time was a little different in that a family friend was going over with us so we had two cars instead of the one little ’72 two door Toyota Corolla coupe to fit four , Mom and all the goodies in. The trip to Littleton New Hampshire, one we had made many times over the years, was around 60 miles from Morrisville, Vermont and usually took around one and a half hours, as long as it wasn’t snowing anyways. This was back before the newer roads when it was all the state and town highways. You know the ones that run through the middle of every town along the way and were usually in bad repair and quite bumpy. So we often ended up holding some of the goodies in our laps. My younger Brother had to sit in the front seat as he got car sick if he sat in the back seat or so he claimed anyways. Of course there was that time when he was sitting next to me in the back seat and he started looking funny and the next thing you know…. Well I guess he wasn’t faking it and the car couldn’t stop fast enough, so I had to change my pants… yuck. That was going up the hill into Danville just before the school.

The drive wasn’t too bad in the colder months before the road construction started. It seemed the roads were always being repaired, improved or rerouted. Which is a good thing I guess as some of those turns were pretty sharp and the hills they were on were pretty steep. The bridges back then were a lot narrower and often seemed to be very high but things seemed higher and trips took longer back then as a . Though as I have travelled the route in recent years you can see where they have changed the landscape grading to even out, level and or straighten out the roads as they do when making improvements. I do remember places where I would look out at the view and the trees tops were down lower than the bridge and that always impressed me as I know how high trees get as I had spent plenty of times climbing as high as the branches would support me. It didn’t help none to go over a high narrow bridge and the next place you see is a graveyard. The things that go through a imagination… especially when the roads are snowy or icy.

The old train track overpasses are all gone from the trip route now but I remember one that was on a stretch of road that was in a high elevation area that always had snow and ice and the overpass was narrow and you had to slow down because you couldn’t see around the corner far enough to slow down if a car was coming at the speed limit of 50 mph. I will put some pictures in and one of such a location that is still there near home. One year there was a car that had been through there sometime before we were and they were upside down on the side of the road. That was a little before we got to Joe’s Pond. Joe’s Pond has been doing a contest thing “The Joe’s Pond Ice Out” every spring since the late eighties where they put a cinder block out on the ice and take bets on when it will drop through. I wonder how many cinder blocks have piled up down there or if they remove them…

There used to be a round what looked to be concrete island traffic thing in the middle of the road at the bottom of Eastern Ave in Saint Johnsbury. It was always a fun item to navigate around especially if it was snowy roads, in fact that Avenue runs up/down hill and while it isn’t really all that steep it could sometimes get interesting in the winter. The island thing must have been an issue or something as sometimes it wasn’t there.

There was and still is a Dunkin Donuts just before you get on the big bridge in Saint Johnsbury and we often stopped there, though it was usually on the way home. The Passumpsic River in Saint Johnsbury where we crossed was a new bridge stacked over the old bridge which I suppose they actually replaced the old bridge at the same time or shortly after they built the new one in the 1940’s. We only went the under route once that I can recall. It always seemed so high up in the air. You could look down on top of the buildings and the railroad tracks and trains and even look down at the tops of the telephone poles. The top of the railroad bridge was below the road. The railroad tracks ran along parallel with the road through a good deal of this section of the trip. It ran right up close to the buildings and I always wondered what that was like when the train was running by. I remember seeing, hearing and feeling the train as we travelled through when it just happened to be going through at the same time. We had to wait for it to cross the road at one place in town not far from the bridge. There was a store that we sometimes stopped at where the tracks crossed the road by the Moose River. The store sign is still there but painted over and very faded and the place isn’t a department store anymore. The train tracks are still there in the road but I don’t think they have been used in a long time now. The brush and trees have taken over the tracks even though the rails are still there.

Then we went by the Maple Grove Farms of Vermont. They make Maple sugar products there. I often thought about how much maple candy they must have inside there.

Then down the road a ways is the Fairbanks Scales Company. They have been in Saint Johnsbury since the early 1800’s when Thaddeus Fairbanks established his business and was soon joined by his brother Erastus. Thaddeus was a wagon maker with ideas. He started with a foundry that he built in 1823 and made cast iron plows and stoves then designed a better more accurate and convenient way to weigh things. His patent for the platform scale made him famous and comfortable. From there the company grew and was soon famous world wide. Thaddeus made a deal selling manufacturing rights to an English company in the 1830’s and was becoming well known in Europe. They were selling scales to China back in 1846 and worldwide by 1860. The building we drive by was built in 1966 and replaced the numerous old buildings from around the town. The company has changed hands over the years many times but is still well known. Thaddeus Fairbanks made many contributions to the town of Saint Johnsbury.

Then just down and across the road is the Farmers . A gift shop where you can get creamies and maple sugar products and I remember the deerskin gloves and moccasins sign from way back when I was a . But mostly I remember the sign because of the image of the farmers with her wind blown dress exposing her undies. They are still there but the owners have changed.

From there it was on by the Moose River Campground and up a long grade with a retaining wall alongside the road holding back the bank. On from there and around Stiles Pond. Another place to think about what could happen as the road runs right along the bank and back then it was the old wooden post and cable guard rails with frequent places where the cables ended to anchor into the ground then begin again. Now there is an interstate interchange between the two so you don’t even see the pond if you take that route.

Then we soon come to the Connecticut River which is the border between Vermont and New Hampshire. But not before going by the Rabbit Hill Inn, another landmark that means we’re getting close.

The details on Moore Dam are from Wikipedia.

The Moore Dam/reservoir is the next landmark and it’s a big one. Moore Dam is a composite earthen and concrete dam located 283 miles upstream from where the Connecticut River meets the Atlantic. The dam is 178 feet tall and 2,920 feet long, with a 373-foot central concrete section flanked by 2,547 feet of embankments. The spillway is located on the concrete section. Before damming, the "Fifteen Miles Falls" was a fast flowing whitewater section of the Connecticut River, where it dropped 350 feet over the course of 15 miles, making it the longest single stretch of whitewater in the northeastern US. The steep grade and heavy flow also made it ideal for the construction of water mills. Site preparations for Moore Reservoir commenced in the mid-1930s, with the clearing of over 3,000 acres of farmland and forest to allow for future flooding. The towns of Upper Waterford, Vermont and Pattenville, New Hampshire were demolished; however, with the onset of the Great Depression preliminary work on Moore Dam was halted. Construction was not resumed until 1954, and was completed in 1956, at a cost of $41 million. The dam was dedicated, and power generation begun, on June 20, 1957.

What I remember most about the Moore Dam/reservoir were the speed boat races and fishing tournaments that were often going on when we drove by in the summer. I took a walk out on the dam with my wife many years ago. It’s quite a ways down when you are looking from the top.

The next significant landmark would be the cemetery as you enter Littleton. My Grandma is buried there, It’s been many years now. Grandpa passed a few years later.

As we continue into Littleton we go by the turn that used to lead up to the hospital where I was born. The new hospital is actually halfway between the Moore reservoir and the cemetery. I’m not sure why they moved it way out there. Cheaper property prices maybe or maybe they are planning on expansion of the town. A few more miles to drive in an emergency from the old center of town location.

Then we drive by the Beacon Street bridge over the Ammonoosuc river. It used to go out to the old shoe factories, the Henschel Shoe Company and Connors and Hoffman, where my grandparents worked years ago. They have long since gone out of business and is now the Hitchiner Manufacturing company. They do castings. They were talking about closing the plant in Littleton a couple years ago but I think they are still open.

There are many unique stores along the way that are familiar just from having rode by them in the car so many times over the years.

We go by the old turn off to where Grandma used to live down by the river and continue down the road for a little ways, then turn up into the drive for the apartment where they live now. We find parking spots and then everybody gets out and starts loading up with stuff to carry in. My two younger Uncles come out to help carry stuff in after greeting everyone with smiles and hello’s. One uncle is a year older and one is a year younger than me. I was a bit unexpected and came along early in my Mothers life. She was the third and my Grandmother had ten spaced apart so that’s how you get uncles that are younger then yourself. So we get all the stuff inside then us go to the living room and start hanging out and catching up while devouring some of Grandma’s homemade donuts.

Grandpa is up in his bedroom where he usually is. You see Grandpa has a drinking problem. He usually only comes down to get more beer or to eat dinner. You can often hear him calling out to Grandma when he wants something. It goes something like this, Lorain… followed by a pause for several seconds then Lorain… and repeats until she answers him. Uncle Rex is setting in the rocking chair and telling about things that have happened since we were last together. Funny stories about the neighbor lady and other things. Well Rex suddenly says “you will never believe what happened the other day.” Now Rex is one of those people who has to act out things in voices and actions when he’s telling these stories. So he starts telling about how his father had been drinking as usual and came into the living room and went to sit in the rocking chair. Now Roland his dad is a big guy standing well over six feet tall as does Rex. Roland has a good sized belly on him but not huge. So Rex tells how Roland goes to sit in the rocking chair and it tips over backward and he lands on his back in the chair holding his beer, looking up at the ceiling. Of course Rex is telling how he was trying to stifle the laughter when this happened. Then Roland who had been laying there for a minute not even trying to get up calls out to his wife.. Lorain…… then there is a pause for several seconds and he calls out again Lorain….. Now Grandma is a little Irish woman about maybe 4 and a half feet tall or so and not very heavy at all. So she comes into the living room and there’s Roland sitting in the rocking chair on his back on the floor calling out Lorain… and Rex is sitting there on the couch cracking up silently. Well you know how they say laughter is contagious so Grandma caught the bug and broke out laughing at him also. Well they helped him up by rolling him out of the chair and he went back up to his bedroom. So as I said Rex likes to act things out so he tips the chair over and lays there calling out Lorain…. Lorain…. Lorain. Well Grandma comes in thinking it’s Grandpa calling and see’s Rex laying there in the chair and breaks out laughing and calling Rex a damn fool. Of course that brought Mom and the family friend Rhoda in and they get to hear the story about what happened and get a good laugh also. Rhoda is a character like Rex also and is calling out Lorain…

Well the next day was Easter so Rhoda and Mom went about hiding eggs early that morning. When us got up we went about finding the eggs and then rehiding them on each other and finding them again and seeing who could find the best places to hide them. Well sometime along Grandpa Roland came down and was getting dressed to go to the store for more beer. He went to put his boots on and found one of the eggs that hadn’t been found that morning. So he was bitching and then laughing just a little bit… a very little bit, about crushing an egg in his boot. So after he had left Rhoda came in and tipped the chair back over and laid in it calling out Lorain…. Lorain in a low voice and got everybody laughing again. So after that anytime Roland called out to Lorain everybody would chuckle.

All of Grandma’s that weren’t gone out of state somewhere and Doughy who had gotten run over and killed by a drunk driver back when he was little, showed up with their families for Easter and we had dinner and lots of laughs as usual. It gets a bit crowded at times but I was always glad to be there. We usually went over for all the major holidays and for some vacation time also. Since Grandma died we don’t get together much anymore. Of course the family has grown a bit too. Now we are talking four generations with the oldest being a family of nine brothers and one sister. They all but one had anywhere from two to five each.

Hope you had a good Easter.

The pictures aren't in any order but are from the route.









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