Saturday Morning Confusion: The Get-Even!

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Saturday Morning Confusion: Republicans!

 Allan:

If a Republican was a car, what model would it be?

Answer:

I’m not sure about individual Republicans, but the Republican Party would be whatever model this car is:

Saturday Morning Confusion: Besides the religious reasons, why are you alive?

 Allan:

Simply to live and to experience. To entertain the soul and empower it with wisdom that can only be gleaned through experience.

I sometimes have daydreams, just made up in my head, about before the universe existed. Maybe the building blocks were there, but they weren't formed into anything. All the consciousness that exists today were there, but they didn't have a physical body to use or anything to do. How boring and unfulfilling. So they all started to play and learnt to influence the building blocks, to form things, and things progressed into more advanced things until eventually, there was this great adventure called human life to engage in. 

I don't know, maybe when we die our soul goes back to its soul friends like “I got to level 87 that time!” …. This is of course just made-up nonsense in my head, but I feel it's closer to the truth than God is (sorry I'm still mentioning religion lol). 

It's more like, we were God and forgot when we were born, but we will remember when we die…. 

Anyway, living is for living. For experiencing everything that is the gift of life.

MissySmiler

Dear Missy: ·

You might want to look at this idea some more when you read my book "God?" (Amazon.com: G O D ?: (A Series of Essays About the Nature of God and Religion!) (WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?): 9798846535060: Janssen, Allan Wilhelm: Books

AND

If you're wondering where we came from..., and where we're going..., you might want to read this:  WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: Are we here through Divine Intervention or Dumb Luck? (WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?): Janssen, Mr. Allan W: 9798724395663: Amazon.com: Books  

Saturday Morning Confusion ll

Saturday Morning Confusion!

Donald Trump is a sore loser, to say the least. On Saturday, the former president called for the termination of the Constitution in order to overturn the 2020 election results. 

In Trump’s latest rant on Truth Social, he referred to himself wrongly as the “rightful winner” and called for his installation as leader of the free world. “Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social. 

He further alleged that “Big Tech” worked closely with the Democrats. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone False & Fraudulent Elections!”

***

Donald Trump has returned to the news cycle amid a deluge of stories about a dinner meeting he hosted with a white supremacist and Ye, the rapper previously known as Kanye West.

It’s a reminder of the chaotic years of his presidency, as well as a foreboding ― though hopefully instructive ― warning about how he would wield power if elected again.

If past is prologue, let’s take a moment to remember just how unsettling things got during the Trump administration, with this not-even-remotely-exhaustive list of weird and bad stuff he attempted while in office:

• Tried to buy Greenland.

• Wanted to nuke hurricanes.

• Doctored a hurricane forecast map with a Sharpie.

• Attempted a coup to stay in power.

• Absconded with thousands of classified documents, lied about it and refused to give them back when the feds asked nicely.

• Sent unidentified federal officers to Portland, Oregon, to abduct protesters and spark a conflagration that could be used as a pretense for implementing martial law.

• Ordered peaceful protesters tear-gassed so he could pose for a photo-op with a Bible outside a church.

• Tried to blackmail Ukraine into manufacturing dirt for his 2020 campaign.

• Asked Russia for help in his 2016 campaign — and got it.

• Had a weird affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Remember the Helsinki summit?)

• Invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to an in-person meeting in the Oval Office, where he accidentally revealed top-secret intelligence.

• Wanted to withdraw the U.S. from NATO.

• Separated migrant parents from their children, locked the kids in cages and then failed to reunite them.

• Insisted that “raking” would prevent forest fires because “you’ve got to take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, very important.”

• Covered for Saudi Arabia after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the gruesome murder and dismemberment of a U.S. journalist with a bone saw. (Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, owes Saudi Arabia $2 billion, and the crown prince has reportedly bragged about having Kushner “in his pocket.”)

• Intervened to get Kushner top-secret clearance after he was denied over concerns about foreign influence.

• Put Kushner in charge of Middle East peace.

• Embraced rampant nepotism.

• Touted injecting disinfectant as a COVID-19 cure.

• Touted ultraviolet light as a COVID-19 cure.

• Touted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure.

• Touted ivermectin as a COVID-19 cure.

• Told people not to wear face masks to cut down the spread of COVID-19, even though they work.

• Actively discouraged COVID-19 testing.

• Refused to send federal aid to New York City amid the first COVID-19 wave because the virus was hitting Democratic-voting states hardest.

• “Jokingly” said on multiple occasions that he deserved to be president for more than two terms.

• Thought climate change was a Chinese hoax.

• Built an incomplete border wall that doesn’t work, wasn’t needed and wasn’t paid for by Mexico.

• Started a trade war with China that mainly hurt U.S. consumers.

• Threw food when angry.

• Saw no problem with his vice president potentially being hanged by a violent mob he’d summoned and sent to the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the peaceful transition of power.

• Stared directly at the sun.

U.S. President Donald Trump stares directly at the sun during a partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017.

U.S. President Donald Trump stares directly at the sun during a partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017.

• Started his presidency with an easily disproved lie about the crowd size at his inauguration.

• Thought people needed an ID to buy cereal.

• Fired James Comey as FBI director because he didn’t like the bureau investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (Later, it was revealed that Trump’s campaign manager gave detailed internal polling data to a Russian intelligence agent.)

• Was a “fucking moron,” according to Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state.

• Fired the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s China-based pandemic response team — and then when a pandemic happened years later, said, “I don’t take responsibility at all” for COVID-19.

• Repeatedly embraced racism.

• Thought repeating “person, woman, man, camera, TV” would assure Americans of his mental stability.

• Tweeted literal gibberish — a lot.

• Lied all the time. (And still does.)

• Openly embraced and amplified QAnon conspiracy theories.

• Got impeached twice.

• Passed huge tax cuts for wealthy corporations ― and massively grew the national debt.

• Flip-flopped on whether the White House had ordered the USS John McCain be hidden so he wouldn’t get mad. (It did.)

• Called American military members who died in the line of duty “losers” and “suckers.”

• Claimed to have bone spurs to get out of military service.

• Binge-watched Fox News when he should have been working.

• Played so, so much golf.

• Raked in cash from foreign interests at his Washington hotel in an operation sometimes described as the “epicenter” of a corrupt presidency.

• Held a rally that may have led to the death of Herman Cain.

• Allegedly directed his lawyer to commit campaign fraud to cover up that Trump cheated on his wife after she had recently given birth.

• Was accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women.

• Dismissed any bad news about himself as “fake.”

• Lied about voluntarily turning over his tax returns.

• Ate a well-done steak — with ketchup.

• Described white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, as “very fine people.”

• Grossly abused the presidential pardon on his way out the door.

• Used private communication services extensively after arguing that Hillary Clinton should be jailed for having a private email server.

• Went to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at people desperate for actual hurricane aid.

Saturday Morning Confusion: CANADA!

Allan:

Twenty-five years ago I moved to Canada on a fiancé Visa. I have been very happy here. Canada is DIFFERENT in history, landscape, laws and constitution, politics, and their sense of place in the international scene. I spent the first 3 years listening and learning, being very sweet and respectful and above all generous and friendly. I let them see that I was actually OK and this made many good friends for me. I read as many books as I could about this wonderful nation and I paid attention to the local and national news. I was an IMMIGRANT and not so much an American anymore.

First, you must determine if you will be allowed to live in Canada. The country has strict immigration laws which cannot be skirted. Not everyone is allowed to cross the border and set up a long-term living situation.

Culture: For the most part Canadians are quieter, less bossy, and far less outspoken that Americans. Americans seem more childlike in that they are louder, friendlier and more demanding. Sorry, but this is true. So tone it down. Be polite. Say please and thank you and show great respect for everyone. There are many cultures here and they love to celebrate themselves and their old-country traditions too. Join the fun!

It is silly and rude to compare the two countries. There are some things in which the U.S. surpasses all others in accomplishment. But that does not make it a “better” country. It is also rude to criticize Canada’s political system, health care system, highways, restaurants, holidays (Victoria Day?) traditional food (depending on which region you will be living in), availability of luxury items, or anything that is Canadian. Canadians can complain, but new immigrants should hold their tongues.

The healthcare system is not perfect, but it IS wonderful, in that NO one must ever worry about their ability to pay for medical care, from the most minor to the most major events. I had open-heart surgery and the cost to me, ambulance, medi-flight, 2 weeks in the cardiac unit to stabilize, then the surgery and the week of recovery cost us ….ZERO. 

The only expense my husband and I had was to fly home from the major city in another province to our sweet home in the wilderness of northern British Columbia. IF you are seriously ill you will be given the best care immediately. IF you can wait (as for a knee replacement) then you will be put on a list and when the orthopedic surgeons are finished treating emergency cases and all the folks ahead of you on “the list,” it will be YOUR turn to receive world-class care. Canada is rightfully proud of its history of health care reform, and yet they really love to gripe about it.

Comparing the two countries is just wrong. It’s “apples and oranges.” Their trade agreements, climate, resource development and production are quite different from the systems in the U.S. For example, food is more expensive here. But you learn to make holistic adjustments to accommodate this. Drugs are cheaper because the government has control over the prices that can be charged.

Society: Canada isn’t so much a “melting pot” as it is a stew, with “foreign” cultures generally receiving the respect they deserve. Do to a constitutional agreement with Quebec, Catholic schools are also public schools and supported by the state. Get used to it. There is racism in Canada, and it seems to all on the aboriginal (native) people here who are referred to as First Nations People. They are the Inuit, Indians, Metis (mixed Indian and white). They don’t have the violent history that native people in the U.S. have had, but they suffer as second-class citizens and have low expectations. Canada recognizes this problem and doesn’t have any good answers to eradicate racism because, as it is for every other nation, this is an endemic problem, deep and dug in.

There’s a fair amount of male chauvinism too. Women face the same barriers as they do in the U.S. And Canada has its share of right-wing extremists, white nationalists, kooks and cult leaders. And I was really surprised to discover that not just a few Canadians thought that Donald Trump was a saviour, and they wanted him to come lead Canada in the “right direction.”

But since I have lived here, I’ve come to see that Canadian Conservatives are more liberal than our liberals are. They are proud of their county. They want to be GOOD people, socially responsible and kind. They seem more religiously tolerant as well, in that I have yet to meet a Canadian who thought they could tell ME how to worship.

Canadians are VERY proud of their land. It is majestic, wide, wild, beautiful and magnificent.

If you learn to sing their anthem, they will really like you for it.

MaryAnn Hardy  Studied Geography (college major) at California State University, 

Saturday Morning Confusion! Merry Christmas!

For some reason they started playing Christmas movies on the Harlequin TV channel this weekend..., (AND CHRISTMAS COMMERCIALS!!!!) 

The middle of October is too early for this shit!

So I am forced to make a new rule!

After this year there will not be any Christmas movies or commercials until the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving..., which is 'Black Friday!' (And that's all I have to say about that!)

(How Santa delivers toys in the industrialized world!)

 

Saturday Morning Confusion!

 Scientists say they have solved an evolutionary mystery involving a 500 million-year-old microscopic, spiny creature with a mouth but no anus. (These are the primitive ancestors of vertebrates - including humans.) 

When it was discovered in 2017, it was reported that the tiny fossil of this sack-like marine beast could be humans' earliest-known ancestor.

The ancient animal, Saccorhytus coronaries, was tentatively placed into a group called the deuterostomes.

Scientists speculate the reason it went extinct was because it was severely 'anal retentive!' 

Saturday Morning Confusion:

 

Saturday Morning Confusion!

 My nephew Christoph, who is a DJ in the club scene in Victoria, B.C. is going on a cross Canada trip from the eastern townships of Quebec, and then Montreal and Toronto before he comes to S.W. Ontario to visit his grandmother, who is 97! (My mother.)

Christoph went to one of the great fancy restaurants in Montreal and took a picture of what he ordered!!!!

Not to be outdone I took "The Mrs. Herself" over to the Hillside restaurant and ordered a fancy meal too!!!!

IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!!!

Saturday Morning Confusion About the Supreme Court!

 Folks, this headline just about sums it up!!!!!

"Nearly 850,000 people signed a petition demanding that Justice Clarence Thomas should be booted from the Supreme Court following Roe v. Wade ruling."

Unfortunately there's not much we can do about his wife... so she gets away scot free!

 

Saturday Morning Confusion: What behaviors do Canadians think are impolite?

Allan:

One other thing I would note is that Canada is surprisingly egalitarian, or to put it another way egalitarian in surprising ways. This has a bunch of interesting manifestations that are quite subtle but surprisingly… “rigid” is not exactly the right word, but “de riguer” doesn’t quite convey the importance.

Things like

• Opening doors. If two people are passing through the door at once, one person holds the door — either one the outside, or they go through first but keep their arm on the door. And the second person acknowledges the act. That entire little ballet is deeply culturally ingrained. Failure to participate is unthinkable.
• Letting cars in. You let cars in, and the person who is let in acknowledges it in some way.
• Respecting personal privacy. It’s not particularly rare to see political figures or other well-known people around. You are expected to treat them like normal people, and in return they treat you like just another person.
• Acceptance of The Other. Not saying that Canada does not have racist asshats, but broadly speaking you’ll find that Canadians as a whole have concluded that people are people, and that most people want to live a happy and safe life and raise their children to be happy and productive members of society. The fact that some people wear funny things on their heads or are a different colour is sort of secondary. Habib had a funny answer once about how he felt invisible in Vancouver because other Blacks in the restaurant didn’t give him “the look” when he walked in.

It’s all pretty interesting, really. One of the things that I always find quite interesting (I’m born in the USA) is that in some ways Canada resembles a sort of idealized America, sort of Mayberry meets The Walton's. 

It really is quite peculiar.

Scott Welch

Saturday Morning Confusion!

Saturday Morning Confusion!

Saturday Morning Confusion!

 The time is 1953 and big tobacco is dreading a report, about to be made public, that says smoking cigarettes causes lung disease and lung cancer!

The emerging science on tobacco's harms documented in the elite peer-reviewed literature, especially the causal linkage to lung cancer, threatened to undo more than a half century of unprecedented corporate success. 

With considerable anxiety and rancor within the tobacco industry, the industry's highly competitive CEOs came together in December 1953 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City to map a strategy. 

They realized that the threat they now faced was unprecedented and would require new, collaborative approaches and expertise. Not surprisingly, given their history, they turned again to the field of public relations that had served them so well in the past. 

They called upon John W. Hill, the president of the nation's leading public relations firm, Hill & Knowlton.

Hill offered the companies powerful advice and guidance as they faced their crisis. 

Hill understood that simply denying emerging scientific facts would be a losing game. This would not only smack of self-interest but also ally the companies with ignorance in an age of technological and scientific hegemony. 

So he proposed seizing and controlling science rather than avoiding it. If science posed the principal—even terminal—threat to the industry, Hill advised that the companies should now associate themselves as great supporters of science. 

The companies, in his view, should embrace a sophisticated scientific discourse; they should demand more science, not less.

Of critical importance, Hill argued, they should declare the positive value of scientific skepticism of science itself. 

Knowledge, Hill understood, was hard won and uncertain, and there would always be skeptics. 

What better strategy than to identify, solicit, support, and amplify the views of skeptics of the causal relationship between smoking and disease? 

Moreover, the liberal disbursement of tobacco industry research funding to academic scientists could draw new skeptics into the fold. 

The goal, according to Hill, would be to build and broadcast a major scientific controversy. The public must get the message that the issue of the health effects of smoking remains an open question. 

Doubt, uncertainty, and the truism that there is more to know would become the industry's collective new mantra.

Hill was above all a cynic, deeply committed to the instrumental ideals of public relations. He was profoundly confident that public relations strategies, well developed and implemented, could effectively serve the needs of his clients. 

He believed—and he convinced the companies’ leadership—that by calling for more research and offering funding, they could take high ground in their public pronouncements. 

Although he had quit smoking himself, he had no interest in examining and assessing the data or the emerging science. 

For Hill, science would be a means to a public relations end. The executives of the 5 major companies endorsed his strategic plan and hired Hill & Knowlton to manage their burgeoning corporate crisis.

And THIS, my friends, was the start of the anti-science movement in the United States of America!

From this auspicious beginning my friends, we were led to believe that the killing of JFK was orchestrated by a conspiracy, the moon landings were fake, the world is flat, evolution is a hoax, and vaccines are bad for you.

This, and other anti-science beliefs first fostered by John W. Hill, led us to the conclusion that common folklore and biblical prophecy took precedence over scientific fact and the development of my favourite quote of all time: "Tell people something enough times....., with enough conviction...., and they will believe just about anything!"

The way I see it anyway!

Saturday Morning Confusion:

 

Still more Saturday Morning Confusion!

Well kids: The Federal Election is on Monday and so far three questions remain on everybody's mind:

1. Will the Conservatives split their vote with the People’s Party of Canada?

2. Will the NDP vote hold, or defect to the Liberals at the last minute?

3. Will the Bloc surge in Quebec keep the Liberals down?

Since I'm not a political prognosticator I don't have the answers to these questions but you can bet they will have a big influence on how people will vote!

Stay Tuned!

Saturday Morning Confusion!

 Schrodinger's cat trying to figure out how to get out of the box!

Saturday Morning Confusion: Yes I can!

 With the Olympics about to start we thought this was rather appropriate:

Saturday Morning Confusion!

 I don't care what you say folks...... this is funny!

And just for good measure: