Something Worse Than Elon

Those foaming-at-the-mouth anti-Muskers are apoplectic over Elon fine-tooth-combing the IRS for fraud, waste and abuse. Led by raging Senator Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren, they fear that their tax information and social security numbers will be seen by invading eyes.

Hey, here's a news flash: Your tax information and SSNs have already been seen by every Tom, D-word and Harry at the IRS who happens to flip open your file. Ditto every tax accountant you ever hired to do your return. Remember that sketchy guy at H&R Block? What if he "did something" with your information? And BTW, exactly what would someone "do" with that information?

People should stop worrying about Elon Musk and start worrying about the long-term damage those Ozempic injections are doing to their insides.

What's To Hate About A Jew?

The New York neighborhood of Borough Park is home to over half of the 600,000 Jewish people residing in Brooklyn. It has more than 300 synagogues. I was born there and spent the first year of my life in that community.

Now I live in the small town of Freeport (pop. 8,776), notable for being the home of the LLBean Mothership. (My name for it.) Freeport does not have any Jewish synagogues. The city of Portland, 20 minutes away, has 6. 

Actor Paul Newman

I have lived in Freeport for the last 15 years, and in all that time have had one Jewish friend -- actually two since his wife converted as an adult and although she was not born or raised in the religion she adheres to Judaism's practices and celebrates its holidays. So, I've met two Jews in 15 years here, not a great record. Oh wait, there's a guy up the street who is Jewish by birth but his wife and his kids are not. He doesn't count.

This morning I spoke with my son on the phone. He lives in Portland. He told me that his only Jewish friend here went outside this morning and found a swastika painted on his car's windshield.

Meanwhile, in New York last Tuesday night, anti-Israel protest groups staged a rally in Borough Park, shouting that the residents were “settlers” and “Zionists” and engaging in fist-fights with the pro-Israel counter-protesters. Police were called to break it up.

One of those interviewed at the protest said, "It makes me sad and mad that our country allows these anti-Jewish, anti-American protestors from Muslim countries into this country. Also, the idiotic young college-indoctrinated students are clueless."

Jew Spotlight: Actor Paul Newman was Jewish. Besides being possibly the handsomest man who ever lived, he was a great actor who earned many significant awards and accolades during his decades on stage and screen. His marriage to actress Joanne Woodward lasted 50 years, until his death in 2008. 

He was a philanthropist who started the company Newman's Own, which makes and sells a variety of foods. The Foundation in his name continues his commitment to use 100% of its profits from the sale of their products to support children, their families and their organizations, both in the US and abroad.

"Trans Women" Are Men, Right?

I am very confused, as many others might be as well. There are lots of news stories about transgender women lately, and how President Trump is changing the laws surrounding this odd phenomenon. One of these stories was in our local news. 

A high-school boy who did poorly in a particular sport started "identifying" as female and joined the girl's team. He just placed first in a state pole-vaulting competition. He still looks like a boy, but he's taller and his hair is longer. 

I wish we could come up with something else to call these transgender women to avoid all the confusion. How about "men?"

We Need A Vaccine for TDS

I am surprised that TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) is even worse now than in the past, when President Trump is doing so much good for the average American, and in such a short time. Hopefully Bobby will approve a vaccine for it before every last Democrat turns into a babbling idiot.

Shown below is a screen shot from a Facebook post of one of its worst sufferers, illustrating the ridiculous heights of fantasy the TDS fever causes (i.e. Republicans don't care if planes crash, inferring that they have all been Trump's fault).  

The poor woman. As she says at the end, she is not sleeping well. Get some help, Kat!

TV Review: SNL 50th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Back when SNL was funny....

Last night, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) threw itself a giant party in an overblown, more-than-three-hour festival of self-promotion to celebrate its comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Featuring cast members and musical performers from the past 50 years to the present day, it presented the dubious anniversary with outlandish fanfare, as if it were a combination of the Academy Awards and the V-Day Parade signaling the end of World War Two. 

From the opening shot of singer Paul Simon looking (and sounding) about 100 years old to the closing act of Beatle Paul McCartney's sad imitation of his former self, I found the whole thing shockingly off-key. As a baby boomer who made sure to be home by 11:30 pm EST every Saturday during the show's early years, when it was funny, I was hoping for a boisterous romp down memory lane. Instead it was a depressing look at just how old everyone, including me, has gotten. (Although none as old as former wild man Garrett Morris, now 88, who came on near the end and did literally nothing but sit in a chair and depress me further.)

In between those two geriatric performers there were lots of younger people running around being fit and not funny. No matter -- today the reviews are in and they are 100% positive, with people like actor Jack Nicholson, now 87, earning accolades simply for dressing himself and getting there. Conspicuously absent were some of the best cast members from the early days, including Gilda Radner, Andy Kaufman, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Norm MacDonald and Phil Hartman, all dead now. 

Despite all of that, seeing Adam Sandler get teary during his tribute song made it worth staying up that late. And Bill Murray, if you could ignore him looking like Father Time, was hysterical, as usual.

The Coming Civil War

If, unlike half the country who finally feel that our government is working for us and not against us, you are on the fence about the direction of Trump and his cabinet, reading today's New York Times will push you right off and into the roiling Sea of Despair they seem to relish swimming in. Every story in their leaning tower of opinion tells of the dire doings by Trump and his minions, each of whom is a representative of the Devil himself. We must all fear them!

Bobby Kennedy will give all of us polio and AIDS and he won't even care! J.D. Vance will turn all of Europe against America and probably start a world war. Elon Musk, who according to the editors of the Times causes chaos, will likely pocket all the money he finds on his wicked hunt for waste and fraud, like he needs more. (The current richest man in the world obviously wants to be the richest man in the Milky Way.)

If you believe that Trump's recent executive order aimed at the military implies a "shameful campaign against transgenders," who by the way represent less than 1% of the population, you're likely to adore an article denigrating that decision. The order states that,"A man's assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member."  Hey, sounds good to me. Speaking of chaos, do we really need women with penises and men with vaginas duking it out in the barracks?

Adding to the raucous chorus is Randi Weingarten, the president of the teacher's union (AFT) who makes half a mil a year while most new teachers in Maine bring home about $40K. She writes that Trump and Musk, in their quest to raise the abysmal scores of America's students who occupy last place in everything among developed nations, are "swinging a wrecking ball at the Department of Education. This attack on our children is wrong."

I'll tell you what's wrong, Randi: The constant whining and nit-picking of the Democrats, sore losers to the max, who wake up every morning and set out to further divide our fractured nation until it truly erupts into another civil war. Now where the hell is my musket?

Equal Racism For All

"Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race or ethnicity over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against other people because they are of a different ethnic background." -- Wikipedia 

Racism exists. It's a real thing. People of different races really do possess different behavioral traits due to inherited attributes. Nobody could argue that one and win. So exactly what is "reverse racism?"

It's nothing. There's no such thing. You can hate whites, you can hate blacks, you can hate Jews, you can hate Latinos -- pick any ethnicity and hate them if that's your thing. If you do so you are guilty of racism. Yet black people think they own the term, and the sentiment, and thus if one discriminates against white people it is "reverse" racism, which is somehow a lesser form of the practice. 

That's so unfair. Hating whites is just as good (bad) as hating anyone else.