I am not a real doctor, but I have been known to bring a pair of blue jeans back to life.
Monday, December 26, 2016
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Friday, December 23, 2016
Thursday, December 22, 2016
▶️Click on the red arrow at top left of page, to hear the music.
City sidewalk, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style.
In the air there's
A feeling of Christmas.
Children laughing, people passing,
Meeting smile after smile,
And on every street corner you'll hear:
Silver bells, silver bells,
It's Christmas time in the city.
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring,
Soon it will be Christmas day.
City street lights,
Even stop lights,
Blink a bright red and green,
As the shoppers rush home
With their treasures.
Hear the snow crunch,
See the kids bunch,
This is Santa's big scene,
And above all this bustle you'll hear:
Silver bells, silver bells,
It's Christmas time in the city.
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring,
Soon it will be Christmas day.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Rocky Balboa is Back in the Ring
The Daily Mail has learned that President-elect Donald Trump is set to select actor Sylvester Stallone for Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
The NEA was formed in 1965, as an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and supports everything from museums and opera to folk music, dance and design. Its current head, the artist and philanthropist Jane Chu, heads a 14-member board with an annual budget of approximately $146,200,000. Stallone, age 70 is best known for his roles as John Rambo and Rocky Balboa. His last major contribution to the arts was the 2015 Rocky spin-off, Creed that grossed $174 million at the box office.
The actor backed John McCain’s presidential run in 2008, but he is not a registered Republican. He did, however, describe Trump as “bigger than life” in a recent interview, but stopped short of endorsing his presidency. “I love Donald Trump,” he told Variety Magazine. “He’s a great Dickensian character. You know what I mean? There are certain people like Arnold [Schwarzenegger] and Babe Ruth, that are bigger than life. But I don’t know how that translates to running the world.” Stallone and Trump have a friendship that goes back more than 30 years.
Stallone also hinted at a career in politics in the same interview, saying he was interested in following in the footsteps of Hollywood star-turned politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I said to my wife, ‘What do you think?’ Stallone recalled. “She said, ‘Are you crazy?'"
While Trump has not formally offered Stallone the job, the iconic actor is reportedly “positively disposed to the idea,” according to the Daily Mail.
It has been widely assumed that a Trump presidency would be hostile to the arts. But Mr. Trump feels this sort of A-list appointment is precisely what the industry needs. The president-elect sees Hollywood icon Stallone as the perfect choice to make art great again.
If Stallone is formally offered the job, his appointment will have to be approved by Congress.
Friday, December 16, 2016
Her Royal Highness, Omarosa
Omarosa Manigault (pronounced: Oh-Ma-Row-Sah), was a contestant on Season One of The Apprentice; and as of Thursday, has officially joined the Trump transition team.
Manigault will be working on the transition executive committee, with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Peter Thiel (who has become Mr. Trump's go-to man when it comes to technology) and several other loyalists.
During the presidential campaign, Omarosa, who is usually introduced by her first name, held the position of Director of African-American Outreach; and for the past six months, has served as a board member on the National Diversity Coalition for Team Trump.
Her responsibilities in her new position have not yet been announced, but she posed in the Trump Tower lobby with NFL greats Jim Brown and Ray Lewis after their meeting with Trump on Tuesday, regarding urban development and job creation issues.
After The Apprentice, Omarosa worked for the Clinton administration, and was eventually fired from four different positions. Much like the personification she displayed on the reality show, she couldn’t get along with anyone.
She may think she is getting another chance to take advantage of a cushy situation, but Ivanka Trump is no fool or pushover. If Omarosa thinks she can out smart Ivanka, she will have a rude awakening. I can hardly wait to see how this turns out.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Wacky Jill Stein's Next to the Last Steps
We haven't heard the last of her yet.
PENNSYLVANIA
Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein appealed a decision by the Philadelphia City Commissioners on Dec. 1, denying her request for an audit. She has continued to push the recount effort, largely because she can raise millions of dollars for the Green Party and herself.
Philadelphia's Common Pleas Court, Judge Abbe Fletman, in a written opinion issued Wednesday, said Stein “is mistaken” in her claim that the state Election Code gives her a right to the audit she requested.
The difference in voting totals is still less than Pennsylvania’s 0.5 percent to trigger for an automatic statewide recount. On Monday, the judge denied Stein’s second request for a forensic audit of voting machines used in the city.
In Philadelphia, a central computer system is used to program cartridges, which are inserted into the voting machines before the election. After the election, those cartridges, are plugged back into the central system to tally the votes. The so-called “closed system,” from the programming of the cartridges, to the machines, to the tabulation of votes, is not connected to the internet or other computers. Deputy City Solicitor Benjamin Field argued Tuesday, “There is no evidence to suggest that Philadelphia’s elections were anything but secure.
MICHIGAN
Michigan’s recount was halted on Wednesday, after the Michigan Court of Appeals agreed that Stein is not an “aggrieved candidate” and therefore the count must stop. Stein received fewer than 1% of the vote, which made her “statically irrelevant.”
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith set aside his original ruling that the recount could begin. He stated that, even though Stein raised serious issues about the integrity of Michigan’s electoral system, she offered only “speculative claims” and nothing indicating “actual injury.”
John Bursch, attorney for Michigan’s Republican Attorney General, Bill Schuette, who had challenged Stein’s case for a recount, praised Goldsmith’s decision. “This ruling is a huge victory for Michigan taxpayers and the rule of law,” Bursch reportedly said in a statement.
The recount has been costing the state $12 million, despite any evidence of technical errors or fraud. “This is a victory for the taxpayers and voters of Michigan,” said Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairman of the state Republican Party.
Ms. McDaniel, who is Mitt Romney's niece; has just been named the next RNC chair to fill the position vacated by Reince Priebus who has been named Trump’s Chief of Staff.
After the Michigan Court’s ruling against continuing the recount, Stein declared: “We are not backing down from this fight ― a fight to protect the hard-fought, hard-won civil and voting rights of all Americans. Our campaign will seek immediate relief in Michigan’s Supreme Court to ensure the recount that is already underway in all Michigan counties continues,” Hayley Horowitz and Jessica Clarke, the Stein campaign’s lead lawyers in Michigan, said in a statement. “With so many irregularities in Michigan ― there is a real possibility the rights of voters in Michigan may have been suppressed during this election.”
Today, December 14, presidential vote recount in Michigan may have turned up massive voter inaccuracies. Now it’s Republican leaders who are demanding an investigation to determine why a third of the city’s voting machines registered more ballots than actual voters, the Detroit News reported. Ruth Johnson, the Republican Secretary of State, is launching an audit.
Republican state Sen. Patrick Colbeck called the probe a good start regarding the suspicious results turned up in Detroit, where Hillary Clinton won with 95 percent of the vote. The Detroit News found voting scanning machines at 248 of the city’s 662 precincts — 37 percent — tabulated more ballots than the number of actual voters counted in the poll books.
Wisconsin
WISCONSIN
The Wisconsin recount ended a day before the Dec. 13 deadline. Stein told newspaper The Detroit Free Press that, so far, the recount appeared to be exposing problems with Michigan's election process, particularly in low income, minority communities.
However, the Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair officially declared Republican President-elect Donald Trump the winner in the state. In fact, his margin over former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton increased by 162 votes. So, thank you, Jill Stein.
Stein’s two and a half-week fundraising drive drew in approximately $7.33 million from 161,300 donors. The campaign claims this is the largest-ever people-powered effort to verify the results of a presidential election in United States’ history.
“It was an amazing affirmation of the power of the American people to have a voice in their voting system and demand elections with integrity,” Stein said in a press release. However, the effort failed to bring “election integrity” back to the system. In fact, her initiative, for the most part, has been a colossal failure.
The campaign calculated the total cost of the recount efforts to be over $7.4 million, approximately $3.5 million of which was paid for by Wisconsin state filing fees. “The total was raised to $9.5 million only after the Wisconsin Elections Commission suddenly and unexpectedly increased the fee for the recount by $2.4 million on November 28,” according to the statement.
The campaign expects some costs to be overestimated and to receive funds back from the uncompleted Michigan recount. Any refunded state filing fees will be donated, according to the release.
David Cobb, Stein’s campaign manager, said in the release the campaign has been “fully transparent” about its recount intentions. “It’s regrettable that states, especially Wisconsin, dramatically increased the costs of what should have been a routine democratic process,” Cobb said. “But the people of this country were not deterred. And just as we have for decades, the Green Party will continue to be a voice for all Americans – whether on the streets, in the courthouse or at the ballot box.”
Ilann Maazel, an attorney for Stein’s campaign repeated vague claims made about voting machines being “extremely vulnerable” to hacking and that they could have been manipulated; but nothing could be substantiated. Closing remarks were: “The Court’s decision will deny voters the chance to know the truth about this election.”
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Trump Tales
It has become a tradition, going back 95 years, for the POTUS to have a dog while in the White House. So, word is, Trump is considering a Labradoodle. I saw the story on one of the Sunday morning shows. They had three different dogs in the studio while they were discussing the breed; and they were adorable. 
They look a little like a Wheaton Terrier; but since they are a hybrid of a Labrador and a Standard Poodle, there is no predicting how big they will get. They are very friendly and intelligent; and, they don’t shed! The Trumps will be getting a puppy and they already have one picked out.
In other news, Donald Trump said that his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner are considering a move to Washington, D.C. "They’re both very talented people,” he said. “I would love to be able to have them involved,” Trump said. He commented that whatever Ivanka is involved in—no one can do it better. He also gave very high praise to Jerod, saying “He is a very talented guy.” I’m getting the impression he doesn’t want to do this without them (primarily Ivanka). He said they are considering all of the legal aspects, if there are any. In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Trump said they were “working that out.”
On Monday, Kanye West was invited to Trump Tower and had some one-on-one time with Donald Trump. After their meeting, Trump escorted West to the lobby where they posed for photos and Trump explained that they have been good friends for a long time. He implied that their meeting wasn’t anything more than that.
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