Stonepounder
Stonepounder's JournalWhy do the taxpayers get the bill for Pence's football stunt?
Maybe I am missing something here, but from what I have heard, Pence flew from Las Vegas to Indianapolis (ostensibly) to see a football game honoring Payton Manning. When players took a knee, he (ostensibly) left in a huff and flew to Los Angeles for a fund-raiser.
Now, seems to me that going to a football game is not government business, nor is a fund-raiser. So, why are WE the American taxpayers paying for a gov't official to fly to go see a football game and then fly to a fund-raiser? Why doesn't Pence have to reimburse the gov't for his non-official use of gov't aircraft?
Poll: Americans Hope Trump Follows Pences Example and Leaves Early (Borowitz)
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/poll-americans-hope-trump-follows-pences-example-and-leaves-early?mbid=nl_Borowitz%2010092017%20Experimental&CNDID=27161810&spMailingID=12102728&spUserID=MTMzMTgyODIwMTg3S0&spJobID=1260734375&spReportId=MTI2MDczNDM3NQS2INDIANAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report)—A poll taken after Vice-President Mike Pence made headlines on Sunday with an abrupt early departure reveals that a broad majority of Americans hope that Donald Trump follows Pence’s example and leaves early, as well.
In a striking result, the poll shows that Trump’s early exit would be approximately a thousand times more popular than the one Pence participated in on Sunday.
While Pence defended his decision to leave early on Sunday by saying that he did it out of patriotism, a substantial majority of Americans agreed that a premature departure by Trump “would be, by far, the most patriotic thing he could ever do for his country.”
And while the price tag of Pence’s departure on Sunday, estimated by some to be approximately a quarter of a million dollars, raised eyebrows across the country, poll respondents overwhelmingly said that they do not care how much Trump’s departure costs, as long as he leaves.
Finally, in one of the poll’s more negative findings, a broad majority of Indiana residents said that they were “angry and upset” that Pence did not leave early when he was governor of that state.
SNL Weekend Update just came up with how to solve the gun problem in the US!
Just convince Trump that the 2nd Amendment was Obama's idea. There would be NO guns in the US within a few days!
Trump just basically said: If I don't say it is true, it isn't true!
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/915907150333009920When is the right time to discuss gun legislation?
https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=
&w=480
Please send prayers, good thoughts, and hope my way. (Updated - see below. Good News)
About 10 years ago we got a new puppy to be a companion for our Sancho. Being conscientious pet parents, we enrolled in a puppy class at PetSmart to teach our new puppy how to train us. Since Sancho hated being alone, we took him to the class as an observer. Everyone at PetSmart knew us as 'those crazy dog people'.
Along about the second or third week of class, one of the employees came running up to us and said 'we have one of your dogs in the adoption display'. Well, we and our two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels went back to see. Well, he wasn't a Cavalier, he was an English Toy Spaniel. He had been rescued from a puppy mill where he had been standing stud. Since we had just gotten a second dog, we really weren't looking for another one. I made the mistake of reaching into his cage and scratching him behind the ears. We made it out of PetSmart without a third dog.
The next day my wife called me at work. She couldn't stop worrying about him. She asked me to find out if he had been adopted. So, I called PetSmart to find out. They didn't know, but the gave me the number of the shelter that had been there. So, I called the shelter. I told the person I talked to, "I don't know if you remember me, but we were the couple who looked at the English Toy". She laughed and said: "Remember you? We have a pool going as to when you were going to call!" No he hadn't been adopted and they would be happy to hold him till the next Sunday when they would be back at PetSmart.
So, the next Sunday, Bosley came home with us. He is the sweetest, most joyful dog, we have ever known. If he is awake, his tail is wagging. He always wants to be in the same room with you, preferably cuddled up next to you. Six years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes. The expected life-span for a diabetic dog is 3-5 years. We had him into the vet about 10 days ago for a regular check up and our vet was very impressed with how well he was doing.
Yesterday afternoon, Bosley started puking. We had him on some arthritis pain meds and we thought perhaps the meds were upsetting his stomach, so we skipped his last dose. Today he has pretty much slept all day and seems to have trouble walking. (He has always had trouble with his right rear hip which we always assumed was from living for 4 years in a cage.) We can tell that he just isn't feeling well. These symptoms in a 14 year old, diabetic dog are scary. We'll be sitting outside our vet's office when they open at 8:00 am tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, any positive energy you can send our way would be appreciated.
A kid walked into a GameStop wearing a Kaepernick jersey. Two NFL players bought him an Xbox.
http://wapo.st/2xJTcPbSaundra Watts was getting her makeup done in the Dulles 28 Centre in Sterling on Tuesday, killing time while her dog was groomed at Petco, when her 10-year-old grandson, Jaden, came running into the store.
“He’s jumping up and down, saying, ‘Nana! Nana! Nana! These two guys want to buy me an Xbox. You’ve got to come right now,’ ” Watts recalled in a phone interview on Thursday.
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When they entered GameStop, Jaden introduced Saundra to the two men in shorts and T-shirts who had made the generous offer: Washington Redskins running backs Keith Marshall and Rob Kelley.
“Is it okay if we buy your son an Xbox?” Marshall asked Saundra, who was flattered Marshall thought she was Jaden’s mom. “I was like, ‘Really?’ Now mind you, I didn’t know they were Redskins, and neither did Jaden.”
Jaden was wearing a Kaepernick jersey and the two Redskin players just happened to be in the store. They were impressed by the fact Jaden was wearing the jersey. In a phone interview Jaden said:
“I liked how he wasn’t afraid to show what he thought,” Jaden, who is African American, said in a phone interview Thursday of Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality last season. “He risked getting fired, which was a big thing. I wouldn’t even do that, but he did, and I really like him for standing out. I don’t know if people agree with it, but he just doesn’t care what people say and that’s inspired me and probably inspired other people.”
Just a reminder of how horrible NFL players are and how the hate America. Right?
There Is No Joy In "Kushnerville" Slumlord Jared's A$$ Is Getting Sued -- Class Action No Less
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/tenants-hit-jared-kushners-real-estate-company-with-a-class-action-lawsuit/Tenants hit Jared Kushner’s real-estate company with a class action lawsuit
Tenants of the Baltimore-area apartment complexes owned by Jared Kushner’s real-estate company have brought a class-action lawsuit against the firm’s property management arm over its aggressive pursuit of tenants for allegedly unpaid rent.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Circuit Court for Baltimore City, alleges that the management company and related corporate entities have been improperly inflating payments owed by tenants by charging them late fees that are often unfounded and court fees that are not actually approved by any court. This, the lawsuit charges, sets in motion a vicious cycle in which tenants’ rent payments are partly assessed toward the fees instead of the actual rent owed, thus deeming the tenant once again “late” on his or her rent payment, leading to yet more late fees and court fees. Making matters worse, the 5 percent late fees are frequently assessed on principal that includes allegedly unpaid fees, not just the rent itself. Tenants are pressured to pay the snowballing bills with immediate threat of eviction, the suit alleges.
“The routine practice of charging tenants illegal fees combined with filing eviction proceedings against tenants who have paid their rent on time is predatory and destructive to hard-working Marylanders and their families. This is yet another example of corporations profiting from deceptive policies,” said Chelsea Ortega of Santoni, Vocci & Ortega, a Baltimore-area firm that has also brought class-action suits for similar “fee-churning” practices against two other large property management companies in the area. In this case, the firm is working with Brown Goldstein & Levy, a Baltimore firm specializing in civil rights cases, and the Public Justice Center, a civil legal aid office based in Baltimore that has also brought cases against area landlords over similar practices.
A spokesman for the Kushner Companies declined to comment on the particulars of the lawsuit. “We will respond to the complaint at the appropriate time in the legal proceedings,” he said.
Sounds like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, even if the 'tree' is only an in-law.
Virginian Charters Jet To Rescue 300 Pets Stranded On Virgin Islands After Irma
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/virgin-islands-pet-rescue_us_59c30796e4b0c90504fb69e2When Hurricane Maria took aim at the U.S. Virgin Islands last week, Sali Gear knew she had to move fast.
Gear, the co-founder of Virginia Beach’s Island Dog Rescue, grew up in the islands. She had been working on plans to evacuate all the pets from all three of the U.S. Virgin Islands ― St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix ― after Hurricane Irma devastated the area.
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Instead of flying the animals out in separate groups, Gear chartered a private jet to take the animals all at once Monday back to Norfolk, Virginia, where they were taken to Gear’s farm or sent into the care of volunteers and rescue groups across the country. She offered to fly pet owners’ animals off the islands free of charge and gathered pets that had been abandoned or were in shelters.
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Gear was indeed there for the island animals every step of the way. she evacuated more than 300 dogs and cats that had been gathered on St. Thomas after she arranged for boats to pick them up from the other two islands.
Read the whole story at link. Posting to Pets rather than Good News because I think more of you can relate.
Trump Doubles Down On Criticism of Kim Jong Un During Alabama Rally
Source: Huffington Post
President Donald Trump went after Kim Jong Un during a campaign rally for Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) in Alabama on Friday night, the latest barb in the ongoing exchange of threats and insults between the two leaders.
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“I believe the best path to the most peaceful world are proud, independent sovereign nations that respect their people,” Trump said to the Alabama crowd.
“We can’t have mad men out there shooting rockets all over the place,” he added. “And, by the way, rocket man should’ve been handled a long time ago ... This shouldn’t be handled now, but I’m going to handle it because we have to handle it.”
“Little rocket man,” the president continued. “We’re going to do it because we really have no choice. He’s talking about a massive weapon exploding over the ocean ... which causes tremendous calamity.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-alabama-rally-kim-jong-un_us_59c59e18e4b06ddf45f80a8e?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
I find myself waking up each morning mildly surprised that we are all still alive and that one of the two nuclear madmen hasn't pushed the button.
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Member since: Sun Jun 27, 2010, 10:05 PMNumber of posts: 4,033
