If you are a "Deplorable" by Hillary Clinton's standards, our work is only half done.
Unless Donald Trump has all the help he needs to keep the promises he's made to us, he won't get there from here. He will not be able to affect the change we all are so desperate to see. So we have to do our part to help him get America back for us, for our families and for our children.
Look at the Congressional Approval polls. As of this morning, nearly 80% of Americans questioned about the job Congress is doing said "it's crap", or words to that effect.
Why?
Because WE the American People, keep putting back into office the same people to do the same thing - feather their nests at the expense of ours. We, the American people, have got to wake up and take responsibility for our nation back. Which means we have got to stop doing what we've been doing and expecting a different result.
I can't speak to other states, but the two Senators from California, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer were both first elected in 1992 and 1993, respectively. Given that they've been drinking the water and sucking the wind in Washington for nearly a quarter of a century, how in touch do you think they are with the people in their state?
I can answer that: they're not.
They are owned, lock, stock and barrel by the donors and special interests. They do NOT have the people's interests at heart or put them first. No. They owe those donors and special interests and do their bidding, not ours.
The same can be said of our State Representatives - most of them of been in office for multiple terms. Look at Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House when Obama Care was causing such a ruckus. She deliberately ignored the will of the People, famously said, "You have to read the bill to find out what's in it", and got that bill passed - even though the majority of Americans said "NO!"
These people, and others like them around the country, have lost touch with the very people who put them into office the first time. These people have got to go if we hope to have one single little chance of putting things right again.
Yes - there are exceptions - a handful. Like Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, Darryl Issa from California (of all places!), and Trey Gowdy.
We HAVE to fix this. WE, you and me and the rest of us Deplorables, have got to put into the House and the Senate people like Donald Trump, people who will support Trump in the policies he wants to put into place and the Justices he will nominate to the Supreme Court.
If we don't do this, if we do not throw out the vast majority of current incumbents in both the House and the Senate and elect people who are as desperate to get America back to the Constitution and back to what it should be, Trump will enter the Oval Office with both of his hands tied behind his back. He will not be able to get even half of what we want him to do, done.
So - don't just vote for Donald Trump. Do that, but also do your homework. Identify those people who are on the ballot in your state and district who hold the same ideals as the rest of us Deplorables. Vote for them, and encourage all of your friends and family to do the same.
Let us, the American People, take this country back from the Elites and the Donor Class - but lets do it 100%.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Monday, September 12, 2016
Open Letter to Jonah Goldberg & #NeverTrump Groupies
Dear Jonah,
I just took a look at your page on Twitter. That is one adorable dog! But you know the expression on your pup's face in that pic? That guilty look that says, "Oops! I really messed up - Dad's gonna be pissed."
That's what I want to talk to you about today: forgiveness.
It's the case of knowing we've screwed up, and knowing that someone important to us will get mad, but we hope they will make the effort to separate the act from the individual. Which is something that takes character - accepting that when someone does or says something foolish, separating the act from the person. Colleagues, friends, parents and lovers do it all the time. It's part of living.
When someone we know, care about, like or love does something "stupid" or unthinking we don't, as a general rule, throw them out like trash.
Instead, we try to help them learn not to do the same thing again because no one of us, not you, not me, not anyone else on this planet is perfect. When we screw up it's incumbent on one decent human being to another, to help us get better.
I get that you don't like Trump. I do, and I respect that. What I have trouble respecting though, is your "baby out with the bathwater" approach to this situation. We do not have another viable choice. One of these two people will be our next president for the next four years, and unless we're planning on leaving the planet, there's just no getting around the fact that we will live with whatever they put in place.
Now, you have principles you can't bring yourself to violate. Got it. Respect it. But! Given the realistic choices come November - crap sandwich on wheat v. crap sandwich on white - there ain't a lot of wiggle room.
Yes, you, yourself, have only one vote. But you influence, through your articles and television appearances, a lot of people who might be on the fence. If you remain standing in your corner, face to the wall and fingers in your ears, stamping your feet because you just don't want to see reality, Hillary Clinton could well become our next president.
Have you never heard of the fine art of compromise? Do you never compromise with your wife, your siblings or people with whom you work? Of course you do, and those are times when you put your self off to the side and accept something you might not necessarily like 100%.
Putting yourself, your self, your ego and principles aside, and looking at what that would mean for the United States of America, what do you suppose the future of this country will be if she wins?
Is that the kind of place you want your kids and your grandkids to live in?
No free speech because the Supreme Court will decide what speech is allowed and what falls in the purely subjective bucket of "hate-speech". We're already seeing this mindset spreading itself across college campuses. What do you suppose the speech-police will say to you and to Rush and to anyone else who doesn't fall into their narrow line of expression?
No Second Amendment because the left doesn't understand it and are frightened by it - yet it is the one true guarantee our country's Founders put in place to ensure we would not be subjected to tyranny.
No States Rights, or Protection from Illegal Search & Seizure? Do you really want the kind of America Hillary Clinton will create through her appointments to the Supreme Court?
Thinking Congress will stop her from doing that is delusional at best. When has Congress last been effective at doing anything that has benefited America and her citizens? 1998?
No, Jonah. I am afraid that your selfish adherence to self and stance on your principles could well doom this country.
Sometimes we have to weigh the alternatives and sometimes we have to put our self aside. We have to think bigger picture and swallow our pride.
I am confident that were many in the GOP who threw up their hands in horror at the idea of having Ronald Reagan as Governor of California. Yes, he cut his teeth on a smaller stage, but he was, arguably, the BEST president of the past 75-years. I proudly voted for him in 1980 and again in 1984 - and I am damned glad that I did.
In Trump, believe it or not, I see similar characteristics. I see that Trump, while full of bluff and bluster does get that he's not the smartest guy in the room. Just as Reagan did. I'm also pretty confident that he knows pretty well what he doesn't know, and he has surrounded himself with advisers who do. Just how much real foreign policy experience did Reagan have before taking on the Soviet Union?
Step back for a minute. Look over the past year and look at just how far Trump has come in his policies and positions since announcing his intent to run. Look at who he's surrounded himself with as advisors and surrogates.
These people aren't slouches, and the people he's listening to and learning from do, I believe, love this country just as you and I do, and, as I believe Donald Trump does. I am confident they will continue to put her interests ahead of their own - as you and the other #NeverTrump groupies should do.
Just get over yourselves. Look out at America. Look at what she has become in the past twenty-five years and ask yourself, can we really afford another generation of degeneration through the courts and Executive Orders?
Think about it - hard, long and generously, putting the American people ahead of your principles for five minutes, and then decide.
The Basket of Deplorables will welcome you and your friends with open arms.
Best,
DeplorablePhil
I just took a look at your page on Twitter. That is one adorable dog! But you know the expression on your pup's face in that pic? That guilty look that says, "Oops! I really messed up - Dad's gonna be pissed."
That's what I want to talk to you about today: forgiveness.
It's the case of knowing we've screwed up, and knowing that someone important to us will get mad, but we hope they will make the effort to separate the act from the individual. Which is something that takes character - accepting that when someone does or says something foolish, separating the act from the person. Colleagues, friends, parents and lovers do it all the time. It's part of living.
When someone we know, care about, like or love does something "stupid" or unthinking we don't, as a general rule, throw them out like trash.
Instead, we try to help them learn not to do the same thing again because no one of us, not you, not me, not anyone else on this planet is perfect. When we screw up it's incumbent on one decent human being to another, to help us get better.
I get that you don't like Trump. I do, and I respect that. What I have trouble respecting though, is your "baby out with the bathwater" approach to this situation. We do not have another viable choice. One of these two people will be our next president for the next four years, and unless we're planning on leaving the planet, there's just no getting around the fact that we will live with whatever they put in place.
Now, you have principles you can't bring yourself to violate. Got it. Respect it. But! Given the realistic choices come November - crap sandwich on wheat v. crap sandwich on white - there ain't a lot of wiggle room.
Yes, you, yourself, have only one vote. But you influence, through your articles and television appearances, a lot of people who might be on the fence. If you remain standing in your corner, face to the wall and fingers in your ears, stamping your feet because you just don't want to see reality, Hillary Clinton could well become our next president.
Have you never heard of the fine art of compromise? Do you never compromise with your wife, your siblings or people with whom you work? Of course you do, and those are times when you put your self off to the side and accept something you might not necessarily like 100%.
Putting yourself, your self, your ego and principles aside, and looking at what that would mean for the United States of America, what do you suppose the future of this country will be if she wins?
Is that the kind of place you want your kids and your grandkids to live in?
No free speech because the Supreme Court will decide what speech is allowed and what falls in the purely subjective bucket of "hate-speech". We're already seeing this mindset spreading itself across college campuses. What do you suppose the speech-police will say to you and to Rush and to anyone else who doesn't fall into their narrow line of expression?
No Second Amendment because the left doesn't understand it and are frightened by it - yet it is the one true guarantee our country's Founders put in place to ensure we would not be subjected to tyranny.
No States Rights, or Protection from Illegal Search & Seizure? Do you really want the kind of America Hillary Clinton will create through her appointments to the Supreme Court?
Thinking Congress will stop her from doing that is delusional at best. When has Congress last been effective at doing anything that has benefited America and her citizens? 1998?
No, Jonah. I am afraid that your selfish adherence to self and stance on your principles could well doom this country.
Sometimes we have to weigh the alternatives and sometimes we have to put our self aside. We have to think bigger picture and swallow our pride.
I am confident that were many in the GOP who threw up their hands in horror at the idea of having Ronald Reagan as Governor of California. Yes, he cut his teeth on a smaller stage, but he was, arguably, the BEST president of the past 75-years. I proudly voted for him in 1980 and again in 1984 - and I am damned glad that I did.
In Trump, believe it or not, I see similar characteristics. I see that Trump, while full of bluff and bluster does get that he's not the smartest guy in the room. Just as Reagan did. I'm also pretty confident that he knows pretty well what he doesn't know, and he has surrounded himself with advisers who do. Just how much real foreign policy experience did Reagan have before taking on the Soviet Union?
Step back for a minute. Look over the past year and look at just how far Trump has come in his policies and positions since announcing his intent to run. Look at who he's surrounded himself with as advisors and surrogates.
These people aren't slouches, and the people he's listening to and learning from do, I believe, love this country just as you and I do, and, as I believe Donald Trump does. I am confident they will continue to put her interests ahead of their own - as you and the other #NeverTrump groupies should do.
Just get over yourselves. Look out at America. Look at what she has become in the past twenty-five years and ask yourself, can we really afford another generation of degeneration through the courts and Executive Orders?
Think about it - hard, long and generously, putting the American people ahead of your principles for five minutes, and then decide.
The Basket of Deplorables will welcome you and your friends with open arms.
Best,
DeplorablePhil
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Could it possibly be...?
America is divided again on July 5th. Half of us are horrified by what the FBI did, and half of us are breathing a sigh of relief.
What if, though. What if this was a calculus by Comey and the FBI to...
1) Avoid an indictment and prevent Obama from pardoning her, leaving open the door for a future indictment.
2) Continues the speculation about what was in those emails and how damaging they might have been to our national security.
3) Make Trump look at least a bit more honorable when compared to a woman who has already proved to be unable to keep a secret. One of the digs against Trump is that he has a big mouth that runs away from him.
People don't like either of them with good reason. The primary difference is that Trump is a relative newcomer when compared to Hillary who's been an unpleasant wart in public view for more than thirty years.
After all, this is a woman who aided and abetted her husband's repeated abuse of women, calling the victims "bimbo eruptions". Yeah, that's presidential.
Back to Comey because she's disgusting and now she's been given a pass by someone widely thought to be a "stand-up" guy. That reputation is now under a gigantic question mark, but what if.
One thing that Comey didn't touch today is the Clinton Foundation. Could this be the tax evasion equivalent that brought Al Capone down?
Back then, in the twenties and thirties, the Feds had a whole lot of circumstantial evidence that Capone was involved in bootlegging and murder and extortion. Still, it wasn't until an accountant discovered a lapse in Capone's tax return that they were able to nail him and throw his sorry ass in jail for a good long time.
Maybe that's the design here. Pass on the Big One and focus on the apparent lesser evil that will be easier to prove.
I hope so. I really, truly hope so, because as a former government contractor, knowing the serious consequences of saying the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time and place, today's lack of action is shocking. Hell - as a government contractor I wasn't supposed to be on Facebook or any other social media outlet in case I might be compromised. That was SOP at my employer and was a terminable offense.
No matter what else, this strips any pretense away from "justice". There is none. If you're Joe or Jo Sixpack, you're toast if you jaywalk. If you're a political hotshot, you can do anything you want and you'll be given a pass. That is the worst of it. Today has proved there is no "justice for all".
Oh well. This is another case where time will tell.
If Trump becomes President, I pray he will reach back and prosecute this woman to the fullest extent of the law. If she becomes President, this country is well and truly screwed. Law will have no meaning, national security classifications become a total joke, and non-disclosure agreements have no weight. Edward Snowden can come home and not face a single charge because of the precedent laid down today.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
What if, though. What if this was a calculus by Comey and the FBI to...
1) Avoid an indictment and prevent Obama from pardoning her, leaving open the door for a future indictment.
2) Continues the speculation about what was in those emails and how damaging they might have been to our national security.
3) Make Trump look at least a bit more honorable when compared to a woman who has already proved to be unable to keep a secret. One of the digs against Trump is that he has a big mouth that runs away from him.
People don't like either of them with good reason. The primary difference is that Trump is a relative newcomer when compared to Hillary who's been an unpleasant wart in public view for more than thirty years.
After all, this is a woman who aided and abetted her husband's repeated abuse of women, calling the victims "bimbo eruptions". Yeah, that's presidential.
Back to Comey because she's disgusting and now she's been given a pass by someone widely thought to be a "stand-up" guy. That reputation is now under a gigantic question mark, but what if.
One thing that Comey didn't touch today is the Clinton Foundation. Could this be the tax evasion equivalent that brought Al Capone down?
Back then, in the twenties and thirties, the Feds had a whole lot of circumstantial evidence that Capone was involved in bootlegging and murder and extortion. Still, it wasn't until an accountant discovered a lapse in Capone's tax return that they were able to nail him and throw his sorry ass in jail for a good long time.
Maybe that's the design here. Pass on the Big One and focus on the apparent lesser evil that will be easier to prove.
I hope so. I really, truly hope so, because as a former government contractor, knowing the serious consequences of saying the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time and place, today's lack of action is shocking. Hell - as a government contractor I wasn't supposed to be on Facebook or any other social media outlet in case I might be compromised. That was SOP at my employer and was a terminable offense.
No matter what else, this strips any pretense away from "justice". There is none. If you're Joe or Jo Sixpack, you're toast if you jaywalk. If you're a political hotshot, you can do anything you want and you'll be given a pass. That is the worst of it. Today has proved there is no "justice for all".
Oh well. This is another case where time will tell.
If Trump becomes President, I pray he will reach back and prosecute this woman to the fullest extent of the law. If she becomes President, this country is well and truly screwed. Law will have no meaning, national security classifications become a total joke, and non-disclosure agreements have no weight. Edward Snowden can come home and not face a single charge because of the precedent laid down today.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Sunday, June 5, 2016
BREXIT - Freedom or Serfdom
BREXIT is no more my direct business than the American election is the direct business of anyone in the EU. However, as someone once said, "opinions are like a**holes. Everybody has one." True, they do.
I have a number of acquaintance in Britain and other places within the EU and they opine about our politics, politicians and upcoming election. They don't much like Donald Trump and most seem to think Bernie The Socialist is the best choice of a bad lot. This oar dipping leads me to think I can do the same - offer an opinion on something that really won't affect me.
It started yesterday when hubby said, "Do you want to watch this? We'll only watch ten minutes."
"This" was Brexit - The Movie and it was fascinating. Ten minutes came and went and I didn't even notice. We ended up watching the whole thing - over an hour - because it raised a number of really great points.
First - if you live in the EU, do you know the name of the person in Brussels who is your representative? The person who controls what you do, how you live your life? Could you recognize a picture of him or her? Are they a public figure who you see in your local newspaper?
Second - if you have a complaint or want something significant changed, do you have the ability to get their attention? Can you call their individual office and speak to someone?
Third - if your political representative in Brussels does something you don't like, can you vote that person out office?
Fourth - if you pay taxes, do you know or do you have any say about where and how they're used?
Not, according to what we watched.
If you live in the EU under the current regime you probably don't know who is in charge - and it's not Angela Merkel. She's just the public face of the most powerful of the countries within the Union, the country wholly bought in and with the most skin in the game.
In Britain, and most other places within the EU, if you and your neighbors want to change the laws that affect your everyday life, good luck with that. Brussels controls all of it and you, as an individual or even a group of voters and taxpayers have zero say. While you might be able to vote out your local representative or MP or PM, you cannot change the real regulators of your life. You have no say, no control over your "representative" in the EU governing body.
To me, loving my freedom as I do, BREXIT would be well worth a period of disruption, of economic disturbance. Why? Because once through it, after the dust settles, having control, having the right of self-determination, is worth it.
I have a number of acquaintance in Britain and other places within the EU and they opine about our politics, politicians and upcoming election. They don't much like Donald Trump and most seem to think Bernie The Socialist is the best choice of a bad lot. This oar dipping leads me to think I can do the same - offer an opinion on something that really won't affect me.
It started yesterday when hubby said, "Do you want to watch this? We'll only watch ten minutes."
"This" was Brexit - The Movie and it was fascinating. Ten minutes came and went and I didn't even notice. We ended up watching the whole thing - over an hour - because it raised a number of really great points.
First - if you live in the EU, do you know the name of the person in Brussels who is your representative? The person who controls what you do, how you live your life? Could you recognize a picture of him or her? Are they a public figure who you see in your local newspaper?
Second - if you have a complaint or want something significant changed, do you have the ability to get their attention? Can you call their individual office and speak to someone?
Third - if your political representative in Brussels does something you don't like, can you vote that person out office?
Fourth - if you pay taxes, do you know or do you have any say about where and how they're used?
Not, according to what we watched.
If you live in the EU under the current regime you probably don't know who is in charge - and it's not Angela Merkel. She's just the public face of the most powerful of the countries within the Union, the country wholly bought in and with the most skin in the game.
In Britain, and most other places within the EU, if you and your neighbors want to change the laws that affect your everyday life, good luck with that. Brussels controls all of it and you, as an individual or even a group of voters and taxpayers have zero say. While you might be able to vote out your local representative or MP or PM, you cannot change the real regulators of your life. You have no say, no control over your "representative" in the EU governing body.
Last, you have no way of knowing where your tax dollars go. Like that £1.25M spent on paper mache terns funded by the EU.
The mating model terns causing a stir with Brexit campaigners
Some people think that money could have been better spent on funding the NHS or other things. But, nah. The rulers within the EU know better. Tern breeding is more important.
On the other hand, there is a lot of scary stuff being blared through the news. According to the Remain voices, if Britain leaves the EU everything will implode and the world will come crashing in. Even though it wouldn't, really.
All of it, all of the cries of "wolf, wolf" are from the power brokers in this world. If Britain leaves it will be a blow, perhaps a devastating blow, to the Central Banking system - the one that manipulates all of the world's currencies.
Who is crying "wolf"? Well, most of the most powerful politicians who have a vested interest - lining their own pockets and feathering their own nests - if Britain stays.
The 'little people' - you and me and others like us who live in this world and do the majority of working hard and trying to make ends meet and struggle to better ourselves - don't count for them. We are faceless replaceable cogs with zero importance to them except what we represent in taxes.
One of the big empty threats is trade deals. "If you don't have a trade deal with the rest of the EU you'll be isolated, you won't be able to buy stuff."
That's a truckload of codswallop. If you live in England, do you have a trade deal with your local Tescos? No. If you live in England and buy things online, from Amazon or another site, do you have a trade deal? No.
Trade deals are simply agreements between countries. They set tariffs and import requirements but don't really affect the price of the finished product much.
What you and Britain have is money - and even if the EU tries to punish Britain by increasing tariffs on trade, that will be temporary - no more than a year or two because, if the tariffs are too steep and the cost of goods is too great, no one will buy. Besides, in the long run, those high tariffs are going to hurt far more within the EU than they will across the water in Britain.
If businesses aren't selling, they're not making money, and they won't pay as much in taxes. If businesses aren't selling, they're not going to need as many people making them. They'll lay people off which means less tax revenue. Britons won't be able to afford the things they like, so they'll find alternatives - perhaps new British-made alternatives.
Right now, according to Brexit, Britain doesn't have trade deals with the US, with China and with many other economies with which it does business. So the impact on trade will be zero. Products will still be on shelves because governments still want the taxes generated by the manufacture of those products and the taxes on the wages of the workers. Even if they cost a bit more it won't be significant - and you'll save in other places because, over time, your taxes will likely go down. You won't be funding the behemoth that is the EU.
Even Obama's threat on trade is empty. He has no power over anything. He's going to be out of office in less than eight months and, as soon as the party conventions are over this summer, he's going to be a lamer duck than he already is. Trump, on the other hand, is a businessman - he will want to trade with everyone, so long as the rules make it fair for both parties.
What about the banks, though, Goldman-Sachs and J.P. Morgan that are threatening jobs?
This raises the level of codswallop to mid-thigh. London, within the EU or outside it, is till Europe's largest and most important financial center. It has been for centuries. Just because Britons choose to leave the EU is not going to change that. Being the largest and most important financial center means that the banks aren't going to leave. They have invested there and can't afford to throw that and their presence to the wind just because their knickers get knotted over this.
The primary reasons for these scare tactics are money and power, pure and simple. It is all about greed.
This is not to say that there would not be disruptions. Of course there would be, but they would be nothing like the world-ending cataclysm being threatened by those who benefit most from Britain remaining.
The fishing industry would come back, as would a lot of other industries that have been hurt or destroyed by the regulations and restrictions imposed by the EU and its Central Bank.
But think about it. Despite an initial period of unrest and difficulty while things settle out and Britain takes back control of itself, the end result would be a Free Britain. A Britain capable of and able to chart its own course, without restraint or directive from Brussels. Taxes paid would stay at home, not be handed out to all and sundry as Brussels decrees. Government would, once again, be truly accountable to the people it is there to represent, rather than a mindless, faceless bureaucracy.
All of it, all of the cries of "wolf, wolf" are from the power brokers in this world. If Britain leaves it will be a blow, perhaps a devastating blow, to the Central Banking system - the one that manipulates all of the world's currencies.
Who is crying "wolf"? Well, most of the most powerful politicians who have a vested interest - lining their own pockets and feathering their own nests - if Britain stays.
The 'little people' - you and me and others like us who live in this world and do the majority of working hard and trying to make ends meet and struggle to better ourselves - don't count for them. We are faceless replaceable cogs with zero importance to them except what we represent in taxes.
One of the big empty threats is trade deals. "If you don't have a trade deal with the rest of the EU you'll be isolated, you won't be able to buy stuff."
That's a truckload of codswallop. If you live in England, do you have a trade deal with your local Tescos? No. If you live in England and buy things online, from Amazon or another site, do you have a trade deal? No.
Trade deals are simply agreements between countries. They set tariffs and import requirements but don't really affect the price of the finished product much.
What you and Britain have is money - and even if the EU tries to punish Britain by increasing tariffs on trade, that will be temporary - no more than a year or two because, if the tariffs are too steep and the cost of goods is too great, no one will buy. Besides, in the long run, those high tariffs are going to hurt far more within the EU than they will across the water in Britain.
If businesses aren't selling, they're not making money, and they won't pay as much in taxes. If businesses aren't selling, they're not going to need as many people making them. They'll lay people off which means less tax revenue. Britons won't be able to afford the things they like, so they'll find alternatives - perhaps new British-made alternatives.
Right now, according to Brexit, Britain doesn't have trade deals with the US, with China and with many other economies with which it does business. So the impact on trade will be zero. Products will still be on shelves because governments still want the taxes generated by the manufacture of those products and the taxes on the wages of the workers. Even if they cost a bit more it won't be significant - and you'll save in other places because, over time, your taxes will likely go down. You won't be funding the behemoth that is the EU.
Even Obama's threat on trade is empty. He has no power over anything. He's going to be out of office in less than eight months and, as soon as the party conventions are over this summer, he's going to be a lamer duck than he already is. Trump, on the other hand, is a businessman - he will want to trade with everyone, so long as the rules make it fair for both parties.
What about the banks, though, Goldman-Sachs and J.P. Morgan that are threatening jobs?
This raises the level of codswallop to mid-thigh. London, within the EU or outside it, is till Europe's largest and most important financial center. It has been for centuries. Just because Britons choose to leave the EU is not going to change that. Being the largest and most important financial center means that the banks aren't going to leave. They have invested there and can't afford to throw that and their presence to the wind just because their knickers get knotted over this.
The primary reasons for these scare tactics are money and power, pure and simple. It is all about greed.
The site Fullfact.org shows that in 2015 Britain took £13 billion in the taxes it collected from its citizens and shipped it off to the EU. That is £13,000,000,000 pounds.
What did Britain get in return? Just one-third of what it sent to Brussels is what it got back: £4.5 billion. What happened to the other £8.5 billion? More importantly, what good could that £13 billion have done at home? How about investing in the NHS? How about going to pay for the social services Britain offers its citizens?
What did you get for part of that £13 billion? Paper mache terns.
The fishing industry would come back, as would a lot of other industries that have been hurt or destroyed by the regulations and restrictions imposed by the EU and its Central Bank.
But think about it. Despite an initial period of unrest and difficulty while things settle out and Britain takes back control of itself, the end result would be a Free Britain. A Britain capable of and able to chart its own course, without restraint or directive from Brussels. Taxes paid would stay at home, not be handed out to all and sundry as Brussels decrees. Government would, once again, be truly accountable to the people it is there to represent, rather than a mindless, faceless bureaucracy.
At the end of it, the program ended with the perfect question: "What price freedom?"
What price, indeed.
After all, isn't freedom, the concept of free men and women being free of governmental tyranny, the fundamental concept of the Magna Carta? Isn't the Magna Carta perhaps the greatest document ever conceived and written? That document effectively established Britain. It, established the rights of a free people and became the template for every democratic constitution written since.
Yet, that is all threatened by this one vote. Will the people of Britain willingly subject themselves to tyranny and serfdom, or will they fight to be free?
It's going to be interesting to watch. Almost more interesting than this, which should be required viewing for everyone even thinking about voting on 23 June:
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Why not?
I'm going back to my roots, here. How I started this blog and how I should have kept going - except I have interests and passions that led me away from simplicity.
Today, in this post, there are no politics, no unpleasantness, no controversy, unless you have a different opinion about how and when and where to use cleaning products.
This morning I'm cleaning. I happened to be in the kitchen, wiping down my countertops, when the inspiration for this little blurb hit.
Hubby and I have granite tile countertops. We couldn't go the full monty when we remodeled the kitchen, so settled for 12x12 tile instead of getting slabs - we have a lot of counter space. They need cleaning, so I clean them.
Once in a while I use a spot of dishsoap and water and they end up looking great - but it's a lot of work and water because I want to be sure to get up all the soap residue. That's the once-in-a-while cleaning. Everyday, though, I use Windex - a spray cleaner with ammonia and coloring.
I was once told by an acquaintance who had just gotten brand new countertops of granite, "I was told by my contractor to never use Windex."
Being curious - because we are, after all, going on about polished rock - I asked, "Why not?"
She wasn't as curious as I. She hadn't asked so didn't know. She told me so. She said, "I don't know, I didn't ask."
Okay. Dead-end. So I went where we all go these days - to the inter-web. All over the place there are sites that say "DON'T". Not a single one answers "WHY NOT??" (Hey -they shout, so I'm shouting.)
They don't say why not. They just say do not. Some, a few, say it's okay but most don't. Some of those say to use another product, another acid - vinegar.
Well that leaves me with a theory, which I'll get to.
Some say "never put anything acidic on your granite". Okay - so don't spill your wine, splash your salad dressing, or squirt lemon or lime juice on a work surface in your kitchen. Got it. Well, newsflash folks - the only way I will not spill, splash or squirt in my kitchen is if I never go into my kitchen. Which isn't an option.
Others say a mixture of vinegar (an acid) and water works wonders, if applied by a soft cloth. The soft cloth I get.
Paper towels are, after all, made of wood fiber and tend to be coarse so they can scratch. If you don't trust me, get a magnifying glass and look at the fibers - they're coarse. Do the same with that well used, well loved dish towel you've had forever - not coarse. Even Kleenex will scratch glass which is why you're not supposed to use paper towels or Kleenex to wipe your eyeglasses.
But we're not talking about glass. We're talking about glorified rock which masons call "stone". Which is still, when you get down to it, a variant of rock.
So trying to figure out 'why this and not that' is like asking a parent or grandparent who did things the same way every time, "Why do you do it like that?"
Answer: "because it's the way my mother / father did it" or the variant, "That's the way I always do it."
"Why?"
"Well... because." Annoyed glance because you've asked an answer to the immutable. In my experience, the glance was almost invariably accompanied by "why don't you go out and play?" Freeway being the obvious location for said playing in that moment.
This morning I asked the Oracle of the InterWeb - "Why not?" and I got no answer. Just the same old sites with the same old conflicting information.
To me, this is not like taking a parent's advice about not jumping off roofs or bridges or diving head-first into murky water. There's sense in those things - as you'll know if you've ever done something stupid like that and gotten hurt doing it.
This is like A Mystery of the Universe which leads to my theory: They want to sell product.
The sites that say "don't" are trying hard to keep people from using an inexpensive method for cleaning because they want to sell you a more expensive product - like 100x more expensive - that includes the same basic ingredient: ammonia. Or maybe it's vinegar, which would be even less expensive.
Where does this leave me? Why, with my trusty bottle of blue colored ammonia and water, of course. And that raises another wonder-point: why is it blue? Why not clear - as in clean, or...?
Hmm. Another Question for the Ages. But I'll think about that while I go back to my countertops.
Have a lovely day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Today, in this post, there are no politics, no unpleasantness, no controversy, unless you have a different opinion about how and when and where to use cleaning products.
This morning I'm cleaning. I happened to be in the kitchen, wiping down my countertops, when the inspiration for this little blurb hit.
Hubby and I have granite tile countertops. We couldn't go the full monty when we remodeled the kitchen, so settled for 12x12 tile instead of getting slabs - we have a lot of counter space. They need cleaning, so I clean them.
Once in a while I use a spot of dishsoap and water and they end up looking great - but it's a lot of work and water because I want to be sure to get up all the soap residue. That's the once-in-a-while cleaning. Everyday, though, I use Windex - a spray cleaner with ammonia and coloring.
I was once told by an acquaintance who had just gotten brand new countertops of granite, "I was told by my contractor to never use Windex."
Being curious - because we are, after all, going on about polished rock - I asked, "Why not?"
She wasn't as curious as I. She hadn't asked so didn't know. She told me so. She said, "I don't know, I didn't ask."
Okay. Dead-end. So I went where we all go these days - to the inter-web. All over the place there are sites that say "DON'T". Not a single one answers "WHY NOT??" (Hey -they shout, so I'm shouting.)
They don't say why not. They just say do not. Some, a few, say it's okay but most don't. Some of those say to use another product, another acid - vinegar.
Well that leaves me with a theory, which I'll get to.
Some say "never put anything acidic on your granite". Okay - so don't spill your wine, splash your salad dressing, or squirt lemon or lime juice on a work surface in your kitchen. Got it. Well, newsflash folks - the only way I will not spill, splash or squirt in my kitchen is if I never go into my kitchen. Which isn't an option.
Others say a mixture of vinegar (an acid) and water works wonders, if applied by a soft cloth. The soft cloth I get.
Paper towels are, after all, made of wood fiber and tend to be coarse so they can scratch. If you don't trust me, get a magnifying glass and look at the fibers - they're coarse. Do the same with that well used, well loved dish towel you've had forever - not coarse. Even Kleenex will scratch glass which is why you're not supposed to use paper towels or Kleenex to wipe your eyeglasses.
But we're not talking about glass. We're talking about glorified rock which masons call "stone". Which is still, when you get down to it, a variant of rock.
So trying to figure out 'why this and not that' is like asking a parent or grandparent who did things the same way every time, "Why do you do it like that?"
Answer: "because it's the way my mother / father did it" or the variant, "That's the way I always do it."
"Why?"
"Well... because." Annoyed glance because you've asked an answer to the immutable. In my experience, the glance was almost invariably accompanied by "why don't you go out and play?" Freeway being the obvious location for said playing in that moment.
This morning I asked the Oracle of the InterWeb - "Why not?" and I got no answer. Just the same old sites with the same old conflicting information.
To me, this is not like taking a parent's advice about not jumping off roofs or bridges or diving head-first into murky water. There's sense in those things - as you'll know if you've ever done something stupid like that and gotten hurt doing it.
This is like A Mystery of the Universe which leads to my theory: They want to sell product.
The sites that say "don't" are trying hard to keep people from using an inexpensive method for cleaning because they want to sell you a more expensive product - like 100x more expensive - that includes the same basic ingredient: ammonia. Or maybe it's vinegar, which would be even less expensive.
Where does this leave me? Why, with my trusty bottle of blue colored ammonia and water, of course. And that raises another wonder-point: why is it blue? Why not clear - as in clean, or...?
Hmm. Another Question for the Ages. But I'll think about that while I go back to my countertops.
Have a lovely day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Friday, May 20, 2016
Living in ... molasses?
I'm not sure what to call it, this period after and between.It's quieter, more still, than the inside of a Category 7 hurricane.
Yes, yes, I know. Hurricanes are only ranked to Cat-5, but this is even quieter than an eye inside of that. According to Wikipedia, the eye of a hurricane is relatively quiet - and that's how this feels, this time after her passing and... whatever will come next.
For the two weeks immediately following Charlotte's demise, between work and home, I was too busy to really think or feel. In the past week, though, things at home have quieted a bit. Work is still crazed and perhaps that's the issue, but then again... I'm not sure.
For a while, a period of a couple of days in the past seven, I felt empty, like I had nothing inside - no feeling, no nothing.
Charlotte had depression - constant unhappiness or at least dissatisfaction with Life. Her expression gave it away - hand to forehead when she sat in her chair. Even while she ate her drooping eyelids and lips gave a picture of her unhappiness. I can visualize her now, looking miserable. She was agoraphobic, hated leaving the house and disliked having people she didn't know around her.
I haven't felt like that, but the empty feeling, the non-feeling, made me wonder for a time if her spirit had somehow taken control of mine. It was... quiet. Too quiet for me because calm is normal, quiet and disinterested is not. I'm a doer - always wanting to have hands and mind busy even while my eyes are watching something else (hockey and baseball right now) - so the lack of interest in anything had me worried.
For three weeks I haven't wanted to write. I haven't wanted to do anything on the computer, at all, and that is not like me. In the end, I made myself, using force and pressure, to write the post about her passing. Then I wanted to write nothing again. None of my stories, none of the posts here, nothing, and it was worrying.
Today, though, for the first time in several weeks, I feel compelled to write - to say something and give voice to thoughts. Is this the beginning? A re-genesis or re-birth of my writing and interest in creating scenes and characters and developing stories in which I can live for a time? I don't know.
I do know that tomorrow is going to be a reversion to the past few weeks. We still have the garage to go through and clear out, and then the house will be done. I'm pretending the laundry room isn't there but that's a simple matter of Windex, vacuum and a thirty minute window of time.
We'll see. For now, for this moment, this is enough.
I hope to be back. We'll see.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Yes, yes, I know. Hurricanes are only ranked to Cat-5, but this is even quieter than an eye inside of that. According to Wikipedia, the eye of a hurricane is relatively quiet - and that's how this feels, this time after her passing and... whatever will come next.
For the two weeks immediately following Charlotte's demise, between work and home, I was too busy to really think or feel. In the past week, though, things at home have quieted a bit. Work is still crazed and perhaps that's the issue, but then again... I'm not sure.
For a while, a period of a couple of days in the past seven, I felt empty, like I had nothing inside - no feeling, no nothing.
Charlotte had depression - constant unhappiness or at least dissatisfaction with Life. Her expression gave it away - hand to forehead when she sat in her chair. Even while she ate her drooping eyelids and lips gave a picture of her unhappiness. I can visualize her now, looking miserable. She was agoraphobic, hated leaving the house and disliked having people she didn't know around her.
I haven't felt like that, but the empty feeling, the non-feeling, made me wonder for a time if her spirit had somehow taken control of mine. It was... quiet. Too quiet for me because calm is normal, quiet and disinterested is not. I'm a doer - always wanting to have hands and mind busy even while my eyes are watching something else (hockey and baseball right now) - so the lack of interest in anything had me worried.
For three weeks I haven't wanted to write. I haven't wanted to do anything on the computer, at all, and that is not like me. In the end, I made myself, using force and pressure, to write the post about her passing. Then I wanted to write nothing again. None of my stories, none of the posts here, nothing, and it was worrying.
Today, though, for the first time in several weeks, I feel compelled to write - to say something and give voice to thoughts. Is this the beginning? A re-genesis or re-birth of my writing and interest in creating scenes and characters and developing stories in which I can live for a time? I don't know.
I do know that tomorrow is going to be a reversion to the past few weeks. We still have the garage to go through and clear out, and then the house will be done. I'm pretending the laundry room isn't there but that's a simple matter of Windex, vacuum and a thirty minute window of time.
We'll see. For now, for this moment, this is enough.
I hope to be back. We'll see.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
There's Equality & Then There's...
I've got my ear plugs ready and waiting. I suspect that in a couple of weeks or less, the screeches from a large part of the female population, mostly leftists, are going to become painfully loud.
Already, a number of go-along-to-get-along voices on the right are warning Trump to 'tone it down' or 'dial it back'. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for those of us who don't get upset when he says 'boo', it ain't gonna happen. Trump is going to be Trump and that's why I'll vote for him. Twice if I could.
The deal is, I don't want what the women who constantly rant about 'equality' want in our next president. I want a man with a set leading this country, not a spineless wuss who is likeable.
I have no doubt that these same women do not expect or want Hilliary to be polite and sincere and nice to Trump. You can wager that Hilliary is going to come out and play that woman card for all it's worth, until it's all worn out, and Trump is going to meet her right there, in the middle. She is going to be nasty and unpleasant, she is going to pull out all the stops and do what she's always done when confronted by an adversary. As my hubby would say, and as I agree with him having paid attention to her and her antics for the past twenty-five years or so, she is going to 'bitch out' and it is not going to be pleasant to see.
Based on her approach, Trump is not going to sit back, hold the door and be a 'gentleman'. Trump is going to treat Hilliary exactly as he would treat a male opponent in this upcoming race. It doesn't get more equal than that so all I can and will say to the women who take umbrage at his manner of expression, brace yourselves. It's going to get a whole lot worse than it's been. If you want equality, you are going to get it. In spades and, when it comes, don't you dare complain about it. It's what you've said you want so suck it up and get over it.
You see, my attitude toward him and his rhetoric is simple: I am not dating him. My daughter is not dating him. Neither of us are living with him. He is not someone I cook for, clean for, do laundry for. I don't go home to him at the end of the day, and it's a good thing I don't because I don't like a lot of what he says or the manner in which he says it. Therefore, because I have that arm's length relationship, I do not have to like him.
In my view, that's the difference between 'women' and 'girls'.
Women recognize that we don't have to love or admire the male, that we can take his verbal bullying and coarse actions. We can let it pass over us because we're bigger than the words.
Girls don't get that. They get knickerknotted at the first 'mean' or unpleasant thing someone says - as if it's a personal assault. As if they're that important.
Now, with that said, the flip side is what I do like about him. He has the courage of his convictions. When he thinks he's right, he's ready, willing and able to drive a stake into the ground and say, "here". If he thinks he's right, he's not going to back down and bow to the popular sway of the masses - he will do what he thinks is right. He will also, however (and this is BIG), listen to his advisers. He's done it in his business, which is why his primary business is as successful as it is, and I have every confidence he will when it comes to the presidency. It's already showing in how he's pivoting in this election.
He's no longer using the same inflammatory rhetoric he was a couple of months ago. He's begun making reasoned speeches, using the ever-popular teleprompters so he's sure to stay on message. He's already stated that he wants someone with political cred to be his VP - and that is a very smart move.
When people say that Trump "isn't nice" it annoys me to no end because we are not voting for Prom King in this election. This is not supposed to be a popularity contest. We are not voting for Nicest Dude or Cleanest Mouth or Most Polite in Company. We are voting for a leader - someone who is going to take his place on the world stage, nominally at the head of the table. We do not need a "nice guy" who's going to wring his hands and waffle at every bad turn. We need someone decisive, someone who is going to put our interests first, for a change. We need someone with the stones to go toe-to-toe with the bad actors on this planet and out-bully them - not back down and cower in a corner someplace. Although I'm not entirely sure the Oval Office has corners...
All I hope is that the first wave of cacophony from the scorched females in this country won't deafen me at the outset, that I'll have time to get the earplugs in place before the second caterwaul.
Now - have a lovely and quiet day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter:
Already, a number of go-along-to-get-along voices on the right are warning Trump to 'tone it down' or 'dial it back'. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for those of us who don't get upset when he says 'boo', it ain't gonna happen. Trump is going to be Trump and that's why I'll vote for him. Twice if I could.
The deal is, I don't want what the women who constantly rant about 'equality' want in our next president. I want a man with a set leading this country, not a spineless wuss who is likeable.
I have no doubt that these same women do not expect or want Hilliary to be polite and sincere and nice to Trump. You can wager that Hilliary is going to come out and play that woman card for all it's worth, until it's all worn out, and Trump is going to meet her right there, in the middle. She is going to be nasty and unpleasant, she is going to pull out all the stops and do what she's always done when confronted by an adversary. As my hubby would say, and as I agree with him having paid attention to her and her antics for the past twenty-five years or so, she is going to 'bitch out' and it is not going to be pleasant to see.
Based on her approach, Trump is not going to sit back, hold the door and be a 'gentleman'. Trump is going to treat Hilliary exactly as he would treat a male opponent in this upcoming race. It doesn't get more equal than that so all I can and will say to the women who take umbrage at his manner of expression, brace yourselves. It's going to get a whole lot worse than it's been. If you want equality, you are going to get it. In spades and, when it comes, don't you dare complain about it. It's what you've said you want so suck it up and get over it.
You see, my attitude toward him and his rhetoric is simple: I am not dating him. My daughter is not dating him. Neither of us are living with him. He is not someone I cook for, clean for, do laundry for. I don't go home to him at the end of the day, and it's a good thing I don't because I don't like a lot of what he says or the manner in which he says it. Therefore, because I have that arm's length relationship, I do not have to like him.
In my view, that's the difference between 'women' and 'girls'.
Women recognize that we don't have to love or admire the male, that we can take his verbal bullying and coarse actions. We can let it pass over us because we're bigger than the words.
Girls don't get that. They get knickerknotted at the first 'mean' or unpleasant thing someone says - as if it's a personal assault. As if they're that important.
Now, with that said, the flip side is what I do like about him. He has the courage of his convictions. When he thinks he's right, he's ready, willing and able to drive a stake into the ground and say, "here". If he thinks he's right, he's not going to back down and bow to the popular sway of the masses - he will do what he thinks is right. He will also, however (and this is BIG), listen to his advisers. He's done it in his business, which is why his primary business is as successful as it is, and I have every confidence he will when it comes to the presidency. It's already showing in how he's pivoting in this election.
He's no longer using the same inflammatory rhetoric he was a couple of months ago. He's begun making reasoned speeches, using the ever-popular teleprompters so he's sure to stay on message. He's already stated that he wants someone with political cred to be his VP - and that is a very smart move.
When people say that Trump "isn't nice" it annoys me to no end because we are not voting for Prom King in this election. This is not supposed to be a popularity contest. We are not voting for Nicest Dude or Cleanest Mouth or Most Polite in Company. We are voting for a leader - someone who is going to take his place on the world stage, nominally at the head of the table. We do not need a "nice guy" who's going to wring his hands and waffle at every bad turn. We need someone decisive, someone who is going to put our interests first, for a change. We need someone with the stones to go toe-to-toe with the bad actors on this planet and out-bully them - not back down and cower in a corner someplace. Although I'm not entirely sure the Oval Office has corners...
All I hope is that the first wave of cacophony from the scorched females in this country won't deafen me at the outset, that I'll have time to get the earplugs in place before the second caterwaul.
Now - have a lovely and quiet day.
Best~
Philippa
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