The BLOG Is Back

Welcome back to my randomly-used BLOG, such as it is. 

Today has been crazy. I had to get up early for a Noon meeting (I work 1pm - 10pm). I spent the next 5 hours trying to attend two meetings at the same time. I really needed a clone.

Recently Facebook has decided that random harmless things go against their "community standards”, which is just ridiculous since they allow lies to be shared by Republicans without repercussions. Today they told me a GIF of a kitty pestering its human for treats was removed for violating community standards and had been labeled as SPAM. It was a GIF made from this TikTok video. 

Yesterday they told me a GIF comparing the sizes of germs, viruses, and the world’s smallest snowman, among a few other things, went against community standards, again for being SPAM, and was removed. My Google-Fu is on the fritz today, and I wasn’t able to find that one to share.

WTF Facebook? Are you TRYING to make us all ditch you? Okay, I can play that game just fine. Now I am going to put stuff on my ill-used BLOG so I can share what information I choose. If I want to call a murderer a disgusting white trash monster, then I am going to call a murderer a disgusting white trash monster. If I want to share a cute cat photo, I’ll share a cute cat photo. And I won’t be in danger of being thrown in Facebook Jail for it. I expect to put the same sort of stuff here in my blog that I would have shared on Facebook or Twitter in a day, only it will be all together and concentrated in one place.

Indiegogo sent me a survey. The very last question was “Would you tell us what country you live in?” So, I answered Yes. 

In other fun things, this mouse is scary smart. 

Adventures in Cooking

I hate cooking. I love eating, but I generally resent how much time it takes to cook, and the time it takes to clean the kitchen afterwards. I can never get all the food to be done at the same time. And I really resent having spent all that time only to wind up with disappointing food, or food that tastes terrible.

Since we’ve all been on “stay at home” lockdown for a couple of months, I’ve been cooking more and saving a lot of money as well. Tonight I decided that the plain mashed potatoes (from a mix) needed more oomph, so I perused my spice cabinet (I do have some things), and grabbed the tiny bottle labeled “Coconut Thai”. Wow! That was a definite win, and I can recommend that as a topping for any version of potatoes. I got it from The Spice & Tea Exchange. 

Movies, TV, and Podcasts

The other night I was in the mood to watch an older movie that I never watched the first time around, so I picked Grosse Pointe Blank because I like the leading actors. The Wikipedia begins "Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American black comedy crime film directed by George Armitage and starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd. Cusack plays an assassin who returns to his hometown to attend a high school reunion. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $31,070,412.” 

Perhaps I would have enjoyed this if I had seen it when it was released in 1997. I didn’t find it enjoyable at all. It was disjointed story-telling, with people who were more caricatures than characters. Black comedy isn’t that same as “normal” comedy, but usually makes you at least chuckle or smile. Instead of being even slightly amused, I spent my time wincing.

Part of the supposed plot is a 10-year high school reunion, which means that everyone should be 26-28. Nobody looks young enough to have graduated from high school only 10 years ago. Most of the people in the reunion scenes looked over 30, and a few looked like they were closer to 40. What were all of the under-30 actors and extras doing in 1997 that none of them were available for this film? Why didn’t the writers just make this their 15th reunion so the ages would match the actors?

Overall, I have to say that this movie didn’t hold up well, and I have to wonder if it was really perceived as a good movie when it was originally released.

News Articles of Note

(Paragraphs that begin with a link have accompanying text from that article. Paragraphs that do not begin with a link were written by me.)

Donald Trump calls voting by mail fraud, yet he recently voted by mail in Florida. Why does he want to deny everyone else the opportunity to do what he himself did? I mean, just because people aren’t guaranteed to vote for him doesn’t make it fraud. Sure, he committed fraud when he voted in Florida, but that’s because he isn’t a legal resident of the state, not because it was fraud to vote by mail.

As Michigan struggles, Trump eyes new extortion scheme. How much madness did Trump pack into a tweet consisting of only 48 words? Let's run through a Top 10 Reasons The President's Tweet Was Completely Bonkers.

Link to actual Tweet.

Did A Nursing Home or Assisted Living Facility Take Your Stimulus Check? Do you or a loved one live in a nursing home or assisted living facility? Are you (or they) on Medicaid? If you said “yes” to both, please read on and prepare to get mad. We’ve been hearing that some facilities are trying to take the stimulus payments intended for their residents on Medicaid. Then they’re requiring those people to sign over those funds to the facility. Why? Well, they’re claiming that, because the person is on Medicaid, the facility gets to keep the stimulus payment. But here’s the deal: those economic impact payments are, according to the CARES Act, a tax credit. And tax law says that tax credits don’t count as “resources” for federal benefits programs, like Medicaid. So: when Congress calls these payments “tax credits” in the CARES Act, that means the government can’t seize them. Which means nursing homes and assisted living facilities can’t take that money from their residents just because they’re on Medicaid. And, if they took it already, get in touch with your state attorney general and ask them to help you get it back.

John and Annie Glenn

Annie Glenn, who in a high-profile life as the wife of John Glenn, the astronaut and senator, became an inspiration to many who, like her, stuttered severely, advocating on behalf of people with communication disorders of all kinds, died on Tuesday at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minn. She was 100. Hank Wilson, director of communications at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University, said the cause was complications of the Covid-19 virus.

This article should be titled “White Trash Woman Requests White Driver and Lowe’s Delivers.” A Lowe’s manager called a black driver and requested he return to the store so a white driver could make the delivery. Lowe’s Corporate has since fired three managers for participating in granting her wish. 

Black Delivery Driver Replaced After Customer Wanted Whites Only

Fun Memes and Cartoons

I enjoy Savage Chickens. You can have have them delivered to your inbox every day if you like.

Some day Donald Trump will be held accountable for all of his crimes.