"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Sunday Salon

Leavenworth, Washington and the Wenatchee River, October 2020

 Weather: We spent two days in Leavenworth, Washington in the Cascades. The daytime temperature was hot and the skies were clear. On our way home, after cresting the mountains we entered a completely different weather climate. The skies here are smokey or low cloud layers, the mornings have been foggy.

                                              Jamie, growing in body and in our hearts

Family news: 

  • My hubby and I joined my sister and brother-in-law for a short vacation in Leavenworth, which is a cute Bavarian-themed town in the mountains of Washington State. We shopped for German-made products, ate bratwurst, sauerkraut, and yummy pretzels. The four of us were in Germany together a year ago. We considered this our anniversary trip.
  • Jamie is getting more darling by the day.
  • Books:
    • I didn't complete any books this week. Wonder why?
    • Currently reading 
      • Princess Bride by William Goldman. Loving it. (E-book, 80%)
      • A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America by Rucker and Leonnig. So well-written with so much evidence why Trump is not qualified to be President. (Audiobook, 75%)
      • How to Fly: In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons: Poems by Barbara Kingsolver. Found this gem at the bookstore in Leavenworth. (Print, 40%)

The weird, bad news: The president and first lady have COVID-19. This whole post was nearly ready to publish before this news hit on Thursday night (PDT). I thought about scrapping my post and starting over but finally decided to move forward. I'm sure you have found news sources about this topic. Here is one which lists all the people infected by this super-spreader set of events. (Intelligencer)

Good News:

1. Tax returns. The New York Times got copies of Trump's tax returns. That is the good news. The bad news, as we suspected, he doesn't pay much/any and has many shady deductions. See "18 Revelations from a Trove of Trump's Tax Records." (NYT)

2. Steve Schmidt, an former Republican strategist, has a masterful take down of Trump after the debate Tuesday night.  (YouTube)

3.  Joe Biden has five essential qualities that will make him the exact right president for these times. (For a list of 75 more great qualities of Joe Biden, follow the link. DKos.)

  • First, he is a decent, honorable, and honest man.
  • Second, he knows how to get things done.
  • Third, he has a history of fighting for the American people.  
  • Fourth, he has great plans for his presidency.  
  • Fifth, he has qualities that fit the particular demands of this unique moment in American history.

4. By contrast, the President refused to condemn white supremacy during the debate. He was given several opportunities to do so.

5. David Frum, another Never Trumper, writing in the Atlantic had a lot to say about the debate (none of it was good.)  I recommend you read the whole article. (The Atlantic) This was the best quote from it:

6. At least there was one good thing about the debate... (from Politico)

  • From 9 p.m. to midnight, the Biden campaign brought in nearly $10 million from 215,000 donors, including more than 60,000 new contributors.
  • Nearly 100,000 signed up to volunteer for the Biden campaign during the debate.
  • 'I Will Vote' — a voting registration and education website, funded by the Democratic National Committee — also saw its highest traffic in its decade-long history, with users from Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina among the most represented. Nearly 24,000 people submitted new voter registrations

7. I believe women will deliver the election for Biden. Polling shows that the gender gap is huge between candidates. (Cision) As a tribute to Helen Reddy who died this week, listen to, "I am woman, hear me roar."


8. A new super-enzyme has been found that eats/destroys plastic six-times faster. It may be available for recycling efforts within two years. This is very good news indeed. (Guardian)

On the lighter side:

1. Just for grins. (Thank you Andy Groh for this.)

2. Weird Al Yankovic's "Doomed" hit the airwaves the day after the debate. I love this guy. Timely! (YouTube)


3.

4.
5.
6.

7. (Brought to my attention by my sister, a Pre-K teacher) Very true.

8. Jamie Harrison, running for senate against Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, showed up for their debate with his own plexiglass shield/divider. Good idea!
9. SNL does it again...

Good advice:



I love to hear from you. So please leave me a comment below or on Facebook. Thank you.

-Anne


13 comments:

  1. Your summary of the week is as good as any summary could be when our political life is being made so chaotic by the antics of an incompetent demagogue. Good cartoony things too.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  2. Excellent post! I would love to go to Leavenworth. Or anywhere really.

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  3. This weekend has been quite the roller coaster; I just don't know how much of it to believe. He is sick, he isn't. It's bad, it's not bad. His video is fake, it's real. And he drove around the block?! Ugh. I can't wait until January 21...

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  4. How lovely to spend time with family in such wonderful surroundings.
    I know it’s wrong to wish harm on anyone, but I hope Trump becomes a statistic of his own arrogance

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  5. It looks like you had a nice couple of days away. Your grandson is so cute!

    I didn't even bother to watch the debate. I've already sent in my absentee ballot so it's out of my hands. I honestly didn't see the point in upsetting myself.

    Enjoy your week!

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  6. It looks like you had a nice couple of days away. Your grandson is so cute!

    I didn't even bother to watch the debate. I've already sent in my absentee ballot so it's out of my hands. I honestly didn't see the point in upsetting myself.

    Enjoy your week!

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  7. I'm so glad you got to go on a little vacation. And, oddly, I'm glad you didn't finish any books last week. I'm glad you got a chance to rest and relax.

    You posted a wonderful mix of thoughtful and humorous this week. I am going to try to call that number and see if I can get some compensation. And, oh, that little bunny saying good night to an impending sense of doom. We all know it will be there in the morning.

    Sometimes I just want to be like Weird Al and scream.

    Maybe it is too late for America. We only seemed to be successful when we could pick up and move west when things got too bad where we were. Could we start a colony on the moon?

    I've greatly enjoyed spending time with your post this week. Your optimism for November keeps me going.

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  8. That Vincent van Gogh pic was soooo funny!! LOL!!! Glad you had the opportunity to spend time with family. What a cuty your grandson is! Must come from grandma....

    Hope you will have a wonderful week!
    Elza Reads

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  9. Such a great post! I felt assaulted after the debate, but it was so good to see how Joe Biden maintained his presence and presidential essence...despite the moment when he told him to shut up. LOL. But that was a favorite part for me, along with him calling 45 a clown. Well deserved, and mild compared to the things Trump says to people constantly. All that interrupting was horrible...and I was disappointed that the moderator didn't do more.

    I didn't know Helen Reddy died! Sad. I am going back now to listen to all your videos.

    Thanks!

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  10. It was a crapshow! Trump has gaslighted us so much that I first assumed it was a lie. That he was trying to take the heat off of the debate and his coziness with white supremacy and taxes that his team made it up! But now a bunch of others have all been infected from the same super-spreading event. Good Lordie...

    Your grandson is adorable. Glad you can stay informed and sane! I definitely can't do both.

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  11. The Leavenworth pics are wonderful. Everything is still crazy with politics. I try not to be, but I'm still glued to the news and it's all making me sick. I did enjoy SNL though :) Hope you have a great week.

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  12. It sounds like you had a lovely time in Leavenworth with family. I am so in need of a vacation. I wish I could just get away for a little while, but it isn't in the cards.

    I am so glad you are loving The Princess Bride. It's one of my favorite books.

    I was sad to read Helen Reddy died. After hearing the news, my daughter and I put one some of her music and sang to our hearts' content. We did that instead of watching the debate. That is great news about the new super-enzyme. A small glimmer of hope.

    I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

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