81 thoughts on “Sunday Serendipity”

  1. jace, thank you. beautiful selection for the waning days of summer….and sanity.  speaking of which,

    here’s carl Hiaasen “Thanks Olympians — you kept us sane”

     

  2. full press ahead

    nytimes: As Donald Trump Falters, Democrats Plan to Press Fight for Supreme Court

    Emboldened by their electoral prospects in November, Democrats are planning to redouble their efforts to make the fate of the Supreme Court a signature election issue, with the Democratic leader in the Senate threatening to stall Republican legislative priorities if no action is taken on the confirmation of Judge Merrick B. Garland. [….]
    Mr. Reid would not say what kinds of procedural moves Democrats might employ to pressure Republicans when Congress reconvenes in early September, but he suggested that there were plenty of options to stop up the Senate’s business, including some that Republicans have used.

    “They’ve blocked all legislation, they’ve blocked nominations, they’ve filibustered all kinds of things,” Mr. Reid said. “We haven’t done that, but it doesn’t mean we can’t do it when we come back.”

  3. Jace

    An absolutely beautiful melodic choice.  Perfect antidote to a week of political squabbling.

  4. Thank you, Jace. Really an interesting trio–lots of energy; open bar upon completion 🙂

  5. Congress has not passed a continuing resolution yet – that is the plan to avoid passing a real budget.  Feds who plan ahead are booking travel for October 1.  Based on the last shutdown, a couple of weeks seems to be a good length to visit family and friends.

    Now that mr. 95% has disrupted rescue and relief operations in Louisiana, it is time to plan his flight to California to campaign in the fires.

    After sort of reading the jr falwell spouting crap in his article about how terrible the world is and will be – unless the lard one is elected, I just want to use that page to clean up after the cats have been tossing hairballs.

    What is weird was someone quoting limbough (mr blue pills) on how terrible the world is and will be – unless the lard one is elected.  That was online and I have no desire for my cats to toss hairballs on my keyboard.  The truth is I thought the guy was dead of an overdose years ago.  Maybe I have him mixed up with some other fat head white supremacist.

     

  6. npr: After DNC Hack, Cybersecurity Experts Worry About Old Machines, Vote Tampering

    Security experts say that Russian hackers have broken into the computers of not only the Democratic National Committee but other targets as well.

    This has raised a new wave of concerns that on Election Day, the votes themselves could be compromised by hackers, potentially tipping the results. Most states have returned to paper-backed voting systems in recent years, but that still leaves vulnerable a number of states that rely solely on machines.

    Zeynep Tufekci, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science, tells NPR’s Scott Simon that without these paper-backed systems, up to 15 states could be putting their election results at risk. That’s a possible reach of 60 million voters — “enough to swing an election,” Tufekci says.

  7. times of india: Hillary Clinton condoles Swami’s death

    “Bill and I offer our sincerest condolences to the devotees of his Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj and the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha worldwide. Pramukh Swami didn’t just teach virtues – he lived them every day,” Clinton said in a statement.

    “That’s what made him a Guru to millions around the world. From the Akshardham Mandir in New Jersey to the countless temples he blessed in the US, Pramukh Swami built a global faith and community founded on Vedic values,” said Clinton. “His deep sense of devotion led him to spend his life revitalizing communities in need.”

    nytimes:
    MUMBAI, India — Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader who engineered the global expansion of a socially conservative Hindu sect that grew to be the largest in the United States, died on Aug. 13 in Sarangpur, a village in the state of Gujarat in western India. He was 94.
    The guru’s death was confirmed by Jayesh Mandanka, a spokesman for the sect, Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, known as BAPS.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to the village to deliver an emotional eulogy. Mr. Modi built his political career in Gujarat.
    Under the guru’s leadership, the sect, which practices a relatively modern form of Vaishnava Hinduism, established more than a thousand temples worldwide. He made numerous trips to East Africa, to Britain, to Canada and later to the United States after American immigration laws were loosened in 1965, attracting a tide of educated Indians.

  10. Sending healing wishes to Old Seahag,

    Compassion to RebelliousRenee & her Family,

    Asking the weather gods to give Flatus a break from the heat & humidity,

    Filling whskyjack’s backpacks with hope & bright futures for every child who receives one,

    Making a decree that Toby the Trail Mix dog gets all the treats & love a pup could ever want,

    Thanking jace for the weekly sanity & focus on priorities.

     

  13. SJ…  thanks.  Rick’s father was taken to a local nursing home yesterday for rehab.  We can all breathe easier now.  He’s been urinating quite a bit of blood…   they suspect he might have a tumor in his bladder.  But he’s too weak for them to open him up and see.  Hopefully he recovers… but if it is cancer, we’ll call in hospice.  He’s had a long and prosperous life.

    Haven’t paid much attention to the news the past week…   I’m sure I haven’t missed much.  Bet it’s trump, trump, trump just like the week before.

    Nice selection, Jace…

     

  14. RR,

    Hoping things continue to improve with Rick’s father. You are both in our thoughts.

     

    Yes, it’s been all Trump all week. Trump, Trump,Trump the sheep are marching.

  16. renee, give rick an extra hug for us.  hard time for a child to face these decisions.  terrible helpless feeling, anxiety and guilt in come cases.

    hard on you too to see them both suffering so give yourself another hug just for you.

  17. ’56 210?  I was this close to buying one recently but the seller didn’t have any papers for it.

    Nope, that’s a full-on Bel Air. I prefer the punchier ’55.

  18. Believe it or not, someone tried to give me a Continental (exact model and color posted above), but I didn’t want to drive anything with “suicide doors”, so I passed.

  19. For me the star of the convertibles is the last one (that turned out not to be last cadillac), the 1976 Cadillac limited edition in honor of the bicentennial.  Only 200 were the all white with the red and blue pin striping and the numbered plaque.

     

     

  20. Renee

    I do hope your father in law is comfortable.  Affectionate thoughts for Rick and you.

     

  21. RR

    Mr. Cracker had a bladder tumor and they do not have to open up to see it or remove it.  If he does not have other issues they can use dye and x-ray type machinery to see it — otherwise they insert a tube with a camera and have a look around.  Mr. C’s tumor was quite large but they were able to remove it and it’s been almost a year and no signs of recurrence.   In fact, after his last visit his Dr. said his bladder was awesome.   The surgery is out patient – the most annoying part is the catheter for the following week but otherwise you can go about your normal business

    Mr. C will be 88 on  this coming Wednesday.  This year  has been a big one medically and most of the big problems ended when he got a pace maker in mid-May.

    I hope this information is useful.   If you would like more information please don’t hesitate to email me.

     

  23. this morning on “this week”

    ROBBY MOOK, HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, George, we’re not
    seeing a pivot. Donald Trump himself said this was not a pivot. He wants to double down on letting Donald Trump be Donald Trump,….

    I would also point out that Paul Manafort has been pushed out, but that doesn’t mean that the Russians have been pushed out of this campaign. The hand of the Kremlin has been at work in this campaign for some time. It’s clear that they are supporting Donald Trump.

    But we now need Donald Trump to explain to us the extent to which the hand of the Kremlin is at the core of his own campaign. There’s a web of financial interests that have not been disclosed. And there are real questions being raised about whether Donald Trump himself is just a puppet for the Kremlin in this race?

    STEPHANOPOULOS: You’re saying he’s a puppet for the Kremlin?

    MOOK: Well, real questions are being raised about that. We — again, there’s a web of financial ties to the Russians that he refuses to disclose. We’ve seen over the last few week, him parroted Vladimir Putin in his own remarks. We saw the Republican Party platform changed.  We saw Donald Trump talk about leaving NATO and leaving our Eastern European allies vulnerable to a Russian attack. The gentleman he brought with him to his security briefing just last week is someone who’s on the payroll of the Russia Times, which is a basically a propaganda arm of the Kremlin. He was sitting two seats away from Vladimir Putin at heir 10th Anniversary gala.

    There are a lot of questions here. And we need Donald Trump to disclose all of his financial ties and whether his advisers are having meetings with the Kremlin.

  24. I just did the “22 push-up challenge” to raise awareness of veterans’ mental health issues.  You’ll have to take my word for it, I’m not posting a video.

    Have a good day.

  25. Binksays:
    August 21, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    I just did the “22 push-up challenge” to raise awareness of veterans’ mental health issues.  You’ll have to take my word for it, I’m not posting a video.

    Ok we are aware(and good for you)  — now what should we do

  26. Turns out I’ve had access to a goodly number of classic autos……56 bel air convertible, 64 caddy, two 58 olds, 56 rambler, 50 olds sta wagon “woodie”….70 caddy, 70 olds 98, 63 impala 327, 54 ford, 60 Bonneville,  72 Chevy caprice 74 alpha Romeo sedan,

    wow……wisht I had one now…….

    jace always a Sunday pleasure on the music……..

  30. Hillary Clinton may look at black communities as reliable votes  ata least she is not trying to stop people from voting

     

    yeah Trump doesn’t see you as a vote — he’s sees you NOT voting.   Kelly Ann Condom doing her job — keeping the  hateful speech from spraying around  she’s likea really cheap version of Frank Lunz

  31. Thanks for the well wishes everyone…

    KGC…  thanks for that post.  He is scheduled to have that camera thingy (can’t you tell I’m an expert on medical terminology 🙂  ).  The problem is that he’s lost 15 lbs in 4 weeks.  He’s very weak.  He’s aged a lot in the past year… but looks like he’s aged 20 yrs in the last month.  He’s almost 90.  But one never knows…   he could recover.

    ps… so glad to hear that Mr. Cracker is doing well…

  32. Why does the MSM euphemize an obvious concession of an untenable position with the word “pivot”?  So insulting.  Ok, I’m done, I swear.  Best wishes, RR.

  33. She told Akin to stand by his comments – she probably told him to say it in the first place

  34. RR

    We firmly believe that good wishes can work so lots coming your way and we hope for the best outcome  for Rick’s Dad

     

  36. PatD

    I don’t know.  I had an awful lot of fun in that particular convertible … 🙂

     

  38. Trump is back up in Georgia –we can attribute that to his new campaign team and their constituency of anti-semites, anti immigration anti anything but white politically correct Christian men. I’m sure the media will be sure to say this is the beginning of the Troll come back

  39. I tried the 22 push-up challenge…..but I just couldn’t eat that much orange sherbet…….

  40. So glad Jill Stein is finally getting more attention.  I hope that she & Gary  Johnson both get higher poll numbers & will be included in the debates.

    i distrust & detest Hillary more with each passing day.  The media has not done their job with regard to shining light on her misdealings.

    Perhaps they are giving her a pass because they are afraid of Donald, but that doesn’t explain their absence of due diligence during the primaries.  They should all be fired & replaced with real journalists. Aw, but the news orginizations in cahoots with the Clintons wouldn’t have that.

    Jill Stein 2016.

  42. Push-ups is what we always called them…….never saw that pop up baloney before……

    rats totally crumbles my whole joke……..

    But I’m still having that Dos Equis

  44. Probably about the most subdued I’ve ever seen either one of those two guys…..the Pryor Show executives must have had a fearsome contract with Bro. Richard……

  46. no one has been more investigated than Hillary Clinton except maybe for Bill

    Now it seems all of Trump’s campaign is TBD

    Gary Johnson has a better chance of getting into the debates
    I voted for Jill Stein in 2012 I wouldn’t do it again

  47. Can’t get the image posted, but my favorite convertible we ever had was a ’65 pontiac lemans, black/black on burgundy, 330 w/4 speed Hurst shifter.  Clutch was too damn stiff.  Eventually broke a mounting stud.  Dad traded it just before I got my permit. Hated to see it go.  He did get a ’68 Olds 88 convertible my last year in HS – black/black over gray.  Back seat was as large as a couch, but aside from the rag top, nothing cool about that car.

  48. Criminey…..forgot all about the 3 V W buses…….

    70 to 76……..the VW Wonder Years

  49. vW Bus……the perfect vehicle for a Hammond B-3……..Leslie inna back…..

    the guy from whom some of we organ-izers copped our chops

  51. Renee

    Sending you and Rick lots of good thoughts for the best outcome.  It’s rough so you and Rick take care of yourselves.

    We will be around if you need us.

     

    Jack

     

  52. Spidy……..going to dedicate my meditation and tai chi healing sessions this week for Ricks dad, for Rick and for you…………positive vibrations from someone else can be received by others… just think of me once in a while…and it will happen when you do…..”law of attraction” ….much love…..

  53. Mrs Jacks favorite old car. She has owned 3 of them, totaled all 3 of them when someone else hit her. Looks like Nader was wrong about that too she is still alive.

     

  54. Hey, Jack…..see the new Tarzan Movie?…..not bad….tried to follow the books a little…….I get new movies on my table top boxes….sorta like roku….going to try to get the “hands of stone” movie…..Roberto Duran…..that was some boxer……saw him  on a spanglish show….not in good shape……you could take him…….later

  55. Some of the best fights ever….Roberto Duran and Surgar Ray………they were great from the first round to the last…..

  56. …….had a 1965 Bonneville convertible…..black, on black on black…….what a chick magnet……named it sugar bear…….liked big cars….had a dodge polara….all white, inside and out……looked like the cock pit of an airplane……sugar bear dos…….totaled it in a race….lost the race and lost my ride….had to save up for another………dating on the bus sucked big time……but then…………

  57. Jill’s screws definitely need tightening or her tin foil hat should be size adjusted.  Johnson is a different matter.  Good man, not up to being President but he would have Weld as a backup.  If someone can’t vote for either Clinton or Trump, then Libertarian is at least a not crazy alternative.

    Have to echo KGC.  No one but no one has been more investigated than the Clintons.  Anything even mildly controversial beyond normal political shenanigans are all the fevered dreams of right wing nut jobs.  The latest bit of attacking the foundation is just plain sickening.  The Breitbart crowd and their disgusting minions would rather have an issue than help alleviate suffering around the globe.  Amy Kremer was particularly loathsome on the subject today … well she would be if I actually thought she had a brain rather than memorized knee jerk talking points.

     

  58. Last one…….my friend named TR….from Alabama….we shared a cutlass 442 while stationed in North Carolina……..we put some miles on that baby…..it came when we whistled for it……….later

  59. Sugar Ray is still going strong in the entertainment world.  He helped program the real and CGI robots of Real Steel.

  60. WhskyJack, had a 1965 Corvair standard with a heater, as an option (middle Michigan, the winters do get cold) nothing else, paid $50, in 1969, roughly $333 in today’s dollars.  Bought spouse a 1969, not the Spyder, similar engine setup but with an automatic for a couple hundred in 1971.  Went like a bat out of hell.  Wish I still had both.  Nader made a career out of the 1965, and he was full of BS.  The 1972 Pinto was more dangerous (IMHO), and I am a Ford gal.

    I have been trying to find a picture of my “older” car, a 1936 Chevrolet Standard Six two door.  Fun car, the first of the Chevy line with hydraulic brakes.  If you have ever driven a car with rod linkage for brake lines you would appreciate the improvement.  The 1936 Chevy’s had a serious flaw in the transmission of that year, reverse gear would chew itself up.  I replaced mine a couple of times.

  61. Jack, been thinking a little….and it hurts….after seeing the last pic of you…….i take it back….you dont look like you can take him……………….ducking and running……..hahahahaaaaaaa

  62. Sturg I agree wit u….some times it great fun reading this blog……..and im not talking about the Hillary and trump stuff……ok check in on you all later……later

  65. This 1952 DeSoto was my first car.  A gift from my aunt when I started college in 1961.  Once upon a time lead foot Lucy could do 100 MPH on the California Freeway between West Covina and San Dimas (The waning days of Paradise before too many people moved in)

  66. Jamie & kgc, perhaps bid is right about the media holding back in their efforts over these 30 odd (and I do mean odd) years interrogating Hillary. when did they ever water board her?  no evidence of thumbscrewing or bamboo shoots up the fingernails.  sure they joined paparazzi in 24/7 stakeouts and zoom shooting private moments but where are the naked toe-sucking photoshops?   just because they won’t say anything nice about her, doesn’t mean they should stop spinning scandal….there’s money to be made, jobs to be secured by the kochs, ailes and putins of this world.

  68. Good evening,

    Nice thread today.

    Renee

    Best wishes to your father in law in hopes of a full recovery..

    OMG, Jill Stein is wackadoodle too.. Like a vulcher every 4 years scooping up the unhappy and disaffected..

    Hillary can and will weather all the slander thrown her way.. The most investigated person in history most likely and yet still still the deadenders never take exonerated for an answer..

    Democrats will slap them come November. ?

     

  69. Ahh, vw busses.  Had 2 of the beasts.  One, a ’68 w/ worn out dogs for 4th gear.  Held it in 4th gear with a bungee cord. Other was a ’73, pancake engine, actual heat in the winter.  Had a sunroof and aftermarket convertible seat that made into a bed.  Loved them and the 3 other vws I had in the 70s, including a ’70 orange Kharmann Ghia convertible,  kinda beat up and ugly colored, but a ton of fun.

  72. Well, the Rio Olympics is over. Congrats to the athletes.    Now, time for football. ’bout damn time, too.

  73. ah a Kharmann Ghia, rode in the back seat of one once. Hitchhiking across country to a friend that was doing the back to the land  thing.  There I was all 6’3″ of me setting hunched over with my head almost in the front. But they had good smoke and we traded stories and passed the joint. Time went buy and soon they let me out at my destination or at least close, I had about a mile walk down this gravel road. It seemed they had rain and  I carefully walked so as to avoid the mud puddles. Got there crawled in bed. then the next morning got up looked around and everything was bone dry.

    That was some good smoke

     

    Jack

  74. My first car, not counting the parents car,  was a 64 dodge dart, bought it for $100 in  72. Drove it for 3 years and it never once left me stranded by the road. But the brakes went out on it once and I learned to brake buy hitting the curb and running up the off ramp embankment. But I got home safe. Ah to be young.

     

    Jack

  75. Solar, It don’t take much to whoop up on me, more so lately than when I was younger. Now a days I’m a peaceful man.

     

    Jack

  76. 1952 Nash Rambler  it had been my mother’s then my brother’s and we got it used.

  78. Humane?  As compared to what – taking the bodies of undocumented people and grinding them up in machines to make that illustrious nutrient – Soylent Brown?

    What a buffoon!

  80. In 1984, National Geographic presented a picture of a young girl from Afghanistan.  The picture, known as “Afghan Girl”, became iconic amongst the realm of photo journalists.

    This week another picture, one of a Syrian boy who had just been unearthed from the rubble following a Syrian/Russian airstrike, went viral across the worlds internet.  Take a look at this picture – you’re looking at an unusual and stunning reminder of what war is really about.  BTW – the boys 11 year-old brother died of his injuries in the assault.

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