46 thoughts on “Picture This”

  1. sturge, interesting picture. … worlds of ideas within:  can imagine a detective novel starting off with that bowl strewn with disparate items amongst the odd marbles being the one and only clue to the missing and possible murder victim.   or the inspiration for a Modigliani or a Jackson Pollock depending on one’s sobriety.   or the basis for swapping recollections by old folks gathered by a pot-bellied stove.

  2. speaking of lost marbles getting away

    cnn:  Ex-Trump World Tower doorman releases ‘catch-and-kill’ contract about alleged Trump affair

     
    A former Trump World Tower doorman who says he has knowledge of an alleged affair President Donald Trump had with an ex-housekeeper, which resulted in a child, is now able to talk about a contract he entered with American Media Inc. that had prohibited him from discussing the matter with anyone, according to his attorney.
    On Friday, Marc Held — the attorney for Dino Sajudin, the former doorman — said his client had been released from his contract with AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer, “recently” after back-and-forth discussions with AMI.
    CNN has exclusively obtained a copy of the “source agreement” between Sajudin and AMI, which is owned by David Pecker.
    The contract appears to have been signed on Nov. 15, 2015, and states that AMI has exclusive rights to Sajudin’s story but does not mention the details of the story itself beyond saying, “Source shall provide AMI with information regarding Donald Trump’s illegitimate child…”
    The contract states that “AMI will not owe Source any compensation if AMI does not publish the Exclusive…” and the top of the agreement shows that Sajudin could receive a sum of $30,000 “payable upon publication as set forth below.”
    But the third page of the agreement shows that about a month later, the parties signed an amendment that states that Sajudin would be paid $30,000 within five days of receiving the amendment. It says the “exclusivity period” laid out in the agreement “is extended in perpetuity and shall not expire.”
    The amendment also establishes a $1 million payment that Sajudin would be responsible for making to AMI “in the event Source breaches this provision.”
    “Mr. Sajudin has been unable to discuss the circumstances regarding his deal with American Media Inc. and the story that he sold to them, due to a significant financial penalty,” Held told CNN. “Just recently, AMI released Mr. Sajudin from the terms of his agreement and he is now able to speak about his personal experience with them, as well as his story, which is now known to be one of the ‘catch and kill’ pieces. Mr. Sajudin hopes the truth will come out in the very near future.”
    In April, Sajudin told CNN he claims to have knowledge of a relationship Trump had with his former housekeeper that resulted in a child.
    At the time, AMI called Sajudin’s story “not credible” and denied any connection between the story and Trump and his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen.
    [….continues…]

  3. maher on a tear last night

    Bill recaps the top stories of the week, including more bad news for the Trump crime family

    and

    Former CIA Director John Brennan joins Bill to discuss Donald Trump’s attacks on the intelligence

  6. I had a Saturn marble as well, but it was really hard to shoot and just wouldn’t roll right.

  7. Good morning all.  Sorry for the absence, but I’ve been busy trying to cripple myself.  Had a bad fall and everything that could bruise, wrench of tie itself into a knot did.  Finally in a state to sit and type for extended period.  Since I can no longer use Chrome on the site, I get to fight with Safari which is a pain as well.  That’s all for general whining will now revert to complaining about Trump who looks as if the money laundering may just catch up with him.

    Any news from anyone else?

  8. Jamie, so glad to see you on the trail again.

    can you blame the missteps on the kitties or bad glasses or like dunkin hunter on a family member?

  12. It appears that Jamie’s computer suite is really letting her and us down. I know nothing about either of the operating systems that she mentioned. Is there anybody here who can help?

  13. Welcome back Jamie. I find Edge and Firefox work quite well for me, but every OS is different. WordPress is supposed to be broadly accessible and I keep add-ons really simple. I’ll try downloading Chrome and see what I can figure out.

    Flying back to DC. Will be over Flatus/Sturg air space in about an hour

  14. Jamie, if you have the Chrome Alternate Installer, it will let you install Chrome while you are off-line.

  15. Cool stuff!  A plastic anvil?

    Inhetited my grandmother’s junk drawer of marbles, wood buttons, metal hair curlers, and a plastic Batman ring.

    Trumpky is losing one more of his short supply of marbles with every comrade who decides to tell the truth.  ~How dare they!   Telling the truth ought to be illegal!~

  19. Jamie…  I use Safari…   sometimes it’s fine here… sometimes it’s stinks.  I’ve been able to go anywhere on these internets (Bink… think W) without any trouble…  except for here.

    Haven’t turned on my tv…  I hope Hawaii survived…

  23. wapo:  In victory for unions, judge overturns key parts of Trump executive orders
    A federal judge late Friday dealt a victory to federal employees and the unions that represent them, invalidating overnight key provisions of a series of Trump administration executive orders aimed at making it easier to fire employees and weaken the unions.
     
    The overnight ruling by U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in Washington was a setback to the White House’s efforts to rein in the power of federal unions. Though federal employees’ pay is set by Congress, their unions have retained significant power even as private-sector unions have been in decline.
     
    The three executive orders, issued just before Memorial Day, had sought to severely restrict the use of “official time” — on-duty time that union officials can spend representing their members in grievances and on other issues. The rules also limited issues that could be bargained over in union negotiations. And it rolled back the rights of workers deemed to be poor performers to appeal disciplinary action against them.
    Jackson took issue with key elements of each order and enjoined the administration from enacting them.
     
    The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
     
    The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest of the dozen unions to sue the administration over the executive orders, applauded the ruling. It called it a victory for public-sector unions and the protections Congress gave federal employees in 1978 when it guaranteed civil servants the right to bargain collectively over working conditions in the government.
     
    “President Trump’s illegal action was a direct assault on the legal rights and protections that Congress specifically guaranteed to the public-sector employees across this country who keep our federal government running every single day,” AFGE’s national president, J. David Cox Sr., said in a statement.

  27. Red Cross is asking for volunteers able to depart in 24 to 48 hours to go to Hawaii for three weeks.  But, it has hardship codes which eliminate a lot of possible volunteers.  Group, Activity and Position (GAP) important.  Immediate will be the Mass Care specialties such as feeding, sheltering along with Logistics such as warehousing, Disaster Systems Technology (communications) and the all important Staff Services, lodging and HR.  I do not think too many inexperienced volunteers will be going in this first wave.

    Using tools I have as an ARC Disaster Services volunteer, I am not seeing a lot of people in the shelters, yet.  What often happens is people will try to stay in their homes, but after a couple of days of wet without power they arrive at shelters looking for some food and dry.  Also, if you can make a roof, life in HI can be survived without power.  I would not expect the shelters to be full like in Texas after Harvey hit, maybe more like Florida when Irma hit.  People in for a day or two, out but looking for a way to get food.  It does not take too long in heat for refrigerators and freezers to get warm and the food to spoil without electricity.

    Right now the damage assessment is under way, this starts as soon as the teams can get going once it is safe.  The DA is the only way we have an idea of the impact to the population.  What may look okay from the sky may really be a lot of homes totaled at the ground level.  But, the use of drones makes DA much safer for areas away from the road or in places without a road left to get there; which is what I expect for much of the Islands.

    I love Hawai’i and would like to go back to help them.  Just don’t know much for several more days.

  28. bbronc, hope you get to go.  they would be lucky to have you there taking care of them. am sure most need assurances that things will eventually work out.  folks like you with a lot of experience and love for the work give off a vibe of calmness.

  29. just like that new book title says “everything trump touches dies”… his tiny hands were all over the Brexit bungle.

    the guardian:
    Crashing out of the EU without a deal would risk breaking up the United Kingdom, the former president of the European council has warned.
     
    Herman Van Rompuy, the former Belgian prime minister who was council president until 2014, told the Observer that he believed the threat of a no-deal Brexit was a new “operation fear” tactic being used by the government. But he said it would not work with the EU and warned that such an outcome would end up creating new pressures over Scottish independence.
     
    “The no-deal issue is not just a problem for the UK or Brussels,” he said. “It is also an existential threat to the UK itself. One can imagine that a no deal will have a big impact and cause concern in some of the regions. Speaking of Scotland, it could have consequences for them and others.”
     
    He added: “We could end up with a situation in which the EU27 becomes more united and a United Kingdom less united. This talk about a ‘no deal’ is the kind of nationalist rhetoric that belongs to another era.”
    […continues….]

  34. Flatus, you are a man of honor. Unfortunately the person who has the power to power to promote him is not.  RIP John McCain.

  35. I thought Mr Sturgeone’s anvil came from the Roy Rogers’ Mineral City set. I’m wrong again, I guess.

  37. I hope Cadet Bone Spurs has the decency to shut up & stay away from the funeral.

    RIP Senator McCain

  38. I’ve been crazed about everything to do with that damned war. This is not an excuse for any of my bad behavior. It’s just an observation that I am still nuts about the war. And, I’m sorry.

  40. I was thinking the tan fellow sat on a fence and the anvil was from the farm but I could be wrong.

  41. Meghan McCain:
    “I was with my father at his end, as he was with me at my beginning, In the thirty-three years we shared together, he raised me, taught me, corrected me, comforted me, encouraged me and supported me in all things. He loved me, and I loved him. His love and his care, ever present, always unfailing, took me from a girl to a woman – and he showed me what it is to be a man.
    All that I am is thanks to him. Now that he is gone, the task of my lifetime is to live up to his example, his expectations, and his love.
    My father’s passing comes with sorrow and grief for me, for my mother, for my brothers, and for my sisters. He was a great fire who burned bright, and we lived in his light and warmth for so very long. We know that his flame lives on, in each of us. The days and years to come will not be the same without my dad – but they will be good days, filled with life and love, because of the example he lived for us.
    Your prayers, for his soul and for our family, are sincerely appreciated.
    My father is gone, and I miss him as only as an adoring daughter can. But in this loss, and in this sorry, I take comfort in this: John McCain, hero of the republic and to his little girl, wakes today to something more glorious than anything on earth. Today the warrior enters his true and eternal life, greeted by those who have gone before him, rising to meet the Author of All Things:
    ‘Their dream is ended: this is the morning’.”
     

  42. The Fifth Risk looks like a good book, except we are living it & the madness is still unfolding.

    I’m glad Senator McCain was  able to complete writing & do some audio for his last book.

    He deserves a peaceful rest now.

  43. Imus

    @WhereMyImusAt

    ·
    9h

     
    It was right around midnight. Up at the main gate shining headlights at nothing in the middle of nowhere. Guy in a t-shirt. “Don’t shoot.” It was McCain. Tossed his bag to Fred, jumped the gate and honored us with his presence for a few days and America with a glorious life.

  44. Sen. McCain was an honorable man.  That is how he wanted to be known and that has come to pass.  No one is perfect and we all have differences.  He lived a good life.  RIP

  45. I did not agree with everything done and with every position taken by John McCain. I did not always respect his actions. But I did always respect his service to the country, and on balance believe he set a standard for principled leadership that no one in Congress on either side of the aisle has exhibited since the seeds of division that were planted in the 60s, exploited in the 70s and 80s and brought to an extent not seen in my lifetime before today came to be what we now call our politics.  We tend to be quick to canonize those who were better than others, and those calls to canonize McCain will go up. Maybe John McCain deserves all the accolades and will go down as having been as great as all the tributes suggest. I cannot say, but I can say that I believe he always acted out of love for his country and showed character almost always. To me that is something I will always appreciate about him.

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