Poetry Sunday

If ever there was a poem for the moment, this is it ...

Sightseeing in the Capital

by Charles Simic

These grand old buildings
With their spacious conference rooms,
Leather-padded doors,
Where they weigh life and death
Without a moment of fear
Of ever being held accountable,

And then withdraw to dine in style
And drink to each other's health
In private clubs and country estates,
While we linger on the sidewalk
Admiring the rows of windows
The evening sun has struck blind.


"Accountable" is a word not often used in Washington, unless it's applied to a specially-selected fall guy chosen to protect the rich and powerful.

I hope we can someday get the country back on track.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Just when you thought we'd finally reached the most distant boundaries of dumbassery ...

A group of GOP lawmakers, including many who are members of the committees conducting the impeachment inquiry and have access to the information and processes they claim to be denied, stormed a secure Congressional conference room in which a witness was scheduled to be interviewed, delaying the interview by five hours; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, having failed to deliver Brexit by October 31st as he promised, has requested yet another extension from the EU and called for a new election in early December; an attorney for Der Furor actually claimed in court that, as long as he is in office, he cannot be investigated, much less prosecuted, by any authority - federal or state - for any crime up to and including murder; according to White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, the White House will instruct federal agencies not to renew their subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post - a move she describes as a cost-saving measure unrelated to Administration fury over unflattering press coverage; and in Arkansas, a hunter was killed when a deer he thought he'd shot and killed jumped up and gored him.

This is the last Cartoon Saturday before Halloween, and we'll round out the month by offering a collection of cartoons featuring that standby of 1960's horror films - the Creature from the Black Lagoon ...

Nobody thinks about how psychologically devastating phobias can be, even to a horrifying creature ...

When you buy, buy from someone who really knows his wares ...

I understand the entire line is waterproof, and is swamped with orders ...

It's always important to look beneath the surface and see what else a terrifying creature may have to offer ...

How many monsters can you fight with Gas-X?

Whatever the creel limit is, this guy's in trouble ...

All parents are proud of their kids ...

Uh, oh ...

The teenage years can be full of angst for creatures, too ...

Speaking of drawn-out terror ...

And that's it for this week's Cartoon Saturday and our lead-in to the annual Halloween festivities coming up on Thursday. I hope that the cartoons help you get past the real-life horrors playing out in our government.

Have a good day, a great weekend, and a happy and safe Halloween. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for October, 2019

The expression "an embarrassment of riches" certainly applied as I worked to make the selection of this period's award. I really, really wanted to present this award to someone not connected with the shameful circus that now exists where our federal government used to be ... but so many people were making such great efforts to "distinguish" themselves as world-class ass clowns that I couldn't possibly look any farther than the anarchic cesspool on Capitol Hill, where one group has risen above the prevailing stench of corruption and malfeasance to earn today's citation.

The award for

The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for October, 2019

is presented to

Republican Representatives

Who

Stormed and Disrupted

a Congressional Hearing

There's an old adage popular with lawyers: "When the facts are against you, pound the law; when the law is against you, pound the facts; and when both the facts and the law are against you, pound the table." Such is the position of GOP defenders of Der Furor, who are buffeted daily by new evidence of presidential misdeeds, and who have no other choice than to disrupt Congressional hearings and shout loudly that the process - in which, contrary to their whining objections, they are active participants - is unfair and is opposed by "the American people" ... more than 50% of whom actually support an impeachment inquiry.

Here's a list (in alphabetical order) of the Republicans who took part in this ridiculous stunt ... the highlighted names are Republicans who already have access to the testimony and documents they are demanding because they belong to one of the committees conducting the impeachment inquiries:

Brian Babin TX-36
Andy Biggs AZ-5
Mo Brooks AL-5
Ken Buck CO-4
Bradley Byrne AL-1
Buddy Carter GA-1
Ben Cline VA-6
Jeff Duncan SC-3
Drew Ferguson GA-3
Russ Fulcher ID-1
Matt Gaetz FL-1 (actually tweeted from within the SCIF, but has since tried to delete the tweet or blame it on a "tweet from staff")
Louie Gohmert TX-1
Paul Gosar AZ-4
Mark Green TN-7
Andy Harris MD-1
Vicky Hartzler MO-4
Kevin Hern OK-1
Jody Hice GA-10
Duncan Hunter CA-50
Bill Johnson OH-6
Jim Jordan OH-4
Fred Keller PA-12
Steve King IA-4
Debbie Lesko AZ-8
Roger Marshall KS-1
Mark Meadows NC-11
Carol Miller WV-3
Alex Mooney WV-2
Markwayne Mullin OK-2
Greg Murphy NC-3
Ralph Norman SC-5
Pete Olson TX-22
Gary Palmer AL-6
Scott Perry PA-10
Bill Posey FL-8
David Rouzer NC-7
Steve Scalise LA-1
Ross Spano FL-15
Mark Walker NC-6
Michael Waltz FL-6
Steve Watkins KS-2
Randy Weber TX-14
Ron Wright TX-6
Lee Zeldin NY-1

It's worth also noting that several of these individuals chose to bring their personal cell phones into the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) and tweet out their commentary ... an act specifically forbidden under security regulations governing the operation of SCIFs. As a military intelligence veteran with more than 40 years of experience working in SCIFs, I can tell you that if I had blatantly ignored security rules like these clowns have, I would have lost my clearances and accesses (at best) or gone to jail (at worst). Unfortunately, some Congressional Republicans have taken a page from Der Furor's playbook and believe that laws which govern ordinary people don't apply to them.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the Left-Cheek Ass Clown Award for October 2019, is presented to a group of loud, idiotic Republican members of Congress, whose slavish devotion to Der Furor rather than to their responsibility as elected representatives to seek the truth led them to join in the clownish and dangerously illegal storming of a highly classified area.

I don't know what else needs to be said. And it doesn't matter because those who worship at the festooned altar of Der Furor won't pay attention, anyhow.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when we wrap up the month of Halloween on Cartoon Saturday. Be here.

Bilbo

The Scenery and Food of Austria!

From September 5th through October 2nd, Agnes and I traveled to Europe to visit friends and relatives and see some of the beautiful sights of Southern Germany (mostly in the state of Baden-Württemberg) and Upper Austria (Oberösterreich). As you might expect, I took many hundreds of pictures, and thought I'd share a few of them with you. This first collection deals with the scenery and our culinary adventures in Austria ... first, the scenery ...

We traveled to the summit of the Dachstein, which offered incredible vistas of the Austrian Alps stretching away into the distance around the five lakes of the region ...

Of course, Agnes and I needed a happy snap at the summit, reached by two heart-stopping cable car rides ...

Our friends Alois and Steffi also took us to see the incredible Gosausee, in which the towering mountains are perfectly mirrored in the utterly still water of the lake ...

We didn't just go into the mountains. We also visited the Wachau valley along the Danube River. Composer Johann Strauss celebrated the river in his beautiful waltz "An der schönen blauen Donau" (translated as "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" and better known in English as "The Blue Danube Waltz") ... as it happened, the Danube was greenish-brown rather than blue, at least while we were there ... 

We also stopped at the picturesque town of Dürnstein, which is notable for its beautiful church tower ... as far as I can remember, the only one I've ever seen that was painted blue ...

The town of Dürnstein sits up above the Danube, and is reached from the riverside promenade and parking areas by a picturesque (some might say, "eerie") stairway ...

In the town of St Wolfgang, we enjoyed lunch with Alois and Steffi at a restaurant on the shore of the Wolfgangsee ...

... and after lunch, it was recumbent ... uh ... incumbent upon Alois and I to enjoy a nap in the sunshine ...

We also visited the scenic town of Gmunden on the Traunsee ...

We didn't just gawk at the scenery and pose for pictures. We also did quite a bit of eating, and encountered some interesting new dishes, such as Stecherlfisch ... seasoned fish baked on a stick or - as I like to call it - a troutsicle ...

It looks a bit hideous, like something Count Dracula might serve at his Halloween buffet, but was absolutely delicious.

We also went (twice!) to Huemer's Mostschank, a wonderful little restaurant in Bad Wimsbach ...

Most is the German word for a delicious hard cider, and I imbibed quite a bit of it while munching through some of the marvelous home-made cold meat and sausage platters offered up on the menu ...

Agnes and I enjoying the dinner and company at Huemer's with Steffi and Alois, and Alois's cousin Konrad and his wife Anneliese ...

And, lest I forget, I also had the chance to enjoy a "halbe Haxe" - half pig's knuckle with Knödel (dumplings) and sauce, washed down with a good Weizenbier ...

Here's one last image to round out this quick summary of our visit to Austria - my attempt at a panoramic photo from the summit of the Dachstein ...

I took more than a thousand pictures while were were on our vacation. I'll share a few more of them over the next week or so.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Musical Sunday

After the events of the past week at home and abroad, it seems like we need a dose of happy. Bobby McFerrin has the song for you ...

It's hard, but try to be happy.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Halfway through October we are, said Yoda ...

A meeting between Der Furor and members of Congress on the crisis in Turkey/Syria ended in insults and a walkout by senior Democrats; the UK and EU leaderships have agreed on a tentative Brexit deal, but it may not be supported in the UK Parliament; powerful Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings, chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and prominent foil of Der Furor, died at the age of 68; a police officer in Fort Worth, Texas, has been arrested and charged with murder for shooting an unarmed woman in her home; and in Turkey, sources reported that Turkish President Erdogan threw a letter from Der Furor that told him "Don't be a fool" into the trash.

Our first two Halloween-themed Cartoon Saturdays dealt with Frankenstein and with Witches. This week, we take on the walking dead ... no, not the blind supporters of Der Furor, but zombies ...

They've redone Star Wars, why not other genres? ...

Men who wear their pants halfway down their backside and puddling around their ankles are in more danger than they know ... as well as looking stupid ...

Looks like the White House staff is safe ...

It's a big investment up front, but it just might work ...

The Zombie of Oz ...

When the Sci-Fi channel meets Home and Garden ...

Is a vegan zombie* really a thing? ...

Yoga may not be the right thing for zombies ...

You just know this would come up eventually. Just imagine how bad it would be for an obviously Hispanic zombie ...

I've run this cartoon before, but in today's ridiculously over-politicized era**, it's as timely as ever ...

And that's it for today's edition of Cartoon Saturday ... I hope it brought a bit of a laugh to the end of a week not really notable for reasons to laugh. Have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts tomorrow, when Musical Sunday returns.

Bilbo

* As if "regular" zombies are.

** We sometimes forget how bitter the political rivalries were among many of the Founders ... they weren't the totally united front we sometimes imagine today.

Great Moments in Editing and Signage

And away we go ...

What a thoughtful anniversary gift that was! ...

No, thanks ... I'll have the chips instead ...

She loved him, and that's no bull ...

Well, duh ...

Who knew? ...

Must be similar to the "think system" of musical instrument playing used by Professor Harold Hill in "The Music Man" ...

This is why conservatives are so hysterical about so-called liberal judges ...

I hope she has a really big horse ...

Something to think about as the election season nears ...

This is what 2nd Amendment fanatics believe we'll be reduced to if any gun legislation at all is ever approved anywhere ...

Have a good Friday, and come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday, featuring our third collection of scary cartoons, this week featuring the living dead. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Poetry Sunday

We are now well into October, and the autumn appears to be here to stay, with cooler daytime temperatures, chilly nights, and crisp mornings. This poem by Mark Perlberg sums up some of the sights, smells, and feels of October autumn days ...

Toward the Solstice 

by Mark Perlberg 

We burned our leaves on the bluest October day,
the sun still warm on our backs,
frost just a ghost in the shrubbery.
We raked the leaves into shifting piles on the lawn,
scooped them into deep round baskets
and spilled them in the street against the curb.
The vein of fire, unseen at first in diamond light,
whispered through oak leaves brown as butcher paper,
and maple still flushed with color like maps
torn from The Book of Knowledge.
We were letting go of October, relinquishing color,
readying ourselves for streets lacquered with ice,
the town closed like a walnut, locked inside the cold.

Remember burning the leaves in the fall? In most places you can't do that any more, and so can't experience one of the glorious smells of the season.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Love the autumn, because you'll miss it once winter arrives.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

One weekend closer to Halloween, and the horrors are already swirling around us ...

Der Furor even managed to generate outrage from Republicans (as well as just about everybody else) when he arbitrarily withdrew military support from Kurdish forces fighting Isis on the Turkish border ... although he said that his "great and unmatched wisdom" would take care of any attempts by Turkey to go after US-allied Kurds ... he justified abandoning the Kurds by noting that “they didn’t help us in the Second World War, they didn’t help us in Normandy”; the White House has ordered witnesses subpoenaed by the House impeachment inquiry not to cooperate with the inquiry; it is increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will go ahead with a "no-deal Brexit;" and according to a poll conducted by the Washington Post and the Schar School, a majority of Americans now endorse the impeachment inquiry against Der Furor.

We're just a little over a year away from the 2020 presidential election, and one wonders what the GOP will do without the horrifying spectacle of wicked witch Hillary Clinton to unify conservative voters. Perhaps they'll move to more current wicked witches like Elizabeth Warren and AOC. Anyhow, this week Cartoon Saturday continues its October tradition of Halloween-themed cartoons with a salute to witches everywhere, regardless of political affiliation*.

As with many themed cartoons, there are a lot of subsets under the general heading of "witches." This time, we'll feature cartoons that combine "witches" with their favorite potion ingredient, eye of newt ...

The tension between home brewers and potion makers boils over ...

Everyone looks for the short cut ...

Your ingredients need to be first-rate, of course ...

I personally think both of those ingredients are spoiled ...

It's an important question in these nutrition-conscious times ...

The microwave is fine, but the good old cauldron still works if the power is out ...

Somebody will demonstrate about just about anything ...

I didn't realize stadium vendors were that specialized ...

Past the "best by" date ...

Convenience vs tradition ...

And there you have it ... a bewitching collection of cartoons to bring us one Saturday closer to Halloween and help distract us from the real-world horrors bubbling up in our own government.

Have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts tomorrow, when Poetry Sunday returns.

Bilbo

* Recognizing notable GOP witches such as Kellyanne Conway and Kayley McEnany.