Labor Day Monday Musings

This weekend has featured a Category 5 hurricane named Dorian bringing "catastrophic destruction" to the Bahamas.  It is headed for the U.S. East Coast.  Yet another mass shooting in Texas, this time in the Midland/Odessa area.  The death toll rose from 7 to 8 with nearly two dozen wounded.

Donald Trump was supposed to be in Poland for an event recognizing the start of World War II, but he canceled his trip to "monitor" Hurricane Dorian.  Apparently he feels the best place to do that is on the golf course.

This man is the living embodiment of the Peter principle.

He said he'd never heard of a Category 5 hurricane even though three of them prior to Dorian have happened since his inauguration.  This past May he visited Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and said he had seen the damage caused by a Cat 5 hurricane.  Now just weeks later he's never heard of one?

He said Dorian was going to make landfall in Alabama, which is ridiculous.  He's clueless.

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With all of Trump's flaws, I'm not quite sure how to take this meme.

If Hurricane Dorian were to make a direct hit on Mar-a-Lago and level it, I wouldn't shed a single tear for Trump's loss.  But people live in that area.  I don't want them to suffer just to inflict loss on Trump.

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Then there was the tragedy involving a dive boat near Santa Cruz Island here in CA.  4 known dead, 30 people missing after a fire burned the boat Conception down to the waterline.  There are reports that the passengers were trapped below deck without an escape hatch, but those reports are as yet unconfirmed.

How could that happen?

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Two weeks from tomorrow, on 9/17, Trump will be in Beverly Hills for a fundraiser.  One where the top ticket price is $100,000.  Assuming the event is for his presidential campaign fund itself and not for some PAC, the contributions will eventually become a matter of public record.

So why the kerfuffle over the requests of actors Eric McCormack and Debra Messing to make public the names of the attendees?  Because they called upon the Hollywood Reporter to do that after that publication put out a story on the event?  Or because it is an attempt to identify conservatives who may have connections to the entertainment industry?

Hey, @THR, kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with. Thx. https://t.co/7W3xPG3bI2

— Eric McCormack (@EricMcCormack) August 30, 2019

I cannot find a record of it but I do recall that back in the 1980s timeframe, Ed Asner (whose star was much brighter at the time) said he would not work with any Republican.  He was accused by actress Morgan Brittany of refusing to speak to her after he learned she wasn't a "...typical Hollywood liberal..."

I have no problem with identifying who donates to a campaign.  Transparency is paramount.  Should that information be used to "blacklist" the donors?  If I learn a business is supporting a candidate that I find loathsome, I have the right to refuse to patronize that business.

Actor John O'Hurley had a strong reaction to the calls from McCormack and Messing for a list of the donors.  "It underscores the fact that we aren't receptive to diversity of thought, which is the exact opposite of what you feel the liberal way would be. I find that obscene."

But refusing to work with someone who doesn't share our political views seems like it is a different question.  What do you think?

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5 drinkers.

6 hours.

86 shots of soju.

Those numbers are truly frightening. 

During my 12 month tour of duty in South Korea I saw many of my fellow airmen with what we called the "Soju Stare" in the morning after a night of imbibing the potent liquor.  It is not to be trifled with.  I cannot imagine five people drinking that much of it in such a relatively short period of time without serious harm coming to them.

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