THIS WEEK'S WEATHER OR NOT
HOW SWEDE IT IS!
PEELING THE ONION
SEPARATE WEIGHS:
- Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, served in the last three Republican administrations - Read: Can We Find our Way Back to the Party of Lincoln
- Despite all the advantages she enjoys, the Democratic candidate could lose the election in November.
Read: Hillary Has No One to Blame but Herself (The Atlantic, 7/14/2016)
- "I don't care." Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has routinely assailed Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for voting in 2002 to authorize military intervention in Iraq, but in a television interview broadcast Sunday night, he gave his running mate, Mike Pence, a pass for doing the exact same thing. 60 Minutes Interview
- A Bunch of Dopes - A devastating and damning report into Russian sport has found that the country’s government, security services and sporting authorities colluded to hide widespread doping across “a vast majority” of winter and summer sports
A WEEK IN PICTURES
DALLAS
NICE
TURKEY
BATON ROUGE
THIS WEEK IN CLEVELAND
This week's Republican Convention in Cleveland comes at a time when there is so much rage, passion, fear and division in this country. Can the Trump Pence ticket bring healing and unity to a country badly in need of both? Fasten your seat belts, it could be a bumpy ride.
Numerous protest groups are expected in Cleveland throughout the 4-day convention.
Among the speakers: 5 Trumps, Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty, Ted Cruz, Dana White (President of the Ultimate Fighting Championships) and Rudy Giuliani. Other attendees of note: Jerry Falwell,Jr., Mitch McConnell,Chuck Norris and Ted Nugent. "Where's George?" - Actually both 41 and 43 have issued a pass on this, along with Mitt Romney, and invitees Tim Tebow and Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, whose synagogue Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, attend, both declined.
No toy guns - toy guns are not allowed in or outside the convention hall, but with Ohio's Open Carry Law, as long as you don't take it inside the Hall,assault weapons are welcome [above right] and actually, a bit de rigueur for many Trump supporters. That leaves the CPD gearing up [above left] after former GOP candidate John Kasich said "No can do" to suspending Open Carry for the duration of the Convention. Ironically, the theme of Day 1 is MakeAmericaSafeAgain.
Click here: Schedule of Speakers - GOP Convention
A SEPARATE PEACE
(Montezuma NM) If there were ever a place to lay down your troubles and forget all your cares, I may have found it less than two hours away on Saturday afternoon.
The Dwan Light Sanctuary - from Atlas Obscura, more info
For the record: I had never visited the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West [one of 19 locations in the world] before and I knew very little about it.
From Wikipedia: "It is a two-year, independent, co-educational boarding school with about 230 students representing 70-80 countries at any time. Students are between 15 and 19 years old, and the majority receive full or partial scholarships.The school's mission is to teach international understanding by bringing together young men and women of diverse ethnic and social backgrounds in an environment in which they work together for shared success.
In addition to offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, the school has a strong program in the arts, a significant service program, and a unique wilderness program. The Bartos Institute for Constructive Engagement of Conflict (CEC) was also established in 2001 to help equip young people with the skills to identify and learn how to constructively engage conflicts —at personal, interpersonal, and larger community levels."
CONSUMERVILLE
Slap on a piece of Samsung Radianz quartz from AZ Tile and this Harbor Freight 60 inch, 4-drawer hardwood workbench becomes a fab kitchen island - with built-in vise, no more tough nuts to crack! Just the thing for a dessert island..
BILL OF FARE
Where: 3211 Central
What: Simply the best Fish and Chips in town
When: 11am - 11pm Sun through Thurs, til Midnight Fri and Sat
Caveat emptor: Noisy as the Dickens!
THE CLOSING BELLES:
WASHINGTON—Teresa Heinz Kerry acknowledged Monday that she understands at least one of the reasons that many Americans aren't comfortable with the idea of her as first lady, or at least she came very close to acknowledging it: Many Americans are wary of her because they suspect she's not quite American—not un-American, just not exactly American either—and certainly not American enough to be first lady. In front of a luncheon sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Heinz Kerry said that some critics—she called them "my husband's critics"—have challenged her for talking about her experience as an immigrant who came to America from Africa "via Europe, where I studied." Critics say "my immigrant experience isn't representative," Heinz Kerry said. "That is such a revealing comment, because what it suggests is that they should get to decide who shares in the American dream and who doesn't. What it suggests is that the American dream doesn't belong to all of us, but only to some of us." [CAMPAIGN 2004]
NEW YORK - The Washington Post's Mary Jordan ticks off all the ways Melania Trump would be unlike the first ladies who came before her:
She would be the first first lady born abroad since Louisa Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, who moved into the White House in 1825. She is Trump’s third wife — another potential first for a first lady. Ronald Reagan, with a single ex-wife when he took office, so far is the only divorced U.S. president.
She might also be the most linguistically gifted first lady, as she speaks four languages, including heavily accented English. And, without doubt, she would be the only first lady to have posed in the buff while lying on a fur blanket handcuffed to a leather briefcase, as she did aboard Trump’s jet for British GQ in 2000.
"She provides great balance" to Trump, said Roger Stone, the candidate’s former political adviser who has known the couple since before they were married. She is smart — "not just an arm piece," Stone said. "She would be the most glamourous first lady since Jackie Kennedy." [CAMPAIGN 2016]
- Update: On Monday night Mrs Trump gave a spectacular speech to the GOP delegates. Whether she or a team of speechwriters who worked with her is responsible, by Tuesday morning it was reported that two key passages were lifted, almost verbatim, from a FLOTUS 2008 convention speech. As has been illustrated previously, the Trump campaign plays a bit footloose and fancy free with facts - and while plagiarism is a new wrinkle, Paul Manafort's dismissive "That's absurd!" is becoming a bit too familiar.
THE LAST WORD
tolerance