Let the fun begin (she said sarcastically!)

Animals make me happier than people do sometimes. I'll stick with the pet posts for awhile.

Preaching to the choir

Friends Julie and Tom made this sign on their property when all of their political signs were stolen. Roberta and Alan had signs stolen as well. Apparently you are not entitled to your own opinion here in Upstate NY.

This sign is very large, harder to steal, and one would hope that no one has an argument with this message.

I mostly stay out of political discussions, but no matter what the outcome is tomorrow, I am concerned, worried, stressed...call it what you will. Better to start the discussion now.

I am repeating below something that I read on a friend's FB page today. Husband says I am preaching to the choir, which is mostly true for friends and family, but for anyone not in the choir, I am curious to hear your thoughts in the comments.

No matter who you're voting for, just do it.

From my old college buddy, Frank:

I had considered authoring a heartfelt post about the upcoming election for any who somehow are, unbelievably, still on the fence. I know most people have already decided and many have cast their vote. I did a few weeks ago. Just now I saw the following posted by my friend Rich and I decided to append it here for those who are undecided or, far worse, are choosing to skip the process altogether because ‘both sides are the same’ or some other equally weak excuse. Our democracy will die without the participation of we the people. Here it is…

And with this I rest my case against Trump.

I owe my Trump-supporting friends and relatives an apology. I’ve been critical of the Trump presidency and am still exhausted from the experience. We are definitely at a crossroad now, no matter what the media says.

But to be fair, President Trump wasn’t so bad, other than:

• when he incited an insurrection against the government.

• mismanaged a pandemic that killed over a million Americans

• separated children from their families.

• lost those children in the bureaucracy

• tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church

• tried to block all Muslims from entering the country

• got impeached

• got impeached again

• had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history

• pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden before he would release aid

• fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia

• bragged about firing the FBI director on TV

• took Vladimir Putin’s word over the findings of the US intelligence community

• diverted military funding to build his wall

• caused the longest government shutdown in US history

• called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate”

• lied nearly 40,000 times

• banned transgender people from serving in the military

• ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions

• vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers

• refused to release his tax returns

• increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion

• had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history

• called veterans and soldiers who died in combat “losers” and “suckers”

• coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after the Saudis executed and dismembered a Washington Post journalist who was critical of their regime

• refused to concede the 2020 election

• hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House

• walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl

• called neo-Nazis “very fine people”

• suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID

• abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey

• pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans

• incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic

• withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords

• withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal, where they had been contained, and are now close to having nuclear weapons

• withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances

• insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter

• pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op

• failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies

• called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries

• called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation”

• claimed that he single-handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere

• forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader

• believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

• berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe

• suggested the US should buy Greenland

• colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges

• repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people”

• claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases

• violated the emoluments clause consistently and without any embarrassment

• thought that Nambia was a country

• told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public

• called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “pussy” for following the Constitution

• nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet

• nominated a corrupt head of the EPA

• nominated a corrupt head of HHS

• nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department

• nominated a corrupt head of the USDA

• praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies

• refused to allow the presidential transition to begin

• insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death

• spent an unconscionable amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president

• falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote

• called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser”

• falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year

• considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions

• mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID

• locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones

• used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus”

• hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and national security adviser

• pardoned several of his shady associates

• gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressmen who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories

• got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia

• couldn’t work with a Secretary of State who eventually called him a fucking moron

• forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history

• botched the COVID vaccine rollout

• tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him

• charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties, both in and out of the country

• constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate

• claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear

• called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas”

• used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise

• opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling

• got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers

• claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US

• ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings

• eventually took part in daily intelligence briefings when aides dumbed down information with pie carts and graphs, and made sure to include his name within reports to keep his attention

• blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining

• redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle

• got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters”

• threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution

• botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

. wanted to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland

• threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them

• pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes

• thought that the Virgin islands had a President

• drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane

• allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing

• rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos

• pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID

• rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers

• held blatant campaign rallies at the White House

• tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man

• repeatedly promised to replace said health plan with a “better plan”, and still does, although there isn’t even a “concept of a plan”

• refused to attend his successors’ inauguration

• nominated the worst Education Secretary in history

• threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted

• attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci

• promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t)

• allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues

• struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble

• called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ”

• threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders

• went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic

• claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts”

• seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution

• demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director

• praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles

• completely gutted the Voice of America

• placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service

• claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower

• suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country

• suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public

• overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported

• reduced the number of refugees the US accepts

• insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames

• gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address

• named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties

• eliminated the White House office of pandemic response

• assigned his son-in-law to oversee distribution of equipment to combat Covid, and that team determined need based on political loyalty

• used soldiers as campaign props

• fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him

• demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade

• hired a steady stream of white nationalists and befriended others

• politicized the civil service

• did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government

• gave a disturbingly inappropriate speech to a gathering of Boy Scouts at the request of his Secretary of State

• falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts

• claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won

• insulted reporters of color

• insulted women reporters

• insulted women reporters of color

• suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uighurs

• attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him

• summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the election

• spent countless hours every day watching Fox News

• refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas

• hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer, which hasn’t turned out well for Rudy, at all

• tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him

• acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney

• attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a women who accused him of sexual assault

• held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present

• didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media

• stopped holding press briefings for months at a time

• “ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power

• led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform

• claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers

• tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course

• suggested that the government nuke hurricanes

• suggested that wind turbines cause cancer

• said that he had a special aptitude for science

• fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure

• blurted out classified information to Russian officials regarding sensitive Israeli information

• tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida

• fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban

• hired Stephen Miller

• openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago where everyone could hear them

• interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel

• abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war

• tried to get Russia back into the G7

• held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden

• seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive

• lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated

• falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t

• shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies

• still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks"

• forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID

• told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by”

• withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic

• performed so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,” allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act

• seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican

• stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win

• constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president which presumably includes four that were assassinated and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump

• claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened

• said that any opinion poll showing him behind in polls was fake

• claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him

• claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President

• created a commission to whitewash American history

• retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain

• claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard on premises

• hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre as a reason to ban Muslims

• had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others

• bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties

• apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House

• stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians

• falsely claimed Biden wanted to defund the police

• said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about

• tried to rescind protection from DREAMers

• gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic

• tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax

• said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states

• deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented

• claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln

• touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile or may not exist at all

• retweeted a gif calling Biden a pedophile

• forced through security clearances for his family

• suggested that police officers should “rough up” suspects, in violation of the Constitution

• suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs

• suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher

• nominated a climate change skeptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy

• retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden had played a song called “Fuck tha Police” at a campaign event

• hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags

• accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address

• claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter because they were “spending too much time” on Russia

• mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault

• obsessed over low-flow toilets

• ordered the re-release of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release

• called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek)

• hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech

• took advice from the MyPillow guy

• claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists

• said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure

• never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign

• falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent

• announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest

• insulted the leader of Canada

• insulted the leader of France

• insulted the leader of Britain

• insulted the leader of Germany

• insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!)

• falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues

• blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually

• continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders,

• said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked

• left a NATO summit early in a huff

• stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of five knows not to do that

• called himself a “very stable genius” despite significant evidence to the contrary

• refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise

There were other things I can’t remember at the moment. What’s more, there is more disturbing news every day—of what he did, is doing, and says he’ll do.

Copy and paste to your hearts' content. I did.

Let me add. I didn’t read a fraction of this before I decided to copy, paste and repost. Before posting I read through it from beginning to end. I didn’t see any blatant ‘mistruths’. It’s not ‘fake news’. If you wanted to throw out a third of the bullet points for being trivial, fine. Half even. Three quarters? The rest are disqualifying, many criminal. I don’t know when this was created but his calls for violence are frightening. His is a campaign of hatred, bigotry and intolerance. His campaign is all fear and pledged grievance against his ‘enemies’, that being anyone who dare to question him. He’s an arrogantly ignorant baby man who is running not to serve the people like every previous president in my lifetime. Instead he’s running to stay out of jail. I am not some crazed leftist. I voted for Chris Christie the first time he ran. I also voted for Chris Smith for years until 2014 or 2016. Both would be considered to be conservative by any standard. The former was more competent than Corzine. The latter, though I didn’t agree with him on some issues, seemed to be for the people. Since then he has joined the cult of personality. Please vote if you haven’t yet or you’re undecided but know what you’re voting for.

Publin

Since the other option is more kitten pics, I went through some more photos from Ireland only to reveal that all we really did in our 2 short days there was to walk (a lot) and stop in a few pubs to have a Guinness and some food to rest in between.

We did manage a tour of the immigration museum, the archaeology museum (previous post) and the James Joyce museum (future post) and, of course, a music store for The Husband, but other than that just a bit of pub-crawling.

I think we missed a few good pubs, like these 2. We might have to go back.

Martin, Mousie, and the wheelchair

The weather continues to be far too nice for this time of year. Just in the last week or so it is starting to get cooler at night which makes for some very foggy mornings. I am still trying to get Jessie used to staying in the house for longer periods, but when the weather is this perfect it is hard to deny her an all day nap outside in the sun. She usually wants to go out by 8 am, and she doesn't come back in until dinner time, and then only if I catch her and bring her in.

I have to work harder to convince her that in the house is a good place to be.

Of course these foggy photos are just to steer you away from the fact that I am obsessed with the cute kitten and his crazy antics. I took a video of him playing with his favorite mouse toy under the  wheelchair, just to see how long he could go. It was 27 minutes and 5 GB long.

Apologies to Claire for sending it to her and clogging up her phone memory!

Somehow Mousie still survives and Martin gets exhausted. All good.

Changing colors

The goldfinches and goldenrod are fading, just as the trees are starting to change into their fall wardrobe. All this is happening when the weather has been very summery—up to 80° a few times in the last week or 2. But I have also put the heat on once or twice. The chilly nights in the 40°s and 50°s are likely making those colors change.

Of course you know that this is really just an excuse to share more cute kitten pictures. At least you can kinda see the same pretty trees behind the vertical Martin Peters. 

Pooch poses, sunsets, Martin, and Joyce

I am not making much progress in getting a better photo of Jessie and Cyrus together for the home page. Woody is happy to still be featured there, so there is no rush. Here's another sunset to take the lead for now.

Martin the kitty is safe in his crate when we aren't able to keep an eye on him, but he is not thrilled about being in there now that he has tasted freedom. He makes the most pathetic little cries asking to be free to play with the big boys and girls.

The big boys and girls are getting better at playing with him, but still a bit rough. It's only been 2 days and I am pleased with their progress.

I have one more Ireland post for y'all when I find the time to get it together. Our second visit to the James Joyce museum in Dublin was just as interesting as the first when we were there in 1998.

Martin

We have been leading up to the point where we bring another cat in the house, since we lost Willie a few months ago. There wasn't much of a plan, mostly because Husband and I could not agree on what that plan was.

We have Otis and Zelda outside. Both just appeared on our property and we provided food and water and shelter, and had them neutered. They have bonded and I didn't want to mess with that. I also did not want to bring them both inside. Mostly because Cyrus gets a bit crazed with outside critters, including killing several of our chickens and ducks.

Husband wanted to break the Kathy-imposed rule of 2 cats/2 dogs in the house—can be fewer, can't be more. But then he keeps showing me cute kitten pictures online.

So yesterday we visit our friend June the Goat Lady to discuss borrowing a goat buck for breeding purposes. She has several bucks for us to choose from, and far too many barn cats.

So in the spirit of friendship and good will toward all cats, Martin came home with us.

Cyrus barked at him in the big dog crate for a good hour or more. Not even 24 hours later, he is content to watch Martin (not in the crate) play with me. So far they will have only supervised interactions.

MonkeyCat is still assessing the situation and keeping his distance.

Dublin—Saints and more pubs

St. Stephen's Green

You can see poor Molly in the background

Our Ireland trip ended with 2 days in Dublin. We brought Cousin Tony back to the city with us, and turned in the evil car near his home in Kilmainham without having to make our way back to the airport rental agency. So for the last 2 days KP was stress-free! Yay!

We did a lot of wandering in Dublin's fair city. The saints were everywhere. Poor Saint Andrew must be horrified that the statue of Molly Malone, on the sidewalk out in front of his church, is fondled by tourists from all over. I just don't know how that became a thing...

We also went to the National Museum of Ireland where there were plenty of archaeological artifacts recalling a sainted history—including Saint Patrick's tooth. (?!?)

And of course we made our way to a pub or 5.

On our last night we wandered into The Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, established 1198. We met locals John and Lorraine, and chatted our way through the evening with the Olympics on the TV overhead. John said that "if bullshittin' was an Olympic sport, the Irish would win all the gold medals".

Goats on the loose

Also on our last day in Dublin, we heard rumors of a herd escape in Schuyler Lake. The trail camera showed this to be very true. Fortunately, the home team was successful in guiding them all back home.

Entrance to the National Museum of Ireland

Tim with some saintly figures

Because you really did want to see this!

The beautiful Swan Bar, established 1661

The Brazen Head

Brian walking Otis and Zelda :)

Killamuck Abbeyleix

Cousins Tony and Rose still live in Dublin, which is where we visited them before. But since they fixed up the house where my grandmother and her siblings were born and raised, they have been spending plenty of time there in the summer.

The address is Killamuck, Abbeyleix. No street name or number necessary, because everyone knows everyone who lives there, even if they don't live there all the time.

I am still learning more about my Killamuck ancestors, but I do know that Teresa, my grandmother had several sisters. Mary, also known as Molly, had emigrated as well and lived in Elizabeth, NJ across the road from Granny. I met Agnes (Liam's mom), Lucy, and Tony's mom Frances when I was in Ireland in 1982. I know there was a Bridget and Kathleen, and maybe a few more that I am missing.

Kathleen was the one who bought the ticket to come to the US, but then decided to stay in Ireland with her new beau. Granny ended up taking her ticket and coming here at the age of 15. The ticket was purchased at Morrissey's which was a grocery store back in the day. 

After a fabulous lamb and roasted veg dinner made mostly by chef Tony, we headed there for a pint or 3 to celebrate a great time with the family.

The Queen Mary with old grocery items still on the shelves

The original house (behind the door) with new addition (left)

Looking down the street with my scary rental car in the driveway

Cousin Tony with his parents' bikes

The fireplace behind him was the old kitchen stove

The kitchen addition with Cousin Liam and his wife Mary

Chef Tony and his wife Rose making dinner

Roasted lamb with lots of roasted veg (not all in the pic)

The Husband, Donal (Geraldine's husband), and Tony

Cousin Geraldine (Tony's sister), me, Mary, and Rose

Malin Head

On our last day in Donegal Town, we took a journey along the Wild Atlantic Way to Malin Head, the northernmost point in Ireland. It's a stark contrast to the Atlantic Ocean as I know it, on the New Jersey coast.

Granted, it was a cloudy day, but we had the entire beach to ourselves other than one young lady with a child and a small dog. This was in the height of summer and the tourist season. There were several more people on the paths along the cliffs, but I chose to sit that part out so I could take more photos.

It's hard enough keeping up with the husband wandering through city streets, but send him off in the countryside and there's no way my short legs will keep up.

Apparently this spot looks otherworldly enough to be featured in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. That would never work with the Long Beach Island I remember in New Jersey.