Yep, it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Looking at our mountain makes me happy and what I’ve learned as I crossed the 70 yard line a few years ago, I am going to do what makes me happy. I am responsible for making me happy. Happiness is a choice. You can be happy at any time, just choose to be!

I’m really happy when I hear Attorney General Bill Barr(f) report that there is no evidence of election fraud. You can be sure that “you know who” is going to get his panties in a wad over that statement. Rudy has got his brains seeping out of his head again this afternoon, issuing a scathing statement, “with all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn’t been any semblance” of an investigation into the president’s complaints. Oh, really Rudy? Why are you about one for forty in your courtroom attempts to overturn election results as a result of voter fraud? Because there wasn’t any widespread fraud!! And Rudy better hope that King Don listens to Sean Hannity’s recommendation that he give blanket pardons to himself, his family, and Rudy before he leaves office in January to protect them from any possible crimes that they committed during his four years in the Oval Office. I think there are prosecutors and Attorney General’s just waiting for January 21st. The missus and I have been watching Yellowstone, the series starring Kevin Costner and one of my favorite lines was from his daughter, Beth. “You are the trailer park….I am the tornado.” Hopefully, the tornado is coming.

This is not happy news from OregonLIve: The Oregon Health Authority today reported 1,233 new confirmed or presumptive cases and 24 more deaths, the highest number of fatalities reported on a single day since the beginning of the pandemic. “Today’s grim milestone is another reminder of the severity and spread of the disease and the importance for all Oregonians to wear masks, keep physical distance and to keep gatherings small,” the agency said in a statement.

Enjoy your evening and “Don’t Worry — Be Happy!!” Ziggyman

Well we made it through another month of this historical journey of separation and isolation. The good news is that the end is in sight as a result of the encouraging developments of a vaccine from three different drug manufacturers. We are beginning the holiday season, which normally would mean shopping at the mall and gatherings with our friends and family partying hardy, but right now we can’t let “pandemic fatigue” cause us to let our guard down. We need to remain patient for awhile longer. The mayor of El Paso, Texas, Dee Margo, was interviewed on “Face the Nation” yesterday and discussed why his city was getting hit so hard with spikes in the number of folks getting the coronavirus. “We did a deep dive in our contact tracing for the week of November the 10th through the 16th and found that 55% of the positives were coming from shopping at large retailers, what we’d term as the big box stores,” Margo said. When I see contact tracing data like this it makes me wonder what data Oregon’s governor was using when she made the decision to put a freeze on outdoor dining at restaurants for two weeks. If the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association is correct with the data they presented to the Governor, less than one-half of one percent of total COVID-19 cases were a result of restaurant contact. As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have friends who own and operate restaurants in our community. The missus and I will only do outdoor dining at this time and our experience while dining at Skyway Bar and Grill prior to the Governor’s new order was very positive. They have safety protocols in place much more stringent than I have observed at Fred Meyers, Safeway, and other retailers like Mayor Margo describes. I believe that it is the responsibility of each of us to manage our personal behaviors to decrease the spread of this virus more than it is to shut down businesses. Good Lord, you could still get a haircut or your nails done, but can’t eat a cheeseburger outside? Many employers, in my opinion, have worked very hard to implement safety procedures in their various industries and it is a shame to penalize them and their employees, when the data shows that it is irresponsible behavior of individuals by not wearing masks, not social distancing, and having to be at that fun gathering because “I am just so tired of not being able to be with my friends and not being able to do anything fun.” Like I said earlier, the end is in sight if we all just follow some simple guidelines that I’m pretty sure most people have seen and heard for the past nine months. The good news is that the Gov “has seen the light” and we can eat that cheeseburger outside beginning Thursday. End of sermon.

My prediction yesterday that tRump would watch Christopher Krebs on 60 Minutes and come unglued was right on. I just love it when he gets his bowels in an uproar.

Time to go watch the 5:00 fake news. Have a great beginning of the new week and month. Ziggyman

It’s a beautiful day on the mountain — clear blue sky, fresh snow on Mt. Hood, crisp air, the creek is running peacefully, and a nice warm fire in the wood stove. We might get some showers tomorrow, but then the rest of the week looks like today — sunny, clear and cool. I’ll take it before the snow comes. That reminds me. I have to go change the oil in the snowblower and start the generator. That will be a job for midweek. Just resting today. I just came inside from looking and listening to the creek. Peaceful.

I see that the tRump campaign paid $3 million dollars to have a partial recount in a couple of counties in Wisconsin. The result? Joe Biden picked up an additional 132 votes over our delusional current president. I am flabbergasted that there are still so many people who remain duped cult members of King Donald’s fantasy world and are happy to “scratch his itch” to soothe his fragile ego. At least there are a few of his party members who have shown some integrity and not succumbed to the pressure he has exhibited in trying to steal the election. Most notably, Brad Raffensperger, the Republican Georgia Secretary of State, who has received death threats and repeated attempts by Donnie’s allies, including from that despicable Senator Lindsey Graham, to have him exclude ballots in order to overthrow Biden’s narrow win in Georgia. There were other Republicans, however, who also showed courage and patriotism during this ordeal, including Republican judges, poll workers, and even some Trump donors who all have done the right thing and put the country in front of party. The cowardly Republican Senators and congressmen who have remained silent or gone along with tRump’s fantasies will go down in history as traitors, just like Benedict Arnold. Today, in an interview with another sycophant, Maria Bartoromo, the loser claims the FBI and Justice Department may have helped rig the election. Of course, Maria offered no pushback or asked for proof on his allegations of “total fraud.” Instead, she agreed wholeheartedly and said “This is disgusting! We cannot allow America’s election to be corrupted.” Remember, his crack legal team headed up by some real whacko’s like Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, and Sidney Powell have lost over 36 of the cases they presented to the courts related to election fraud. Tonight Christopher Krebs, the former Cybersecurity Chief fired by tRump on Twitter, will be interviewed on 60 Minutes, and will once again say that this was the most secure election in American history. This will really piss “you know who” off, and tomorrow we will read his furious tweets ranting about the stolen election. Just let it go, Donnie. Meanwhile, over 30,000 Americans have died from the COVID-19 since election day while our leader has spent at least nine of those days at his golf course, Trump National Golf Club in northern Virginia, hitting the green. Why is he fighting so hard to keep the job that he has abdicated? I guess the answer is being a loser is not in his vocabulary. Keep putting away, Don — or is that punting away? What a loser.

Have a great day and remember to be safe out there. Ziggyman

Yes, y’all I’m still alive and kickin’, and healthy as can be. I’ve been following the guidelines from the CDC — wearing my mask, washing my hands frequently, and socially distancing when I’m out and about, which isn’t too often. I know, I haven’t written anything for awhile, but now that my bowels aren’t in an uproar everyday because of you know who, I feel I can calmly get back to it. Soooo, keep your station tuned to Mountain Man Musings. I’m back.

The missus and I spent a grateful Thanksgiving by ourselves for the first time in the 51 years we’ve been married, but had a “Grateful Meal” for 2020. After a couple of Manhattans, we sat down to our feast consisting of a 14 pound turkey I smoked on the Big Green Egg, roasted sweet potatoes with a maple syrup glaze, fresh cranberry sauce, turkey gravy from the innards, fresh green bean casserole, chunky mashed potatoes with parmesan cheese, corn bread cranberry muffins, a bottle of 2011 Willakenzie Pinot Noir Aliette, and then finished the evening off with pumpkin creme brule the missus baked the day before and a bottle of champagne.

No matter your political persuasion, it has been a very stressful few months (years), but I hope we can follow the words of a true American leader and begin the process to make America better again. The President-Elect is going to have many challenges ahead of him as he works to make this a UNITED STATES of AMERICA, a nation that is once again seen throughout the world as a global leader and respected for democratic principles. We all need to do our part to “seek the right answer” for making a better future.

Keep smilin’ under that mask you better be wearing. Ramble at ya’ later. Ziggyman

Yeah, I know, I haven’t rambled at ya for awhile. It was just getting too depressing to see and read the news each day and then writing about it was putting me into a funk. To keep myself sane I decided to take a break, but we’re now in the bottom of the 8th inning and I’m ready to start rockin’ and rollin’ again. I’m going to start off with a look at the upcoming SCOTUS nomination process. Today I got an email from Senator Ron Wyden with his comments about the upcoming vote in the Senate for the approval of Amy Coney Barrett. He ends the email with “A vote for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee is a vote to allow the Court to rip health care away from millions of Americans during a pandemic. So I’ll say it again: if you don’t trust Republicans with your health care, you cannot trust Republicans with this Supreme Court seat.” I replied to him with, “Sorry Senator Wyden, but she’s a done deal, the Republicans are going to do what they are going to do, so start figuring out how you are going to approach the hearings in a respectful way. In my opinion, it will be a mistake to besmirch her character, and remember her religion is the same as Joe Biden’s. I am passing on a post from a friend on Facebook, with thoughts that I find brilliant. Please consider this approach.” I included the following:

“From a professor at St Mary’s College, Bill Svelmoe: A few thoughts on Amy Coney Barrett, our new Supreme Court justice. As noted above, she’s a done deal. So Democrats should not waste time trying to besmirch her character, focusing on her religion, trying to box her into a corner on how she will vote on hypothetical cases.The People of Praise is not a cult. I’ve had half a dozen of their kids in my classes, including some men who heard about me from their female friends. Almost without fail, these have been among the best students I’ve ever had. Extremely bright. Careful critical thinkers. Wonderful writers. I loved having them in class. So don’t go after the People of Praise. By all accounts Barrett walks on water. I’ve had that in a roundabout way from people I know at Notre Dame, including from folks as liberal as me, who actually look forward to seeing her on the court. I have no first hand knowledge of her, but take the above for what you will. So Democrats should not take a typical approach with her. Stay focused on the election. If the election were tomorrow, Biden wins comfortably, and the Democrats likely take the Senate as well. The latest polls were taken after RBG’s death. No gain for Trump. In fact the majority of Americans think the Supreme Court seat should not be filled until after the election. Watching Republicans ram Barrett through helps Democrats. So don’t mess with her. Let Republicans do what they’re going to do. As a great man once said, It is what it is. If the Democrats take the presidency and the Senate, none of this matters much. A Democratic administration will not let a conservative court mess with Democratic priorities. Lots of avenues, including adding justices, passing a law that no act of Congress can be overturned by the Court except by a seven vote majority, etc. So keep the focus where it matters. On November 3. So how should Democrats approach these hearings? I’ve seen one good suggestion today. Turn all their time over to Kamala Harris. I like that one. Here’s a few more suggestions. Don’t show up for the hearings. There is no reason to dignify this raw exercise in political hypocrisy. Don’t legitimize the theft of a Supreme Court seat with your presence. This also shows Barrett that the nation knows she is letting herself become a pawn in Trump’s game. That in itself says something about character. Schedule high interest alternate programming directly opposite the hearings. Bring together all 26 of the women who have accused Trump of sexual assault. Let them tell their stories on air. Or interview liberal justices that Biden will add to the court next year. Hearings with only Republicans extolling Barrett’s virtues will get low ratings. It shouldn’t be hard to come up with something people would rather watch. Hell, replay the Kavanaugh hearings! Bring in Matt Damon to reprise his role on SNL! I’d watch that! How about a show “Beers with Squee”?! If Democrats do attend the hearings, they should not focus on Barrett’s views on any future cases. She’ll just dodge those questions anyway. They’re hypothetical. She should dodge them. Don’t even mention her religion. Instead Democrats should focus on the past four years of the Trump administration. This has been the most corrupt administration in American history. No need for hypotheticals. The questions are all right there. Judge Barrett, would you please explain the emoluments clause in the Constitution. [She does.] Judge Barrett, if a president were to refuse to divest himself of his properties and, in fact, continue to steer millions of dollars of tax payer money to his properties, would this violate the emoluments clause? Then simply go down the list of specific cases in which Trump and his family of grifters have used the presidency to enrich themselves. Ask her repeatedly if this violates the emoluments clause. Include, of course, using the American ambassador to Britain to try to get the British Open golf tournament at a Trump property. Judge Barrett, does this violate the emoluments clause? Then turn to the Hatch Act. Judge Barrett, would you please explain the Hatch Act to the American people. [She does.] Judge Barrett, did Kellyanne Conway violate the Hatch Act on these 60 occasions? [List them.] Then after Barrett’s response, and just fyi, the Office of the Special Council already convicted her, ask Barrett this, When Kellyanne Conway, one of the president’s top advisors openly mocked the Hatch Act after violating it over 60 times, should she have been removed from office? Then turn to all the other violations of the Hatch Act during the Republican Convention. Get Barrett’s opinion on those. Then turn to Congressional Oversight. Judge Barrett, would you please explain to the American people the duties of Congress, according to the Constitution, to oversee the executive branch. [She does so.] Judge Barrett, when the Trump administration refuses time and again [list them] to respond to a subpoena from Congress, is this an obstruction of the constitutional duty of Congress for oversight? Is this an obstruction of justice? Then turn to Trump’s impeachment. Read the transcript of Trump’s phone call. Judge Barrett, would you describe this as a “perfect phone call”? Is there anything about this call that troubles you, as a judge, or as an American? Judge Barrett, would you please define for the American people the technical definition of collusion. [She does.] Then go through all of the contacts between the Trump administration and Russians during the election and get her opinion on whether these amount to collusion. Doesn’t matter how she answers. It gets Trump’s perfidy back in front of Americans right before the election. Such questions could go on for days. Get her opinion on the evidence for election fraud. Go through all the Trump “laws” that have been thrown out by the courts. Ask her about the separation of children from their parents at the border. And on and on and on through the worst and most corrupt administration in our history. Don’t forget to ask her opinion on the evidence presented by the 26 Trump accusers. Judge Barrett, do you think this is enough evidence of sexual assault to bring the perpetrator before a court of law? Do you think a sitting president should be able to postpone such cases until after his term? Judge Barrett, let’s listen again, shall we, to Trump’s “Access Hollywood” tape. I don’t have a question. I just want to hear it again. Or maybe, as a woman, how do you feel listening to this recording? Let’s listen to it again, shall we. Take your time.Taking this approach does a number of things. 1. Even if Barrett bobs and weaves and dodges all of this, it reminds Americans right before the election of just how awful this administration has been. 2. None of these questions are hypothetical. They are all real documented incidents. The vast majority are pretty obvious examples of breaking one law or the other. If Barrett refuses to answer honestly, she demonstrates that she is willing to simply be another Trump toady. Any claims to high moral Christian character are shown to be as empty as the claims made by the 80% of white evangelicals who continue to support Trump. 3. If she answers honestly, as I rather suspect she would, then Americans get to watch Trump and his lawless administration convicted by Trump’s own chosen justice. Any of these outcomes would go much further toward delegitimizing the entire Republican project than if Democrats go down the typical road of asking hypothetical questions or trying to undermine her character. Use her supposed good character and keen legal mind against the administration that has nominated her. Let her either convict Trump or embarrass herself by trying to weasel out of convicting Trump. Either way, it’ll be great television ….”

We’ll see if I get a response. Anyhoo, feels good to be back. We’re going to be at the beach for a couple of days, so won’t be able to write, but I’ll be back at it on Monday. Have a great weekend!! Ziggyman

Get on your mark. Get set. GO!! Yep, we’ve gotta be ready. Today marks 60 days until the election and between now and then we must do whatever we can to get folks ready and then to actually submit their vote. This is probably the most important vote I will make in my lifetime, and if the election goes against the guy I will be voting for, I feel we are doomed. We will enter a new form of government that we as a country have fought against forever. In his first term of office, Trump has flirted with authoritarianism, but most recently his moves have been right out of the “Authoritarian Playbook.” He calls protesters “terrorists” and suggests that they should be locked up for at least a decade to silence them. He continues to say that we are being overrun by anarchists, looters, Antifa, and violent mobs who should be put in prison for a ‘longly’ amount of time . He will use the military to shut down acts of civil disobedience, and calls Governors “weak” who won’t use the National Guard in cities like Portland and Seattle. The rhetoric he uses encourages and supports violence by groups at each end of the spectrum, White Supremacists and the Far-Left anti-government groups. He has spent this first term weakening our democratic institutions, promoting conspiracy theories, enabling his sycophants who have a similar bend toward authoritarianism, and continues making false, misleading, and unsubstantiated claims. In addition to this threat of a movement to an authoritarian form of government, we have the issue of his failure at leading a nation through a crisis, like we are now experiencing during this pandemic. If we were to end up in a war situation over the next four years with the Donald as our leader, would you feel like “you’re in good hands?” I personally would feel safer with the Allstate guy. Prepare to vote!! And, continue to social distance, wash your hands frequently, and wear your mask.

It looks like our stress level will increase almost daily over the next two months as we approach the election. We will be hearing of attempts to withhold information related to election interference by burying intelligence reports, like Acting Director of Homeland Security Chad Wolfe did just recently. Trump will continue to attack mail-in voting and make bizarre statements, like urging North Carolinans to vote twice, once in person and once by mail to test the validity of the election process. We will continue to hear that a vaccine will be ready by November, just in time for the election. Cities that are lead by Democrats are being threatened to have Federal funds withheld by Trump. There will probably be more shootings at protests. We will probably see more reports and videos of Black men being treated unjustly by police. On and on. I think I’ll buy an extra bottle of gin to help get through the rest of this week.

Time to sign off. Have a great evening! Ziggyman

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted any ramblings, and not because I was so consumed with the RNC, because I didn’t watch one second of it. Reading the accounts of the speeches, I know I didn’t miss anything that I didn’t know already — fear-mongering propaganda that America won’t be safe with Biden as president; Things Have Never Been Better in America under the current president; Trump claiming he has done more for Black Americans than any other president; rioters and looters are taking over cities with Democrats in the leadership role; tRump’s leadership through this pandemic crisis saved thousands of lives; the economy is the greatest it has ever been and unemployment the lowest ever; ad nauseam. I’m tickled by the rhetoric from this group about how bad things will be if Biden is elected and all of the examples that they give are happening right now under Trump’s presidency. Claiming that the country is becoming a total hellhole and the only person who can rescue it is the person who has been in charge WHILE the country’s going to hell is a quite a laugher, and his lemming’s base doesn’t get it. Can you imagine the uproar if President Obama or any other Democratic president held his nomination night on the front steps of the White House with banners and an audience on the front law? This was probably a violation of the Hatch Act, a depression-era law enacted to ensure that federal employees operate free of political influence or coercion, but under this “law and order” administration they don’t care about violating any laws that can benefit them. Like I say, ad nauseam.

I guess there is a fundraising account set up for the 17 year old kid, Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three people at a protest march for yet another black man shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, WI, killing two of the protestors. A self-described Christian fundraising site, GiveSendGo, said on Friday it has raised more than $100,000 for Rittenhouse’s defense. Video taken before the shooting shows police tossing bottled water from an armored vehicle and thanking civilians armed with long guns walking the streets. Rittenhouse, this new hero, was one of them shown in the video. Police apparently let the kid walk past them and leave the scene with a rifle over his shoulder with his hands in the air, as the crowd yelled for him to be arrested because he had shot people. He was later arrested in Antioch, Illinois, and charged with two homicides and one attempted homicide. I support second amendment rights, but here is an example of what happens when an immature kid is armed with an AR15 and thinks that he can do whatever he pleases with the weapon. His attorneys are already saying it was self-defense. In the meantime two dead and one with his arm amputated. So far, he has been called a hero, a vigilante, a volunteer, and a domestic terrorist.

And how about that fine Christian fella Jerry Falwell, Jr.? Another example of the hypocrisy of these ‘bible totin’ Trump supporters. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump didn’t get in on the action with Falwell’s wife, as It would fit his MO.

Well, time to go pour a cocktail and catch up on today’s events. Stay healthy. Ziggyman

Started the day with some Food Network for a little meal time inspiration. The most interesting from the shows this morning was Michael Symon’s eggplant parmigan. I think I have had eggplant maybe once or twice in my life and it never really did much for me. This recipe, however, looks like one I want to try, as it is done outside on the grill, so it will have a little smokiness to it and lots of cheese. Mmm mmm good. He accompanied it with an antipasti salad, loaded up with salami, chickpeas, kalamata olives, grape or cherry tomatoes, aged provolone, pepperoncinis, romaine lettuce, and lots of parmesan grated over the top. He dressed it with what he called ‘campfire dressing,’ which was basically an herbed oil and vinegar with a red onion that had been cooked in coals until it was black and then peeled and diced. As I compose this rambling, I am roasting some hatch chile peppers outside on my Big Green Egg. Last year on our seven state road trip in September and October we spent some time in New Mexico. One of those days was at the Santa Fe Saturday Farmers’ Market, which had by far the largest number of vendors of any market we had ever been to. Hatch chiles are from the Hatch Valley of New Mexico and are a prized pepper when they become available late August to October. There were several vendors roasting at the market and people were buying them as soon as they came out of the roaster. I’m going to use my roasted chiles to make a Hatch Green Chili Colorado with Pork one day this week from a recipe on a blog I follow titled ‘Cooking on the Ranch.’ Fred Meyers has pork shoulder on sale until Wednesday for 99 cents a pound, so I’ll be making a trip to get me some pork for this tasty comfort food meal. I will give you a review later in the week. My stomach is startin’ to growl just thinking about it.

After breakfast we went down to the Hoodland Farmers’ Market and bought some curly kale, swiss chard, heirloom tomatoes, some lemon mint tea, and fresh flowers. The missus, being a retired florist, made a nice flower arrangement with the cut flowers to brighten up the abode. Tuesday we had the carpet cleaned for the first time since we built the house ** years ago (the missus probably doesn’t want me to reveal this) and wow, what a difference. They look brand new. Today I washed some of the front windows and again, wow! Since the peak of our ceiling is 30 feet high, I didn’t get the top set of windows, but will get the extension ladder out this week and try to get the top one done so they sparkle like the ones I did today.

My neighbor just came over and told us that there is a hostage situation in Rhododendron and the bad guy has poured an accelerant around the inside perimeter of the house and lit candles. Her husband is a member of the volunteer fire department and has headed down to drive a second tanker to the scene. The cabin where this is taking place is in a heavily wooded area, so if it catches fire it could be a terrible situation, as well as for the hostages. She said there is a gate that is locked at the driveway and someone from Portland is driving up with a key. SWAT and big fire trucks are already there, so I don’t know why they don’t just pull or knock the gate down. I just turned my police scanner app on and the text says that it was a home invasion that turned into a hostage situation. I can’t get the police chatter because they have switched to a private tactical net. Darn. Anyhoo, I will let you know the result of this situation once I know.

I think I will end this post and take a little drive up the road. Ramble at ya later. Ziggyman

“The current president’s cloaked America in darkness for far too long,” and “make no mistake, united we can and will overcome this season of darkness.” Wow! Joe crushed it last night, giving, some say, the best speech he has ever given. Even Fox News and critics from the other side of the aisle gave praise for the speech. From Erick Erickson, a conservative commentator, “Biden exceeded expectations. That was a fine speech.” From another, “Biden crushed expectations.” Chris Wallace on Fox News said, “I thought it was an enormously effective speech.“ Dana Perino, a Fox News anchor who served as George W. Bush’s press secretary, after the speech said Biden “just hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth.” Even Laura Ingraham, one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders praised the speech. I love it.

Ya just know that The Donald is gonna be riled up over all this praise of Joe. When you have Republicans making speeches for the Democratic candidate at the DNC virtual convention, like former Ohio Governor John Kasich, General Colin Powell, Former New York Congresswoman Susan Molinari, and Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain, then Don better start worrying that ‘they are starting to figure out what a loser I really am.’ I think, overall, it was a good week for the Dem’s, as most of the speakers at this virtual convention had positive performances that showed tRump’s incompetence over the past four years and hope and optimism if Biden is elected in November. Yeah, Joe isn’t the perfect candidate, but you’ll never have a perfect candidate and, in my opinion, he is the only Democrat that has a chance of beating Trump. In the words of Democratic strategist James Carville, yesterday was a “perfect day” for Democrats. “I thought this was a perfect day. It started with the president’s chief strategist arrested on a 150-foot yacht for fleecing poor people, and it ended with Vice President Biden saying, ‘God bless the troops,'” Carville said on MSNBC. It should be an interesting week next week following the Republican convention and contrasting it with what we just saw from the totally virtual DNC. In typical fashion for this leader, it seems that planning for next week’s convention is pretty chaotic and their planning is going right up to the last minute. The Daily Beast reports that TV network executives said “they were still almost completely in the dark about basic details of next week’s RNC, including its format and its roster of speakers.” As Yogi Berra would say, “it’s deja vu all over again.” Anyhoo, “it is what it is.”

How about them thar Trail Blazers? Just getting into the playoffs this year was a major fete, but then to beat the Lakers in game 1 was fabulous. Didn’t look too good last night, but I’m looking for a better performance from Dame, CJ and Nurk tomorrow night. Hopefully Zach will be back from his sore foot to give us a little more rebounding help. Remember Enes Kanter in last year’s playoffs? He played with a separated shoulder. Wish we still had him on the team.

Time to go watch today’s fake news. Have a great evening! Ziggyman

In normal times this would be the weekend that the missus and Ziggyman would be helping our owner friends of Skyway Bar and Grill with their annual Crawdad Festival, she at the front entrance and me cooking crawdads, corn and taters with our tight crew. This ain’t normal times, however, so for the first time in 17 years the crawdaddys are safe due to the pandemic shutting down festivals. It’s a shame as folks look forward to this food, music and family event for months, so Tracie and Tom will just have to plan an extra special festival for next year. We did have a delicious smoked meat bbq dinner outside at Skyway last night, just no crawdads.

Wow, can you believe that he (you know who) would just come right out and say that he is purposely starving the US Postal Service as a way to sabotage mail-in voting. Yep, in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on the Fox Business Network he acknowledged that he’s doing just that in order to make it harder to process the surge of mail-in ballots, which he worries could cost him the election. This is being done in two ways. One, he is rejecting emergency funding that is needed by the Postal Service to deal with the expected surge in mail for mail-in voting, and secondly, putting Louis DeJoy in the position of Postmaster General, a Trump supporter who has put into effect new policies that are hampering the system’s delivery of mail. These new policies include the elimination of overtime, a halting of late delivery trips that are sometimes needed to ensure mail arrives on time, and hours cut at post offices. The good news is there appears to be some backlash from even some GOP members for these policies and Attorneys General from at least six states are huddling up to consider suing the administration to prevent operational changes or funding lapses that could affect the election. Trump is running scared and will do anything to keep from losing the election — lie, cheat and steal — and screwing with the Postal Service is just one of the tricks he has up his sleeve. I would bet that as I am writing this, he is meeting with Barr, Meadows, Kushner, and other sycophants to plan his next moves. What is happening in America today is just unbelievable.

The cocktail hour has arrived, so I am ending our ramble for today. Have a great Sunday evening! Ziggyman