Tag Archives: social distancing

When Macron Met Putin

Fences supposedly make good neighbors, but how about tables?

When French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Moscow last week to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the burgeoning Ukraine crisis, neither man probably realized some observers just wouldn’t take them seriously.  Putin seems intent on invading Ukraine, during the Winter Olympics in Beijing and despite strong global opposition and threats of sanctions from the developed world.

But amidst the tension, one thing about the meeting stuck out: the table.  Macron and Putin sat at opposite ends of a gargantuan white table, as COVID protocols still deem such ambits necessary.  It almost goes without saying the physical distance between the duo was analogous to their ideological differences.

This photo is only one of the many derisive images about the conference.  Personally, I found the small floral arrangement more intriguing than either leader.

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Worst Quotes of the Week – November 21, 2020

“There are mail-in ballots.  Some people in some places receive four or five of those, and they used four and five of those.  Let’s say that they got four in the mail and they sent the four in, there’s three of them that are crying out, ‘Wrong! This is wrong. This is not right. This is deception.’  It’s crying out.  There are others through software that votes have changed, you better believe those ballots are crying out, ‘This is a lie. This is not right. This is not right.’  All the way down the line, even to people who have died and gone to Heaven. … Especially if those people were born again, they’re in Heaven right now and they’re crying out.  They’re crying out against the injustice of this. You cannot come against the Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord of angel armies.  Angels have been dispatched; they are out there.  That is why that voice is crying out. It is not just the people. It is the ballot itself.”

George Pearsons, senior pastor at Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas, on the 2020 presidential election

“He is not president-elect until the votes are certified.  So the answer to that is no.  And I don’t know what basis you or anybody else would claim that he’s president-elect before the votes are certified and these contests are resolved.”

– Texas Sen. John Cornyn, on a call with various news organizations

Cornyn also admitted Donald Trump may not have been reelected.

“There are legal claims that are being challenged in court, and everybody on the ballot has certain access rights and remedies, and if they want to push that, they are able. Once those are adjudicated and the process plays out, I will accept the results of the election.”

– Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, refusing to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the state

“It’s Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say if you gather in numbers more than six we might come to your house and arrest you and you get 30 days of jail time.  That’s not the American way.”

Kayleigh McEnany, White House Press Secretary, in response to health care officials’ advice not to have large family gatherings for Thanksgiving

McEnany tested positive for the COVID-19 virus in October.

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Tweet of the Week – September 12, 2020

“New York Times” reporter Kathy Gray was in Freeland, Michigan, on September 10, when President Trump arrived to a cheering crowd – most without masks and none social-distancing.  This is actually the first of many tweets Gray transmitted before the Trump campaign forced her to leave. As usual, Trump and his gang just don’t understand the concept of a free press.

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Photo of the Week – May 1, 2020

This week a number of people protesting the state of Michigan’s shutdown in the midst of the COVID-19 stormed the state capital in Lansing demanding that Governor Gretchen Whitmer rescind the quarantine orders and allow anyone to return to work and shopping if they want.  In other words, they don’t like that a global pandemic has usurped their presumed placement as the center of the universe.  Many of the protesters arrived with guns and rifles; some wearing Nazi swastikas and others adorned in Confederate regalia (those morons keep fighting the 19th century American Civil War and damn!  They still haven’t won!)

A few stood in front of law enforcement officials – the latter wearing face masks – and screamed profanities.  This photo is just image of the virulent mad (mostly White) men unleashing their vitriol.  Faux-President Trump has expressed support for them.

I keep thinking if a group of Black or Latino residents had shown up in the Michigan state capital building with firearms protesting something, how long would they last?

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How the Chief Is Coping with the COVID-19 Quarantine – April 10, 2020

My attempt to make a home-made face mask out of an old jock strap with steel cup protector that I used during my taekwondo days didn’t turn out as planned.  For everyone’s information, yes, it’s still functionable and clean and is a size extra-medium.

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COVID-19 Safe Distance Measures by State

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health have recommended individuals remain at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) from one another to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  The minimum distance is based on the average trajectory of nasal droplets once expelled from the nose, mouth, or whatever infected orifice a person might have.  (If this person can expel nasal droplets from more openings than their mouth and nose, I suggest they be put to death.  They will be a danger to humanity, no matter what contagion is in the air.)

This “social distancing” has caused some consternation among many people.  For introverts, however, it’s called life as we know it.  But, in order to help people understand exactly what the 6-foot minimum is, each state has comprised analogies for their particular citizenry.

Alabama – 2 outhouses

Alaska – 12 salmon or 2 Alaskan King Crab

Arizona – 5 Native American bead necklaces or a blueprint for Donald Trump’s “Wall”

Arkansas – 5 lists of the state’s 3 family trees

California – 1 surfboard or a chest of old Kim Kardashian press-on fingernails

Colorado – 1 miniature horse

Connecticut – 25 recordings of Donald Trump trying to pronounce Connecticut

Delaware – 6 bags of used Joe Biden hair pieces

Florida – 1 adult alligator or 4 motorized wheelchairs

Georgia – 10 DVD sets of “Gone with the Wind”

Hawaii – 5 floral lei wreaths or 1 lost mainland tourist

Idaho – 1 “No Californians Allowed” sign

Illinois – 5 Chicago pizzas (or 10 boxes of .32 caliber bullets if you’re actually in Chicago)

Indiana – 10 lists of the top 10 names indigenous peoples had, before some drunk White people arrived and screwed up everything

Iowa – 10 late-model voting machines

Kansas – 3 sheaths of whole-grain wheat

Kentucky – 5 cases of moonshine

Louisiana – 10 Mardi Grass beads (preferably neon) or 5 indictments of state governors

Maine – 1 lobster (unboiled)

Maryland – 10-15 bricks from a now-dismantled wall built around Washington, D.C.

Massachusetts – 5 cases of Irish whiskey

Michigan – 10 cases of German beer or 1 illegal Canadian immigrant (in Detroit, use anything that’s bullet-proof)

Minnesota – 5 maps of the 10,000+ lakes in the state (complete with detailed explanations why no one has made a concerted attempt to count the exact number)

Mississippi – 50 audio recordings of school children trying spell Mississippi

Missouri – 50 video recordings of school children misspelling Mississippi as Missouri

Montana – 3 taxidermy moose heads

Nebraska – 1 bovine calf or a University of Nebraska cheerleader (whichever is closest and not sleeping at the moment)

Nevada – 500 poker chips or 1 topless showgirl

New Hampshire – 1 10’x 6’ slab of granite or 5 “We Are NOT Vermont!” signs

New México – 1 saguaro cactus frond (unshaven)

New York – 1 life-size inflatable Donald Trump doll, 5 yamakas, or 10 Brooklyn-made calzones

North Carolina – 5 vintage “Missing: Roanoke – Have You Seen Us?” flyers

North Dakota – 25 copies of “Why God Created North Dakota (Because Minnesota Was Too Cold)”

Ohio – 30 unpublished “Best Reasons to Visit Cleveland” pamphlets

Oklahoma – 15 editions of the latest Indian casino directory (also still accepting donations for the “Back to Europe” movement)

Oregon – Any still-living Grateful Dead fan

Pennsylvania – 25 king-size Hershey bars

Rhode Island – Rhode Island

South Carolina – 10 editions of “25 Reasons We Keep Fighting the Civil War and Still Haven’t Won”, © 1964

South Dakota – 3 cases of malt liquor beer or 1 “White People Don’t Let the Sun Set on You!” sign

Tennessee – 1 statue of Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, or Tammy Wynette

Texas – 1 rifle and a bottle of tequila (preferably José Cuervo)

Utah – 10 Mormon bibles or 25 unused “Romney 2012” posters

Vermont – 10 “Sanders 2020” banners (previously 5 cases of maple syrup) or 5 “We Are NOT New Hampshire!” signs

Virginia – 5 replicas of Cutty Sark clipper ships or 10 bottles of Cutty Sark whiskey

Washington – 5 buckets of rainwater or 200 bongs

West Virginia – 25 “There Is NO East Virginia” bumper stickers

Wisconsin – 5 crates of Gouda cheese

Wyoming – 1 life-size replica of a buffalo (NO live buffaloes permitted, as they’ll kick your ass)

“Don’t move any closer, bitch!”

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Tweet of the Week – March 27, 2020

“How long is this social distancing supposed to last? My husband keeps trying to get into the house.”

Julie Banderas

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