Donald Trump: the poorest example set by a POTUS in my lifetime

No, I am not doing to debate the wisdom of a type of immigration policy, the wisdom (or even the philosophy) of a tax cut, a trade deal or an arms control deal.

I am strictly talking about setting a personal example.

I grew up as an only child and one of my weaknesses (one of many) is that I thought that I was somehow “special”. It was tough for me to learn that I was really just one of many; nothing was “all about me”.

Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that “ABC does not tolerate comments like those” made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018

Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

Seriously? He lies repeatedly and brazenly and is shameless at trying to make everything about HIM. And yet..his popularity remains in the low 40 percent range.

(44 by Real Clear Politics, 41.7 by Five Thirty Eight)

It seems that Trump violated almost every personal value that we preach to our young…and yes his approval remains this high?

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Chiefs vs. Bees: good series for the Chiefs, so far

I was blessed to catch a double header two nights ago, and a single game last night.

The double header: game one was won by the Chiefs 2-1 in the 8’th inning (double headers are 7 inning games). The Chiefs fell behind 1-0 and it remained there until the bottom of the 7’th when they tied it up. The pitching and fielding dominated (both sides). There was more action than the score might indicate though; the first inning ended 0-0 though Burlington managed to load the bases. Note: the Chiefs benefited from the “starting the inning with a runner at 2’nd base” rule in the first extra inning.

The second game wasn’t nearly as close; the Chiefs scored 1, 2, 3 runs in the first 3 innings and won easily 7-2. Though Burlington didn’t score in the first 3 innings, they still hit the ball well; they just didn’t get the runs to show for it. They did have a nice home run thought.

Last night: I went with Barbara, Tracy and her friends Debbie and Dave. It was fun time and the Chiefs dominated 5-0, getting outstanding pitching (starter allowed 1 hit over 7 innings) and the closer was smoking 96 mile per hour fastballs. The whole team fielded well…Burlington got 2 hits total, but strong fielding robbed them of some hits off of well struck balls.

Double header vs. Burlington. Muggy!

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 29, 2018 at 3:14pm PDT

"Who Let the Dogs Out" dance at Dozer.

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 29, 2018 at 3:35pm PDT

Torii Hunter Jr.

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 29, 2018 at 4:26pm PDT

Yes, that is Torii Hunter’s son…evidently talent runs in the family.

Wednesday game with Barbara, Tracy and her two friends Debbie and David.

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 30, 2018 at 5:02pm PDT

Stretching in the 7th with Tracy

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 30, 2018 at 6:18pm PDT

Sometimes I get it right (workout wise)

Pink bismuth appears to have calmed my stomach down a bit…wonder what was wrong?

It was sticky when I went out this morning (76 F, 76 percent humidity) and well, gagging. But I wanted to do SOMETHING with a bit of quality and anything resembling distance would have been a foot dragging shuffle. So I settled for a hilly 5 mile run/walk where I jogged 1.3 miles to the bottom of Bradley Park and then ran the uphills hard (and one straight away) and walked/jogged the recoveries.

I did it right; by the time I got to the top of each hill, my legs were heavy and I was gasping for air. But I had enough recovery to do the next one hard; so in a 3 mile stretch I had 6 repeats lasting between 1:30-2:30, all were slightly different, and all eventually hurt. I focused on knee lift.

I need to do this workout more often. This isn’t enough work for the serious runner or the younger runner, but it was fun for this old man to do something other than a foot dragging shuffle.

And I didn’t even think about my foot..not even once.

Double standards on simian references …

Many years ago:

Of course, no one thinks that this meme is calling white people “simians” (in this case: chimpanzees). It is making fun of an individual.

But let’s face it: it is different if the target of the ridicule was black, it would be seen as “racist” as, in our country’s history, such comparisons were used to discriminate against black people, both socially and legally. Context matters.

So in this case, in our society, black people do have a “special protection”. If you think this is unfair.. watch this at 1:15

(basically, he says none of you white people would trade places with me, and I am rich!)

(2:30 in this clip)

And yes, if you are an entertainer, IMAGE is really your business. If you turn off customers and sponsors, you are sunk.

Workout notes
weights only today; nothing remarkable (4 x 185, 8 x 170 bench, 10 x 170 incline) though pull ups (5 sets of 10) were good..and plank still sucked.

stomach: still a little (TMI)..digestion not great.

Economic power (Roseanne)

Well, Roseanne said that a former Obama official (a black woman) was a combination of the Muslim Brotherhood with the Planet of the Apes. That twitter quip got her show cancelled.

I am sorry to be so cynical, but it is my guess that the ABC officials knew that her show would become radioactive to sponsors afterward.

And that is where I think that we liberals have some power. Conservatives will always be over represented in Congress (Wyoming has 2 Senators, just like California) and a combination of gerrymandering plus conservatives being more “spread out” means that they will be over represented in the House…and also in the Electoral College.

And let’s face it: members of Congress from Idaho and Texas don’t care what I think.

But people who make the stuff that I buy certainly do..and if there are enough of us, we can have some influence, at least on social issues. Perhaps 62 million might overlook Trump’s racism (or see it as a desired feature) but there is quite a bit of economic power held by the rest of us.

Workout notes

I was deader than a doornail (legs, everything) so I started my run on the treadmill. I reached 4 miles in 43:40 (22:38 for the first 2); moved up every 5 minutes, and then walked jogged to 55:36 for 5 miles.

I was a sweaty mess. My effort is there, even though my results really stink.

I want a hug!

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 29, 2018 at 7:08am PDT

Perpetual soreness

It seems as if I am still sore from this weekend, so I might jog a bit on the treadmill and walk a bit outside. Better an easy day now rather than enforced easy days later.

Yesterday I had a lack-luster weight workout (pull ups were tough..did an extra set of 5 for 55 total: 5-5, 4 sets of 10, 5), incline: 10 x 135, 5 x 150, decline: 5 x 170, 7 x 160, military: (standing) 8 x 50, 10 x 45, 10 x 50) rows: 3 sets of 10, military: 10 x 100 machine. usual abs; plank still sucked. 3 mile walk outside; cottonwood was all over the place.

Like snow on the ground!

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 28, 2018 at 9:11am PDT

Why I am skeptical of what I read on the internet: When someone posts an “aren’t you OUTRAGED by this story”, I immediately become skeptical, especially if it is something designed to outrage me. Here is one reason why…even if social justice warriors view that as a “microaggression”.

This is insane. Bakery in Portland fired employees after they declined to serve a woman who came in after they were already closed. The woman, a professional equity activist, took out a video camera & claimed she was a victim of racism. #StarbucksEffect https://t.co/Xwb8fynXXv pic.twitter.com/gjbUpmTAcq

— Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 29, 2018

Why I block on social media

Facebook and Twitter are different. FB blocks are stronger than Twitter blocks; to see a Twitter account that has blocked you, all you need to do is to log out then go to their account. Or you can make a Twitter follower tool by simply, say, cutting and pasting their twitter account url into, say, this blog.

One thing common to both: social media is where I spend a lot of my free/leisure time; I see it as the place for water cooler discussions.

Twitter: I block if someone is nasty to me (or to a friend or loved one) or I block if they appear to be ignorant and unaware of it or if they act as if their judgement of me should matter (e. g., “your comment about X tells me what I need to know about you”…as if they were even capable of making a proper inference). And yes, I once blocked someone because of something they did in real life.

Facebook: these blocks are stronger. I tend to block those who

1. Tell me what I should or should not post on my own wall.

2. Say stuff like “if you don’t see that, bye”.

3. Are nasty to my friends.

4. Attempt to argue making accusations or “yelling” slogans/hashtags “e. g. #checkyourprivilige). This is my free time; I have no obligation to dumb down what I say or to explain that I did NOT say what they are sure that I said. I don’t tolerate “splaining” very well either. (note: I am NOT talking about an accurate explanation of a concept that is given to me by a genuine expert…those I always appreciate.)

5. Issue insults.

Some have claimed that I don’t tolerate criticism. I DO accept critique of my ideas..logical and relevant criticism.
Yes, I know, some have ideas but can’t express them very well. But I am not going to be a captive audience for them on my free time.

Now I will tolerate more from a good friend, or say, from a spouse or relative of a good friend.

Is this really “Me too”? (Morgan Freeman)

I am aware of some of the accusations (not police charges) made against Morgan Freeman.

But then comes this Newsweek article:

More recorded interviews have surfaced that show actor Morgan Freeman making sexually suggestive comments to female interviewers.

The recorded interviews found Morgan making the comments to Entertainment Tonight interviewers, ET reported. During promotion for the 2016 film “London Has Fallen,” Morgan made very personal comments to ET correspondent Ashley Crossan.

“Are you married?” Morgan asked.

When Crossan said she was not married, Morgan asked if she would “fool around with older guys.”

“Fool around with older guys? I’m just asking,” Morgan said.

Once the interview ended, Crossan got up to shake the now 80-year-old actor’s hand and said that it was a “pleasure” to meet him.

“Mine,” Freeman said. “Look at yourself.”

In another interview in 2015 with ET special correspondent Janet Mock for the 2014 movie “Five Flights Up,” the actor made a comment about the length of Mock’s dress.

“I don’t know how you all manage to do that all the time,” he said. “You got a dress halfway between your knee and your hips, and you sit down right across from me and cross your legs.”

Have we gotten to the point where “cringe worthy, boorish” comments are now “Me too?”

Yes, I would never make such comments to someone I was not comfortable flirting with…that is, my wife or close friend that I am not a work colleague with, but does this really compare with someone being pressured for sex in order to get a job, promotion, and the like?

One danger: if this is what gets reported as “me too” then I’ll start scrolling past the articles and not taking them seriously.

Haven’t people heard of “cry wolf” or “pick your battles”?

If you complain all of the time about everything, your complaints become part of the background noise.

gag…

73 F with 90 percent humidity at the start; 87 with 63 percent at the end. The whole walk took me 3:46 to do; 13.2 miles (modified Boredom to the Run to Remember turn around on Grandview and back plus a loop to Moss via Glenwood. It was 17:10 per mile at my “easy…leisurely even…but steady and deliberate” pace. Today: it was enough.

I had some foot ache yesterday and some slight ache today; nothing serious. But I’ve done enough.

Too fat, too slow, too hot

Yes, it was 70 F, 91 percent humidity at the start. I died at mile 2 (which came at 18:50 or so) and ended up with 31:16 for a “too long” 3.17 mile course. I didn’t bother with my watch. I followed two ladies for the better part of 2 miles prior to losing contact and walking a bit. I was dying.

Crystal and I clowning around.. and a group photo after a 5k …warm weather (70 f, 91 % humidity, long course).

A post shared by Ollie Nanyes (@ollienanyes) on May 26, 2018 at 8:42am PDT

Yeah, I’ve done this race a few times before. Though my performance was terrible, it was an effort, and it was good to spend time with Tracy, meet up with friends, and yes, even clown around with Crystal (who joked that I was right behind her at the finish line…as I was when we took the photo. She was 5 minutes ahead of me on the course during the race though.

Past years: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013., 2014 2015 2016 2017

mile	2009	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
1	7:35	8:19	8:08	8:03	7:54	8:07	8:26	8:40	9:10
2	8:43	8:49	8:07	8:01	7:56	8:15	8:44	9:25	9:30
3.1	9:21	9:48	8:47	8:52	8:52	9:21	9:35	10:41	12:36
final	25:40	26:56	25:03	24:56	24:42	25:45	26:46	28:56	31:16
place	82/148	144/283	89/255	71/258	47/146	53/109	50/119	97/158	67/106