I loved this helpful hint in the Globe and Mail ( our National newspaper ):

At his home in rural Manitoba, Dave MacDonald, president and lead survival instructor with the International Canadian School of Survival, has enough food stored to feed his family of four adults, four dogs and two cats throughout the winter.

Each fall, he fills his deep freezer with around 300 to 400 pounds of wild meat, some of which he slices thinly and preserves by drying. He keeps about 50 pounds of white rice and another 50 pounds of wild rice in grain bags, which he stores in high, dry areas around his house safe from pests. He also keeps onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables covered in dry sand inside plastic tote containers."

He'll survive while they find my body lying in the grocery store aisle with my hand clutching the frozen veggie freezer door. Empty BTW.

I'm also trying to find "dry sand" here in Canada. I'm going to raid the construction site across the street once it gets dark.

You can also try Home Depot or Lowe's or whatever the Canadian equivalent is.

It's funny that you think Cuomo is very conservative. He calls himself a progressive! As Homoe wrote, he's a Democrat. I think he's more of a centrist within the democratic spectrum. He certainly likes to govern from the center by pitting the Republicans against the Democrats and holding the whole thing together by strength of will and, well, bullying everyone to get his way while they're distracted and fighting with the other team. He's known as a master manipulator.

Politics, especially in NY State, can be truly bizarre. Our NY State legislature has been consistently ranked as the least functional in the US. Until the last election, that is, when we voters finally had enough and threw most of the bums out. Now we're getting some really great things done, and Cuomo gets to claim credit even though he quietly abetted that gridlock for his first two terms while it suited his needs.

Those of us who have tangled with Cuomo's administration know him as a difficult control freak. He's well respected for the way he knows how to get 'er done, but not at all respected by good government groups. Even those who respect him the most don't particularly like him.

But all off the above made Cuomo THE IDEAL leader for NY during this crisis! Even those of us who wanted to pillory him just last month LOVE Andrew Cuomo right now. He's decisive, forceful, and he isn't afraid to make tough choices. He knows how to use the media, and he doesn't hold back. We see him fighting for us, and it's glorious. So, yeah. Politics and politicians are always complicated.

President Donald Trump on Thursday once again said the nation’s governors should be “doing more” to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and not rely so heavily on the federal government for help.

He claimed most governors “have been fantastic,” but then took a few potshots at Washington’s Jay Inslee (D) and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer (D), whose name he either forgot or simply didn’t want to mention.

I'm betting he doesn't even know her name!

As for our Governor Inslee, I think he's shot himself in the foot! When dealing with such a petty and vindictive personality like Trump, perhaps it's best to suck it up, as hard as that might be, and keep quiet! Remember you catch more bees with honey than vinegar!

I feel like i am in the twilight zone. I wanna say that i cant believe trump is acting so oblivious to this outbreak, then I remember its trump. A zebra doesn't change its stripes. Then I hear Lt. Gov of Texas Dan Patrick say that he and other elderly are willing to die to save this economy. WTF!? Is he volunteering his parents? My mom is 83 and I can tell you this...she doesn't want to die of this virus. It took some time and talking, but she has finally grasped the severity of this virus and is staying home. What I do find interesting is...her views of trump and fox news. She no longer watches Fox News to get her info..she now watches CNN...she listens to trump ( she also voted for trump) BUT to get the real info she watches Gov. Cuomo and has stated that he does such a better job than trump at getting out the info. Trump's glaring shortcomings are so much more obvious in his lack of handling of this disaster. How anyone can say he is doing a good job is beyond me. Thank god for Dr Fousi!!!

Governor of Michigan tweet reply........
 

Hi, my name is Gretchen Whitmer, and that governor is me ��

"I've asked repeatedly and respectfully for help. We need it. No more political attacks, just PPEs, ventilators, N95 masks, test kits. You said you stand with Michigan — prove it".

If you're one of the many that lost your job and are depending on help..
 

Meet the congressman who tried to derail the coronavirus bill.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...FvJXCgjCDdsjDL

PLEASE remember his name when he's up for re-election

Trump’s willingness to punish a state’s residents amid a pandemic over a feud with a governor appeared evident in a statement at his press briefing Friday. The president said he had instructed Vice President Mike Pence, who heads up the president’s coronavirus task force, not to call the governors of Washington or Michigan. The two states have among the highest number of coronavirus cases in the nation, and Michigan is experiencing a dramatic spike in cases from 350 a week ago to nearly 3,000 Friday.

“I say, ‘Mike, don’t call ... the woman in Michigan. It doesn’t make any difference what happens,’” Trump said.

don't forget Rosemary Clooney.

Next time you're wondering if you can get hold of hydroxychloroquine, see if a double gin and tonic might work.

The Brits figured that quinine water (tonic) would help agst malaria in "the Colonies".

It's a mystery:
Seems recent "polls" show Trump's "approval ratings " going up...particularly his handing of the pandemic. One of the polls showed he had a 97% approval rating amongst Republicans. Only thing I can imagine is that a lot of Republicans have switched parties ( but probably not ).

BTW, I'm going to remove that "signature" below. It just isn't true. There are some men that you just can't help but despise completely.

....AMEN!!!

Trump approves Michigan disaster declaration after war of words with governor
 

The White House approved Michigan’s request for an emergency declaration Saturday, after a week of contentious public feuding between President Donald Trump and the state's governor over measures to combat the coronavirus.

The squabble between Trump and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which has played out across Twitter, cable news and radio airwaves, has been one of several conflicts simmering between Trump and governors who have criticized the federal response to the pandemic — and then seen Trump return fire online or in his press briefings.

I wonder if he'd approve Washington's should we need it?
When it came to Michigan, Trumped only refereed to Whitmer as "that woman" but he's came right out and called Inslee a snake!

White House COVID-19 Briefings Are Beating ‘The Bachelor’ In Ratings, President Trump Boasts

There was good news and bad news emanating from the White House on Sunday. First, the bad news: a deadly pandemic is apparently gaining steam and killing more Americans. The good news? The ratings for President Donald Trump’s near-daily briefings are beating The Bachelor and Monday Night Football, at least according to a boastful series of tweets from the Commander-in-Chief. “Because the “‘ratings’ of my News Conferences etc. are so high, ‘Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers’ according to the @nytimes, the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY,” Trump tweeted. He added, “Numbers are continuing to rise…” but didn’t clarify if he meant deaths or his ratings.

What President in their right mind would bring up ratings at a time like this!?

If I heard him right tonight during his address, Trump just learned that there are 151 countries in the world. How in Hell did this ignorant ignorant person become President of the United States.

Trump has now learned a new word and he's going to choke the life right out of it" : ASPIRATIONAL.

How long you figure before that word becomes meaningless. It will become a very SPECIAL word, very very special...a big beautiful special word, very special.

Poor Dr. Fauci. He tossed a piece of verbal chum in Trump's direction and Trump is devouring it.

A friend sent me an image of Boris Johnson talking on the phone with Queen Elizabeth.
He tells her he has Covid 19. She says: Ok now go touch Donald Trump.

The End of American Leadership
 

The End of American Leadership

The coronavirus pandemic may mark the final shift of global power away from the United States.

By Fred Kaplan

https://compote.slate.com/images/15b...837&offset=0x0
US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping leave a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. NICOLAS ASFOURI/Getty Images

In 1994, on his 90th birthday, the legendary diplomat George Kennan, architect of America’s Cold War containment policy, said, in a speech looking back on his life and times, “It is primarily by example, never by precept, that a country such as ours exerts its most useful influence beyond its borders.”

With our response to the coronavirus, so different from any crisis the country has faced for over a century, we are providing a very poor example and, as a result, our influence abroad is declining to a historic low point—so low that we may be experiencing a pivot in geopolitical power away from the United States and its allies.

American influence had already been waning for a host of reasons—the collapse of power blocs (which gave us leverage in the Cold War competition), the rise of terrorist groups and sectarian militias (which can’t be quelled by conventional military means), the surge of Chinese investment and pressure in Asia and beyond. All of these trends have been accelerated, sometimes willfully, by President Donald Trump, who has dissed or deserted traditional allies, embraced authoritarian regimes, and wavered in his response to China’s rise from obsequious kowtowing to self-destructive trade wars.

Even so, until recently, Trump’s retreat from the ways of previous presidents only highlighted America’s esteem and power. His behavior alarmed so many allies because they desperately wanted the return of U.S. leadership—and delighted so many adversaries because they could carve new inroads of influence in the absence of this leadership.

Now, however, Trump has taken us to the brink of irrelevance—not quite to the abyss, but teetering on its edge. To lead or to inspire, a country has to offer a model—an “example,” as Kennan put it, of what its leadership or values or system of politics can produce. And facing the coronavirus, we are showing that, at least for the moment, we’re offering little or nothing.

The New York Times and Washington Post have reported long, gripping tales of how slowly Trump responded to the pandemic, ignoring warnings from scientists and top officials. Even now, fully seized of the urgency, he has no plan for minimizing the damage or restarting the economy. He has appointed two advisory teams—and is about to appoint a third—thus only exacerbating personal and bureaucratic rivalries. He continues to shrug off his responsibilities as chief executive, leaving under-resourced state governors to squabble among themselves in bidding wars for scarce medical supplies. His lousy relations with foreign governments have impeded the international cooperation that usually fosters a solution to these crises (though scientists are building consortiums on their own). He even tried to buy a German research company, which was working on a vaccine, with an eye toward restricting its product to American buyers—a much-publicized attempt that could backfire if Germany or some other country comes up with a vaccine first.

Trump’s toxicity has infected our entire political system. The bureaucracy has been stripped of its experts; the few who remain often go ignored. The cabinet, which once held a few independent minds, is now filled with mediocrities who see that their main job is to nod vigorously whenever the president speaks. Congress had one bright moment, when, with no help from Trump, it put together a $2 trillion rescue package and passed it almost unanimously; but the rudderless, threadbare bureaucracy has been slow to implement it. We’ll see if Congress, which since that vote has gone silent, will double down in a few months, as it will need to do, when the money runs out.

Meanwhile, China is acting like a leader. This status may be undeserved: the virus took hold within its borders, the Communist Party leaders suppressed the earliest reports of its spread and have falsified data ever since. Still, China is the source of much of the world’s medicine and medical gear, and party leaders have made a great show of airlifting supplies to other countries, including the United States. As Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, tweeted, “Let’s be honest. It hurts to see China sending humanitarian aid to the U.S. and Europe.”

All over the world, people are asking: Who is the superpower now?

The impression is a bit misleading: much of the Chinese medical gear turns out to be defective. But the image is still powerful: at least, in the eyes of many, China is doing something. What, they ask, is America doing for the rest of the world’s suffering? What, for that matter, is it doing for the suffering of its own people?

All of this is occurring in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, a massive network of Chinese-backed infrastructure projects in more than 60 countries, encompassing two-thirds of the world’s population, costing $200 billion (with estimates of $1.2 trillion over the next seven years). President Xi Jinping sees this as laying the foundation for a Beijing-controlled global trade system—which could eclipse the West’s dominance since the end of World War II.

Some of the countries receiving funds under the initiative have balked at the political conditions attached to them, but in the end, have nowhere else to go.

Others may soon feel the same way in a variety of realms. Many countries would prefer American leadership, flawed as it has been through the years. But if that’s no longer an option, they will turn elsewhere—to other sources of supplies and security, maybe to other forms of governance.

At the end of his 1994 birthday speech, George Kennan warned that “unless we preserve the quality, the vigor and the morale of our own society, we will be of little use to anyone at all.” That’s the fate that we await if Donald Trump stays in power much longer.

The Two three Stooges...........
 

I'd love to clunk Pelosi and McConnell's heads together and give their nose a good twist like Moe used to do to Larry and Curly and shout STOP PLAYING POLITICS!!! For once think of the people who elected you to your high paying job and the many perks that comes with it, many of which could use your HELP now! Stop your bickering and get a phase IV bill passed to help those who so desperately need it NOW!

I know McConnell's up for re-election this year, let's hope voters remember his actions during this current crisis, the same goes for Pelosi!

just a thought..if Biden should fall-i will not vote for Bernie or Trump..both of them cultivate cult followers and its alarming..having been involved in a cult .. when i see the vapid stare or extolled litany of Bernie's virtues from the followers of either cult it reminds me of the zombie mentality i saw in many of the followers in my group..and it's a turn-off..no thanks trading one false messiah for another or to choose which evil im willing to endure.. Neither of these choices will save us.

Susan Collins Faces Tough Re-Election Race in Maine, Poll Suggests..
 

~~~

And again what my sarcastic friend Seinfeld would say..

That's A Shame!

~~
I've been watching with great interests how some of these republican senators are now getting more concerned with their upcoming race for re-election and less concerned with sucking up to and kissing Trumps ass!

usan Collins Faces Tough Re-Election Race in Maine.....
 

After backing Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2014, the political arm of the major gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety announced on Tuesday that it’s endorsing one of her Democratic challengers in this year’s Maine Senate race.


Poor Susan, perhaps her "buddy" Brett will take her out for a beer or two to help ease her pain!

I am very frustrated with all of the infighting within the Democratic party in my state. The reactions that people are having to the protests have really been enlightening and disgusting at the same time. In one breath they laud the protests and yet in the next they condemn it, especially if the protest creates any perceived inconvenience, such as traffic needing to be rerouted. And let's not even bring up any looting because as with those who denounce the protests, this becomes the focal point and what the protest is about becomes lost. The hypocrisy is monumental. Many within these splinter groups are all about Biden as our savior. Ugh. Are we in the phase it will get worse before it gets better?

Susan finally gets on the right side of history....
 

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced Saturday she would work to overturn Trump Administration's new rule rolling back LGBT patients' protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

"The Trump Administration's decision to eliminate protections for transgender patients is simply wrong. I'll work to overturn this discriminatory policy," Collins tweeted.

New DNC ad....
 

" Britain’s economy is in free fall, and the government is struggling to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson isn’t giving an inch on Brexit."

Globe and Mail

The Trump campaign said Tuesday it would stick with its plan for a giant indoor rally in Tulsa — on the same day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Oklahoma showed a 7.7 percent increase in COVID-19 cases, the highest in the country.

State and local officials in Oklahoma have expressed concerns over the Trump campaign’s plan to hold a rally inside a packed arena as Tulsa contends with a COVID-19 outbreak. “I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event,” Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Bruce Dart said over the weekend.

“NeverTrump” Republicans, including former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci, have formed another Super PAC to boost former vice president Joe Biden in an effort to defeat Trump in November.

The “Right Side PAC,” founded by former Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges — who clashed repeatedly with Trump in 2016 and was later voted out after Trump pressured Ohio Republicans to remove him — aims to complement the Lincoln Project, another anti-Trump PAC led by George Conway, husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, and other prominent GOP operatives.

Borges told Axios that the focus is on taking advantage of “an opportunity to kind of reset things.” He added that the project “would never” have happened if Senators Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) or Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) were the Democratic nominee. Warren is reportedly on the shortlist to be Biden’s running-mate.

“We’re not trying to become Democrats,” Borges explained. “I intend to vote for every other Republican on the ballot. And I expect that there are others like me who aren’t looking to leave the party.”

Scaramucci stated that Trump’s defeat “will be a very necessary part of the reorganization and the regrowth of the Republican Party,” and that he is “very confident” in shifting support to Biden.

“We can convince a large group of Republican voters that Biden is the right person to vote for if they want to stay true to their principles and to the legacy of the Republican Party,” he said, warning that Trump’s reelection “may set the Republican Party up to be a minority party for a generation.”

How Donald Trump is trying to sue his way out of his political problems..
 

(CNN)On Tuesday, the Justice Department sued former national security adviser John Bolton in an attempt to prevent him from publishing a memoir about his time Donald Trump's White House. Trump told reporters that Bolton would face "criminal problems" if he went forward with the book.

That same day, The Daily Beast reported that Trump is weighing his legal options to stop his niece, Mary Trump, from publishing her own book -- "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" -- that paints the President in an unfavorable light.

Last week, the Trump campaign sent a cease and desist letter to CNN -- asking for a national poll that showed Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden by 14 points be retracted. (He hasn't actually sued CNN over the poll.)

Notice a pattern? Faced with declining political fortunes and with former advisers -- and even family -- turning against him, Trump lashes out legally. What will come of these various threats? If past is prologue, not much. Because this oh-yeah-well-I'll-sue-you! strategy isn't just a pattern of late. It's basically how Trump has dealt with annoying or troubling facts his entire life.

rut row Kellyann Conway's face is stuck.

Amy Klobuchar Withdraws From VP Search, Says Biden Should Select Woman of Color..
 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) removed herself from the running to be the Democratic vice presidential nominee, an acknowledgment that her chances at the slot had dwindled dramatically since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in her home state late last month.

Announcing her decision on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” on Thursday night, Klobuchar said she informed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of her decision on Wednesday and said he should pick a woman of color as his running mate.

“America must seize on the moment, and I truly believe — as I actually told the VP last night when I called him — that I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket,” Klobuchar said.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, New Mexico Gov. Michele Lujan Grisham and former national security adviser Susan Rice are all seen as top contenders as running mates for Biden. All but Warren are women of color.

If you don't vote it's a vote for TRUMP ~~~ VOTE ~~~