Allied, a movie

Allied, a WWII film, starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.

Max and Marianne meet in French Morocco during WWII - their mission is to assassinate the German "ambassador" to Morocco.  Things get "steamy" really quickly and the two take things farther then expected.

Jump into a short future, and they marry in England after their assignment is complete.

Further along, Max is summoned to the ultra-high security office, where he is informed that Marianne is a German spy------ or is she?

Sort of light and fluffy, and sort of not.  If you have nothing better to do, and nothing worth watching on a rainy evening, it is an ok film.

$51,000 coat for Mrs. Trump

This is possibly the worst looking piece of Fashion that Mrs. Trump has worn to date - and to think it cost $51,000!  I know they are rolling in "dough", but this is just shameful!  Have they no sense of decency? 

Texas governor

By Josh Cartwright CBS News May 26, 2017, 2:51 PM

Texas governor jokes about shooting reporters

Two days after a GOP House candidate from Montana was charged with assaulting a journalist, Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, joked about shooting reporters, according to the Texas Tribune.
The comment followed Abbott's Friday signing of a bill that reduces the licensing fee to carry a handgun in the state of Texas from $70 to $40.

The governor then made his way upstairs to the shooting range for some target practice, and once he was finished, he held up his target sheet to show off his marksmanship, joking to the reporters and photographers present that, "I'm gonna carry this around in case I see any reporters."

His remark comes mere days after Greg Gianforte, who is now the Congressional representative for Montana's at-large district, allegedly slammed Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian, to the ground.

Though he initially contradicted the reporter's version of the altercation -- backed up by an audio recording and a Fox News producer who witnessed the altercation -- Gianforte later admitted to his "mistake" in an apology delivered after securing Montana's only congressional seat. 
Gianforte has been charged with misdemeanor assault, and is scheduled to appear in court between now and June 7th
.
Jokes about threatening the press have become more common recently. At the United States Coast Guard commencement ceremony on May 17th, 2017, DHS Secretary John Kelly joked with President Trump after he'd been presented with a ceremonial sword, saying, "Use that on the press, sir."
President Trump chuckled, responding, "Yeah, that's right."

This is most disturbing to read about - joking or not!  This is the type of speech (I know the First Amendment!) that invites violence against anyone who speaks their opinion!  Shame on this man

Memorial Day 2017

Remember those who gave their lives so that we might be free.

Quote of the Day-----Goodreads

The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even—if you will—eccentricity.



Joseph Brodsky



Former U.S. Poet Laureate Joseph Brodsky (born May 24, 1940), was persecuted in his native Russia and was forcibly exiled in 1972. With the support of poet W.H. Auden he eventually settled in the U.S. and later won a Nobel Prize. 

Editorial cartoon

If ONLY!

WOW or "Word of the Week" at the library

Several years ago, our library started WOW, "Word of the Week", which is posted on the front counter, it is very popular with the library patrons.

Recently, I suggested this word:

"Snollygoster:  snoll-ee-gos-ter, a noun.
   Somebody especially a politician , whose actions are motivated by self-interest rather than by high principles."  

Not only does this apply to the person residing in the White House, it also applies to several members of Congress, two in particular, the House Majority leader, and the Senate Majority leader.  How they can look themselves in the mirror in the morning is beyond belief - and how they can continue to parrot what Trashmouth says and not realize how untruthful they have become.
SHAME on them!

Garrison Keillor editorial 5-14-17

Keillor: Can we go one day without Trump on the front page?

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By Garrison Keillor

For all the fireworks of the French election, please note that Marine Le Pen gave a simple elegant concession speech, congratulating the winner and thanking her supporters and campaign workers. She did not claim voter fraud or a media conspiracy or accuse the government of tapping her phone. She is, after all, French. Liberty, equality, dignity.

And so our country, the land of the pilgrims’ pride where our fathers died, remains No. 1 in blithering tastelessness, naked self-promotion and delusional hypocrisy, thanks to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and James Comey. North Korea is a close No. 2, followed by Sudan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Ku Klux Klan, the Fall of Man and the Republican health care plan.

That was a remarkable photo, Republicans on the White House lawn celebrating the House passage of a bucket of horsefeathers. It looked like the Kappa Delts gathered at the country club for the Eight-Ball Roll-‘Em and Martini Scramble. Actually it was the D-minus students collecting a pile of partial term papers regurgitated by dogs and sending them to the Senate to be made into something coherent and perhaps defensible. As the man said, nobody knew health care could be so complicated. Good luck, Sen. McConnell! Take your time! Read the whole thing!

Senate approval is an archaic legal requirement — so much easier to simply write an executive order stating that everyone gets the care they need, pre-existing conditions or not, a beautiful deal for less money, and let’s move on to something else. Sign another order that cancer has been cured — that would pay for everything.

This guy is in love with the executive order. It’s his idea of a selfie. He sits at his bare desk, grinning, holding up the two-page large-print document with his big bold signature, in a nice leather binding like an Award for Meritorious Achievement from the Federation of Organizations, his smiley vice-president looking over his shoulder, a select group of happy citizens clapping. Last week, he signed one assuring ministers of freedom of speech in the pulpit. Next week maybe he’ll order ladybugs to fly away home, their house is on fire, their children are gone.

What is so remarkable this spring, as we all wait for the next shoe to drop, is how completely the Republican virtues we grew up admiring — caution, respect for history, attention to the fine print — have been thrown to the winds and the party has united behind an aging New York playboy with no fixed principles except an insatiable urge to be on the front page every single day including weekends and holidays. It would be like the Democratic Party electing Big Bird and applauding whatever comes out of his big beak.

Big Bird is a costume. There is a person inside it. He says what is in the script. But if he says whatever is going through his mind and starts ranting about conspiracies and TV ratings and the Civil War (how come?), you have a Big Turkey for a leader. Some people might think it edgy and cool to have an eight-foot president covered with yellow feathers, but I believe that most Democrats would not go along with this, even those who feel the party has gone elitist and needs to regain the common touch.

The American people do not wish their president to be on the front page every single day, especially not for saying stupid stuff. They would prefer government to be effective, functional, honest, rational — in other words, boring. Think of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. You want it to operate quietly without drawing attention to itself. You don’t want to read in the paper that when you hold a $20 bill up to ultraviolet light now, it says “Invest Kushner” with a blinking 800 number.

Same with the National Park Service. We don’t need to sell ad space on the foreheads at Mount Rushmore. The U.S. Coast Guard is a fine operation, if you ask me. Ditto the FAA, and so is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — imagine the complexity of it, administering the oceans and the atmosphere — and yet it goes about its mission without fuss. The White House could write up an executive order — “Let the waves be still, let the tides not encroach upon Mar-a-Lago” — but NOAA would simply build an ark for the president and life would go on as before. And that is the whole point.

Garrison Keillor is an author and radio performer.

ACLU post

Here's @ACLU_WV 's full statement on the arrest of a reporter for asking HHS Secretary Price about the health care bill.pic.twitter.com/TURx91BOzA

Quinnipiac poll

Quinnipiac asked respondents, what is the first word that comes to mind regarding the President

Answers 

• "Idiot"  39 times
• "Incompetent" 31 times
• "Liar" 30 times
• "Unqualified" / "Leader" 25 times each
• "President" 22 times
• "Strong" 21 times
• "Businessman" 18 times
• "Ignorant" 16 times
• "Egotistical"  15 times

Interesting 

Statue of Liberty and American Flags at Half Staff

Since January 20th, many American Service Men and Women have lost their lives in service to their country.

Our "illustrious" President, who claims to "love" the military, has YET to have the American Flag flown at Half Staff in honor of their service and their deaths.

How do I know this?  I work at a library that in the past received Presidential (from President Obama) notifications that the Flag was to be lowered in honor of (Name provided) of the fallen.

To date (May 9th 2017) NOT once have we received notification to that effect from this President! 
In April 4 service men/woman lost their lives for our country.
SHAME ON HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To all those who have lost family members in service related deaths, please accept my sympathy for your loses. 

Arrival, a movie

We watched this film the other evening.

Interesting concept, and the time sequences worked well.

Amy Adams gave a very "quiet" powerful performance filled with much angst.

The question asked "Why are the here?"  well, the answer is probably something different to each viewer.

Worth watching.

Jack Gunter, Camano Island artist brings his work home

This documentary about Camano Island's own artist, Jack Gunter, is very well done.  Knowing Jack personally, and having commissioned a work of art by him, we enjoyed this film very much.

Jack's "lost" paintings (in Siberia) were retrieved, after much negotiation with various officials in Russia.  The scenery, the people, the music were well incorporated together.

One of the highlights of the film, is watching paint a picture, when one sees the final work of art it is amazing!  I would LOVE to see it.

If you have the opportunity to see this in Stanwood, WA May 28th 2017 at the Stanwood Cinemas do it.  We are fortunate that we have a signed DVD that will be part of our movie collection, so that we can watch it from time to time.

We would never have thought that Jack was a HUGE Seattle Seahawk fan, however, he apparently is....

GO Jack, Go Hawks!

Hidden Figures, a movie

Hidden Figures --------- we just watched this delightful film.

I am old enough to remember Alan, Gus and John's "flights" into space - we lived in North Africa at the time.  So I enjoyed that part of the historical portion of this film.

What I did not enjoy, was the blatant discrimination of all these women, let alone all African Americans!

What fortitude these ladies had to stand up to those who would "put them in their place".

Well worth watching.

Cartoon

You happy with his first 100 days?