Month: June 2019

Yesterday, at a neighborhood block party, I found myself chatting with Al and Joyce Morgan. They are among the first people that we met in Mesquite, and are ex-pats from Washington state. We sometimes hike together in the Desert Fossils group.

Anyway, the Morgans are about to go on a European river barge tour from Budapest to Amsterdam. They are very excited, of course.

We got to talking about traveling and Al recalled a nice vacation that they’d had (last year I believe) in Italy. They’d rented a car and had explored Rome, Tuscany, Venice and such. Their favorite spot was Cinque Terre, which is a hilltop town near the ocean in northwest Italy.

I’m jealous: that is one of the places in Italy that we have not visited, in addition to the extreme north (Milan, Lake Como, Italian Alps). Maybe someday we can go see George Clooney’s Lake Como villa.

Charlie and I have enjoyed several vacations that took place wholly in Italy or included Italian stops in the itinerary (like Rome, Naples, and Venice).

Our favorite Italian destinations are Tuscany-Umbria, the Amalfi Coast, Taormina (Sicily) and, of course, Venice.

Charlie and I, along with my brother and sisters and their spouses, did a Greek Isles cruise many years ago. Prior to joining the group at Civitavecchia (the cruise ship port), we flew into Rome, rented a car, and headed north up the E-35…destination: the small Tuscan town of Chiusi, where we had lodging reservations.

The first thing that I realized about Italy is that: (a) the roads are very good; and, (2) the speed limits are “advisory”. There are two lanes on the big rural highways: the right lane is for sane folks; and, the left one is for wanna-be Formula One drivers. Even old Italian grannies drive drive like bats out of Hell, and quite a few imbeciles pass you going well over 100 MPH in their Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Ducati motorcycles. I didn’t see one cop on the highway.

Our first stop was a hilltop town in Umbria named “Todi”.

As I recall, like a number of hilltop towns in Italy, automobiles are prohibited within the city walls, so we had to hoof it about a half mile up a steep, cobblestoned street to get to the top of the town. It just about killed Charlie, particularly when 90 year-old women with bundles on their back strode past us on their way home.

That’s one thing about Italy…not many 300-pound fatsos in sight; lots of walking, climbing stairs, hoofing it to the local market, etc., and virtually no “Handicapped” concessions anywhere. If you’re physically challenged…tough luck for you!

Todi was a small, but very pretty hilltop town and had a great view of the surrounding Umbrian landscape. I could live there…except for my bum left hip.

We retreated to A-35, minding our business and heading north, when we happened upon “Orvieto”. It is another hilltop town, but much more substantial. It even has a cable car that takes visitors from a parking lot near the highway up onto plateau of volcanic tuff where the town sits. It looked interesting, and we had some spare time, so we drove up to the town.

My Frommer’s guide book revealed that Orvieto is famous for its cathedral, the fact that several dozen Popes had lived in the town, and that St. Thomas Aquinas had taught there. At one time, in medieval times, 30,000 people had lived in the town. It is also a cold, stark place, as much of the town architecture and dwellings are constructed of dark basalt and tuff.

We were there too early to enter the Duomo (the imposing cathedral in the center of the town), but we took some photos of the exterior and some of the unusual artistry on the walls which depict a lot of unfortunate souls in Hell.

It was a pretty place once the sun came up and lightened up the alleys a bit. Quite a neat place to wander around.

After spending a few hours in Orvieto, we detoured east to explore Perugia and the spectacular town of “Assisi”. The huge church/monastery/tourist mecca dominates the gorgeous countryside as you approach.

There were lots of people there when we arrived midday, and we had lunch at a nice outdoor café near a piazza.

Then, we wandered down to the cathedral complex. It was quite beautiful; but, St. Francis would be embarrassed if he were still with us due to the vast resources that were poured into this extravagant monstrosity through the tithes of poor Medieval wretches who hardly had enough food to eat.

From there, we headed up to our lodgings in “Chiusi”, where we would reside for two days. It was a several-story hotel located just outside the town itself, in a beautiful location, looking out over the Tuscan countryside.

Absolutely perfect, it was, except for the handsome but sweaty Italian lad who helped us take our bags up to our room…and totally stunk up the elevator with his B.O.

Our accommodations were great, and they had a nice restaurant in the basement where we enjoyed a fine dinner.

The next day we headed north along some scenic roads. The countryside itself is a major attraction in Tuscany.

Then, we arrived in “Siena”. It is a spectacular walled town, with a great piazza and cathedral.

Everything in town funnels toward the vast Piazza del Campo, which is considered one of Europe’s greatest medieval squares. It is a vast area, surrounded by tall buildings, monuments, and such.

(If you’ve seen the James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace”, you might recall scenes from the Palio di Siena, a colorful horse race that occurs in the Piazza, with competitors from the city’s 13 wards competing in vibrant colors. Unfortunately for us, there was no race this day, but we had read about it and could imagine how exciting it must be.)

The enormous cathedral was under repair when we were there. Much of the exterior was rigged with scaffolding, so we didn’t see it in its full glory. However, the inside was magnificent (as were all of the Italian churches that we’ve visited).

As I mentioned, Siena is a walled town, with automobiles (except locals, early in the morning) prohibited. As I was approaching the town, looking for parking, which was scarce, I somehow found a way to get inside the city walls, by accident. Oops, what a fuck up, I’m in big trouble, I thought.

Visions of spending a night in jail went through my mind, as I frantically tried to extricate myself from the interior maze. I don’t know how I did it, but I found an exit…before the Carabinieri found me.

Siena is also a very popular tourist trap. There were a lot of people there, as it was the Summer season. It was also hot, as the entire town is made of stone, and there’s nowhere to hide from the sun and the radiant heat. Bottled water and gelatos, not cheap, were being gobbled up by the hordes of parched visitors.

From Siena, we headed north through some more remarkably beautiful countryside.

After a wonderful ride in the country, we approached our next stop, a hilltop town called “San Gimignano”.

It is an unusual looking place (for rural Italy) because of the remnant Medieval multi-story structures that look like apartment towers.

According to our Rick Steve’s guide book, there were once 72 of these towers in the town, built by two opposing families attempting to “out do” the other, with the tallest at about 230’.

It is a peculiar place, but quite striking, as it sits amidst a peaceful rural area featuring olive orchards and grape vineyards. We spent a bit of time there, taking photos and imagining what the place looked like when it was in its full glory. There are only 12 surviving towers, including the Torre Grossa, built in 1310 A.D., which is 177’ in height. Can you imagine how much money was spent on this foolishness?!

We had a very nice dinner that night in the little town of Chiusi, just down the road from our boutique countryside hotel. The restaurant was fairly small, and was owned by a gregarious fellow who went from table to table chatting with his guests. He could speak (he told us) twelve languages, and he used them as he went from table to table, linguistically shifting gears seamlessly. He was quite an impressive host, and the food was good, too.

The next day, we headed over to the port of Civitavecchia to join the Manning family for our 12-day Greek Isles Princess cruise.

As I recall, before heading toward the Aegean Sea, the cruise ship went north a bit to make a stop at Livorno (i.e. the port for Florence). Charlie and I had been to Florence before, but my siblings had not, so we suggested that the group could see more in the day if we rented cars instead of taking a tour bus. It turned out to be a bad recommendation.

They had also not been to “Pisa” (or anywhere else in Italy), so we headed up there, getting lost on the way. My siblings weren’t happy with me. When we got to Pisa, we had to park a considerable way from the objective. It was a long walk into the park-like setting, and my sisters Claudia and Kellie were grumbling.

When we arrived at the Piazza del Duomo, and could see the Leaning Tower in the distance…

…we found it necessary to walk a several hundred-yard gauntlet of pushy vendors on the sidewalk leading into the park.

We got close enough to see the Leaning Tower, when, abruptly, my tourist companions decided that they’d seen enough. That was OK with Charlie and I, because we’d been there before, and we had other things to do that day. So, we beat a hasty retreat to the rental cars.

On the way to Florence (which Charlie and I had visited previously), we stopped at “Lucca”.  It is another walled city, with some beautiful views and an unusual tower in the middle of the town. I think we had lunch there in Lucca.

From there, we headed into “Florence”, looking for some place to park two cars. We finally found a parking structure and headed off toward the Duomo.

I can’t recall exactly what overyone did that day in Florence, but I know that we split up: those that hadn’t been there before went one way, and we went our own.

Charlie and I wandered off in the direction of the Uffizi Gallery to sightsee, and I recall that we investigated the Ponte Vecchio and Boboli Gardens, from afar, as well.

I do recall that the main touristy part of town (near the Duomo)…

… was overrun by street vendors, much worse than anything that we’d seen before.

It was amazing that the local merchants could sell anything at all, and doubly amazing that the local police and politicians were allowing this unseemly chaos to ruin their city. Somebody must be getting bribed, I thought; it was horrible. I made a promise to myself to never again set foot in Florence.

We eventually hooked up with the other Mannings, who’d seen what they need to, and got the Hell out of Florence. It was sad that my siblings had to see it that way, severely debauched by the hordes of street vendors. So sad.

Later that day, we hopped aboard the cruise boat and headed out to sea, to enjoy a wonderful family vacation…which would end up in “Venice”, one of our other favorite Italian destinations.

Venice is…magnificent. We’ve been there a couple of times, and each time there are new, wonderful memories. The amazing architecture, the magnificent cathedral, the pigeons, the canals, the gelato, the gondolas, the food, and the smell…it’s a one-of-a-kind sensual overload. And, no automobiles allowed…at all.

Of course, St. Mark’s Plaza is where all of the tourists congregate, usually for their one-day blitz on the town, coming off of a cruise boat.

And, if all one saw of Venice were those famous sights (the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Bell Tower, the Main Canal, the dock with scores of moored gondolas), it would probably be enough visual stimulation.

But, the real good stuff in Venice, in my opinion, is outside of the Piazza San Marco. We like to head out the back side of the Piazza, through one of the exit arches, and just go get lost in the Venice neighborhoods, where the locals live.

There’s lots of good stuff back there, like cozy outdoor restaurants, art museums, shops, little picturesque bridges spanning small canals, and small neighborhoods with undies hanging from clothes’ lines. It’s La Dolce Vita; we love it.

There’s a number of spectacular art museums out in the Venice boonies…

… and a photo op around every corner, mainly because of all the canals..

Great gelato, too.

And, a chance to do some bargaining with gondola operators.

In addition, you can tour a glassmaking shop; very interesting.

And, when you are tired of walking, you can hop on a water taxi and speed off on a cheap, wonderful sightseeing tour of your own making.

When we were there with my siblings, there was some sort of strike going on by the local seaborne merchants, and they had all of their boats chained together, blocking one of the main canals, trying to make some point with authorities, I guess.

We’ve never been to Venice when the tide was super-high. However, in very high tides, the water in the Piazza can be a couple of feet deep, and they must put pallets out to enable folks to get to and from.

This scene from last October is a reminder that the entire city of Venice was built on land reclaimed from the sea, and, with climate warming, sea level is slowly rising. It could very well be that Venice, as we know it, will be submerged, like Atlantis, in 50 to 100 years.

What a shame that would be!

Another shame is the presence of those pesky street vendors. Just outside of Piazza San Marco, on one of the pedestrian alleys heading north, is a fancy avenue with pricey merchandise on both sides: it’s the Rodeo Drive of Venice, with all of the big name designers represented.

When we were there on this trip, there were armies of street vendors sitting right in front of the storefront windows…selling rip-off versions of the designer products right inside! The vendors were mostly (from appearances) Somalian “skinnies”, hawking cheap Chinese-made handbags, wristwatches, and such.

As I’ve mentioned before, there seems to be no local law enforcement effort being made at all to combat these crimes; it’s amazing that the Prada, Louis Vuittan, and Rolex establishments put up with this, because their store rent costs must be astronomical. Go figure. Maybe they know that real high-end customers won’t buy rip-offs, and those folks that do couldn’t afford anything in their store, anyway.

As I said, Venice is awesome once you get away from Piazza San Marco, particularly at night.

Our group had a wonderful outdoor candlelight dinner at a small piazza in one of the neighborhoods where we got lost one day. It was a great, romantic experience, and the food was excellent, as well.

Speaking of romantic, we did not do a gondola ride on this particular trip to Venice, but my siblings did, as I recall.

Gondola rides are very expensive, and, as the saying goes, “You get what you pay for!” We did an economy gondola ride some years before, only to find out when we got to the dock that we were SHARING the romantic ride with another couple! Not so good; it kinda took the specialness out of the thing. We probably saved $100, but…how many times are you going to do this, anyway? I think that it is important to do it right…damn the cost.

Anyway, I think my brother and his wife (who have more money!) enjoyed a much nicer gondola on their visit to Venice Charlie and I had many years before. Dammit.

We did, however, get the best of them when the ship stopped in Naples. As I recall, they did a tour of Pompeii, which we’d seen before, while we spent the day enjoying a spectacular visit of the “Amalfi Coast”.

Our tour (on a huge, deluxe bus) started in Sorrento, where we were able to enjoy the beautiful coastal overlook, tour a factory where they make inlaid wood products (we bought a nice box!), and consume some of the local specialty liquor…limoncello. What great stuff that is!!

From Sorrento, we headed south on the Amalfi Coast Road, which is a narrow (did I say NARROW?) road with huge drop-offs to the side toward the gorgeous coast below. It would be scary to drive this road…on a bike!

We were in a huge bus, and it literally “takes a village” to organize the bus tours along this dangerous road. Local residents and vendors help guide the buses around tight spots, where there may only be a few feet of clearance between bus and buildings. At certain times of the day, the road is “one way only” for tourists…southbound, as I recall. It is a hot mess, but very profitable for the locals, as each bus brings in a bunch of disposable income to be spread between the merchants hawking their wares.

The bus ride was an E-ticket, for sure. I was on the inland left side of the bus, so I wasn’t looking down at the ocean so much. But, I did notice a lot of the local residential property hugging the steep cliffs. They all had a lot of gardens, growing all manner of fruits and vegetables. Our guide told us that this is because property taxes on residential property in Italy are high, but not so bad on agricultural. If a residential property has a certain amount of coverage in plantings, then they are considered farmers. So, everyone has lemon trees, tomato vines, and such scattered wherever things can grow.

(It reminded me of the tax law in Mexico, where one sees many structures in rural areas and small towns with rebar sticking out of the top of the structural walls. The property tax is only levied when the structure is completed, so many projects are left “almost done”, with rebar clearly visible to the inspector…avoiding the finished project property tax.)

I recall a doofus going wrong way on the highway, causing all sorts of problems with oncoming traffic. Some stupid tourist, ignoring signs, I’m sure.

We ate a very nice lunch in a cliff-side restaurant somewhere between Sorrento and Positano.

Good food, plus our waiter was a cool guy who looked like he could be one of Charlie’s lost Italian cousins. He was shaped like a brick…short and squat, probably had a 50-inch chest. Couldn’t speak a word of English, but…who cared!

Positano was quite picturesque, with lots of brightly colored homes perched on hillsides all the way down to the aqua blue water. What lucky folks live in that paradise!! I think we just stopped there for a few photos and a chance to flex our knees.

Our last stop on the southbound leg was Amalfi itself. It is a substantial place, with a beautiful harbor and beach, a striking cathedral, and plenty of shops for the tourists.

We wandered the wonderful place, taking lots of photos and exploring the nooks and crannies.

The beach strand was covered umbrellas, which are put out by the many cafes which serve the beachgoers, some of whom are…nude, I discovered.

The cathedral, which appears to be built right into a cliff, has a massive staircase leading up to it, and is clad in an unusual mix of stone colors. Very cool and impressive for such a small town.

As I recall, the “coast” part of our tour ended in Ravello, which is known for its flowers and gardens, mixed in with the normal cliffside homes, restaurants and hotels. Very pretty.

We finished our nice day on the Amalfi Coast by heading back up the main highway to Naples. Along the way, we drove right by Mount Vesuvius, which is huge and scary-looking. It’s probably just a matter of time before it blows again and buries a lot more people, as the area has grown many-fold in population since 79 A.D.

On a different Mediterranean cruise, this time with my parents Rich and Bobbie, we had the opportunity visit “Taormina”, Sicily for half a day.

This is a real cool place, way up on a mountain above the azure waters of the Ionian Sea. The cab ride up the cliff in a taxi looks impossible, but they make it, somehow.

Taormina was founded by the Greeks more than two thousand years ago. Later came the Romans, the Carthaginians, the Moors, the Normans, the Spanish, the French, and, later, the Italians. Everyone has taken their shot here.

The most outstanding architectural relic in the town is the Roman amphitheater.

The town has a large plaza with obligatory Catholic church, and many hotels, restaurants, and shops. It’s like the town of Laguna Beach in Southern California, but up on a mountainside in Sicily. Very pretty, lots of tourists, lots of sun…what’s not to like?

Of course, the real reason people have been coming here for thousands of years is the view: spectacular!

This interesting town is definitely one the prettiest places that we’ve ever visited. I’d love to live there.

The Mediterranean cruise with my parents was the last vacation that I spent with my Dad, who passed away within six months of this wonderful visit to Taormina.

I miss him.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Donald Trump won the 2016 election despite losing the popular vote by 3 million votes. Approximately thirty million eligible voters did not cast a ballot for either candidate.

Trump’s political imperative, once elected, was to broaden his appeal beyond his base supporters.

With the 2020 campaign fast approaching, our President is casting about for some accomplishment that he can claim credit for. His promised replacement of Obamacare with something better… totally bombed. He scrapped the Trans Pacific and NAFTA trade pacts, and has been unable to come up with an improved product. He promised to build an impenetrable border wall paid for by Mexico, and that hasn’t happened. He instituted tariff wars with perceived enemy states and allies, and those have proven to be a disaster economically and politically. He promised, if elected, to release his tax returns; he didn’t. He promised a Mideast Peace Plan; nothing happened.

About the only thing he’s done lately is push the United States right to the brink of a war with Iran.

Why?

It’s actually a good question. Prior to Trump, Iran was behaving modestly, at least with regard to abiding by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a nuclear non-proliferation agreement between Iran and the U.K., France, China, Russia and the U.S. Once elected, President Trump withdrew America’s support of the pact, and began to terrorize Iran with economic and political sanctions. The other “allied” powers in the pact are pissed at the U.S., as is Iran.

There is substantial evidence that America is using its power to effect a regime change in Tehran. National Security Advisor John Bolton has publicly admitted this, as have other Administration bigwigs.

It is apparent to anyone who pays attention to developments over there that the United States is trying mightily to goad the Iranians into some kind of incident which will justify American military intervention.

We almost succeeded this past week, when the Iranians shot down an American drone which, allegedly, flew over Iranian airspace. The drone surveillance was in response, supposedly, to Iranian attacks on merchant ships near the Strait of Hormuz.

As my father once advised me, “Don’t poke a hornets’ nest unless you’re ready to pay the consequences!”

Again, why are we determined to torment the Iranians into a war?

If we were able to affect a regime change in Iran, what would happen? America did that exact thing in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, and caused a shitstorm in the Middle East that continues to this day. Does anyone remember ISIS? Are things better in the Middle East after trillions of taxpayer dollars spent and untold lives lost? It doesn’t appear so, and the U.S. has been bogged down there for twenty years. President Trump announced last week that we are sending an additional 1,000 troops… for what?

Ever heard of the “Law of Unintended Consequences”? It seems to be the policy mantra of the Trump Administration. Bad ideas are substituted for good ones, then shit happens, and then different bad ideas are trotted out to replace the original ones, they don’t work, and the failure is attributed to Obama, the Democrats, “fake news”, or some other bogeyman.

In most cases, the President either lies about the fuck-up or merely re-brands the failure as a great success: another “win” for the team. His core supporters lap it up, because that’s what they do, living in the alternate reality that is the MAGA world.

But, there have been so many of these false successes that even the President knows that his bullshit and recklessness are not working to bring any of those 30 million eligible voters into his camp. He’s acting increasingly edgy lately, obviously desperate for a legitimate success that will win them over.

About the only thing that the President HAS accomplished since taking office is to re-jigger the Supreme Court in a conservative way, brand the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. as “untrustworthy”, and gut environmental, economic, and workplace regulations. These are legitimate “wins” for Trump…but they play to the same audience: the “dark state” conspiracy theorists, religious nutcases, and conservative MAGA voters, who were always going to vote for Trump in 2020.

How about kicking some smaller country’s ass? It worked for Reagan when we invaded Granada.

It appears that the President thought, this past week, that he could make some hay with a military attack against Iran, and was on the brink of doing so. However, leaders of both parties impressed upon him what a BAD IDEA it was, and, uncharacteristically, he reconsidered… for the time being.

Iran is not Granada; it is a large country, three times as populous as Iraq was under Sadaam Hussein, with considerable military resources. It would not be a pushover, and Muslims from all over the world would be supportive of Iran. And, since it is strategically important (i.e. oil), other superpowers, like Russian and China could intercede.

A limited attack on Iran may (probably, will) happen in the coming weeks to politically position Donald Trump as a decisive Commander in Chief, but a better job will have to be done by the Administration in justifying an attack. American lives will have to be lost, an American ship will have to be attacked, or the like, just like the explosion on the U.S.S. Maine in San Juan Harbor (triggering the Spanish-American War) or the Gulf of Tonkin Incident (which ushered in the Vietnam War).

I’m sure that Mr. Trump has someone working on that.

All of us should worry about this.

Charlie and I are about to hit the road with the motor home again. This will be our 7^th summer in a row, I believe, traveling the highways and byways of America. It’s been fun, first with our 26’ travel trailer, and, for the past five years, in the 40’ Monaco Windsor motor home.

This year we’ll head up to the Oregon coast, then to the Northern California coast, and then finish up on the Southern California coast, in Oceanside, dodging hot weather all of the way.

It’s nice because there’s no long-haul airline travel, which is bad for Charlie’s blood clotting issues, and our canine children can tag along, too.

Before the blood clots and the dogs, we used to travel all over the place…in ships.

We’ve been on a couple of dozen cruises, and we are “Diamond” members of Princess and Royal Caribbean. We get special perks when we cruise with them, like VIP bars and such.

Places that we’ve cruised to include:

We’re probably not done with cruising, although we’ve experienced most of the more common itineraries. It’s an easy and relatively inexpensive way to travel…and to chill out.

We cruised the Panama Canal for our 25th anniversary…

…and had a very romantic dinner at this rooftop restaurant overlooking Acapulco Bay.

Maybe we can do something like that for our 50th anniversary in 2024?

I got a Father’s Day telephone call yesterday from our estranged son Ron. How unexpected and how nice!

This is Ron with his current family:

It was the first conversation that Ron and I have had in many years; I don’t know what came over him. Guilt, perhaps.

He and his wife Allister excommunicated Charlie and I many years ago, along with his three brothers, his young son Alex, and two stepsons, for reasons known only to him. It’s a sorry situation, but it’s Ron’s choice; he has to live with his decisions.

Back in the late Eighties, when Ron was around 20, a happy member of our family, and was in the Air Force stationed in Great Britain, Charlie and I did a European vacation with him. His call yesterday brought back many memories of that trip. The three of us had a great time.

After arriving in London, Charlie and I saw many of the big tourist sites: Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, the Tower of London, the “Tube” (subway), the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, etc.

One thing I remember about Westminster Abbey is that there are a lot of dead people in there, in fancy marble coffins, in crypts, and right under your feet, with horizontal tombstones made from marble. Its possible to walk on the headstone of Stephen Hawking, for example, and other notable Brits. Interesting, but creepy.

The British Museum is loaded with booty looted from foreign countries when the British Empire was in full flower. Nowadays, it is considered totally gauche to steal irreplaceable cultural artifacts from other countries, but 100 years ago…you came, you saw, and you looted.

The Tower of London is a dark and forbidding place. Enemies of the Crown were imprisoned and killed there, so there are dungeons, torture equipment, suits of armor, and weapons galore.

And, guys in funny outfits, ready to spear tresspassers and no-goodniks.

The Crown Jewels are also kept in the Tower.

We only had a day or two, so we had to keep moving. Lots of neat stuff to see in London, though; we’ll have to come back.

I recall going to a movie cinema one night, and they had an intermission in the middle of the showing. Everyone retreated to the lobby to get snacks and drinks…alcoholic ones, too. You could get a glass of wine, a cocktail, a pint of ale, etc. Why not? It seemed a very civilized thing to do.

Once we hooked up with Ron, we headed out to Stonehenge, which is just off of a highway, out in the boonies.

And then we proceeded on to the old Roman town of Bath, named for the ancient steam baths. It is one of the most beautiful English cities, filled with cool architecture.

From Bath, we turned around and headed out for the east coast of England. We visited a seaside pub somewhere for lunch and I enjoyed Fish and Chips and room temperature pint of lager. Very good, actually.

We got a chance to stroll around the very pretty town of Canterbury…

… and then headed off for the white cliffs of Dover.

Now, this was back before the “Chunnel” tunnel under the sea to France, so we had to take an actual “slow boat” to Calais from Dover. It took all night, we had to nap in hard plastic seats, the slow, old tub was rocking back and forth, and…it sucked.

When we got to Calais, France, and were going through immigration, Ron realized that he forgot his French visa, so he was probably going to be denied entry to France. A catastrophe!  Luckily, right as we got near the head of the immigration line, a guy in front of us projectile barfed while being interviewed by French authorities, and the flummoxed official rushed us through the portal, not checking for Ron’s visa. Thank you, Jesus!

We were all traveling very light, had EuroRail passes, and intended to stay at the cheapest hotels that we could find in our “Europe on $50 per day” handbook. We rode the train to Paris, Charlie took a nap at our fleabag hotel on our miniature beds, and Ron and I went down the street to a McDonald’s and each of us ordered up a cheeseburger. Travolta was correct: it was the best food that we’d had in a week.

The Louvre was closed (on a Tuesday?), but we had a chance to hit one of the great pastry shops…

… and mosey on over to the Eiffel Tower. Charlie chickened out; wouldn’t go to the top. (I think she went to the lower terminal.) Ron and I took the elevator to the top and enjoyed the views; spectacular!

We took the train from Paris to Rome, where we boarded at a small hotel across the street from Basilica of St. Mary Maggiore.

The basilica is considered one of the “Big Four” in Rome, where there are churches on every corner. It was our first sighting of a Roman Catholic cathedral and we were awed by the architecture and art. There were paintings by Titian on wall, for God’s sake.

It also houses, if you can believe it, a few wooden planks from Jesus’ manger. (HaHa, some Arab flim flam man made a few bucks from that Medieval con!)

We then traipsed around the Roman Forum…where Julius Caesar was stabbed…

… and the Colosseum (where I fell into a 5 foot hole in the sidewalk!).

The stadium complex was designed so that gladiators and animals could be brought to the surface of the arena via a network of tunnels.

What magnificent places those must have been back in the day; it’s not hard to imagine chariots, gladiators fighting each other, and Senators dressed in togas. We gave this tourist attraction an enthusiastic “Thumbs up”, despite my near death.

We then decided to take the subway out to the Catacombs (i.e. the underground burial tombs that had been looted over the centuries by various Popes, with the bones sold as “relics” to the faithful) . However, once we were below ground, about ready to board the subway train, there was a terrorist alert, and everyone had to evacuate the facility. We ran like scared rabbits up and out…and then heard a loud “bang”.

So much for the Catacombs.

The next day we took the subway out to the Vatican, where we explored the ostentious place, paid for by billions of tithes from poor people all over the world.

What over-the-top, boastful exuberance there is on display there; 24K gold inlay edging, expensive tile everywhere, marble columns 100’ high, fine statuary, lots of guys walking around in clerical collars, vestments, and hoods, looking holy, and menacing Swiss Guards in ridiculous gaudy, costumes, etc.. It is an amazing place, to say the least.

We took stairs up onto the roof…

…and stood next to the Apostles standing guard there, looking out over the enormous square. Very intimidating, I’m sure, for the faithful who gather to see the Pope.

We then explored the Vatican Museum. It is chock full of loot that was purloined from sacred sites all over the Roman Empire. In addition, it houses a lot of religious art that was commissioned by the Church…like the Sistine Chapel. In order to appreciate that place, you must lie on your back and look up at the ceiling to enjoy Michaelangelo’s masterwork. It’s quite breathtaking.

After our viewing, we had a slice of cold pizza just around the corner…room temperature is how they serve it, good but expensive. (Which reminds me: Restaurant food is exorbitant in Rome: we ate a lot of bread, cold cuts, and water.)

As I recall, we took a very early train to Naples the next morning. Downtown was very cold and forbidding, with lots of swarthy guys just hanging around, and not one woman in sight. This fort was cool, though.

I got Charlie a demitasse of super-strong expresso, which a kind old fellow helped her dilute with sugar. We then took the Circumvesuviana train out to the archaeological ruins at Pompeii.

This place was a resort for well-to-do Romans which fell victim to an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The city and most of its residents were buried in ash and cinders.

It is a very thought-provoking place. The chariot wheel ruts are still in the streets, some of the wall murals are still visible in the excavated homes, and there are unearthed restaurants, bakeries, stables, an amphitheatre, and a whorehouse, among other structures.

They are still excavating in Pompeii, and more structures and petrified dead bodies are turning up regularly, frozen in a moment of time.

One can only imagine the panic-stricken Pompeiians stampeding toward the sea with the suffocating wall of hot ash, cinders and lava chasing them. Yipes!

We retreated to Rome later that day, then headed north on the train the next morning to Vienna, Austria. Or, so we thought.

When the train got to Venice, it just stopped, and the conductor said, in Italian, something like “Everyone off!” Evidently, we were on the last Italian train of the day, and there were no Austrian connections that evening. I’d fucked up, apparently. I’d also caught a very nasty cold, and there we were, stranded in the cold train depot, having to wait until the next morning to catch a train. I was dying. Charlie saved the day by trudging, in the dark and in the rain, down the street into Venice, and, miraculously, found us a hotel room for the night.

We were on a tight schedule, and had not intended to stop in Venice, so we headed on into Austria the next day, skipping Vienna and heading directly to Munich. There, we had a very nice evening at a beer hall, watching the ex-Nazis sing, dance, and chug beers. What a nice bunch of fun-loving alcoholics they were!

The next day we took the “el” train out to Dachau Nazi concentration camp.

It is in a park setting, right smack in the middle of a modern Munich sudivision; you’re looking at a scene out of American suburbia, then you round the corner, expecting to see a school, a pocket park, or a Good Humor ice cream truck, and, achtung!…barbed wire, gun towers, crematories, and the “Work Will Set You Free!” entry sign. It’s a mindblower.

There is a museum there for the younger folks who don’t know what evil lurked back in the day. Also, a tour which takes you into the barracks where the condemned tried to sleep, to torture chambers, to the ovens, where the Jews who died were incinerated, etc. The whole thing makes your skin crawl, which is probably the point. I hope the German citizenry gets the point.

From Munich, we took the train to Geneva, Switzerland. Very pretty, neat, prosperous city, with a tremendous lake and mountain view. I could live there (if I had a million bucks or so laying around).

We were only passing through, so we spent a few hours that evening at the movie theater watching Eddie Murphy’s latest flick, “Coming to America”. It was passable entertainment, but what was very interesting was the commercials that preceded the movie. American theatres had not yet begun to do this, so we were surprised to see lengthy, finely-produced productions (more than a minute) pitching various consumer products.

The next morning, we took the TGV high-speed train (200 mph) from Geneva back to Paris. Now THAT’S what I call a train! TGV’s going in opposite directions pass each other in one second…swear to God!

In Paris it was Tuesday again, and therefore the Louvre was closed, dammit, so that sucked. I believe that we had dinner that night on the Left Bank…at a Russian restaurant, probably because it was inexpensive. Borscht…ugh!

I do recall crossing the English Channel the next day in style…in a Hovercraft. It took maybe 45 minutes, as compared to all night on the tramp steamer. You get what you pay for!!!

And that was it, our European blitz tour was over. We had a great time, enjoyed some special once-in-a-lifetime moments with Ron, and got a taste of world traveling.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House Press Secretary, is resigning from the Trump Administration. She is the eighth Press Secretary to have served under Donald Trump.

What a tough job that must be.

No one knows what the guy will say, or when, about anything Administration-related or any subject that crosses his mind. He has verbal diarrhea with no editorial control. He just blurts out stuff which, typically, has no basis in fact…but, in his mind, makes a great sound bite for Fox News. The MAGA folk lap it up.

The Fact Checker, a weekly Washington Post column led by veteran journalist Glenn Kessler that researches the accuracy of statements made by political figures, reported last week that Trump’s “untruth” tally had hit 10,111 after 828 days in office.

Consider the plight of the White House Press Secretary whose duty it is to brief the press on Presidential comings and goings, important policy initiatives, and, particularly with this President, to walk-back stupid things the President tweeted, re-engineering language that he publicly “misspoke”, and openly lie about something that her boss did or said.

Mrs. Sanders has been caught repeatedly lying about stuff from the Press Secretary’s podium, and has had a habit of dressing-down the White House press pool for having the temerity to question the obvious lies. In her mind, and that of her President, those vultures were “enemies” (for seeking the truth, which is their job).

The Press Secretary has not held an official press conference with the White House press pool for the past three months. This abnormality may be attributable to the fact that Mrs. Sanders’ public lying was documented several times in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election and the attempts by the President and his operatives to obstruct the Special Counsel’s investigation.

In particular, the Press Secretary herself participated in the trumped-up case to justify the firing of FBI Director James Comey. Mrs. Sanders, at the White House press podium, invented some “facts” regarding FBI rank-and-file dissatisfaction with Comey, and on another occasion doubled-down with additional falsehoods demeaning the FBI Director. He was subsequently fired. When the Special Counsel pressed her on those statements, she admitted that they were made up out of thin air and stated that it was a “slip of the tongue”…that happened twice, on separate occasions!

So, we have had, for the past couple of years, a Press Secretary who lies, then lies about her lies, in support of the President, who is a pathological liar.

Truth is scarce in Washington D.C., but the current crew has taken the art form of blatant dishonesty to a level that would make Richard Nixon envious.

Sanders won’t be missed, except by the Liar-in-Chief.

It is rumored that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in-your-face-Born Again Christian and professional liar, is going to run for Governor of Arkansas.

No shit. And, she’ll probably win; those Bible Belt hypocrites love a good fibber.

Charlie and I, and our son Jeff and wife Carol, are talking about another trip down to Ol’ Mexico in the Spring of 2020.

We like Mexico. The four of us have vacationed there a number of times together, Charlie and I have traveled all over the country (and used to own a timeshare in Mazatlan), and my own family (Mom and Dad and siblings) had a vacation house in Ensenada when we were kids. We always have fun down there.

Like I say, we’ve been everywhere down there. Here’s some of the places and experiences, in living color:

Yep, we’ve seen a few things and done a few things south of the border.

Ay Chihuahua!

I have treated my right shoulder quite poorly over the years.

I threw a lot of baseballs back in the day, culminating in a stupid softball heave from dead center field to home plate, on the fly, that tore my rotator cuff when I was 25 years old. No surgery then; it just limited my football tossing with my four kids when they were teenagers.

On a hike up to Mt. San Antonio (10,000 feet), again with the kids, I lugged a lot of weight in my backpack, which wasn’t balanced correctly to shift the load to my hips. The result: a Winged Scapula (a nerve injury).

Once with the kids, we body-surfed the nasty shore break at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach. Showing off, I bailed on a wave too late, flipped and landed on my outstretched right hand…basically a pole plant, and the impact went right up my arm. Result: chipped bone in elbow.

Later, in my equestrian days, I was chasing down a steer in an arena when Louie (my horse) made a sharp right turn at the fence, I got tossed, and landed on my right arm extended, palm first, in the dirt. That one re-tore my partically-healed rotator cuff, and I had to have it surgically repaired.

In between those incidents, I swam the butterfly, took some nasty water ski falls, blew out a vertebral disc snow skiing, golfed, and bowled. Anything for a thrill (or to abuse my right shoulder and neck).

Today, I spent some time with the local physical therapist. My pain specialist doctor (Dr. Rachel Allen, the same lady that fixed Charlie’s crushed L-3 vertebra recently) is having me see the therapist as part of a treatment regime related to chronic pain in my neck…right side, of course.

“Rob”, my P.T. guy, stuck me with a bunch of acupuncture-type needles, hooked them up to a battery, and tortured me for 20 minutes. It’s called “Dry Needling”, and it’s supposed to relax and heal knotted muscles, tendons, and nerves in the right shoulder area.

It didn’t hurt, per se, but was a bit uncomfortable when he stuck the needles in, wiggled them around, and then raised the amps on the power unit until I said, “No Mas!”

The dry needling is only part of my right shoulder/neck repair journey. I have also changed pain meds, will be doing some neck exercises, and will be seeing Dr. Allen in a week to discuss the full set of x-rays that I had done last week. I could have bone spurs in my neck. That wouldn’t be too good; let’s hope I don’t have those.

(Although…Donald Trump had bone spurs, and look what they did for him.)

Luckily, my neck pain problem is sporadic, not continuous.

(Again, like Trump’s. He only suffered from them while he was eligible for the military Draft during the Vietnam War. Then, they miraculously disappeared. What a lucky guy!)

As for me, I can go several weeks without much bother, then my neck will hurt like Hell for a week. Opioid drugs don’t even work when that’s happening. I just have to grin and bear it for 4 to 7 days.

I wish I’d had this pain back in 1969…at the military induction center.

Chicxulub is a small town in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It is pretty much at the epicenter of one of the largest extinction events in world history, called the Chicxulub Impact Event.

The catastrophic impact took place about 66 million years ago, when a meteor estimated at between 7 and 50 miles wide crashed into earth with the force of 100 million megatons of TNT (6 million Hiroshima atom bombs). Geologic evidence reveals that the impact produced a tsunami tidal wave that was somewhere between 150 and 1000 feet tall and superheated the surrounding atmosphere to 10,000 degrees in an instant. This event disrupted the worldwide climate and was the cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event, in which 75 percent of plant and animals on earth became extinct. The evidence of the meteor’s impact is invisible to the naked eye but can be seen with the use of ground penetrating radar.

Jack Daniel (the guy who the whiskey is named after) died from kicking a safe. When he kicked it, he broke his toe, which became infected. He eventually died from blood poisoning.

Probably the most famous “session musician” of all-time is Hal Blaine. He was a drummer who collaborated for many years with The Wrecking Crew, a group of talented musicians who backed up famous solo and group singers when they recorded records in a studio setting.

Blaine was a fixture on virtually all of the Beach Boys, Neil Diamond, Phil Spector “Wall of Sound”, Simon and Garfunkel, and Johnny Rivers studio productions, and contributed to many Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand classics. He was the drummer for the original Rocky Horror Show cast recording. Blaine is also credited with providing the drum expertise on 39 records which reached Number 1 on the Billboard Top 100 list, including: “He’s a Rebel” (Crystals), “Mrs. Robinson” (Simon and Garfunkel), “Surf City” (Jan and Dean), “I Got You Babe” (Sonny and Cher), “Help Me Rhonda” (Beach Boys), “California Dreamin’” (Mamas and Papas), “Strangers in the Night” (Frank Sinatra), “Cracklin Rosie” (Neil Diamond), “The Way We Were” (Barbra Streisand), “Be My Baby” (Ronettes), “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” (John Denver), “Da Doo Ron Ron” (Crystals), “Everybody Loves Somebody” (Dean Martin), “Kicks” (Paul Revere and the Raiders), “Mr. Tambourine Man” (Byrds), “The Happening” (Supremes), and “Return to Sender” (Elvis Presley).  Mr. Blaine played on six consecutive Grammy Record of the Year recordings, and was one of the first “sidemen” to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Later in life, he lost most of his money in a divorce, and at one point had to make money working as a security guard. He died this year at age 90.

Tilamook. Reminds you of cheese and ice cream, huh? The creamery is located in Tilamook, Oregon, along the beautiful coastline that Charlie and I like to frequent in our motor home. The beach and ocean sights in the area are wonderful. Here’s one of them: the Tilamook Light House. It’s abandoned now, but must have been a thriller to work in back in the day.

The 75^th anniversary of D-Day (June 6, 1944) was celebrated in France this week with much pomp and ceremony. In American history books it is given credit for being the great turning point in World War II, and much is made about the sacrifice of the American soldiers who came ashore to confront the entrenched  Nazis. All of that is true, and a  “Thank you for your service!” hardly seems enough in gratitude of their courage and sacrifice.

But, what most Americans, especially the younger ones, don’t realize is that the United States didn’t win the war against Germany single-handedly, and, in fact, played a lesser role than Russia in its outcome. The Nazis primary objective early in World War II was to conquer Russia, and most of their military might was focused there. The Russian people paid a terrible price in withstanding the German onslaught and eventually removing the Nazis from their homeland. As many as 11 million soldiers and 27 million civilians died in the Soviet Union during World War II, which was approximately one half of the deaths worldwide during the conflict.

When D-Day occurred in June of 1944, Russian troops already had the Nazis in retreat, heading back to Germany. Of the 5 million Nazi military deaths that occurred in the war, the majority took place via battles with the Russians on the Eastern Front. It is no exaggeration to say that the defeat of the Nazis could have happened without the Allied landing at Normandy, but it could not have happened without the ass-whipping that the Soviet Union administered to the Germans prior to 1944.

Speaking of Germany, the dessert delicacy called German Chocolate Cake is named after a baker by the name of Samuel German, and has no affiliation with country that brought us the Nazis.

If I were to say “Alabama”, what are the first things that would come to your mind? Probably college football (i.e. the University of Alabama) because the “Crimson Tide” either wins the national championship each year or comes in second.

You might also think of the state’s troubled past (and present?) with regard to racial injustice. The state has a hard time accepting that the Civil War is over.

Recently, the state got another black eye when its Governor signed the most aggressively anti-abortion law in recent American history. If enacted, the law would permit abortions only if the mother’s life is at risk or if the fetus cannot survive, but not in cases of rape or incest. That seems a bit much, particularly when one considers that Alabama also grants parental rights to rapists. In other words, if a stranger (or a relative!) rapes a woman, she must not only carry the baby to term, but she must also share parental custody with the criminal who violated her.

As the saying goes, “The inmates are running the asylum”…in Alabama.

Speaking of crimes and scofflaws, La Sagrada Familia, one of the most striking architectural achievements in the world, has finally gotten its building permit…after 137 years!

The cathedral in Barcelona, Spain has been under construction since 1885. The project started a few years earlier, but the architect Antoni Gaudi and the city never agreed on its precise parameters. So, it was technically an illegal build. When it is completed (in 2026), it will be the most spectacular cathedral in the world, surpassing even St. Peter’s Basilica in its scope and architectural design. The top spires are 560 feet high. (I have had the privilege of climbing part way to the top of one of the spires.)

Student loan debt has become a big issue lately. More than 44 million Americans owe some $1.5 trillion for their college education. How did this happen?

Back in the 1960’s when I went to college (Cal State University at Los Angeles), it was tuition-free, with $300 in “fees” per year. The cost was so low that one could “work their way through college”, like I did. My Bachelor’s Degree probably cost me less than $2,500 in fees, tuition, and books. Since then, college costs have skyrocketed: Cal State L.A.’s tuition is now about $7,000 per year, and many private universities charge more than $50,000 per year. Virtually no one can exit college after four years without owing someone a bunch of money, whether it be Mom and Dad, banks, or the Federal government.

This financial reality plays a role in determining career paths (i.e. academic majors focused on earning potential), family formation, and mental health stability. Many graduates (and in-debt non-grads) struggle for years to work off the debt load, which averages around $40,000. This is not surprising, since higher education in America, like health care, costs much more than in other developed countries. A service that was once publicly-funded for the most part has become a business, and seats in classrooms that used to be occupied by American youth are now being purchased by foreign students…who will pay more for the privilege. It’s a bidding war, and this goes for public universities as well as private schools. A graduating high school student in the United States, if he/she wants to go to college, can look forward to costs of $50,000 to $300,000 for a Bachelor’s degree, and then having to work off the debt for that education for ten to fifteen years after graduation. I am a great believer in education, but that is quite a commitment. It’s no wonder so many young people turn to quick money jobs…like selling drugs, and use drugs attempting to escape a depressive reality…that the American Dream is beyond their reach.

Some researcher has determined that the average American child is given $3.70 per tooth that falls out. (Maybe that’s why colleges cost so much…a lot of frivolous research!)

Le Bron James made almost $36 million in base salary last year while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. He only played in 55 of the team’s 82 regular season games. Thus, he was paid approximately $655,000 per game. Each game is 60 minutes long, so Mr. James was paid roughly $655,000 per hour for his daily toil. Top brain surgeons make $1,300 per hour. Go figure.

Le Bron James didn’t go to college, so he has no student debt.

Other famous people who didn’t have to worry about student debt include Steve Jobs (Apple), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Ted Turner (CNN), Tony Robbins (Motivational Speaker), A.P. Giannini (Bank of America), Thomas Edison (Inventor), Larry Page (Google), Ray Kroc (McDonalds), Steven Spielberg (Director), Colonel Harlan Sanders (Fried Chicken), Ralph Lauren (Fashion), John D. Rockefeller (Oil), Walt Disney (Cartoonist), Oprah Winfrey (Entertainment), Albert Einstein (Physicist), Henry Ford (Automobile maker), Frank Lloyd Wright (Architect), and Abraham Lincoln (President)…all of whom either didn’t attend college or dropped out.

Who knew?

Donald Trump, a graduate of the Wharton School of Business, doesn’t have a very good grasp of economics.

He thinks trade deficits are a bad thing.

A trade deficit, in a nutshell, is caused when a country imports more goods and services than it exports. Trump believes that countries we trade with have an obligation to purchase our exports, in similar volume, even if they don’t need them or can’t afford them. Because, in his view, that’s what trade partners do.

The huge hole in the President’s line of thinking is the gap in wealth and, hence, consumerism between the United States and all of its potential trading partners. America is BY FAR the largest consumer of goods and services among nations on earth. We buy a lot of stuff, and our consumers are looking for value.

Our country is naturally going to run a trade deficit with every other country…because we’re richer. We should be happy that this is so; virtually every other nation on earth would gladly change places with us and endure trade deficits. They’d like to experience our standard of living.

The actual pebble in the President’s shoe is the fact that Americans are buying importing goods that used to be produced right here in the good old U.S.A. He wants to return us to the Good Old Days. You know, “Buy American!”

The problem with that goal is that labor is too expensive here to compete with foreign manufacturers from Third World countries. Also, safety and environmental regulations in the United States are more stringent than overseas, because our citizens demand safety and a clean environment. As a result of labor and regulation costs, many manufacturers have “off-shored” their plants, so that they can produce competitively-priced goods. It’s called capitalism something that Republicans supposedly endorse. President Trump is said to believe in it.

American consumers have gotten used to purchasing quality goods from Asia and Latin America at low prices. They are not going to want to pay significantly more for the same product produced in America.

(This is why, by the way, our President and his daughter, Ivanka, have their Trump brand ties and shoes manufactured in Asia…so that they can sell them in America for less. If the Trumps really believed in the “Buy American!” concept, wouldn’t they have their apparel items made in the U.S.A.?)

Because Mr. Trump campaigned on reducing trade deficits, he is trying like Hell to change global economics, and, not surprisingly, nothing is happening. Actually, America’s overall trade deficit has grown under the Trump Administration. The President hasn’t tweeted about that.

He has, however, kept busy trying to bully our erstwhile trade partners into new trade deals. His method of choice is the tariff, which is a fee attached to imports. He figures that the exporting country’s business will decline, because its products will cost more to consumers, and that: (a) it will want to sign a trading deal with America; and, (b) American businesses, which manufacture the same products, will become more competitive.

Those revised trade deals that Trump has been pushing for have not happened. That’s probably because our President changes his mind pretty much every week or so: he can’t be trusted. The Prez tore up deals with the Trans Pacific nations, and has nothing to show for it. He also blew up NAFTA (the North American trade pact with Canada and Mexico), then crafted his own version which is almost identical, and then screwed the pooch by levying tariffs on both Canada and Mexico because he was pissed off at the time. No one’s signing any trade deals with Mr. Crazy.

The tariffs are, in fact, a tax that has not been approved by Congress, which is their function. When a tariff is levied on an imported item, the exporter pays that tax to bring the product into America, and then American consumers pay a bit more for the product. So, American consumers are paying the un-voted-upon tax.

It used to be that Republicans opposed new taxes. Of course, the party used to oppose deficit spending and cozy relations with Russia, but…times change, I guess.

There was not a lot of tariff levying going on before Trump took office. That’s because there were a number of global trade pacts in place, and everyone was minding their manners. Now that the U.S. has abrogated those deals, a tariff war has ensued. Now, many of our products (exports) are subject to tariffs by the importing countries. Tit for tat.

This costs the American economy. Farmers, in particular, are suffering, because America exports a lot of agricultural products. “Corn Belt” voters were big Trump supporters in 2016, and these MAGA fans are the biggest losers in the President’s tariff war with China. So, what does the Administration do? It announces emergency subsidies for farmers…i.e. money for the crops that they won’t plant or can’t sell.

Who pays for this trade war with China? America does. Our agribusiness exporters pay tariffs to China, reducing their sales and bottom line. And, U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for the agricultural subsidies.

Interestingly, American exporters not so closely aligned with MAGA are not being offered subsidies for the costs they are bearing, and business they are losing, due to the tariff wars that Trump started. Those non-farmer exporters are not pleased.

And, Wall Street is jittery, because these unnecessary tariff wars are inflationary and can lead to a global economic slowdown.

Is this any way to run a business? It’s no wonder that Donald Trump’s business career is besmirched by numerous bankruptcies…goofy ideas that he had, deals that he entered into against sound advice, and his habit of doubling-down on his stupidity when the handwriting was on the wall.

The guy is a high-stakes gambler, typically with other people’s money, who is constantly pushing all of his chips in on his bets, hoping that he can bluff or bully his way to success.

Now that he President of the United States, he is using our money.