To Get Out the Vote!

 My 100 postcards came today!

Did you get yours?

TIme for a Laugh

 

   A store that sells new husbands has opened in Toronto , where a woman

may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is

a description of how the store operates:

 

You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value

of the products increase as the shopper ascends the flights. The

shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to

go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit

the building!

 

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first

floor the sign on the door reads:

 

Floor 1 - These men have jobs.

 

She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads:

 

Floor 2 - These men have jobs and love children.

 

'That's nice,' she thinks, 'but I want more,' so she continues upward.

The third floor sign reads:

 

Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love children, and are extremely good looking.

 

'Wow,' she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

 

She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

 

Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love children, are drop-dead good

looking and help with the housework.

 

'Oh, mercy me!' she exclaims, 'I can hardly stand it!'

> 

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:

 

Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love children, are drop-dead good

looking and help with the housework, and have a strong romantic

streak.

 

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to thesixth floor, where the sign reads:

 

Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men

on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are

impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

 

PLEASE NOTE:

 

To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opened a New Wives

store just across the street.

 

The first floor has wives who love sex.

 

The second floor has wives who love sex, have money and like beer.

 

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors have never been visited.

 ****

Just so you know I got mine on the 5th floor and he turns 76 today!

Happy Birthday, Dan!

NH Highland Games & Festival

 Saturday we traveled with friends to our first Sottish Festival held in Lincoln, NH at Loon Mountain Resort.  It was the 51st festival. Our friends have attended many times, so not knowing what to expect we told them we would follow their lead.

We headed first to the Parade Square where the opening ceremony and massed bagpipe bands were assembling.  From there we went to see a dance contest and then ended up watching some of the highland games.  There was so much going on, all at the same time on the schedule throughout the grounds.  We only got a sampling.

For me one of the highlights was seeing all the people showing their Scottish heritage in their dress. I've never seen so many men in kilts and looking like in was a natural thing for them.

If you knew your clan, you could register at a tent set aside for it.

The opening ceremony started with a bagpipe band leading in all the clans represented here.

Not sure what the significance of this group was but we did see them later as we passed an area showing old crafts.

After the clans left it was time for the massed bagpiper bands.

I'm not one for bagpipe music in a confined space but here with the mountains around us the sound was wonderful.

We stopped in later to see a sword dancing contest.  This was a young lady in the under 12 category.

These two were older and I was surprised to see a young man dancing it too.

Here's who provided their music.

Isn't this a lovely couple?

This man sang all the national anthems on the parade ground.  He sounded much better in this setting. The anthems were for Canada, Scotland, Great Britain and USA.

Highland games included a type of shot put for women and men, caper toss (like tossing a telephone pole) and something with a pitchfork and make believe hay bale.

I'm hoping Blogger will let me load a video.

No luck with 39 second one.

We lucked out with the weather.  It was a beautiful blue sky day with a high in the 60ºs. Sunday as I write this it's raining all day.

 

 

	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more UNDAUNTED: Take The Wins 🚨46 Days to the Midterms🚨 JENNIFER RUBIN SEP 18   READ IN APP   Sometimes, it is hard for pro-democracy forces to take “yes” for an answer. Wary of “crediting” the egregiously partisan U.S. Supreme Court majority with any principled ruling, and conditioned to expect another assault on democracy, many Democrats greeted even a win as convincing and critical as a decision on the merits in the U.S. Post Office case with shrugs and eye-rolling. Worse, many remain suspicious about mail-in voting (which is entirely safe, secure, and vital to maximizing turnout). The Supreme Court decision blocking Donald Trump’s war on mail-in voting is an undiluted win for democracy.  Trump knew how big it was, and lashed out at the justices he had appointed in response, thereby confirming the enormity of his defeat. It’s important to emphasize the magnitude of the victory defending mail-in voting, not only to reassure Americans that voting by mail is safe and secure, but to sustain voters’ sense of agency, a critical part in any battle against an authoritarian regime. Political science research confirms, unsurprisingly, that people want to be on the winning side in political contests, writes voting advocate and litigator Tyler J. Hagenbuch. He explains: Political scientists Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan spent years studying why some movements against authoritarians succeed while others fail. … People are very good at deciding whether a fight is worth their effort, and their decision usually comes down to whether the fight seems like it’s working. This is exactly why political campaigns are always talking about who has “momentum.” More people join the side that seems to be winning. In the context of Trump’s total failure to hobble the Post Office, which would have disenfranchised potentially millions of voters, it is critical to remind voters that the authoritarians do not have some magical powers or secret sauce for staying in power. “[E]very time an attack on our elections fails so completely and so publicly, the country learns that none of this is inevitable and that we aren’t powerless. Americans have agency in this moment, and that terrifies Trump,” Hagenbuch observes. Voting law guru Rick Hasen agrees about the importance of the convincing legal win. “[T]he court’s conservatives and liberals came to the brink, saw that ruling the other way risked serious election subversion, and said ‘No,’” Hasen wrote. “The Supreme Court has been terrible on voting rights, but so far, it has held the line on actual election rigging. Let’s celebrate that, even as we gird for more battles to come.” This does not mean that Democrats need to declare the crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court created by its MAGA partisan majority is over. A broken clock is right twice a day, so an occasional decision striking down such an obvious constitutional power grab hardly cures the crisis at the court or alleviates the urgency for systemic, dramatic reform. And let’s readily concede that Justice Sam Alito’s dissent, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, is among the most factually inaccurate and intellectually dishonest of his career, which is saying something. But refusing to recognize the significance of Trump’s humiliating defeat is counterproductive and unwise for multiple reasons. Subscribed Whether it is the USPS case, his slap-down in the companion Post Office case in the District of Columbia, or the critical rebuff of MAGA Republicans’ appeal from their devastating loss in the Missouri redistricting case, Trump has been losing repeatedly of late and finding himself on the receiving end of judges’ unsparing, harsh rebukes. It is vital to recognize the stalwart work not only of litigators — including our own Norm Eisen — but of lower court judges (whose stellar opinions set the predicate for the win at SCOTUS on the Post Office case). Operating under a constant barrage of physical and personal attacks in retaliation for standing up to Trump, they deserve support and praise. Their continued service is essential if our democracy is to survive the rest of the Trump years. And when the Supreme Court upholds their work, they and their peers on the bench must understand that their work is not futile. Moreover, victories in key election cases at this point in the midterm cycle are critical to maintaining voters’ faith in the electoral process and keeping the edge in enthusiasm/turnout. It is not false bravado or misguided Pollyanna-ism to recognize when things go in favor of democracy forces. There is no virtue in telling people wins don’t matter because something else bad will come along (or that Trump won’t follow the law or that he will invent a new maneuver to cheat). Defeatism is the death knell of a popular democracy movement, playing into the hands of despots who spend endless energy and time trying to convince the opposition that resistance is hopeless. What is crucial for pro-democracy forces at this stage is to realize that many of the guardrails are holding. Though re-redistricting and other voter suppression techniques make it harder for pro-democracy forces to prevail, robust participation in the midterms brings us closer to the end of Trump’s span of uncontested trifecta power. Recognizing legitimate victories and spreading a sense that our elections will be secure and meaningful help spur citizen volunteers to participate in voting protection efforts (as state parties and unions are now doing); encourage early voting (which helps build momentum toward Election Day), and drive participation at live, in-person campaign events. Keeping voters engaged and turning out the vote may now be the most essential component in preservation of our democracy. Right now, Democrats not only lead in generic polling and a wide array of House and Senate races critical to taking both houses; they are outpacing Republicans considerably in enthusiasm. They have far surpassed Republicans in turnout in the primaries, a strong indication of relative turnout in the general election. By nearly every measure, Republican voters are down in the dumps, not even bothering to watch Trump’s cringeworthy fascist rally in Dallas. In polling, Republicans are increasingly willing to register disapproval of him, his policies, and of the economy’s performance. (A sizeable share don’t even buy into his $5000 check scam!) Especially for Trump and his cult, who rely on Trump puffery as a “winner” and denigration of opponents as “losers,” frequent embarrassment in court (and in failed wars and in our economy) can be demoralizing, which in turn spreads in MAGA ranks. Running down Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, the Republicans’ Senate nominee, signals to voters he is damaged goods. Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers ducking a debate (leaving his opponent to debate and mock an empty podium) hardly inspires Republicans to trek to the polls. Republicans now are the ones at risk of self-fulfilling defeatism. In sum, we salute the undaunted, unwavering, and unbowed litigators and judges who are holding the line for democracy, and providing reassurance that if the people do their part and turn out to vote, the darkest era in modern American political history will end. It now is up to you, the voters who value democracy, to do the work necessary to defeat the MAGA regime. I will be off on Monday for Yom Kippur. I wish all who are observing a meaningful holiday and an easy fast. The Contrarian is community-supported. Help fund bold journalism and critical lawsuits to stop Trump’s corruption by becoming a paid subscriber. Join the fight now. Subscribed Thank you for being part of The Contrarian. Share this piece to help spread the word.