When the President Is a Joke...

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Friday March 10, 2017 · 5:47 AM PST

2017/03/10 · 05:47

https://tpzoo.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/trump-reuters_jim-young.jpg

The following joke is making the rounds on German FB feeds:

Trump visits Berlin and asks Angela Merkel for the secret of her success. She answers, "I surround myself with intelligent people."
Trump: "How can you tell they're intelligent?"
Merkel: "I have them solve a riddle. Let me show you." She calls Wolfgang
Schäuble [minister of finance] and asks him: "Who is it: your father's son but not your brother?"
Schäuble: "That would be me."
Merkel (turning to Trump): "See, that's how I can tell."

Back in D.C., Trump calls Mike Pence and asks him, "Who is it: your father's son but not your brother?"
Pence: "Let me ponder on it and get back to you."

Just out of curiosity, Trump calls Barrack Obama and asks him the same question: "Who is it: your father's son but not your brother?"
Obama: "That would be me."
Trump: "You idiot! It's Wolfgang Schäuble!"

Add your Trump joke(s) in the comment section

Hypothetical Cake

MaikeH

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Tuesday April 07, 2015 · 10:55 AM PDT

2015/04/07 · 10:55

"If a gay baker refused to make a cake for a Muslim, who would liberals side with?"

This is the latest meme a former colleague of mine posted on Facebook, adding the question, "Well?"

Well? It depends on the circumstances under which the cake was refused, doesn't it?

Here's how I answered:

MaikeH

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Friday June 27, 2014 · 11:28 AM PDT

2014/06/27 · 11:28

So the US soccer team survived the so-called "Group of Death" and will advance to the next round, even though they lost the last game against Germany.

According to my coworkers and assorted Facebook friends, that is just wrong. After all, a truly American sport never rewards losers. Real Americans win or go home. See my response below the squiggle

MaikeH

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Monday May 06, 2013 · 4:37 PM PDT

2013/05/06 · 16:37

Frank's Restaurant in Schulenburg, Texas, famous for its giant enchilada plates, is a favorite with senior citizens all over the Lone Star State. If you're going to Houston on I-10 and you have someone eligible for Medicare in your travel group, you're stopping at Frank's. Period.

Last night I had dinner at Frank's (the people I was with insisted on stopping there) and overheard a conversation between three senior citizens that made me grin.

MaikeH

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Friday February 15, 2013 · 1:01 PM PST

2013/02/15 · 13:01

I live in Texas, but I don't own a gun. Never have, and, if I listen to my boyfriend, never will. Before I moved to the Home of the Brave, I never thought I needed a gun anyway. Besides, I am visually impaired (I drive with heavy-duty corrective lenses), and nowhere BUT in this Land of the Free would I ever get a gun license.

The first time I ever considered getting a gun was after I had been mugged and friends suggested that I start packing heat. My BF told me not to do it, wisely pointing out that both the teenage punk-ass robber and I came out of the situation alive. I even got my purse back since a boy running through the night with a woman's purse under his arm attracted a cop's attention.

I told my BF that IF I were to get a gun, I'd take classes so I'd know what I'd be doing. BF, who owns a shotgun (for bird hunting) that he stores in a rented storage locker, said that wasn't point. The reason he doesn't want me to have a gun is, as he said, that it changes one's way of thinking.

Yesterday I was again reminded how smart he is.

MaikeH

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Wednesday November 14, 2012 · 10:55 AM PST

2012/11/14 · 10:55

Echte Liebe ("true love" or "real love") is the unofficial motto of the German soccer club Borussia Dortmund. It's what the players say they feel for their fans, and the fans love them right back.

In fact, to some people soccer is (like) a religion. It is rare, however, that the love of soccer and established religion clash. One of those rare cases is the story of nine-year-old Jens Pascal, whose dying wish was to have a soccer-themed grave.

MaikeH

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Monday November 12, 2012 · 10:52 AM PST

2012/11/12 · 10:52

Schadenfreude ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə (German: [ˈʃaːdənˌfʁɔʏdə]) is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.[1] This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and in Swedish as skadeglädje and Finnish as vahingonilo.

As comments here and elsewhere have stated, it's not surprising that a word with such a sinister definition comes from German. After all, Nazis.

Yet, the word's meaning is more complex than the simple Wikipedia definition. It does not mean that Germans stand at the scene of a fatal accident and laugh their asses of. It does not mean that they can't stop giggling at a funeral. It also doesn't mean that they're doubled over during a natural disaster in someone else's country.

Wikipedia's definition leaves out two important aspects of Schadenfreude:

1) the recipient of the feeling must be considered deserving of what happens to him/her

2) the damage experienced by said person must not be greater than the damage he/she inflicted or might have inflicted upon others

Let me elaborate below the orange thingy:

MaikeH

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Wednesday November 07, 2012 · 4:44 AM PST

2012/11/07 · 04:44

... there are a number of phrases, memes, and figures of speech that I hope never to hear or see again:

(in random order)

MaikeH

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Thursday October 25, 2012 · 8:59 AM PDT

2012/10/25 · 08:59

I did it -- my first presidential election as a US citizen.

I went to one of the early-voting locations in my neighborhood; on Monday, the first day of early voting in Texas, there were lines all the way out the door. Today, however, was more like a steady stream. I didn't wait long at all, probably because I voted at a time when most people were at work.

The voting machine (which always freaks me out a little) worked less sluggishly than in 2010, and I was in and out of there quickly.

Interestingly, the choices for Texas Board of Education included two acquaintances of mine: Rebecca Bell-Metereau for the Democratic Party and Irene Scharf for the Green Party. Irene was the librarian at my first teaching job, and I have a special fondness for librarians. However, party loyalty won out, and I went with Rebecca. Other than that, no-brainers all around.

So, have you voted yet? If so, what was it like? How many people were there, and what were the demographics?

Are these your first elections? If no, when did you first vote and who was the first presidential candidate you voted for?

My first-ever elections were in 1983, and I voted for Hans-Jochen Vogel for chancellor (Helmut Kohl won).

Poll

51 votes Show Results

Have you voted?

51 votes Vote Now!

Have you voted?

Yes

44 votes

Not yet

7 votes

Listen to Coach Pop

MaikeH

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Monday October 15, 2012 · 5:38 AM PDT

2012/10/15 · 05:38

And yes, Gregg Popovich is an Obama supporter.

$0.02 from a First-Time Voter

MaikeH

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Thursday October 04, 2012 · 1:35 PM PDT

2012/10/04 · 13:35

Okay, first of all, a major qualifier is in order. I have been a voter for almost thirty years (wow, am I really that old?), just not in this country.

I was sworn in as US citizen in December of 2008, and as the voter registration cards were passed out after the ceremony, we were told that we just "missed a major election" but that there would be another one "four years from now."

Of course I knew better, and in 2009 I gladly voted for Julian Castro. In 2010, I also voted, but none of my candidates won.

It is true, however, that November 6 will mark my first presidential elections as a US citizen. From that perspective, I am going to add yet another
comment/analysis/whatever to the many that are already floating around.

MaikeH

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Wednesday September 12, 2012 · 11:23 AM PDT

2012/09/12 · 11:23

In the aftermath of Obama's acceptance speech, many have analyzed and interpreted his statement that he is, obviously, the president.

To some it meant asserting his status as alpha dog. To some it was an apology for hope unfulfilled and dreams deferred. For some it was a wistful yearning for simpler times.

A crisis like the current one, however, illustrates clearly what it means to be the president rather than a candidate.

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When the President Is a Joke...

Hypothetical Cake

World Cup: Neither Rocket Science nor Communism

"Not Everyone Can Say They Got Kicked Out of the White House"

Why My Boyfriend Thinks I Shouldn't Have a Gun

"True Love"

Schadenfreude

Now that it's over with...

Have You Voted Yet?

Listen to Coach Pop

$0.02 from a First-Time Voter

"I AM THE PRESIDENT"