Nation Getting More And More Stupid

No Corona beer has nothing to do with a virus

There have always been a lot of stupid people around.  Frankly, I'm not especially smart, but there seems to be a big, intensifying competition out there about how extreme stupidity can get.

I don't want to be a part of that competiton.  However, I can gawk at it, because there's tons of examples out there.

I'll start with a relatively mild one, and then let it go downhill from there. You are going to be rolling your eyes and shaking your head, guaranteed.

CORONA BEER CAUSES COVID-19?

Then there was the poll that suggested 38 percent of Americans would never drink a Corona beer because it's similarly named to the Coronavirus.  As if you could get the illness from anything with the word "corona" in it.

By that logic, I guess you could get the illness by going outside on a sunny day.  After all, the sun has a cornona, right?

To my relief, this 38 percent number in the poll could easily be misleading because the poll was poorly worded.

According to HuffPost, the questions and some of the answers went like this:

Question: "Is Corona related to the coronavirus?"  Disconcertingly, 16 percent of beer drinkers were "confused" at this.  Hopefully, the respondents were drunk when they were asked.  Everybody is confused when they're drunk.

Question: "In light of the coronavirus, do you plan to stop drinking Corona?"  Four percent of people who say they usually drink Corona beer would stop because of this. Dummies.

Question: "Would you buy Corona under any circumstances now?"  This was the magic question that got all the publicity. Thirty-eight of beer drinking Americans said they would not.  I'm just hoping and praying most of those who said they would not simply don't like Corona beer and wouldn't drink it even if the coronavirus wasn't a thing.

Or, as HuffPost notes, people might stop drinking Corona because it reminds them of something unpleasant they'd rather not think about, or that drinking a Corona in front of friends or in public would set them up to be the butt of a joke.

So, my bad for not thinking through the logic, or lack thereof, in the way the poll question was worded.

That doesn't mean there's a lot of stupid people out there.  It gets worse. Keep reading.

IT'S THE DEMOCRATS' FAULT

Some of Donald Trump's most ardent supporters have noted that so far, early in this coronavirus epidemic, the majority of cases have been reported in states and cities run by Democrats.

There could be lots of reasons for that.  Bad luck? More widespread testing in those districts? More people in these areas that have traveled to countries that have been particularly hard hit? All plausible explanations. Who knows, right?

Well, the MAGA crowd sure knows what's going on, apparently.   According to Raw Story, here are some of the reasons why the coronavirus has hit places like Washington State and California, both blue states.

I don't want to provide links to these people's Twitter accounts because I don't want to reward them, here's a sampling:

Some moron named Bob Berger tweeted, "Have you noticed all new cass of the coronavirus are in Democrat states Wash. Or. Cal. I'll (sic) RI. do you think the dems are dumb enough to get sick to make Trump look bad just saying."

Yes, because people always want to come down with a potentially deadly illness to own the MAGAs.

 They get worse:  "Prediction: Democrat run cities in the US will start announcing many sick people with coronavirus "symptoms" to crash the Mkts to hurt Trump. It's sad that this is where we are as a country but it's the truth. Democrats know the only chance to beat Trump is a mkt crash."

I'll repeat the above refrain: Destroy their own 401ks to own the MAGA's? Really?

A couple more before my headache gets too extreme: "Notice how the virus is located in Democrat states? Are the Dems purposely contaminating these people? It's a fair question."  So Democrats are into committing genocide?

The answer is apparently yes according to the most stupid MAGAs.  Like this tweet: "Democrat run Blue States will infect the poor with the virus in State Run Hospitals to exploit their deaths against Trump, because, well, it's the Democrats."

This almost, but not quite, makes me wish these ignorant tweeters would come down with the virus. But that would be mean.

GARTH BROOKS AND NOT THAT SANDERS

Garth Brooks wearing a Sanders football jersey.  It references
Barry Sanders, not the Bernie Sanders. But people are too stupid
to understand that, apparently

So this happened to country music legend Garth Brooks last week:

He was in Detroit and part of the plan was to honor Barry Sanders, one of most notable running backs and Detroit Lions NFL players on record.

Brooks wore a #20 Sanders football jersey at his show, and shared a photo of him wearing it on Instagram.

I get it that not every Garth Brooks fan knows who Barry Sanders is.  But it was clearly a football jersey, right?

Nope. Some now erstwhile Garth Brooks fans exploded in anger. The football jersey Brooks wore said "Sanders" so these ignoramuses just automatically assumed Brooks was campaigning for presidential candidate and Democratic-Socialist Bernie Sanders.

As Snopes reported, one person wrote: "I had no idea you wer a big freaking liberal socialist! I've listened to your songs for the last time!" Another wrote, "If this is for Bernie Sanders, I'm done with you. I thought you wer a true American that loves our country."

You wouldn't believe how many similar declarations there were out on social media over the past few days.

As far as anybody can tell, Garth Brooks has in actuality not given any kind of opinion on who he favors for president. Other than perhaps Barry Sanders, who tweeted, "Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP? #Number20For2020."

Brooks tweeted back, "I would run any race with you."  At least the country music star is keeping a good sense of humor about this whole thing.

TIN HAT TIME!

I'll leave you with this, um, creative theory from an actual U.S. Congress candidate Joanne Wright who apparently approvingly retweeted the following now-deleted missive:

 OK, my headache just got much worse. Time to shut this post down for today.

News In Review: Bad Lip Reading Of Trump's State Of The Union

Let's do another Bad Lip Reading to keep this month's absurdity going.

OK, I admit I just featured the "Bad Lip Reading" YouTube videos during the Super Bowl earlier this month, but I can't resist the same YouTube channel's take on Donald Trumps State of the Union address.

In this absurd lip reading world, we learn Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence don't get along (no surprise there).

We also learn how much animosity Bernie Sanders feels toward Trump. In the bad lip reading, Sanders tells a colleague, "I want to roast all of his fingers."

And that famous Pelosi clap back was actually approval when Trump told the Halls of Congress: "I like a pizza party very much."

Here's the rest of the craziness for your deep winter entertainment:

Bernie Sanders Speaks At A Ben And Jerry's Tub Podium Where I Live And It's Weird

Bernie Sanders speaks at a giant Ben & Jerry's tub podium
at an ice cream plant in St. Albans, Vermont recently. 

I live in St. Albans, a town in northwestern Vermont where not much of national importance happens - ever.

But the internet has been going nuts the past week because Bernie Sanders made an appearance at the Ben and Jerry's ice cream plant here in St. Albans.

That' piece isn't that newsworthy. Vermont's congressional delegations always visit many of our bigger employers.

Last week, Vermont Rep. Peter Welch was at the company where I work, Gardener's Supply.

The internet is going nuts, though, because there's nationally known Bernie Sanders, speaking behind a giant tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

The photo has become a Twitter meme

One image was re-captioned:  "I scream, you scream we all scream for social justice reform!

The photo makes it look like Bernie is popping out of a giant tub of Ben & Jerry's. Like a stripper coming out of a cake. Which inspired this comment:

"Worst bachelor party ever."

Others re-envisioned the conversations going on at the Ben & Jerry's plant:

"Bernie: Today, the top one-tenth of 1% owns nearly as much wealth.....
B&J employee: Sir, do you want the Chunky Monkey or not?"

It goes on.

But anyway, how would you captioned the photo in this post?

In A Sanders Snit, Washington State Electoral College Members Might Throw Election To Trump

Will this Electoral College elector from Washington State
throw the election to Trump even if Clinton wins the
popular vote. There's a slight chance he could, all because
he's still in a snit that Bernie Sanders didn't win the
Democratic nomination. 

Washington State is likely to go with Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in tomorrow's pivotal election.

But if the election is close, two Democratic members of the Electoral College, which ultimately picks the president, say they won't, or might not cast votes for Hillary Clinton, even if she wins the popular vote.  

The most adamant of the Washington Electoral College members is Robert Satiacum, who supported Bernie Sanders during the primary, says the Seattle Times. 

Satiacum is still in a snit because Sanders did not win the Democratic primary, so he won't vote for Clinton if she wins Washington. Never mind that Sanders had repeatedly said those who supported hi in the primary should vote Clinton to ensure Trump doesn't win.

"No, no, no on Hillary. Absolutely not. No way," Satiacum told the Seattle Times. "I hope it comes down to a swing vote and it's me....Good. She ain't getting it. Maybe it'll wake this country up."

Judging fron Satiacum's quotes, he's as arrogant and narcissistic as Trump. Oh, he'll single handedly save the country from itself. Sounds like Trump's famous quote that he alone can save this country.

I guess Satiacum wants Trump to win to really ruin the country in the bonehead theory that everybody will come around to his line of thinking, which is to the left of Clinton.

Satiacum, a member of Washington's Puyallup Native American Tribe, is at the Dakota Access pipeline demonstration in North Dakota. (Native Americans and many others are demonstrating against the pipeline because it threatens drinking water for native Americans and it impinges on burial grounds.)

Satiacum says he doesn't like Clinton because he doesn't trust her on environmental and tribal issues.

He doesn't support Trump, but his actions have the slightest threat of throwing the election to Trump. Trump has said that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by China and strongly advocates the coal and oil industries, which certainly contribute to global warming.

Bret Chiafalo, another Democratic elector from Washington State, is also considering not voting for Clinton, even if the popular vote goes her way.

Interestingly, Satiacum, as noted, is a member of the Puyallup Tribe. The Tribal Council strongly backs Clinton, and has donated $460,000 to her campaign, one of the largest contributors from Washington State, says the Seattle Times.

Washington State has 12 of the nation's 538 electors from the U.S Electoral College, which would finalize the presidential results in December. The winner needs 270 votes from the Electoral College to become president.

The chances that Satiacum and Chiafalo could throw the election to Trump despite the will of the people is slim, but it is just that kind of arrogance that makes me wonder why the Founding Fathers established the Electoral College. 

Bubble Burst Bernie Points To Fun New Video Game

Whatever happens with Bernie Sanders next, at
least he inspired a potential video game with all
his pointing out things. 

Stephen Colbert of the Late Show has a genius idea.

It was literally pointed out to him by Bernie Sanders.

Sanders makes lots of points during his stump speech, pointing out those points with his always pointed finger, pointing out money in politics, pointing out economic inequality. You get the idea

All this pointing has Colbert dreaming up a new video game.

Introducing, Bubble Burst Bernie!

"Birdie Sanders" Got A Very Avian Endorsement In Portland Today

Bernie Sanders happily accepts the endorsement of a bird
that landed on his podium during a Portland, Oregon
stump speech today. Click on the photo to make it bigger,
you can see the sparrow on the left side of his podium. 

Presidential candidates will accept endorsements from practically any place they can get them, and Bernie Sanders is no exception.

As Sanders gave his stump speech in the big Moda Center in Portland, Oregon Friday, a small bird landed on his podium.

The incident became all the rage on social media and in the news, and inspired a top trending hashtag, #BirdieSanders

As you might expect, Sanders looked delighted and slightly bemused when the bird landed right in front of him, and the crowd went wild.

Always quick enough to see a political opportunity in front of him, Sanders said of his new friend, "I think there may be some symbolism here... I know it doesn't look like it, but that bird is really a dove asking us for world peace!", Sanders exclaimed.

Actually, it was a sparrow, as the Willamette Week pointed out, but who can complain about a sparrow of peace if a dove isn't available?

I also guess this could be considered an endorsement from the sparrow.

This is going to be mean of me to say, but I bet if the bird landed on the podium at a Donald Trump rally, he would have had security hustle it out of the stadium or have it killed. It would have taken attention away from The Donald.

The bird would have probably pooped on Ted Cruz.

Here's the fun video of the moment Sanders and the sparrow found common ground:

Presidential Campaign Has Gotten So Depressing That Even "Bernie Baby" Passed Away

Benie Sanders with his pint-sized doppleganger last month.  

One cheerful, cute moment in the ongoing presidential campaign was the "Bernie Baby," aka known as Oliver Jack Carter Lomas-Davis.

At four months old, he became an Internet star when he showed up at a Bernie Sanders rally dressed as the candidate himself. Everybody loved it, including Bernie Sanders.

In a sign that there is no happiness in politics this year, I've got what is honestly the saddest news of all. Little Oliver has died of sudden infant death syndrome, otherwise known as SIDS.

Of all the bad things that can happen, this is the worst.

Oliver's mother wrote on Facebook: "I love you dearly, I love you most, I love you with all my heart and soul. I know that God will keep you near since God and truth are here."

Absolutely heartbreaking. It makes our complaints against the candidates and politics seem small, doesn't it?

My condolences to Oliver's family, And thanks to Oliver, wherever he is, for bringing us the bit of joy he did in a grim season. We needed it.

"Feel The Bern" For Bernie Sanders Is ANOTHER Innovative Ad

Image of a "Feel the Bern" ad on YouTube supporting
Bernie Sanders. While this ad did not come from
Sanders' official campaign, it's still pretty innovative.

I don't know what will become of the Bernie Sanders for President campaign, whether he ultimately will be successful or not.

One thing I'm really hoping for, though, is whoever is making his campaign ads continue to produce advertising pitches forever and ever, whether they're for Bernie or not.

Some of these great ad people come from inside the Sanders campaign, some are freelancers doing it independently of the candidate.  

Supporters of the Sanders campaign a couple days ago released another campaign ad on YouTube called "Feel The Bern."

This new ad officially does NOT come from the Sanders campaign. Instead, it appears it was put together by some of his supporters. It also doesn't appear to be designed for television audiences, but for those glued to YouTube and social media.

While not as good as the powerful "Come To America" ad for Sanders earlier this year, which DID originate from the Sanders campaign, this new one is, again, completely different from all the political campaign ads we're used to.

You know the ones you've seen a million times. The candidate faces the camera to tell us how great he or she is, or much more frequently, how disgustingly awful their opponents are.

Sanders ads, like the candidate himself, are not politics as usual. The ads are completely unconvention.

In this latest one, which you can see at the bottom of this post, this ad -whoever made it -   capitalizes on the social media meme and hashtag "Feel The Bern."  The phrase refers to Sanders' influence and success on the campaign trail and in politics, and especially the fresh exposure everyone's gotten to his ideas.

The new ad consists of a full length song called "Feel The Bern," which is a fairly edgy tune, with the lyrics superimposed on the screen for you to read.

The ad is particularly useful for people not yet totally familiar with Sanders' opinions. The ad serves as an engaging short digest summarizing what he believes in and why his campaign says you should vote for him.

You get a lot of images of flames and heat in the ad -- remember, we're feeling the Bern! - along with images highlighting the campaign issues Sanders has been harping on.

Duriing the song''s frequent choruses, which consist of singers just repeating "Feel the Bern," you see a series of direct quotes from Sanders that focus on his main campaign issues.

There's moments of humor thrown in, too. Like a cartoon characater Sanders who opens the ad, and a brief moment midway through in which Donald Trump appears to be attacked by a bald eagle.

Maybe this ad doesn't hit your emotional buttons like "Come To America" did, but still, kudos to the people behind this latest  for daring to do something entirely different than the usual campaign drivel.

Here's the ad:

Watch Another Company Move Jobs To Mexico; Turn Employees Into Sanders Supporters

Carrier/United Technologies hamhandedly
announces their firing 1,400 workers so they
can get cheaper labor in Mexico and then
wonders why everybody is mad. 

If the political "establishment" ever wonders why so many voters are gravitating toward the likes of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, they need only watch the video at the bottom of this post.

In it, Carrier Air Conditioning which is part of United Technologies, is announcing to employees that they're moving to Mexico for the cheap labor and screw you expensive American assholes.

Well, they didn't exactly say it like that, but you get my drift.

Yes, I know that Bernie Sanders and  Donald Trump are worlds apart politically.  Not very alike AT ALL.

But one of the extremely few things the two have in common is they're attracting a lot of people who are fed up with the "system."

It's the system in which that dreaded 1% we hear about calls the shots, mucks with peoples' lives and is totally aided and abetted by the established political system. Or so the thinking goes.

Donald Trump is among the so-called one percent, but his message of blaming our ills on everything but him, but especially the political establishment, Mexicans and Muslims, draws a lot of fans.

Bernie Sanders rails against the one percent so often that if I had a penny for every time he railed against that one percent, I'd BE part of that one percent.

It isn't as if United Technologies is desperate and the only way to save them from bankruptcy is moving to Mexico.

The company and its CEO are flush with cash. They just want more. If they make a bunch of people in Indiana unemployed, it's not their problem. They should just figure out a way to get rich on their own, is apparently the "logic"

Zach Carter writes in Huffington Post, in an article about the Carrier/United Technologies video of them telling employees of the Mexico move. The title of the article is, accurately, "Watch Corporate America Turn a Room Full of Workers Into Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Supporters"

"The contractor does billions of dollars a ear in business with the federal government. CEO Gregory Hayes pulled down nearly $10 million in 2014 and over $20 million the year before. On Thursday, the company reported $7.6 billion in profits, up from $6.2 billion the year before and $5.7 billion the year before that."

And, sorry, it's not the just the wonderful work Hayes is doing to keep the company so profitable. It's also the workers who are making all those air conditioners that are doing it. The ones that are being thrown on the garbage heap here.

I'm sure it wasn't a big leap for the people in the video who were learning they'd soon lose their jobs that the political and economic system is stacked against them and they need to find better leaders to run this country.

This might not be totally fair to the Powers That Be. And there are a lot of complex reasons why a company bails out of the United States in search of cheaper labor elsewhere.

But the employees in the below video  understand that it's all a race to the bottom. A handful of powerful and rich people are amassing wealth, while making the rest of us worse and worse off.

Which is why they're looking for a new direction.

Wanna know why so many people (me included!) are so angry at the way American politics is run? The video at the bottom of the post is one, but Carter in Huffington Post sums it up:

"The answer is pretty simple. Both Republicans and Democrats have consistently backed economic policies over the past 35 years that have systematically gutted the American middle class. For decades, Congress has listened to corporate lobbyists who told our representatives that if they could just cut this one tax rate, or just ease this one regulation, there would be a renaissance of prosperity. The renaissance has happened for the rich. Everyone else has been left behind."

And there you have Trump and Sanders' appeal. Trump is largely self funding his campaign. Sanders is relying on milions of Americans making small donations to his campaign, and he has eschewed PACs and big corporate contributions.

The rest of the presidential campaigns have PACS run by the corporations and the elite. See why everyone's mad?

For what it's worth, Trump posted the following on Facebook:

"1,400 workers in Indianapolis are informerd their company is moving to Mexico. WE cannot allw this to keep happening! It WILL NOT happen under my watch! We need to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"

This is a ready made campaign issue for Sanders, and I expect him to comment on this, very forcefully, any minute now.

I don't have a a decent prescription on how to fix this. Expecially since I'm surely oversimplifying everything.

Still, videos like the one below make me angry, and makes me understand why the rest of the country is so angry.

What I don't understand is why corporate America, and the politicians they pay off, are so bewildered by the fact that everyone is so pissed off.

But then, cluelessness is their forte.

I love/hate how the guy announcing the layoffs explains things. As if the 1,400 he's discarding should just be happy the company is "rescuing" its financial well being.

From theblaze.com, we start with the company rep making the announcement:

"'The best way to stay competitive and protect the business longterm is to move production from our facility in Indianapolis to Monterrey, Mexico,' te representative says as the employees begin booing and shouting. 

The representative goes on to share details that the company doesn't intend to fully close the facility's doors until mid-2017, and encourages employees to 'remain committed to manufacturing the same quality products' until then."

Yeah, like the employees are going to do that to a corporate who thinks their garbage. Pro tip: I wouldn't buy any Carrier air conditioning products going forward.

Theblaze.com then continues with the reaction from the workers:

"'Yeah, fuck you!' one person shouts back.

Later, another one says, 'How long will it take before people start tearing shit up?'

The representative then tells employees how 'extremely difficult' a decision this was to make.

'It was made most difficult because I understand it will have an impact on all of you, your families, and the community,' he said."

Oh, please, this decision was NOT difficult for United Technologies. Anything to maximize profits, right?

Here's the video:

Feel The Bern With A Bernie Tattoo

Yep! You can have your very own Bernie tattoo
And it's free! At Aartistic Inc, a Vermont tattoo shop.

Up here where I live in Vermont, Bernie Sanders is a popular guy.

As people go to the ballot boxes today in neighboring New Hampshire in the nation's first primary this election season, people here in the Green Mountain State hope the predictions are right and that he will trounce Hillary Clinton.  

We'll see. (you can never trust the public opinion polls. Especially in unpredictable New Hampshire, the graveyard of pollsters.)

Some people here in Vermont are so enthusiastic about Bernie they're getting Bernie tattoos. Really.

A Vermont tattoo shop, Aartistic Inc. is giving out free Bernie tattoos. They depict a little drawing of his wild hair and his trademark glasses in a cute little cartoon design.

Aartistic owner Tyre Duvernay told Mashable via email: "He has served this state well and has always conveyed the feelings of Vermonters in Washington. Which is why he's my choice to support in this way."

As much as people like Bernie, there's always the risk of eventual buyers' remorse with any tattoo.

I'm sure people will still enjoy having the tattoo even if Sanders does not ultimately become the Democratic nominee or president.

So far, I'm not aware of anyone getting a Bernie tattoo on their face, but I'm sure that day will come.

Back in 2012, a guy had a large Mitt Romney campaign logo tattooed onto the side of his face. The guy has since had two laser treatments and will need more to get the now fading Romney tattoo off his face.

No word yet from the Sanders campaign on whether he approves of all these Bernie tattoos.

Bernie Sanders Brings Social Justice To The Titanic

For what it's worth, here's the now infamous Saturday Night Live skit from last night featuring Larry David and his doppleganger, Bernie Sanders.

In it, Sanders emerges victorious over the 1 percent as he seeks social justice aboard the Titanic

Watch:

Like Bernie Sanders Or Not, His New Ad Is Very Different, And Remarkably Well Made

Bernie Sanders' "America" presidential campaign ad
is one of the best and most effective I've ever seen. 

You either love Bernie Sanders or you hate him.

Either way, he's certainly not the usual politician.

Just check out his latest ad. It's at the bottom of this post. It's a very unusual ad for a presidential candidate and a very good one at that.

All politicians have ads that try to inspire you, to feel good about the candidate, to embrace his or her story.

This ad for Sanders is no different. But aside from the politics, it's remarkably well crafted. And a welcome change from incessant ads that just hammer away at opponents with misleading claims, shouting and lies.

There are human elements in some campaign ads. There's the humorous moment in the Hillary Clinton ad in which a young girl, probably a plant, asks Clinton if she's elected, will she be paid as much as if a guy won.

That let her launch into her spiel about equal pay for equal work.

A current ad for Republican John Kasich ad is pretty good, too. A good old boy narrator  tells his background story about growing up in gritty Ohio and getting things done, all to the twangy homespun guitar in the background.

But as far as tugging at your heartstrings and trying to get you to embrace a candidate, as well as his message, the new Bernie Sanders clip is tops.  This one's a winner.

In it, you hear the song "America" by Simon and Garfunkel. As the tone of the music swells, we see various shots of quintessential Americans interspersed with Sanders and people at his campaign rallies.  Sanders does not speak in the ad, except for the end, when he informs us that he approved this message.

The ad shows bigger and bigger crowds,. Then you see the smiling mug shots of thousands of people who have donated small amounts of money to the Sanders effort. As this happens the words containing the song's lyrics flash on the screen in front of all the people. "They've all come to look for America."

That ties in with Sanders' message. Whether you agree with him or not, the ad wants you to join the people who think the America they know has been taken away by the powerful forces and people and money Sanders rails against.

All the people supporting his campaign, the ad is saying,  have come to look for the America they remember and want, the one in which power is spread among all the people, not just some elites. And Sanders, by golly, will lead them there, goes the message.

Again, you might not agree with Sanders' overall approach or you might love it.

But coming from a person who detests most ads because they're poorly done. And a person who likes to single out the rare good advertisements you see on TV, this Sanders ad is compelling and effective and artfully done.

It triggers emotions and a feeling of patriotism and makes you remember the "product," in this case, Bernie Sanders.

Watch this very well composed ad:

Jeb Bush Lunch Bags and Clocks, Elizabeth Warren Discos, Bernie Finds Religion: Weird Gifts

Just in time for Christmas gift giving.
A Bernie Sanders prayer candle! 

Mother Jones just put out a gift guide of sorts, featuring some of the more unusual political gifts you could give this holiday season.

Bernie Sanders seems to be the politician most featured in these items, but there's stuff for people of every political stripe.

Following are some of the um, novel products Mother Jones featured, in no particular order.

There's a Bernie Sanders prayer candle, available on Etsy from an outfit called GoSaintYourself. 

The candle dubs Sanders "Saint Bernie" and has him wearing what appear to be Roman Catholic robes, holding an ancient Bible and I don't know what else.

Sanders is Jewish, but that's kinda besides the point, I guess.

Wouldn't you just love to have this Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren
Holiday Disco Paper Ornament? 

Brown bagging it to work? Then how about a collection of brown bags with Jeb Bush's face painted on it, and the logo "Jeb Bush For President *2016*"?  Could be a good diet gimmick. You see that lunch bag and you won't want to eat.

How about a Jeb Bush clock instead? It's a clock dominated by a stern looking Jeb Bush, probably telling those lazy good for nothing low income people to get back to work dammit, lunch time is over!

Probably my favorite political gift highlighted in Mother Jones is the Holiday Disco Party With Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Paper Ornament.

The ornament is just as it says. It depicts Bernie, in red hightops, and Elizabeth Warren in full party dance mode with a mirror ball festooned with holiday lights above them.

True, I wouldn't call real life Elizabeth Warren a Dancing Queen, and Bernie Sanders isn't exactly John Travolta, (though he did dance a bit in a recent appearance on the Ellen show.)

Unfortunately, the Holiday Disco Party With Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Paper Ornament proved hugely popular, and is sold out. Ahhhhhh.

On the bright side, though, from the same company, FullSnowMoon you can still get a paper ornament depicting Chris Christie serving cookies, John Boehner as a Christmas elf or Donald Trump as part of a still life of a bowl of fruit.

Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli, Who Everybody Hates, Making People Hate Him More

"Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli (left) and Bernie
Sanders really DO NOT get along these days.  

I don't know if there's anyone out there better at being a villian than Martin Shkreli.

He's the "Pharma Bro," the hot shot young dude with the hedge funds and drug price gouging habit.

Pharma Bro Shkreli jacked up the price of a medication called daraprim, the only available drug for a certain parasitic disease by 4,000 percent, making the drug unaffordable to many and literally putting the lives of some people in danger.

You know, for fun and especially profit.

After a big public outcry, Pharma Bro pledged to drop the price of the drug back down. I guess he was hoping the media outcry would die out and people wouldn't notice the price is still high. Of course they are noticing.

I don't think he intends to bring the price down. You know, fun and profit.

Speaking of which, Shkreli made news this week by sending a campaign donation of $2,700 to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, reports the Boston Globe.

Which is odd, since I don't think Sanders, who yells about corporate greed every single chance he gets, would be too buddy-buddy with Pharma Bro.

It turns out, Sanders indeed isn't a big fan of Pharma Bro. The Sanders campaign took that $2,700 and donated it to Washington's Whitman-Walker health clinic, the Boston Globe said.

"We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed," sniffed Sanders campaign spokesman Michael Briggs.

By the way, the medication Shkreli jacked the price up on so much helps HIV patients, among others. The health clinic Sanders donated the money to hel;s HIV patients, among others, so the exchange of money seems like a pretty good fit.

This turn of events,  however,  has really made Pharma Bro pout big time.

Apparently, Shkreli wanted to use the Sanders donation to entice him to meet with him, and Sanders is not interested. Pharma Bro wanted to ask Sanders about innovation and health care, and shouldn't we jack up pharmaceutical costs to bring about innovation.

But no dice. "He'll take my money, but he won't engage with me for five minutes to understand the issue better," Pharma Bro whined.

In other words, Pharma Bro tried to buy a meeting with Sanders for the low, low price of $2,700. Then he whined when Sanders wouldn't jump for him at the scent of $2,700, which in the grand scheme of Washington DC lobbying isn't a whole lot of money.

Pharma Bro is really pouting on his Twitter page, Tweeting, "Are campaigns allowed to give to charities? Don't they have to spend their money on campaign-related activities? #InvestigateBernie"

I'm sure Bernie's lawyes have already sorted this out, Martin. So chill.

By the way, Pharma Bro, the pictures of cats rolling around in money on your Twitter feed are a nice touch.

Technically, Sanders IS interested in learning more about what Pharma Bro calls innovation, and what Sanders calls pharmaceutical price gouging.

Sanders is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and sent Shkreli a letter saying the drug price increase was under investigation and please send me certain documents and information pronto!

So far, Pharma Bro hasn't sent Sanders' committee that stuff, even though the deadline to do it was October 9.

Maybe you could send Bernie all your info on drug company pricing and innovation and such, Pharma Bro? Don't know if you'll change Bernie's mind, but at least you could say you tried.

But you'd rather be Pharma Dude, and be this entitled little twit, huh? It's good for business. And making money.

And you're going to stamp your feet and cry when you don't get your way.  Bernie Sanders rejeted you! Bernie is such a meanie! Waaahh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The New Reality: You MUST Always Work

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I didn't work at all, at any of my jobs, on anything for a couple days last week.

I had one of those weird sudden gastrointestinal illnesses that leave you unable to do ANYTHING.

I was lucky. I had the day off from my regular job, and even if I didn't they would have been understanding had I called in sick, and it wouldn't have threatened my future prospects at the company.

I'm also self employed at another job, and now I've fallen behind. But I'm catching up with that now,   so I'm lucky there, too.

But my bit of good luck with jobs and illness is going away fast for the rest of us, it seems.  The way I see it, getting sick to some minds in corporate America is a fireable offense, and falling behind on work, even if no human can do the amount of work demanded in one day, is another Off With The Head crime.

If I were to believe a lot of what I'm reading lately, you are a scumbag if you do not work 24/7. I know that's not true in reality, but in order to survive in this country nowadays, it IS true, unfortunately.

Don't get me wrong. Working very hard is terrific. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. You earn a little cash. You have a sense of pride for contributing.

Everybody must pull their weight. I don't have patience for lazy people, either. So work hard, everyone!

However, there's such a thing as too much of a good thing, and there's a lot of "too much" out there.

That was highlighted last week by that New York Times article on the workplace culture at Amazon that made such a splash.

Apparently, white collar workers at Amazon have to be superhuman. One employee felt compelled to work four all nighters in a row.   One person was pretty much fired because she had the temerity to contract thyroid cancer.

Oe woman was forced to go on a business trip the day after her miscarriage.

NPR, discussing the article, said, "One ex-employee's fiance became so concerned about her nonstop working night after night that he would drive to the Amazon campus at 10 p.m. and dial her cellphone until she agreed to come home. When they took a vacation to Florida, she spent every day at Starbucks using the wireless connection to get work done."

Of course, the white collar workers at Amazon have it easy, compared with some of their past history for blue collar workers in their warehouses.

Amazon had warehouse workers toil in overheated summertime warehouses where temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. Instead of cooling the air and giving the workers a few chances to recover from the heat, Amazon famously stationed a few ambulances outside a Pennsylvania warehouse to cart out heat stroke victims.

Then, they'd just replace the victims with somebody else, unless the poor overheated souls made a quick recovery. Pretty sickly Darwinian, no?

An emergency room doctor finally called federal authorities to report an "unsafe environment" after he treated several warehouse workers. Under pressure, Amazon finally put in a littl air conditioning. At least sort of.

Why did these workers put up with it? Or at least try to? There weren't many jobs in the area, especially when this problem peaked in 2011. So they took their chances.

I guess that's the way things are nowadays. You do what you have to do, given the stagnating wages and iffy job prospects for most of us who aren't in the 1 percent.

Also, despite Jeb Bush's assertion, most Americans really do want to work hard. Again, that's a virtue. But when does it become too much?

As the New Yorker pointed out, the white collar grind at Amazon isn't unique. Employees at elite investment banks and law firms often put in 16-hour days and work weekends.  They get paid a lot, so you can't feel as bad for them as beleaguered minimum wage workers, but still.

Workers at various dot com and other industries are increasingly saying they are being exploited. You know work around the clock, be on call all the time, but not being rewarded enough financially for their efforts.

The Guardian's economic editor, Larry Elliot, cites the decline of unions as a symptom of a return of the extreme pressure on workers last seen in the 19th century.

Unions "were originally formed as a respose to exploitation by 19th century mill owners..... (Keeping) a cowed workforce under the lash with non-stop pressure, bullying and psychological warfare, Bezos is the 21st century equivalent."

Which makes me wonder if the seeds of a new labor movement are starting. It's hard to tell, but I do see news of more and more unionization efforts at various workplaces.

At last check, unionization rates were still declining, but for how long?

It seems like the presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders has really taken off in large part because of his long standing campaign to raise the fortunes of workers and to reign in the 1 percent.

It's morning, and I'm getting ready to go to work now. I'm looking forward to it. I want to have a very productive day, and not slack on the  job. Most people feel this way about their work.

The company I work for is being fair to me. Maybe because it's employee owned and we're all in this together?  Maybe my choosing to work for an employee owned firm is a bit of a rebellion against the 1 percent taking everything from their workers, I don't know.

I know it's kind of bad form to whine about the boss man making so much more than you do. But there comes a time when you don't want to cross the line from being an employee to being a slave or indentured servant.

That's why there's so much excitement about Bernie Sanders, and such a strong reaction to that New York Times Amazon article.

Bernie Sanders Is A Presidential Shoo-In Now That Deez Nuts Has Endorsed Him

Why is this man smiling? Maybe because Deez Nuts
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The other day, we learned that a presidential candidate named Deez Nuts was polling at 9 percent in a North Carolina survey.

Deez Nuts is also doing better than some strugging Republican candidates.

Of course we learned that Deez Nuts turned out to be a prank. Deez Nuts is really Brady Olson, 15, of Wallingford, Iowa who decided on a whim to seek the Presidency.

He's endorsing himself for president, of course, but he really can't be president because there's this little clause that says he's not old enough. Still, I imagine Deez Nuts would do a better job as president than some of the other candidates, so there's that.

Given that he can't be president because of his age,  Deez Nuts has given his endorsement and he favors Bernie Sanders, the Independent from Vermont running as a Democrat who is causing such a stir.  

With Deez Nuts behind you, Bernie,  you can relax. With that endorsement, you can just coast to the election and become our next president in 2016.