Blogs (62,438)

Let's start off with one from the Sixties.

For this past Sunday mornings I've been hugging and kissing a older female from my Unitarian-Universalist congregation in Pittsburgh,Pa, who I met face to face in person(not online); while sitting next to her in the pews during worship she gives me a cough drop.

By Invitation | Pakistan
Imran Khan warns that Pakistan’s election could be a farce
His party is being unfairly muzzled, the former prime minister writes from prison

image: dan williams
Jan 4th 2024

Share
Today pakistan is being ruled by caretaker governments at both the federal level and provincial level. These administrations are constitutionally illegal because elections were not held within 90 days of parliamentary assemblies being dissolved.

The public is hearing that elections will supposedly be held on February 8th. But having been denied the same in two provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over the past year—despite a Supreme Court order last March that those votes should be held within three months—they are right to be sceptical about whether the national vote will take place.

The country’s election commission has been tainted by its bizarre actions. Not only has it defied the top court but it has also rejected my Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (pti) party’s nominations for first-choice candidates, hindered the party’s internal elections and launched contempt cases against me and other pti leaders for simply criticising the commission.

Whether elections happen or not, the manner in which I and my party have been targeted since a farcical vote of no confidence in April 2022 has made one thing clear: the establishment—the army, security agencies and the civil bureaucracy—is not prepared to provide any playing field at all, let alone a level one, for pti.

It was, after all, the establishment that engineered our removal from government under pressure from America, which was becoming agitated with my push for an independent foreign policy and my refusal to provide bases for its armed forces. I was categorical that we would be a friend to all but would not be anyone’s proxy for wars. I did not come to this view lightly. It was shaped by the huge losses Pakistan had incurred collaborating with America’s “war on terror”, not least the 80,000 Pakistani lives lost.

In March 2022 an official from America’s State Department met Pakistan’s then ambassador in Washington, dc. After that meeting the ambassador sent a cipher message to my government. I later saw the message, via the then foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and it was subsequently read out in cabinet.

In view of what the cipher message said, I believe that the American official’s message was to the effect of: pull the plug on Imran Khan’s prime ministership through a vote of no confidence, or else. Within weeks our government was toppled and I discovered that Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, had, through the security agencies, been working on our allies and parliamentary backbenchers for several months to move against us.

Click the link below to read more.

A quote from the top of the blog page:




A Blog is a journal you may enter about your life, thoughts, interesting experiences, or lessons you've learned.
I do, but some people complain about that.

Post an opinion, impart words of wisdom, or talk about something interesting in your day.
I do, but some people complain about that.

Update your blog on a regular basis, or just whenever you have something to say.
I do, but some people complain about that.

Creating a blog is a good way to share something of yourself with others.
It would appear that way on the surface. Should I go into detail of how people misinterpret what I say, gossip about me, copy or mock my comments in spinoff blogs?

Side note:
One of the biggest complaints about dating sites is the amount of scammers. I spend a few hours each week carefully researching bogus profiles FOR FREE and have been happy to have quietly rid CS of more than 1,000 fakes last year, yet one member here repeatedly has to make negative comments about it to others. In layman's terms WTF is wrong with you people?

. This film wins the contest for lead dog in the quest of truth trumping facts.



Not to worry Trump fans ...this page will cut both ways .

Mustache also spelled moustache refers to facial hair under the nose. I've used some language translators that have fewer words (than English) to describe facial hair. Beard, long sideburns, mutton chops, goatee and mustache all get grouped together. The same thing happens to gnat and mosquito where other languages call any 'tiny flying bug' a mosquito, but this blog is about mustaches.

I started facial hair growth in the 1970's around the time guitarist Ted Nugent released his album Survival Of The Fittest where he hadn't shaved in a few weeks. I tried the look, but that got shaved off as it really wasn't my style. In the 80's, my wife asked me to grow a mustache and it had the vertical strips like Glen Frey of The Eagles. Trimming it back to a normal length, the mustache has always remained and I often think there will be a day when I shave it off completely.

Going through old photos I found one of an uncle who had what many Italians refer to as a Mafioso mustache. It's a trimmed growth probably 5-6 millimeters (1/4") in width along the upper lip.

Certainly, if I lose my mind (and trademark mustache) and decide to shave it off, I'll buy an electric razor and document the event with photos... there will be the phase of Mafioso 'pencil thin' mustache before it all comes off!




Who knows, I may decide to keep it that way...

DISCLAIMER for those who don't actually read my blog and assume the guy in the photo is me. It's a nameless person who's photo came up on a Google search of mustaches.

The fall of modern Disney. Will Disney become another Bud Light brand?

The Supreme Court will decide if Trump can be kept off 2024 presidential ballots

• Published January 5, 2024, 5:10 PM EST | Washington, D.C.

NEWS By Associated Press
The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be kept off the ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, inserting the court squarely in the 2024 presidential campaign.

The justices acknowledged the need to reach a decision quickly, as voters will soon begin casting presidential primary ballots across the country. The court agreed to take up a case from Colorado stemming from Trump's role in the events that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Arguments will be held in early February."


More to follow as things unfold..... news worth following.

The first two batches of unsealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents reveal a number of high-profile individuals whose names appeared multiple times in various materials, including footnotes.
Among them are two former US presidents – Donald Trump and Bill Clinton – and Prince Andrew, all three of whom have been pictured with and known to associate with the disgraced financier in the past.
Other names include lawyer Alan Dershowitz and magician David Copperfield.
However, being identified through the court documents does not necessarily mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.
Unsurprisingly, Epstein’s partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell is one of the names that appears the most - 208 times in the first tranche.
The British socialite’s name appears in full 20 times, due to the files being part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against her. The name “Maxwell” appears 849 times, though this is some times in reference to legal matters and footnotes.
References to Maxwell were made throughout the documents, with various other witnesses being asked about her involvement with Epstein in their separate testimonies.
The second tranche of documents contained the name Maxwell 352 times.
She is currently serving 20 years in prison, having been convicted sex-trafficking underage girls in June 2022.
Prince Andrew - 110
Prince Andrew has been named 110 times accross both sets of documents.
Bill Clinton - 83
Clinton’s name is mentioned 83 times in the documents so far. Both he and Andrew are known to have been associated with Epstein previously.
Part of the testimony from Ms Sjoberg alleges that Epstein once told her that Clinton “likes them young” – referring to girls.
Donald Trump - 4
Clinton is not the only former commander-in-chief to appear in the documents. Donald Trump was named in the first batch, though only four times.
In part of Ms Sjoberg’s testimony, she claimed Epstein once “called up” the former president and visited one of his casinos after his private plane was diverted to Atlantic City in New Jersey.
Elsewhere, Ms Sjoberg was asked if she ever gave Mr Trump a massage, to which she replied “no”.
Magician David Copperfield - 6
US magician David Copperfield was named six times in the first set of documents, having reportedly had dined with Epstein on occasion.
Copperfield’s relationship with Epstein has previously been noted, including in a 2019 article from The New York Times, which described Maxwell’s role in acquiring young girls for the disgraced financier.
Hollywood stars
Other big Hollywood names have also appeared in the documents, though mostly just once or twice during Ms Sjoberg’s testimony.
She is asked about meeting guests at Epstein’s residence, including Star Wars creator George Lucas – who is mentioned once – and actor Kevin Spacey, who is mentioned twice. Ms Sjoberg says she does not remember meeting either man.
She also does not remember meeting British supermodel Naomi Campbell, who is named once in the documents.
Late King of Pop Michael Jackson is also named twice, after Ms Sjolberg is asked if she met “anybody famous” while with Epstein. She said she did meet Jackson.
Alan Dershowitz - 166
Epstein’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz is also named over 100 times, though in some places this is simply in footnotes referring to legal matters.
Sharon Churcher - 324
British journalist Sharon Churcher has made over 300 appearances in the second tranche of documents, released on Thursday.
Ms Churcher was the sole source of regarding the original Epstein story from Giuffre, according to the response filing. Maxwell also claimed she helped Virginia Giuffre “concoct” s*xual assault allegations against the Duke of York.

Link: www. Independent.co.uk