TOM FORKNER, R.I.P.

“Just Good Food”

WAFFLE HOUSE!

Its co-founder, Thomas Forkner, 98, passed away last Wednesday in Suwanee, Georgia. Tom’s partner Joe Rodgers had just recently passed away last month.

Any one, and I mean any one, who has ever lived in the South, or heard of the WAFFLE HOUSE, has had at least one meal at one of their nearly 1,900 locations – mainly found in the South and Southeast.

WAFFLE HOUSE is a cultural landmark, and has been since the late ’50s – early ’60s, with its fabulous menu of waffles, hash browns (the best!), sausage, ham, bacon, steak (from Romania I’ve been told – NO matter, they taste great smothered with ketchup and 57 sauce), hamburgers any way you want, and kilos of grease (which is the ‘real’ reason one stops at a WAFFLE HOUSE!!!).

Our family lived in the metro Atlanta area for over twenty years from the start of the ’80s through the start of the 21st century. Without exaggeration, I’ve probably been to 35-40 of their locations surrounding the great city. Each one consistently mouth-watering!

I’ve closed more contracts, and rewritten more specifications/amendments, and negotiated more mutually-agreed resolutions than in any courtroom, or corporate board room, anywhere else in the world, at a WAFFLE HOUSE vs. any other place on Planet Earth.

One last thing that I personally loved about a WAFFLE HOUSE was their staff. They were ALL some of the world’s best psychologists, without the benefit of a glorified classroom on the campus of a very pretentious university. And, that resulted to the benefit of someone like myself, who ALWAYS engaged them with questions of/about L-I-F-E, and “how” they dealt with its inhabitants.

Bon Appetit magazine did a short clip a couple of years ago on WAFFLE HOUSE that’s worth a look…

24/7/365!

NEVER fearful of any forecast from Super Doppler…

MIDTERM ELECTION WASHOUT?

2018 is now staring our 45th president and the GOP right in the face!

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Democrats are in such a “sorry state of affairs” themselves, next year’s election would be a pending tsunami rushing toward the shores of the incumbent Republicans, with the results being a wipe-out of epic proportions, across our fruited plain.

Nonetheless…

Our U.S. economy grew ??? by a scant 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017, and Republicans should take it as a warning that they’d better start moving on tax reform if they want to prevent a midterm election washout in 2018.

Donald John Trump and other Republicans have been dining out on the improvement in consumer and business confidence since Election Day, and with some cause. But the first quarter results show that sentiment alone won’t lift the economy !!! out of its 2% Obama growth doldrums. The so-called Trump reflation trade in stocks is a bet on pro-growth policies, and that trade [an area to really keep an eye on throughout this year] can deflate as quickly as it rose if those reforms do NOT materialize.

The first-quarter report is also a good window on the state of the current expansion, which will hit its eighth anniversary in June. Consumers have powered most of that growth, and the first quarter was weak in large part because they took a breather. Consumer spending barely rose in the quarter and contributed a meager 0.23% to GDP [NO serious economist knows how to read into this stat].

This first quarter of Trump was saved by a revival in business investment, which rose a healthy 10.4% in the quarter and contributed 1.62% to the GDP increase. This investment was offset by a sharp decline in inventories that deducted 0.93% from GDP, but which will probably rebound in future months. Net exports also helped thanks to faster growth overseas, which ought to caution the Administration about starting trade wars.

ALL of this shows that avoiding a recession in Trump’s first term will require a new surge of business confidence and investment. Capital investment has been historically weak in this expansion, but the good news is that there is plenty of money around to invest if the government can give businesses new incentives do so.

CARROT TOP’S REPORT CARD by BILLY

Here’s a few yuks…

PATHETIC, Don, SIMPLY PATHETIC

We ALL have seen/heard what this reporter has had to say/write; or, this network; or, cable news outlet; or, think-tank; or, university; or, or, or, …on and on it has gone this week.

ALL to do with our 45th president’s first 100 days.

Well, he ain’t NO FDR, aunts and uncles…

As a lifetime registered Republican, I feel I have every right to say Donald John Trump has been an unmitigated disaster, as well as a daily embarrassment…

There are two polls that crystallize for me, at least, Trump’s performance, and the state of mind with many of the citizens in the country:

• Gallup did a poll going back to Eisenhower’s first 100 days up to, and including, The Weave‘s first 100 in office, which indicates that Trump has the lowest evaluation at 41% of ALL presidents from ’53 through ’17;
• The second has to do with a Washington Post/ABC poll which shows that of the people – in a cross-section of the country – who voted for Trump…96% would NOT vote any differently today then when they cast their ballots last November 8th.

I NO longer pretend to understand this country any more.

A DEAR FRIEND IS BACK

Over the course of the last three days, I lost contact with one of my closest and most trusted friends in the last 18 years.

It was one of those perplexing occasions where I wondered if I had done something wrong when we were last together on Tuesday morning looking at the world, trying to make sense of it ALL, while at the same time soothing ALL such anxieties with a large plateful of blueberry muffins (heated), and massive amounts of unsalted butter.

My wife has the best recipe for blueberry muffins in the Western Hemisphere!

Then,…………….wham!

What had I done?

Did I touch on the wrong subject?

Was I hammering away toooo long on a serious matter? And, was there something toooo sensitive about it?

Please believe me when I tell you, I did everything I could, and/or knew how to do it in the most proper and respectful way to address it immediately.

Without worsening this confusing situation.

I did NOT want to make it worse! Which, as we ALL know, is easy to do in these types of situations.

So, the last seventy-two hours has been somewhat disconcerting, and extremely unpleasant.

Thankfully, late yesterday afternoon, a mutual associate confirmed that they’d get involved, and assured me that “we’d get it taken care of,” and bring the two of us together again. They felt it was NOT a major issue! “All will be well…”

Yea, right………………!

Lacking a ton of confidence in these types of situations, and more importantly, in said commitments by third parties, I was uneasy that matters would get resolved today between the two of us.

As of an hour ago, hallelujah, ALL sectors of Planet Earth have been verified as being back on its axis, and the bond between my dear friend and me is stronger than ever.

Simply put, relationships need to be tinkered with, when we least expect that such things are necessary, nor are willing to admit to such attention – especially in my case, with my timeless unpleasant personality, under such a cloud!

Well, I have the INTERNET back in my life… again.

PROFESSOR TURGESON

I think I may have the answer to Generation Snowflake…

The one and only Sam Kinison.

12:01 am, Saturday, April 29th

That’s the hour when Uncle Sam runs out of dough, Flo…

Put another way, the government would be shut down, clown.

And, irony of ironies, this coming Saturday is the 100th day of the Trump administration. Symbolism!

Congress’s focus on averting a government shutdown this week is likely to push the House GOP debate over their health-care bill to the back burner for now.

Our 45th president had pressed House Republicans last week to vote as quickly as possible on a modified version of their health bill, which GOP leaders pulled from the floor last month when it became clear it did NOT have enough support to pass, due to a complete rush of incoherent judgement on the part of the GOP; lack of GOP leadership; lack of a coordinated plan after eight years of bitching, and moaning, about healthcare; and, the separatist motivations of the Freedom Caucus.

However, now facing the sundial with a setting sun, House Republicans said that the negotiations to keep the government operating, after its current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 29th, would replace health care as this week’s primary concern.

A statement from Mensa couldn’t have defined it any better!

How many times can a can be ‘kicked down the road?’

 

THE FRENCH ELECTION

Then there were two…

Yesterday, the European Union and its demands of free trade and open borders became the defining fault line of a new political order. On one side stood Emmanuel Macron, a former investment banker who seeks deeper EU integration. On the other was Marine Le Pen, an avowed opponent of the EU and its common currency.

Centrist Macron and far-right politician Le Pen led the first round of voting in the presidential elections of France, as voters redrew the political map, placing the European Union at the center of a new divide.

Macron won the first round with 23.8% of the vote, according to an official tally of 100% of votes, ahead of Le Pen with 21.5%.

NOT surprising, the vote marks a stunning rebuke of France’s mainstream political forces. For more than four decades, a duopoly of conservative and socialist presidents has alternated in the Élysée Palace, squeezing out fringe parties as well as mavericks seeking to end the country’s political and economic sclerosis.

Leading to a country that is only a figment of what it was, and should be.

Early opinion polls this morning are indicating that Macron would handily defeat Ms. Le Pen in a head-to-head contest as/if supporters of defeated candidates coalesce around him. The second, decisive round of balloting is to be held on May 7.

It is here, on this specific point, that there seems to be heavy confusion about how much support Macron will really be able to muster from some of his competitors, which is/will be crucial.

Fears of the country’s membership in the EU, and the euro was/is/will be in jeopardy, as the campaign moves on.

The first-round outcome suggests the country is more divided than ever over the European question.

European leaders across the continent celebrated Macron’s advance to the runoff. Why? The economic future of Europe, which took a severe body blow with Brexit, is at stake.

Macron – whose political party En Marche, or “On the Move,” is barely a year old – the difficulty lies in uniting barons [always has been an issue uniting barons!] from mainstream parties, on the left and right, who have recently defected to his ranks. At the same time, he needs to mobilize young supporters who have displayed savvy in campaigning on social media, but lack experience in machine politics to turn out voters in local constituencies.

Le Pen’s second-place finish is a step forward in her year-long drive to refashion the National Front, a political party founded in the xenophobic, and blatant anti-Semitic spirit of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Still, Ms. Le Pen’s effort to push the party past World War II-era recriminations stumbled earlier this month when she claimed the French state was NOT!!! responsible for the 1942 roundup of Jews, in which more than 13,000 people were arrested and kept in the Vel d’Hiv cycling stadium to be deported to Nazi concentration camps.

Donald John Trump has been a vocal supporter of Le Pen.

Comrade Vlad Putin, according to continuous reporting by The Washington Post and New York Times, has provided a heavy financial aid center to the Le Pen campaign, for the past year. 

One can NOT begin to imagine how Europe, as a whole, will look by the end of 2029, let alone in 2019.

Remember the old days, when NONE of us needed a score card?

And, a Frozen Chocolate Cone was just a quarter…

THE 100 DAY REPORT CARD

Conclusion of the old lobsterman: Donald John Trump has been an unmitigated disaster!

Should NOT occupy any square footage at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

The Weave is a complete and utter embarrassment for the country.

Thanks, Deplorables…

Americans, other than the aforementioned citizens from the Twilight Zone, have become increasingly dissatisfied with our 45th president, as he nears his 100th day in office, with views of his effectiveness and ability to shake up Washington slipping, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

While Trump still draws dwindling support from his own party, he risks losing the nation’s political middle ground. Among independents, disapproval rose markedly, to 54%, while 30% approved of his job performance. That 24-point gap compares with a 9-point margin of disapproval in February.

More than half of Americans – some 54% – disapprove of the job Carrot Top is doing as president, compared with 40% who approve, a 14-point gap.

Trump enters his fourth month in office with a lower job-approval rating than posted by the prior 11 presidents dating to Dwight D. Eisenhower, an analysis of WSJ/NBC and Gallup polling shows. The only other president with job approval under 50% at this point in his tenure was Gerald Ford, who notched 48% support after assuming the presidency following Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974.

The largely negative view of Donnie Boy comes as he nears the 100-day benchmark after a turbulent start in office. While his administration successfully guided his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, to confirmation [his only success, and that came with the historic use of The Nuclear Option], efforts to replace the ObamaCare, a central campaign promise, have failed so far. The administration has NOT made substantial progress on its ambition to overhaul the tax code [this will take on a life of its own as the year come to an end]. Some goals, such as removing the U.S. from a 12-nation trade pact, have been accomplished through his executive powers.

Notably, the new survey found a historically high share of Americans – some 57% – believe the government should do more to solve problems and help people, compared with 39% who said the government is doing too many things better left to business and individuals. Democrats have long said government should do more to help people, but the new survey found other groups agreeing in larger numbers. Some 59% of independents said government should do more, up from 38% in late 2010, when the tea-party movement was growing. The percentage of Republicans calling for more government action grew to 28%, up 11 points.

Even the GOP loves a “free lunch” now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trump has laid out??? [where did he lay it out, and to what detail for purposes of negotiating with Congress?] a nuanced stance on government services [BS!]. I’ve yet to see ANY specifics, have you? He has broken with many in his party to defend the social safety net, pledging NOT to cut Medicare or Social Security. At the same time, he has proposed a budget that would scale back domestic spending, and nonpartisan government analysts say the health bill he backed  would add to the ranks of the uninsured [Trump has NOT even read the summary pages!] – based on simple math; a class that appears to have been NOT offered at the University of Pennsylvania when Don was there.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll was based on nationwide telephone interviews with 900 adults from April 17-20. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.27 percentage points, with larger margins of error for subgroups.

And, the government is just about to run out of $$$$$$$$$$$$$ again!

Washington is but  a ‘ship of fools’ adrift on an uncharted sea…

 

LAST NIGHT’S ROAST from BILLY

I roared last night at Maher…