We all go through hard times and it’s in that place that we grow. Sometimes it’s the darkest times that teach us, they make us aware of experiences that have been given to us. They give us perspective.
When I was 17 I really wanted this car my friend was selling. I asked my father if he could help me get the car. He said “do you need a ride to pick it up”. I said “no Dad, I mean financially”. He looked at me and said, “oh, well, if you really want that car, you’re going to have to get a job”. “Cars cost money, even to get them on the road”. At the time I remember I was really bummed out he wouldn’t just get his check book, write a check, and buy the car for me, doesn’t that sound like a 17 year old. He never gave me a dime, but he did help me. With my strong desire for that car he in his ways forced me to get a job. He then co-signed a loan for me. I’ll never forget my first loan, it was a 3 year personal loan. I borrowed 3800 dollars with an 18% interest rate which cost 138 dollars a month. I got the car and I made every payment with money I worked for. I paid the car off over the 3 years.
Not long after I got the car my father got sick and eventually passed away. It wasn’t until after he was gone I realized what he had taught me. He taught me if I wanted something I had to work for it, and that hard work can get you where you want to go. After my father was gone I couldn’t believe how much I missed his way of pushing me to earn what I get. It was that dark time in my life, losing my father, that engrained that lesson deep inside of me, and made me see the real gift he had given to me that I will never forget.
There are no guarantees in life’s path, but I know many kids growing up whose parents did write that check, some over and over again, and the child fell on their hypothetical face in life. Their parents never gave them that important lesson. That opportunity was missed to build the character of earning what you get in their child.
We all have been through 4 very dark years ruled by a man that lived his whole life being paid with money taken from others hard work. In his whole life it would be hard to find a thing that he built that benefitted anyone more than it benefited himself. He lied to us over and over again to push his tyrannical power grabbing agenda and at his peak of power he called himself dark Joe. These dark times Joe gave us made us realize what we were losing. Those dark days toughened us. It brought into the light how fragile our freedom is. It gave us a new strength, a new administration, and a new President that spent his whole life building things. It gave us a President that is trying his hardest to give us back our bill of rights and bring into light the decades and decades of corruption. Those dark times we all suffered through, especially DJT, just might be what saves this country.
It’s like a seed. A seed that is always left out in the light will never reach its potential. It’s in that dark place, under the earth, that the seed grows into the beautiful producing plant it was meant to be. Happy Sunday! J.Goodrich
I’ve change a lot in the last 4 years. I’ve learned to love an acerbic sometimes very inappropriate speaker (President Trump) for his truth and courage while despising a kindly old man pretending to love children while sinking Americans into poverty and tyranny that enriched his family and destroyed ours. (ExPresident Biden) let us never be deceived by superficial looks again!
Barbara, glad you’ve come around to appreciating POTUS Trump - can’t say I ever had that issue; even in 2015 when, at best, I thought DJT would only be able to give the rest of the crowd a swift kick in the their collective rumps. I don’t watch much TV/video for "educational" purposes: initially it was because the video info dump was too slow (even today with a repeatedly fracture brain, video usefulness can only go so far), then I discovered that video could be deceptive and that it was more informative to just listen to politicians. I recall the great experiment of the Nixon-Kennedy debate: those who watched thought JFK won while those who listened sided with Nixon. I think it served me well with 💩 💩 🧠 as just listening one could feel the dementia that was riddling our nation - didn’t need to see the vacuous eyes. What he emphasized, his tone…
Where my mind went to immediately with your comment was listening to POTUS Trump interacting with the school girls a couple weeks ago - his tone, humor, inflection, that’s the grandfather, the caring man the country needs/needed. As for being inappropriate, perhaps the thing we’ve been needing as a country - discard the facade of {????} that politicians seem to cloth themselves in; that even being a billionaire with creature comforts most of can only imagine, POTUS Trump still comes across as the guy you’d enjoy sharing a pot of tea with. I can see POTUS Trump up in the steel, on bare concrete floors, inspecting a high rise rising high joshing with the men. America doesn’t need Leaders who are above it, we need our brothers ( AND sisters) leading.
That photo of Trump surrounded by all the happy little girls is iconic. They clearly liked him and were having fun, and you could see he liked them as well. Compare to Biden being around one isolated young girl here and there and sniffing her hair, and the girl having a shocked look on her face. The contrast couldn't be more stark.
One interesting comparison between Biden and Trump is to look at their children: Trump's adult children are loving, successful, well adjusted, happy and supportive of their father. None of them is a drug addict or alcoholic.
Biden's relationship with his two living children is very complicated. Both have battled substance abuse and seem to have been at odds with their father for long periods of time. The family appears quite dysfunctional.
I have made the same comparison myself, many times.
AND, look at the grands: Miss Kai, posed and capable before a huge audience and national venue.
By all indications the Trumps are doing something right. [of course, I suppose, there could’a been some sort’a bargain struck with the father of lies… 🤣]
With my kids I did it a little different. I would help with anything educational but luxuries and fun stuff they had to earn for themselves. They turned out to be good citizens.
Hunter Biden comes to mind. The fruit of faulty parenting and kept from the lessons that consequences would have been a good teacher had it started early. The presidential pardon was the cherry on top.
Cynically laugh when you read this, please: Understand you would call Hunter the fruit of ‘faulty’ parenting, but in reality he is exactly the fruit expected as consequences were never experienced by the parents, therefore he is exactly the mirror of the teachers. Expect the parents would not look on their parenting as ‘faulty’. The parents never experienced consequences, so lessons were self fulfilling. Probably am jumbling this up, but he probably makes his parents proud. And the only reason he got the pardon was because his parents thought no one understood what a really great example he was, and the rest of us would try to punish him because we were jealous. Ha. Am getting giddy.
James, Kahlil Gibran stated: "Work is love made visible!" When you work to earn something..it is far more valuable to you. ..its a good feeling to know you did it yourself, after you paid it off. What did all rational Americans want, after the last four years? To get the psychopaths out of the White House who were plotting on destroying America! All connected should be institutionalized and relieved of all assets they stole from the American people.
Your story is wonderful! I truly am amazed how good I feel now-especially the fact Biden is no longer in office, & the lies, corruption & lack of any “common sense”, were so threatening to our country, & of course, the American People. I am happy to see President Trump take control of our country, & his immediate executive actions definitely have actions: good for us, the citizens who voted for him; bad for the corrupt deep state, & my thought for the left side- “too bad, how sad”…NOT! In a song by Aaron Lewis, “Sometimes when you give what you give, You get what you get”! Those Dems screaming bad words towards President Trump, & Elon Musk, are brutal, harsh, & not right. Of course, those crying the loudest, are “probably guilty” (allegedly), of participating in taking tax dollars from hard working Americans’, & they may be caught in a legal situation in the near future.
I enjoyed your memory of wanting a car, & that brought back my memory of needing & wanting a car also. My Dad would help me look for a car, & I was working, & my plan was to save enough to get a car; move out of my parent’s house, & then I was thinking about going to a community college. My Dad didn’t intend to help me financially though for my car- he had to pick it out! I wanted a 1969 Camaro; my Dad found a 1963 VW-a manual speed of course! But, I paid cash for my car, $650.00, & my Dad taught me how to drive it! It was a hard decision to buy a VW, but in the end, I learned how to drive that Bug & loved it! Great memory!
Thanks Patricia I’m looking forward to the next 4 years. I know things will turn around, and it’s only been a month, but I still feel I need patience, it will happen!
Saved $750 delivery papers for 3 years. My Dad added $750 and I bought a 1951 2 door Ford coupe. Korean War ended and my Ford was now worth $750. Lesson learned! Worst car I ever owned besides the Gm Vega. The Ford did get me to and from pharmacy school!
There is so much wisdom in what you wrote, James and thank you for sharing that story. My father did give me $50 to help me buy my first car (which he picked out because it was low mileage but everything I didn't want in my first car). I paid the rest over a year, but it was only $250. I had to pay my own insurance and every other car I bought since, maybe 40 of them, were my responsibility. I helped my 3 sons in about the same proportion with their first cars, maybe I paid a little more proportionately, but I could do it more easily than my Dad could with mine. My wife and I also paid off their college loans because they all worked clear through their college years, graduated, and went to work in the fields they majored in. They turned out to be fine and productive Trump-supporting men. They haven't all had perfect lives or perfect marriages but they do not take from government, nor do they expect anything. These last 4 years certainly taught them and their children the stark difference between Leftist governance and the Populist vision of Trump, Vance, and many (but still too few) in Congress.
My parents paid for my college also at Wentworth in Boston. This also wasn’t my first car. My first car was a 1970 Ford Maverick I got from my uncle for 500 dollars. A young neighbor of mine skipped school one day, got drunk and driving by my house hit my Maverick totaling it. It wasn’t a good day.
If you give a man a fish - OR, if you teach a man to fish.
Your father was a wise man, James!!! Heartfelt sympathy for that loss.
Here's my story. When my boys got old enough for chores and got an allowance, they quickly spent it on stuff like candy. My oldest soon realized the candy was gone in a hurry so he switched it up and saved for a very special $25. squirt gun. Got it home -Boom, it broke. We managed to return for replacement - Boom it broke. He was, uhhhm, really upset. From that point on he continued to save, but spent on quality. That included his cars. He bought, learned about, fixed and sold for a profit 3 old Broncos. He's still at it with several other brands.
James, I appreciate your stories as I believe you are probably close in age to that child of mine and he's not a big talker. Therefore, I am gloaming onto yours as ones he might be telling in secret!
Appreciate your words LB. It sounds like you raised a great smart son. Thank you and I’m glad today you’re in the light, I think many of us feel the same.
So beautiful James and so well said! I thank God the 4 very dark Biden years are behind us! So thrilled that President Trump is turning America around and we are once again going to have common sense prevail! AMERICA IS BACK AND IT FEELS SO GOOD! 🇺🇸‼️❤️
Ahhhhh.... Another James Goodrich work of art, although, as usual, I'm a day late, and a dollar short. Sorry, I only have $3.00 left, and I had to buy my wife a fresh bagel after filling up her car this AM so she can go suffer at her new job in week #4. Woman take care of Tonga in short times, and Tonga can at least buy her bagel for lunch.
So, you remind me of my 13th birthday, when my brothers came into my bedroom, and told me that Stevie killed himself. Being a young lad, I just couldn't believe it, until I got up, ran past them, and found my mother sitting in her chair, unable to move, unable to see, unable to speak. My two brothers stood there crying, even though they were big, strong men in their late twenties, early 30's. That's when I started screaming, and began the 10 year trail of hardship, hate, anger, and pain, simply knowing my brother whom I was closest with was gone.
Over a few days, I got the jist of it that he did this because his girlfriend dumped him. At at first, I was really mad at her. I hated her. Diane dumped my brother Stevie, and Stevie killed himself that night. It took me quite a while to realize just what happened, and over time that anger faded. It was shortly thereafter (about 7 months), Diane had a baby, my brother's son Sean, and all I could do is want to see, hold and feel my brother's son. That would not go as planned, as we all found out.
Eventually, about a month later, sometime near Christmas of 1980, I was given the gift of seeing him in my own home. My mother was stoic, and showed no emotion to either Diane, or Sean. My mother was dead inside, as her son was gone because of this girl, and her stupid kid (or so SHE thought), and that's all that mattered. She would never forgive Diane for the loss of Stevie, even though his death was nothing of her fault, nor intent. Pain and anger clouds that judgment, never to be seen though again.
My mother had fully engulfed herself in her multiple tragedies over her lifetime, and Steve's suicide just added to that weight never released, or not until the day she passed before me in 2013. Mom spent all those decades tortured by the accidental death of her mom, her shitty marriage to a introverted, nasty jackass of a man (Stevie, Rich and Gery's dad), the loss of a baby from Captain Sperm donor, multiple family suicides, my bother's daughter overdosing on heroin, and the dissolution of a family, which should have stayed together, but didn't. All of these factors left her an empty shell, and it wasn't until the last few days of her life in the rehab that I spent with her, I finally got to see her smile just a little bit through all those years of sorrow and pain.
My mother, and my age at the time, prevented me from developing a good relationship with Sean. Initially I was prevented from seeing them, but eventually, those barriers were lifted. By that time, Sean wasn't on a good path, and I was developing into who I was. Being young, dumb and full of ***, all I cared about was girls, cars, and hanging with my buddies. The usual path of life took me further and further away from Sean and his mom, and the rare occasional meet, or birthday, was fleeting at best. It's one of my biggest regrets in life, never having that bond, and when your mother does everything humanly possible to keep that bond broken, things just don't turn out as you wanted them to.
My relationship with Sean never got past a casual hello, or on a rare occasion a dinner or lunch meeting. Even today, Sean being in the military, I still have very little contact with him or his family. So much time wasted. Last time I physically saw him was about 2 years ago, at a lunch meeting in a diner at the NJ Shore. He was going through a divorce, his 3 kids and ex moving south, and him working 2 jobs plus his full time military life. Who'd a thunk it, eh ?
I forgave Stevie. I forgave Diane. I never held anything against Sean, other than him never really wanting anything to do with me, but realizing it wasn't his doing, either.
I am always a bit jealous of folks who have loving families. Always have been. When I read stories about you and your dad, I would have given up everything just to have just a moment or two with a real dad, a real father, and not some ghostly apparition I've never seen a photo of, or laid eyes on. Even though I never knew him, it still would have been nice to meet up with him one day, and knock his freaking lights out. Yeah, that would have been fun, but alas, he died long ago, and now I have new memories of people I want to knock out. Haha ! Where is that Joe Biden, anyways ?
Keep writing Brother James. You're quite the observer of what's real and important in life, and I know there are a large number of folks here, besides Jim, who really can't wait to see your next masterpiece.
Don’t forget Ostrich eggs. One egg will serve a family of four! True Organic egg farmers are having a field day providing nutrient rich eggs with Vitamin D to their clientele! Their chickens are bird flu immune! Sunshine, bugs and space make them happy!
Yes they are supposed to hold the key to delivering us from the infamous "bird flu", however do you know that there is a farm in western Canada that is established to study that immunity that Ostriches have and they have recently been told by the Canadian agency of animal heath, that they must KILL all of their birds! This is but 1 of a handful of links. https://rumble.com/v6mydou-status-update-on-the-canadian-ostriches.html
Fricken deranged bureaucrats! All animals have an immune system that wards off all pathogens! It is the deranged medicine man that believes he can improve God’s design! They are going down the wrong path to hell!
Wow! What does that emu yoke taste like? Just like a fried chicken egg?
Also, I love the image of the rodeo toddler having a blast – very timely as I was just looking at some "early education nonprofit" that is entirely digital (i.e. disrupting developmental pathways with premature screen time). We have to get kids off of tablets and onto ponies.
Smartest cleverest and happiest kids I know are my Amish neighbors. They all have ponies. That’s how they get to school! They know nothing about smart phones. I once showed a 4 year old a picture of his mother and father who were at the hospital and he burst out crying. When asked what was wrong he said he didn’t know how we were going to get them out of the box (ie phone 😱).
It was okay, his brothers and sisters assured him that I would bring them home in a day or two. I think this little boy had never seen even a photograph so he didn’t know what to make of the video.
My last dog is gone. Being a big Akita, I had to walk him 3 to 5 miles a day. Was great for my health and his, plus exploring the world with a dog, seeing what his point of view was - always interesting. Now I am waiting out Winter so I can ride my bikes again. By this time of Winter I think I have reached the end of the internet.
I agree: get rid of cell phones, & tablets. Use for both have changed dramatically since inception, & now, the teens are constantly using phones for so much social attention, & acceptance, that some get themselves into bad situations. Tablets are used in school now. Kids just need to spend more time learning how to enjoy & be outside!
Imagine the frustration of designers and engineers of having to redesign and retool every so many years to comply with the latest whims of government bureaucracies.
I think ever since the 2011 Mediocrity was introduced, the industry has been in decline.
I read an article a couple of days ago about how the Trump administration wants to slow down the rate of changes to US building codes. Being in that business I welcome his approach as a lot of the changes are costly to the customer and have little value.
Cars and smart phones seem to be persuaded the answer is adding doodads. Cars with backup tvs and lotsa buttons. Smartphones AI and working together apps. They'll have some artistic license for a while at least.
Well, I’m of a mixed mind when it comes to all these extras and electronics: on one hand the increased tech has meant a lot of our non-consumables are disposable, non-reusable or fixable. OTOH, my 2024 4Runner has a backup camera (mandated), blind spot detection which I’m thankful for as age has reduced rotational ability to see around, my exterior mirrors have heaters in them to dispense with foggy/iced glass (Montana winters can be a bit unforgiving). Electronics facilitate traction control which I don’t need but I’m thankful all the coastal immigrants Do have for my benefit; returning to the backup cam: I think about this every time I’m walking in a parking lot behind the humongous SUV or full sized truck with large canopy - praying that the cam is used since my ability to jump out of the way is seriously impaired.
In my laundry room is a 35 yo electric dryer that squeals noisily for the first few minutes when put into use and a top loading washer that’s 20 years younger. Neither machine is connected to the interwebs, in fact my washer is only a generation or two removed from grandmas Naxon washer with a swivel ringer. I like simple.
But, OTOH, I’m adding more and more "smarts" to my extensive estate 🤣- I rarely flip a switch anymore and I talk to my house only a little less than I talk to the cats. It’s amazing just how much I can control with the computer on my wrist (which is more capable than the tower computer I built 35-40 years ago). Right now, much of that automation requires connection to "the cloud," one of my near term projects is to bring that ability locally into the four walls of my vast extensive estate. On one hand this seems to violate my desire for simplicity, at the same time thru complexity I AM simplifying. As boomers get older ‘n older, with fewer young’uns around to help, a home with some automation is as beneficial as blind spot monitors and Backup cams.
Love my Friday and Sunday memes. Well, I just love memes in general. And the Babylon Bee. 🤣
I know a young woman (close to family) complaining about how she may lose her job which was paid for by a government grant that has been terminated by DOGE, and she doesn't know how they're going to make their mortgage payment if she does. First. It's a first home and they decided paying nearly $500k for a first home was sensible. Regardless of salary (but particularly if you know your job is a grant) that's not a sensible decision for your first home. (Well, is not unless you're Elon and friends.). What her job was? Hiring doctors and nurses for the Veterans Administration medical centers. I ask you, why hasn't the VA been hiring their own doctors and nurses? What does their Medical Director, CEO, HR Depts do? Why were they even contracting this!? She's also moaning about illegals being shipped back (because a friend's parents aren't here legally). She's a UVA graduate. Need I say more? Our colleges are just not turning out smart or wise people.
What a great way to start the morning! I could not stop laughing at these comic strips. The lesson for me is to not be drinking water while I am reading these funnies! Thank you Dr. Malone!
Oh my so many great ones. What to comment on??? I think I’ll go with the last one with a small addition.
“After you turn 50 (60, 70, 80) years old: you can’t recognize the letters up close,” or hear anything below a shout, “but you can recognize the idiots ,“ liars and fools “from far away.”
Let me add a bit. I’m deaf as a doornail. With hearing aides and a face to face, I can barely make sense of speakers. But 4 years of listening to (and reading) the woke liberal left arguments, (and comparing them to the voices of reason like Trump, Elon and RFK, Tulsi and Vivek and Vance), I only need about every fourth word to ferret out the cow fertilizer from the alfalfa hay. Sometimes I only need the lead in phrase, like with E.Warren, B.Sanders and AOC and Wassermann-Schultz. Saves me a lot of time better spent trying to read and understand Drs Malone, which requires a few more brain cells and some concentration!
So funny, thank you Jill and Bob. Wouldn’t it be great to see the smug little Schiff get exposed for who he really is. Even the Rhinos are turning on themselves, let them rip! Even funnier because we are on a track to truth and watching people turn a hockey game into a political statement was so dumb! Hockey is a game and this 4 Nations tournament was played by the world’s most talented players. BTW, we were missing many countries that have super talented players and these games could go anyway on any given day with that much talent on the ice. Hockey is a game of seconds and millimeters. Canada won this one, but McDavid with the trophy at the celebration said it all. He acted like the trophy was NOT THE POINT! It’s a game and there is absolutely no point in hinging anything else on it. The whole conversation about fairness on the world stage has got so many components and makes for a complex conversation. Ask anyone who has more than one child, but hopefully we will all be better informed and not just listen to the talking points after we go through this trade fairness project. It’s really not about Americans or Canadians or Europeans, it’s about humanity. We could all learn something from each other and if we come from that place, we will all be smarter. Thank you for being great leaders and observers of the awakening. Now this is the Harmonic Convergence I was hoping for. Here is a 10 minute synopsis of the Ukraine war, how and why. When he says America, we all need to realize that the American he speaks of is a small group, once was “The English”. Still the same group of Globalist greedy pigs, who couldn’t possibly eat a whole Emu egg without feeling they overdid it.
My favorite funny is the little rodeo boy. Sometimes I really don’t like computers, video games, tablets,TVs, cell phones . It is ruining our younger generation. They are so addicted to their devices. When all those teenagers come over for lunch everyday, they are constantly on their phones playing games. But I will say some do make it downstairs to play a game of pool. Thank heavens.
Great Sunday Strip! Each one made me laugh, & the most “honorable mention”, the cutest little boy riding the Shetland pony! I’m a person who spent more time outside playing with my neighborhood friends, vs. kids today: on their cell phones or tablet. I lived in a safe neighborhood, & we had about 5 swimming pools to take a dip; we rode our bicycles up & down our street; we played cards & games under our tree; we had a volley ball in our backyard; & also put roller skates on & had more darn fun skating down our street hill! I will always remember when “Sputnik” (?), had been launched, & in the summer we put blankets on the front lawn & stayed up late waiting to see it pass over! Thanks for the cute picture of this cute little boy having fun! Four-H is one organization that teaches children how to take care of large pets- not just family dogs or cats, but raising farm animals maybe to show at a stock show, or how to ride a horse, or raise chickens! Time to put cells & tablets away for a while & learn about “Life”!
I took issue with a couple of these , the quote by Ford; The Native Americans didn't "let" the gov. help them, that was a Forced move to the reservations. And it seems like anyone who colors their hair other than blonde, red, brown or black is automatically isolated as an outcast. Being a hairdresser for over fifty years, I've colored hair many colors and never saw it as a label of anything. I know, I know, now it's gotten to be a signal, but at one time the rainbow flag and colors meant an entirely different symbol too. The Hopi Prophecy included the "Rainbow People" as a symbol to watch for, as a good thing.
I, for one, appreciate when anyone here has issue with my musings (or useless jokes). I like to see a variety of perspective, it works my brain. If the whole world only liked vanilla.... another Bland joke.
Just needs to be phrased courteously. Which you did.
So, for me, is the topic of hair overly important? Hair has always been a symbolic statement (tribal, youth, fashion etc) in my mind and wow, have there been some doozies. It comes and goes. The only thing I wonder is - will those many colored hair people (and I see them change colors almost daily - have any hair left at my age? I remember wanting to make a hair statement (at around age 20). I braided it in about 50 little braids. When I took them out, I looked like I had a pyramid head. I have no idea what my statement was - just good old fashion rebellion, I guess.
DD - Agree with all you point out - but to find the humor in life, often necessary to see a multitude of perspectives. That doesn't mean any other perspective is wrong, just not the current focus. Is like Rain = good for garden, bad for picnic. So can joke about both.
The Sunday Strip takes me out of my dark place.
We all go through hard times and it’s in that place that we grow. Sometimes it’s the darkest times that teach us, they make us aware of experiences that have been given to us. They give us perspective.
When I was 17 I really wanted this car my friend was selling. I asked my father if he could help me get the car. He said “do you need a ride to pick it up”. I said “no Dad, I mean financially”. He looked at me and said, “oh, well, if you really want that car, you’re going to have to get a job”. “Cars cost money, even to get them on the road”. At the time I remember I was really bummed out he wouldn’t just get his check book, write a check, and buy the car for me, doesn’t that sound like a 17 year old. He never gave me a dime, but he did help me. With my strong desire for that car he in his ways forced me to get a job. He then co-signed a loan for me. I’ll never forget my first loan, it was a 3 year personal loan. I borrowed 3800 dollars with an 18% interest rate which cost 138 dollars a month. I got the car and I made every payment with money I worked for. I paid the car off over the 3 years.
Not long after I got the car my father got sick and eventually passed away. It wasn’t until after he was gone I realized what he had taught me. He taught me if I wanted something I had to work for it, and that hard work can get you where you want to go. After my father was gone I couldn’t believe how much I missed his way of pushing me to earn what I get. It was that dark time in my life, losing my father, that engrained that lesson deep inside of me, and made me see the real gift he had given to me that I will never forget.
There are no guarantees in life’s path, but I know many kids growing up whose parents did write that check, some over and over again, and the child fell on their hypothetical face in life. Their parents never gave them that important lesson. That opportunity was missed to build the character of earning what you get in their child.
We all have been through 4 very dark years ruled by a man that lived his whole life being paid with money taken from others hard work. In his whole life it would be hard to find a thing that he built that benefitted anyone more than it benefited himself. He lied to us over and over again to push his tyrannical power grabbing agenda and at his peak of power he called himself dark Joe. These dark times Joe gave us made us realize what we were losing. Those dark days toughened us. It brought into the light how fragile our freedom is. It gave us a new strength, a new administration, and a new President that spent his whole life building things. It gave us a President that is trying his hardest to give us back our bill of rights and bring into light the decades and decades of corruption. Those dark times we all suffered through, especially DJT, just might be what saves this country.
It’s like a seed. A seed that is always left out in the light will never reach its potential. It’s in that dark place, under the earth, that the seed grows into the beautiful producing plant it was meant to be. Happy Sunday! J.Goodrich
I’ve change a lot in the last 4 years. I’ve learned to love an acerbic sometimes very inappropriate speaker (President Trump) for his truth and courage while despising a kindly old man pretending to love children while sinking Americans into poverty and tyranny that enriched his family and destroyed ours. (ExPresident Biden) let us never be deceived by superficial looks again!
Barbara, glad you’ve come around to appreciating POTUS Trump - can’t say I ever had that issue; even in 2015 when, at best, I thought DJT would only be able to give the rest of the crowd a swift kick in the their collective rumps. I don’t watch much TV/video for "educational" purposes: initially it was because the video info dump was too slow (even today with a repeatedly fracture brain, video usefulness can only go so far), then I discovered that video could be deceptive and that it was more informative to just listen to politicians. I recall the great experiment of the Nixon-Kennedy debate: those who watched thought JFK won while those who listened sided with Nixon. I think it served me well with 💩 💩 🧠 as just listening one could feel the dementia that was riddling our nation - didn’t need to see the vacuous eyes. What he emphasized, his tone…
Where my mind went to immediately with your comment was listening to POTUS Trump interacting with the school girls a couple weeks ago - his tone, humor, inflection, that’s the grandfather, the caring man the country needs/needed. As for being inappropriate, perhaps the thing we’ve been needing as a country - discard the facade of {????} that politicians seem to cloth themselves in; that even being a billionaire with creature comforts most of can only imagine, POTUS Trump still comes across as the guy you’d enjoy sharing a pot of tea with. I can see POTUS Trump up in the steel, on bare concrete floors, inspecting a high rise rising high joshing with the men. America doesn’t need Leaders who are above it, we need our brothers ( AND sisters) leading.
That photo of Trump surrounded by all the happy little girls is iconic. They clearly liked him and were having fun, and you could see he liked them as well. Compare to Biden being around one isolated young girl here and there and sniffing her hair, and the girl having a shocked look on her face. The contrast couldn't be more stark.
Wise words indeed. Thank you.
Hi my friend hope all is well!!
One interesting comparison between Biden and Trump is to look at their children: Trump's adult children are loving, successful, well adjusted, happy and supportive of their father. None of them is a drug addict or alcoholic.
Biden's relationship with his two living children is very complicated. Both have battled substance abuse and seem to have been at odds with their father for long periods of time. The family appears quite dysfunctional.
I have made the same comparison myself, many times.
AND, look at the grands: Miss Kai, posed and capable before a huge audience and national venue.
By all indications the Trumps are doing something right. [of course, I suppose, there could’a been some sort’a bargain struck with the father of lies… 🤣]
With my kids I did it a little different. I would help with anything educational but luxuries and fun stuff they had to earn for themselves. They turned out to be good citizens.
Crime families are where you find them....even at 1600
Especially at 1600!
Hunter Biden comes to mind. The fruit of faulty parenting and kept from the lessons that consequences would have been a good teacher had it started early. The presidential pardon was the cherry on top.
Cynically laugh when you read this, please: Understand you would call Hunter the fruit of ‘faulty’ parenting, but in reality he is exactly the fruit expected as consequences were never experienced by the parents, therefore he is exactly the mirror of the teachers. Expect the parents would not look on their parenting as ‘faulty’. The parents never experienced consequences, so lessons were self fulfilling. Probably am jumbling this up, but he probably makes his parents proud. And the only reason he got the pardon was because his parents thought no one understood what a really great example he was, and the rest of us would try to punish him because we were jealous. Ha. Am getting giddy.
James, Kahlil Gibran stated: "Work is love made visible!" When you work to earn something..it is far more valuable to you. ..its a good feeling to know you did it yourself, after you paid it off. What did all rational Americans want, after the last four years? To get the psychopaths out of the White House who were plotting on destroying America! All connected should be institutionalized and relieved of all assets they stole from the American people.
Your story is wonderful! I truly am amazed how good I feel now-especially the fact Biden is no longer in office, & the lies, corruption & lack of any “common sense”, were so threatening to our country, & of course, the American People. I am happy to see President Trump take control of our country, & his immediate executive actions definitely have actions: good for us, the citizens who voted for him; bad for the corrupt deep state, & my thought for the left side- “too bad, how sad”…NOT! In a song by Aaron Lewis, “Sometimes when you give what you give, You get what you get”! Those Dems screaming bad words towards President Trump, & Elon Musk, are brutal, harsh, & not right. Of course, those crying the loudest, are “probably guilty” (allegedly), of participating in taking tax dollars from hard working Americans’, & they may be caught in a legal situation in the near future.
I enjoyed your memory of wanting a car, & that brought back my memory of needing & wanting a car also. My Dad would help me look for a car, & I was working, & my plan was to save enough to get a car; move out of my parent’s house, & then I was thinking about going to a community college. My Dad didn’t intend to help me financially though for my car- he had to pick it out! I wanted a 1969 Camaro; my Dad found a 1963 VW-a manual speed of course! But, I paid cash for my car, $650.00, & my Dad taught me how to drive it! It was a hard decision to buy a VW, but in the end, I learned how to drive that Bug & loved it! Great memory!
Thanks Patricia I’m looking forward to the next 4 years. I know things will turn around, and it’s only been a month, but I still feel I need patience, it will happen!
Saved $750 delivery papers for 3 years. My Dad added $750 and I bought a 1951 2 door Ford coupe. Korean War ended and my Ford was now worth $750. Lesson learned! Worst car I ever owned besides the Gm Vega. The Ford did get me to and from pharmacy school!
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0589ypeMtx7RGSZ7TBumUCymw
I did a quick search for 51 Ford coupes for sale and they’re not giving those away. Most I saw were 3 speeds…
Great words for a Sunday morning.
Thank you Norma!
There is so much wisdom in what you wrote, James and thank you for sharing that story. My father did give me $50 to help me buy my first car (which he picked out because it was low mileage but everything I didn't want in my first car). I paid the rest over a year, but it was only $250. I had to pay my own insurance and every other car I bought since, maybe 40 of them, were my responsibility. I helped my 3 sons in about the same proportion with their first cars, maybe I paid a little more proportionately, but I could do it more easily than my Dad could with mine. My wife and I also paid off their college loans because they all worked clear through their college years, graduated, and went to work in the fields they majored in. They turned out to be fine and productive Trump-supporting men. They haven't all had perfect lives or perfect marriages but they do not take from government, nor do they expect anything. These last 4 years certainly taught them and their children the stark difference between Leftist governance and the Populist vision of Trump, Vance, and many (but still too few) in Congress.
My parents paid for my college also at Wentworth in Boston. This also wasn’t my first car. My first car was a 1970 Ford Maverick I got from my uncle for 500 dollars. A young neighbor of mine skipped school one day, got drunk and driving by my house hit my Maverick totaling it. It wasn’t a good day.
😬
Sounds like you were a wonderful father Jim. My parents both helped me a lot also in many ways. I think of them every day!!
James, words of wisdom for a Sunday!
Thanks Barbara, I’m optimistic for, let’s hope, the next 12 years!!!
You were blessed to have a wise father!
Thank you Kat I really was. I wish he was around in my life longer.
If you give a man a fish - OR, if you teach a man to fish.
Your father was a wise man, James!!! Heartfelt sympathy for that loss.
Here's my story. When my boys got old enough for chores and got an allowance, they quickly spent it on stuff like candy. My oldest soon realized the candy was gone in a hurry so he switched it up and saved for a very special $25. squirt gun. Got it home -Boom, it broke. We managed to return for replacement - Boom it broke. He was, uhhhm, really upset. From that point on he continued to save, but spent on quality. That included his cars. He bought, learned about, fixed and sold for a profit 3 old Broncos. He's still at it with several other brands.
James, I appreciate your stories as I believe you are probably close in age to that child of mine and he's not a big talker. Therefore, I am gloaming onto yours as ones he might be telling in secret!
; > }.
I'm standing in the light today Mr Goodrich!!!!
Appreciate your words LB. It sounds like you raised a great smart son. Thank you and I’m glad today you’re in the light, I think many of us feel the same.
So beautiful James and so well said! I thank God the 4 very dark Biden years are behind us! So thrilled that President Trump is turning America around and we are once again going to have common sense prevail! AMERICA IS BACK AND IT FEELS SO GOOD! 🇺🇸‼️❤️
Thanks Jennifer, it’s been an emotional roller coaster. I’m thrilled also we are back on the right track as well !!! I thank God!!!
I look forward to Malone's Sunday funnies every week.
Thank-you for another eloquent message of wisdom James.
Thank You Rebecca, it’s a good feeling to see things being put back where they belong, with the people!!
Ahhhhh.... Another James Goodrich work of art, although, as usual, I'm a day late, and a dollar short. Sorry, I only have $3.00 left, and I had to buy my wife a fresh bagel after filling up her car this AM so she can go suffer at her new job in week #4. Woman take care of Tonga in short times, and Tonga can at least buy her bagel for lunch.
So, you remind me of my 13th birthday, when my brothers came into my bedroom, and told me that Stevie killed himself. Being a young lad, I just couldn't believe it, until I got up, ran past them, and found my mother sitting in her chair, unable to move, unable to see, unable to speak. My two brothers stood there crying, even though they were big, strong men in their late twenties, early 30's. That's when I started screaming, and began the 10 year trail of hardship, hate, anger, and pain, simply knowing my brother whom I was closest with was gone.
Over a few days, I got the jist of it that he did this because his girlfriend dumped him. At at first, I was really mad at her. I hated her. Diane dumped my brother Stevie, and Stevie killed himself that night. It took me quite a while to realize just what happened, and over time that anger faded. It was shortly thereafter (about 7 months), Diane had a baby, my brother's son Sean, and all I could do is want to see, hold and feel my brother's son. That would not go as planned, as we all found out.
Eventually, about a month later, sometime near Christmas of 1980, I was given the gift of seeing him in my own home. My mother was stoic, and showed no emotion to either Diane, or Sean. My mother was dead inside, as her son was gone because of this girl, and her stupid kid (or so SHE thought), and that's all that mattered. She would never forgive Diane for the loss of Stevie, even though his death was nothing of her fault, nor intent. Pain and anger clouds that judgment, never to be seen though again.
My mother had fully engulfed herself in her multiple tragedies over her lifetime, and Steve's suicide just added to that weight never released, or not until the day she passed before me in 2013. Mom spent all those decades tortured by the accidental death of her mom, her shitty marriage to a introverted, nasty jackass of a man (Stevie, Rich and Gery's dad), the loss of a baby from Captain Sperm donor, multiple family suicides, my bother's daughter overdosing on heroin, and the dissolution of a family, which should have stayed together, but didn't. All of these factors left her an empty shell, and it wasn't until the last few days of her life in the rehab that I spent with her, I finally got to see her smile just a little bit through all those years of sorrow and pain.
My mother, and my age at the time, prevented me from developing a good relationship with Sean. Initially I was prevented from seeing them, but eventually, those barriers were lifted. By that time, Sean wasn't on a good path, and I was developing into who I was. Being young, dumb and full of ***, all I cared about was girls, cars, and hanging with my buddies. The usual path of life took me further and further away from Sean and his mom, and the rare occasional meet, or birthday, was fleeting at best. It's one of my biggest regrets in life, never having that bond, and when your mother does everything humanly possible to keep that bond broken, things just don't turn out as you wanted them to.
My relationship with Sean never got past a casual hello, or on a rare occasion a dinner or lunch meeting. Even today, Sean being in the military, I still have very little contact with him or his family. So much time wasted. Last time I physically saw him was about 2 years ago, at a lunch meeting in a diner at the NJ Shore. He was going through a divorce, his 3 kids and ex moving south, and him working 2 jobs plus his full time military life. Who'd a thunk it, eh ?
I forgave Stevie. I forgave Diane. I never held anything against Sean, other than him never really wanting anything to do with me, but realizing it wasn't his doing, either.
I am always a bit jealous of folks who have loving families. Always have been. When I read stories about you and your dad, I would have given up everything just to have just a moment or two with a real dad, a real father, and not some ghostly apparition I've never seen a photo of, or laid eyes on. Even though I never knew him, it still would have been nice to meet up with him one day, and knock his freaking lights out. Yeah, that would have been fun, but alas, he died long ago, and now I have new memories of people I want to knock out. Haha ! Where is that Joe Biden, anyways ?
Keep writing Brother James. You're quite the observer of what's real and important in life, and I know there are a large number of folks here, besides Jim, who really can't wait to see your next masterpiece.
Don’t forget Ostrich eggs. One egg will serve a family of four! True Organic egg farmers are having a field day providing nutrient rich eggs with Vitamin D to their clientele! Their chickens are bird flu immune! Sunshine, bugs and space make them happy!
Yes they are supposed to hold the key to delivering us from the infamous "bird flu", however do you know that there is a farm in western Canada that is established to study that immunity that Ostriches have and they have recently been told by the Canadian agency of animal heath, that they must KILL all of their birds! This is but 1 of a handful of links. https://rumble.com/v6mydou-status-update-on-the-canadian-ostriches.html
Fricken deranged bureaucrats! All animals have an immune system that wards off all pathogens! It is the deranged medicine man that believes he can improve God’s design! They are going down the wrong path to hell!
Bureaucrats are already in hell, they’re just trying to take us with them.
Absolutely correct Thomas.
Wow! What does that emu yoke taste like? Just like a fried chicken egg?
Also, I love the image of the rodeo toddler having a blast – very timely as I was just looking at some "early education nonprofit" that is entirely digital (i.e. disrupting developmental pathways with premature screen time). We have to get kids off of tablets and onto ponies.
Smartest cleverest and happiest kids I know are my Amish neighbors. They all have ponies. That’s how they get to school! They know nothing about smart phones. I once showed a 4 year old a picture of his mother and father who were at the hospital and he burst out crying. When asked what was wrong he said he didn’t know how we were going to get them out of the box (ie phone 😱).
Oh, thats sad. The Amish community are amazing & hard working!
It was okay, his brothers and sisters assured him that I would bring them home in a day or two. I think this little boy had never seen even a photograph so he didn’t know what to make of the video.
I am weaning myself off of the computer, too. Thankfully got a dog who now is used to have me go along when she goes out!
My last dog is gone. Being a big Akita, I had to walk him 3 to 5 miles a day. Was great for my health and his, plus exploring the world with a dog, seeing what his point of view was - always interesting. Now I am waiting out Winter so I can ride my bikes again. By this time of Winter I think I have reached the end of the internet.
I agree: get rid of cell phones, & tablets. Use for both have changed dramatically since inception, & now, the teens are constantly using phones for so much social attention, & acceptance, that some get themselves into bad situations. Tablets are used in school now. Kids just need to spend more time learning how to enjoy & be outside!
"Why don't we make a good car?"
Imagine the frustration of designers and engineers of having to redesign and retool every so many years to comply with the latest whims of government bureaucracies.
I think ever since the 2011 Mediocrity was introduced, the industry has been in decline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GL1T-JVpgQ
I read an article a couple of days ago about how the Trump administration wants to slow down the rate of changes to US building codes. Being in that business I welcome his approach as a lot of the changes are costly to the customer and have little value.
Cars and smart phones seem to be persuaded the answer is adding doodads. Cars with backup tvs and lotsa buttons. Smartphones AI and working together apps. They'll have some artistic license for a while at least.
Too many electronica in newer vehicles; not for me anyway! I plan to keep my 2001 Ford F150! I own it, & it has been a great investment as well!
Well, I’m of a mixed mind when it comes to all these extras and electronics: on one hand the increased tech has meant a lot of our non-consumables are disposable, non-reusable or fixable. OTOH, my 2024 4Runner has a backup camera (mandated), blind spot detection which I’m thankful for as age has reduced rotational ability to see around, my exterior mirrors have heaters in them to dispense with foggy/iced glass (Montana winters can be a bit unforgiving). Electronics facilitate traction control which I don’t need but I’m thankful all the coastal immigrants Do have for my benefit; returning to the backup cam: I think about this every time I’m walking in a parking lot behind the humongous SUV or full sized truck with large canopy - praying that the cam is used since my ability to jump out of the way is seriously impaired.
In my laundry room is a 35 yo electric dryer that squeals noisily for the first few minutes when put into use and a top loading washer that’s 20 years younger. Neither machine is connected to the interwebs, in fact my washer is only a generation or two removed from grandmas Naxon washer with a swivel ringer. I like simple.
But, OTOH, I’m adding more and more "smarts" to my extensive estate 🤣- I rarely flip a switch anymore and I talk to my house only a little less than I talk to the cats. It’s amazing just how much I can control with the computer on my wrist (which is more capable than the tower computer I built 35-40 years ago). Right now, much of that automation requires connection to "the cloud," one of my near term projects is to bring that ability locally into the four walls of my vast extensive estate. On one hand this seems to violate my desire for simplicity, at the same time thru complexity I AM simplifying. As boomers get older ‘n older, with fewer young’uns around to help, a home with some automation is as beneficial as blind spot monitors and Backup cams.
Very interesting, & what a game changer for the auto industry! I like their idea & design- quite unique!
That was a riot James!!
Love my Friday and Sunday memes. Well, I just love memes in general. And the Babylon Bee. 🤣
I know a young woman (close to family) complaining about how she may lose her job which was paid for by a government grant that has been terminated by DOGE, and she doesn't know how they're going to make their mortgage payment if she does. First. It's a first home and they decided paying nearly $500k for a first home was sensible. Regardless of salary (but particularly if you know your job is a grant) that's not a sensible decision for your first home. (Well, is not unless you're Elon and friends.). What her job was? Hiring doctors and nurses for the Veterans Administration medical centers. I ask you, why hasn't the VA been hiring their own doctors and nurses? What does their Medical Director, CEO, HR Depts do? Why were they even contracting this!? She's also moaning about illegals being shipped back (because a friend's parents aren't here legally). She's a UVA graduate. Need I say more? Our colleges are just not turning out smart or wise people.
What a great way to start the morning! I could not stop laughing at these comic strips. The lesson for me is to not be drinking water while I am reading these funnies! Thank you Dr. Malone!
Especially pithy cartoons today! So very clever!
Oh my so many great ones. What to comment on??? I think I’ll go with the last one with a small addition.
“After you turn 50 (60, 70, 80) years old: you can’t recognize the letters up close,” or hear anything below a shout, “but you can recognize the idiots ,“ liars and fools “from far away.”
Let me add a bit. I’m deaf as a doornail. With hearing aides and a face to face, I can barely make sense of speakers. But 4 years of listening to (and reading) the woke liberal left arguments, (and comparing them to the voices of reason like Trump, Elon and RFK, Tulsi and Vivek and Vance), I only need about every fourth word to ferret out the cow fertilizer from the alfalfa hay. Sometimes I only need the lead in phrase, like with E.Warren, B.Sanders and AOC and Wassermann-Schultz. Saves me a lot of time better spent trying to read and understand Drs Malone, which requires a few more brain cells and some concentration!
You outdid yourself this morning. There is no way to pick just one. However, the Henry Ford quote made me think of this recent conversation between Major Russ Cooper and Julius Ruechel. It's not a funny but it is enlightening. Enjoy your breakfast Dr. Malone ! https://open.substack.com/pub/juliusruechel/p/debate-with-c3rf-about-the-51st-state?r=15eyho&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
The kindest thing President Trump can do for Canada is turn up the tariff heat until the people vote OUT the liberals and support Pierre Polivier.
Good morning 🙏.
I'll catch up with the Sunday Strip after my Sunday sermon. ✝️🛐✝️
Some doozies today. And I love your emu. I assume that is your emu. Correct?
yes
My Amish neighbors had an emu, but it was a mottled brown black. Was it not really an emu?
Emus are mottled brown / black. Our is a genetic mutation - the leucistic gene. White with blue eyes - probably wouldn't survive in the wild.
this mutation crops up very rarely. When it did, someone began breeding - and now there are a few hundred in the world.
Interesting! I wish you had let the video of the chick hatching continue... any chance you could post an extended version?
Nooooo, too gooey - makes it impossible to eat eggs after seeing what's in there...
Thank you Dr. Malone for your knowledge and commitment to the truth. I look forward to your Sunday Funnies every week.
So funny, thank you Jill and Bob. Wouldn’t it be great to see the smug little Schiff get exposed for who he really is. Even the Rhinos are turning on themselves, let them rip! Even funnier because we are on a track to truth and watching people turn a hockey game into a political statement was so dumb! Hockey is a game and this 4 Nations tournament was played by the world’s most talented players. BTW, we were missing many countries that have super talented players and these games could go anyway on any given day with that much talent on the ice. Hockey is a game of seconds and millimeters. Canada won this one, but McDavid with the trophy at the celebration said it all. He acted like the trophy was NOT THE POINT! It’s a game and there is absolutely no point in hinging anything else on it. The whole conversation about fairness on the world stage has got so many components and makes for a complex conversation. Ask anyone who has more than one child, but hopefully we will all be better informed and not just listen to the talking points after we go through this trade fairness project. It’s really not about Americans or Canadians or Europeans, it’s about humanity. We could all learn something from each other and if we come from that place, we will all be smarter. Thank you for being great leaders and observers of the awakening. Now this is the Harmonic Convergence I was hoping for. Here is a 10 minute synopsis of the Ukraine war, how and why. When he says America, we all need to realize that the American he speaks of is a small group, once was “The English”. Still the same group of Globalist greedy pigs, who couldn’t possibly eat a whole Emu egg without feeling they overdid it.
https://x.com/philcoles15/status/1893689386543280592?s=46
This is a great video, thank you for sharing! I truly hope more & more people view this!
My favorite funny is the little rodeo boy. Sometimes I really don’t like computers, video games, tablets,TVs, cell phones . It is ruining our younger generation. They are so addicted to their devices. When all those teenagers come over for lunch everyday, they are constantly on their phones playing games. But I will say some do make it downstairs to play a game of pool. Thank heavens.
Great Sunday Strip! Each one made me laugh, & the most “honorable mention”, the cutest little boy riding the Shetland pony! I’m a person who spent more time outside playing with my neighborhood friends, vs. kids today: on their cell phones or tablet. I lived in a safe neighborhood, & we had about 5 swimming pools to take a dip; we rode our bicycles up & down our street; we played cards & games under our tree; we had a volley ball in our backyard; & also put roller skates on & had more darn fun skating down our street hill! I will always remember when “Sputnik” (?), had been launched, & in the summer we put blankets on the front lawn & stayed up late waiting to see it pass over! Thanks for the cute picture of this cute little boy having fun! Four-H is one organization that teaches children how to take care of large pets- not just family dogs or cats, but raising farm animals maybe to show at a stock show, or how to ride a horse, or raise chickens! Time to put cells & tablets away for a while & learn about “Life”!
Good crop today, as usual, Drs Malone. Love the pure joy on the face of the lil cowboy!
I took issue with a couple of these , the quote by Ford; The Native Americans didn't "let" the gov. help them, that was a Forced move to the reservations. And it seems like anyone who colors their hair other than blonde, red, brown or black is automatically isolated as an outcast. Being a hairdresser for over fifty years, I've colored hair many colors and never saw it as a label of anything. I know, I know, now it's gotten to be a signal, but at one time the rainbow flag and colors meant an entirely different symbol too. The Hopi Prophecy included the "Rainbow People" as a symbol to watch for, as a good thing.
I, for one, appreciate when anyone here has issue with my musings (or useless jokes). I like to see a variety of perspective, it works my brain. If the whole world only liked vanilla.... another Bland joke.
Just needs to be phrased courteously. Which you did.
So, for me, is the topic of hair overly important? Hair has always been a symbolic statement (tribal, youth, fashion etc) in my mind and wow, have there been some doozies. It comes and goes. The only thing I wonder is - will those many colored hair people (and I see them change colors almost daily - have any hair left at my age? I remember wanting to make a hair statement (at around age 20). I braided it in about 50 little braids. When I took them out, I looked like I had a pyramid head. I have no idea what my statement was - just good old fashion rebellion, I guess.
DD - Agree with all you point out - but to find the humor in life, often necessary to see a multitude of perspectives. That doesn't mean any other perspective is wrong, just not the current focus. Is like Rain = good for garden, bad for picnic. So can joke about both.