An Insider’s Brief, but concise Biography of President Donald Trump

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The following excerpt is from former Donald Trump butler Andrej Timotej. He just released a short biography on the president. Originally from Yakastonia, Andrej immigrated to America in 1978 after being sponsored by ‘The Donald’.  Donald spotted him in the “How to Hire a Fabulous Butler” newsletter.

Andrej was known for receiving guests with grace and professionalism, his stellar dusting skills, table setting artistry and being an excellent receptacle for Donald’s vents. He was fired by Donald after he refused to move to the White House, preferring to stay in Trump Tower.

The excerpt

Donald has a gruff, overbearing demeanor, largely defined by his bigotry towards a diverse group of individuals– blacks, Hispanics, “Commies”, gays, hippies, Jews, Catholics, “women’s libbers”, and Mexican-Americans are frequent targets of his barbs. It eventually becomes apparent that Donald’s prejudice is not motivated by malice, but is rather a combination of the era and environment in which he was raised and a generalized misanthropy (Misanthropy is the general hatred, distrust or contempt of the human species or human nature).
Donald himself is a hard worker, loving father, and basically decent man; nevertheless, he is bad-tempered and frequently tells his long-suffering wife Melania to “stifle yourself” and “dummy up”.
As he gets older Donald mellows somewhat, albeit often out of necessity. In one situation, he expressed revulsion for a Ku Klux Klan-like organization which he accidentally joined. On another occasion, when asked to speak at the funeral of his friend Moses Liebowitz, Donald—surprised to learn that his friend was Jewish—overcomes his initial discomfort and delivers a moving eulogy, closing with a heartfelt “Shalom”.
Donald is also known for his frequent malapropisms and spoonerisms. For example, he refers to Melania’s gynecologist as a “groinacologist” and to Catholic priests who go around sprinkling “incest” (incense) on their congregation. These have become dubbed “Trumperisms”, or simply “Donald-isms”.
Over the course of his adult life, Donald mocks or belittles not just most minorities (including blacks, Hispanics, Latinos, Jews, and Asians), but also most white ethnic groups as well, including the English, Germans, Irish, and Polish.
Donald often misquotes the Bible. He is Protestant, though his specific denomination is never stated. He takes pride in being religious, although he rarely attends church services and constantly mispronounces the name of his minister, Reverend Felcher, as “Reverend Fletcher”.

The mini-biography was released last week. Trump has promptly filed a $15 million lawsuit against Mr. Timotej.

The text above describing Donald is my rearrangement of a biography of Archie Bunker in Wikipedia. Do they not seem very similar in an uncanny way?

Archibald “Archie” Bunker is a fictional character from the 1970s American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker’s Place, played by Carroll O’Connor. Bunker, a main character of the series, is a World War II veteran, reactionary conservative, blue-collar worker, and family man. Described as a “lovable bigot”, he was first seen by the American public when All in the Family premiered on January 12, 1971, where he was depicted as the head of a family. In 1979, the show was retooled and renamed Archie Bunker’s Place; it finally went off the air in 1983. Bunker lived at the fictional address of 704 Hauser Street in the borough of Queens, in New York City.

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Very Innovative Power Station

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Hydroelectric power stations are typically located near water sources, or on the source itself, such as dams on rivers. But Taum Sauk Hydroelectric Power Station is located more than 80 kilometers from the nearest water source – the Mississippi river. Built on top of the mountainous St. Francois region of the Missouri Ozarks, approximately 140 km south of St. Louis near Lesterville, Missouri, the Taum Sauk Hydroelectric Power Station is a pure pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, designed to help meet peak power demands during the day. During periods of high electrical demand, water stored in a kidney-shaped reservoir on top of Proffit Mountain is released through turbines into a lower reservoir, two kilometers away, on the East Fork of the Black River. At night, when electrical demand is low, the excess electricity available on the power grid is used to pump water back to the mountaintop. In essence, the power plant functions like a huge battery, storing excess power until it is needed.

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Although pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations are found all over the world, the Taum Sauk plant is notable in that it is a pure pump-back operation – there is no natural primary flow available for generation, unlike most other pumped storage sites. It was among the largest such projects when it was built.
Construction of the Taum Sauk plant began in 1960 and operation began in 1963. The two original reversible pump-turbine units were each capable of generating 175 megawatts of power. They were upgraded in 1999 to units capable of 225 megawatts each. In 2005, the plant had to shut down when the upper reservoir suffered a catastrophic failure releasing 4 million cubic-meters of water in twelve minutes and sending a 20 foot crest of water down the Black River. The torrent of water roared into the Taum Sauk State park sweeping away the park superintendent’s home and critically injuring his three small children.
The plant returned to service after a gap of four years. The rebuilt upper reservoir is now considered an engineering milestone, being the largest roller-compacted concrete dam in North America. To prevent another catastrophe, five back-up systems are now in place and nine cameras dot the reservoir’s perimeter giving 24-hour surveillance to crews manning the facility around the clock.
Before the failure of the upper Reservoir visitors could usually drive to the top of Proffit Mountain and walk a ramp to an observation deck at the top of the reservoir. At the entrance gate there was also a museum highlighting the natural history of Missouri. The power plant was frequently visited by geology students because of a striking example of Precambrian/Cambrian unconformity in the rock layers exposed by the plant’s construction.

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Upper Reservoir failure 2005

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There were no fatalities.

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Aerial photo of new reconstruction in late November, 2009

The Munchkin Cat

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The Munchkin is a relatively new breed of cat characterized by its very short legs, which are caused by a naturally occurring genetic mutation. Much controversy erupted over the breed when it was recognized by The International Cat Association in 1995 with critics voicing concern over potential health and mobility issues.

Short-legged cats have been documented a number of times around the world since the 1940s. A British veterinary report in 1944 noted four generations of healthy short-legged cats which were similar to normal cats except for the length of the legs. This line disappeared during the Second World War but other short-legged cats were spotted in Russia during 1956 and the United States in the 1970s.

In 1983, Sandra Hochenedel, a music teacher in Louisiana, found two pregnant cats who had been chased by a bulldog under a truck. She kept one of the cats and named her Blackberry and half of her kittens were born short-legged. Hochenedel gave a short-legged male kitten from one of Blackberry’s litters to a friend, Kay LaFrance, and she named the kitten Toulouse. It is from Blackberry and Toulouse that today’s Munchkin breed is descended.

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The Munchkin is generally described as a sweet-natured, playful, people-oriented, outgoing and intelligent cat which responds well to being handled. The shortness of their legs does not seem to interfere with their running and leaping abilities.
The Munchkin has similar characteristics to normal domestic cats, due to their frequent use as out-breeding It is a small to medium-sized cat with a moderate body type and medium-plush coat. Male Munchkins typically weigh between 6 and 9 pounds (3–4 kg) and are usually larger than female Munchkins, which typically weigh between 4 and 8 pounds. The hind legs can be slightly longer than the front which creates a slight rise from the shoulder to the rump.

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The Munchkin has been crossed with the curly-coated LaPerm to create the Skookum, the hairless Sphynx to create the Minskin and Bambino, with the extremely curly-coated Selkirk Rex to produce the Lambkin, the Persian breed group which includes Himalayans and Exotic Shorthair, to create the Napoleon and crossed with the Bengal to create the Genetta.

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Selkirk Rex

Selkirk Rex On Brown Background

Swiss International Air Lines Boeing 777-300 Diverts to Remote Iqaluit Airport Near Arctic Circle

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Swiss Boeing 777-300 Bound for L.A. from Zurich Makes Arctic Emergency Landing of Snowy Runway

On Feb. 1, Swiss Airlines Boeing 777-300 operating as flight LX40 from Zurich, Switzerland, to Los Angeles, California, diverted to Iqaluit, Canada, capital of Nunavut in the Canadian Northern Territories.
The diversion was caused by an engine problem that required the shut down of the engine and an emergency diversion: actually, according to a statement later released by Swiss, a malfuction message caused the engine to automatically shutdown. The crew decided to make a precautionary landing.
The selection of Iqaluit Airport (airport code: YFB) is remarkable since official sources state that Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers at this airport have only small general aviation aircraft capacity with for more than 15 passengers.
The large Boeing 777-300 can carry up to 550 passengers in its dense-capacity interior configuration.

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The airport does have an 8,000 foot asphalt runway. The Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, conducted cold weather testing from Iqaluit Airport during February 2006 – its first North American visit. They were hoping to experience −25 °C (−13 °F) weather to determine the effects on cabin temperatures and engine performance. Nunavut authorities hope that the importance of these tests will put Iqaluit on the map as a centre for cold-weather testing.

A380 at Iqaluit airport.

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New Population Statistics Canadian Cities

Montreal

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Population of census metropolitan areas
2012 2013 2014 2015
persons (thousands)
St. John’s (N.L.) 205.9 209.1 212.3 214.3
Halifax (N.S.) 406.7 410.0 413.6 417.8
Moncton (N.B.)1 142.8 144.4 146.1 148.0
Saint John (N.B.) 128.5 128.0 127.5 126.9
Saguenay (Que.) 160.0 160.3 160.4 160.0
Québec (Que.) 785.2 793.6 800.9 806.4
Sherbrooke (Que.) 207.5 210.1 212.6 214.5
Trois-Rivières (Que.) 154.4 155.1 156.0 156.4
Montréal (Que.) 3,937.4 3,985.1 4,028.0 4,060.7
Ottawa-Gatineau (Ont.-Que.) 1,288.5 1,302.9 1,316.5 1,332.0
Kingston (Ont.) 165.9 167.1 168.5 169.9
Peterborough (Ont.)1 122.7 123.1 122.8 122.6
Oshawa (Ont.) 373.8 379.1 384.0 389.0
Toronto (Ont.) 5,868.7 5,966.4 6,053.4 6,129.9
Hamilton (Ont.) 750.7 758.3 765.2 771.7
St. Catharines-Niagara (Ont.) 404.0 405.2 406.8 408.2
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (Ont.) 498.8 503.1 507.3 511.3
Brantford (Ont.)1 140.4 141.8 142.8 143.9
Guelph (Ont.)1 148.0 149.5 151.3 153.0
London (Ont.) 494.4 498.7 502.7 506.4
Windsor (Ont.) 330.8 332.5 334.3 335.8
Barrie (Ont.)1 195.4 198.0 200.3 202.7
Greater Sudbury (Ont.) 165.5 165.7 165.3 164.8
Thunder Bay (Ont.) 125.1 125.2 124.9 124.7
Winnipeg (Man.) 759.6 770.3 782.6 793.4
Regina (Sask.) 225.0 231.3 237.0 241.4
Saskatoon (Sask.) 281.4 291.0 298.9 305.0
Calgary (Alta.) 1,307.5 1,357.8 1,406.0 1,439.8
Edmonton (Alta.) 1,241.8 1,286.0 1,331.6 1,363.3
Kelowna (B.C.)1 185.6 187.8 191.2 197.3
Abbotsford-Mission (B.C.) 176.7 178.5 181.0 183.5
Vancouver (B.C.) 2,408.1 2,438.7 2,475.7 2,504.3
Victoria (B.C.) 355.2 357.6 361.4 365.3

Calgary

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Winnipeg

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‘Divine Cloud’ Appears Over Tonga

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A man living on the island of Tonga believes that he received a divine message in the form of an odd cloud that bears an uncanny resemblance to a divine figure.

Joey Mataele snapped a photo of the formation during a visit to his brother’s house and subsequently shared it on social media.

Mataele’s message with the image made his interpretation quite clear as he marveled, “this is an image that was unexpected and I know it’s a miracle in my life.”

The ‘identity’ of the ‘divine figure’ likely depends on one’s own proclivities as suggestions have included the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and an angel.

Skeptics who say that there is no such thing as a divine message argue that the ‘heavenly’ sight which stunned Mataela is simply just an ordinary cloud.

Clearly, the ultimate interpretation of what the wispy white ‘figure’ might mean, if anything, is a matter of faith.

 

While we’re at it. Below is a few more examples of divine intervention.

Jesus Christ is everywhere during Holy Week, but one Orlando woman thought she was going crazy when she saw his image in the bark of a dead tree in her front yard.

“It’s Treesus,” the homeowner, Kim, said on the eve of Resurrection Sunday. “I find it very odd. For me, it’s unmistakable, and I’m not particularly religious. So I don’t know what it means.”

The Orlando Sentinel agreed to withhold her full name and address because she fears her home would turn into a mecca of pilgrims wanting to see the image.

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Here the face of Jesus manifests as a stain on a bathroom wall.

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Grilled cheese sandwich, actually this one is the Virgin Mary I think.

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There are no photos of Jesus (okay maybe the Shroud of Turin) and nobody painted him.  So how did we determine that he looks like the guy on the Kit Kat chocolate bar?

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Potato chip

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The image seems to materialize in hot places

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Pizza slice

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Why? Why would the Lord and Saviour, King of Kings, put his face on a bloody banana?  He might only convert 2 or 3 people with this stunt.  He should manifest on a giant billboard in Times Square.

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Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.

There have been many instances of perceptions of religious imagery and themes, especially the faces of religious figures, in ordinary phenomena. Many involve images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the word Allah, or other religious phenomena: in September 2007 in Singapore, for example, a callus on a tree resembled a monkey, leading believers to pay homage to the “Monkey god” (either Sun Wukong or Hanuman) in the monkey tree phenomenon.

Carl Sagan hypothesized that as a survival technique, human beings are “hard-wired” from birth to identify the human face. This allows people to use only minimal details to recognize faces from a distance and in poor visibility but can also lead them to interpret random images or patterns of light and shade as being face.

Oh wow Jesus, this is really going to help people quite smoking.

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Winnipeg’s Largest Buildings by Floor-space

Being the tallest building doesn’t mean the biggest. This list includes the top 6 buildings in Winnipeg in terms of floor space square footage.

Number 6
Cityplace. 9 stories. Floor space -337,000 square feet.

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Number 5
Richardson Building. 32 stories. Floor space-460,000 square feet.

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Number 4

201 Portage.  33 stories.  Floor space-502,000 square feet.

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Number 3

360 Main Street.  31 stories.  Floor space-600,000 square feet.

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Number 2

The Bay Downtown.  7 stories.  Floor space-615,000 square feet.

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Number 1

Manitoba Hydro Tower.  22 stories.  Floor space -690,000 square feet.

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By comparison lets take a look at the Willis Tower in Chicago. Formerly known as the Sears Tower.

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4.5 million square feet!

Manitoba Hydro Meltdown

Manitoba Hydro to shrink workforce by roughly 900 positions

Crown corporation cuts will follow immediate 30% reduction in executive team, management restructuring

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Manitoba Hydro will cut 900 positions across the province and will increase rates by at least 10 per cent, the Crown corporation announced Friday.

The utility, which employs about 6,200 people, plans to offer voluntary buyouts starting later this spring. The reduction amounts to a 15 per cent cut to Hydro’s total workforce.

“We care about our employees, so we’re going to work and try to make this as smooth and as fair as we can,” said Kelvin Shepherd, CEO and president of Manitoba Hydro. “I think our voluntary program will get some good results.”

Starting immediately, the number of executive positions will be reduced by 30 per cent. Three vice-presidents have already been let go, Shepherd said.

The hands-on workers

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Cuts to staff are necessary to protect the financial integrity of Manitoba Hydro, the chair of the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, Sandy Riley, said in a written statement.

Reducing costs will not only bolster Hydro’s financial future but can help protect Manitoba from future credit downgrades, he said.

Hydro’s debt was reported at $13 billion in October. Over the next three to four years, company debt could rise to $25 billion.

Some of the workers are getting out anyway they can.

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CEO Kevin Shepherd and the Manitoba Hydro board said cost reductions at the utility will not be enough to restore the Crown corporation’s fiscal outlook.

It is also planning “double-digit annual rate increases” for at least five years in order to re-establish “proper financial footing,” Riley said.

It is all so unreal!

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The World’s Largest Airlines

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The world’s largest airlines can be defined in several ways. American Airlines Group is the largest by its fleet size, revenue, profit, passengers carried and revenue passenger mile. Delta Air Lines is the largest by assets value and market capitalization. Lufthansa Group is the largest by number of employees, FedEx Express by freight tonne-kilometers, Ryanair by number of international passengers carried and Turkish Airlines by number of countries served.

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By Passengers carried (thousands)

Rank Airline 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
1 United States American Airlines 146,530 87,830 86,823 86,335 86,042
2 United States Southwest Airlines 144,575 129,087 115,323 112,234 110,587
3 United States Delta Air Lines 138,842 129,433 120,636 116,726 113,731
4 China China Southern Airlines 109,301 100,683 91,504 86,277 80,545
5 Republic of Ireland Ryanair 101,401 86,370 81,395 79,649 76,422
6 United States United Airlines 95,384 90,439 90,161 92,619 50,473
7 China China Eastern Airlines 75,139 66,174 62,653 79,611
8 United Kingdom Easyjet 70,232 62,309 58,410
9 Turkey Turkish Airlines 60 198
10 China Air China 58,661 54,674
Germany Lufthansa 59,850 63,273 64,393 63,012

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By scheduled passenger-kilometres flown (millions)

Rank Airline 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
1 United States American Airlines 320,813 208,046 206,551 203,336 203,485
2 United States Delta Air Lines 302,512 290,862 277,560 271,567 269,724
3 United States United Airlines 294,970 287,547 286,802 288,282 160,270
4 United Arab Emirates Emirates 251,190 230,855 209,377 180,880 153,264
5 China China Southern Airlines 189,186 166,074 147,841 135,021 121,944
6 United States Southwest Airlines 189,097 162,445 145,124 137,708 134,918
7 Germany Lufthansa 145,904 143,403 144,236 142,512 140,972
8 United Kingdom British Airways 140,780 137,204 130,129 124,318 116,864
9 France Air France 139,217 134,528 136,405 135,821 133,035
10 Republic of Ireland Ryanair 125,194

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By scheduled freight tonne-kilometres (millions)

Rank Airline 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
1 United States FedEx Express 15,799 16,020 16,127 16,108 15,939
2 United Arab Emirates Emirates SkyCargo 12,157 11,240 10,459 9,319 8,132
3 United States UPS Airlines 10,807 10,936 10,584 10,416 10,566
4 Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Cargo 9,935 9,464 8,241 8,433 9,109
5 South Korea Korean Air Cargo 7,761 8,079 7,666 8,144 8,974
6 Qatar Qatar Airways Cargo 7,660 5,997 4,972
7 Germany Lufthansa Cargo 6,888 7,054 7,218 7,175 7,674
8 Luxembourg Cargolux 6,309 5,753 5,225
9 Singapore Singapore Airlines Cargo 6,083 6,019 6,240 6,694 7,118
10 China Air China Cargo 5,718
Taiwan China Airlines Cargo 5,266 4,813 4,538 5,411

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By fleet size

Rank Airline Fleet (June 2016)
1 United States American Airlines 1,789
2 United States Delta Air Lines 1,330
3 United States United Airlines 1,229
4 United States Southwest Airlines 720
5 United States FedEx Express 688
6 China China Southern Airlines 515
7 China China Eastern Airlines 429
8 Canada Air Canada 404
9 China Air China 384
10 Republic of Ireland Ryanair 349

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