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Friday, December 29, 2017

Happy New Year!

  Enjoy the New Year's weekend, see you bright and early Tuesday morning. 2018, ready or not, here we come.

work by Albarrán Cabrera

7 Futuristic Methods Of Transport

Robot

  Just imagine where this goes ten years from now.

Truth Be Told


2017 To 2018

  It's been a hell of a year, one down three to go. What will 2018 bring? Chances are, it's going to be messy.

  I will leave 2017 with a joke.

  My friend has been in a lot of trouble, in and out of jail, all kinds of trouble. In fact he's been in so much trouble his blood type is O Shit...

Perspective

Judd Legum -
"Roy Moore denies that he lost the U.S. Senate election, even after Alabama's Republican Secretary of State certified his opponent as the winner."

"Kind of puts his other denials in perspective."

The Difference

Garry Kasparov - "Patriotism is based on love, nationalism on hate."

The Onion - Paul Ryan Confident American People Will Warm Up To Tax Plan Once They Realize Life A Cruel And Meaningless Farce

The Onion: Paul Ryan Confident American People Will Warm Up To Tax Plan Once They Realize Life A Cruel And Meaningless Farce

Stupidity On Full Display

The Daily Beast: Trump Rolls Back Post-Deepwater Horizon Offshore Safety Regulations

Late

BBC: Why some people are always running late - It’s not always rudeness or scatter-brained behaviour – it can be something much deeper, writes Laura Clarke.
Type A people felt a minute had gone by when roughly 58 seconds had passed. Type B participants felt a minute had gone by after 77 seconds.

GOP Strategist - Trump Still Not Ready For Prime Time

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Angela Harding


Rachel Maddow - Trump DoJ Assertion More Than Nixon Would Have Dared - Beschloss

Morning Joe - Joe Warns In New Column 'A Storm Is Gathering'

Admit

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump comes clean and makes bizarre admission

Recy Taylor

Guardian UK: Recy Taylor, black Alabama woman raped by six white men in 1944, dies aged 97 - Taylor was attacked by six white men as she walked home from church - Men who admitted assault were not indicted by all-white, all-male grand juries
Taylor was 24 when she was abducted and raped as she walked home from church in Abbeville. Her attackers left her on the side of the road in an isolated area. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) assigned Rosa Parks to investigate the case, and she rallied support for justice for Taylor.

Two all-white, all-male grand juries declined to indict the six white men who admitted to authorities that they assaulted her.

Nut Job

Guardian UK: Trump calls for some 'good old global warming' as US experiences bad weather - US president again conflates weather with climate to pour scepticism on climate change and criticise the Paris agreement
"In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!"

Nut Job

NY Times: Trump, the Insurgent, Breaks With 70 Years of American Foreign Policy - President Trump has transformed the world’s view of the United States from an anchor of the international order into something more inward-looking and unpredictable. 查看简体中文版 By MARK LANDLER
Nearly a year into his presidency, Mr. Trump remains an erratic, idiosyncratic leader on the global stage, an insurgent who attacks allies the United States has nurtured since World War II and who can seem more at home with America’s adversaries. His Twitter posts, delivered without warning or consultation, often make a mockery of his administration’s policies and subvert the messages his emissaries are trying to deliver abroad.

Nut Job

NY Times: Excerpts From Trump’s Interview With The Times
TRUMP: [Inaudible.] There was tremendous collusion on behalf of the Russians and the Democrats. There was no collusion with respect to my campaign. I think I’ll be treated fairly. Timingwise, I can’t tell you. I just don’t know. But I think we’ll be treated fairly.

SCHMIDT: But you’re not worked up about the timing?

TRUMP: Well, I think it’s bad for the country. The only thing that bothers me about timing, I think it’s a very bad thing for the country. Because it makes the country look bad, it makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position. So the sooner it’s worked out, the better it is for the country.

The Market On Friday

  At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +81 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Dow's record rally; Apple apology; Uber investment by Alanna Petroff

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Wired


Get Use To It

Vox: Megadisasters devastated America this year. They’re going to get worse. Storms, fires, floods, and heat caused unprecedented destruction in 2017. Why? By Umair Irfan and Brian Resnick

Troy

The Daily Beast: Family of Four Killed in ‘Savage’ Slaying Over Christmas in Upstate New York - Shaken police say the two women and two kids found murdered in a quiet Victorian in Troy, New York, were part of the worst crime scene they’ve seen in decades. by Olivia Messer and Erin Friar
...bound with their throats slashed...

“After being in this business for almost 42 years, I can’t describe the savagery of this. I don’t have the word.”

“This will be a full-court press, if you will, until we bring someone to justice.”

Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye

NY Times: Alabama Certifies Jones Win, Brushing Aside Challenge From Roy Moore By ALAN BLINDER

Moore Rejected

Yahoo: Judge rejects Roy Moore's suit in Alabama Senate race

Digby's Latest

Salon: Why are all these Florida Republicans attacking Bob Mueller? Maybe it’s coincidence that Florida congressmen benefited from Russian hacking, and now bemoan the “deep state”

The Onion - Vegetarian Begins Sad, Private Routine Of Scanning Menu For Little Green V’s

The Onion: Vegetarian Begins Sad, Private Routine Of Scanning Menu For Little Green V’s

Rising Heat And Humidity

Science Daily: Humidity may prove breaking point for some areas as temperatures rise, says study - From US south to China, heat stress could exceed human endurance
summary - Climate scientists say that killer heat waves will become increasingly prevalent in many regions as climate warms. However, most projections leave out a major factor that could worsen things: humidity, which can greatly magnify the effects of heat alone. Now, a new global study projects that in coming decades the effects of high humidity in many areas will dramatically increase.

Gaming

  I feel fortunate in that I completely missed out on this particular addiction. Video games and all that hold zero interest for me. However, I do have a bit of an interest in playing online chess.

The Telegraph: Gaming addiction set to be recognized as a mental health disorder
Notable traits include patients prioritizing gaming over "life interests and daily activities and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences".

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Angela Harding

Morning Joe - 32 Tweets That Encapsulate President Trump's First Year

Morning Joe - 'Terrible Numbers' For President Trump In New AP/NORC Poll

One Can Only Hope

  I'll say it again. I read Bill Palmer mostly for fun. He's not a deep journalist, he's an opinion writer who strikes a nerve. He is solely focused on Trump's possible demise. It's only possible, it is not a given that Trump's political demise will happen.

  Right now we are witnessing the GOP throwing all in behind Trump. 2018 will be the year of the smear. The GOP will smear any opponent of Trump's who is even slightly provoking questions in the Trump-Russia fiasco. The GOP simply wants to sweep all of it under a rug. Mueller and the FBI appear to be the first casualty, but more will follow. In addition there will be a tremendous amount of misdirection. We will hear about the GOP's real villain, Hillary Clinton, many many times. No, there will be a fight to the death surrounding Trump and the GOP is all on board. They like those tax cuts for the billionaires that places the burden of debt on middle class people and the poor. Their appetite for corruption and greed has been very nicely wetted and now, they want a lot more including SSI and Medicare.

The Palmer Report: It’s all closing in on Donald Trump

Neo-Nazis, Slavery And Morons

Guardian UK: Trump and the press: 10 questions journalists never thought they'd have to ask - The president’s volatile temper and thin skin have prompted many improbable exchanges this year, including questions about neo-Nazis, slavery and morons
"I just didn’t understand what you were saying. You were saying the press has treated white nationalists unfairly?"

Trump: “It looked like they had some rough, bad people, neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call ’em. But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest.”

Giant

Guardian UK: New York: giant penis mural that drew shock and scorn painted over - Carolina Falkholt painting appeared on Manhattan building on Christmas Eve - Some Lower East Side residents said painting made them uncomfortable


Disgusting

NY Times: Sessions Says to Courts: Go Ahead, Jail People Because They’re Poor By CHIRAAG BAINS
Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions retracted an Obama-era guidance to state courts that was meant to end debtors’ prisons, which throw people who are too poor to pay fines into jail.

Roy's Hissy Fit

  Poor baby, Roy can't believe his old testament self righteous god would allow a heathen devil worshipping Democrat to win the Senate race instead of himself, a pedophile.

NY Times: Roy Moore Sues to Block Certification of Alabama Senate Election Results By ALAN BLINDER
If the election is prematurely certified, Mr. Moore’s lawyers wrote, he will “suffer irreparable harm” and be “denied his full right as a candidate to a fair election.”

The Market On Thursday

  At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +39 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open moderately higher.

CNN: Bitcoin chills; U.S. dollar dips; Stocks steady by Alanna Petroff

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Tactic

Washington Post: Trump legal team readies attack on Flynn’s credibility By Carol D. Leonnig

Reality In The USA

Boston Globe: Americans are dying younger than people in other rich nations By Christopher Ingraham
...and the gap is growing ever wider...

Vintage


'Christmas Is Here'

Bad Lip Reading spoofs Trump.

Tests

Qz: US nuclear tests killed far more civilians than we knew
...340,000 to 690,000 American deaths from 1951 to 1973.

Why?

USA Today: Smearing Robert Mueller - If Trump is innocent, why the effort to discredit the special counsel's findings?

Biden 2020

Newsweek: Joe Biden Can Beat Trump in 2020, but Will the Democratic Party Let Him Run? By Matthew Cooper
As Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, once put it, “If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, then you’ve got a problem…. He’s the nicest person I ever met in politics.”

Villa

The Daily Beast: Singer Joy Villa Files Sex-Assault Complaint Against Corey Lewandowski
...Lewandowski hit her twice on the buttocks “extremely hard” after she told him to stop.

Chaos

Salon: Russians and GOP still trying to “sow chaos”? Well, it’s working - GOP operatives have sought to distort or reshape reality for decades. Now they have outside help from experts, by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Dad Gets Dolled Up For Trip To Lowe’s

The Onion: Dad Gets Dolled Up For Trip To Lowe’s

Punishment

Science Daily: Is punishment as effective as we think?
summary - Punishment might not be an effective means to get members of society to cooperate for the common good, according to a social dilemma experiment.

Churchill On The Truth

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is." Winston Churchill

CNN Vs FOX News Coverage Of Russia

Spurious

Salt Lake Tribune: Jennifer Rubin: Now we know why Republicans are attacking the FBI - The spectacle of Republicans trying to cook up a spurious case of corruption against the entire FBI is strong evidence of their inability to take their constitutional responsibilities seriously.

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Angela Harding

Ari Melber - Trump Running A Criminal Enterprise Out Of The White House

Lawrence O'Donnell - Ex-Watergate Prosecutor, New Trump FBI Threats May Be Obstruction

Lies

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump caught in one of his most idiotic lies yet

Sharp Drop

Guardian UK: New York City on track to end year with sharp drop in murder rate - The city recorded 278 homicides up to mid-December, compared with 325 last year, and police say there were the lowest number of index crimes since the 50s

Civil

Guardian UK: Barack Obama tells Prince Harry: leaders must stop corroding civil discourse - Former US president also talks about life after leaving office in rare interview conducted by prince for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme

Anything

NY Times: “Do something!” It’s what Americans plead after each successive mass slaying — in Newtown, in Orlando, in Sutherland Springs — sickened by the ease with which one man with a gun can massacre dozens of people.

End

NY Times: The End of Trump and the End of Days

The Market On Wednesday

  At 7:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are +3 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open in the flat area.

CNN: Stocks steady; Bitcoin bounces; Oil at $60 by Alanna Petroff

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Seth Abramson On Trump's Displays Of Guilt

Twitter: 20 Things Guilty People Do That Trump Does Daily

Left

The Daily Beast: Report: Kremlin Troll Wrote for Far-Left U.S. Sites
A Russian troll writing under the pseudonym “Alice Donovan” managed to convince a number of American editors to publish their work for the past two years, a new Washington Post report detailed on Monday.

Advice On Hostile Politicial Discussions

It’s not always possible to transform a hostile situation into a constructive disagreement, where you can just agree to disagree. At times like that, you may simply need to let it go. But even though it may not be workable to continue the conversation in that moment, we can always come back later and try again. With time, the picture can always change. We may be able to come back to that person later and be able to experience some sense of kindness.

An Unmitigated Disaster

Forbes: Economists Say The Trump Tax Plan Will Have Disastrous Consequences by John T. Harvey

The Intercept: GOP’s List of Economists Backing Tax Cut Includes Ghosts, Office Assistants, Ex-Felons, and a Sprinkling of Real Economists
James C. Miller III, one of the signatories, is an official with Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers-run advocacy organization hellbent on passing tax cut legislation. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, another signatory, is head of the American Action Forum, the sister group of the American Action Network, the dark-money group aligned with Ryan’s political team.

Yup


Chronic Disease

Salon: Hey, remember Roy Moore? Two weeks later, he still hasn’t conceded - Defeated Christian nationalist begs for money, hinting at “voter fraud” — while his former allies back away by Matthew Sheffield
Jones' 1.5 percent margin of victory is three times higher the 0.5 percent margin under which Alabama law would trigger an automatic recount.

The Onion - Convenience Store Employee Given Generous Holiday Bonus Shift

The Onion: Convenience Store Employee Given Generous Holiday Bonus Shift

New Approach

Science Daily: Harnessing sperm to treat gynecological diseases
summary - Delivering drugs specifically to cancer cells is one approach researchers are taking to minimize treatment side effects. Stem cells, bacteria and other carriers have been tested as tiny delivery vehicles. Now a new potential drug carrier to treat gynecological conditions has joined the fleet: sperm. Scientists report that they have exploited the swimming power of sperm to ferry a cancer drug directly to a cervical tumor in lab tests.

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Andrey Belle

MSNBC - Fmr. Assistant FBI Director On Trump Disparaging Its Agents

Morning Joe - A Look At Trump's First Year

No Mueller News

The Palmer Report: No news is good news

A Special Gift For Mnuchin

Guardian UK: Secret Service investigates wrapped box of horse manure sent to Steve Mnuchin - Los Angeles Police Department’s bomb squad called to open the box - Police said the package was marked as being from ‘the American people’

Idiotic Nonsense

Guardian UK: Trump voters see his flaws but stand by president who 'shakes things up' - Northampton County, Pennsylvania flipped from reliably blue to backing Trump – and despite his disappointments, many still say there was no better alternative

Krugman's Latest

NY Times: America Is Not Yet Lost
Our democracy needs two decent parties, and at this point the G.O.P. seems to be irretrievably corrupt.

Urban Hunters

NY Times: Coyotes Are Colonizing Cities. Step Forward the Urban Hunter. The pursuit of the predator in settings like strip malls, residential streets and parks is igniting a debate over the benefits and dangers of urban hunting. By SIMON ROMERO
The hunters have come after them, stalking the predators in settings like strip mall parking lots, housing tract cul-de-sacs, and plazas in the shadow of skyscrapers.

The Market On Tuesday

  At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are -40 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open moderately lower.

CNN: Holiday hangover; China debts; U.S. housing data by Alanna Petroff

The War On Christmas


2018

NY Times: How to Be Happier, Safer, Healthier and Smarter in 2018 By TIM HERRERA

Friday, December 22, 2017

Holidays!

  Enjoy the long holiday weekend, see you bright and early Tuesday morning.

work by Albarrán Cabrera

Happy Holidays

work by Kelly Louise Judd





Watchdogs

Inside Climate News: The New Climate Watchdogs: Democratic Attorneys General Take on Trump - A blue-state coalition filed nearly two dozen lawsuits in 2017 involving climate change, energy and the environment. By David Hasemyer

Right Wing Hillary Nut Show

Salon: GOP’s new hunt for “Crooked Hillary”: A last-ditch gamble to save Trump? Jeff Sessions, Devin Nunes and Rand Paul are all on the Clinton case: So far only the right-wing media is buying by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Child Who Just Wanted Clothes Spares Uncle’s Feelings By Pretending To Like Xbox

The Onion: Child Who Just Wanted Clothes Spares Uncle’s Feelings By Pretending To Like Xbox

Watery Mars

Science Daily: Mars: Not as dry as it seems - Water on Mars absorbed like a sponge, new research suggests
summary - Two new articles have shed light on why there is, presumably, no life on Mars. Although today's Martian surface is barren, frozen and inhabitable, a trail of evidence points to a once warmer, wetter planet, where water flowed freely -- and life may have thrived. The conundrum of what happened to this water is long standing and unsolved. However, new research suggests that this water is now locked in the Martian rocks.

Copy That


Seth Meyers - Republicans Praise Trump; Trump Claims He Repealed Obamacare

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Mary "May" Morris

Morning Joe - Tax Bill Bonuses May Seem Cynical, But Will Voters Mind?

Rachel Maddow - Wait, Did Rep. Adam Schiff Just Drop A Big Hint?

Pushed Out

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump begins pushing FBI officials out of power who can prove his guilt

Papaya

Guardian UK: Why medical students are practicing abortions on papayas - Amid fears of a future abortion ban, a group teaches a discreet procedure using a fruit that looks a bit like the female reproductive system

Hat Pick

Guardian UK: How to settle Virginia's election tie? By drawing names from a bowl (or a hat) - Shelly Simonds and David Yancey received exactly the same number of votes on 7 November, and now the state is compelled to pick a winner by drawing lots

Threats

NY Times: The Four Threats to Robert Mueller By RICHARD W. PAINTER and NORMAN L. EISEN

Dismissed

NY Times: Judge Dismisses Suit Against Trump Over Business Dealings By SHARON LaFRANIERE

The Market On Friday

  At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are -12 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open slightly lowered.

CNN: Stock records; Bitcoin plummets; Shutdown averted by Alanna Petroff

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Nose Browned

Pence brown-nosing Trump yesterday -
“I want to thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank you for speaking on behalf of and fighting every day for the forgotten men and women of America..."

Overwhelming Condemnation For Trump

CNN: Despite Haley threat, UN votes to condemn Trump's Jerusalem decision

Dave Chappelle - Voting In The 2016 Election

Digby's Latest

Salon: Republicans get their tax-cut Holy Grail: Is it poisoned? Republicans believe tax cuts will save them in 2018. They may have driven away affluent suburban whites for good by Heather Digby Parton

The Onion - Paul Ryan Slits Auto Mechanic’s Throat To Kick Off GOP Purge Of Working Class

The Onion: Paul Ryan Slits Auto Mechanic’s Throat To Kick Off GOP Purge Of Working Class

Fish

Science Daily: Weekly fish consumption linked to better sleep, higher IQ
summary - Regular fish consumption has been shown to improve cognition. It's also been known to help with sleep. A new study connects all three for the first time. The team found that children who eat fish at least once a week sleep better and have higher IQs by an average of 4 points.

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Mary "May" Morris

Rachel Maddow - Americans Brace For Fallout From GOP Tax Bill

MSNBC: On taxes, do Republicans know what they’ve done? By Steve Benen

Morning Joe - In An Alarming Moment Reminiscent Of This Summer, President Trump's Cabinet On Wednesday Praised Him Individually, As Did GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch

Melting

The Palmer Report: Here comes Donald Trump’s deranged meltdown

Cinema 2018

Guardian UK: Cinema got political in 2017, but it's only the beginning - Films such as The Florida Project and Get Out have led the charge in Hollywood – and while Trump may have killed off satire, next year political history looks set to take its place

Homeless

Guardian UK: Bussed out - How America moves its homeless - Each year, US cities give thousands of homeless people one-way bus tickets out of town. An 18-month nationwide investigation by the Guardian reveals, for the first time, what really happens at journey’s end By the Outside in America team
A count earlier this year found half a million homeless people on one night in America. The problem is most severe in the west, where rates of homelessness are skyrocketing in a number of major cities, and where states like California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have some of the highest rates of per capita homelessness.

Garbage

NY Times: In Tax Overhaul, Trump Tries to Defy the Economic Odds By PATRICIA COHENDEC
...scarcely any independent analyses project anything like the rosy forecasts offered by the president’s top economic advisers.

Cynical

NY Times: You Cannot Be Too Cynical About the Republican Tax Bill by Thomas B. Edsall

The Market On Thursday

  At 9:32 a.m. ET the DOW is up +62 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market has opened moderately higher.

CNN: Shutdown threat; Catalonia vote; Brexit bites by Ivana Kottasová

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Garbage

Axios: Congressional Republicans send tax cuts to Trump's desk

UFO

  Check out the video at this link - footage of a jet tracing a UFO.

CNN: Former Pentagon UFO official: 'We may not be alone' By Eli Watkins and Brian Todd

Lose

The Daily Beast: Breitbart News Helped Trump Win. Under Steve Bannon, It Might Also Help Him Lose - Breitbart News’ power was most in evidence during Donald Trump’s election campaign. But now Steve Bannon and his team speak to an ever-shrinking, vote-losing echo chamber. by Lloyd Grove

Pulled

Salon: Ivanka Trump’s surprise visit at a Connecticut school did not go over well - Some parents pulled their children from the school due to their dislike of the Trump family’s politics by Matthew Rozsa

The Onion - Study Finds Chickens Would Have No Qualms About Caging, Eating Humans

The Onion: Study Finds Chickens Would Have No Qualms About Caging, Eating Humans

Fossils

Science Daily: Ancient fossil microorganisms indicate that life in the universe is common - Scientists analyze specimens from 3.465 billion years ago
summary - A new analysis of the oldest known fossil microorganisms provides strong evidence to support an increasingly widespread understanding that life in the universe is common.

Insults

  Enes Kanter plays center for the New York Knicks.

NY Post: Turkish prosecutors pushing for lengthy Enes Kanter prison term
...prosecutors are seeking more than four years in prison for NBA player Enes Kanter on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Gulam Mohammed Sheikh

Morning Joe - Rep. Joe Crowley, D-NY Tears GOP Tax Bill, Trump

Morning Joe - Republican Tax Plan Considered 'Bad' By Americans In NBC News Poll

Trump's Mental Health



The Looting Of America

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump and the Republican Party just committed suicide

Resist

  I am beginning to realize that we presently live under an authoritarian regime. It's not fun.

Guardian UK: Eminem attacks Donald Trump: 'He's got people brainwashed' - The rapper continues his stream of invective against the president in a new interview, saying ‘his election was such a disappointment to me about the state of the country’

The Dictator Has Spoken

Guardian UK: US will 'take names of those who vote to reject Jerusalem recognition' - UN members warned Donald Trump will take issue personally if countries back draft resolution rejecting US decision
Haley writes: “As you consider your vote, I encourage you to know the president and the US take this vote personally.

“The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those who voted against us,” she continued.

Erosion Of The State

NY Times: How the Republican Tax Plan Uses School Savings to Hurt States By NAT MALKUS
While this change would have only a small effect on the federal Treasury, it creates outsize impacts on the state income tax bases in the 33 states that instituted state tax deductions and tax credits to encourage 529 college savings. The federal expansion opens these state incentives to an entirely new area of expenditures, allowing private school families to funnel their tuition payments through 529s as a way to avoid state taxes.

Imagine for instance that a family in New York spends $10,000 on high school tuition but has not yet started saving for college. Congress’s 529 expansion opens New York’s $10,000 state income tax deduction for 529 contributions to private school tuition. This family could now open a 529 savings account, briefly park the $10,000 for private school tuition in it, and avoid about $600 in state income taxes.

This Thing Is Garbage

NY Times: Republican Tax Bill Passes Senate in 51-48 Vote By THOMAS KAPLAN and ALAN RAPPEPORT

The Market On Wednesday

  At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +92 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Tax bill euphoria; Uber setback; Bitcoin tumbles by Ivana Kottasová

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The Worst

CNN: Trump's approval rating just entered a league of its own By Ryan Struyk
...earning the approval of just 35% of Americans...the worst approval rating in a December of any elected president's first year in the White House by a wide margin....

Not So Great

BBC: The time when America stopped being great By Nick Bryant

Invisibility Cloak

Lawless

The Daily Beast: Trump Is America’s First Lawless President …and the Republican Party is following his lead as America’s republic breaks down. by Michael Tomasky
He cares nothing about the Constitution and he’ll lie about anything to anyone at anytime.

Garbage

  This is just too f-ing depressing.

NY Times: Tax Bill Moves to Senate After House Passage Along Party Lines

'Truth Is A Beautiful Thing'

London Grammar

The Long Term Corrosion Of Democracy

Salon: Author Brian Klaas: Is Trump an “aspiring despot” or a “bumbling showman”? Yes! Author of “The Despot’s Apprentice” on the “long-term corrosion of democracy” that won’t end when Trump is gone

The Onion - Russian Agent Disgusted With Things He Forced To Do To Pass Self Off As Reddit Commenter

The Onion: Russian Agent Disgusted With Things He Forced To Do To Pass Self Off As Reddit Commenter

Criminal Behavior

Science Daily: Brain lesions, criminal behavior linked to moral decision-making network
summary - When brain lesions occur within the brain network responsible for morality and value-based decision-making, they can predispose a person toward criminal behavior, according to new research.

Twitter Begins Purging Hate

USA Today: #TwitterPurge begins as company suspends accounts deemed hateful, violent

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Gulam Mohammed Sheikh

Chris Hayes - GOP Tax Bill Would Benefit The People Voting On It

Rachel Maddow - Republican Attack On Mueller Trump Investigation Falls Apart

Warning

Read with a grain of salt.

The Palmer Report: Robert Mueller fires another warning shot at Donald Trump

Sick Man

Guardian UK: US could broaden its use of nuclear weapons, Trump administration signals - Wider role for weapons to counter ‘non-nuclear strategic attacks’ unveiled as part of Trump’s new security strategy, which also failed to address climate change

State Run TV

Guardian UK: 'Kill the messenger': How Fox News cried 'coup' over the Mueller investigation - The cable news channel regularly accuses the special counsel’s Trump-Russia inquiry of being a ‘coup’ by a ‘criminal cabal’. What are they playing at?

Krugman's Latest

NY Times: Passing Through to Corruption by Paul Krugman
The final, and most disturbing, possible explanation for the behavior of Republican legislators is that they’re supporting legislation, knowing that it’s bad for both the country and their party, because it’s good for them personally.

Garbage

NY Times: Tax Bill Lets Trump and Republicans Feather Their Own Nests By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The Market On Tuesday

  At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are +47 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open moderately higher.

CNN: Tax bill finale; Market records; Bombardier dispute by Ivana Kottasová

Monday, December 18, 2017

Blame Shifter

The Daily Beast: Trump’s Latest Tweet: “I” Have the Most Beautiful Political Brain Around, Okay? Trump “predicted” Gillespie and Moore would lose? Really? The Republicans are going to do well next November? And if they don’t, he’ll just lie and say he never said it. by Matt Lewis

He Knows

Daily Kos: Amazing CIA bombshell that proves Trump is either compromised or delusional
The officials were escorted into a spacious conference room on the 14th floor of Trump Tower. Trump took a seat at one end of a large table, with Vice President-elect Mike Pence at the other. Among the others present were Priebus, Pompeo and designated national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Following a rehearsed plan, Clapper functioned as moderator, yielding to Brennan and others on key points in the briefing, which covered the most highly classified information U.S. spy agencies had assembled, including an extraordinary CIA stream of intelligence that had captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation.

The Meaning

Salon: Robert Reich: The meaning of Doug Jones’s upset victory

Robert Reich On The Tax Give-A-Way To The Rich

Robert Reich: A Guide to Why the Trump-Republican Tax Plan is a Disgrace (for When you Confront Your Republican Uncle Bob During the Holidays)
(5) The “competitiveness” of America depends on American workers, not on “American” corporations. But this tax plan will make it harder to finance public investments in education, health, and infrastructure, on which the future competitiveness of American workers depends.

The Onion - Historians Uncover Evidence Stonehenge Once Prominent Druid Make-Out Spot

The Onion: Historians Uncover Evidence Stonehenge Once Prominent Druid Make-Out Spot

Platelets And Phagocytic Cells

Science Daily: Immune system: The body's street sweepers
summary - The list of tasks performed by the smallest blood cells known as platelets has now been extended by new research. At sites of infection, actively migrating platelets sweep bacteria into aggregates for disposal by phagocytic cells, scientists have discovered.

Have An Excellent Monday

work by Jim Sande

Morning Joe - The Real-Life Dangers Of Trump's FBI Remarks

Morning Joe - GOP Unveils Final Tax Bill, And Here's Why Younger Americans Lose

Anything But Normal

The Palmer Report: Babbling Donald Trump makes embarrassing Freudian slip
(Trump said,) "Hopefully everything will normalize with Cuba. But right now they are not doing the right thing. And when they don’t do the right thing, we’re not gonna do the right thing. That’s all there is to it.”

No McCain

Guardian UK: John McCain will not vote on Republican tax cuts this week - Republican senator, battling cancer, to spend holidays with family in Arizona - Bill would provide Trump with first legislative win as president

Unprecendented Stupidity

Guardian UK: Trump will drop climate change from US National Security Strategy - President to outline new approach in unprecedented White House speech - Obama administration added climate to list of threats to US interests
“Given future global energy demand, much of the developing world will require fossil fuels, as well as other forms of energy, to power their economies and lift their people out of poverty.”

Fracture

NY Times: Image of Cooperation Between White House and Mueller Starts to Fracture By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Mr. Trump said on Sunday when asked about the emails. “I can’t imagine there’s anything on them, frankly, because, as we’ve said, there’s no collusion, no collusion whatsoever.”

Sellout

NY Times: Omarosa, Sacking of a Sellout by Charles M. Blow
She was modeling the worst of men. She was modeling the essence of Trump himself: mean, bullying, self-interested, self-aggrandizing and rapacious.

The Market On Monday

  At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +156 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Dow eyes 25,000; Bitcoin futures; Brexit decisions by Ivana Kottasová

Friday, December 15, 2017

The Weekend!

  Enjoy the weekend, see you bright and early Monday morning.

work by Albarrán Cabrera

Getting Closer

The Daily Beast: Trump’s Numbers Near a Tipping Point - Things fell apart for Nixon when he dropped below 30 percent approval in his second term. Trump is getting there in his first year. by Eleanor Clift

For What It's Worth

Click the image for a larger view.


Here It Comes

CNN: Trump lawyers set for key meeting with special counsel next week By Pamela Brown, Evan Perez, Gloria Borger and Kara Scannell

Impeach

Democracy Now: The Growing Case for Impeaching Donald Trump, From Lawlessness and Corruption to Abuse of Power

Morning Joe - Trump, Russia, Putin, Crazy Anecdotes

Another Severe Warning

STAT: I’m a brain specialist. I think Trump should be tested for a degenerative brain disease By Ford Vox

'Put A Lid On It'

Squirrel Nut Zippers

James Webb

NASA: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to be Launched Spring 2019
The 21-foot (6.5-meter) diameter infrared-optimized telescope is designed to study an extremely wide range of astrophysical phenomena: the first stars and galaxies that formed; the atmospheres of nearby planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets; and objects within our own solar system.

Digby's Latest

Salon: Trump’s bizarre love affair with Putin deepens: What is he hiding? A Washington Post feature on Trump’s Russia fixation is oddly credulous: Is wounded pride really the issue here? by Heather Digby Parton

The Borowitz Report - Roy Moore’s Defeat Means Ted Cruz Retains Status As Most Despised Person In Senate

New Yorker: Roy Moore’s Defeat Means Ted Cruz Retains Status as Most Despised Person in Senate

Kepler-90's Eighth Planet

Science Daily: Artificial intelligence, NASA data used to discover eighth planet circling distant star
summary - Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star, with the recent discovery of an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star 2,545 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Gulam Mohammed Sheikh

Morning Joe - Trumpism Ends Up Being A Boon For Democrats

Brian Williams - WH Officials Reportedly Avoid Talking Russia With Trump

One Can Hope

The Palmer Report: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein declares war against Donald Trump

Oh Do Tell

Guardian UK: Former Apprentice star on leaving Trump's White House: 'I've seen things that made me uncomfortable' - Omarosa Manigault-Newman denies reports she had been fired from her post as an assistant to Donald Trump, and says she has ‘a profound story’ to share

Extreme Poverty In America

Guardian UK: A journey through a land of extreme poverty: welcome to America - The UN’s Philip Alston is an expert on deprivation – and he wants to know why 41m Americans are living in poverty. The Guardian joined him on a special two-week mission into the dark heart of the world’s richest nation by Ed Pilkington
His fact-finding mission into the richest nation the world has ever known has led him to investigate the tragedy at its core: the 41 million people who officially live in poverty.

Of those, 9 million have zero cash income – they do not receive a cent in sustenance.

The Miserable Tax Bill

NY Times: Republican Tax Bill Faces New Uncertainty Ahead of Expected Vote By ALAN RAPPEPORT and THOMAS KAPLAN

Yup

NY Times: Republicans Despise the Working Class by Paul Krugman

The Market On Friday

  At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +74 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open moderately higher.

CNN: GE has a fossil fuels problem by Matt Egan

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Paul

Washington Post: Paul D. Ryan exiting as speaker? It only makes sense. By Aaron Blake

'Slim Gallard's Comic Performances And Laid Back Cool'

'The Kiss'

music from 'The Last Of The Mohicans'

No More Net Neutrality

Axios: FCC votes to remove net neutrality rules

Trump Voters Debate Roy Moore Loss

FBI

Salon: Conservatives want the FBI demolished — to protect Donald Trump - Another conservative speaks up, and echoes the refrain that the FBI is not pro-Trump enough for his taste by Matthew Rozsa

Stephen Colbert - Trump Walks Back His Roy Moore Endorsement

Hard

538: Trump Will Have A Hard Time Stopping The Russia Investigation — Even If He Fires Mueller By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux

The Onion - Report - GOP Tax Bill Supported By Majority Of Americans Currently Suffocating Wealthy Benefactor With Pillow

The Onion: Report: GOP Tax Bill Supported By Majority Of Americans Currently Suffocating Wealthy Benefactor With Pillow

Autism And Social Behavior

Science Daily: Autism therapy: Social behavior restored via brain stimulation
summary - Scientists are examining the feasibility of treating autistic children with neuromodulation after a new study showed social impairments can be corrected by brain stimulation.

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Joseph Stella

Morning Joe - Majority Of Americans Prefer Democrats In Congress

Morning Joe - 'Uniquely Horrific' Roy Moore Has Yet To Concede

Freefall

The Palmer Report: Donald Trump is in freefall

Sandy Hook

Guardian UK: Remembering the 26: how families honor Sandy Hook victims five years later

The Immoral Moralist

Guardian UK: Roy Moore issues fiery video refusing to concede: 'Immorality sweeps over our land' - In a statement, the Alabama judge railed against a litany of issues, including ‘abortion, sodomy and materialism’, before wishing viewers a ‘Merry Christmas’

Watch at your own risk.

Tax Abomination

NY Times: Scam I Am: Why Is the G.O.P. Rushing This Tax Abomination? by Paul Krugman

Malicious Nutjob

NY Times: His Plans Gone Awry, Rupert Murdoch Divides His Spoils By AMY CHOZICK

The Market On Thursday

  At 9:30 a.m. ET DOW futures are +29 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market opened modestly higher.

CNN: Disney is buying most of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion by Hadas Gold and Charles Riley

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

32%

The 32% mark has shown up on another poll recently. He is drifting down.

The Hill: Monmouth poll: Trump approval rating hits record-low 32 percent By Avery Anapol

36.6%

  A quick glance at 538's aggregate polling data shows Trump at 36.6% approval. This is on Wednesday December 13th at 3:00 PM. I write this because the polls come in regularly and the changes in the aggregate happen throughout the day. The number is significant because it is the lowest percent of approval for Trump since he went into office. Trump's popularity is declining. Could it be that the Trump run is finally over.

538: How unpopular is Donald Trump

Retake The Senate

Vox: After Doug Jones’s win, here's what Democrats need to do to retake the Senate in 2018 - If they hold all their own seats (which won’t be easy), they need to pick up two more. By Andrew Prokop

Lawrence O'Donnell - Sticking It To Bannon

'Cucurrucucú Paloma'

Silvia Pérez Cruz sings an alternate version

My new most favorite singer.

Raw Footage Of Jones Victory

Run Jones for VP in 2020.

Stephen Colbert - Trump's Most Shameless Tweet Of 2017?

Embarrassment

I posted the original USA Today article below, but I like it so much that I even like articles about the article.

Salon: USA Today op-ed delivers the harshest criticism of Donald Trump yet - In a lengthy takedown, USA Today opines that Trump is an embarrassment to public office by Matthew Rozsa

The Onion - Baffled DNC Plant Roy Moore Not Sure What Else He Could Have Done To Defame Republican Party

The Onion: Baffled DNC Plant Roy Moore Not Sure What Else He Could Have Done To Defame Republican Party

Touch

Science Daily: Humans can feel molecular differences between nearly identical surfaces - New study on the sensitivity of human touch could pave the way for advanced haptic technologies
summary - How sensitive is the human sense of touch? Sensitive enough to feel the difference between surfaces that differ by just a single layer of molecules, a team of researchers has shown. Researchers say this fundamental knowledge will be useful for developing electronic skin, prosthetics that can feel, advanced haptic technology for virtual and augmented reality and more.

Moore Or Less


USA Today Rips Trump

USA Today: Will Trump's lows ever hit rock bottom?
A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.

Truth Be Told


Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Rudy Karel Schneeweiss

Lawrence O'Donnell - Alabama Election Results A 'Double Earthquake' For GOP, Trump

Morning Joe Breaks Down Alabama's Senate Race

Nut Goes Nuts

The Palmer Report: Sean Hannity goes nuts after Donald Trump’s candidate Roy Moore loses in Alabama

Suck It Bannon

Guardian UK: 'Suck it, Bannon': former Trump strategist has bad night in Alabama - Hardline nationalist faces fierce backlash from Republicans after getting heavily involved in Roy Moore campaign

Major Blow To Trump

Guardian UK: Alabama election: Democrats triumph over Roy Moore in major blow to Trump - Doug Jones becomes first Democrat to win any statewide office in Alabama in decades after Moore’s campaign for Senate marred by sexual assault claims

Jones!

  Savor this win, celebrate, maintain that feeling. Trump is toxic. He is a radioactive dump site.

NY Times: Once a Long Shot, Democrat Doug Jones Wins Alabama Senate Race By ALEXANDER BURNS and JONATHAN MARTIN

Take It Away

NY Times: Key Takeaways From Doug Jones’s Alabama Victory By JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEXANDER BURNS

The Market On Wednesday

  At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are +19 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open modestly higher.

CNN: Alabama upset, Fed decision; Oil watch by Ivana Kottasová

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Jones Wins!!!!!

Politico: Alabama earthquake: Democrat Jones wins - Republican Roy Moore is defeated in a huge blow for President Donald Trump and his former strategist Steve Bannon. By DANIEL STRAUSS

'Cucurrucucú Paloma'

Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Raül Fernández

Give this a chance. It's really sweet.

'Corcovado'

Astrud Gilberto

Gifts

Psychology Junkie: The Ultimate List of Gift Ideas for Every Myers-Briggs® Personality Type

Gillibrand Vs Trump

  Gillibrand is not going to back down. This is going to get larger. Trump has a fight on his hands now.

Salon: Kirsten Gillibrand fires back after Donald Trump’s sexist Twitter attack - “You cannot silence me" by Charlie May

The Onion - Unpatriotic Man Does Not Maintain Erection During National Anthem

The Onion: Unpatriotic Man Does Not Maintain Erection During National Anthem

Prosthetic Fingers

Science Daily: The force is strong: Amputee controls individual prosthetic fingers
summary - Luke Skywalker's bionic hand is a step closer to reality for amputees in this galaxy. Researchers have created an ultrasonic sensor that allows amputees to control each of their prosthetic fingers individually. It provides fine motor hand gestures that aren't possible with current commercially available devices.

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Rudy Karel Schneeweiss