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Monday, December 31, 2018

GOP Garbage

NY Daily News: House GOP quietly ends probe into FBI's 2016 decisions By MARY CLARE JALONICK
House Republicans say more investigation is needed into decisions made by the FBI and the Justice Department in 2016 as they brought an unceremonious end to their yearlong look at the department's handling of probes into Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails and Donald Trump's ties to Russia.

The Borowitz Report - Trump Named Man Of The Year By ISIS

New Yorker: Trump Named Man Of The Year By ISIS

The Worst Of The Worst

Salon: Worst of Donald Trump in 2018: In a year of new lows, these were the lowest - It's so hard to choose: Kim Jong-un in Singapore? Putin in Helsinki? "Horseface"? But there's a clear winner by Heather Digby Parton

Sugar

Scientific American: Simple Sugars Wipe Out Beneficial Gut Bugs By Karen Hopkin

Joke Of The Day

The Daily Beast: Trump: I Should Be a ‘National Hero’

Have An Excellent New Year's Eve

work by John Singer Sargent




MSNBC - Sen. Lindsey Graham Speaks Out About Syria Withdrawal

MSNBC - New Primary Date Puts California In 2020 Power Position

Idiotic

The Palmer Report: Everyone piles on after Donald Trump takes idiotic new approach to his imaginary wall by Bill Palmer

A Cure For Childhood Leakaemia

Guardian UK: ‘For 30 years I’ve been obsessed by why children get leukaemia. Now we have an answer’ - Newly knighted cancer scientist Mel Greaves explains why a cocktail of microbes could give protection against disease
To do this, Greaves and his team have started working on the bacteria, viruses and other microbes that live in the human gut. These help us digest our food but they also give an indication of the bugs we have been exposed to in life. For example, people in developed countries tend to have far fewer bacterial species in their guts, it has been found – and that is because they have been exposed to fewer species of microbes in the early stages of their lives, a reflection of those “cleaner” lives they are now living.

Investigate

Guardian UK: Democrat-controlled House faces question: what not to investigate? After two years of a compliant Congress, Trump can expect scrutiny into alleged collusion, obstruction and corruption
When Democrats formally assume the US House majority in January for the first time in eight years, they will contend with a president long dubbed by most members of their party as unfit and unqualified to serve.

Warren Announces

NY Times: Elizabeth Warren Announces She Is Running for President in 2020 By Astead W. Herndon and Alexander Burns
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat and a sharp critic of big banks and unregulated capitalism, entered the 2020 race for president on Monday, becoming the first major candidate in what is likely to be a long and crowded primary marked by ideological and generational divisions in a Democratic Party desperate to beat President Trump.

Digs In

NY Times: Trump Digs In, Darkening Hopes for a Deal to End the Shutdown

Yours truly wrote a comment on this article on the NY Times site. Here it is -

"After two unbearable years with the GOP in control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency, there's no funding for 'the wall'. The GOP itself while completely in charge of the entire federal government, recognized that 'the wall' was a boondoggle, a waste of funds, a worthless idea and consequently they did not fund 'the wall'. Now with the Democrats poised to take back the house in four days, 'the wall' is somehow according to Trump and the GOP, the Democrats problem, fault, and responsibility. Clearly the only people who resonate with Trump's less than clear and less than rational explanations are his beloved base. The vast majority of Americans know better, this mess lies completely in the hands of Donald Trump. What really burns the majority of Americans though, are the steady stream of lies coming from Trump and his minions. Trump and company without the least little bit of conscience, conflate all border security with 'the wall', all terrorism and potential terrorism with 'the wall', all that is bad and scary in America with ' the wall', as if a 15th Century BC outdated ridiculous idea could somehow or other fix it all. How stunning, how truly disingenuous, how amazingly despicable this spectacle has become. Once upon a time America was the leader in ingenuity and brain power, yet in two short years we are a laughing stock ruled by the political and vane whims of modern troglodytes. We can do better, I just know it."

The Market On Monday

  Good morning. At 9:35 a.m. ET the DOW is +188 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market has opened significantly higher.

CNN: Stocks try to round out 2018 with a big gain By Chris Isidore

Friday, December 28, 2018

Weekend!

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

work by Denise Regan

Inevitable

NY Times: The Inevitability of Impeachment - Even Republicans may be deciding that the president has become too great a burden to their party or too great a danger to the country. By Elizabeth Drew - Ms. Drew is a journalist based in Washington who covered Watergate.
While Mr. Trump’s case is more complex than Mr. Nixon’s, the evident dangers of keeping an out-of-control president in office might well impel politicians in both parties, not without controversy, to want to make a deal to get him out of there.

Climate Crisis

The Atlantic: Democrats Establish a New House ‘Climate Crisis’ Committee - But it will likely lack the broad powers favored by supporters of a Green New Deal. by Robinson Meyer
It’s official: When Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next month, they will form a special new committee to examine climate change, Nancy Pelosi said in a statement on Friday.

Let Them Eat Cake

Rolling Stone: Taxpayers Are Subsidizing Mar-a-Lago’s New Year’s Eve Party Despite Trump’s Shutdown - The president doesn’t seem to care about the 800,000 workers who won’t be receiving paychecks during the government shutdown By Ryan Bort

The Year Of Cruelty

Politico: What Will History Books Say About 2018? 16 top historians predict the future. By POLITICO MAGAZIN

Megalomaniac

Salon: Robert Reich: The megalomaniac and the stock market - Trump’s ego and his economic team’s incompetence could tank the whole economy by Robert Reich

The Onion - Report - Snoring May Increase Risk Of Having Throat Slit During Night By Loved One

The Onion: Report: Snoring May Increase Risk Of Having Throat Slit During Night By Loved One

Mold

Scientific American: Heavy Rains and Hurricanes Clear a Path for Supercharged Mold - Warmer temperatures and rising CO2 can also ramp up some fungal toxins and allergens By Erik Vance

Domino

Scientific American: The Next Climate Frontier: Predicting a Complex Domino Effect - Motivated by events like Hurricane Harvey, researchers are trying to determine how climate change interacts with agriculture, energy, transportation and other human systems By Annie Sneed

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Suzanna Schlemm




Joy Reid - U.S. Suffering Effects Of President Trump Gutting Environmental Protections

The Last Word - President Trump Approval At Record Low As Country Blames Him For Shutdown

'Save Tonight'

Funfiction

Desperate

The Palmer Report: Desperate Donald Trump resorts to retweeting President Obama by Bill Palmer

Closing In

Guardian UK: Mueller closes in: what will the Trump-Russia inquiry deliver in 2019? The special counsel investigation into Russian meddling and possible collusion is notoriously leak-proof but it could soon touch Trump directly or members of his family

Nonsense From Trump, Of Course

Guardian UK: Trump threatens to shut border 'entirely' unless Democrats fund wall - Warning came on seventh day of shutdown that began after Trump refused to accept legislation unless it contained wall money

Unconscionable Trump, The Worst President, The Hopeless Narcissistic Thoughtless Imbecile

NY Times: Trump Iraq Visit Is Called a Political Rally By Annie Karni
“He has to understand that there exist some audiences that should not be addressed as part of his base, because they are not,” Mr. Hertling said. “It’s a violation of protocol by the president.”

Hello Shutdown

NY Times: With No Votes Scheduled, a Government Shutdown Will Greet the Democratic House by By Nicholas Fandos and Catie Edmondson
“We will vote swiftly to reopen government and show that Democrats will govern responsibly in stark contrast to this chaotic White House,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement.

It's The Truth

Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment under Adolf Hitler

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such ime as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

We're F'd

from a deep operative

Dissident Voice: Human Delusion and Our Destruction of the Biosphere: We Aren’t Even Trying! by Robert J. Burrowes
But before ranging beyond the climate to highlight other threats to the biosphere, did you know that governments and corporations around the world are currently planning or have under construction 1,380 new coal plants? That’s right. 1,380 new coal plants. In 59 countries.

The Market On Friday

  Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are +94 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Stocks try something new for a change: Go up 3 straight days By David Goldman

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Cohen In Prague

  This is a big deal.

McClatchy: Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting By Peter Stone and Greg Gordon

What He Faces

Good article

The Atlantic: What President Trump Will Face in the New Year - New provocations, especially from House Democrats, are likely to trigger his most belligerent impulses—and further test his voters’ loyalty. by Ronald Brownstein

Federal Employess, The Shutdown, Trump Stupidity

No Talking


Interview

The Daily Beast: Rudy Giuliani: Negotiations for a Mueller-Trump Interview Are ‘Still Open’ - Trump said his written answers to Mueller would probably be “the end” of any questioning. But Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani says talks between the two camps aren’t over. by Asawin Suebsaeng and Betsy Woodruff

Toddler Throws Tantrum

Salon: Trump goes all-in on the shutdown: Here's why it's a losing bet - Trump thinks his military visit will help him sell the shutdown. But the public is already turning against him by Amanda Marcotte
Trump is best dealt with on the emotional level where he lives -- that of a toddler throwing tantrums. That means letting him cry it out until he's tired, instead of giving him what he wants.

Troops Get A 2.6% Raise, Trump Lies And Says More Than 10% To Our Troops

  Trump in Iraq - “[People said] we could make it (a military raise) 3 percent. We could make it 2 percent. We could make it 4 percent," he told the troops. “I said, ‘No, make it 10 percent. Make it more than 10 percent.’ Because it’s been a long time. It’s been more than 10 years. That’s a long time.”

Military.com: 2019 Military Pay Raise
Troops will get a 2.6 percent pay raise in 2019 thanks to a measure passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Make America Starve Again

Salon: Trump's white male supporters may lose their food stamps - "Encouraging productivity instead of poverty," Ag Secretary, Sonny Perdue has just cut food stamps to Trump's base by D. Watkins

The Onion - ‘Oh God, What Happened Last Night?’ Says Groggy Mike Pence After Waking Up In Same Bed As Wife

The Onion: ‘Oh God, What Happened Last Night?’ Says Groggy Mike Pence After Waking Up In Same Bed As Wife

The Worst

Politico: The Worst Political Predictions of 2018 - Spoiler alert: Everyone was wrong—again. By ZACK STANTON and DEREK ROBERTSON
2.“Our economic news is only going to get brighter in 2018.” Made by: Laura Ingraham, Fox News

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Gabriele Münter 1877 - 1962





Nirvana

live, 1991, in the UK, very rough tape.

Ari Melber - Former Defense Secretary - Trump 'Destructive' And 'Unpresidential'

MSNBC - Malcolm Nance - President Trump ‘Does Not Believe In What America Stands For’

Indeed

The Palmer Report: What the hell is wrong with this guy? by Daniel Cotter

Felipe Gómez Alonzo Age 8 Dies In US Custody

Guardian UK: Timeline shows final hours of second Guatemalan child to die in US custody - Felipe Gómez Alonzo’s final days, according to Customs and Border Protection, included patrol station transfers and hospital visits

Iraq

Guardian UK: Trump hails foreign policy shift on surprise visit to US troops in Iraq - President’s first visit to a war zone comes a week after he announced he would withdraw troops from Syria
“We’re no longer the suckers, folks,” he told the troops. “We’re respected again as a nation.”

Trump Is Literally Destroying The Environment

NY Times: Mr. Trump’s retreat on the environment is unfolding in consequential ways for the health and safety of Americans.
Since Mr. Trump took office, his approach on the environment has been to neutralize the most rigorous Obama-era restrictions, nearly 80 of which have been blocked, delayed or targeted for repeal, according to an analysis of data by The New York Times.

With this running start, Mr. Trump is already on track to leave an indelible mark on the American landscape, even with a decline in some major pollutants from the ever-shrinking coal industry.

Danger

NY Times: Trump Imperils the Planet - Endangered species, climate change — the administration is taking the country, and the world, backward. By The Editorial Board
“The United States has an abundance of natural resources and is not going to keep them in the ground,” he said. “We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.”

The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are -370 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market will tank at the opening bell.

CNN: Dow set to tumble after biggest point gain in history David Goldman byline By David Goldman

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Trump And Russian Money

Foreign Policy: How Russian Money Helped Save Trump’s Business - After his financial disasters two decades ago, no U.S. bank would touch him. Then foreign money began flowing in. By Michael Hirsh
By the time he ran for president, Trump had been enmeshed in this mysterious overseas flow of capital—which various investigators believe could have included money launderers from Russia and former Soviet republics who bought up dozens of his condos—for a decade and a half. And Felix Sater was pitching Cohen on a Moscow deal as recently as mid-2016—as Trump was clinching the Republican nomination, according to a sentencing memo recently unveiled by the Mueller probe.

'Smells Like Teen Spirit'

Nirvana on SNL

Movies

The Atlantic: The Creepiest Movie Shot of the Year Came From Hereditary - The Atlantic looks back on the key film moments of 2018, this time the frightening image at the heart of Ari Aster’s horror drama. by David Sims

Bone Spurs

The Daily Beast: Speed Read: The Sharpest Bits in the NYT’s Trump Bone Spurs Bombshell - A new exposé claims Donald Trump’s suspicious medical diagnosis was granted as a ‘favor’ to his dad—so it would keep the man later dubbed Cadet Bone Spurs out of the Vietnam War. by Olivia Messer

Decree By Tweet

Salon: Republican economists are desperately trying to get Trump to stop tweeting: report - But the president refuses to change policies and actions that are harming the economy

The Onion - Man Wishes Women In Crowded Bar Would Let Him Read Jane Austen Novel In Peace

The Onion: Man Wishes Women In Crowded Bar Would Let Him Read Jane Austen Novel In Peace

Exercise And The Brain

Scientific American: How Exercise Affects Your Brain Scientists are continuing to showing that everything from the “runner’s high” to the “yogi’s tranquility” can have profound effects on your brain

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Annie Montgomerie





Rachel Maddow - Democrats Aim To Build On Historic 2018 Win, Overcome GOP Skewing

Morning Joe - Days Of Hoping President Donald Trump Will Achieve More Are Over

Climate Change - Turtles

Guardian UK: 'It's warm water now': climate change strands sea turtles on Cape Cod shores - The Gulf of Maine’s rapidly warming waters draws in larger numbers of Kemp’s ridley turtles, enticing them to stay longer
At the New England Aquarium’s sea turtle hospital in a repurposed shipyard building south of Boston, the casualties of climate change swim in tanks as they recover after being pulled stunned from the beach.

The Shutdown

Guardian UK: #Shutdownstories: federal employees reveal impact of government closure - Social media posts from the frontline catalogue tales of disruption and hardship imposed by shutdown of 25% of government
Federal employees affected by the partial shutdown of the US government have been voicing their frustrations of spending the holidays worrying about their next paycheck.

What's There Now

NY Times: Trump Wants a Border Wall. See What’s in Place Already. byy SARAH ALMUKHTAR and JOSH WILLIAMS
Most of the hard drugs that are smuggled into the United States come through these crossings — or under them. Hundreds of smuggling tunnels snake under border towns like Nogales, in Arizona.

Yemen

NY Times: Arms Sales to Saudis Leave American Fingerprints on Yemen’s Carnage By Declan Walsh and Eric Schmitt
When a Saudi F-15 warplane takes off from King Khalid air base in southern Saudi Arabia for a bombing run over Yemen, it is not just the plane and the bombs that are American.

The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are +143 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Stock market attempts a bounce-back after worst-ever Christmas Eve By Sherisse Pham

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Holiday Greetings Trump Style

The Daily Beast: Trump: ‘It’s a Disgrace What’s Happening in Our Country But Merry Christmas’ - The president doubles down on border wall funding, attacks Democrats, and repeats his “no collusion” mantra in a holiday briefing. by Allison Quinn
“It’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country. But other than that, I wish everybody a very merry Christmas,” he added.

Kurds

The Atlantic: The Kurds: Betrayed Again by Washington - Time and again, powerful allies on whose support they thought they could rely abandoned them. by Joost Hiltermann

Amoral

 adjective

1a : having or showing no concern about whether behavior is morally right or wrong
1b : being neither moral nor immoral specifically : lying outside the sphere to which moral judgments apply
2 : being outside or beyond the moral order or a particular code of morals amoral customs

Have A Very Merry Christmas Day



Morning Joe - Trump Over His Insande About Border Wall, Gov't Shutdown And Mattis Out

A compilation so to speak.

CNN - 'I'll Fire You' - Trump Angrily Humiliates Rudy Giuliani After He Hints At Longer Trump Tower Talks

'Poor Me'

The Palmer Report: Everyone piles on after Donald Trump has unhinged “poor me” moment by Bill Palmer

New Home

Guardian UK: Statue of Liberty's original torch gets a new home - Lady Liberty’s light was replaced in 1985 but the original is now to grace a new $100m museum – they just had to get it there

Plunge

Guardian UK: Tokyo stocks plunge in Christmas rout amid fears over US economy - Nikkei falls 5% as government shutdown in Washington spooks markets

Riders On Earth

Riders on Earth Together, Brothers in Eternal Cold By ARCHIBALD MACLEISH December 25th 1968, inspired by the Apollo 8 mission to the moon.

Men's conception of themselves and of each other has always depended on their notion of the earth. When the earth was the World -- all the world there was -- and the stars were lights in Dante's heaven, and the ground beneath men's feet roofed Hell, they saw themselves as creatures at the center of the universe, the sole, particular concern of God -- and from that high place they ruled and killed and conquered as they pleased.

And when, centuries later, the earth was no longer the World but a small, wet spinning planet in the solar system of a minor star off at the edge of an inconsiderable galaxy in the immeasurable distances of space -- when Dante's heaven had disappeared and there was no Hell (at least no Hell beneath the feet) -- men began to see themselves not as God-directed actors at the center of a noble drama, but as helpless victims of a senseless farce where all the rest were helpless victims also and millions could be killed in world-wide wars or in blasted cities or in concentration camps without a thought or reason but the reason -- if we call it one -- of force.

Now, in the last few hours, the notion may have changed again. For the first time in all of time men have seen it not as continents or oceans from the little distance of a hundred miles or two or three, but seen it from the depth of space; seen it whole and round and beautiful and small as even Dante -- that "first imagination of Christendom" -- had never dreamed of seeing it; as the Twentieth Century philosophers of absurdity and despair were incapable of guessing that it might be seen. And seeing it so, one question came to the minds of those who looked at it. "Is it inhabited?" they said to each other and laughed -- and then they did not laugh. What came to their minds a hundred thousand miles and more into space -- "half way to the moon" they put it -- what came to their minds was the life on that little, lonely, floating planet; that tiny raft in the enormous, empty night. "Is it inhabited?"

The medieval notion of the earth put man at the center of everything. The nuclear notion of the earth put him nowhere -- beyond the range of reason even -- lost in absurdity and war. This latest notion may have other consequences. Formed as it was in the minds of heroic voyagers who were also men, it may remake our image of mankind. No longer that preposterous figure at the center, no longer that degraded and degrading victim off at the margins of reality and blind with blood, man may at last become himself.

To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold -- brothers who know now they are truly brothers.

Indeed, What Happened

NY Times: We Are All Riders on the Same Planet - Seen from space 50 years ago, Earth appeared as a gift to preserve and cherish. What happened? By Matthew Myer Boulton and Joseph Heithaus
When the Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman, addressed Congress upon his return, he called himself an “unlikely poet, or no poet at all” — and quoted MacLeish to convey the impact of what he had seen. “To see the Earth as it truly is,” said the astronaut, quoting the poet, “small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold — brothers who know now that they are truly brothers.”

Chinese Food On Christmas

NY Times: Nothing Is More American Than Chinese Food on Christmas - Jewish families and others used to flock to Chinese restaurants because that was all that was open, but now it’s almost as traditional as milk and cookies for Santa. By Lillian Li
As most Americans know: Chinese restaurants almost never close on Christmas.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Good Riddance

Salon: So long, Republican Congress, and good riddance: It's been even worse than we expected - Two years of Republican government has been an incompetent circus — but, hey, at least they cut rich folks' taxes by Heather Digby Parton

DOW Plunges, Merry Christmas From Trump

Yahoo: Dow Jones plunges after Mnuchin comments; Trump doubles down attacks on Fed

The Borowitz Report - Trump Names Man Of The Year By ISIS

New Yorker: Trump Names Man Of The Year By ISIS

Gaze

Scientific American: Measuring the Strength of a Person's Gaze By Karen Hopkin

Have An Excellent Monday

work by Kazimir Malevich 1879 - 1935




Morning Joe - Breaking MSNBC

Top Democrat Goes Viral With Epic Rant Against Republicans

On the money

Chris Hayes - Country Feels On The Precipice Of Real Crisis

Corker

The Palmer Report: GOP Senator fires back after Donald Trump attacks him in illiterate fashion by Bill Palmer

Chaos

Guardian UK: Trump ponders Jim Mattis successor with non-military figures in the frame - Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton among possible replacements - Trump brings forward departure piqued by resignation letter
Mattis’s removal came amid a government shutdown and as the Washington Post and New York Times published long reports on a White House in apparent meltdown. In the newspaper, Trump was depicted calling close advisers “fucking idiots” and complaining that so much of Washington and the media is against him, he faces “a war every day”.

Tornillo

Guardian UK: Carols at Tornillo: protesters sing for children held in Trump's tent city - Beto O’Rourke showed up to boost locals and activists seeking to give migrants some festive season cheer

The Inept Disgrace In The White House

NY Times: The Steady Bedlam of the Trump White House - Making sense of the never-ending turnover in the administration. By Michael Tomasky
These numbers, while interesting, are not especially surprising to anyone who follows the news. The Trump administration is, to employ a seasonal metaphor, an island of misfit toys. And it’s presided over by a mercurial and minatory chief executive who can’t be easy to work for on a number of levels. (He doesn’t listen to people, he might turn on you in a flash, etc.)

The Blame Goes To Trump

NY Times: Stock Market Rout Has Trump Fixated on Fed Chair Powell
President Trump has unabashedly hitched his political fortunes to a rising stock market. Now, with stock prices in retreat, he has become increasingly fixated on the idea that one man is to blame for the recent rout: Jerome H. Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The Market On Monday

  Good morning. At 9:25 a.m. DOW futures are -102 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is set to tank at the opening bell.

CNN: Stocks set to fall after Steven Mnuchin's odd statement fails to calm markets By Rich Barbieri

Friday, December 21, 2018

Weekend!

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

work by Denise Regan

From Russia With Trump

The Daily Beast: Russia Gloats: ‘Trump Is Ours Again’ - If Moscow was happy about the Syria pullout, it’s ecstatic about Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ resignation. by Julia Davis

The Lowest Of The Lowest

The Atlantic: The Trump Administration’s Lowest Point Yet - Even by the standards of a president who has stumbled from crisis to crisis, the current moment has peril broader and deeper than perhaps ever before. by David A. Graham

Ridiculous

HuffPo: Trump Voters Still Expect Him To Build A Wall And Make Mexico Pay For It - That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll turn on him without one. By Ariel Edwards-Levy

The Borowitz Report - Mexico Agrees to Pay for Trump’s Psychiatric Care

The New Yorker: Mexico Agrees to Pay for Trump’s Psychiatric Care By Andy Borowitz

Hammered

Salon: Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets hammered by Fox News for Trump's Syria policy: "He just refounded ISIS!" - Trump's favorite show, "Fox & Friends," turns on him after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigns in protest of Trump by Shira Tarlo

The Onion - Frazzled Robert Mueller Walking Around With Piece Of Russia Investigation Document Stuck To His Shoe

The Onion: Frazzled Robert Mueller Walking Around With Piece Of Russia Investigation Document Stuck To His Shoe

Food For Thought And Non Thought

Scientific American: There Is No Such Thing as Conscious Thought - Philosopher Peter Carruthers insists that conscious thought, judgment and volition are illusions. They arise from processes of which we are forever unaware By Steve Ayan

Have An Excellent Friday

work by Felice Casorati 1883 - 1963




Brian Williams - John Kerry - There's No Secret How Chaotic And Corrupt President Trump Is

Rachel Maddow - President Trump Infidelity To Allies Drives Jim Mattis To Resign In Protest

'I Saw Her Standing There'

Fun Fiction busking in London

Stephen Colbert - The TV Is Telling The President What To Do

Postulating On Mattis

The Palmer Report: Here’s why I think James Mattis really chose right now to make his move by Bill Palmer

Rats

Guardian UK: 'We are at war': New York's rat crisis made worse by climate change - Rat-related callouts rise as experts say warming temperatures are helping New York’s rats feed and mate longer into the year

Shutdown

  I suspect Trump believes the shutdown will somehow prevent Democrats from investigating him starting January 3rd. It's a Hail Mary pass.

Guardian UK: Trump warns shutdown will last 'a very long time' if wall isn't funded - President threatened ‘shutdown today’ after House passed budget bill on Thursday with $5.7bn for border wall built in

Recapping Trump's Chaos

NY Times: Upheaval in National Security, Government and the Markets: Here’s the State of Play
The Trump administration on Thursday announced the withdrawal of about 7,000 American troops from Afghanistan in the coming months, around half of what the American military has there now.

Trump Generated Chaos

NY Times: Jim Mattis, Defense Secretary, Resigns in Rebuke of Trump’s Worldview
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whose experience and stability were widely seen as a balance to an unpredictable president, resigned Thursday in protest of President Trump’s decision to withdraw American forces from Syria and his rejection of international alliances.

The Market On Friday

  Good morning. At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +9 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open slightly higher.

CNN: Fear on Wall Street; Chaos in Washington; Carlos Ghosn rearrested By Ivana Kottasová

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Details On Mattis

The Letter

Newsweek: James Mattis Resignation Letter: Read Defense Secretary’s Rebuke of Donald Trump and ‘America First’ By Jason Le Miere

The Wall

The Daily Dot: A counter-GoFundMe is raising money to buy ‘ladders’ to get over Trump’s border wall by Andrew Wyrich

Mattis

Raw Story: Trump announces departure of Defense head Jim Mattis in a tweet the day after announcing withdrawl from Syria

Sacred

The Daily Beast: Trump Caves to MAGA Allies on ‘Sacred’ Border Wall Promise - ‘The president wants you to know: it’s money or nothing,’ Rush Limbaugh told his flock on Thursday. by Asawin Suebsaeng and Lachlan Markay

How Indeed

NY Times: It Is So Much Worse Than I Thought - How can a family that can’t run a charity run a country? By Charles M. Blow
I had no idea how immoral Trump actually is.

Don Excerpt

  Don DeLillo is a great writer, the real deal.

The Atlantic: ‘It Satisfies Every Childlike Curiosity’ - Don DeLillo's literary interpretation of an astronaut’s “endlessly fulfilling” view of our home planet

America's Crazy Uncle

Salon: Why Rudy Giuliani "the fool for our time," according to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank - “Occasionally he speaks accidental truths, but mostly he plays the clown," Milbank says of "America’s crazy uncle" by Tom Boggioni

The Onion - Relationship Experts Say Healthy Couples Should Be Renewing Their Vows 3 Times A Week

The Onion: Relationship Experts Say Healthy Couples Should Be Renewing Their Vows 3 Times A Week

Itch Meet Scratch

Scientific American: You Gotta Scratch That Itch By Karen Hopkin

Back Off

Slate: Republican Leadership Is Slowly Backing Away From Trump - Trump’s popularity with voters is only one part of the picture. Leaders within the GOP are clearly hedging their bets as 2020 approaches. By Jamelle Bouie

Have An Excellent Thursday

work by Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901–1966)






Rachel Maddow - Claire McCaskill - Trump 'Wildly Irresponsible, Very Dangerous' On Syria

Rachel Maddow - President Trump Announces Syria Plan Counter To U.S. Goals - Allies Baffled

Stephen Colbert - The Trumps And Charity Don't Seem To Mix

Dropped

The Palmer Report: Nancy Pelosi drops the hammer on Donald Trump by Bill Palmer

Big

Guardian UK: Americans are getting fatter but not taller, study finds - Average US adult just a few pounds from obese - Men’s average height fell very slightly in last decade
The average woman in the early 1960s was 5ft 3in and 140lb. Now, women are a half-inch taller and about 30lb heavier, on average.

Other survey findings include that in the last decade, the average weight of men rose about 2lb, to 198. For women, it rose 6lb, to nearly 171.

Men have 40in waistlines, on average. Women’s waistlines are a little under 39in.

The Incompetent President

Guardian UK: US Syria pullout draws Kurdish condemnation and Putin's praise - ‘Donald is right,’ says Russian president, as US-backed Kurdish-led force warns fight against Islamic State not over

Alarming

NY Times: Trump’s Decision to Withdraw From Syria Is Alarming. Just Ask His Advisers. This isn’t the first time the president and his administration have sent mixed messages. By The Editorial Board
It was less than three months ago that John Bolton, the national security adviser, declared an expanded objective for American troops in Syria.

Putin Gives Trump His Orders On Syria

NY Times: Vladimir Putin Calls U.S. Withdrawal From Syria ‘the Right Decision’ By Andrew E. Kramer
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday welcomed President Trump’s announcement of a withdrawal of American troops from Syria, calling it “the right decision.”

Maggie Haberman - 'Reality Is Catching Up With This President'

The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are -49 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly lower.

CNN: Central bank action; Latest on Carlos Ghosn; Nike earnings By Ivana Kottasová

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

No Money For The Stupid Wall

Bloomberg: Senate Votes to Avert Shutdown by Delaying Trump's Wall Fight By Laura Litvan and Erik Wasson

Grumpiness

BBC News: Why it pays to be grumpy and bad-tempered - Being bad-tempered and pessimistic helps you to earn more, live longer and enjoy a healthier marriage. It’s almost enough to put a smile on the dourest of faces.

Happiness

BBC News: Why the quickest route to happiness may be to do nothing - Psychological research shows that the harder we strive to be happy, the less likely we are to achieve that goal

Syria

The Atlantic: Trump Wanted Out of Syria. It’s Finally Happening. The announcement is in stark contrast to recent remarks by senior U.S. officials on the presence of troops. by Krishnadev Calamur

Trump's Best Words - 2018 Edition

Yuck

Salon: Scholar Kathleen Hall Jamieson: "Very strong" case that the Russians swung the 2016 election - Author of "Cyberwar" originally thought it was "absurd" that Russia could have elected Donald Trump. Not any more by Chauncey DeVega

The Onion - Ecstatic Pope Francis Finally Lands Role As Mary In St. Peter’s Christmas Pageant

The Onion: Ecstatic Pope Francis Finally Lands Role As Mary In St. Peter’s Christmas Pageant

Oumuamua

Scientific American: How to Approach the Problem of 'Oumuamua - The first interstellar object ever found provides an excellent test of the scientific process By Abraham Loeb

Have An Excellent Wednesday

work by Isabelle Wenzel







Brian Williams - NY AG - President Trump Charity Showed A 'Shocking Pattern Of Illegality'

Rachel Maddow - Judge Shocks Court With Harsh Rebuke Of Michael Flynn; Sentencing Delayed

Stephen Colbert - Rep. Adam Schiff - We Expect A President To Tell The Truth

Hints

The Palmer Report: Here are some hints about the mystery company in Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia appeals court victory by Bill Palmer

Dermophis Donaldtrumpi

Guardian UK: Blind creature that buries head in sand named after Donald Trump - Amphibian’s behaviour compared to US president’s approach to global warming

Disgust And Disdain

Guardian UK: 'I can’t hide my disgust, my disdain’: judge lambasts Michael Flynn -In an unexpected moment, Judge Emmet Sullivan subjected Trump’s former national security adviser to a stinging rebuke

Justice Served

NY Times: Trumpian Spin Had Its Day in Court By The Editorial Board - The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.
In New York, the state attorney general announced that the president had agreed that the “charity” he used as a piggy bank has no reason to exist.

In Washington, a federal judge let a former top presidential aide know that you can parrot political spin or you can tell the truth, but you can’t do both to someone who can send you to prison.

Abuse

NY Times: The Impolite Realities of Observing Police Abuse - I stepped outside of work to get a slice of pizza — and ended up embroiled in an all-too-common case of aggressive policing. By Talmon Joseph Smith
...saw a group of police officers pushing an African-American man outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. At 9:30 a.m. the DOW has opened +147 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market opened significantly higher.

CNN: Investors to Corporate America: You've got a debt problem By Matt Egan

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Trump Does Something Right!

NBC News: Trump administration bans bump stocks, device used in Las Vegas shooting - "We’ve taken important steps, but much work remains to be done, as always,” Trump said at a White House event on Tuesday. By Dartunorro Clark

Nutjob

Vanity Fair: “The Staff Is Fed Up He’s Acting Like a Nut”: Trump’s West Wing Braces for Christmas Madness, More Departures—And Mueller - Javanka blocked Bannon ally David Bossie for chief of staff—but bigger problems are looming. by Gabriel Sherman

Penny Marshall Dies

LA Times: Penny Marshall, who played feisty Laverne in 'Laverne & Shirley' before directing movies, dies at 75 By Dennis McLellan

‘You Sold Your Country Out’

The Daily Beast: Michael Flynn Sentencing Postponed by Judge in Vicious Hearing: ‘You Sold Your Country Out’ - A no-jail sentence for lying to the FBI while sitting in the White House didn’t apparently sit well for a judge, who will let Trump’s ex-advisor twist for a few more months. by Julia Arciga

Ryan's Delusion

The Atlantic: The Self-Delusion of Paul Ryan - The speaker’s account of his tenure in office is at odds with observable reality. by David Frum

Judged

BBC News: Michael Flynn: Judge suggests ex-Trump aide 'sold out' US
At one point, Judge Sullivan asked the prosecutor whether the special counsel's office had ever considered charging Flynn with treason.

The judge told Flynn: "Arguably, you sold your country out."

Judge Sullivan also said he "can't hide my disgust, my disdain" for the offence.

The Onion - Maria Butina Pleads Guilty To Russian Scheme To Influence Conservatives

The Onion: Maria Butina Pleads Guilty To Russian Scheme To Influence Conservatives

Vanishing

Scientific American: Arctic Lakes Are Vanishing by the Hundreds - Warming temperatures may be causing tundra ponds to evaporate or drain into thawing permafrost By Chelsea Harvey
Research suggests that small lakes and ponds across the Arctic tundra are also steadily disappearing. Hundreds, in fact, have vanished from the landscape in the last few decades alone.

Stone

NBC News: Ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone admits to spreading lies online in lawsuit settlement - Stone had accused a Chinese businessman of making illegal donations to Hillary Clinton, among other things.

Have An Excellent Tuesday

work by Zhang Weimin




Brian Williams - Russians Targeted Mueller And Black Voters In Effort To Aid President Trump

Rachel Maddow - How Mike Flynn's Position On Turkey Turned On A Dime, A Lot Of Dimes

Stephen Colbert - The President Is Facing 17 Investigations

Pence

The Palmer Report: Robert Mueller has Mike Pence nailed by Bill Palmer

Ban It

Guardian UK: Human rights body calls on US school to ban electric shocks on children - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a notice to the Judge Rotenberg Center to immediately stop the shocks

The Mueller Scorecard

Guardian UK: Who has Mueller charged in the Trump-Russia inquiry and who might be next? David Taylor and Sam Morris

Trolls Helped Trump

NY Times: Yes, Russian Trolls Helped Elect Trump - Social media lies have real-world consequences. By Michelle Goldberg
But it looks increasingly as though it did. On Monday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released two reports it commissioned about the nature and scale of Russia’s social media disinformation campaign.

Flynn

NY Times: Trump Wishes Michael Flynn Good Luck Before Sentencing By Sharon LaFraniere and Adam Goldman
Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday for lying to federal investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.

The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +142 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly higher.

CNN: Xi fails to impress; Oil drops below $49; Global market jitters By Ivana Kottasová