Wednesday, February 28, 2018
How Indeed
Raw Story: Trump berated Hope Hicks for telling Congress she sometimes lies for him — and that was her ‘final straw’: report
Seth Abramson -
...Trump asked Hicks after the testimony, how she could she be so stupid...
Seth Abramson -
"Note that when Trump said, "How could you be so *stupid*?" to Hicks, he was berating her for telling the *truth* (about her having told lies for him), not berating her for lying. It's a key insight into how the man thinks and how he seeks to cover up past crimes or indiscretions."
Richard Ojeda
Guardian UK: Could this 'military guy' Democrat find a magic formula to win back blue-collar voters? Richard Ojeda is part of a wave of Democrats who have the ability to connect with working class white voters in districts where Trump won by double digits
“Put me in a room with 50 people and I guarantee you 48 them are going to walk out saying ‘Ojeda’s my guy’,” he said to a room full of campaign volunteers. “And if they’re Republicans I can still get ‘em.”
Return
Guardian UK: Florida students return to school two weeks after mass shooting that killed 17 - Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students return to classes as their fight to strengthen gun control laws continues
“But I’m graduating,” she said. “I just want to get out of here.”
The AR- 15
NY Times: With AR-15s, Mass Shooters
Attack With the Rifle Firepower - Typically Used by Infantry Troops By C. J. CHIVERS, LARRY BUCHANAN, DENISE LU and KAREN YOURISH
When a gunman walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, he was carrying an AR-15-style rifle that allowed him to fire upon people in much the same way that many American soldiers and Marines would fire their M16 and M4 rifles in combat.
Bravo
NY Times: Dick’s, Major Gun Retailer, Will Stop Selling Assault-Style Rifles By JULIE CRESWELL
“We love these kids and their rallying cry, ‘enough is enough.’ It got to us.”
The Market On Wednesday
At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are +75 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open moderately higher.
CNN: Retailers report; GDP updates; Stocks muddle along by Alanna Petroff
CNN: Retailers report; GDP updates; Stocks muddle along by Alanna Petroff
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Mushroom
GreenBiz: Mushroom-beef burgers from Sodexo, Sonic are cutting calories and emissions by Richard Waite and Daniel Vennard
...a beef-mushroom blend that maintains, or even enhances, that meaty flavor with significantly less environmental impact.
Most Corrupt Administration Ever
Guardian UK: Housing official says she was replaced for rejecting Carson's costly office redecoration - Department’s ex-chief administrative officer says she was replaced by a Trump appointee and told ‘$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair’
Foster, 47, claimed that she also faced retaliation for exposing a $10m budget shortfall, and for protesting when she was barred from handling a pair of sensitive freedom of information act (FOIA) requests relating to Trump apparently because she was perceived to be a Democrat.
Decency
NY Times: The Force of Decency Awakens by Paul Krugman
Suddenly, it seems as if the worst lack all conviction, while the best are filled with a passionate intensity...we may be in the midst of a transformative moment.
The Market On Tuesday
At 9:15 a.m. ET the DOW is -20 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open modestly lower.
CNN: Fed chair speaks; Comcast's Sky bid; Macy's earnings by Alanna Petroff
CNN: Fed chair speaks; Comcast's Sky bid; Macy's earnings by Alanna Petroff
Monday, February 26, 2018
AI
Gizmodo: New Report on Emerging AI Risks Paints a Grim Future by George Dvorsky
...new forms of cybercrime, physical attacks, and political disruption over the next five to ten years.
Lab Made Meat
Guardian UK: Lab-made meat could be the next food revolution: here's what it tastes like - Author Paul Shapiro tried the first foie gras made in a laboratory – it was rich, buttery, savory, and very decadent, just as one would expect
Thanks to them, we may today be witnessing the start of the next food revolution: cellular agriculture, the process of growing real animal meat and other animal products in a lab while leaving the animals alone. Using technology first developed by academics and the medical field and now being commercialized by several startups, innovators are taking tiny biopsies of animals’ muscle and then culturing those cells to grow more muscle outside the animals’ bodies.
Defended
Guardian UK: 'See the facts': top Democrat defends Russia memo as Trump fumes - Democrats’ memo, initially blocked by White House, responds to claim FBI wrongfully obtained a wiretap on Trump adviser
...Schiff told CNN. “But it’s important for the public to see the facts, that the FBI acted appropriately in seeking a warrant on Carter Page, that they are not part of some deep state as the president would like the public to believe.”
Failed
NY Times: Arming Teachers? The Idea Gets an F
Let’s consider for a moment the imbecility of the suggestion that teachers be armed and ready to return fire in the event of another school shooting. If the perpetrator is a student at the school, the teachers would be firing at a child; how many teachers do you know who would actually do this?
The Gun
NY Times: America Is the Gun by Charles M. Blow
We must treat gun violence in this country as a public health crisis, because it is.
The Market On Monday
At 9:15 a.m. ET DOW futures are +134 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Stocks surge; Buffett moves markets; Samsung in spotlight by Alanna Petroff
CNN: Stocks surge; Buffett moves markets; Samsung in spotlight by Alanna Petroff
Friday, February 23, 2018
The Noose Tightens
Seth Abramson - I'd add that Manafort—despite being in financial trouble—offered his services to Trump as Campaign Manager FOR FREE. That means he expected to get money in the job by other means—a possible smoking gun that his direction of Trump's Russia policy was part of a criminal conspiracy.
Gates Pleads Guilty
Gates is pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. One thought is that Gates lied thinking that the Nunes Memo would squash the Mueller investigation.
NY Times: Rick Gates, Trump Campaign Aide, to Plead Guilty in Mueller Inquiry and Cooperate By MARK MAZZETTI and MAGGIE HABERMAN
NY Times: Rick Gates, Trump Campaign Aide, to Plead Guilty in Mueller Inquiry and Cooperate By MARK MAZZETTI and MAGGIE HABERMAN
Gotcha
Just Security: The Pardon Boomerang: Why Trump Associates May Need to Decline Any Offer of a Pardon
...individuals run a significant risk that acceptance of a pardon would be used by state prosecutors as an admission of guilt—bolstering the potential success of any prosecution for related crimes in New York and elsewhere.
Shameful
Independent UK: NRA representative says media ‘loves mass shootings’ as ‘crying white mothers are ratings gold’ - School shooting in Parkland, Florida and its aftermath have drawn heavy media coverage by Jeremy B White
“I’m not saying you guys love the tragedy but I am saying you love the ratings,” she added. “Crying white mothers are ratings gold”.
Brutal
NY Times: Nasty, Brutish and Trump by Paul Krugman
...Donald Trump proposed his answer: arming schoolteachers.
It says something about the state of our national discourse that this wasn’t even among the vilest, stupidest reactions to the atrocity.
Asinine
NY Times: Trump Suggests Teachers Get a ‘Bit of a Bonus’ to Carry Guns By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
President Trump on Thursday enthusiastically embraced a National Rifle Association position to arm highly trained teachers to fortify schools against mass shootings like the one last week.
The Market On Friday
At 9:20 a.m. ET the DOW is +76 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Big stock swings; Cinemark earnings; Beijing grabs Waldorf Astoria by Alanna Petroff
CNN: Big stock swings; Cinemark earnings; Beijing grabs Waldorf Astoria by Alanna Petroff
Thursday, February 22, 2018
The Damage
The Atlantic: What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns - They weren’t the first victims of a mass shooting the Florida radiologist had seen—but their wounds were radically different. by Heather Sher
The high-velocity bullet causes a swath of tissue damage that extends several inches from its path. It does not have to actually hit an artery to damage it and cause catastrophic bleeding. Exit wounds can be the size of an orange.
Parkland Conspiracy Theory
Despicable.
NY Times: The Making of a No. 1 YouTube Conspiracy Video After the Parkland Tragedy By JOHN HERRMAN
NY Times: The Making of a No. 1 YouTube Conspiracy Video After the Parkland Tragedy By JOHN HERRMAN
With that terse descriptor, “mike m.” tapped into conspiracies circulating online that the survivors of the Parkland shooting, many of whom have recently spoken out in favor of gun control, were “crisis actors” hired to do the bidding of left-wing activists.
By noon on Wednesday, YouTube had pulled the video for violating its policy on harassment and bullying.
Asinine Idea
NY Times: Trump Says He Advocates Arming Only Teachers With Special Training By EILEEN SULLIVAN
"I never said “give teachers guns” like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC. What I said was to look at the possibility of giving “concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience - only the best. 20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to"
The Market On Thursday
At 9:20 a.m. ET the DOW is +72 and the price of oil is up. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Stock markets dip; Diesel ban ruling; Tobacco company suffers by Alanna Petroff
CNN: Stock markets dip; Diesel ban ruling; Tobacco company suffers by Alanna Petroff
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
It's Legal
USA Today: The AR-15 rifle butchers the human body; so why is it legal, exactly?
Semiautomatic assault rifles like the AR-15 fire a relatively small round at a high speed. Where tissue damage from a pistol would be confined largely to a bullet's pathway, the shock wave from an assault-style rifle round — like the high bow wave from a speed boat — creates a corridor of damage.
Gross
Guardian UK: 'Dirty meat': Shocking hygiene failings discovered in US pig and chicken plants - Previously unseen government records detail ‘deeply worrying’ incidents in pork and poultry plants, raising fears of ‘dirty meat’ entering the UK under a post-Brexit trade deal
...a new analysis reveals that as many as 15% (one in seven) of the US population suffers from foodborne illnesses annually.
More Power To Them
Welcome to the GOP students. The GOP doesn't even hear you and now they think you are not students and are 'couched' by somebody into protesting. In other words, the GOP thinks you are fake news.
Guardian UK: Students take fight for gun control to Florida legislators' doorstep - Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas trekked eight hours and 450 miles with a simple message: end school shootings
Guardian UK: Students take fight for gun control to Florida legislators' doorstep - Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas trekked eight hours and 450 miles with a simple message: end school shootings
No, Congress Will Choose Guns
NY Times: Will America Choose Its Children Over Guns? By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Enough of the ritualistic mouthing of thoughts and prayers for the victims. Enough of living in fear that they could be next in the cross hairs of a well-armed deranged killer, even with all the active shooter drills and lockdowns they’ve gone through.
Diet And Weight
NY Times: The Key to Weight Loss Is Diet Quality, Not Quantity, a New Study Finds By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
It found that people who cut back on added sugar, refined grains and highly processed foods while concentrating on eating plenty of vegetables and whole foods — without worrying about counting calories or limiting portion sizes — lost significant amounts of weight over the course of a year.
The Market On Wednesday
At 9:15 a.m. DOW futures are +5 and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open slightly higher.
CNN: Oil under pressure; Fed minutes; U.K. jobs by Ivana Kottasová
CNN: Oil under pressure; Fed minutes; U.K. jobs by Ivana Kottasová
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Cray Cray
Now this, this, is the definition of mental illness.
BREAKING: In wake of school shooting, Florida legislators vote down attempt to revive bill to ban assault rifles.
Impeachment Parties
Newsweek: Trump Impeachment Parties, Featuring ‘Comey Cake Balls,' Try to Entice Congress to Remove President By Jessica Kwong
...Levinski concocted a “Lock her up-side-down cake” alluding to Hillary Clinton and Trump supporters’ chant to “lock her up.”
Profound
Steve Schmidt -
The profoundly stupid were well represented when Jack Kingston sat in the Congress.
Why
Quartz: The sociological explanation for why men in America turn to gun violence
International evidence now makes us incredibly confident when we say that the number of guns in a society is positively correlated with the number of mass shootings in a society, as supported by a study spanning three decades of analysis in a collection of nations around the world.
Pre Dawn Light
Quora: How long before sunrise does the sky start to lighten?
There are three formal stages of twilight.
Civil twilight = Sun between 0 and 6 degrees below the horizon
Nautical twilight = Sun between 6 and 12 degrees below the horizon
Astronomical twilight = Sun between 12 and 18 degrees below the horizon
When the Sun is below 18 degrees it is true night.
How quickly the Sun gets to any of these elevations depends upon latitude and season.
Bots Jump On Parkland
NY Times: After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced By SHEERA FRENKEL and DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI
“This is pretty typical for them, to hop on breaking news like this,” said Jonathon Morgan, chief executive of New Knowledge, a company that tracks online disinformation campaigns. “The bots focus on anything that is divisive for Americans. Almost systematically.”
Madness
NY Times: The Madness of American Crowds by Roger Cohen
The wealthiest society on earth is currently subjected to the chaotic rule of a mean and vulgar charlatan who refined the manipulation of humanity through a TV show that was a ratings smash in its first season, continued under his guidance for more than a decade, and relied on the cruelty of whimsical humiliation for its frisson.
The Market On Tuesday
At 9:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are -186 and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open significantly lower.
CNN: US stocks weaken; Walmart earnings; HSBC stumbles by Alanna Petroff
CNN: US stocks weaken; Walmart earnings; HSBC stumbles by Alanna Petroff
Merkins
Now, I've almost seen everything.
NY Post: These NYFW vagina wigs speak for themselves By Charlotte Willis
NY Post: These NYFW vagina wigs speak for themselves By Charlotte Willis
Monday, February 19, 2018
Anthony Borges
NBC News: Florida police visit teen Anthony Borges, who was wounded in school shooting by Kiara Alfonseca
The teen was shot in his back and legs as he locked the door and blocked the doorway with his body, leaving the other 20 students unharmed as the gunman continued to fire.
Low Level
The Atlantic: Russia's Troll Operation Was Not That Sophisticated - “If the Internet Research Agency were a start-up media company, they probably would not be picking up a fresh round of venture capital.” by Alexis C. Madrigal
This is not high-level spycraft. It is, rather, bread-and-butter audience development work.
China
Guardian UK: China’s great leap forward in science - Chinese investment is paying off with serious advances in biotech, computing and space. Are they edging ahead of the west? by Philip Ball
Many have been lured back by the Thousand Talents Plan, in which scientists aged under 55 (whether Chinese citizens or not) are given full-time positions at prestigious universities and institutes, with larger than normal salaries and resources.
The Traitor
NY Times: Whatever Trump Is Hiding Is Hurting All of Us Now by Thomas L. Friedman
My guess is what Trump is hiding has to do with money. It’s something about his financial ties to business elites tied to the Kremlin. They may own a big stake in him.
Russian Olympian Doping
He was on the Curling Team, can you freakin' believe it, the Curling Team.
NY Times: Russian Doping Case Rocks Olympic Curling By SCOTT CACCIOLA
NY Times: Russian Doping Case Rocks Olympic Curling By SCOTT CACCIOLA
Russian Operatives Online
NY Times: How Unwitting Americans Encountered Russian Operatives Online By SCOTT SHANE
The Heart of Texas group had more success with a Houston rally to “Stop the Islamization of Texas,” which provoked an angry confrontation in May 2016. United Muslims of America, another Russian creation, called its own rally to “Save Islamic Knowledge” for the same time and place, outside the Islamic Da’wah Center.
Wall Street Is Closed Today
Wall Street is closed today for the Washington's Birthday/President's Day holiday. The market will reopen on Tuesday.
Caught
Observer: Trump Gets Caught in His Own Web of Lies By John R. Schindler
In truth, this is just the first wave of Mueller’s indictments against Team Trump. More, and worse, is headed to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Friday, February 16, 2018
AR History
From 2016 - Motherboard: Gunmakers Have Sold AR-15s to Civilians for More Than 50 Years by Joseph Trevithick
Closing In On Trump
Mueller: Russians communicated with individuals associated with the Trump campaign and other political activists to coordinate political activities
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