Monday, May 31, 2021
Game
QAnon revolves around a fantastical narrative that “Q,” allegedly a top-secret government operative, has been leaving clues on websites about a cabal of Satan-worshiping, child-abusing Democrats and “deep state” elitists who run the nation’s power centers, and that Trump and his allies were working clandestinely to fight back against them. Believers pick up guidance from multiple sources, including rabbit-hole-like social media hashtags, TikTok influencers...
Have An Excellent Memorial Day
Today we reflect on the deep sacrifices men and woman have made to keep the dream of freedom and democracy alive in the USA, and we reject those perverse collaborators who attempt to subvert democracy in the name of patriotism.
work by Emma Haworth
Losing Democracy
NY Times: Is America’s Democracy Slipping Away? by Charles M. Blow
And how does a segment of the population that is losing its numerical majority...maintain control in a democracy? It abandons the basic tenets of democracy, that’s how.
The Market Is Closed On Monday
Wall Street is closed for Memorial Day and reopens on Tuesday.
CNBC: U.S. Covid cases near pandemic low as travel picks up for Memorial Day weekend by Nicolas Vega
Friday, May 28, 2021
Got That Right
The gap between the GQP and responsible governance just got even wider.
Axios: Schumer on Jan. 6 filibuster: Trump's "Big Lie" is now GOP's "defining principle" by Jacob Knutson
Lord Help Us
Yet a full 73 percent of Republicans pin “some” or “a great deal” of responsibility on “left-wing protesters trying to make Trump look bad,” even though both the FBI and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have rejected the falsehood that leftist protesters were involved.
Why
Guardian UK: Revealed: majority of people charged in Capitol attack aren’t in jail by Lois Beckett
“I’m both surprised and not surprised. Most of these people are white...”
Investigation
...focused on current and former Ukrainian officials suspected of trying to influence the election by spreading unsubstantiated claims of corruption about Mr. Biden through a number of channels, including Mr. Giuliani...
The Market On Friday
Good morning. At 7:00 a.m. ET DOW futures are +166; the market is poised to open significantly higher.
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Global Warming, Raw Sewage, Dying Fish
Washington Post: A thick blanket of ‘sea snot’ is wreaking havoc on Turkey’s coast By Antonia Noori Farzan
And when it forms a layer that covers the water’s surface, it can set off a harmful chain of events, preventing fish from being able to breathe, causing mass die-offs...
Meet
NY Times: ‘Witch Hunt,’ Meet Grand Jury by Gail Collins
If any of his business has survived, it’s at least in part because you the taxpayer were helping to bail him out by paying Trump properties for rooms the Secret Service rented while guarding the Trumps.
The Market On Thursday
Good morning. At 6:50 a.m. ET DOW futures are -14; the market is poised to open slightly lower.
CNBC: New round of $1,400 stimulus checks brings total amount sent to about $391 billion by Lorie Konish
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Joel Chadabe Dies
Joel was one of my main music teachers, very influential. It was a pleasure being in his classes, very witty, open minded, sharp, knowledgeable. I will miss him.
The Market On Wednesday
Good morning. At 6:50 a.m. ET DOW futures are +78; the market is poised to open moderately higher.
CNBC: Malaysia now has more Covid cases per million people than India by Yen Nee Lee
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Irretrievable
Washington Post: Opinion: Salman Rushdie: What’s irretrievable after a pandemic year
...in Trumpistan, the virus (like everything else) was politicized, minimized, called a Democrat trick; the science was derided...unmourned by the self-obsessed charlatan who claimed, in the face of all the evidence, that he was making America great again.
Memo
Washington Post: Justice Dept. releases part of internal memo on not charging Trump in Russia probe By Devlin Barrett
...U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a scathing opinion saying that she had read the memo and that it showed that Barr was disingenuous when he cited the document as key to his conclusion that Trump had not broken the law.
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 6:35 a.m. ET DOW futures are +73; the market is poised to open moderately higher.
CNBC: India isn’t the only one. Covid cases are rising at record levels in these places too by Yen Nee Lee
Monday, May 24, 2021
WTF?
...53% (of Republicans) think Donald Trump is the actual President, not Joe Biden.
Beyond
The Atlantic via Get Pocket: Beyond the Five Senses Telepathy, echolocation, and the future of perception. by Matthew Hutson
Love
NY Times: Ask Yourself Which Books You Truly Love By Salman Rushdie
This is the beauty of the wonder tale and its descendant, fiction: that one can simultaneously know that the story is a work of imagination, which is to say untrue, and believe it to contain profound truth.
UFO
Washington Post: How UFO sightings went from joke to national security worry in Washington By Michael S. Rosenwald
“Look at that thing!” a pilot screams in one video as his radar locks in on a strange flying object.
“It’s rotating,” another pilot says.
The Market On Monday
Good morning. At 6:55 a.m. ET DOW futures are +132; the market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNBC: This $68 billion Australian city wants to become the next Silicon Valley by Karen Gilchrist
Friday, May 21, 2021
Weekend!
Have an excellent weekend and see you bright and early Monday morning.
'Slowly Turning Your Head'
About Time
Raw Story: Court orders 'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley to undergo a mental health exam by Sky Palma
Epidemic
BBC News: Black fungus: Call to declare epidemic in Indian states
...mucormycosis, has a mortality rate of 50%, with some only saved by removing an eye or jaw bone.
Whoa!
There was a 77% rise in the risk of cardiac arrhythmias during the election phase versus the control periods, even after accounting for factors including age and underlying medical conditions...
Covid Debt
...uses an Excel spreadsheet to organize the outstanding debts. It has 457 rows, one for each of his father’s bills, totaling over $1 million.
The Market On Friday
Good morning. At 6:35 a.m. ET DOW futures are +137; the market is poised to open significantly higher.
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Ari Melber - 'It's Going To Happen' - Trump's Ex-Lawyer Says Indictment Coming
Disguise
Washington Post: Opinion: Why Republican opposition to a Jan. 6 commission could be a blessing in disguise by Max Boot
The Republican refusal...will free Pelosi to set up a January 6 Select Committee in which Democrats will be more firmly in charge — as Republicans were on the Benghazi committee.
Erased
NY Times: History Can Be Erased. It Often Has Been. by Charles M. Blow
They (Republicans) want to flatten all of this (January 6th) into a single mass of things that happened during the pandemic, none better or worse than the other, things happening on the ideological left as well as the right.
The Market On Thursday
Good morning. At 6:25 a.m. ET DOW futures are -197; the market is poised to open significantly lower.
CNBC: Lumber futures swing 10% in wild session as speculative frenzy ends by Thomas Franck
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Weisselberg
The New York attorney general's office has opened a criminal tax investigation into top Trump Organization officer Allen Weisselberg...
Why
NY Times: Why Can’t the Republican Party Quit Donald Trump? Opinion by Spencer Bokat-Lindell
"...that the surest way to regain power is to embrace his pugilistic style, racial divisiveness and beyond-the-pale conspiracy theories..."
Updates
India recorded 4,529 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, the pandemic’s highest single daily death toll in any country so far...
The Market On Wednesday
Good morning. At 6:45 a.m. ET DOW futures are -214; the market is poised to open significantly lower.