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My dentist said he needed a hand like this...
3,526 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 2001 – 2200 of 3526 Newer› Newest»I use Windows 10 and Firefox (v57.0.2), HP. Maybe you could try downloading it again. Uninstall and reinstall.
seasea
Could this be a key (pun intended) to vanquishing Trumpism?
"How the U.S. Used Jazz as a Cold War Secret Weapon":
http://fortune.com/2017/12/22/us-jazz-cold-war-secret-weapon/?xid=gn_editorspicks&google_editors_picks=true
...[Dave Brubeck], who was moved by the dedication of Polish jazz fans, would often address the crowd at his performances. “No dictatorship can tolerate jazz [...] It is the first sign of a return to freedom”
Merry Christmas to those so inclined.
Light show at the little Botanical Garden went off with no major hitches Friday and Saturday evenings. We've had 10,765 guests this year, with two more evenings left. I'm astonished to have so many people visiting the two bits of the Garden that I designed, one with great attention, the other almost an afterthought. In the latter, an enormous tropical Ficus tree got touched up Friday, with the total number of laser projectors brought up to 10, enough for a certain sort of awe.
NP, John Batiste is jazz-trained and I believe he plays it on Late Night with Stephen Colbert. The other late night musicans that I know of are widely trained but do hip-hop mostly.
I guess I will continue to rely on that show as my beacon of freedom. Let jazz and laughter bring down tyranny!
Mr. Hastings got stuffed into a Christmas sweater vest tonight after being beguiled by a southern transplant who wore smoky sable fur and dark spectacles. She wore a panda vest. He has has a very wonderful Christmas already and he's barely warmed up.
I cooked my dinner and traded gifts and I'm good to sleep in.
Looks like the more conservative House Republicans will be swarming Mueller, assorted FBI officials, the Great Uranium Betrayal, Hillary's Emails, and so much more. Maybe a burning of the FBI building could be arranged after all.
Looks like 2018 will be a congressional and Administration frenzy to appoint judges, wreck programs, purge unwanted agencies, and otherwise create new realities that possible Democratic majorities in Congress can't reverse during the rest of the Trump (or Pence) Administration.
Many American Christians must be cringing this holiday season, because Trump sure has a strange notion of what constitutes battling the "War on Christmas":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/12/24/trump-retweets-image-depicting-cnn-squashed-beneath-his-shoe
One right-winger even channeled Joseph Welch's famous quote against Joseph McCarthy. Joe Walsh, a conservative radio host and former Republican congressman from Illinois, also criticized Trump for attacking CNN — and the FBI — on the morning of Christmas Eve. “Mr President, put your phone down. It's Christmas. Quit attacking people on Twitter,” Walsh tweeted. “Grow up sir. Have you no sense of decency? [my emphasis]
He'll tweet BIG WIN with a million or two dead in Seoul.
Do you think that'll be before, during or after the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, Dave?
The Olympics should go ahead without incident. But the South Korean government is probably more worried about Trump than about Kim, who is presumably smart enough to want to stay in power, if not smart enough to figure out exactly how.
Trump's big problems is his tweets. I assume Kelly has a scheme to shut him down in the event of a crisis.
The South Korean news media spread rumors in the absence of anything better. Chosen Ilbo repeats a story about China building refugee camps. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/
Christmas is almost over in the Western world and there was no terror attack. What a relief.
South Korea may have originally been founded as NK's enemy or vice versa (SK was originally led by Japanese collaborators whereas NK's founders were the resisters), and I would appreciate it if the US leaders with the tendency to nuclear war were aware of the history.
I really could do without this darn insomnia :-( But at least I'm getting to read some interesting articles online, as well as doing a little work. I'll definitely need "a long winter's nap" later today, though. Furnace, don't fail me now!
"Kenneth Turan reflects on 'The Post': How a film critic watches movies about experiences he lived through":
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-the-post-kenneth-turan-20171226-story.html
...The lesson to me of "The Post" was different, more subtle. Though I of course remembered the events, I didn't remember feeling at the time that the whole thing was as important as making a Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks/Meryl Streep film about it implies.
Had I missed something? Had I been in effect sleepwalking through events whose significance and dramatic weight I should have been alive to? Why wasn't I saying to my Post colleagues, "Mark my words, they'll be making a movie of this someday"?
The answer is twofold. "The Post" turns out to be, as most historical films are, blessed with hindsight. It knows — as its closing moments with security guard Wills demonstrate — that Watergate is coming and that the two stories are linked. Without that foreknowledge, what happened in 1971 did not have movie material written on it.
Seeing "The Post" also made me realize that the most obvious, most basic thing about film is also the most essential. Literally and metaphorically, movies are bigger than life, they write everything large. Characters must make clear, focused points every time they speak and drama must be created around them to get and hold our attention. Real life muddles on without those advantages, and when life and art connect, it's bound to be a bit of a bumpy landing.
Most movies greatly overstate whatever their historical basis is. Seabiscuit was never as big a deal as the movie makes him out to be. The King's Speech is really a footnote in World War II and not a turning point.
I just saw "Darkest Hour" and for once felt they understated the impact a bit. Europe really was on verge of total collapse to the Nazis and if it weren't for Britain keeping Germany at bay all by itself for over a year through Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, history truly would have been very, very different.
Re: Seabiscuit... but David McCullough makes is sound so authoritative.
I'm planning on going to see the Post this afternoon before going dancing in Bethesda. Working on the toy car after the garage heats up a bit. I'm enjoying this holiday time off/staycation.
Seabiscuit: An American Legend is by Laura Hillenbrand. Not sure whether David McCullough wrote about the racehorse (or Ryan Seacrest ;-) )
HP, are you and Hastings managing to keep warm enough in the frozen North? Weather reports sound brutal up there.
Calypso et al.: Does anyone ever hear from or spot posts by boodler FTB? I wondered if the letter to Tom Sietsema's restaurant chat this AM re the three female attorneys' annual Dec. 24 lunch was hers (can't recall if that was the restaurant where they went, however):
https://live.washingtonpost.com/ask-tom-1227.html#4986212
My good glasses, missing for several weeks, showed up while I was cleaning the drawer that holds spare reading glasses, old emergency-use glasses, and (most important) concert tickets. An envelope of them had just arrived. I had searched the drawer at least twice, but the glasses waited until this morning to disclose themselves. Fortunately, I'd wandered into a glasses place in Georgetown while hiding from Irma. Their regular glasses aren't so comfortable but the prescriptions sunglasses are marvels.
Some entrepreneurs decided that filters (including protective ones) for camera lenses should be made from Gorilla Glass, the stuff that protects phones. Don't know that the little enterprise is likely to make a dent in the market.
In the beach world, bodyboards have kind of disappeared in the US. Still thriving in Australia, New Zealand, UK and any number of other places. Nevertheless, a rather recent brand of bodyboards and other equipment is from California's Jeff and Dave Hubbard, whose boards come in Hubb (prone riding) and Dubb Editions (aimed at "drop knee" riders who knell on the boards), with Air Hubb and DubZero swim fins (same distinction).
Inflatable boards are called "Hubb Lite Edition Boog Mat" as in "Boogie" (I think a trademark) or booger (not)l Of course their marketing includes lots of videos featuring the entrepreneurs themselves. https://vimeo.com/244147497
I'm sure the travel is a business expense. Of course the new tax law seems to work against little businesses.
NP, David McCullough narrates the movie.
Christmas did end on a bitterly cold note. I was tempted to stay, for the cold was frightful, but a borrowed flap hat and a quick walk got me in bed before the greater cold came in.
I just didn't go out until the following evening. It's above zero today and snowing.
But we shall return to bitter cold, if not QUITE as brutal as before, and I'm not looking forward to the drive part of a trip this weekend. 2 1/2 hours in a car with somebody with a bad cold (hopefully the same one I already got over.) and Mr. Hastings counting the minutes until he can er, relieve his prostate again... At least there will be a wool blanket and soft fur.
The return day is forecast to be really bitter.
HF, I didn't recall that. Jim, was Seabiscuit a bigger deal to Californians?
Yello, Seabiscuit WAS a big deal in horse racing, especially after he beat War Admiral who was his younger half-uncle.
Movies are larger than life and condense so much, but a more recent example of a lauded gelding would be John Henry in the 70's and 80's. He had a very long racing career and seemed to live up to his name perfectly, racing to age 10.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(horse)
The key is to find a way to make a story of it. Bloody face, echoes the story of Phar Lap having facial warts when sold... (I saw Phar Lap. Sad movie too. An implication he was poisoned.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phar_Lap
If you follow the sport then that match race was a big deal. If not, then nope.
Horse racing used to be a much more popular sport, too. In the 30s, Seabiscuit became an unlikely winner and symbol of hope.
I remember a game I had as a kid with some kind of race horse theme - the horses were Man O'War, Whirlaway, Seabiscuit, along with others I'm forgetting.
seasea
"On earth, Christianity offered community, and it offered support – dining, celebrating, working and playing together, people who would bury you if you died. In a cosmopolitan Roman empire, where cities sucked in expendable labour from the countryside, and where artisans and craftsmen had to travel a very long way from home, that kind of community could not be taken for granted or created casually."
By Michael Kulikowski at Aeon. "How an Obscure Oriental Sect Conquered a Vast, Pagan Roman Empire.
https://aeon.co/essays/how-an-obscure-oriental-cult-converted-a-vast-pagan-roman-empire
Some Christian groups are like that today. Americans have become less migratory, but Wyoming's oil patch economy, circa 1980, brought people in from far away then dumped them. The present-day Texas fracking industry must be like that, on a much larger scale.
Is 20F really too cold for the city to master about 6" of snow even on the main streets? And are pedestrians out of their minds jay-walking when the cars are hard to control at a speed of 10 mph?
End of rant. Have a happy new year.
I've read lately with bemusement that certain 1970s dishes are making a trendy return to the food scene (oh, how retro!), including Swiss Fondue. Ironically, we've been making that as a New Year's Eve tradition for decades (using 2 parts Emmentaler and 1 part Gruyère), even when it was utterly passé! FYI, I boil the white wine (with the smashed garlic) for 45 minutes to reduce the alcohol content by some 90%.
Guess now I'll also have to dust off my recipes for Chocolate Mousse and Biscuit Tortoni :-) Any other '70s dishes the boodle can think of that are worth resuscitating? English Trifle maybe?
The NYT story on drunk blabbering in a fancy London bar puts a bunch of stuff in context.
There's a split among Congressional Republicans about how to go about investigations and such. Some are aggressively supporting Trump (meaning more "Corrupt Hillary" investigations, no doubt), others supporting Mueller.
Overall, Congressional Republicans seem to be closing ranks around Trump, evidently on the notion that if they do legislation, Trump will sign it, and he won't get too badly in the way of passing it. So the Pence-Koch hardline agenda rules. I hope kids on the CHIP insurance programs can get needed care before the money runs out.
Now that Kim has his "nuclear button" to ensure peace, he's making overtures to SK.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson is again bringing attention to the plight of Puerto Rico. I suppose at some point we'll get a political message to forget about hurricane aid if we re-elect Nelson, a Democrat.
Happy New Year
I'll have to take a look at the NYT article that Dave mentioned. It brings back memories of a night in London on New Year's Eve 1975-1976 when we got stuck with a drunk Atlanta salesman at the Savoy Hotel. I don't think he solved any of the world's problems.
The doorman found us a cab that was willing to take us back to our B&B, which entailed driving through Trafalger Square, kinda like driving through Times Square. The cab windows weren't crank windows; they were friction windows that slid up and down. When inching through the square, a young drunk Englishman pushed the window down, leaned in, kissed my mom on the cheek, and said "Happy New Year, Mum!" and slid the window back up. Mom was surprised but amused, I think.
Happy New Year, everyone!
PJ,
that is a very lovely story and a precious memory.
Friends and I celebrated the arrival of the new year together with continental Europe, which is why I went to sleep well wined and dined at 10pm.
Asleep at 10? About then, in my neighborhood, you'd think insurgents were getting started on a mortar and light weapons raid on the airport.
Since I was up, and getting increasingly perturbed by weather forecasts, I swapped this month's trips. Now going to Washington this weekend (will see "American in Paris," the sort of musical I shouldn't like) and something more serious at Studio Theatre. National Gallery looks good. Could see Vermeer for a second time. Freer/Sackler will be open.
Happy New Year
May 2018 br much better than 2017
Dinner is going to be “clean out the refrigerator soup”
A fine medley of veggies, including sweet potatoes, some sausage and tri-tip.
Tomorrow will be sausage, cabbage, potatoes and noodles. I need to reclaim some space in the fridge.
2017 was for me the worst year of my already long life and I am glad that it is gone because it only can get better. So, cheers to 2018.
Gmbka
Totally understand your comment. I too have lived it. It does get different from your previous life. Embrace your friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Some of them will surprise you.
I was listening to 1A while driving around on errands this morning. Their North Korea panel liked Drezner's analysis, to the effect that the people who matter in and around think war with North Korea is necessary, whether the South Koreans want it or not. Maybe I should look for a cheap plane ticket to Seoul to see it before it's devastated.
NY Times front (web) page has a fascinating array of Korea stories. How doesn't SK keep decent relations with Washington while declining to be sacrificed for perceived needs of US national security (and perhaps to stem a flood of unwanted imports)?
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch will retire at the end of his term. (LA Times).
Dave, some wag commented that all Mitt Romney needs to do to become Utah's next Senator is file the papers for his candidacy, and book a hotel ballroom for his victory party on election night. Of course, Trump bears a massive grudge Romney, so goodness only knows what he and Bannon might try to do to sabotage Romney's campaign.
I sure do wish humans had evolved with the capability of hibernating.
Romney vs. Trump is a bit like Washington vs. the Conway cabal. Except that Conway and Gates were far better people.
Checked the Weather Gang's story on the Bomb. I suspect whatever beach nourishment/restoration has been done in Jersey and Long Island , will be undone.
Trump's "bigger button" tweet suggests I should draw up a bucket list for this weekend's Washington visit. Definitely the National Gallery's best Raphael.
Maybe you should build a fallout shelter. Maybe we all should.
My button is bigger than yours? That's on the level of kindergarden.
gmbka,
There was a letter to the editor in the Washington Post just before Christmas. It concerned Nikki Haley's comment at the UN that the US was "taking names" regarding a UN vote. The letter writer said that that kind of language is more like elementary school than diplomacy. So your comment about kindergarten is quite accurate.
"But nearly a year into Trump’s administration, it turns out that the truth is hidden in plain sight: Trump’s actions appear angry and impulsive because Trump is angry and impulsive. Computer programmers use the term WYSIWYG — “what you see is what you get.” The real secret of the Trump administration is that it is the WYSIWYG presidency. There is no grand plan or hidden purpose. There is no wizard behind the curtain — just an old, angry, obnoxiously ignorant man."
This, from an op-ed by an assistant professor named Musgrave at the Post
.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/01/03/there-is-no-secret-master-plan-trump-is-the-wysiwyg-president/?tid=hybrid_collaborative_1_na&utm_term=.6844b4573baf
I disagree a bit. Trump strikes me as quite possibly approaching dementia. But overall, yes, there seems to be nothing there. But how did he beat everyone else in 2016? I realize that the NY Times and such may have given Clinton an excessively hard time because she was, after all, going to be President, and would be held to a high standard. (That's another Post column).
Maybe it's just a sign of old age and its attendant cynicism, but especially in the wake of the current Bannon-Trump pissing match, I'm thinking that (speaking of fake) Trump approaches the presidency the way he did professional wrestling and real estate salesmanship.
Did anyone else see photos from the Mar-a-lago New Year's Eve party that Trump boasted would be "fabulous" and "very glam"? have you ever seen such a brunch of unenthused revelers (perhaps due to all the Botox in their faces)? Even Wonkette couldn't do the party justice (Trump's getting ever more difficult to parody).
Re yello's apt observation that "a sizable contingent was determined to vote for the craziest": Ever since the 2008 election, the GOP Oppositional Defiant Disorder faction (who were appalled that a Black* won, and embraced Birtherism as a form of denial) has held sway, starting with the Tea Party. Trump, ever the marketer/snake-oil salesman, designed his candidacy to play right into their hands.
* Actually, I wonder if these bigots were even more appalled that Obama was biracial, given the old racist mythology about Black men and White women.
SCC: ...have you ever seen such a bunch...
I don't watch TV, but Trump's familiarity as a long-running "businessman" probably helped him with the campaign.
Say goodbye to the Trump/Pence/Kobach Voter Fraud Commission
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-abolishes-controversial-commission-studying-voter-fraud/2018/01/03/665b1878-f0e2-11e7-b3bf-ab90a706e175_story.html
Don't let the door hit you, where...
Homeland Security will be investigating those no-good, data-withholding states. Interesting how Homeland Security is maybe replacing Justice. Maybe the forthcoming Republican-dominated Constitutional Convention can do like Venezuela's shiny new Constituent Assembly.
Trump's suing Bannon for violating a non-disclosure agreement. Such fun.
A Post story notes the National Security Agency is losing lots of much-needed employees. Low pay, poor morale. Maybe NK doesn't need nukes. It's got pretty good hackers.
This is delicious! "Trump’s cease-and-desist letter: A ‘desperate’ attempt to silence Bannon":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/01/04/trumps-cease-and-desist-letter-a-desperate-attempt-to-silence-bannon/?utm_term=.d36bffc84b47
...But would Trump really want to start a court fight with Bannon? Suing Bannon would potentially require Trump to testify under oath, and would open them both up to discovery, in which all sorts of explosive revelations could come tumbling out. The president’s critics would probably welcome that. These things can get ugly.
But, experts say, it seems unlikely that the feud would reach that stage.
Trump is a public figure. So suing for defamation, as the letter threatens, could require Trump to prove that a statement made by Bannon was false, damaging and delivered with actual malice, meaning that Bannon knew his comments were false and made them anyway...
Bannon’s speech stemming from his time in the White House would probably be protected. A government employee’s free-speech rights are protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment insofar as they pertain to matters of public concern...
And even if Bannon revealed information that drew from his time as a private citizen during the campaign, his speech could still be protected, [a law professor] said. The Defend Trade Secrets Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2016, provides immunity to whistleblower employees who report suspected illegal activity. That might or might not apply to Bannon. But either way, his lawyers would argue that it did...
And Trump opens up drilling in coastal waters, and goes after legal pot. Just what the people want. What a maroon.
seasea
Breaking news, "Trump administration suspends most security aid to Pakistan":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-suspends-security-aid-to-pakistan/2018/01/04/303145e4-f18a-11e7-b3bf-ab90a706e175_story.html
Yikes, Trump's been going manic since Wolff's book was revealed! Wonder if he'll crash and burn.
He may implode or explode, either way I don't envy the cleaning crew.
gmbka, do you suppose Trump will "do" a Budd Dwyer (maybe at the SOTU, for the TV ratings)?
Drumpf's lawyer wants to prevent the publication of Wolff's book. That's not how it works in the US. The book is published and then the author/publisher can be sued.
Interesting that Bannon's remarks in the Wolff book suggest Trump's main problem is money laundering, not collusion -- his properties are a prime destination for Russian ill-gotten gains. Manafort's suit against the Mueller investigation for exceeding its writ supports that notion.
PSA: This afternoon will be Robert Siegel's last hurrah on NPR's All Things Considered, as he's retiring after 30 years on the program, as one of the most-trusted voices in news. Makes me feel older, too.
Fire and Fury is Amazon's #1 bestseller in politics. I can think of a lot of things I'd rather spend 20 bucks on.
As soon as Trump moved to prevent publication(!) I wanted to read the book. Probably won't buy it, but borrow it from the library.
seasea
Suesea, I don't even want to read the book. When it comes to Trump crap I am in full avoidance mode.
Has anyone heard from Sneaks lately? According to tonight's newscasts, her neck o' the woods seems to have been particularly affected by the Nor'Easter blizzard. Hope she and all her family/friends are safe and warm. If anyone's in touch with her, please say "Hi" from our boodle outpost.
I’d already been thinking this for a while, although Fix Aaron didn’t answer my question on the topic during Friday’s WaPo online politics chat.
Charlie Pierce doesn’t even mention other possible dementia symptoms, like Trump often going to bed with his cheesburgers at 6:30 PM (i.e., sundowning), and more recently claiming not to recall who John Boehner is despite having tweeted about him in the past. Some of Trump’s tweets are utterly incoherent (“covfefe,” anyone?), perhaps when his social media aide Dan Scavino isn’t around to edit the Donald’s rantings. Can other boodlers think of examples of Trump’s possible dementia?
"Trump’s New York Times Interview Is a Portrait of a Man in Cognitive Decline":
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a14516912/donald-trump-new-york-times-michael-schmidt/
...What Schmidt actually got out of this interview is a far more serious problem for the country. In my view, the interview is a clinical study of a man in severe cognitive decline, if not the early stages of outright dementia.
Over the past 30 years, I’ve seen my father and all of his siblings slide into the shadows and fog of Alzheimer’s Disease. (The president*'s father developed Alzheimer's in his 80s.) In 1984, Ronald Reagan debated Walter Mondale in Louisville and plainly had no idea where he was. (If someone on the panel had asked him, he’d have been stumped.) Not long afterwards, I was interviewing a prominent Alzheimer’s researcher for a book I was doing, and he said, “I saw the look on his face that I see every day in my clinic.” In the transcript of this interview, I hear in the president*’s words my late aunt’s story about how we all walked home from church in the snow one Christmas morning, an event I don’t recall, but that she remembered so vividly that she told the story every time I saw her for the last three years of her life.
In this interview, the president* is only intermittently coherent. He talks in semi-sentences and is always groping for something that sounds familiar, even if it makes no sense whatsoever and even if it blatantly contradicts something he said two minutes earlier. To my ears, anyway, this is more than the president*’s well-known allergy to the truth. This is a classic coping mechanism employed when language skills are coming apart. (My father used to give a thumbs up when someone asked him a question. That was one of the strategies he used to make sense of a world that was becoming quite foreign to him.) My guess? That’s part of the reason why it’s always “the failing New York Times,” and his 2016 opponent is “Crooked Hillary."
In addition, the president* exhibits the kind of stubbornness you see in patients when you try to relieve them of their car keys—or, as one social worker in rural North Carolina told me, their shotguns... [my emphasis]
Well the play off tiara chase is not going as planned. Michigoose is in the lead at 1-1
The rest of us have zip
Perhaps romarrow will be better
“An American in Paris”’ the musical, was worthwhile at the Kennedy Center. Appreciated the warm shuttle to and from Metro.
Dave of the coonties
If I were truly a genius (and knew it?) how would I respond to someone saying I was an idiot? Maybe exclude Mozart.
Jim, I think a real genius is smart enough to know his shortcomings.
Not sure if any geniuses were harmed in the finding of this number ;-)
"New largest prime number would take weeks to write down It's prime time for the newly discovered prime number, which is nearly a million digits larger than the previous record holder":
https://www.cnet.com/news/largest-prime-number-discovered-m77232917/
...The newly found number has 23,249,425 digits, nearly one million digits more than the previous record holder, discovered a year ago. Here comes the math: the new prime number is calculated by multiplying together 77,232,917 twos, and then subtracting one.
Because no one, not even a mathematician, has the time to recite 23 million digits, the number was given the not-so-catchy name of M77232917. (But its friends call it 2 to the power of 77,232,917 minus 1.)
A collaborative computer project called the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, which has been going on for years, found the number in late December, on a computer volunteered by Tennessee electrical engineer Jonathan Pace. Pace had been hunting for primes for 14 years. Mersenne primes are a special class of rare prime numbers named for Jesuit scholar Marin Mersenne, who studied them in the 17th century.
Would this be useful in improving electronic security?
Somebody could use it for a PIN.
Even worse, someone might require it for a PIN.
Between the lot of us, Pacifica, Michigoose got the only point in the first two games. We pretty much have nowhere to go but up!
Pj
I did say that yesterday the rest of us got zip.
Michigoose wins this weeks contest at 3 wins.
Most of us ended up with two out of four
One contestant brought up the rear at one win. But I am not smug , some weeks I think he won, where the best I did was tie one week. I proclaim my predictive skills are not great.
Hey, we might get some rain tomorrow! Have received essentially none since last February. That's one of the causes of the recent wildfires.
Returning from the Stdio Theatre, I walked past Franklin Square. Noiiced rhe old Franklin School building and thought there was supposed to be another old building, but instead saw a very big new one that seemed familiar. The Post.
Dave of the coonties.
I'm finding the Trump/Bannon split very curious/funny/terrifying. Bannon is being quickly excised from the movement. I'm surprised that he can't find an ally with any power. Really, in choosing between the two, would you pick Trump? I guess he has the actual power, but...
Rules from Robert Reich for 2018:
1. Don’t use the president's surname.
2. Remember this is a regime and he’s not acting alone.
3. Do not argue with those who support him—it doesn’t work.
4. Focus on his policies, not his orange-ness and mental state.
5. Keep your message positive; they want the country to be angry and fearful because this is the soil from which their darkest policies grow.
6. No more helpless/hopeless talk
7. Support artists and the arts
8. Be careful not to spread fake news—check it out first.
9. Take care of yourselves and
10 RESIST.
Copy to paste to your wall.
Full disclosure, I copied this from a friend who copied it from a friend who copied . . .
Thanks for forwarding this, gmbka; will share with the usual suspects. Several of these tactics seem direct from the Doug Jones playbook.
Sometimes we need a break. I wonder if little fluffy white dog would stand for this, yello. Video "The Weird, Wondrous World of Competitive Dog Grooming":
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/549953/competitive-dog-grooming/?google_editors_picks=true
Vox presents an article on how we the people segregate our schools even when some (mostly Democratic) school boards try to achieve the opposite.
https://tinyurl.com/y79mjzl7
Back to Florida tomorrow. Really liked seeing the Vermeer exhibit for a second time. Thanks to bad weather, no crowd this afternoon. An amazing bunch of paintings.
Turns out “The Apotheosis of Washington” painting inside the Capitol Dome may have a portrait of Jeff Davis being kicked out by Athena in her role as goddess of war. And the Senate Wing has lost fall’s scaffolding and is brilliant white. House now looks dirty.
The warm front from the SW has passed over, and now the cold front from the NW (from Japan and Alaska) is arriving. Interesting to get them both at almost the same time. Makes me remember what "occluded front" means. A problem of the first front, it's raining on snow in the Sierras, which will melt some of it.
gmbka, regarding that school district article, it's going to happen unless you can prevent people from moving from one house/neighborhood to another, or assign people to residences. And of course that's not feasible. To me, the article just says "that's how people are". There are more inclusive populations, but they tend to segregate internally -- 100+ years ago NYC had a giant immigrant population, so we had natives vs immigrants, but also immigrant groups vs others. So, should the school board adopt policies to prevent the people from achieving what they seem to want to do through their location decisions? There are countries where the government can or can try to do such things, but it's hard in the US.
To me the issue is not how to keep the various sub-populations from self-segregating, but how to make them more equal. If the blue and green people in aggregate have similar achievement, then it's their business where they live, which schools their kids go to. The current problem is different achievement.
Jim
"that's how people are" is what I intended to express with "we the people".
The best girlfriend of one of my granddaughter's is black and of course everybody highly approves of it, but that it is mentioned at all shows some racism.
Our arctic temps are gone for now, but this weather event may become more frequent due to global warming. The warming of the arctic weakens the polar vortex and allows the cold air to escape further south, some researchers say.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/climate/cold-climate-change.html
Spectacular waves: http://viajes.elpais.com.uy/2018/01/07/surfeando-tsunamis/
Uruguay has beaches but no reputation for waves. There’s some impressive spots in Rio. Portugal is busy now.
Dave, it's a travel article published in Uruguay, and the first waves in the article are off the SoCal coastline, west of the Channel Islands (although how they're "este" of Pt. Loma beats me!).
NP,
your clip about dog grooming made me cringe.
Make sure you don't have a beverage in your mouth when you read this.
A House Democrat is introducing a bill mandating Navy-administered physical exams for all major-party nominees for President, which he's named [drumroll, please]:
The Standardizing Testing and Accountability Before Large Elections Giving Electors Necessary Information for Unobstructed Selection Act.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrat-introduces-stable-genius-act-require-medical-exams/story?id=52238610
Wow! Joel has been suspended for 90 days by the Post for "inappropriate workplace conduct.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/post-reporter-joel-achenbach-suspended-for-90-days-for-inappropriate-workplace-conduct/2018/01/10/5fae0f4a-f645-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_farhi-4pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.81059bbb5ec3
That is shocking. Joel has brought both female and male colleagues to BPH events before and I never saw him behave anything but professionally even in a social setting.
But I guess that is what is so insidious about this behavior. He has gone the full apology route but there is no hint at how reprehensible his actions were.
I am really saddened by this. On the bright side, he now has time to start writing another book.
Seeing a lot of chatter on Twitter about an Achenblog post he wrote in Jan 2008, where he said Clinton should be fitted with a shock collar to keep her from screeching. Which I admit does not sound good, but when I tried to explain it was in a humorous blog post, it did not convince. Sigh. Sorry and shocked to hear this. Sad!
seasea
Sad and surprised. Now to wait and see whether anything further happens.
Like everyone else here, I'm saddened.
I'm also thinking about the situation in terms of the Post's corporate concerns, and wonder if they're pursuing the strongest possible actions allowed by the paper's contract with the union, in order to minimize potential PR damage that can be inflicted by the doubtless salivating Trump administration, Republicans, et al. (a bit like Franken's situation).
I half feel that the 3 month suspension and the option to still fire is worse than an outright firing, in that Joel has an incentive to keep his mouth shut about the situation if he wants to keep the hope of a job alive. The publicity may damage his ability to get side gigs too. Maybe rightfully so, maybe not.
I hope he does not burn any bridges in this immediate aftermath. I trust he won't, but I really would look askance at any employer who thinks this (and a public announcement and self-patting on back re sexual harassment reporting) is an appropriate remedy to an immediate firing (maybe union or contract reasons, granted.), and I hope he uses the time to find a new job.
This vagueness seems calculated to raise interest, rather than diminish it.
Wolff aside, the real story also should be the Fusion GPS testimony transcript which Feinstein released just the other day. Over 300 pages. Mr. Simpson is a strong witness. https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=B708D3CB-A945-4436-8FB8-9D85978C5EEF
Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin has posted a cliff notes/summary on FB an Twitter. This is the twitter verison.
https://twitter.com/ECMcLaughlin/status/950884746082562048
This release testimony follows on Fusion GPS's editorial in the NY Times accusing Republicans of obstructionism and withholding the testimony.
It also turns out the judge who ordered Fusion GPS to release more information potentially damaging to client privacy (and its reputation/business model) worked on Trump's campaign, as well. Plan A-- judge recuses as he should have. Plan B, Fusion GPS appeals. (It seems Merrick Garland is on the appellate court for that district.)
A big week when it comes to political dynamite. Let's not get it wet.
That said, it's also a good week to consider a good newsbreak. Every week is, really, unless the GOP is planning to shove more monstrous bills down the throats of America. Which they well will.
One commentary this week (a Post 202?) noted that congressional Republicans will try immigration legislation, will try to pass appropriations, will try to raise the debt limit. Will try to keep the government running.
Of course "running" is a relative matter. EPA, a small agency (I think, without fact-checking, some 14,000 employees) is to be cut in half.
Yes, EPA could shrink to about half its size through retirement. The federal government hired a lot of people in the 1970s.
The Trumpian exemption of Florida from offshore oil and gas leasing is looking like a dictator's whim. So much for Franklin Roosevelt's Administrative Procedure Act, that set up a framework for open and rational regulatory decisions.
In terms of tonight's complaints about the President's language, the CDC's web page on cholera seems quite confident about cholera in the US. I wonder. We have lots of malfunctioning septic tanks, or simple drain pipes emitting raw sewage. Lots of homeless people. Lots more people drinking water from shallow wells or even streams. If there's hookworm outbreaks in the South, can cholera be that far behind? It's not smart for US officials to denigrate poor counties when ours so often has poor-country problems. And not because of immigrants.
Don't miss scathing reader comments, many from across the Pond, owing to the time-zone difference.
"Trump ‘cancels’ London visit to dedicate new U.S. Embassy, citing ‘bad deal’ to sell and relocate building":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/01/12/trump-cancels-london-visit-to-dedicate-new-u-s-embassy-citing-bad-deal-to-sell-and-relocate-building/?utm_term=.d1245d5bcfc2
It's raining buckets here since yesterday and one of those buckets emptied itself into our basement. But mopping up a bucket full of water is still better than shoveling the same amount of huminity in the form of snow.
So, the same folks who were clutching at pearls when Joe Biden dropped the f-bomb when Obamacare passed, are excusing Trumps s-bomb.
HFGF and I often spend Saturday morning watching cooking shows. I was feeling nostalgic for my cooking show of choice, Cookin' Cheap. It was a low-cost production that came out of Roanoke's PBS station. And it's pretty much the antithesis of all of today's cooking shows. Laban Johnson and Larry Bly host the show, they work on two different recipes in parallel, in real-time. There's not a lot of editing going on. The recipes come from viewers, and they've maybe made the thing once before. And in the end give honest reviews. The ingredients are nothing special; there's a lot of frozen food, opening of cans, and the like. No fine technique. They cook like home cooks not dumbed down restaurant food.
Laban and Larry are the key. They've got great chemistry; and are quite funny. But you don't have to take my word for it. None other than the New York Times calls it "The Best Cookin' Show Ever".
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/opinion/29mon4.html
Anyway, when I first moved into the DC area, my folks (partially as a joke, partially in an effort to stave off homesickness) regularly sent me VHS tapes full of the show. And since the original masters were destroyed... I may have the single largest archive of the show. I'm steadily digitizing them, so I can delve back in to my hearts content.
That review is tantalizing. I got used to the fact that all shows I ever liked were discontinued after a short run. Such is life.
I love that some folks are actively campaigning for Trump's Fake News award:
Trevor Noah:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pAXtaC4sDQ
Steven Colbert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkNkitvTU0
Samantha Bee (note, she drops the F-bomb a f-ing lot):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxQRcLE5BGQ
And the latest episode of WNYC's "On the Media" ends by reporting it like it is a real awards ceremony.
gmbka, There are a dozen or so episodes of Cookin' Cheap on youtube. So feel free to indulge a bit.
"My next guest needs no introduction with David Letterman" on Netflix started with Barack Obama.
I enjoyed it, but the review in the Guardian is luke-warm.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/12/my-next-guest-needs-no-introduction-with-david-letterman-review-the-talk-show-legend-makes-a-lukewarm-return
HF,
those two guys in Cookin Cheap are so funny that I even forgave them their Southern drawl.Thanks.
I recall Cassandra predicting that no statement short of his using the "N"-word could harm Trump. I never imagined, however, that it would be "Norway."
OTOH, too many Republicans, most recently Martha McSally, are spinning Trump's s**thole comment as mere salty language. Sad!
I just want to hibernate until winter or the reign of Trump ends, whichever comes later.
Forwarded by a friend, purportedly of the San Francisco Federal Building last night. Can't figure whether it's actual projector graffiti, or something photoshopped, nor can I find actual news reportage of it (yet), as opposed to the message projected on Trump's DC hotel last year which was widely covered.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/7q2k2g/san_francisco_federal_building/?st=jcdv8mhl&sh=9c6dd0f8
HeadFool,
I don't recall ever hearing of "Cookin' Cheap" before. It lasted over 20 years! Since your parents sent you tapes, I assume that means WETA didn't show it. (I didn't get much involved with cooking shows until the last dozen years or so. I remember watching Justin Wilson's shows from Louisiana a few times. He had a similar casual, low-cost aesthetic.) I watched a couple of episodes and you are right that they are funny. On one episode they made baked chicken thighs coated with boxed potato flakes from the store. I remember seeing a couple of Jacques Pepin shows where he uses those potato flakes to thicken soups and maybe for something else. I gotta give the "Cookin' Cheap" guys a lot of credit. They were having a lot of fun filming the show.
Mr Trump’s utterances seem a matter of frame of reference. In the Demo world, profane, in the Rep world, not. Or not even uttered. Schrödinger’s cat would meow, or not.
pj, Cookin' Cheap was syndicated nationally, but I think it was far from ubiquitous. It wasn't on any DC area PBS station to my knowledge. In a special/roast/pledge drive episode, they do talk about doing a show in Philly when a crowd of 800 people came out. They were shocked.
FWIW, in the roast they talked about one very positive fan letter they received that requested they do more recipes that did not require knives and other sharp object. The punch line of the story is the fan wrote from a women's prison.
The big, competent food service operation at Penn State did lots of its food prep a short distance up the road at the state pen.
Sorry to be a boodle hog, but...
RIP Dan Gurney.
http://autoweek.com/article/racing/dan-gurney-1931-2018
Dan was a driver, engineer, and team owner who saw success in F1, Indycar, Nascar, and sports car racing. He is one of the rare individuals who won an F1 race in a car they designed. And he was an owner who was involved in the engineering of the car. There is a now-standard aerodynamic car part named after him, the Gurney Flap. Legend has it that the first one was something he banged out at the track during testing. The piece is relatively simple, a little 90-degree piece at the trailing edge of a high-downforce wing. It creates a low pressure that keeps the airflow attached. To give an idea how ahead of his time this was, he figured this out in 1971. A friend of mine studying aero engineering said there was a lot of research into them in the early 90s by the computational aerodynamics folks. It only took the 20 years.
On the pop-culture side, He was also the first person to do the celebratory champagne spray after a win.
Boastful, petty, vindictive, small-minded, inconsistent, egocentric, belligerent, aggressive, dishonest, boorish, pompous, self-centered and vulgar. Yes, the news triggered a need to practice and enlarge my vocabulary.
Yesterday I saw The Post. Spielberg is not one of my favorite directors and subtlety is not his forte, but it was good entertainment anyway. The early afternoon show was 90% booked.
Weingarten's final Q&A today (NOT from me):
https://live.washingtonpost.com/gene-weingarten-20180116.html
Q: Achenbach
First WaPo reporter suspended since #MeToo. Thoughts?
A: Gene Weingarten
None that I want to share right now. Joel is one of my oldest and closest friends, and he remains one of my oldest and closest friends.
Okay, I copy us down. See you next week in the updates.
That question wasn't me either although I did get one in earlier. I've had very brief private correspondence with Gene about Joel and he's supportive of Joel but he didn't share any details if he even had any.
So much for my ability to spot cognitive problems.
The post article on the mental test is interesting. It’s really a starter diagnostic tool. And some of the commenters are questioning that Trump was given more time to complete it than the test protocol allows.
Somebody has pointed out that these physical "results" mean that Trump cannot plead not fit to stand trial, and the 25th amendment cannot be invoked until he basically collapses from a heart attack (Sanjay Gupta: "He has heart disease" re The Hill Website. He says he challenged Rear Am. Ronny Jackson and he admitted he was right about the calcium testing and that they will up his statins, etc.)
That means he will go down by resignation, impeachment, death, or indictment. We need to flip the House in 2018 at a minimum, and make sure the Senate is as tied as possible.
https://www.270towin.com/2018-senate-election/
"Cartoonists spoof the results of President Trump’s ‘excellent’ health tests":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/01/18/cartoonists-spoof-the-results-of-president-trumps-excellent-health-tests/?tid=pm_entertainment_pop&utm_term=.31f12f554843
Trump's usual approach to a political crisis is to start a diversion, typically on Twitter. Haven't seen it yet. Congressional Republicans seem ready to demand release of a "secret document that proves the Mueller investigation is an anti-Trump witch hunt. To be followed, no doubt, by a thorough purge of the FBI.
Trump's diversion for today was to speak remotely to the anti-abortion demonstrators in DC. Perhaps further Trumpian distractions will crop up during the weekly Friday news dump, as well as more tweets.
Sen. McConnell's statement on the Senate floor indicates that Republicans will maintain the shutdown until Democrats abandon the Dreamers.
Sen. Nelson's non-starter of an attempt at extending funding for a single day was, I suppose a good try.
Countries interested in well educated immigrants should look into encouraging DACA/Dreamers to apply for residency. That would include the usual first-world, but how about Chile, too? Chile seems to be joining the top economic tier of nations. I'm sure they have more Venezuelans and Argentines than they know what to do with, but a few well educated semi-Americans might fit in, too.
Meanwhile, I wonder how many DACA Dreamers are from Norway.
Main story on this weekend's Only a Game, "Gene Mingo: A Hall Of Fame Life":
http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/01/19/gene-mingo-football-broncos
Older boodlers (e.g., Mudge) likely recall Mingo. He doesn't have anything kind to say about the Redskins.
Especially for yello and Mrs. jkt. I wonder if Bocuse ever created interesting vegetarian dishes.
"Paul Bocuse, French chef who popularized nouvelle cuisine movement, dies at 91":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/paul-bocuse-french-chef-who-popularized-nouvelle-cuisine-movement-dies-at-91/2018/01/20/d97ce864-fde3-11e7-a46b-a3614530bd87_story.html
I am somewhat bemused about the quarrel about Macedonia. The Greeks feel that there is only one and only Macedonia, and it is a province in Greece since Alexander the Great. The Republic of Macedonia in what used to be Yugoslavia sees it differently and does not want its name to be changed. It's a yuuuge issue.
Macedonia is also the Italian word for fruit salad and I wonder whether the Greeks want to have that changed, too.
Macédoine in French, macedonia in Spanish, macedônia (Brazil) or macedónia (Europe) in Portuguese. In any language, yum!
Tried this recipe yesterday, and it turned out delicious. However, for lack of watercress we substituted frozen chopped spinach (plus a little extra black pepper, to compensate for the milder green):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/watercress-soup/16262/?utm_term=.0d456c14b6dc&wpisrc=nl_recipes&wpmm=1
The good news of the day:
When a father of a severly ill kid needed to stay away from work to be with his son, his co-workers donated overtime so he would not also get into financial trouble. This of course happened with the blessing of the CEO, because all the overtime was treated equally, no matter what the hourly wages of the donors were. The kid is doing better but still needs a heart transplant. Dad is back to work.
Pence is in Israel and the majority of the Israelis are jubilant. The minorities not so much and they refused to talk to him.There are 13 Christian churches in Jerusalem and not one of them wanted to invite him to a service. One statement was that the Bible was written in Palestine and not in the Bible belt and they do not share the interpretation of the good book by the Evangelicals. Oops.
In other news, the Turks attack the Kurds in Syria with German tanks. Oops again.
The American split between the sort-of liberal Protestant mainstream and the conservatives/pentecostals and others who were typically of lower social status was long-standing and had a lot to do with how the grand missionary enterprises of the 19th and early 20th centuries developed. The conservatives were accustomed to being frozen out. The first chapter of "Protestants Abroad" is available online, free, and it makes fascinating reading.
https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11131.html
The Pence viewpoint would presumably be that those local churches are wayward outfits that true Christians shun, just as they stay away from Unitarians and Methodists, at least northern ones.
Minnesota Public Radio's story on Garrison Keillor.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/01/23/keillor-workplace
Police in Davos forbid an anti-Trump demonstration which is why there only was a mid-night stroll with banners. Unfortunately so many people were strolling (10K) that due to lack of space they had to break through the security cordon.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/24/davos-protesters-break-through-security-to-march-against-trump-and-the-wef.html
Dave, I wondered re Keillor even way back when he so unceremoniously dumped PHC producer Margaret Moos:
http://www.newsweek.com/garrison-keillor-wife-jenny-lind-nilsson-726369
[Keillor's second wife was] Ulla Skaerved, a Danish woman whom he initially met as a teenager when she attended Anoka High School in Minnesota with him as a foreign exchange student. After becoming reacquainted at a reunion, Keillor and Skaerved were married in 1985. Keillor filed for divorce in 1991.
Many Prairie Home Companion listeners reported being disgusted by Keillor's account of wooing Skaerved. At the time, Keillor and Margaret Moos, a producer on Prairie Home Companion, had lived with each other and dated for years. Fans of the show felt protective of Moos.
One listener told The New York Times, "In Minnesota, it was like 'gag me.' Here he's just bailed out on this woman who'd helped make him famous, then he had the bad taste to coo over this new love on the air." As The Times described it in 2002, "He spoke beautifully of [Skaerved] on the radio, but his Minnesota public, loyal to [Margaret Moos], was not entranced."
In fact, the backlash was so swift that Keillor shut down his radio show "in a huff" and moved to Denmark with Skaerved. When he returned to U.S. in 1989, he launched a new radio show, The American Radio Company.
After divorcing Skaerved in 1991, Keillor returned to Minnesota and reportedly tried to "mend fences" with the audience that had once rejected him. In 1993, the Star Tribune published a scathing open letter from ex-wife Skaerved. "A celebrity like yourself keeps building on the illusion that he is still married to the Dane he married some years ago," she wrote. "The truth is that the marriage ended two years ago, when you moved in with another woman"...
The Little Rock will be residing in Montreal until ice permits. Likely March.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/uss-little-rock-crew-embracing-being-stuck-in-montreal-1.4500966
Dave, despite their harsh winter weather, I wouldn't half mind residing in Montréal, either!
I never could've made this up! "Camels have their own beauty contest in Saudi Arabia — and some were beautified with Botox":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/01/24/camels-have-their-own-beauty-contest-in-saudi-arabia-and-some-were-beautified-with-botox/?utm_term=.c20fbee8e42a
Dave,
it's so funny that the Navy has a very good warm-weather-ship. Let's hope that our potential enemies don't see this article. If it weren't for the wasted money I would laugh even more.
The Little Rock is to be based at Mayport (Jacksonville). It was the site of a hugely ambitious French colony, undone by weather and the Spanish.
Camellia bush flowering in the yard.
What a difference a couple of hours on the plane make, here it is snowing. But I don't care, I'll be off to Costa Rica tomorrow, using Road Scholar.
¡Buen viaje, gmbka!
Very exciting, gmbka! Enjoy your trip!
Ah, I see that Road Scholar used to be Elderhostel. My folks went on several Elderhostels and enjoyed them quite a lot. It sounds like they've gone a little more upscale, but that's alright.
My folks have done several of each... I didn't realize they were the same company. I may have been told, but.... in one ear, out the other.
Liked this line from today's 202 on Trump's openness to talking to Muller under oath:
“No lawyer worth his or her salt would let a client like Trump go in for an interview,” Cristian Farias writes in New York Magazine. “A person with knowledge of the Mueller investigation who asked to remain anonymous told me that Trump is the kind of client who would ‘humiliate you and destroy you because he just can’t follow directions.’ … ‘The man’s uncontrollable. He’s a loose cannon,’ the person with knowledge of the Mueller investigation said. ‘No matter how much you prep him, no matter what small words you use to explain to him the potential landmines he could step on … he will leap in blindly and say whatever pops into his head, and that could be a potential disaster. … The absolute last thing I want to do in my life is be sitting next to Donald Trump being questioned by the special counsel.’”
Saturday is National Chocolate Cake Day (allegedly, which is good enough for me!):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2018/01/25/national-chocolate-cake-day-is-coming-up-you-know-what-to-do
There are also some chocolate cake recipes in the boodle cookbook:
boodle (dot) wikifoundry (dot) com (slash) page(slash) Boodle+Recipe+Table+of+Contents
Forwarded by a friend in his Congressional district. Editorial, "Rep. Devin Nunes, Trump’s stooge, attacks FBI":
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editorials/article196633904.html
...Nunes of Tulare is sheltered in a relatively safe Republican district, and may believe he will pay no political price for unfairly attacking law enforcement and protecting Trump. But his performance as chairman of the highly sensitive House Intelligence Committee has been nothing short of embarrassing...
Now, he’s being celebrated in Trumpworld with the four-page memo that accuses the FBI of political bias and misdeeds...
There are reasons to be very skeptical of this memo. The FBI hasn’t been sent a copy or given a chance to respond. Democrats who have seen it, including Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, say it’s full of inaccuracies and innuendo. And the social media campaign #ReleaseTheMemo may be promoted by Russian-linked bots, just as during the 2016 campaign...
By now, I'm half expecting the leak of an instruction memo from the Department of Homeland Security ordering strict limits on data sharing and cooperation with the FBI until Congressional investigations or reforms certify that the agency is not working to subvert the US government. Petri might take a hand at writing a fake one; there would be a good chance of it being close to true.
I hadn't realized that one of Trump's lawyers is a long-time radio show host, and is spreading all sorts of gas.
I assume Trump's eagerness to talk to the prosecutor is the lead-up to "I did everything reasonable to accommodate this witch-hunting prosecutor, but he wasn't interested."
Various commentators seem to expect the House to impeach Trump if Mueller so recommends. Maybe next year? But this year, the House might instead impeach Mueller and his superiors at Justice.
On the side, the Miami Herald has been uncovering illegal gold mining in Peru. Mercury used to process ore is poisoning large areas, and shipping the gold to Miami, quite legally, is hugely profitable. It's better business than smuggling drugs.
Especially for yello, as well as any other pop music/culture mavens.
"60 Grammys, 60 Moments: The Greatest Moment From Every Grammys Ceremony So Far":
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/8095834/greatest-grammy-moments-60-years
Naturally I disagree with a few. E.g., Domenico Modugno's "Volaré" ("Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu") was far and away a better and more modern choice than retro Sinatra (1959). And although I'm a Beatles fan, both the song "Girl From Ipanema" itself and the Getz/Gilberto recording were vastly superior to the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
Now you kids get off my lawn!
Here's an email fraud I hadn't heard about before. Presumably anyone who so desires can start their own Wikipedia (NOT "WikiPedia") page; I know this because I have, for a number of topics.
WikiPedia
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In the digital age, businesses, actors, writers, singers and everyone else who wants to be popular have teams working for them to strategize and manage their content and reputation over the internet. We believe it’s time you took a step in the same direction to get the fire started.
What do we propose? We will take you and your business truly global with a place on the world’s largest online encyclopedia, taking you instantly to the top of your league! It might look like a simple page on Wikipedia but here is what you really need to know to understand the real power of Wiki.
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2. It is ranked the fifth-most popular website.
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4. The encyclopedia has 18 billion page views and nearly 500 million unique visitors each month.
5. Wikipedia's level of accuracy has approached that of Encyclopedia Britannica.
We are not saying that this is all you’ll ever need to go from common to ‘famously known’ but this will surely be the smartest first step towards it.
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http://animationvideo.msnd4.com/unsubscribe/24cf5f05-bae8-4b20-8d8e-f62cf690a16c/2f47ddb8-803e-4caf-b8a6-9aa9e6992bb1/
Back in the 19th century, there were claques. There's even a Wikipedia entry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claque
Looks like the FBI drama has gone into motion. Deputy director stepping down, Nunes memo to be released. Greg Sargent's summary seems as good as any. Since Trump's speech tomorrow will be a formal one by speech writers, and Trump will be ordered not to ad lib, I don't think he'll announce an FBI purge, or even mention the FBI. It'll be defense spending, keeping out Mexican rapists, whatever.
Still, if the Nunes memo isn't quite the political equivalent of shooting at Fort Sumter (the National Portrait Gallery has a fine portrait of Gen. Beauregard on loan, finished while he was in Charleston starting the war), it might be the beginning of the end for the FBI and a lot more.
First McCabe. Next is Rosenstein, after a similar campaign. When he's gone, his replacement can then replace Mueller or perhaps sit on him and give him irrelevant tasks to keep him busy, which Mueller the honest bureaucrat will do.
Muller has a lucrative private law practice. He'll quit in a minute if shoved aside.
BTW, the Strava global heat map is a thing of beauty.
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#12.65/-89.64604/30.40319/hot/all
Strava's heat map is a good guide to poor neighborhoods in Florida.
Strava's also very revealing of the pedestrian patterns at UNC-Chapel Hill.
"Muller has a lucrative private law practice. He'll quit in a minute if shoved aside."
Dave, do you think that would be the case even if he is on the scent and about to disclose something even a Republican would admit is serious? You're saying he's more interested in his private wealth than the investigation. If that were true, he might have declined in the first place.
What interests me is where the data is hidden, so that even if Mueller is pushed out, the story will live on.
No, I'm saying that if he's kicked off the job by Trump, he's not going to hang around filling out FOIA requests.
There is the issue (that I haven't seen mentioned recently) that Muller was working with some state AGs (NY for one). It was theorized that this would prevent Trump from pardoning everyone involved since the state charges are out of the pardon's jurisdiction. But that also means some of this evidence will be distributed to the AGs.
Yeah, it sounds as though the stuff is gonna hit the fan sooner rather than later. The question is whether Trump's as effective as Putin at suppressing the good people.
Rosenstein is probably cleaning his desk.
Yes, NY AG is working on a laundry list of charges.
I suspect other AGs too, under the radar, but NY is where Trump lived and did so much of his dealing. Other state AGs will prosecute criminal charges as jurisdictionally appropriate. California, very likely has plenty to work on (Silicon valley.)
Ohio I don't know about. GOP convention was held there and the governor is NeverTrump, but it's fairly Republican.
DeWine is the AG, a solid R with previous service in Congress and his hat is in the ring for 2018 governorship. I don't see much likelihood he's going to be prosecuting his own party for crimes at the convention; after all he sued against the ACA. He however is anti tobacco and anti-drunk driving, doesn't support net neutrality. Interestingly, he's somewhat pro-gun control.
He MIGHT be a target, though, as part of the general GOP investigation.
I'm reading the Atlantic story by Franklin Foer on Manafort.
Dave, did you hear Terry Gross' interview with Foer on Fresh Air yesterday?
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/29/581478324/paul-manafort-joined-the-trump-campaign-in-a-state-of-despair-and-desperation (transcript)
Wasn't listening to radio at all. Must have been an earful. Manafort's prior history was colorful, to say the least.
From here on, the narrative's going to be that Trump's speaking truth to the powers-that-be, so of course the PTBs are striking back. Gotta neutralize that Deep State.
Was hoping for other topics, but I think the national nerves are a-twang and justifiably so.
Fur therapy and sitcoms for me tonight, I think. Plus a warm blankie and gent if possible.
Has he finished?
Went to bed at 9 PM EST last night, didn't get up until nearly 8 AM, so I got the best beauty's sleep I've had in a long time!
Have imposed an embargo on radio, TV and extensive news reading today, because I can, although I skimmed the WaPo headlines in order to get the general gist of last night's festivities. The only article I deemed worth my time was the Fact Checker, although I may read Dionne's column later today, if I feel up to it. Or not.
P.S. Apparently even Haxville was not immune to some lively exchanges about the SOTU in real time. Owe, the humanity!™
This just in, an Amtrak train carrying GOP lawmakers & their families to a retreat in WV collided with a garbage truck.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2018/01/31/gop-retreat-train-collides-with-truck-no-serious-injuries-reported/
pete262 follows up with:
Rescue crews were delayed because the irony was too thick.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2018/01/31/gop-retreat-train-collides-with-truck-no-serious-injuries-reported
Except for the driver, of course, who's now reported to have been killed. The irony thickens...
My congressman and the one from the next district south were on the train. Both are dubious of passenger trains.
FBI purge begins this week?
Kind of a pity it looks like the CDC director has to go. She seems the perfect Republican loyalist to support slashing the agency's budget while supporting business interests. I'm plumping for cholera. Maybe even malaria, though I think Americans dislike mosquitos more than sewage leaking from septic tanks close to drinking-water wells.
Let the activism begin! "The White House has finally restored a petitions site that is critical of President Trump":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/31/the-white-house-promised-to-restore-a-petitions-site-that-was-critical-of-trump-it-hasnt
...Visitors to petitions.whitehouse.gov were greeted Thursday morning by a create-a-petition button, along with some of the most popular old petitions, several of which are critical of President Trump...
"First New Species of Temperate Conifer Tree Discovered in More Than a Decade / The Ulleungdo hemlock, found on a small Korean island, is likely already endangered, but it may hold the key to fighting invasive species":
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/ulleungdo-hemlock-tree-discovered-korea-wooly-adelgid/?google_editors_picks=true
A great case of a “new” species being found in botanical garden living collections.
On the side, I suppose Trump is trying to recruit new people for Justice and FBI. Maybe Nunez is available.
New technology made a Mayan metropolis in Guatemala visible for the first time in modern times.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/03/scientists-discover-ancient-mayan-city-hidden-under-guatemalan-jungle
My trip to Costa Rica went very well and was so packed with experiences, sights, lectures and activities that my brain suffered from overload. The size of our group of 18 was ideal because you could easily avoid people you liked less without it becoming obvious. We also lucked out with the group leader, a native, fluent in English and possessing a deep knowledge of flora, fauna, and ecological systems in addition to the history of Central America. Fortunately he also had a good sense of humor. The museums were amazing.
Also amazing was the fact that the main road crossing the continental divide was a winding dirt-road, but our small bus managed just fine, whereas the large buses sometimes needed to maneuver back and forth to make a curve. Another surprising fact: there is no sewage system to be found anywhere, not even in San Jose, which required some changes in our habit of the discarding of used toilet paper. Yes, eew.
Accommodations were upscale, as pj mentioned above, which allowed me to get some swimming in the pools during the rare free time allotted to us. In Monteverde I had a room with a view of a bay of the Pacific. Monteverde also was the place where it drizzled constantly even when the sky was blue and the sun shining.
When hiking in the rain forests everybody was wrapped in plastic of various colors and the group looked bizarre. I learned to dislike the birders because the whole group had to wait until all of them had seen the quetzal, made possible by our group leader who very patiently explained "follow the stem of the tree to the first branch to the left, where the fern is growing, then look up to ..., and that over and over again.
But it was a great trip and I am still a bit dazed.
I need to finally get around to Costa Rica. Among other things, they’ve been artful at fending off the US while maintaining the best of relations.
Dave,
the reason why the Quakers wanted to emigrate from the US was the constant war faring. In the early 50s they started looking for countries where they could do farming and chose Costa Rica because CR had abolished its military just a few years earlier.
My draft board’s records were stolen and destroyed in the Vietnam years. Everyone got a letter from the raiders explaining what had fappened.
Lucky you, Dave. Where those beneficial perps ever found?
That should be "were". It's too early.
Thank you for sharing impressions of your Costa Rica trip with us, gmbka. I'm glad you got to see such a variety of attractions while there, from museums to nature to the swimming pool :-) I've crossed the Continental Divide in a few places too, albeit in the US, but am ashamed to have failed to consider that it extends all the way down the Americas. Would you have known without being told? Of course, where I've crossed it wasn't in tropical environments.
I was unaware about the lack of a sewage system there (don't recall Bad Sneakers ever mentioning that detail about her visits to DiCR!), not that I'd be thrilled about it either, but one needs must adjust at times, I suppose.
Welcome back home to Punxsutawney Phil and his "prediction" of six more weeks of winter.
Welcome back, gmbka! I'm glad you had a good time in Costa Rica. 18 is a nice size of a group to travel with. It's good to hear that they still provide a good educational experience with their travel and that the accommodations were good. A view of the Pacific from your hotel room sounds delightful.
I remember being on the continental divide in the Rockies in Colorado a couple of times in Rocky Mountain National Park, I think. When we were cleaning out my parents apartment, we found a photo of our family with another family at one of the signs in the park. The sign was taller than me, so I'm doing my best "Kilroy Was Here" imitation trying to pull myself up so I could be seen over the sign.
I think you were a cute little pj, pj.
Personally, I always root for the whale :-)
"The Original 1851 Reviews of Moby Dick":
http://lithub.com/the-original-1851-reviews-of-moby-dick
Shrove Monday is coming up and with it parades in Germany. Here is a picture what they parade in Cologne:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/karneval-merkel-wird-auf-rosenmontagswagen-schildkroete-fotostrecke-158269-9.html
Danke, gmbka!
Looks as though Bigly's gonna be a popular target for Carnival parades:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=639&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=9EF7WpqyEO3F_QbkqayoBQ&q=Trump+Carnival&oq=Trump+Carnival&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l2j0i30k1l2j0i24k1.2027.2027.0.2792.1.1.0.0.0.0.422.422.4-1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.421....0.jnBzlUuK6UI
That's a very imaginative float, gmbka! Thanks for the photo.
Here is my feel-good story of the day.
A man in Hamburg, who summarizes his resume to "I studied law, drove a cab, and sold antiques", rented one of those glass cubicles in a Hamburg subway station in which usually candies and newspapers are sold. The cubicle is decorated with drawings of ears because he is there to listen to stories people want to tell but have nobody to tell them to. The man initially was afraid that nobody would come, but now has to limit the listening time for any one customer to one hour.
The man will eventually write a book about his customers and their stories.
Maybe this is not such a feel-good story after all because it is also a testimony to how many people living in a big city are lonely.
gmbka, perhaps you were in CR when this news was announced, but the UK has created the position of Minister of Loneliness (honoring the memory of assassinated MP Jo Cox) to try to cope with the situation there.
Wow, NP, I found the article in the NYT. I thought that would be an issue for Health and Human Services. They probably established another minister to honor the murdered MP.
Hey Jumper, thanks again for hosting us! Hope all is well with you and yours.
I lurvvvve this! "Internet scammers are terrible. This troll is their nightmare":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/02/08/internet-scammers-are-terrible-this-troll-is-their-nightmare/
Back when internet scams were still by email, I did a similar thing one weekend many years ago: It was one of those "My family and I are stranded in London because our money, credit cards, [etc.] have all been stolen, so I need you to wire me $1,800 immediately to pay for our hotel bill, meals and airfare home."
Apparently the scammer was located in Romania; his initial letter was in fairly good English, but subsequent replies reflected a real struggle with the language, which I exploited shamelessly by sending convoluted, wildly imaginative emails that he had to read in their entirety, then figure out how to reply to (albeit haltingly). After three days of wasting a considerable amount of his time, by Monday morning I was bored with toying with him, so ultimately wound up asking the scammer to send ME some money instead (talk about chutzpah, huh?!?), prompting him to chew me out royally, then never write back again :-)
The mind boggles. "Figure Skating's Quintuple Jump: Maybe Impossible, Definitely Bonkers":
https://www.wired.com/story/can-figure-skaters-master-the-head-spinning-physics-of-a-quintuple-jump
I have some sad news. seasea posts here sometimes. She announced on Facebook that her sister died suddenly. I met her at a BPH and liked her. She and Sue were very close and both were big Leon Russell fans. As I recall, they were in DC to go to a Leon Russell show.
What tragic news, and a terrible shock for you, Seasea. My heart aches for you.
Psst, just in case anyone's around:
http://www.everysecondcounts.eu/europe.html
View Netherlands' video first, as their satire (in the wake of Trump's inauguration last year) spawned the rest. English is subtitled where necessary. Yeah, I know, as if the Olympics viewing weren't already enough distraction from work...
Over the next 80 years sea levels are expected to rise 65cm, margin of error 12 cm. But even with a rise of only half a meter sea front property does not seem to be a good investment if you intend to bequeath it to your great-grandchildren.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/02/06/1717312115
The Trump fantasy budget is strange indeed. In Florida, a lot of Medicaid spending is on nursing home care. If there's a cap on Medicaid per person, I can imagine people being told at nursing home check-in that they have one year, six months, and two days until they have to find alternative funding.
Charles Blow's column at the NY Times seems the best Cliff's Notes guide to Republican domination. Gerrymander, voter suppression, pack the court. I think he left out what will be an intentionally incompetent Census in 2020, which will make millions disappear. Obama may have been the last Democratic president. As for the National Portrait Gallery, which commissioned his portrait, I suspect it and the Smithsonian will be privatized.
At least short term, NIH and FDA are in for increased funding. I'm waiting for Scott Pruitt to order EPA employees to ignore reports prepared by the (private but Congressionally chartered) National Academies on grounds that they're all biased.
Locally, oceanfront property is booming. There is fear that the legislature will void the county and city bans on tall buildings.
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