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My dentist said he needed a hand like this...
3,526 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 600 of 3526 Newer› Newest»McMasters fell on the sword, but carefully elided what Trump did not do. Gives cover yet. NY Times article-- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/republican-senate-mcconnell-white-house.html?_r=0
Tom Cotton is claiming he'll believe McMasters over sources in the media.
McConnell is "pleading" for less drama. He must really not have dealt with Trump very much so far, to be honest, if he sincerely thinks he will get that by asking, or at least not sound completely foolish for asking. Tortoise all the way.
Some rumors about Article 25 (removal on disability) being aired in GOP circles-- advantage speed, Pence not implicated by a full hearing, less drama, more agenda. Hah.
I'm daydreaming the mass indictment thing is actually true. That'd be satisfying, because a lot of GOPPers deserve to go down with the coverups, gerrymandering, and obstructionism. McConnell and Ryan being indicted tickles my fancy.
But such daydreams are useless. Time to fight on and on and on.
"Is projecting ‘Pay Trump Bribes Here’ onto a wall of the Trump Hotel a trespass?" Probably not:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/05/16/is-projecting-pay-trump-bribes-here-onto-a-wall-of-the-trump-hotel-a-trespass
Trump has a long ceremonial and policy trip ahead of him. I'm sure he'll be urged to read from the cards, something that Reagan did competently even as he was fading away.
I'm sure there will be no cameras or microphones at the Holy Sepulcher. It's not sufficiently gilded for Trump to suffer Stendhal Syndrome.
Inasmuch as Cotton must see himself as the best possible next president, I'm sure he's squirming. One problem for him is that Pence occupies much the same political territory, hard right, though Cotton's presumably better educated.
Applebaum, Drezner, Gerson, and maybe the whole rest of the whole opinion crew just might flee to Australia given the chance.
NYT broke story about Comey memo after meeting in Feb when Trump asked him to lay off Flynn. Bwahahaha.
seasea
FFS.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/notes-made-by-former-fbi-director-comey-say-trump-pressured-him-to-end-flynn-probe/2017/05/16/52351a38-3a80-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html
Meddling with the Flynn investigation, boasting with classified intelligence, how much more are the congressional Republicans are willing to take?
But the Trump supporters remain steadfast, as I have seen in some comments. They just declare the news as lies.
Thinking about loyalty, real loyalty does not exclude dissent. What Trump wants is not loyalty but blind obedience.
Tony Schwartz has written another essay, published today, that scares the bajeezus out of me: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/05/16/i-wrote-the-art-of-the-deal-with-trump-his-self-sabotage-is-rooted-in-his-past/#comments
The happy news from Brother Schwartz is that Bigly is emotionally stunted and EVERYTHING is a win-or-lose contest. And he *must* dominate, or he's afraid he'll be obliterated. Won't that end well.
However, it is entirely possible that we're unduly worried about Bigly the Blabberface and what he told the Russians:
"In private, three administration officials conceded that they could not publicly articulate their most compelling — and honest — defense of the president: that Mr. Trump, a hasty and indifferent reader of printed briefing materials, simply did not possess the interest or knowledge of the granular details of intelligence gathering to leak specific sources and methods of intelligence gathering that would do harm to United States allies."
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/white-house-staff.html
*facedesk*
I liked this response from Weingarten's chat:
A: Gene Weingarten
The pragmatist, Machiavellian liberal is rooting for Trump to continue being a disastrously bad, comically stupid and naive president for his whole term, resulting in flipping the House in 2018 and getting back the presidency in 2020 and beyond.
The patriotic liberal wants Trump gone tomorrow. He's a danger to the Republic.
https://live.washingtonpost.com/gene-weingarten-20170516.html
I honestly wonder if he just read some materials for the Russians as a brag. "Look, I get these briefing, this one is Syria, blah blah" And TASS got a photo of said intelligence-- or he ordered McMasters to brief him before the Russians.
McMaster changes his tune so much I gotta wonder why he wants his job THAT bad.
Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom's ex is campaigning for Spicey's post. "Fox News’s Kimberly Guilfoyle is openly gunning for Sean Spicer’s job":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/16/fox-newss-kimberly-guilfoyle-is-openly-gunning-for-sean-spicers-job
...“I think I have a very good relationship with the president,” she told the Bay Area News Group. “I think I enjoy a very straightforward and authentic, very genuine relationship, one that's built on trust and integrity, and I think that's imperative for success in that position”...
Possible translation? "I let him grab my p***y."
Fitting for the day, I went to the local movie theater's replay of the Metropolitan Opera's "Rosenkavalier." I'd seen it only once, in a simple production, updated to roughly 1900. The Met's version with the date set at 1911 and the final act placed in an elaborate bordello, provides what Tommasini at the NYT called a "seedy, disturbing underside of the comedic elements."
Did you see this interview with Renée Fleming on the PBS Newshour last Wednesday re (inter alia) her final Rosenkavalier?
"Saying farewell to some opera roles, Renée Fleming has career high notes ahead of her":
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/saying-farewell-opera-roles-renee-fleming-career-high-notes-ahead
Didn't see the interview, but of course nothing about Fleming suggested she was actually retiring.
The costume department ensured that she looked both elegant and powerful for the last act. Not a bad way to bow out of a big role.
Dave, you remind me of Beverly Sills' comment upon announcing her impending retirement, to the effect that she'd rather leave opera too soon than have people criticize her for hanging on too long. Don't know whether that was meant as a slight dig at the Joan Sutherland, whom we saw in the title role in the final performance of a run of Norma in Toronto in spring 1981, where her voice pretty much gave out in the last act, although her earlier dueting in the opera with mezzo Tatiana Troyanos were sublime.
I was fortunate to hear Fleming back in 1995, in Rusalka, San Francisco.
I also saw Renee Fleming in concert, and I could not begin to tell you when it was, or even where. I do remember that it was delightful -- "What a delightful tune!" I was thinking. "And what a lovely voice she has!"
(Okay, so I'm not real sophisticated about the current divas . . . )
Anyway, when I got today's mail, it consisted of one (1) piece -- an advertisement for a production at the Kennedy Center called, "Sound Health: Music and the Mind," June 2 & 3, in "an exciting new partnership between the Kennedy Center, the National Institutes of Health, and Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor at Large RENEE FLEMING, in association with the NEA," so forth and so on.
Surprise!
NYT says that Mueller for special counsel for the Russian investigation is a good choice. Well then, perhaps we are getting somewhere.
I phone my rep's office this morning on a horrible bill (which would overturn the ESSA and vouchierize public schools out of existence) and reminded them I'd like Trump, Pence and Ryan impeached.
Then I had to take a nap (body needed it) 1 PM and then when I wake up after a weird dream, I find out Mueller is special counsel now. I'm feeling much more relieved but still cautious. This is not impeachment-- it's a criminal investigation-- and while we need an investigation into the whole mess, we also need Trump removed from office sooner than later, which is what an impeachment does.
So it's time to pressure to have enough votes for impeachment. March for Truth is June 3. Still on.
Postcards for America has campaigns to remind voters to vote in special elections in South Carolina (2 coming up in June) You can network on FB or check thei website.
Joel has written some more sciency stories on NASA plans-- one fresh this morning-- and also the SESAME project in the Middle East bringing together scientists. Peace through the beaker?
Search for headlines here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=Joel%20Achenbach&sort=Relevance&datefilter=All%20Since%202005
Busy week, which has been 600 years long, as Petri pointed out already in her excellent column yesterday. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/05/17/the-president-is-not-a-child-hes-something-worse/?utm_term=.2de33a764cac
Poor Joel. Interesting science stories at a time when Washington's having the political equivalent of a nearby volcano spewing ash and occasional bombs.
Trump's "greatest witch hunt" claim is calling up the ghost of Roy Cohn, as David Remnick of the New Yorker reminded us yesterday. http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/is-the-comey-memo-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-trump
My neighborhood seems to have gotten a half inch of rain yesterday afternoon. A blessing to be singled out at a time when the Florida peninsula is in one of its periodic spring droughts, and burning.
National Theatre's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is playing live this afternoon, replay in the evening.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/05/18/roger-ailes-fox-news-founder-and-former-chairman-dies-at-77-family-says/
I'm stealing this joke from some comedian in the 80s... it was about Jesse Helms... but...
Roger Ailes is dead. It's about damn time.
I once badly offended someone by noting that Jesse Helms might benefit his state by dropping dead. His dog-in-the-manger career in the Senate did North Carolina little or no good, though he did transfer committees from foreign affairs to agriculture when his re-election seemed in danger.
In matters outside of politics and the organization of society, he was evidently a courteous and decent person. Honest, even.
Re Ailes/Helms: At least to the best of my recollection there were no allegations of sexual harassment against Helms (which doesn't excuse Jesse's racist demagoguery one whit, however). Should we start a pool on how soon before O'Reilly croaks? Too soon?
Love the way Comey finessed Trump's "tape" threat against leaks. Perhaps this will make Comey our generation's Joseph Welch.
Heard someone on NPR saying that in theory Trump could fire Robert Muller, or order the Attorney General to do so (shades of Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre).
And now for something completely different...
"Dutch king reveals secret life — as a KLM airline co-pilot":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/18/dutch-king-reveals-secret-life-as-a-klm-airline-pilot/
(Of course, Britain's Prince William was a helo pilot IRL until recently, as was Prince Andrew during/after the Falklands War).
Helms was the first master of mail-order fundraising in support of racism. He had lots of experience with coming across as sensible and reasonable from doing editorials for TV station WRAL in Raleigh. When I was a student, his editorials were something of an event, something to be laughed at. Of course they were widely popular.
Getting rid of Trump before he's well and truly putrefied could set up a large portion of the electorate to believe that Trump was a reformer killed off by the swamp pythons. Trumpism could become a far bigger deal than Trump.
As HF aptly cited above, Weingarten commented that some want Trump to remain in office but (to paraphrase) politically neutered and a huge liability to Republicans in the 2018 and 2020 elections. I'd also enjoy seeing Trump being publicly humiliated as much as possible.
OTOH, a President Pence could be relatively effective at imposing his ultra-right theocracy on the U.S., so in a way is potentially a greater threat to our Constitutional system. Pence is no Gerald Ford.
Well, I was waiting for somebody to die. Ailes wasn't on my radar. I shan't shed a tear. Seeing his history and that he was in politics, consulting to Nixon and Reagan, I wonder if my dad knew he was running Fox from day one. It wouldn't surprise me (he loathed Fox and would not watch it, saying it was trashy.)
This does remove a source of advice and support for Trump, but makes no difference to the political drama right now.
Honestly, I think Joel will be back on political reporting soon enough. I think science reporting is more fun-- and safer-- right now.
Botanical relief. "This Incredible Flower Timelapse Took 3 Years and 8TB of Photos to Create":
https://petapixel.com/2017/05/09/incredible-flower-timelapse-took-3-years-8tb-photos-create/
NP, this is beautiful. I should save it for winter.
I'm about maxed out with the current deluge of appalling news -- I find that I'm compulsively checking the front page to see what else is in a red banner across the top, afraid of what I might find and afraid not to look.
That might well be a very reasonable approach, but I'm not bringing it here. Instead, I'll say that the wind is ruffling the clouds together as they roll in, and Marble the Evil Stranger Kitty isn't sure if he wants to sprawl under the car and soak up the last of the day's warmth from the pavement or go running around. We could use the rain; it's been blindingly hot for the last couple of days, and rain would mean I wouldn't have to trot outside and fill the birdbath. (Yes, I'm lazy . . . )
For me the pendulum swings back and forth between being scared spitless over what the Emperor will say/do next, and wanting to hide in denial (although having already been an adult living inside the Beltway during Watergate (with an old friend who worked for the DNC in '72), I can't entirely ignore the present situation).
As a diversion, here's a little click-bait. "The 25 Best Heist Movies of All Time":
http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2017/05/the-25-best-heist-movies-of-all-time/
I'd have included Jules Dassin's Topkapi starring his wife Melina Mercouri, and the original Pink Panther.
I forgot The Lavender Hill Mob, starring Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway (later of My Fair Lady fame) and Alfie Bass (Mr. Goldberg on Are You Being Served?).
Also for your pleasure, "Cécile McLorin Salvant’s Timeless Jazz":
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/22/cecile-mclorin-salvants-timeless-jazz
I like her mockery of the ghastly anti-feminist Bacharach-David song "Wives and Lovers" from the equally ghastly '60s eponymous film, which I saw on a date (ack!) when it first came out)
Back from the videocast of Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" at the local movie house. I had the great good fortune to see the play with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin in 2006; I'd forgotten a great deal of it.
It's one of highlights of American literature, and also precisely the kind of language and verbal nastiness that (abetted by alcohol and cigarettes), in movies, gets R ratings or worse while large amounts of violence get PG-13.
Dave, that's another film I saw on a date during its first run (with the same boyfriend who'd taken me to Wives and Lovers). The movie was considered shocking at the time.
The play is still pretty shocking. This production is superlative.
Literature has sometimes been lives of the saints or heroes; often enough, people or gods behaving badly. A recent book from Princeton analyzes the Biblical account of David in Samuel as a guide to politics. Yup.
Wagner's Rinse, I mean Ring, Cycle, too ;-)
San Francisco Opera is doing the Ring, summer 2018. I don't think I have the budget.
The Princeton book on David. The sort of thing I'll never get around to reading, but it looks astute. Saul had problems; the author(s) rather clearly treated David somewhat diplomatically. I assume everyone knew about Bathsheba, so no point in covering up. What if Absalom's coup had succeeded?
Oop. The link: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10964.html
It has all the morbid fascination of a car wreck right now. I am a bit less worried now, although I want these guys out of power sooner than later.
I am more concerned that the evidence (gerrymandering, voter suppression, even possible hacked machines) all points to GOP as much or far more than the Russians. I don't think they should survive this scandal as an intact party at any level, and that a lot of GOP leadership are in up to their necks.
On the downside it would mean our system is totally broken; overhauling our election process and restoring our democracy will take a lot of time and money. (One source claims it's as far back as 2000, with the hanging chads. Obama simply won, twice, because he was too popular to plausibly rig the vote.)
Democrats are capable of winning presidential elections despite the problem of so many of their voters being in California and a few other states.
Otherwise, the Koch Brothers and operators like them train and fund candidates, provide prepackaged legislation (including for voter suppression) and ample gerrymandering technology. State courts are increasingly dominated by Republicans.
At least until now, voters have been becoming increasingly conservative, at least in flyover country. I'm waiting to see whether Kentucky residents really will tolerate massive Republican cuts in health care spending.
It's encouraging to see signs of discontent in Kansas and North Carolina, and a national wave of support for the Affordable Care Act, but it's become possible for the Republicans to be massively unpopular yet still dominate legislatures and Congress.
I don't think we'll become a Trumpist equivalent to Venezuela, but it's not entirely impossible.
Are voters really increasingly conservative?
I may have a jaundiced view.
'Florida may possibly become a somewhat blue state with the influx of new residents from Puerto Rico. But white retirees are mostly tea party or worse. A state that once had a string of distinguished, moderate governors and US senators seems most likely to elect another very conservative Republican governor in 2018 and send the scummy Rick Scott to the Senate in place of Democrat Bill Nelson. The legislature looks red for as far as the eye can see. Politics is quite clearly based on maintaining 20-30 percent of the population in peonage with no health care, minimal anything else.
Yes, Florida. For whatever reason, it seems... different. I was just thinking about Kentucky and the Midwest being more conservative than previously.
I can't quite figure out Kentucky. I assume Sen. McConnell understands the state, which badly needs universal or near-universal health care but doesn't quite seem to want it.
Don't forget West-by-gosh-Virgina :-(
I think the turn to the right, at best, is due to the changes in society people have to face and that is more than they can take. Gay people can marry, black people demand not to be shot, we cannot trust police any more, there is a bewildering variety of news available via the internet and cable, technology threatens the economic survival of the middle class, women increasingly resist a male-dominated society, it's just too much for many and they yearn for a simpler world, as in the old days. Not that the old days were better for most.
gmbka, the satirical lyrics to the opening theme song of All in the Family (1971) foreshadowed just what you describe:
http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/allinthefamilylyrics.html
♪ ♪ Boy the way Glenn Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade.
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days.
And you knew who you were then,
Girls were girls and men were men,
Mister we could use a man
Like Herbert Hoover again.
Didn't need no welfare state,
Everybody pulled his weight.
Gee our old LaSalle ran great.
Those were the days. ♪ ♪
An older lady remarked, a couple of decades ago, that it was so much simpler when she was young. She said, You knew what was expected of you, and you did it, and there you were. When you got married, you knew what your role was, and you knew what your husband was supposed to do, and that was that.
She said that her son and his wife had it so much harder -- they had to work out every little thing about who's going to do what, and her son didn't mind doing housework and he liked to cook so that helped, but it was a lot more complicated than when she and Sid got married.
Of course, it really helped that she fit beautifully into the expected role of suburban-wife-and-mother-in-the-'50s-and-'60s. . . and some people really enjoy that role! I had an aunt who was very happy being a wife and mother, staying home to raise the kids and inviting her husband's colleagues over for cocktails and dinner parties. Suited her to a T.
I checked. Mike Nichols directed the 1966 movie version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," based on the 1962 play. Perhaps nostalgia for that era is a bit misplaced?
"You knew what was expected of you, and you did it, and there you were."
The problem was that even then there were women who chafed against at least some of the rules. See e.g., Mystique, Feminine.
Back in the early '60s, a distant cousin of Mr. P's played by all the rules of her rural hometown, quitting schoolteaching as soon as she got married (before 25, which was considered the portal for oldmaid-hood, Owe the humanity!™), having kids ASAP, doing all the housekeeping, devoting prodigious quantities of time to church, being conservative...
But she ran into a buzz-saw of criticism from some older relatives and especially church members when she decided, once the kids were in school, to spend a few hours during midday while they were out of the house resuming her pre-marriage passion for drawing and painting (all representational and G-rated). She told us they criticized her for being selfish, and pressured her not to do resume her art, because she should be spending more time on her home and taking on even more church activities. Fortunately, her husband backed her up.
In old age she's become a PITA, especially as a climate-change denier (even sent us a booklet from the Heartland Institute purporting to demonstrate the folly of our ways). We've ghosted her, for the sake of our own sanity.
P.S. Mr. P is the family intellectual, which automatically makes him suspect, despite his gentle, unpretentious personality. This distant branch of the family has also long pressured us to be churched and accept [...]. So in their eyes we're socialist heathens.
By the way, these are some breathtaking photographs of exquisitely beautiful, ephemeral artworks. The next set of pictures in the slide show is also of this woman's work, and are even more stunning:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/see-photos-of-new-maggie-austin-wedding-cakes/2017/05/17/6e55f464-35b5-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_gallery.html?utm_term=.314576ce4256
Those are gorgeous, Calypso! Will forward the link to the usual suspects in my e-circle who also appreciate such work. But I wonder how the pastry artist stays so slim; it's just not fair :-(
Reminds me, when does the next season of "Great British Baking Show" begin?
Re fitting into one's expected social role -- sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn't. There's a painting in (I think) the National Portrait Gallery of a young woman from the turn of the century. She's wearing the fashionable pompadour hairstyle, the fashionable white sailor dress immortalized by the Gibson Girl sketches, and she has a white-knuckled death-grip on the painter's palette in her hand. Painting was a shockingly immoral and unladylike activity in those days, and I'm sure her family bore down on her with all their might.
She could be forced to put on that stupid dress, she could be forced to wear her hair in that time-consuming and tiresome style, but her back was against the wall and she WOULD. NOT. GIVE.
Man, I felt for her . . .
On women knowing their place, my mom had a different view. Her mother was a major voice for suffrage in her time, and a college graduate in chemistry. My mom then got her own degree in chemistry and began working in the war effort. Luckily for me she did indeed want kids, so she was happy when that happened. She did resent the equality slipping away once our guys returned from the war.
Haikucule Poirot, enough time has elapsed for the Pup's progress report. Has he acquired the virtual service dog diploma, or is he a, um, "perpetual student?"
That's about it, NP. I too am nostalgic for the good old days, but it's other changes I have problems with, such as the increase in terrorism and climate change as well as the human responses to those.
One quick reality-check for how good the "good-old days" weren't necessarily... is to look up Top 40 hits lists online, or lists of series that aired during the "Golden Age of Television," or B-movies of the era. It's easy to remember the great songs and shows and films, but goodness there was a lot of stuff that was deservedly forgettable.
Has anyone heard from yellojkt lately? Did he undergo another surgery on his arm? He hasn't posted any photos on Flickr since his latest trip to Europe.
Jumper, Mr. Hastings has decided to do the job his way. Medical alerting is A+. He's much less enthusiastic about sound alerting than I'd like but happily lets me know when somebody's at the door.
Regular lunches with another service dog team has gotten him a bit more used to hanging out with another dog without feeling the need to play.
Downsides: he's gotten nervous about lightning, he is very sensitive to smoke (since I am allergic to smoke, it's not too bad that he will steer me clear of smokers.), and he is not a good flier.
He's no Wilbrodog, but Wilbrodog took a lot of polishing just to be manageable on leash around friends.
I'm cautiously working on offleash obedience in short distances, yard only under supervision as he trots faster than most dogs can run, and it's too hazardous here for him to bolt.
As it's been put, he's more of a free spirit. Training won't change his personality on that score.
The NYT has a story by James B. Stewart on the Post's recent successes, both news and financial.
"Last month, according to figures from comScore, The Post had 78.7 million unique users and 811 million digital page views, trailing only CNN and The New York Times among news organizations."
And the Post has been hiring like crazy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/business/washington-post-digital-news.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
WaPo Breaking News. "White House adviser close to Trump is a person of interest in Russia probe." How soon before the official's identity leaks? Should we start a pool on who it is?
NP-- what, just ONE official?
HUGE would be Priebus-- since he was the RNC chair before and if he's implicit, the whole GOP organization is. Other guesses: Bannon, Pence. I'm not sure Trump's kids count as officials, and Miller is bush league AFAIK.
"Trying to Remember J.F.K. / On the centenary of his birth, seeking the man behind the myth":
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/22/trying-to-remember-jfk
Mr. P and I each saw JFK in person. When JFK came to Mr. P's university on a campaign stop, Mr. P saw the motorcade pass by en route to the candidate's destination. Meanwhile, Mr. P's roommate (elsewhere along the parade route) recounted to him that evening having run up to the car and announced that he wanted to shake JFK's hand. Decades later the roommate observed that back then, such behavior was not susceptible to a shoot-first/investigate-later mentality.
I saw JFK speak at a huge convocation. He was more gorgeous and witty in person than photos or video could ever convey. He had landed at the military facility where my father worked, so the employees were let out for a few minutes to greet the motorcade. It later drove up the main street a block from our house, where my mother saw him pass (and presciently worried what if there were an armed assassin on any of the seemingly unsecured rooftops along the route).
JFK's assassination was heartbreaking for us both, although nothing compares to a friend we later met whose parents were at the huge luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart waiting for the President to arrive that day.
See, e.g.:
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/news/2013/11/01/unease-then-shock-followed-wait-at-trade-mart-for-jfk-speech-that-never-came (not my friend's parents, though)
SCC: ...nothing compares to the parents of a friend we later made, who were at the huge luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart...
Found a yummy-sounding Maggie Austin cake recipe online (but with no tips for decorating elaborately).
Apricot-Glazed Almond Cake With Honeyed Mascarpone Cream:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/apricot-glazed-almond-cake-with-honeyed-mascarpone-cream/12424/?utm_term=.a4abbedca4b8
Surfline, a big purveyor of surf forecasts and beach cameras, also provides some news stories. A likable one today is that the Coast Guard, at least in Hawaii, is recruiting surfers and water polo enthusiasts, especially for their rescue swimmer program.
https://new.surfline.com/surf-news/surfers-ideal-candidates-u-s-coast-guard/2491
Ohio Gov. John Kasich will be presenting his book at the local book store on Thursday. I don't much care for his political views and have too many books to read, but might come anyway.
Off to Jacksonville tomorrow for Mahler's "Resurrection." Not a bad followup to R. Strauss and Albee.
1. This profile of John Kasich suggests he's relatively sane and mature (although, like Dave, I differ with many of Kasich's political views):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-place-where-john-kasich-went-from-being-pope-to-consensus-politician/2016/03/07/0d1b0418-db12-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html
2. Did anyone else hear this on NPR's Weekend Edition today? "Who's Afraid Of A Diverse Cast?":
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/20/529146027/whos-afraid-of-a-diverse-cast
I wonder if anyone would cast, say, Kristin Chenoweth, Melissa Rauch and Rhea Perlman in the title roles in a revival of Albee's Three Tall Women. Or, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg and Danny DeVito.
Erratum (not that it matters to anyone here but me): I recalled while listening to this commentary that it was Mr. P with whom I saw the movie in its first run. And in high school our king in The King and I was Black (he was the best actor/singer for the role).
Kasich is probably the best of a whole batch of prospective Republican candidates shoved aside by Trump, or by Republican voter disaffection for non-weird candidates.
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, twenty or so years ago, created a bit of a stir with Romeo and Juliet of different skin colors. Inclusive casting is still not exactly a reality, but things are getting better.
I read of a production of Romeo and Juliet in modern-day Israel that had one of the protagonists Jewish and the other Muslim, which conveyed the visceralness of the hatred between the families in a way that could be understood in contemporary terms (as well as being a plea for peace and tolerance).
And of course West Side Story depicted the animus between European-Americans and Puerto Ricans in New York City.
For Shakespeare, it was merely two noble families. In Orlando, it would be the Barbers and the Mizells. A total of 41 deaths. Puts the Wyoming range wars to shame.
Wow, that's far more than died in America's most famous feud:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield%E2%80%93McCoy_feud
Of course, Waylon Jennings made them iconic with these lyrics:
♪ ♪ ...Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas
With Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we're livin'
Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys... ♪ ♪
Never heard of this before. It occurred in 1870:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber%E2%80%93Mizell_feud
My favorite line in the entry is this:
"...the feud finally ended during the 1940s when a Barber married a Mizell."
At least (I hope) there was no feud between Walter Lanier "Red" Barber and Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell. Sorry, I couldn't resist ;-)
"From ‘nut job’ to ‘wacko,’ Trump has a history of insulting others’ mental health":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/20/from-nut-job-to-wacko-trump-has-a-history-of-insulting-others-mental-health
I'll reserve my comments for there, except to say that the family member we had who was mentally ill was a lot nicer than Trump.
Sheriff Mizell's grave is in a family plot in what is now Leu Gardens, the public botanical garden.
Red Barber was with the Dodgers when Vin Scully started, but for most of Vinegar Bend Mizell's career Red was with the Yankees, in the other league, so they would have been unlikely to come in contact much. :-)
Jim19
What a sharp eye you have, Jim! It appears that the only times Mizell came into Barber's view were the 1952-53 seasons when Mizell was with the Cards and Red was still announcing the Dodgers, then the 1960 World Series (Pirates vs. Yankees). Yeah, I had to look it up.
Dave, Barber was passionate about his rhododendrons in Tallahassee, and IIRC obtained special permission for his ashes to be scattered on them.
My goodness, the 1960 World Series. Mazeroski's home run.
I was 16. I had a transistor radio in a hollowed-out book that I took to HS.
My high school Trig teacher's wife would let him bring their portable TV to school during the World Series, so his students could watch once we finished the day's lesson (the principal was OK with this). It was something we seniors looked forward to.
I also recall catching snippets of games on TV through the display windows at an auto dealership at a bus stop after school, and in the display windows of a couple of appliance stores.
Yes, this was back when they were day games... You kids get off my lawn!
Rhododendrons? Only one species grows in Florida. Barber was into sasanqua camellias, the fall-flowering ones.
Right you are, Dave! Guess I shouldn't have trusted my faulty memory so late at night [blush]. According to this article, it was the camellias, dogwoods, azaleas and roses that he and his wife loved so much there.
"Jackie Robinson, Red Barber … and His Adopted Hometown / A Renowned Broadcaster Who Settled in Tallahassee Made History With Baseball’s Trailblazer":
http://www.tallahasseemagazine.com/September-October-2013/Jackie-Robinson-Red-Barber-and-His-Adopted-Hometown/
Race-blind casting is a thing. Patrick Stewart acted in a reverse-race Othello, although some of the lines did ring funny about the black ram tupping the ewe.
I also remember Kevin Kline's Hamlet playing on PBS-- stage production, Horatio was light-skinned black and he did the role very well. Black Italians, sure. North Africans can live in Rome, too. I liked the fact he was clearly the outsider at the court.
Talent is talent, and I agree it's a problematic prohibition; Broadway is committed to race-blind casting, and we've seen it work on TV with the hit show "Grey's Anatomy" which in fact was cast race-blind. It provides opportunities for actors to get role that otherwise might not have been written with their race specifically in mind. This permits greater range and growth for minority actors
We particularly have a paucity of talented Asian actors of various ages in this country; something the producers of "Fresh off the Boat" (great tv sitcom about a Chinese-American family in 1980's Florida) said was a problem in casting-- they needed people who had experience in comedy. They scored very well with the parents, they are a comic delight. The kids are uneven; the oldest is just OK. The grandmother is heavily made-up because she is much younger.
I wonder if Albee's estate would prohibit its production in majority-non-white countries because of the casting issues. They're not really thinking ahead.
Regards 45, I can only say he tends to project his own flaws and plans onto others. Works as cover for him if he can imply others do it too-- first. This goes for calling people nuts in general, too. That way he doesn't feel so nuts himself.
I now have found another artist whose work I can sigh over, wishing I could order some prints . . . sort of representational, not quite 'modern', hints of Japanese/Chinese minimalism -- just lovely! And not at all cheap.
http://www.nancyhammondeditions.com/
I find that I'm entranced by the herons:
http://www.nancyhammondeditions.com/Websites/nhe/images/Herons/Trumpet-Vine-and-Marshmallowby-Nancy-Hammond.jpg
http://www.nancyhammondeditions.com/Websites/nhe/Ecommerce/Products/a4af945a-7e1d-4019-a3cb-60a8519c2082.jpg
Maybe I should stop now before I get into sighing over the flower prints, or the tropical ones . . .
Did anyone else watch Dark Angel on PBS Masterpiece tonight? We lost count ;-)
NP, I missed all the murders because I fell asleep.
This morning I was a little surprised that NPR reports that at the occasion of Trump's visit Israel granted longer opening hours for a border crossing from Israel to Jordan and legalized some settlements in the West Bank. Oh well. No comment on the quite unequal generosity. Oh well.
Calypso, that nancy hammonds site seems to be down.
NP, not me. I went to bed early. Need to keep my glymphatic system in good condition.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/when-scientists-saw-the-mouse-heads-glowing-they-knew-the-discovery-was-big/2017/05/19/f33cc574-246a-11e7-a1b3-faff0034e2de_story.html?utm_term=.35d5f6d9fc24
One of an uncle's various wives was from Snoqualmie Falls, so he visited there and brought back film of the town in the late 1940s. In 1990 it became famous on the original Twin Peaks (we lost interest during the second season). Won't be watching the reboot, since it's not on OTA network TV.
"‘Twin Peaks’ is back after 26 years, but it never really left these misty, moody towns":
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/twin-peaks-back-26-years-never-really-left-misty-moody-towns/
OK. we have a new contender for the Chutzpah-of-the-Week Award. "Turkey condemns U.S. over ‘aggressive’ acts against its bodyguards in D.C. during President Erdogan’s visit in Washington" (yes, you read that right):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/turkey-condemns-us-over-aggressive-acts-against-its-bodyguards-in-dc-during-president-erdogans-visit-in-washington/2017/05/22/05133db6-3ef4-11e7-b29f-f40ffced2ddb_story.html (nearly all the reader comments are appropriately brutal)
Dave, if one sinkhole opens in Florida, how likely are others to occur nearby? Yes, schadenfreude ;-)
"Sinkhole forms in front of Mar-a-Lago; metaphors pour in":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/22/sinkhole-forms-in-front-of-mar-a-lago-metaphors-pour-in
All of Florida is a sinkhole which just hasn't happened yet.
Long time no see, jkt! Howthehellyabeen? How's the arm these days?
WaPo travel chat starts in 5 minutes. See ya there?
I had what should be the final operation last Thursday so I'm in the world's bulkiest splint for another week. Then we'll see.
How are Mrs. jkt and Little White Fluffy Dog these days? How are they coping with your lengthy healing ordeal?
Flynn is taking the 5th.
"Can Michael Flynn refuse to turn over documents to Congress? Yes — but he risks jail":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/05/22/can-michael-flynn-refuse-to-turn-over-documents-to-congress-yes-but-he-risks-jail
As one who remembers the McCarthy Era, I have understandably mixed feelings re this.
Maine wants to introduce a work requirement for Medicaid. My first thought was that they want to free people from their dependency, and sure enough, that's what the the health and human services commissioner said first. They are so predictable, those Republicans.
From the article:
...the Fifth Amendment protects you from making incriminatory comments about yourself — but it doesn’t protect you from things you’ve said in the past. Documents are similarly a form of past behavior to which the Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply...
1. NPR Fresh Air today, "Churchill, Orwell And The Fight Against Totalitarianism":
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/22/529516184/churchill-orwell-and-the-fight-against-totalitarianism (transcript will be posted eventually)
Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Tom Ricks says the writings of Winston Churchill and George Orwell still resonate today. Ricks also discusses the generals serving in the Trump administration.
2. Cited on WaPo travel chat this hour, "Proposal Banning Laptops on U.S. Flights From Europe Has Been Taken 'Off the Table'":
http://time.com/4783778/laptop-tablet-ban-europe (presumably also includes cameras, tablets, etc.)
3. "Supreme Court rules race improperly dominated N.C. redistricting efforts":
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/22/529516184/churchill-orwell-and-the-fight-against-totalitarianism
One decision was unanimous, the other 5-3 with Thomas voting with the liberal majority!
Well, Thomas is probably the one conservative SCOTUS justice most likely to understand the need to protect civil rights. I think he's gotten a crash course in the last 25 years.
Certainly this year has not painted a reassuring image of the GOP for any conservative-leaning minority.
The Post's story today on flood-ravaged Lumberton, North Carolina is perhaps a preview of stories to come when bigger and more publicized disasters strike.
It's been an unfortunate town, a distinctive one because its population is largely American Indian, albeit a tribe that has never gained full recognition from the federal government. Needless to say, the state once provided a segregated state college. http://www.lumbeetribe.com
NP, I am happy that I can take my tablet over the Atlantic (and bring it back) because it has the travel guide on it for one of the cities I want to see come August.
As the article about Flynn says, he has to make a choice whether it is worse to go to jail for contempt or for whatever is in those documents. This is a free country, you have choices. :-)
On today's Fresh Air, Tom Ricks was scathing about Flynn, describing him as someone who had risen far above his level of competence.
In contrast, Ricks had high praise for Gen. Mattis, saying he's the sort who prefers diplomacy to military action (even advocating that more money for the State Department is preferable to more for fighting).
Ricks conveyed the impression that Gen. McMaster used to be admirable, but [my paraphrase] is getting entangled in Trump's net, which could pull him down (as is happening to Sean Spicer).
Ricks all but called Trump a psychopathic liar. But you can check the transcript once it's online.
P.S. Ricks also characterized Trump and his inner circle as profoundly ignorant.
Transcript of the Tom Ricks interview is online already.
Here are parts of Ricks' thumbnails of Flynn, Mattis and McMaster:
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/22/529516184/churchill-orwell-and-the-fight-against-totalitarianism
General Flynn, I think, rose to levels above his level of competence, is a very naive man, not well-informed about the world despite being an intelligence officer. And I wasn't surprised to see him flame out very quickly.
General Mattis is almost the opposite of General Flynn. Mattis, who's now the secretary of defense, is one of the more thoughtful people I've ever met in uniform or out. And he is an example that goes against your surgeon's analogy. Mattis has publicly advocated in the past for a bigger budget for the State Department. In fact, he said to Congress once, look, you can either increase the State Department's budget, or you can buy more bullets for me because if you don't increase your diplomacy, we're going to have more fighting. I would rather have more diplomacy. Mattis is a very thoughtful man, and I think he's handled the job very well.
...It's been sad for me to watch McMaster in recent weeks because he's a thoughtful man as well - more emotional, more big and physical than Mattis but an intellectual himself. He wrote a very good book, called "Dereliction Of Duty," about the Vietnam War and the failures of American generals to tell the truth to American politicians, especially President Lyndon Johnson. And so it's almost Shakespearean to see McMaster in the White House as the national security adviser faced with the same situation, in many ways, that the Vietnam generals had. And when it's his job to get up and speak truth to power, instead he appears, in recent days, to have stood up and shielded the president from the truth and dissembled about the truth rather than insisting on the truth...
And here's part of Ricks' take on Trump:
...In a general way, I do know how Flynn wound up at the White House, which is that Donald Trump is a profoundly ignorant man. And the people around him are equally ignorant. He doesn't trust anybody. He doesn't know a lot about Washington. He knows almost nothing about the U.S. government and, in fact, appears not to understand the U.S. Constitution. And so people who would kind of drift across his attention would wind up working for him.
I think he gets most of his information from television and from conversation. And I think he's very good at acquiring information from conversation, like a lot of people who are not really literate. He listens well. He hears well. And he remembers well. And so you see, disproportionately, he's inclined to hire people who've appeared on Fox News, which is a very small and dangerous segment of American society... [my emphasis]
This boodle withdrawal does not get better with time. I have the feeling Joel is working on deep background for a story; he is quite good at that. I wish him well for that, but I also wish his bosses would just let him have current story excerpts on the Achenblog.
From Joel's brief email response to me several weeks ago, his current bosses don't know about the Achenblog - it's not on their radar. He even said he had written a couple of Kits, but didn't post them (no idea why). As with most jobs, you do what will get the bosses' attention, and keep them off your back. The WaPo seems to be a pretty intense place these days.
seasea
Yep. I let him know we're reading his science stories and hope the next one can be a kit too.
It's strange it's not on his bosses' radar because it certainly is known among his coworkers. He must have a new editor.
Like I said, I hope he is doing deep background on a big feature article. He's good at that. I called Fred Thompson's profile (2012 I think, but could be 2008) a good hatchet job as it stripped him of all mystique and showed him to be remembered as a mediocrity in his hometown. He dropped out of the Presidential race soon after that.
And he's also good at a multi-layer and multi-angle story with multiple sources like he did for the Deepwater Horizon stuff. I certainly hope he gets the opportunity on another such story this year.
Although I dislike this word intensely, for "closure" I'd like Joel to write a obituary for the Kit and Kaboodle. I believe we are done.
gmbka Agreed. I think a memorial BPH would be nice. But I won't be around much for the next couple weeks.
I'm busy through June 14. Will be finishing an accidental pottery pilgrimage that began with the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art north of Tokyo, got a follow-up at the Quartz Gallery in Whanganui, New Zealand, and will have a grand finale at the Leach Pottery, a 2-hour scenic bus ride from my cheap beach hotel on an upcoming trip. That's the end of extensive travels for now.
The spring weather pattern in Georgia and Florida is one that historically gives way to hurricanes, so I would not be surprised at a city-buster followed by Congressional refusal of assistance during the build-up to raising the national debt ceiling. Maybe a yellow fever epidemic, too. Trump wants to cut the CDC.
BTW, with the Post's circulation edging close to the NYT's, a rapidly growing staff, and an intense news environment, I expect Joel to have his hands full even if he's not on a long-form story or excavating some pile of leaked information. It's a remarkable time for the Post.
I would imagine the Post's current boom times result from Trump.
Jim, I presume? For Trump it's the law of unintended consequences :-) Ditto for Colbert, SNL and other TV shows enjoying higher ratings.
It followed rather closely the lockdown on comments after however many days.
David Leonhardt at the NYT notes that today is the last day to email comments on the Senate health care bill to a sort-of private email to which selected people were invited. Leonhardt would like everyone to join in: HealthReform@finance.senate.gov
Everything's being done in the dark.
Not much of an email for the Leonhardt effort, but better than nothing:
The Senate appears to be considering a mere sketch of a bill that would strip a large but undetermined number of Americans of their health insurance, leaving them to the mercies of price gouging by profit-driven hospitals, without even some kind of requirement that hospitals (and other providers) charge the uninsured rates comparable to Medicare or prevailing rates for insurers.
I would be much happier if Congress would retain and support the Affordable Care Act until such time as it can develop a genuinely better replacement with more people covered at lower cost to them and, hopefully, to the state and federal governments and, especially, to employers. The rapidly rising cost of health care in the US appears to be a menace to our economy’s competitiveness; other developed countries, including Canada, have big advantages with their much lower health costs.
Joel's latest collaboration is short, and a "developing story" on the Trump budget's huge cuts to disease prevention and medical research. I suspect there's lots more information to sort.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/05/22/trump-budget-seeks-huge-cuts-to-disease-prevention-and-medical-research-departments/?utm_term=.165bf68930bd
We still haven't seen anything about the National Science Foundation. Considering that the Republicans seem to think university charges for "overhead" on research are mere ripoffs, and the research itself probably fraudulent, I suspect the worst. I think I see earth observation satellites being shut down because they produce unwanted data, planetary probes because no one can get funding to interpret the data, oceanographic data gathering--much the same. And of course we don't need to know about diseases in remote, impoverished tropical countries. We can just close our border.
"Celebrities Obsessed With Their Cats" (antidote, because the world is so depressing this morning):
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/celebrities-obsessed-with-their-cats-w460890
Power-mad and money-mad folks really don't care if they could get a cut of the bigger pie, when they could have more of a smaller pie. Their actions are these of people who expect rigged elections in their favor.
Stat, a health news startup, has a smart assessment of Trump's decline from being articulate. It's not yet obviously dementia, more like normal aging. Except the elder George Bush kept his verbal acuity.
https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/23/donald-trump-speaking-style-interviews/
On bad days a friend of ours who is suffering from Alzheimer's cannot express himself at all. That is very hard to witness when you remember him as a fluent and bilingual speaker.
My father suffered from relatively mild dementia for many years, severe dementia for several years;. I suffered "normal" deterioration a decade or so before I should have, leading to early retirement. So far, no sign of dementia.
No. Lucky you, also because the early retirement lets you do all the things you like to do, such as traveling,reading, and gardening.
The early retirement worked out well in that my mother moved in; as she declined, my sister was able occasionally to come by for a day or two. I'm quite certain it was good for both of us. One oddity was going to Metropolitan Opera broadcasts at the movie theater. Mom, if anything, liked them better than I did. We'd gone to movies together for some time.
I think the travel will slow down pretty quickly.
Cardiovascular issues can lead to cognitive impairment. My grandma had multinfract dementia-- pretty much led to Alzheimer's.
Read the WaPo article I linked above about the glowing mice heads and the glymphatic system. Could be helpful in maintaining brain health ;).
It is only 2 and I am exhausted. Been up since before 5, I woke up early due to coughing.
I need some non-screen time soon, I think.
"Speaking More Than One Language Eases Stroke Recovery":
http://www.livescience.com/52860-bilingual-language-stroke-recovery.html
November 19, 2015 05:40pm ET
...The reason for the difference appears to be a feature of the brain called "cognitive reserve," in which a brain that has built a rich network of neural connections — highways that can can still carry the busy traffic of thoughts even if a few bridges are destroyed.
"People with more mental activities have more interconnected brains, which are able to deal better with potential damage," said Dr. Thomas Bak, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and a co-author of the study. "Language is just one of many ways of boosting the cognitive reserve," he added.
... The bilingual patients also performed better on poststroke tests that measured their abilities to pay attention to retrieve and organize information. They were less likely to develop dementia or a related condition called mild cognitive impairment.
"The advantage of bilingualism is that it makes people switch from one language to another, so while they inhibit one language, they have to activate another to communicate," said Alladi, who was the first author on the study.
This switching back and fourth — day to day, and sometimes minute to minute — seems to build more neural connections throughout the brain, Bak said. Bak and Alladi's earlier research showed that bilingualism may postpone the onset of dementia and improve concentration.
The results do not mean that the bilingual people in the study recovered and those who spoke one language didn't, Alladi stressed. The people in both groups had a range of cognitive outcomes, from complete recovery to lasting dementia...
HF, his vocabulary is as vulgar and coarse as his character. He is an embarrassment for the nation.
The WH budget would make us the greatest cut-throat nation in the world, that's something. Fortunately Congress wants to be reelected, so there is no way that this goes through.
The great reduction of Medicaid and other safety net programs seems to be very much part of the Republican congressional budget agenda, to avoid cutting Medicare and Social Security, while of course eliminating the horrible no-good Obamacare tax, the one imposed on wealthy Americans.
Instead of "wealthy Americans" it might be better to say "political donors"; there's a lot of overlap.
That verification app can be annoying. It asked me to select all pix with cars. Does that exclude those with only one car? Apparently not. I kept ignoring one with a truck but no cars, although apparently it was considered part of the set. Let's see what it is this time. Oh, and NP, yes that was me yesterday. I hadn't realized this other avenue exists.
That bombing attacked a group with a large proportion of teenage girls! Reminds me of Anne Frank and Audrey Hepburn, both about the same age, who spent the war in Holland. (Hepburn had been in England, but her mom thought they would be safer from the Nazis back in Holland, which turned out to be a big mistake, but at least they survived, unlike some of their family and Anne Frank.) They lived in the middle of a war, and the bombers want today's kids to experience that. If there's any cohort that would not otherwise live that way, it's teenage girls. Some teenage boys might think that would be neat(?).
Here's the link to the text of the Manchester poem:
http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/23/emotional-moment-as-poem-for-manchester-is-read-at-vigil-for-terror-attack-victims-6657394/
Videos of poet Tony Walsh reading it are also online.
Dave, I used that link to the Senate Health Reform group's e-mail to give them a piece of my mind, and I hope they have a good appetite for it! I am very much obliged to you for providing it.
Thank David Leonhardt. I'm sure some Senate staffers are cursing him.
I'd emailed a friend in northern England yesterday re the Manchester bombing, and received the following response from her overnight. In relevant part (I've deleted identifying info):
...It was a senseless and cruel attack. The news tells us that there might be another one imminently, but let's hope it doesn't happen. It is weird to think that this happened in the city next door. Life goes on, however, and it needs to be back to normal so that the people who did this do not get a win out of all this cruelty.
I replied just now commenting that the response there reminds me so much of the one following the Boston Marathon bombing. Let's hope any accomplices are apprehended before they can perpetrate further violence.
"The Onion Leaks a Trove of Trump Docs":
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-onion-leaks-a-trove-of-trump-docs
...More than a dozen writers and eight graphics editors have been assembling that something over the past four months: seven hundred pages of Trump-related documents that have been “leaked” to the Onion. The first batch was revealed at noon on Monday on the Onion’s Facebook page, as well as on a special Web site. “Document dumps,” [Cole Bolton, the Onion’s editor-in-chief] said, “are the vogue way to talk about major breaking news in the world, whether it’s WikiLeaks or the Panama Papers. Leaks seemed like the perfect means to get at Trump and his inner circle, as well as his decision-making”...
The pope's title is Pontifex Maximus, the supreme bridge builder, therefore the title for a supreme wall builder should be Murifex Maximus. Just saying, at the occasion of the pope visit.
1. "'Times' Book Review Editor Shares Her Love Of Reading In 'My Life With Bob'":
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/23/529676036/times-book-review-editor-shares-her-love-of-reading-in-my-life-with-bob (transcript now online)
Pamela Paul of The New York Times talks about her own new book, which chronicles every book she's read since she was 17 years old. Even if a work isn't great, she refuses to brush it aside cavalierly...
2. How about Cacafex Maximus ? (Yeah, I looked it up and it's actually "cacator").
ACLU Romero gave a TED talk seemingly on Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Allegory of Good and Bad Government from the 14th century.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/right-now-were-living-allegory-bad-government-and-we-have-obligation-resist-it?emsrc=Nat_Appeal_AutologinEnabled&emissue=freespeech&emtype=oth&ms=eml_170524_freespeech_ADRTEDTalk&__af=query_string_encrypted
Full transcript and audio now available online. "Why Interpreters Have A Hard Time Translating Trump":
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/24/528809043/why-interpreters-have-a-hard-time-translating-trump
What are the challenges of interpreting President Trump in real time for a foreign audience? Siavash Ardalan has done so many times as a BBC's Persian service host, and he shares some of his tricks.
For example:
TRUMP: He's a showboat. He's a grandstander.
ARDALAN: Literally, it - well, you could say attention-seeker. Then if you - see, that's another problem because if you say attention-seeker, then that wouldn't sound like Trump, would it? That's not what he's saying. He's using a completely different term. So you have to use that street term as well. You try to look at that context and then translate it accordingly.
The evidence of Russian electoral interference and collusion with the Trump campaign keeps coming in. WaPo has a story on Rssian intelligene providing fake e-mails re DNC implicating Lynch in a cover-up. FBI concluded they were fake, but this may be why Comey, not Lynch, announced the investigation was closed.
NY Times has a story on Russian officals discussing how to use Trump's advisors to influence Trump.
Bloomberg is reporting that House Financial Services Committee members are demanding disclosure from Deutsche Bank on Russian money laundering and connections to Trump. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-24/deutsche-bank-asked-for-documents-on-trump-loans-russian-trades
Fortunately as they do business in the state of New York, New York may well also demand the same information as part of their probes into Manafort, etc. Their AG has already joined with 15 other state AGs to sue Trump for playing silly buggers wit Obamacare subsidies.
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/attorneys-general-schneiderman-becerra-trumps-delay-continued-threats-already-harming
A op-Ed from Bloomberg pleads to keep focus on proving whether there was collusion, rather than on the cover-up. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-23/don-t-let-the-original-trump-russia-question-fade
My thoughts on that: the cover-up is worthy of impeachment (obstruction of justice) but impeachment is unlikely to prevent further criminal and counterintelligence investigation-- even if he is pardoned, there are gonna be state charges and more charges held in reserve, and you can't pardon somebody for charges yet to come.
But it is important we DO know for once and all what happened, as a nation.
Shouldn't Drumpf be:
Excrementum Maximus
That sounds ostentatious, even as an insult to Drumpf.
The point of potential impeachment is whether it's safe to allow this guy to continue to be President, looking to the future. Criminal charges look to things that already happened, looking to the past.
Jim, you need to read the Constitution again. It's not about vague safety, it's about high crimes, treason, bribery, and corruption. The enumerated crimes are reason not to leave an official in office (since such behavior has violated his oath of office and is unsafe.)
By the way, I found this Consent Order which summarizes the Russian mirror trading issue Deutsche Bank was involved in, should anybody want that background. http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/ea/ea170130.pdf
There's no naming of the individuals who were actually involved, because this statement puts the onus on Deutsche Bank to have monitored its internal activities more thoroughly and also points out past regulatory violations. Essentially, the Russians laundered over 10 billion dollars in rubles to dollars by this method through a single NY bank alone.
They're now following the money. Manafort and others. Trump's bankrupt casino was fined for failure to follow money-laundering regulations re Mother Jones April 24. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/trump-financial-ties-russia-money-laundering-banks-oligarchs-manafort
Bharara's firing led to a suspiciously quick settlement with a Russian businessman accused of money laundering. http://nypost.com/2017/05/13/feds-settle-money-laundering-suit-against-russian-businessman/
Schneidermann, NY AG interviewed vows to help check and balance Congress if necessary with the power of the states. He is still investigating the Trump foundation (Thanks, David Fahrenthold) http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/eric-schneiderman-on-keeping-trump-in-check.html
The goal is to make it very, very difficult for the GOP to continue to prop Trump up-- and also Pence, because he definitely knew about Flynn.
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/15/528486988/investigators-looking-into-trump-campaigns-russia-ties-follow-the-money
I'm finally a bit hopeful, but we must fight Congress anyway.
The Brits do not like the intelligence leaks of details of their terrorism investigations.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/24/theresa-may-to-tackle-donald-trump-over-manchester-bombing-evidence
I wonder if it was US Intelligence. Just saying; by this point NY Times also has sources in Europe. This may be a way for May to have the moral justification lecture Trump on secret-keeping on everybody's behalf, without blaming him directly.
Unfortunately, Trump does not need any more pretexts to crack down on our IC when they are investigating his ties.
News is Just.So.Depressing.
"Wave Walk" sculptures in NYC:
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/la-mer-wave-walk-art-installation-brings-celebrity-designed-sculptures-to-all-five-boroughs-052317
Trump in Brussels: The Germans are bad. The EU representatives were perplexed that the American delegation did not know how trade within the EU works and the hoped for unity of Nato did not materialize. Trump was Trump and in a bad mood. Perhaps somebody informed him of the "HUGE" anti-Trump demonstration that was taking place. He obviously felt much more comfortable in Saudi Arabia, where demonstrations are not allowed.
And in the meantime Obama had a jubilant reception in Berlin. You tube does not have the video yet, but here is the German version.
http://www.spiegel.de/video/angela-merkel-und-barack-obama-auf-dem-kirchentag-video-1769530.html
The Debt Limit is closing in faster than expected. It seems tax receipts are down, perhaps in part because wealthy payers are expecting cuts in tax rates with Obamacare repeal, so they're holding off on selling securities . . .
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/05/24/trump-administration-warns-tax-receipts-are-coming-in-slowly-government-could-run-out-of-cash-sooner-than-expected/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.1d22c3303d60#comments
Congress and the Trump Administration might reach next January with no significant legislative accomplishments at all, except raising the debt limit. Speaker Ryan has promised that the US will continue to pay its bills.
And here Trump shows how to get ahead:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/25/politics/trump-pushes-prime-minister-nato-summit/
Headline: "Trump and Obama are having very different trips to Europe"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/25/trump-and-obama-are-having-very-different-trips-to-europe/
*snork*
"Barack Obama received a hero’s welcome when he reunited with Angela Merkel for the first time since leaving office, calling on the audience to engage in democracy and telling the tens of thousands in Berlin: “We can’t hide behind a wall.”
. . . members of the audience held up banners saying: “Can we keep you,” “We miss you,” and “Welcome back, Mr President”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/25/barack-obama-draws-crowd-of-tens-of-thousands-in-berlin
Oh, boy! I hope Bigly sees the headlines!
Calypso, this article makes me nostalgic all over again. What seems to be ages ago we used to have a president who was not only articulate, but also had something meaningful to say. The Germans said they want him back, I think we do, too.
Donald Trump = The Ugly American
It wasn't bad enough that he shoved Montenegro's PM out of the way, but the smug expression on his face after he planted himself in the front. Oh man, you don't know how bigly I want to wipe that smirk of Trump's face...
For some mental health relief, "Then-and-now pictures from Retro Baltimore":
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/retro-baltimore/bal-nowandthen-pictures-from-retro-baltimore-photogallery.html
SCC: ...wipe that smirk OFF his face. (Actually, "wipe" isn't quite the word I have in mind).
Ohio Gov. Kasich came across as a decent, competent human. He was a bit late to arrive at the Book Center. Weather had been iffy on the way.
The Trump budget cuts spending on earthquake early warning systems (earthquake waves travel more slowly than modern communications, so earthquake warnings sent to cell phones and other devices can arrive seconds or even minutes ahead of the shaking). Tsunami warning equipment is also out, as are automated weather stations intended to spot severe weather for tornado warnings. Same for improved weather forecasts. European weather models are now vastly better than ours.
Fantastic close-up photo of a puffin in this book review. The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyager by Adam Nicolson - review:
http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/the-seabird-s-cry-the-lives-and-loves-of-puffins-gannets-and-other-ocean-voyagers-by-adam-nicolson-a3549106.html
I wish everybody a happy cook-out weekend. This holiday reminds me of the German national holiday of old, which was on 17 June. The only people who worked on this day were the politicians because they had to give all those patriotic speeches, and the parliamentarians who had to listen to them in person. The rest of the nation went on trips, hiking, biking, swimming and picnicking. :-)
John Cassidy at the New Yorker explains why Republicans so greatly detest Medicaid. It's a cheap, effective prototype for what could pretty easily turn into a much larger single-payer system.
I suppose that next year, we'll see nursing homes, with their Medicaid funds gone, closing down and leaving their residents with nowhere to go.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-republicans-war-on-medicaid?mbid=nl_170526_daily&CNDID=38981442&spMailingID=11119605&spUserID=MTMzMTg0NTUwMTkyS0&spJobID=1162292124&spReportId=MTE2MjI5MjEyNAS2
Président Macron was warned of Trump's handshakes.
Meanwhile, University Press of Florida is publishing an English translation of a book on real zombies in Haiti by a professor at Univesité Paris Descartes. Excuses for a second pilgrimage to Paris are piling up.
"Russian ambassador told Moscow that Kushner wanted secret channel with Kremlin":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-ambassador-told-moscow-that-kushner-wanted-secret-communications-channel-with-kremlin/2017/05/26/520a14b4-422d-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html
Ultimately: Ivanka divorces Jared, and reconverts? Jared throws Donald under the bus by providing evidence?
I wonder how the supermarket tabloids can survive. They can't possibly keep up with reality.
_____________
Dr. Leatherman of Florida International University (Miami's public university) released his top 10 beach list for this year. Siesta Beach in Sarasota comes in #1. I missed the beach itself, but the community, residential and lush with greenery, is a far pleasanter sight than most of the Atlantic coast beaches, my town excepted. But while we have a nice town, the beach itself is lousy and is not fixable, at least not without vast quantities of sand that would overwhelm an important system of rock and worm reefs.
Leatherman also rewarded a beach with National Park Service lifeguards on Ocracoke Island, Outer Banks. Frisco Beach to its east would no doubt be a competitor, but it lacks lifeguards.
Leatherman's a fine academic specimen who has done a lot of work to encourage beach communities to have lifeguard programs.
_________
Novelist Denis Johnson has died, age 67.
Our high school was an hour from Bradenton. For Senior Skip Day we went and spent the day at Siesta Beach. Little did we know it was the best beach in the world.
I love the calm Gulf beaches so much more than the Atlantic coast.
Zbigniew Brzezinski died, age 89.
The LA Times has a tourist alert: Idaho's Shoshone Falls is carrying a vast runoff, making for a big spectacle. Eveyone's coming to look.
More tourist alert: Adrian Higgins provides Post coverage of Longwood's grand opening for the rebuilt fountain garden. He also mentions that the Longwood property is about 1,000 acres. Louis XIV would be impressed. Maybe envious.
The tabloids may report real news for a change. They sometimes do that-- they broke the story of John Edwards' affair.
I am nauseated at the very thought of Medicaid being cut that deeply. I feel it is simply evil, evil. I think we are going to break that paradigm though.
By the way, this is a long but very good read on a Pakistan-American woman who has taken down terrorists
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/15/taking-down-terrorists-in-court
I've not been to Idaho but I hear the wild parts are beautiful. The pictures of Shoshone Falls are gorgeous, and the recent ones are amazing.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/outdoors/playing-outdoors/article151084982.html
I was driving in Minnesota in the very early summer after a snow-heavy winter and a wet spring, and I could always tell when I was getting near a river -- I could hear the thundering water, and when I drove over the bridge, it would be shaking. The water would be creamy with foam and throwing spume in the air, and the foaming water was braiding and rebraiding as it tore down through the inadequate channel it had carved in the rocks. It was magnificent -- and terrifying.
Calypso, very nice writing about Minnesota.
Quick note from DelFest. It's been a bit rainy but actually quite pleasant. Lovely week so far, but the news of Gregg Allman's passing has hit hard. There were several tributes last night, I expect more today.
This number in from Chris Thiele. He did it here with some piker named Bela Fleck. Comey's Waltz (written from the ex-directors point of view):
https://youtu.be/ANlTXsEZRfY
The WH published photos of Trump abroad and among them is a photo of the spouses of the heads of states. On this photo all the persons where identified, with the exception of the husband of the Luxembourg (male) prime minister. The responses to this omission were not friendly, and after nine hours the husband was identified by name, but not by relationship. The WH is indeed mentally closer to the Arab states than the western world.
On NPR this AM. To the best of my knowledge, alas, the only Black-composed opera I've ever seen is Scott Joplin's Treemonisha. "A New Orleans Company Shines A Light On Opera's Diverse History":
http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/05/28/530085480/a-new-orleans-company-shines-a-light-on-operas-diverse-history
What gets defined as opera (by being on the big-league international circuit) is only a biased sampling of European and European-influenced musical theater. Not that I want to excessively knock Mozart and his successors (albeit the grand opera house in Paris is in part a monument to a whole flock of composers who have since sunk into obscurity or outright disdain).
Porgy & Bess remains a marginal work. A musical transgressing into operatic terrain, cultural appropriation, something for everyone not to like.
____________________
Proposed cuts in biosecurity focus on international programs. The Administration must think that if there's an epidemic somewhere else in the world, we can simply seal the border. And let all those foreigners look after their own diseases.
Re biosecurity, "S. Korea OKs civilian contact with North Korea over malaria":
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/korea-oks-civilian-contact-north-korea-malaria-47653953
...The presence of malaria in North Korea's southern regions also poses a health problem for South Koreans as malaria-carrying mosquitoes fly southward across the countries' heavily fortified border...
So much for big, beautiful walls.
Happy Memorial day! Remember these who have died and remember that we are still alive and have some freedom, at least for today.
Rainy here, but will find something to do.
"DHS considers banning carry-on laptops on all foreign flights" by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY:
http://www.khou.com/news/nation-now/dhs-considers-banning-carry-on-laptops-on-all-foreign-flights-1/443868228
...After reports the U.S. would expand the laptop ban to Europe, the British Airline Pilots’ Association said May 15 that the risk would be greater with electronics in cargo than in the cabin.
“Given the risk of fire from these devices when they are damaged or they short-circuit, an incident in the cabin would be spotted earlier and this would enable the crew to react quickly before any fire becomes uncontainable,” said Steve Landells, a flight-safety specialist for British pilots. “If these devices are kept in the hold, the risk is that if a fire occurs the results can be catastrophic”...
"Fix" Philip Bump points out that Trump contradicts himself when he says a flood of fake leaks are coming out of the Executive Branch, yet simultaneously accuses the MSM of inventing fake news leakers:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/05/29/the-fake-news-comes-from-within-the-white-house/?utm_term=.53ccdea56301
Here's a modest proposal: Why doesn't Trump have everyone at the White House waterboarded in order to identify the (alleged) leakers? After all, during his campaign he repeatedly and loudly proclaimed its effectiveness in rooting out the truth. And if it doesn't work, he can try more draconian tortures, I mean enhanced interrogation methods, right?
I haven't fixed this, but it looks interesting. (It's from a turn-of-the-century cookbook entitled, "The International JEWISH COOK BOOK.")
RUSSIAN FRUIT SALAD
Peel and pit some peaches, cut in slices and add as much sliced pineapple, some apricots, strawberries and raspberries, put these in a dish. Prepare a syrup of juice of two lemons, two oranges, one cup of water and one pound of sugar (2 cups), a half teaspoon of powdered cinnamon, grated rind of lemon, add one cup red wine and a half glass of Madeira, arrak or rum. Boil this syrup for five minutes, then pour over the fruit, tossing the fruit from time to time until cool. Place on ice and serve cold.
Looks like you could eat the salad for dessert, and drink the leftover dressing as a digestif.
Here's a short article on the 10-part Ken Burns program on Vietnam to be broadcast on PBS in September:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/filmmaker-ken-burns-on-the-torment-of-the-vietnam-war/2017/05/28/148e7848-43ca-11e7-98cd-af64b4fe2dfc_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_burns-7p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ad5332bdda7d
pj, how are you doing these days?
RIP sportswriter Frank Deford, longtime commentator on NPR Morning Edition on Wednesdays. NPR just reran this tribute by Tom Goldman to him that had aired a couple days after Deford's retirement early this month.
"Frank Deford: A Career Spent Bringing 'Something New' To Sports":
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/05/526879714/frank-deford-a-career-spent-bringing-something-new-to-sports
Cuba hasn't gotten rid of screw worms, whose larvae eat living flesh. They attack livestock, not humans, but are immensely destructive. The US drove them to extinction by releasing huge numbers of sterile male flies. Last year, they reappeared in the Florida Keys, feeding on the endangered Key deer. The cost of containment and re-extermination was quite high, including quarantine stations on the way to the mainland.
Frank Deford commented on sports, but nearly everything he poked into had some wider relevance. He commanded attention.
The surfing world lost John Severson. The New York Times has a fine obit. He was in his 80s and had lived an extraordinary life, founding Surfer magazine, which demanded that the sport be taken seriously. He rescued surfing from Gidget, as the obit points out. He went on to do considerably more. He was a model citizen.
Here's a plethora of tweets by Deford's sportswriting colleagues, including boodle favorite Charlie Pierce and a number of Posties:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/05/29/sportswriters-share-their-favorite-frank-deford-stories
I appear to be doing well, Calpyso. At the end of last month, they started a new (to me) drug that required a three day hospital stay. While I was there, they also gave me another cardioversion. They were all pleased with what they saw. A week ago, I had a followup EKG and it showed I was in normal rhythm! So the plan is that I will continue with my current medications for six months and they will see how I am. If all goes well, they will start weaning me from my drugs. That would be lovely!
I was in the same cardio unit at the hospital where my dad was for most of the last six weeks or so of his life. It was strange walking around the unit and saying to myself "Dad was in that room. And that room. And that room over there." Even stranger, he was in the same room that I was in for a day or so, as I recall. That was weird.
Good to hear from you, pj, and to read the ♥ening news.
My dad died in the same hospital as my mother, and it was unsettling to be there when he was dying, too.
pj's cardioversion and whatnot sounds really good. Mine was a failure.
That was my third cardioversion, Dave! Plus an ablation. My insurance company has shelled out a bunch of money in the past year. This whole thing started a year ago this weekend.
My atrial fibrillation has turned out to be stable and pretty trivial--no limits on exercise. The warfarin is a nuisance. Your outcome looks outstanding. I'm getting my regular checkup with the cardiologist on Wednesday. I expect to hear about his trip to Cuba.
That one I most certainly will not watch because I don't want to go through the emotional turmoil all over again. I teared up just reading about it.
My brother and sister-in-law went to Cuba last month, Dave. It was on a National Geographic photography trip. They had a great time, except for coming down with bronchitis. I hope your cardiologist enjoyed his trip and doesn't get respiratory diseases!
Do you mean the Vietnam program, gmbka?
gmbka, I'm not sure that we're up to watching it either. It will always be too painful. Will wait until closer to the airing to decide.
I strongly recommend tonite's Ian Masters show. It's on Pacifica (kpfk.org) now, or will be on Ian Masters' web site at about 930 pm EDT.
ianmasters.com, which gets redirected to https://fdmedia.org/
These are the guests:
Trump financial activities that may be criminal, not just politically unwise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_S._Henry
Trump foreign policy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Morris_(American_writer)
How Google, Verizon, Netflix have captured FCC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_H._Else
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