1/ The wonderful Frank Rich telling us to get ready for the "Comey Show" this week....
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today: Comey gets ready to testify before the Senate, Trump pulls out of Paris, and Sean Hannity finds a substitute host.
Former FBI director James Comey is scheduled to testify before a public Senate hearing next week, where he will reportedly speak about President Trump’s attempts to end the Russia investigation. How damning do you expect his testimony to be?Donald Trump may be ignorant about virtually every topic that reaches the desk of an American president, but there is one area of expertise where even his foes concede his mastery: show business. It’s a measure of how fast even that skill set is eroding under pressure that he doesn’t recognize he’s now starring in a gripping espionage thriller he cannot control. Comey’s testimony, besides being quite damning, will step up the narrative pace. He is a seasoned, unflappable performer before Congressional panels. He has a story to tell featuring Russian spymasters and moles, not to mention possible obstruction of justice in the Oval Office. Americans love the Bourne movies. They love House of Cards. They love 007.
2/ John Oliver with a reminder our media needs to reinforce the idea that acts of terrorism makes everyone frightened......which is exactly what our gub'mint wants you to be because people who are scared are much easier to manipulate, and unfortunately Americans are really a frightened people....
So good for you Mr. Oliver! Tell the Trumps and the media how Brits really feel about the terror attacks....two very good minutes....
John Oliver was not a fan of the American media’s use of strange verbiage during their coverage of the terror attack in London on Saturday night.
During Sunday night’s episode of “Last Week Tonight”, the British comedian showed a supercut of CNN and Fox News repeatedly saying that Britain was “reeling” and “under siege” after the attack. In an effort to clarify how Brits are feeling, Oliver stressed that “in no way is Britain ‘under siege.’”
“Is it upset? Yes. Is it pissed off? Oh, you fxxking bet it’s pissed off,” he said. “But to say it’s ‘under siege’ and that its people are ‘reeling’ is to imply that it’s somehow weak enough to be brought to its knees by three monumental assholes. And that, as an idea, is insulting.”
3/ I am becoming a fan of Andrew Sullivan.....he really goes under the surface of stories.......this week he looks at 1/ can the West's alliances survive Trump....2/ why Theresa May is imploding and 3/ political correctness extremism on college campuses...
Longish, but very good....
The gnawingly persistent question in the Trump years so far is a relatively simple one: Is this reparable? By which I mean: Can Trump’s admixture of malevolence, corruption, and incompetence be survived without permanent damage? Is this a minor heart attack from which this democracy and the world can soon recover … or is it a major one whose consequences are, in some respects, permanent?
The truth is: We don’t yet know (although Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord is beyond depressing). Can we at some point reconstruct a common set of facts after such a shameless torrent of lies and fantasies from the very top? Can some minimal level of decency and dignity be returned to the White House and to our public discourse?
4/ And speaking of Theresa May, here is a one minute ad from the UK....titled Tory [Conservative] Britain 2030......wow....
5/ A scene from the NATO Summit.....every other head of state walked....Trump went in a golf cart....
6/ Bill Maher with a "New Rules" telling the Democrats to stop being losers.....amen to that.....about five minutes.....
Maher began his final New Rules commentary this week by talking about the “bodyslamming” GOP Senate candidate, Gregg Gianforte winning by seven points. Gianforte’s violence wasn’t really what Maher was commenting on, it was the fact that despite this, it was another GOP win. Maher reminded Democrats about their recent track record in elections. The hundreds of seats lost, only 16 governorships and no control of any chamber of any state legislature in the South.
Some might comment on the amount of early voting in Montana to retort Maher or that they only won by seven points when Trump won the state by 20 points. To Maher, and to many others — it doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that it is just another loss.
Democrats need to win, according to Maher — not just “beat the spread.”
7/ Remember we said early on in Trump's Presidency "beware the bright shiny objects - they're a distraction".....well that's coming true. While the media obsesses of the scandals and incompetence the rest of the sorry crew are dismantling everything that makes this country function.....oh boy....
Excellent article from Sam Stein....
On the morning of May 12, Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed that he had instructed federal prosecutors to begin pursuing lengthier prison sentences for drug offenders.
It was a draconian change in approach that flew in the face of a growing bipartisan agreement on sentencing reform. “He’s completely discarded what has been an emerging consensus about how best to keep the country safe,” said Matthew Miller, a former Department of Justice spokesman. “[O]ne of the most extreme voices in the country on criminal justice policy just happened to be put into the most important job for shaping its future.”
The move was then largely buried under an avalanche of Donald Trump-related news.
8/ This is a skit from SNL.....a little silly, but still funny.....five reasonably good minutes with Melissa McCarthy....poor dear!
9/ Oh Lordy.....
10/ Matt Taibbi on the way the Pharmaceutical industry owns Congress.....most interesting article and shows the corruption implicit in our system - everyone gets rich, and you get screwed.
What Taibbi is talking about is letting pharmacies and hospitals import drugs from abroad, but you as an individual can beat the bastards if you have the time. We use "Canada Drugs" for anything we need - they need a prescription and your meds arrive in the mail.....it takes up to two weeks to get the package, but it's at least 40% cheaper than CVS etc and often more. EpiPens are $130 from Canada Drugs.....they're $600 retail here.
Anyway, a good article....
Amidst all the angst and acrimony of last year's trench-warfare presidential campaign, there was one area in which the two major-party candidates purported to agree. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump favored allowing the importation of cheap drugs from Canada.
Drug reimportation would be a no-brainer policy move if actual human beings ran our government. Disgust with high prescription drug prices is nearly universal – 77 percent saydrug prices are "unreasonable" – and 71 percent of respondents favor allowing the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada.
The entire pharmaceutical industry is floated by a protectionist racket. Drugs that are in fact very cheap to make are kept artificially expensive – we have drugs that cost $1,000 a pill here in America that sell for $4 in India, for instance.
11/ If anyone ever asks me my favorite band it's always "Above and Beyond".....yes they play electronic mostly, but here is a rare live session with a full orchestra of "Sun and Moon......beautifully done......
This is the music video of the same song.......completely different but still compelling....
12/ There have long been myths that there is a secret cabal of wealthy and powerful men and institutions that control everything, but this seemed to be the work of unhinged conspiracy theorists.....after all would this group allow a deranged narcissist like Trump to be President?
But as this article from a fairly lefty site says maybe they don't care.....
THE DEEP STATE INSTITUTIONS THAT CONTROL AMERICA – THEY DON’T CARE WHO YOU VOTE FOR
The Deep State refers to a coordinated effort by career government employees and others to influence state policy without regard for democratically elected leadership.
“Democracy is popular because of the illusion of choice and participation it provides, but when you live in a society in which most people’s knowledge of the world extends as far as sports, sitcoms, reality shows, and celebrity gossip, democracy becomes a very dangerous idea. Until people are properly educated and informed, instead of indoctrinated to be ignorant mindless consumers, democracy is nothing more than a clever tool used by the ruling class to subjugate the rest of of us.”
– Gavin Nascimento
When Eisenhower coined the term “Military Industrial Complex,” his main concern was the potential for the “disastrous rise of misplaced power.” After him, John F Kennedy (JFK) warned the citizenry that we are living in “a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.”
13/ John Oliver with 19 minutes examining the Paris Accord and climate change in general.....he looks at Trumps speech and rips it into tiny pieces of lies and misdirection.....
This should be mandatory viewing for all Republicans.....wistful thought....
Late-night comedian John Oliver broke down President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and realized it makes perfect sense because the title is so “off-brand” for the president that it might as well have been called the “Globalist cuck surrender” or a “light jog.”
On Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver made humor of the situation but expressed that Trump’s decision was deeply concerning and that the “serious danger may actually be more imminent than you think” if proper action is not taken to prevent the planet from heating up two degrees Celsius.
One of Trump’s reasons for backing out of the agreement was that he claimed the pact put the U.S. at an economic disadvantage, but Oliver pointed out that plenty of major companies were actually encouraging the president to stick to the global accord. Oliver called Trump’s arguments “wildly misleading” and debunked the president’s theory that the agreement doesn’t allow the U.S. to shut down coal-fired power plants by pointing out that the agreement doesn’t even “contain the world coal.”
14/ An sorrowful examination of America as a nation and how perhaps we have got what we deserved, an image of our society.....
A powerful piece and excellent writing from Tom Engelhardt....
(Credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch.
He’s huge. Outsized. He fills the news hole at any moment of any day. His over-tanned face glows unceasingly in living rooms across America. Never has a president been quite so big. So absolutely monstrous. Or quite so small.
He’s our Little Big Man.
I know, I know . . . he induces panic, fear, anxiety, insomnia. Shrinks in liberal America will tell you that, since November 2016, their patients are more heavily medicated and in worse shape. He’s a nightmare, a unique monster. It’s been almost two years since he first entered the presidential race and in all that time I doubt there’s been a moment when the cameras haven’t been trained on him, when he wasn’t “breaking news.” (By May 2016, he had already reportedly received the equivalent in “earned media” of nearly $3 billion in free advertising.) He and his endless controversial statements, flubs, tweets, lies, insults, boasts, tales from outer space, and over-the-moon adjectives are covered daily the way, once upon a time, only Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination was.
Think of him as the end of the world as we, or maybe anyone, including Vladimir Putin, knew it.
And to finish, some VERY rude and definitely non-PC British jokes....but hilarious.....especially the Catholic one....
Got invited to a party and was told to dress to kill.
Apparently a turban, beard and a backpack wasn't what they had in mind.
After a night of drink, drugs and wild sex, Jim woke up to find
himself next to a really ugly woman.
That's when he realized he had made it home safely.
Seven wheelchair athletes have been banned from the Paralympics after
they tested positive for WD40.
ITS A BOY" I shouted "A BOY, I DON'T BELIEVE IT, ITS A BOY".
Seven wheelchair athletes have been banned from the Paralympics after
they tested positive for WD40.
ITS A BOY" I shouted "A BOY, I DON'T BELIEVE IT, ITS A BOY".
And with tears streaming down my face I swore I'd never visit another Thai
Brothel!
A boy asks his granny, 'Have you seen my pills, they were labeled
LSD?'
Brothel!
A boy asks his granny, 'Have you seen my pills, they were labeled
LSD?'
Granny replies, f**k the pills, have you seen the dragons in the
kitchen?
Wife gets naked and asks hubby, 'What turns you on more, my pretty
face or my sexy body?'
kitchen?
Wife gets naked and asks hubby, 'What turns you on more, my pretty
face or my sexy body?'
Hubby looks her up and down and replies, 'Your
sense of humor!
The wife's back on the warpath again. She was up for making a sex
movie last night, and all I did was suggest we should hold auditions
for her part.
I've accidentally swallowed some Scrabble tiles. My next crap could
spell disaster.
My sister-in-law sat on my glasses and broke them. It was my own
fault. I should have taken them off.
I spent a couple of hours defrosting the fridge last night, or
"foreplay" as she likes to call it.
After both suffering from depression for a while, me and the wife were
going to commit suicide yesterday.
sense of humor!
The wife's back on the warpath again. She was up for making a sex
movie last night, and all I did was suggest we should hold auditions
for her part.
I've accidentally swallowed some Scrabble tiles. My next crap could
spell disaster.
My sister-in-law sat on my glasses and broke them. It was my own
fault. I should have taken them off.
I spent a couple of hours defrosting the fridge last night, or
"foreplay" as she likes to call it.
After both suffering from depression for a while, me and the wife were
going to commit suicide yesterday.
But strangely enough, once she killed herself, I started to feel a lot better.
So I thought, "Screw it, soldier on!"
I woke up this morning at 8, and could sense something was wrong. I
got downstairs and found the wife face down on the kitchen floor, not
breathing!
I woke up this morning at 8, and could sense something was wrong. I
got downstairs and found the wife face down on the kitchen floor, not
breathing!
I panicked. I didn't know what to do.
Then I remembered McDonald's serves breakfast until11:30.
Bought the missus a hamster skin coat last week.
Bought the missus a hamster skin coat last week.
Took her to the fair last night, and it took me 3 hours to get her off the Ferris wheel.
The other night, my wife asked me how many women I'd slept with.
The other night, my wife asked me how many women I'd slept with.
I told her, "Only you. All the others kept me awake all night!"
My missus packed my bags, and as I walked out the front door, she
screamed, "I wish you a slow and painful death, you bastard!"
"Oh," I replied, "so now you want me to stay!"
A Catholic boy in confession says, "Bless me Father, I have sinned, I
masturbated while thinking about my sister."
"That's a disgrace," said the priest," especially when you have two
gorgeous brothers."
A government survey has shown that 91% of illegal immigrants come to
this country so that they can see their own doctor.
I've just installed strobe lights in the bedroom.
It makes the wife look like she's moving during sex.
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