1/. Matt Taibbi on what the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr. really wanted.....he gives us the backstory......most insightful....
When I first read the explosive New York Times story about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with "Kremlin-linked lawyer" Natalia Veselnitskaya, I had multiple reactions.
The first was amazement at Junior's sheer stupidity (responding affirmatively to "If you would like to participate in our country's state-sponsored effort to help your father's campaign, please respond 'yes' in writing here" will go down as an unsurpassable moment in unsafe political sex). The second was confusion, and the third was déjà vu.
I never met Veselnitskaya, but just months ago I did cross paths with one of her colleagues. Like Veselnitskaya, this person had been lobbying on behalf of a Russian-directed company called Prevezon to overturn the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law which sanctions Russia for human rights abuses.
2/. Andrew Sullivan with another great column in New York Magazine.....this week Don Jr., Brexit and Cannibis....
My mind keeps traveling back to that moment in the second presidential debate when both candidates were asked what they admired about each other. I have to say, sitting at home, the question stumped me. I guess in a pinch I could say I admired Clinton’s tenacity, doggedness, and ambition. They’re all good qualities in a politician. But Trump? Racked my brain. Has he done a single redeeming thing in his entire life? None that I could find in any biographies or news reports. Clinton’s answer — that she admired his kids — was a good try, but also manifestly untrue. Trump’s kids seem to me to have close to no moral compass, are utterly absorbed into the family cult, and follow the same truth-churning, money-grubbing, corner-cutting, ethics-free recklessness of their father. They’re a walking argument for a hike in the estate tax.
Which brings me to Don Jr.
3/. Stephen Colbert pokes fun at Kellyanne Conway.....very amusing, about three minutes....
Kellyanne Conway isn’t the only one who can have “fun with words.”
On Thursday’s broadcast of the “Late Show,” host Stephen Colbert mocked the senior White House adviser’s use of a visual aid while trying to spin the Donald Trump Jr.-Russia affair on Fox News.
“Fun! I wanna try,” joked Colbert, who then proceeded to use his own sheets of paper to report on the latest developments.
4/. This story is so true - nothing is going to happen to Trump unless Fox News turns on him.....
KNOXVILLE, Iowa — President Trump’s administration is in crisis, consumed by fears of what Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia’s meddling in the election, might find. Everyone’s lawyering up — even the lawyers have lawyers.
But here in rural Iowa you might never hear about any of that. What I do hear from my conservative friends — most still ardent Trump supporters — is a collective yawn at the Washington maelstrom. Few care about his tweets — even about Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough and the CNN body slam. The whacking of James Comey? About time. President Obama’s appointee anyway. Mr. Trump’s asking if Mr. Comey could drop the Michael Flynn investigation? It was a simple question, not obstruction of justice. The Comey testimony? Vindication for Mr. Trump! Mr. Comey is a leaker, he lied under oath, and he’s going down. He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t serve prison time.
No, the big stunner in that testimony was Mr. Comey’s statement about former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton — that’s where the real obstruction of justice lies.
5/. And this is what Fox News has done to 40% of Americans....changed their culture....
The revelation that Donald Trump’s son, son-in-law and campaign manager met with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer promising information that would “incriminate” Hillary Clinton was a true bombshell in an era when we have become almost inured to them. Here was proof that members of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign had, at the very least, been eager to collude with Russia to influence the 2016 election.
No one could gainsay the facts: Mr. Trump’s own son published them on Twitter.
As recently as five or 10 years ago, every major news outlet would have treated this set of facts as front-page news and a dire threat to Mr. Trump’s presidency. The conservative press and Republican voters might disagree on certain particulars or points of emphasis. But their view of reality — of what happened and its significance — would have largely comported with that of the mainstream. You’d have had to travel to the political fringe of right-wing talk radio, the Drudge Report and dissident publications like Breitbart News to find an alternative viewpoint that rejected this basic story line.
Not anymore.
6/. Continuing with our love affair with Above and Beyond - live from Porchester Hall with Justine Suissa singing "Miracle"......full orchestra, plus a harp......beautiful....
7/. Nothing political, but an interesting human story about a guy's parents living in a red state smuggling marijuana from states where it's legal.....because they need it medically....
(Credit: Salon/Flora Thevoux)
In a nameless city in a nameless state, I sat in the driver’s seat of a station wagon with the engine off, reading a book propped open on the steering wheel, patiently waiting for my 72-year-old father to exit a ramshackle apartment in a back alley. Thirty minutes had passed since he initially left the car for his “appointment,” and I was beginning to get nervous. I continued to read in the way one reads while intensely worrying. I read sentences and turned pages and absorbed absolutely nothing. I carried the fast-paced best-selling thriller around for weeks “not” reading the same paragraph over and over.
Another 15 minutes passed.
I glanced up and down the street. The scene struck me as painfully stereotypical. We weren’t on a regular street, but the back, mews-style alley, in what we white privileged call the “bad” part of town. The windows in the houses were all shut, the curtains drawn.
My father finally emerged, grinning. Of course he was. He apologized for the delay.
“I had to sample to see which one would be strong enough,” he said, as he climbed in the passenger seat.
8/. Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon on SNL with "Whiskers R We"......a cat care commercial......a wryly amusing five minutes with lesbian undertones....
9/. Thomas Edsall with a really interesting column from the Times, on the growing divide in this country based on education - yes, having a degree is now resented by Trump voters......
The election of President Trump has coincided with a reaction among Republican voters against open-mindedness, open borders and an open society in general — not to mention a growing hostility to cognitive elites.
10/. Stephen Colbert with three minutes on Jeff Sessions....very funny...
Stephen Colbert has torn into Attorney General Jeff Sessions for meeting with an anti-LGBTQ group.
On Friday’s broadcast of the “Late Show,” the CBS host criticized Sessions for giving a closed-door speech on Tuesday to members of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which the Southern Poverty Law Center deems a hate group.
“A closed-door speech? Come on guys, it’s 2017, it’s OK to come out!” joked Colbert. “Let your hate flag fly! You’re here, you fear, we’re used to it.”
At the time of Colbert’s taping, Sessions’ remarks to the group had not been made public, so the comedian speculated about just what the AG might have said ― with a little help from a Keebler elf cookie.
11/. Ever eat Mac and Cheese out of a box? You won't after you read this story from the Times....
But the more serious point of this is you cannot count on the FD or any gub'mint entity to protect you or your family, especially now under Trump. You have to protect yourself....
Potentially harmful chemicals that were banned from children’s teething rings and rubber duck toys a decade ago may still be present in high concentrations in your child’s favorite meal: macaroni and cheese mixes made with powdered cheese.
The chemicals, called phthalates, can disrupt male hormones like testosterone and have been linked to genital birth defects in infant boys and learning and behavior problems in older children. The chemicals migrate into food from packaging and equipment used in manufacturing and may pose special risks to pregnant women and young children.
12/. And this is what Big Ag has done to pet food.....so what do you feed YOUR dog? If you love the little beast, feed him properly....
I’m just going to come right out and say it: I feed my dog organic food.
I’m only semi-embarrassed to admit it. Hold off on the angry comments and bear with me for a few minutes.
In February, a family dog in Washington state died after eating canned dog food that was later shown to have contained large amounts of pentobarbital — a drug used to euthanize animals and execute prisoners on death row.
It happened because pet food manufacturers are still getting away with feeding dogs as if they were living trash cans — and pet owners continue to be duped by fancy marketing that peddles even the most horrendously unhealthy products as nutritious offerings for dogs and cats.
http://www.salon.com/2017/07/1
13/. Can't wait to see this movie - "The Brand New Testament".....it's streaming now with subtitles on Amazon Prime, and DVD only on Netflix....
In the Belgian filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael’s wickedly amusing religious satire, “The Brand New Testament,” God (Benoît Poelvoorde) is a snarling, meanspirited bully who rules the universe from an apartment in Brussels. Inside his locked office, surrounded by walls of card files, the tyrannical, perpetually bored deity sits behind a computer and plays nasty practical jokes on humans. A favorite pastime is contriving Laws of Annoyance, like making sure that when a piece of toast falls, it always lands with the jelly side down.
God’s wife (Yolande Moreau) is a silent, slavishly dutiful housekeeper; his son, JC, has been reduced to a statue. It remains for his rebellious young daughter, Ea (Pili Groyne), to flout his authority. Sneaking into his office, she hacks into his computer and, in what the news media later names “DeathLeaks,” sends text messages to everyone in the world, informing all of the dates of their deaths. Suddenly, millions are free to use the time they have left as they see fit. One daredevil, assured of a long life, keeps jumping from heights and landing safely.
Here's the trailer....
Todays video - bike outruns cops......six minutes of adrenalin....ahoooooogah!
Todays golf joke
The room was full of pregnant women with their husbands.
The instructor said, "Ladies, remember that exercise is good for you. Walking is especially beneficial - strengthens the pelvic muscles and will make delivery that much easier. Just pace yourself, make plenty of stops and try to stay on a soft surfaces, like a grass path."
"Gentlemen, remember -- you're in this together. It wouldn't hurt you to go walking with her. In fact, that shared experience would be good for you both."
The room suddenly became very quiet as the men absorbed this information. After a few moments a man, name unknown, at the back of the room, slowly raised his hand.
"Yes?" said the Instructor.
"I was just wondering . . . would it be all right if she carries a golf bag?"
Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment