Matt Taibbi on the inability of the media to cope with the madness of Trump....excellent commentary....
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC
Donald Trump's great talent as a politician – some might call it an anti-talent – is his ability to bring everyone down to his level.
In primary season last year, long-serving governors and senators began acting like heel wrestlers and carnival acts. Forced to compete with Trump on his home turf of schoolyard insults and reality-show skirmishes, his Republican opponents wilted.
The same thing is now happening with the news media, which is having the mother of all bad weeks.
Early in his presidency, Trump described the press as a kind of villainous monolith in the rolling WWE act that is his presidency – a blackguard he called "The opposition party."
Thanks to the latest seismic catastrophe to rock the news business, Trump's vision looks like reality. The blow came when CNN bollocked up a Trump-Russia expose so badly that its factual problems could be exposed by the likes of Breitbart and Sputnik.
Samantha Bee with a very funny five minutes on the Republican Health Care bill.....one of her better ones....
Samantha Bee took aim at House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as she discussed the GOP’s health care plan on Wednesday.
The “Full Frontal” host began her show by shredding those Republicans who were trying to slash health care coverage for “poor, working and sick Americans.” She then pleaded with them not to scrap Medicaid.
“It’s only 52-years-old,” said Bee. “It just joined Curves and is learning to dance like nobody’s watching.”
After playing old footage of Ryan boasting about “dreaming” of sending Medicaid “back to the states and capping its growth rate” since he was “drinking at a keg,” she then delivered a great punchline.
“Yes, while most college guys in the ’90s were fantasizing about Pamela Anderson, Paul Ryan was jerking it to thoughts of poor people losing health care to pay for tax cuts,” she said.
Paul Krugman on the cruelty of the same bill.....a very good column indeed....
The basics of Republican health legislation, which haven’t changed much in different iterations of Trumpcare, are easy to describe: Take health insurance away from tens of millions, make it much worse and far more expensive for millions more, and use the money thus saved to cut taxes on the wealthy.
Donald Trump may not get this — reporting by The Times and others, combined with his own tweets, suggests that he has no idea what’s in his party’s legislation. But everyone in Congress understands what it’s all about.
The puzzle — and it is a puzzle, even for those who have long since concluded that something is terribly wrong with the modern G.O.P. — is why the party is pushing this harsh, morally indefensible agenda.
Bill Maher with a "New Rules" on getting our summer back.....several belly laughs in this five minutes....he's on form!
“Real Time” host Bill Maher went on an epic rant about the decline of summer in America during his “New Rules” segment Friday.
“Someone has to tell me how summer, the time of year when we traditionally give our brains some rest, can retain its specialness if stupid season now runs on all year round,” Maher said while taking a break from the panel discussion.
“How can you feel good about earning a vacation for your mind if we’ve retired from the job of think all together?” he asked.
Overcome with nostalgia, Maher noted that people used to enjoy their summers by reading trashy novels on the beach, watching “stupid” movies and disregarding any dress code.
Stephen Colbert on the Mika tweets.....one of his better six minutes....
During his opening monologue Thursday, “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert was red in the face after he brought up President Trump’s latest tweets that targeted “Morning Joe” pundit Mika Brzezinski.
“I’m going to say something right now that I did not think was possible anymore: I am shocked by something Donald Trump said,” Colbert said to start his show. “I thought by now, after five months of this, that my soul had calcified into a crouton. Not true.”
“First of all, someone bleeding badly at your door and you say, ‘No?’” he continued. “It sounds like your health-care plan. I mean, turning them away from your hotel during the middle of winter is literally the story of Christmas, only there wasn’t a wise man in sight.”
Trump’s tweets ignited universal outrage Thursday, as even Republican congressmen were forced to denounce the needless bullying. Colbert noted that some people were calling this a “new low” for Trump. But the late-night host didn’t see it that way.
Matt Taibbi on the morality of health care.....a most interesting story from Rolling Stone....
Health care activists lift signage promoting the Affordable Care Act during a rally as part of the national "March for Health" movement in front of Trump Tower on April 1st, 2017 in New York City
Many years ago, while researching a book chapter on health care reform, I visited a hospital in Bayonne, New Jersey that was having problems. Upon arrival, administrators told me a story that summed up everything that is terrible and stupid about American health care.
A patient of theirs suffering from a chronic illness took a bad turn and had to come in for a minor surgical procedure. The only problem was, the patient had been taking Coumadin, a common blood thinner, as part of his outpatient care.
So they brought him in to the hospital, weaned him off the Coumadin, did the surgery successfully, then sent him home. All was well until they billed the insurer. The answer came back: coverage denied, because the operation had not been conducted in "timely fashion."
Of course, had they operated in a more "timely fashion," the patient would have bled to death on the operating table. But such is the logic of the American health care system, a Frankenstein's monster of monopolistic insurance zones peppered with over a thousand different carriers, each with their own (often cruel) procedures and billing system
Samantha Bee talks to Elizabeth Warren, who is a really good sport with a sense of humour.....five amusing minutes.....
Samantha Bee has been going through self-described “bunker funk.” And so, the “Full Frontal” host went to see one of the best experts she could find on the current political situation: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
“I am exhausted. I am personally broken,” Bee confessed. “People come up to me on all the time and they’re like, What do I do? What do I do? Help me. So my question to you is: What should I tell them?”
“You get in the fight, and then you fight as hard as you can,” Warren replied.
“But what does that mean?” Bee asked.
“It means that when you’re told to be quiet, you don’t sit down and be quiet,” Warren answered. “You stand back up.”
We have had a couple of stories about Lyme disease, but did you know there was a vaccine for it? And did you know you can't get a shot for Lyme, but your dog can?
Good story from PBS News.....it's a five minute video......
JUDY WOODRUFF: This is peak season in the United States for Lyme disease, as people spend more time outdoors and can be at risk for tick bites.
Each year, at least 30,000 cases are reported, and researchers believe those estimates are low. Given its debilitating effects on some people, and after years of research, it begs the question: Why is there still no vaccine people can get to prevent Lyme disease?
Miles O’Brien has been exploring that for his weekly reports on the Leading Edge of science and technology.
Stephen Colbert on Trump's tweeting.....a good five minutes....
President Donald Trump’s ego is so large, he made counterfeit copies of the cover of Time magazine with his face plastered on the front and prominently displayed them at his golf courses across the country.
This was a story broken by The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who reported that the dubious Time cover had hung in at least 17 Trump properties.
Upset with the piece, Trump responded by calling The Washington Post “fake news” in a tweet. His audacity knows no bounds, obviously, as he also suggested that the internet company was not paying its “internet taxes.”
“The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert immediately fact checked the president in his monologue Wednesday, informing his audience that Amazon does indeed pay their taxes, although there was no such thing as “internet taxes.”
Andrew Sullivan with his commentary on the Catholic Cardinal who has been accused of sexual abuse.....the full story how of this Australian pillar of the Church seems to be a monster.....
Also how the Dem's are blowing it, and Trump's mental illness.......remember Sullivan is a gay conservative writer....
Well into Pope Francis’s pontificate, one of his closest aides, the third-highest official in the Catholic Church, Cardinal George Pell, has now been credibly accused of several acts of sexual assault, including one of rape. Australian police have concluded that the evidence they have is sufficient to move forward, even in cases that happened long ago. Yesterday, Pell was allowed to hold his own press conference at the Vatican to tell us that he spoke with the Pope only a few days ago about a campaign of “character assassination” against him: “I’m very grateful to the Holy Father for giving me this leave to return to Australia.” The Pope’s spokesperson defended the Cardinal by saying that “it is important to recall that Cardinal Pell has openly and repeatedly condemned as important and intolerable acts of abuse committed against minors.” And, of course, we should respect a presumption of innocence before a trial on crimes of this magnitude and depravity.
But it all feels sickeningly familiar.
Above and Beyond with Zoe Johnston - "Love is Not Enough".....wistful and sad, but a lovely song.....
This chart from the Times on the effects of high temperatures might make you think about moving out of Florida....especially South Florida - if the flooding doesn't get you, the heat will....
Hmmm......in this map Lake County is dark red.....hmmm.....
As the United States confronts global warming in the decades ahead, not all states will suffer equally. Maine may benefit from milder winters. Florida, by contrast, could face major losses, as deadly heat waves flare up in the summer and rising sea levels eat away at valuable coastal properties.
In a new study in the journal Science, researchers analyzed the economic harm that climate change could inflict on the United States in the coming century. They found that the impacts could prove highly unequal: states in the Northeast and West would fare relatively well, while parts of the Midwest and Southeast would be especially hard hit.
In all, the researchers estimate that the nation could face damages worth 0.7 percent of gross domestic product per year by the 2080s for every 1 degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperature. But that overall number obscures wide variations: The worst-hit counties — mainly in states that already have warm climates, like Arizona or Texas — could see losses worth 10 to 20 percent of G.D.P. or more if emissions continue to rise unchecked.
We're in the summer TV doldrums, but here are some series you can binge when it's 95 degrees and 100% humidity...........
There’s too much TV! We know this, you know this. But it bears repeating, because with so many good (and bad) shows out there, it can be hard to decide what to watch.
So we’ve compiled a list of 17 great shows from the first half of 2017 that you can finish over a long, lazy weekend. All of them are in their first or second seasons — save a couple of more standalone exceptions. All of them have already aired complete seasons in 2017. And all of them are easily available to catch up with on this magical internet of ours.
These aren’t necessarily the best shows of 2017 so far, but they’re all series you can easily polish off before summer’s over, if you’re so inclined.
Todays zinger jokes.....
Nineteen Floridians go to the cinema. The ticket lady asks "Why so many of you?"Bubba replies, "The film said 18 or over."
My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday, so I went to our local pet shop and they were $70. Forget it, I thought, I can get one cheaper off the web.
I was at an A.T.M. yesterday. A little old lady asked if I could check her balance, so I pushed her over.
Statistically, six out of seven dwarfs are not Happy.
My neighbour knocked on my door at 2:30 a m.Can you believe that! 2:30 a m?Luckily for him I was still up playing my bagpipes.
The wife was counting all the nickles and dimes out on the kitchen table when she suddenly got very angry and started shouting and crying for no reason. I thought to myself, "She's going through the change."
My girlfriend thinks that I'm a stalker. Well, she's not exactly my girlfriend yet.
An East Indian fellow has moved in next door.He has traveled the world, has swum with sharks, has wrestled bears and climbed the highest mountain.It came as no surprise to learn his name was Bindair DundatTodays kiddie jokeTodays cop joke
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