1/ Andrew Sullivan with a must read explanation of what is happening to America....it's long, but compelling and you will finish this story with a clear understanding of our new reality.....we have separated into tribes.
From time to time, I’ve wondered what it must be like to live in a truly tribal society. Watching Iraq or Syria these past few years, you get curious about how the collective mind can come so undone. What’s it like to see the contours of someone’s face, or hear his accent, or learn the town he’s from, and almost reflexively know that he is your foe? How do you live peacefully for years among fellow citizens and then find yourself suddenly engaged in the mass murder of humans who look similar to you, live around you, and believe in the same God, but whose small differences in theology mean they must be killed before they kill you? In the Balkans, a long period of relative peace imposed by communism was shattered by brutal sectarian and ethnic warfare, as previously intermingled citizens split into unreconcilable groups. The same has happened in a developed democratic society — Northern Ireland — and in one of the most successful countries in Africa, Kenya.
Tribal loyalties turned Beirut, Lebanon’s beautiful, cosmopolitan capital, into an urban wasteland in the 1970s; they caused close to a million deaths in a few months in Rwanda in the 1990s; they are turning Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, into an enabler of ethnic cleansing right now in Myanmar. British imperialists long knew that the best way to divide and conquer was by creating “countries” riven with tribal differences.
2/ Jimmy Kimmel doubled down on his condemnation of the Republican health care bill and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy......a wonderful piece of advocacy, comedy and with the exquisite delight of seeing a Fox and Friends host brought to his knees.....
Nine excellent minutes.....
Jimmy Kimmel opened his Wednesday late night show pounding Sen. Bill Cassidy for playing the Comedians are Dummies Card on CNN earlier in the day, while trying to defend his indefensible Obamacare repeal and replace plan
Last night on the show I took a Senator from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy to task for promising, to my face, that he would oppose any healthcare plan that allowed insurance companies to turn away people with pre-existing conditions, and any healthcare plan that had an annual or lifetime cap on how much they would pay out for medical care,” Kimmel told viewers.
“He said anything he supported would have to pass what he named The Jimmy Kimmel Test – which was fine, it was good. But unfortunately, and puzzlingly, he proposed a bill that would allow states to do all the things he said he would not let them do.
3/ Matt Taibbi with another great article in Rolling Stone.....yes Trump is mad, but is he over the line crazy enough that we can remove him from office? Probably not.....
The undercurrent of this wonderful piece is that Trump is a reflection of America.....
Evening, August 22nd, 2017, a convention center in Phoenix. It's Donald Trump's true coming-out party as an insane person. It looks like the same old Trump up there on the stage: same boxy blue suit, same obligatory flag pin and tangerine combover, same too-long reddish power tie swinging below his belt line like a locker-room abomination. Earlier this year there were efforts to make Trump stop wearing his suit jackets open – designer Joseph Abboud said buttoning up was a "very visible way of showing he knows how serious the job is" – but Donald Trump doesn't take advice, not even the gently benign kind.
4/ Seth Meyers with another excellent segment of comedic reporting......this on the hypocrisy of Republicans abusing their privileges while screwing the poor on health care.....an excellent 11 minutes.....
“Late Night” host Seth Meyers called out members of the Republican Party on Thursday for rushing to pass yet another health care bill that would slash funding for Medicaid and not guarantee coverage for preexisting medical conditions.
Meyers contrasted the position with reports on how members of President Donald Trump’s administration have been using military or private planes rather than taking commercial flights.
Earlier this week, Politico reported that Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price took five private flights for domestic work trips just last week. The news come on the heels of revelations that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asked to use a government plane for his European honeymoon. Such a plane would cost American taxpayers an estimated $25,000 per hour to operate. Mnuchin also used a military plane for a trip to Kentucky that coincided with a viewing of the total solar eclipse, a rare event he later said he didn’t care about.
“So these guys think millions of people should have their health care ripped away from them, while they spend thousands on private jets and eclipse trips they don’t even care about,” Meyers said. “Could Republicans really be shameless enough to pass this monstrous bill?”
5/ Bernie Sanders and 17 Democratic Senators have sighed up to push for a "Medicare For All" bill, and the press commentary is lukewarm at best.....but as Paul Rosenberg argues if the Dems want to save their party they need to stand for something, and this is a concept even stupid America can understand.....
Excellent logic in this story.....
“Medicare for All” is an idea whose time has finally come — at least conceptually, which is more than half the battle. When Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his "Medicare for All" plan last week, he had 16 Senate co-sponsors, compared to exactly none when he proposed a similar bill in 2011. That's a third of the Senate Democrats, and more importantly, it included several perceived contenders for the 2020 nomination, such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
What's more, there's now a 53 percent majority supporting the idea, according to a June Kaiser Family Foundation poll, with independent support at 55 percent, up 12 points since 2008-9. Support was malleable in both directions. Arguments against — raising taxes and giving government too much control — could raise opposition up to 62 percent, while arguments in favor — reducing administrative costs and ensuring health care as a right — could raise support to 72 percent. Support among Democrats, at 64 percent, should naturally be expected to rise if the leading primary candidates all support the idea.
Yet there was immediate pushback, and not just from Republicans, as might be expected.
6/ Jimmy Kimmel did a 3 minute video of Trump's interactions with Melania.....very amusing.....
Jimmy Kimmel isn’t seeing the love between President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania.
And it’s because of interactions like the one on Friday, when Trump greeted the first lady with a formal handshake after she introduced him at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. “You go sit down, honey,” the president said while nudging her offstage.
Twitter had its say right after the awkward moment ― but the talk show host had to wait until his show Monday to weigh in.
Kimmel called the exchange the “most uncomfortable display of affection between any husband and wife this year.” And that’s saying something, considering the cringe-worthy moments the two have shared in the hand-holding department.
“She should have just walked off that stage and kept walking all the way to Slovenia,” he said.
7/ Some of you may remember an article from Rolling Stone titled "Goodbye Miami" written by Jeff Goodall that came out a couple of years ago and caused a huge fuss.....the fact that Irma missed the magic city last week and Maria has gone out to sea this week doesn't make his conclusions about the long term viability of the area any different. Here is a follow up....
Miami after Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
I began reporting this piece in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. I had seen what the hurricane’s nine-foot storm surge had done to New York City and, as a scientist I was interviewing at the time, said: "Imagine a world where the water comes in like that – but never leaves." Miami, as it turned out, was the best place to do that. As soon as I arrived in the city to begin reporting the story, it was clear to me that in a world of quickly rising seas, Miami was in big trouble. Not surprisingly, this was not a universally held opinion at the time. In fact, when I bought it up with Miami city officials, they looked at me as if I were accusing them of child molestation. But it didn't take a lot of digging to see the problem: a metropolitan area of 2.6 million people, sitting on a porous bed of limestone, the billions of dollars worth of real estate right on the beach, a political system in deep denial. When the piece was published in Rolling Stone with the headline, "Goodbye, Miami," I was accused by some realtors and Chamber of Commerce-types of having a vendetta against Miami (on the contrary, I love Miami), but mostly it became a call to action – for me, as well as for the city.
8/ If you watch Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC you would guess that his meltdown video which has gone viral is probably accurate....so Stephen Colbert released his own hilarious video - four minutes....
So, you’ve likely already heard about the eight-minute video of outtakes from a Lawrence O’Donnell broadcast that was leaked to Mediaiteearlier this week. The clip is completely bonkers, showing O’Donnell just absolutely losing it with the control room over technical difficulties. “STOP THE HAMMERING” was all over the web soon after the post went up.
Thus, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that a late-night comedy show would find material there, and that is exactly what The Late Show’sStephen Colbert did this evening.
9/ A candid look at the development of Florida, and how it's unsustainable.....thanks to the greed corruption and stupidity of our Republican "leadership"....
This great story from the Times makes you want to move....
MIAMI — Florida was built on the seductive delusion that a swamp is a fine place for paradise.
The state’s allure — peddled first by visionaries and hucksters, most famously in the Great Florida Land Boom of the 1920s — is no less potent today.
Only, now there is a twist: Florida is no longer the swampy backwater it once was. It is the nation’s third most populous state, with 21 million people, jutting out precariously into the heart of hurricane alley, amid rising seas, at a time when warming waters have the potential to bring ever stronger storms. And compared with the 1920s, when soggy land was sold by mail, the risks of building here are far better known today. Yet newcomers still flock in and buildings still rise, with everyone seemingly content to double down on a dubious hand.
Florida mostly survived Hurricane Irma, which delivered its most severe damage elsewhere. More than a week later, nearly 400,000 weary, sweat-soaked people in the state remain without power; at least 50 did not survive the storm or its even more dangerous aftermath; and the billions in property damage are still being calculated. Meanwhile, Hurricane Maria rumbles across the Caribbean.
10/ By the way forget about taking an Eastern Caribbean cruise - San Juan, St. Thomas, St Maarten etc are gone for months and months.....
The cruise industry dodged a bullet Sunday when Hurricane Irma came ashore along the west coast of Florida. A trajectory just 100 miles to the east could have put the storm in line to devastate the world's three biggest cruise hubs — PortMiami, Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades and Port Canaveral.
But even as normal operations out of the three ports are quickly resuming, the world's major cruise lines are facing months of disruptions to itineraries that include stops at Eastern Caribbean islands that Irma hit hard.
Already, Norwegian Cruise Line has announced it is replacing all Eastern Caribbean sailings with Western Caribbean sailings through at least November.
Norwegian's Eastern Caribbean voyages — currently offered out of Miami on a single ship, the 4,248-passenger Norwegian Escape — traditionally feature a stop in St. Thomas, which has suffered what local officials have called catastrophic damage. The trips also include a visit to nearby Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, which also was devastated by Irma, according to local officials.
Royal Caribbean also has said its ships won't be able to visit St. Thomas as well as Irma-ravaged St. Martin and Key West, Fla., for some time, although it hasn't given an outlook on how long they might stay away.
11/ Fall movies coming out.....24 to see before the end of the year.....Blade Runner, Blade Runner.....
In movie land, the first crack of fall means one thing: The annual blockbuster onslaughthas ended, making way for another race toward the Oscars.
Labor Day marks the proverbial start of awards season. Almost every weekend from now until New Year’s will see at least one prestige-type flick hit theaters, but that’s not to say there aren’t more expensive crowd-pleasers on Hollywood’s roster. We still have two superhero flicks, after all, with “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Justice League” both opening in November. “A Bad Moms Christmas,” “Pitch Perfect 3,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Papers” will also arrive before Christmas.
Despite the summer box office facing its weakest ticket sales in 25 years, the rest of 2017 should be a treasure trove for moviegoing.
12/ New and notable TV coming this fall......
Remember when Fall was the time for new shows – when the Big Three networks, and the few upstarts that would challenge the trio's decades-long reign, would gloriously unveil their new 10pm hour-long dramas and two-hour primetime sitcom blocks? Now, there are seemingly millions of outlets sprouting up every day and we get a glut of fresh series all year-round; a true-crime whodunnit to binge in the dead of winter, a can't-miss anthology show popping up in the spring, an Eighties nostalgia-fest timed perfectly for the dog days of summer. Autumn still brings small-screen bounties as sure as the leaves will turn brown and crisp. But the notion that you had to wait until school started back up for the latest rounds of must-see shows and to discover future water cooler conversation-starters? Peak TV doesn't adhere to your antiquated calendars, people. Peak TV is a 365-day phenomenon.
But that doesn't mean there isn't a massive batch of new shows and new seasons of some returning favorites dropping in the next four months.
13/ Vox's list of Oscar worthy movies....
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Michelle Pfeiffer in Mother!, Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water, and Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project
This is the time of year when critics start to toss around the phrase “Oscar-worthy performance” — probably far too often. Not every great movie performance is really worthy of an Oscar, and there are only 20 nomination slots available for acting at Hollywood’s biggest awards.
But even if a performance is unlikely to take home a statuette when the Academy Awards finally cap off the grueling awards season, it can still set audiences and critics aflame. Great actors don’t just deliver lines; they make you doubt reality for a moment. They let you sink so deeply into a character that you forget you’re “just” watching a movie. And when the awards season first gets underway in September, you never really know who will eventually turn up on awards ballots, anyway.
Todays golf joke
Here is an actual sign posted at a golf club in Scotland :
1. BACK STRAIGHT, KNEES BENT, FEET SHOULDER WIDTH APART.
2. FORM A LOOSE GRIP.
3. KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!
4. STAY OUT OF THE WATER.
5. TRY NOT TO HIT ANYONE.
6. IF YOU ARE TAKING TOO LONG, LET OTHERS GO AHEAD OF YOU.
7. DON'T STAND DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OTHERS.
8. QUIET PLEASE...WHILE OTHERS ARE PREPARING.
9. DON'T TAKE EXTRA STROKES.
10. WELL DONE.. NOW, FLUSH THE URINAL, GO OUTSIDE, AND TEE OFF!
Todays Welfare joke
A young man with his pants hanging half off his ass, hair in a long ponytail and a half inch thick gold chain around his neck walked into the local welfare office to pick up his check.
He marched up to the counter and said, "Hi. You know, I just hate drawing welfare. I'd really rather have a job. I don't like taking advantage of the system, getting something for nothing."
The social worker behind the counter said "Your timing is excellent. We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur and bodyguard for his beautiful daughter. You will have to drive around in his 2017 Mercedes-Benz CL, and he will supply all of your clothes."
"Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You'll also be expected to escort the daughter on her overseas holiday trips. This is rather awkward to say but you will also have, as part of your job, the assignment to satisfy her sexual urges as the daughter is in her mid-20's and has a rather strong sex drive."
The guy, just plain wide-eyed, said, "You're bullshittin' me!"
The social worker said, "Yeah, well... you started it."
Todays Canadian jokes.....
Shortly after the new president of the USA was elected, several Americans have been seen sneaking into Canada.
So,…Canada's Prime Minister has made the decision to build a wall.
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