1/ Andrew Sullivan's fascinating column this week.....first he tries to make the case that psychedelics are the best way to achieve peace and enlightenment [got me thinking!], then he looks at the disaster that is Brexit, and the third is the conflict in the Catholic Church about the Pope's acceptance of gays.....
A very talented writer...
The great mystery to me of psychedelic experiences is the centrality of love.
I mean, why is it love exactly — overwhelming love — that so many experience under the spell of these molecules? When I first dabbled in the expansion of consciousness, I assumed it was simply some kind of wish-fulfillment. Maybe as your ego relaxed a little, and your eyes opened for a while, you felt what you always wanted to feel, loved. But that wasn’t quite right, because at the same time, I found myself overwhelmed with the feeling of love for others, for boundless compassion, sometimes almost painful empathy. I felt more nearly the hurt I had caused others, but instead of being convulsed with guilt, as was usually the case, I experienced only the urge to ask forgiveness and love some more. As I grew more experienced with MDMA (a.k.a. Ecstasy), and then psilocybin, and eventually LSD, this sense of love only deepened.
2/ Neil Young "Old Man", live at the BBC in 1971....just Neil and his geetar.....beautiful song....
3/ As if Trump couldn't get any sleazier.....a follow up to our story two weeks ago about Elliot Broidy, Trump and the Playboy model...he's in deep this time....
Trump would not get back to the White House until 4:45 p.m., but he still found time in his busy schedule that day for one more meeting. That get-together was with a wealthy Republican fundraiser and lobbyist, Elliott Broidy. Broidy, who had been convicted in 2009 of bribing public officials, had spent all of 2017 investing enormous amounts of time and money to acquire what his business partner George Nader termed “this priceless asset” — a private meeting with the president of the United States.
In fact this asset could be given a quite precise price.
4/ "Bad Lip Reading" goes to the Royal Wedding......a funny [British Humour] three minutes....
Last weekend's
royal wedding of Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle included pomp and circumstance like the bride arriving in a horse-drawn carriage, an abundance of celebrity guests, a breathtaking wedding gown and outrageous hats.
While commentators freely offered up their opinions on what was happening every second of the ceremony, many carefully watched the royals to try to decipher what they were whispering to one another.
Luckily, A Bad Lip Reading satirically redubbed Prince Harry, Markle, Prince William, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Bishop Michael Bruce Curry and others with the kind of dialogue we wish they'd uttered, in a video released this week.
5/ Open this - you'll be shocked if you live where I think you live [Florida?].....a well done Times interactive story.....
And yes you might think about moving....
In the last 16 years, parts of Louisiana have been struck by six hurricanes. Areas near San Diego were devastated by three particularly vicious wildfire seasons. And a town in eastern Kentucky has been pummeled by at least nine storms severe enough to warrant federal assistance.
6/ Seth Meyers with a summary of the weeks news....as usual, an amusing 8 minutes....
In a “Closer Look” segment on “Late Night” Thursday, the host showed off a coin he bought from the White House gift shop that commemorated the president’s upcoming summit with North Korea.
But now that Trump has canceled the nuclear talks with Kim Jong Un, Meyers had to throw the souvenir away.
7/ The birth rate is declining in this country, and with good reason - women are often financially punished for being pregnant....
Before she got pregnant with her son in 2014, Hills was working at an AT&T store in Elkhart, Indiana, where her career was taking off. She was promoted to sales rep after just a few months. She loved her work selling cellphones and tablets. Her evaluations were good.
Then her managers learned she was expecting. The punishments piled up, according to a discrimination lawsuit she filed against AT&T last week in federal court. If Hills needed to go to the doctor or was late because of morning sickness, she was docked a “point.” Employees who lose enough points under AT&T’s system face the possibility of losing their jobs.
The points started adding up. At the same time, Hills observed that her nonpregnant colleagues did not get any penalties when they were late to work.
“I was being treated a lot different,” Hills told HuffPost. “It was devastating.”
8/ Sam Bee on the nastiest federal agency out there - ICE.....she nails them.....seven very good minutes....
On Wednesday’s broadcast of “Full Frontal,” Bee joked that ICE’s job application was “just a single question asking if the real hero of ’
Schindler’s List’ was the girl shouting ‘Goodbye Jews.’”
“If that criticism of ICE makes you sad, here’s a proposal,” Bee continued. “Let’s shut it the fxck down. I’m serious. It’s awful. And we don’t actually need it. You know, I’m a liberal. I don’t usually advocate for smaller government, but in this case, as I say to my barista every morning, there should be one less ICE.”
9/ Another well known corporation screwing their employees, thanks to the evil Justice Gorsuch.....dammit, I used to like Chipotle....
The Supreme Court issued a monumental decision on Monday, ruling that employers can require their workers to sign arbitration agreements giving up their right to sue in court as a group. The decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis will make it harder for workers to band together as victims of wage theft and discrimination, and its effects will be felt in the workplace for years to come.
But for a few thousand current and former Chipotle workers, its effects may be felt immediately. Their case is a perfect example of how the Supreme Court’s ruling will benefit powerful companies at the expense of their employees, many of them working for low wages in industries like fast food.
Roughly 10,000 people who have worked for the burrito chain joined a 2014 lawsuit alleging the company systemically forced them to work “off the clock.” They claim that Chipotle gives its restaurants so little payroll that managers require employees to clock out and continue working or perform work before they clock in. They’re suing to recoup the money they claim Chipotle owes them for the uncompensated work.
10/ If you aren't watching "Killing Eve", you should.....incredibly good.....we are up to episode six.....it's on BBC America, but we bought it on Amazon for $19.95....
Killing Eve ends its first season on Sunday, and the drama series has achieved some marvelous things since it premiered in April. It propelled 46-year-old Sandra Oh to the top of the most-wanted-leading-actress lists for her crackling portrayal of Eve Polastri, a brainy intelligence agent in Britain who becomes obsessed with tracking a female assassin. It cemented our belief in the versatile genius of Phoebe Waller-Bridge—Solo drone star and Fleabag mastermind—who found a way to meld Killing Eve’s messy intimacy with the thrills of a traditional format, and to fill stock genre roles with female characters who turn clichés inside out. And it introduced us to Villanelle—as played by Jodie Comer—one of the most magnetic, roguish psychopaths in TV history.
Killing Eve trailer....
11/ Another great piece from Rolling Stone - their guide to good Summer TV.....
Summer TV Preview 2018: Spies, Sinners, 'Sharp Objects' and Sex Magick
From dark crime procedurals to black-magic dramas, teen superheroes to Stephen King horror – your complete summer viewing guide
12/ Movie review - "Book Club" with some wonderful older stars including Jane Fonda.....Mary saw this movie, said it was hilarious and a complete hoot.....a chick flick par excellence....
When Book Club was announced last year, the premise felt like it had to be a joke. The film, which follows four women of a certain age who experience sexual reawakenings after reading Fifty Shades of Grey for their book club, felt like the kind of thing whose reason to exist began and ended with its log line. Most of us probably learned of its existence during the trailers before Fifty Shades Freed. Oh, we would certainly all go see it, but not without acknowledging that we were living with an industry in which nothing gets green-lit unless it is a wink or nod at a one-time trending topic.
Todays blonde joke
A blonde gets a job as a physical education teacher of 16 year olds.
She notices a boy at the end of the field standing alone, while all the other kids are running around having fun kicking a ball.
She takes pity on him and decides to speak to him.
'You ok?' she says.
'Yes.' he says.
'You can go and play with the other kids you know' she says.
'It's best I stay here.' he says.
'Why's that sweetie?' says the blonde.
The boy looks at her incredulously and says,
"Because I'm the Goalie !"
And one more blond joke
An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake, finds his way to a bar stool and orders a shot of Jack Daniels.
After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender, “Hey, you wanna hear a blond joke?
The bar immediately falls absolutely silent.
In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to the old blind cowboy says, “Before you tell that joke, Cowboy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five important things.
- The bartender is a blond girl who’s holding a baseball bat.
- The bouncer is a blond girl with a billy-club.
- I’m a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blond woman with a black belt in karate.
- The woman sitting next to me is blond and a professional weightlifter.
- The lady to your right is blond and a professional wrestler.
Now, think about it seriously, Cowboy. Do you still wanna tell that blond joke?”
The blind cowboy thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, “Well heck no, not if I’m gonna have to explain it five times.”
