1/ Frank Rich with the reality behind the news.....excellent as always....
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today, the meaning of Michael Avenatti’s disclosures, Trump’s decision to kill the Iran deal, and Rudy Giuliani’s media tour.
With Michael Avenatti’s revelation that the shell company Michael Cohen used for the Stormy Daniels payoff also received money tied to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg (as well as payments from other companies with government business), it looks like the two main threads of Donald Trump’s legal troubles may be part of the same story. Has Avenatti found the “collusion” that Trump has spent so much energy denying?
Avenatti, whose revelations have since been verified by the Times and others, is doing exactly what Woodward and Bernstein did in Watergate — following the money.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelli
2/ Raunchy and hilarious - the lesbian sketch from SNL with Amy Schumer....extremely politically incorrect [unkind to lesbians] but
listen to the zingers.... four minutes...
When Kate McKinnon’s barfly shows up on a stool at Donnelly’s bar in Saturday Night Live’s“Last Call” sketch, there will inevitably be an epic, fairly disgusting makeout scene involving the show’s host. And that’s just what happened this week when McKinnon’s barfly ends up a stool away from Amy Schumer’s mullet-sporting boozer. The duo finds they’re the last ones in the bar and having failed to hook up with anyone prior to last call they engage in a gross-out session of verbal foreplay and French kissing (if it can even be called that).
“I thought the Kentucky Derby was last week but it looks like there’s one little nag still limping around the track,” Schumer says as an opening pick-up line.
“Why don’t you mount me and ride me before they turn me into glue?” McKinnon’s character replies.
3/ Apparently Trump and Hannity have a bromance....
Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Like to Talk Before Bedtime
Their chats begin casually, with How are yous and What’s going ons. On some days, they speak multiple times, with one calling the other to inform him of the latest developments. White House staff are aware that the calls happen, thanks to the president entering a room and announcing, “I just hung up with Hannity,” or referring to what Hannity said during their conversations, or even ringing Hannity up from his desk in their presence.
Trump and Hannity don’t usually speak in the morning, which the president spends alone, watching TV and tweeting. During the first months of the administration in particular, the tweets launched at the beginning of the day landed like bitchy little grenades directed at the programming and personalities that angered him on MSNBC and CNN. “Early on, usually we could count on the president watching Morning Joe first thing, at 6 a.m.,” one White House official told me. “He’d watch an hour of that. Then he’d move on to New Day for a segment or two. Then he’d move on to Fox.
4/ And of course this story attracted the attention of the late night hosts......Colbert has a very funny riff on this for five minutes....
On Monday night, Stephen Colbert ripped the close relationship between President Trump and Sean Hannity.
Colbert began by comparing Trump and Hannity to being the Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King of “angry old white men” and there’s a new report from New York magazine that says they like to talk “before bedtime.”
“‘Sean, what are you wearing?'” Colbert impersonated Trump. “‘I’m wearing nothing but a cheeseburger wrapper… I’ll never get the smell of onions off now.'”
According to the report, Trump and the Fox News host chat about the “witch hunt,” media gossip, and “whose shows suck.”
“I hope it’s me!” Colbert crossed his fingers. “I would love to be up there with ‘Low-Rated Morning Joe,‘ ‘Unfunny SNL,’ and Lyin’ Spongebob Squarepants.'”
5/ The talented Tom Tomorrow....
6/ Seth Meyers tells us of the specifics of Michael Cohen and Essential Consultants LLC with some great zingers in between......
excellent comedic reporting....
The news about President Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen continued to grow shadier and stranger this week, with reports that a drug company, AT&T, and a Russian oligarch all paid Cohen using his shell company, Essential Consultants LLC. Funds from that same LLC happened to be used to pay porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in return for her silence about an alleged affair with the president. So how did this story get so juicy? Late Night host Seth Meyers took “A Closer Look” into the slush fund and he has idea: Maybe Robert Mueller is actually a Trump enemy in disguise, and you’ll never guess who’s under that mask.
7/ Benjamin Studebaker on how the progressive left is losing the battle for the Democratic Party....
Electorally, the Left is Already Behind Schedule
by Benjamin Studebaker
One of the tasks for the left is to reshape the Democratic Party into the kind of political party which can be used to chip away at material disparities of wealth and power. This means making it into a party which can actually pass policies like single payer, tuition free college, $15 minimum wage, stronger union rights, and so on. The thing is, many Democrats in congress don’t support these policies. Some of them admit they don’t support them, while others are pretending to support them but have no intention of following through should they get into power. This is the same position the right found itself in after Obama’s election–they wanted a Republican Party which would repeal Obamacare and take a stand on immigration.
8/ Melissa McCarthy broke in to "Weekend Update" and flummoxed Michael Che.....a good five minutes...
It hasn't been THAT long since McCarthy essentially took over SNL with her Sean Spicer impressions. It just feels that way because time moves differently than it did 18 months ago, with days feeling like weeks due to the abundance of information that bombards us all. Having her back on now in some ways makes sense (her new movie Life Of The Party opens this weekend; also, she's one of those actors that SNL always rolls the welcome mat out for), and in others doesn't (why give this six-minute segment to her when Schumer could have done it?). The hows and whys ultimately don't matter. It went down this way, and the crowd absolutely ate it up.
9/ Andrew Sullivan's column.....the beginning of his first piece is good but it gets a little wordy.....parts two and three are very interesting....
When elites speak of tribalism, we tend to think we’re somehow above it. After all, we have educated minds that have developed the intellectual muscles to resist coarser loyalties, have we not? We value unique individuals over the amorphous group. We like to think we can see complexity and nuance rather than wallowing in coarse Manichean ideas, articulated by demagogues, that divide the world into “us” and “the other.” It’s the unthinking masses who do that. Not us. Unlike them, we are aware of the dangers of this temptation, alert to its irrationality. We resist it.
Except, quite often, we don’t.
10/ Amy Schumer with a three minute sketch on the meaning of motherhood from SNL....wicked stuff....
Totally savage, utterly unsparing, and ultimately extremely empathetic, this pre-taped sketch runs the gamut of moods. Nothing here is exactly groundbreaking: We've seen enough popular culture deconstruction the myth of the "miracle" of birth to understand this sketch's premise almost immediately. But it's the execution that makes special. In less than four minutes, this short film tells a complete story that moves quickly from the specific to the universal.
A lot of what makes this work is the cinematography and editing. The rapid cuts between Schumer's mom lovingly telling her son about the day he was born and the reality of what unfolded land every time. But it's the contrast between the way the present and the past are lit that really lands, as it paints the present as an illusion that is sold to would-be parents. The messy, television screen-lit living room is much more accurate than the immaculately sun-drenched bedroom that serves as the central set.
On top of that, the sketch shows just how fundamentally useless many men are when it comes to child rearing. Yes, Schumer yelling at Mikey Day in the Emergency Room that he's "not a man" is funny. But showing him quickly going about his normal activities post-child birth and leaving the everyday responsibilities of keeping that kid alive is downright damning. Without having to overtly underline its message, this sketch turns from satire to empathy and earns that transition.
11/ Book review/article - an interview with Amanda Marcotte, author of "Troll Nation"....a very intelligent discussion about conservatives and why they are haters.....if you want to understand our situation right now with the political chasm we are in, read this interview....highly recommended...
So the premise of "Troll Nation" is not just about the last couple of years or the election of Donald Trump, although that's certainly part of the story. It's more about a much larger question: What happened to American politics?
Because I’m doing a bunch of contemporary journalism, I end up focusing quite a bit on recent politics. But the larger premise of the book is that Trump is not an anomaly. Trump is actually the logical conclusion of a movement in conservatism that’s been going on for decades -- fueled by talk radio, Fox News and other such things -- that has really kind of reconstructed American conservatism into this ideology, I’d say, of hate and bigotry more than actual political opinions or ideas.
12/ Watch this confusing, violent and musically strange video......."This is America" by Childish Gambino....
Then read this article that tells you what it means. Childish's real name is Donald Glover, and he was wonderful on SNL last week - a funny actor, great foil for the SNL crew, so I surmise this video actually means something.....we report, you decide....
13/ An insightful story about Philip Levine who is running for Governor of Florida.....it's a little bit of a hit job, but
gives some good detail on his professional life....
The episode offers a dark glimpse into the world from which Levine emerged. An entrepreneur whose estimated net worth is around $100 million, Levine has made a living in the cruise ship industry since the mid-'80s. He did it by coming up with innovative ways to market products and onshore shops to passengers. Though that ingenuity earned both Levine and the cruise lines a lot of money in 2014, it has also made him enemies, including customers such as Norma Healy, business owners, and even, at one point, the attorney general of Alaska.
"I was the first to go on the cruise ships and bust up what was going on," Levine once boasted. "Not everybody loved me."
Thanks to a trove of personal wealth, well-lubricated connections in the business world, an early all-out media blitz, and years of appearing in scores of documentaries and think pieces about climate change, Levine is hovering at the top of the Democratic pack. In March, he took the lead among Democrats for the first time, according to a Gravis Marketing Florida poll. He's also leading the Democratic fundraising race thanks to millions of dollars he's personally contributed to his campaign war chest.
If the predicted blue wave covers the nation this November, Levine might just be swept into Tallahassee.
14/ The best movies of 2018, so far......bet you haven't seen any of them.....[well maybe one]
It’s only a few months into 2018, but there’ve already been a handful of films worthy of great praise — and breaking box-office history. Here are the best movies Vulture has reviewed, according to our movie critics David Edelstein and Emily Yoshida.
(A quick note about our methodology: We’ve restricted this list only to films that have had an official release in the first four months of 2018, though we will continue to update it throughout the year.)
15/ And a trailer for the new Spike Lee movie coming soon.....BlacKKKlansman.....lo
Director Spike Lee received a six-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival after the Monday night premiere of his new drama “BlacKkKlansman.”
The movie, which tells the true story of an undercover African-American detective (John David Washington) and his Jewish partner (Adam Driver) who team up to infiltrate Klu Klux Klan in 1979, is incredibly timely. It even ends with footage of Donald Trump refusing to condemn the actions of white nationalists during the deadly 2017 Charlottesville riot. There are a lot of digs at the current president throughout “BlacKkKlansman” — one KKK member talks about embracing an “America first” policy and the film makes parallels between the rise of Trump and the political ambitions of former Grand Wizard David Duke (played with wide-eyed malevolence by “That ’70s Show’s” Topher Grace).
Todays sensitive guy joke
It is important for men to remember that, as women grow older, it becomes harder for them to maintain the same quality of housekeeping as when they were younger. When you notice this, try not to yell at them. Some are oversensitive, and there's nothing worse than an oversensitive woman.My name is Doug, Let me relate how I handled the situation with my wife, Carry.When I retired a few years ago, it became necessary for Carry to get a full-time job, along with her part-time job, both for extra income and for the health benefits that we needed.
Shortly after she started working, I noticed she was beginning to show her age. I usually get home from the golf club about the same time she gets home from work. Although she knows how hungry I am, she almost always says she has to rest for half an hour or so before she starts dinner. I don't yell at her. Instead, I tell her to take her time and just wake me when she gets dinner on the table.
I generally have lunch each day in the Men's Grill at the Golf Club, so eating out is not an option in the evening. I'm ready for some home-cooked grub when I hit that door. She used to do the dishes as soon as we finished eating. But now, it's not unusual for them to sit on the table for several hours after dinner. I do what I can by diplomatically reminding her several times each evening that they won't clean themselves. I know she really appreciates this, as it does seem to motivate her to get them done, before she goes to bed.
Another symptom of aging is complaining, I think. For example, she will say that it is difficult for her to find time to pay the monthly bills during her lunch hour. But, boys, we take 'em for better or worse, so I just smile and offer encouragement. I tell her to stretch it out over two, or even three days. That way, she won't have to rush so much. I also remind her that missing lunch completely now and then wouldn’t hurt her any (if you know what I mean). I like to think tact is one of my strong points.
When doing simple jobs, she seems to think she needs more rest periods. She had to take a break, when she was only half-finished mowing the front lawn I try not to make a scene. I'm a fair man... I tell her to fix herself a nice, big, cold glass of freshly squeezed lemonade and just sit for a while. And, as long as she is making one for herself, she may as well make one for me, too.
I know that I probably look like a saint in the way I support Carry. I'm not saying that showing this much patience & consideration is easy. Many men will find it difficult. Some will find it impossible !!!! Nobody knows better than I do how frustrating women get as they get older. However, guys, even if you just use a little more tact and less criticism of your aging wife because of this article, I will consider that writing it was well worthwhile. After all, we are put on this earth to help each other.
EDITOR'S NOTE:Doug died suddenly on January 31 of a perforated rectum.The police report says he was found with a Calloway extra-long 50-inch Big Bertha Driver II golf club jammed up his rear end, with barely 5 inches of grip showing, and a sledge hammer laying nearby.
His wife Carry Anne was arrested and charged with murder...
The all-woman jury took only 10 minutes to find her Not Guilty - - accepting her defense that Doug, somehow without looking, accidentally sat down on his golf club.A hole in one, so to speak !!!!
Todays Irish joke.....
An Irish Priest was transferred to Texas.
He rose from his bed one fine spring day in his new west Texas mission parish. He walked to the window of his bedroom to get a deep breath of the beautiful day and noticed there was a jackass lying dead in the middle of his front lawn.
He promptly called the local police station. The conversation went like this:
"Good morning. This is Sergeant Jones. How might I help you?"
"And the best of the day to yourself. This is Father O'Malley at St. Ann's Catholic Church. There's a jackass lying dead in me front lawn and would ye be so kind as to send a couple o' yer lads to take care of the matter."Sergeant Jones, considering himself to be quite a wit and recognizing the accent, thought he would have a little fun with the good Father, replied, "Well now Father, it was always my impression that you people took care of the last rites!"
There was dead silence on the line for a long moment. Then, Father O'Malley replied,
"Aye, 'tis certainly true, Sergeant. But, we Priests are also obliged to first notify the next of kin, which is the reason for me call."
Todays dumb with great graphics joke....
STRESS DEFINED - Funny
Stress
You pick up a hitchhiker! A beautiful girl.
Suddenly, she faints inside your truck and you take her to the hospital. Now that's stressful.
But at the hospital, they say she is pregnant and congratulate you that you're going to be a father.
But at the hospital, they say she is pregnant and congratulate you that you're going to be a father.
You say that you are not the father, but the girl says you are.
This is getting very stressful!
You request a DNA test to prove that you are not the father.
After the tests are completed, The doctor says the test shows you're infertile,
And probably have been since birth. You're extremely stressed but relieved.
On your way back home, you think about your 5 kids at home.
This is getting very stressful!
You request a DNA test to prove that you are not the father.
After the tests are completed, The doctor says the test shows you're infertile,
And probably have been since birth. You're extremely stressed but relieved.
On your way back home, you think about your 5 kids at home.
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