1/ The excellent Frank Rich on the weeks news....
It appears Kushner has lies and nepotism to thank for his security clearance. Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today, new revelations about Jared Kushner’s security clearance, the fallout from the Michael Cohen hearing, and Mark Meadows’s birtherism.
According to a report in the New York Times, Jared Kushner received his top-secret security clearance because of an “order” by Donald Trump, spurring the White House counsel and chief of staff to compose memos at the time outlining their concerns. In previous interviews with the press where they had been asked about this directly, Trump and Ivanka both seem to have lied. Should Kushner be forced to resign?
Surely you are not suggesting that Jared resign before he unveils his Middle East peace plan!
2/ Ben Stiller as Michael Cohen and Bill Hader as the angry Congressman Jordan in the SNL cold open....seven pretty good minutes...
Ben Stiller once again reprised the role of Michael Cohen as Saturday Night Live‘s cold open spoofed the former Trump lawyer and fixer’s testimony to the Congressional Oversight Committee.
“Now, for any other president, this hearing would be the most damning and humiliating of their lives,” Kenan Thompson’s Elijah Cummings said. “But for Trump, it’s just Wednesday, so please welcome our witness, Mr. Michael Cohen.”
Stiller’s Cohen then delivered his opening statement, co-written by the screenwriter of Green Book. “In conclusion, I know that I was wrong, and I know it because I got caught,” the lawyer said. “For too many years, I was loyal to a man when I should not have been. Now I know how Khloe Kardashian feels.
3/ Interesting article from Eric Levitz about the right's climate denial - but what happens when they accept it? When the food starts to run out, and climate refugees start to pour across borders? Scary stuff, and the scenarios are plausible....
Warming’s coming. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images
The reality of climate change has a well-known liberal bias.
Once you accept that the (so-called) free market’s price signals have guided humanity to the brink of destruction, laissez-faire conservatism becomes a filthy joke. And once you recognize that industrial policy in India could determine the fate of your grandchildren — just as the past century of industrial policy in the developed world has (literally) shifted the ground beneath Bangladesh’s feet — jingoistic nationalism becomes a childish indulgence.
4/ Ever wonder how they get the food in food commercials to look so yummy? Watch this three minute expose, and you
won't be so impressed! Interesting how they do it....
5/ A most interesting story from Vox that makes the case that John Oliver's show "Last Week Tonight" has shaped out TV comedy scene for the better...a quote from the article....
But actual information — lucid, fact-checked information — delivered watchably can feel in short supply on the small screen; a thorough investigation that takes the audience’s intelligence seriously and lasts more than a few minutes is increasingly rare.
So a lot of the deeper analysis has increasingly fallen to comedy shows, and Last Week Tonight — which by its very nature can’t cover things as they are happening, since it only airs once per week — has figured out a way to make the news entertaining without making it merely entertaining.
Here at DDD we try to sift through the week's comedic reporting and present the good ones....and a lot of the time it's Oliver's pieces....
6/ SNL Weekend Update skit on delicious meat from stupid animals....Kate McKinnon can't hold it together, very amusing....three minutes...
This show has a way of making the impossible seem mundane on a weekly basis. We just take it for granted that SNL can do the equivalent of walking across a tightrope while also juggling flaming swords while also blindfolded. That’s what producing a live show in this manner essentially entails. When the seams show, usually it means things have broken down. In this case, Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant confront the oncoming iceberg head-on and manage to steer the ship away from disaster. The results? One of the single funniest segments of any episode this season, all thanks to some surprisingly pungent meats.
That same tension suffused this “Weekend Update” segment from the moment Bryant noted the incredible smell coming from the meat basket prop. The fumes, giggles, and near-gagging soon became contagious. I don’t know how the sausage is made (pun intended) on show night, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn this was a different meat basket from dress rehearsal, and most likely not intended to break the two performers in the same way SNL would replace the cue cards to mess up Hader while performing Stefan.
7/ Yup....this is what happened...
8/ This SNL piece was cut for time, but it's three hilarious minutes.....Senator Diane Feinstein, kids and the Green New Deal....
A “Saturday Night Live” video cut from the show because of time constraints this weekend is not doomed to obscurity.
The show posted on its YouTube page the video that takes a jab at Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for her painfully awkward exchange last month with children on the Green New Deal.
Cecily Strong portrays Feinstein as she tries to make amends for her earlier encounter with students. She discusses the Green New Deal with youngsters but repeatedly needs “do-overs.”
9/ Fascinating article about how the solutions to the financial crisis in 2008 spawned even greater inequality and unfairness in our society....this was in the UK's Financial Times, and it's in full because they have a paywall....but read it, you'll learn something about the real reason the banks were bailed out in 2008 - to keep the elites from suffering....
Is Ben Bernanke the father of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Not in the literal sense, obviously, but in the philosophical and political sense.
As we mark the 10th anniversary of the bull market, it is worth considering whether the efforts of the US Federal Reserve, under Mr Bernanke’s leadership, to avoid 1930s-style debt deflation ended up spawning a new generation of socialists, such as the freshman Congresswoman Ms Ocasio-Cortez, in the home of global capitalism.
Mr Bernanke’s unorthodox “cash for trash” scheme, otherwise known as quantitative easing, drove up asset prices and bailed out baby boomers at the profound political cost of pricing out millennials from that most divisive of asset markets, property. This has left the former comfortable, but the latter with a fragile stake in the society they are supposed to build.
As we look towards the 2020 US presidential election, could Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s leftwing politics become the anthem of choice for America’s millennials?
But before we look forward, it is worth going back a bit. The 2008 crash itself didn’t destroy wealth, but rather revealed how much wealth had already been destroyed by poor decisions taken in the boom. This underscored the truism that the worst of investments are often taken in the best of times.
Recommended FT Magazine Simon Kuper Edward Snowden and the millennial conscience Mr Bernanke, a keen student of the 1930s, understood that a “balance sheet recession” must be combated by reflating assets. By exchanging old bad loans on the banks’ balance sheets with good new money, underpinned by negative interest rates, the Fed drove asset prices skywards. Higher valuations fixed balance sheets and ultimately coaxed more spending and investment. However, such “hyper-trickle-down” economics also meant that wealth inequality was not the unintended consequence, but the objective, of policy.
Soaring asset prices, particularly property prices, drive a wedge between those who depend on wages for their income and those who depend on rents and dividends. This wages versus rents-and-dividends game plays out generationally, because the young tend to be asset-poor and the old and the middle-aged tend to be asset-rich. Unorthodox monetary policy, therefore, penalises the young and subsidises the old.
When asset prices rise much faster than wages, the average person falls further behind. Their stake in society weakens. The faster this new asset-fuelled economy grows, the greater the gap between the insiders with a stake and outsiders without. This threatens a social contract based on the notion that the faster the economy grows, the better off everyone becomes.
What then? Well, politics shifts.
Notwithstanding Winston Churchill’s observation about a 20-year-old who isn’t a socialist not having a heart, and a 40-year-old who isn’t a capitalist having no head, polling indicates a significant shift in attitudes compared with prior generations.
According to the Pew Research Center, American millennials (defined as those born between 1981 and 1996) are the only generation in which a majority (57 per cent) hold “mostly/consistently liberal” political views, with a mere 12 per cent holding more conservative beliefs.
Fifty-eight per cent of millennials express a clear preference for big government. Seventy-nine per cent of millennials believe immigrants strengthen the US, compared to just 56 per cent of baby boomers. On foreign policy, millennials (77 per cent) are far more likely than boomers (52 per cent) to believe that peace is best ensured by good diplomacy rather than military strength. Sixty-seven per cent want the state to provide universal healthcare, and 57 per cent want higher public spending and the provision of more public services, compared with 43 per cent of baby boomers. Sixty-six per cent of millennials believe that the system unfairly favours powerful interests.
One battle ground for the new politics is the urban property market. While average hourly earnings have risen in the US by just 22 per cent over the past 9 years, property prices have surged across US metropolitan areas. Prices have risen by 34 per cent in Boston, 55 per cent in Houston, 67 per cent in Los Angeles and a whopping 96 per cent in San Francisco. The young are locked out.
Similar developments in the UK have produced comparable political generational divides. If only the votes of the under-25s were counted in the last UK general election, not a single Conservative would have won a seat.
Ten years ago, faced with the real prospect of another Great Depression, Mr Bernanke launched QE to avoid mass default. Implicitly, he was underwriting the wealth of his own generation, the baby boomers. Now the division of that wealth has become a key battleground for the next election with people such as Ms Ocasio-Cortez arguing that very high incomes should be taxed at 70 per cent.
For the purist, capitalism without default is a bit like Catholicism without hell. But we have confession for a reason. Everyone needs absolution. QE was capitalism’s confessional. But what if the day of reckoning was only postponed? What if a policy designed to protect the balance sheets of the wealthy has unleashed forces that may lead to the mass appropriation of those assets in the years ahead?
10/ A painfully funny SNL game show What's That Name", with Bill Hader as the MC.....if you have a quirky sense of humour you'll love this....seven minutes...
SNL has done this sketch in the past with hosts such as Justin Timberlake and Paul Rudd, but all of them have been leading up to this installment. While earlier versions where great, this is next-level brilliant. I don’t want to imply this sketch series has a mythology, but every question anyone could possibly have about the logic of this self-contained universe has been answered at this point. It’s the Avengers: Endgame of the FGSU (Fake Game Show Universe)
Bill Hader, who also appeared in the cold open, demonstrates why he’s a first-ballot All-Time SNL cast member, serving as game show host/chaos agent Vince Blight. Hader isn’t doing anything particularly different from previous times serving in this capacity, but the specificity of backstory and intent are crystallized in this outing. Blight isn’t simply content to let the contestants hang themselves on national television. Now, he’s content to let his ulterior motives bubble to the surface, completely confident that laying his plans bare will have no affect on his ability to make the world burn. He is equal parts host of The Joker’s Wild and The Joker himself. It’s a bananas performance, one that undoubtedly will make fans of the show miss seeing him each week on their television. (Quick pitch: If/when Hader does host again, let there please be a sketch featuring Blight’s cadre of problematic bachelors, The Squad.)
11/ Movies coming to the SXSW show, lots of comedy and horror....
It’s got premieres of rom-coms, raunch-coms, fem-coms, a few regular ol’ coms, a WTF movie starring a rum-soaked Matthew McDonaughey and the single most anticipated second film since Pulp Fiction. You like music docs? How about a whole sidebar of ’em, including ones on Lil Peep, Johnny Cash, boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman, CREEM Magazine, a legendary rock photographer and a guitarist who’s devoted his life to playing like Jimmy Page? Follow-up question: How does the idea of walking out of an early preview of a Hollywood blockbuster-to-be, the kind that features A-list stars, and then walking a few blocks to see a movie that was filmed on a phone and cost about as much as a weekend bar tab?
This is what you’ll get when you go to the 2019 edition of SXSW, the Austin, Texas-based film festival that began as an offshoot of the multi-tentacled music/tech/interactive/etc. event and has, over the years, transformed itself into the sort of destination fest you plan vacations around.
12/ The trailer for "Game of Thrones" - Season 8....two highly anticipated minutes....
And Colbert's one minute version "Shame of Thrones".....amusing!
13/ Weekend Update looks at Michael Cohen's testimony....a very good four minutes....
Colin Jost kicked off Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” this week by comparing Michael Cohen to the “chubby sewer rat” who got stuck in a manhole. “It’s this creature that usually seems gross, but under these circumstances, it’s kind of adorable and you almost feel sorry for it,” he said.
Michael Che, on the other hand, was less sympathetic. “I’m tired of Michael Cohen’s whole damsel in distress routine,” he said. “‘Oh, Mr. Trump took advantage of me, I guess I’m a fool.’ Ugh, you stole the United States presidency, why are you acting like a bitch now?”
“Your voice wasn’t trembling when you was threatening school teachers and shaking down porn stars,” he continued. “I want to hear that guy talk to Congress! At least Donald Trump has the decency to slowly fall apart until he’s dragged off in handcuffs like a boss. I mean, that’s how I want to leave SNL.”
Todays gymnastics video - Katelin Ohashi's two minute perfect 10 floor exercise.....she just looks so happy!
Todays brave man jokes [apologies in advance ladies, these are pretty bad]
How do you turn a fox into an elephant?
Marry It!
What is the difference between a battery and a woman?
A battery has a positive side.
Why is the space between a woman's breasts and her hips called a waist?
Because you could easily fit another pair in there..
How do you make 5 pounds of fat look good?
Put a nipple on it.
Why do women fake orgasms ?
Because they think men care.
What do you say to a woman with 2 black eyes?
Nothing, she's been told twice already.
If your wife keeps coming out of the kitchen to nag at you, what have you done wrong?
Made her chain too longWhy is a Laundromat a really bad place to pick up a woman?
Because a woman who can't even afford a washing machine will probably never be able to support you.
Why do women have smaller feet than men?
It's one of those 'evolutionary things' that allows them to stand closer to the kitchen sink.
Why do men pass gas more than women?
Because women can't shut up long enough to build up the required pressure.
If your dog is barking at the back door and your wife is yelling at the front door, who do you let in first ?
The dog, of course. He'll shut up once you let him in.
Scientists have discovered a food that diminishes a woman's sex drive by 90%..
It's called a Wedding Cake.
Why do men die before their wives?
They want to.
Send this to a few good men who need a laugh and to the select few women who don't own a gun.
Todays married life joke
Husband takes the wife to a disco.
There's a guy on the dance floor living it large - break dancing, moon walking, back flips, the works.
The wife turns to her husband and says: "See that guy?
25 years ago he proposed to me and I turned him down."
Husband says: "Looks like he's still celebrating!!!
Todays Welsh joke
Ventriloquist visiting Wales walks into a small village and sees a local sitting on his porch patting his dog. He figures he'll have a little fun, so he says to the Welshman.'Hiya, mind if I talk to your dog?'
Villager: 'The dog doesn't talk, you stupid English *****.Ventriloquist: 'Hello dog, how's it going mate?'
Dog: 'Yeah, doing all right.'
Welshman: (look of extreme shock)
Ventriloquist: 'Is this villager your owner?' (pointing at the villager)
Dog: 'Yep.'
Ventriloquist: 'How does he treat you?'
Dog: 'Yeah, real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food and takes me to the lake once a week to play.'
Welshman: (look of utter disbelief)
Ventriloquist: 'Mind if I talk to your horse?'
Welshman: 'Uh, the horse doesn't talk either... I think.'
Ventriloquist: 'Hey horse, how's it going?'
Horse: 'Cool.'
Welshman: (absolutely dumbfounded)
Ventriloquist: 'Is this your owner?' (Pointing at the villager)
Horse: 'Yep.
Ventriloquist: 'How does he treat you?'
Horse: 'Pretty good, thanks for asking. He rides me regularly, brushes me down often and keeps me in the shed to protect me from the elements.'
Welshman: (total look of amazement)
Ventriloquist: 'Mind if I talk to your sheep?'
Welshman: (in a panic) 'The sheep's a liar......!!....
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