1/ Andrew Sullivan with three topics - an insightful look at Pete Buttigieg, Brexit and the Mueller report.....
You might not agree with Sullivan on everything but he is an excellent, logical writer.....
Mayor Pete Buttigieg at a West Hollywood fundraiser last month. Photo: Allison Zaucha/The Washington Post/Getty Images
One of the reasons I thought Donald Trump would win in 2016 was not just that he was focusing on the core issues roiling the middle classes (immigration and globalization). It was because he had the perfect foil for his persona in Hillary Clinton. Trump was fresh to politics, anti-Establishment, an outsider, populist, alpha male, and nationalist, with a base primed to despise Clinton. Clinton had been in power forever, was pure Establishment, a total insider, globalist, alpha female, predictable, with a base stunned by Trump. It was the kind of contrast Trump longed for, and it was a central element in his success. And these matchups matter. Trump is widely unpopular by himself. He will need a good foil to win in a binary race.
2/ A major story from the Times - an investigation into the Murdoch empire.....it's long but essential reading if you want to understand what has happened to this country and indeed the world.....excellent journalism, and will make you truly hate the Murdochs even more........
Rupert Murdoch was lying on the floor of his cabin, unable to move. It was January 2018, and Murdoch and his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, were spending the holidays cruising the Caribbean on his elder son Lachlan’s yacht. Lachlan had personally overseen the design of the 140-foot sloop — named Sarissa after a long and especially dangerous spear used by the armies of ancient Macedonia — ensuring that it would be suitable for family vacations while also remaining competitive in superyacht regattas. The cockpit could be transformed into a swimming pool. The ceiling in the children’s cabin became an illuminated facsimile of the nighttime sky, with separate switches for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. A detachable board for practicing rock climbing, a passion of Lachlan’s, could be set up on the deck. But it was not the easiest environment for an 86-year-old man to negotiate. Murdoch tripped on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
3/ Seth Meyers with "A Closer Look" at the Mueller report's investigators speaking out....a pretty good seven minutes....
4/ You may have an image of Theresa May in your mind, but read this column from someone who knows her personally....scary....
My first attempt to charm Theresa May was eight years ago, in the grand surroundings of the State Dining Room in Downing Street, where a couple of hundred women had been invited to a reception for International Women’s Day. Mrs. May, then the home secretary, arrived to the event late and perched by a table looking uncomfortable and alone. She was the only minister not surrounded by a jostling crowd. I told a gaggle of female correspondents that I was going to talk to her. “Don’t bother,” they said. “She’s a blank wall. She never tells you anything.”
5/ The excellent Sam Bee on the latest assaults on Roe Vs Wade....good comedic reporting....five minutes....
Samantha Bee dove into the anti-abortion debate and the carnival of absurdities in the race to overturn Roe v. Wade in a Full Frontal segment on Wednesday.
The Christian anti-abortion drama Unplanned was released this month, and while Bee wastes no time in dunking on its hilarious portrayal of Planned Parenthood as a vengeful Bond villain – “No matter where you go, no matter where you hide, I will give you health care” – she acknowledges that the film has disturbing political relevance; Vice President Mike Pence recently gave Unplanned a shout-out on Twitter.
6/ Excellent story from a British journalist in the Guardian on why the Brits are stumbling toward economic suicide....it's in the English character!
t could conceivably have happened on any day over the past couple of years, but my own peak of anger about Brexit and its absurdities arrived last Wednesday. Jacob Rees-Mogg was in the Commons chamber, making quips about the fact that another Conservative MP had been to Winchester rather than Eton (“My honourable friend makes a characteristically Wykehamist point – highly intelligent, but fundamentally wrong” – how we all laughed).
7/ The wonderful Tom Tomorrow...
8/ Stephen Colbert on Trump's imaginary health care plan....an amusing five minutes....
9/ You probably don't watch professional wrestling but maybe you used to, so this John Oliver comedic reporting on the WWE and Vince McMahon
may interest you.....23 minutes....
John Oliver is a professional wrestling fan, a fact he gleefully cited on Last Week Tonight. But he’s disgusted by how promoter World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has treated its wrestlers over the years — from intense work schedules to limited health benefits. With WrestleMania, the company’s flagship event, set for April 7th, the comedian devoted the main segment of Sunday’s show to this subject — focusing on the controversial business practices of WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
Oliver opened with a summary of the WWE’s “monopoly” on the wrestling industry, which includes one billion social media followers, two popular cable shows, a streaming network, multiple reality shows, video games and a film studio. In 2018, the company generated $930.2 billion in revenue.
10/ You may not realize how badly the rains have devastated parts of the Midwest, so this story from the Times will open your eyes....
And the flooding isn't over....
CORNING, Mo. — The widespread, severe flooding in the Midwest over the last month has exposed the vulnerabilities in a levee systemthat is now so full of holes that many here ruefully describe it as “Swiss cheese.”
With dozens of costly breaks across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and nearby states, the surging waters have left large areas without even cursory flood protection.
“Breaches everywhere: multiple, multiple breaches,” said Tom Bullock, the top elected official in Holt County, Mo., where crews were rushing last week to patch a leaking levee that, if it failed completely, would flood the small town of Fortescue.
And with the fear of more floods in the coming years — and perhaps even the coming weeks — many people said living and farming near the water might not be viable much longer without major changes.
11/ Mad Guac - a Mad Max parody that focuses on avocados if Trump closes the border....one minute....from Colbert!
12/ Older people are at much greater risk from drugs than younger people, but are routinely prescribed massive doses of everything.....
Stay healthy. Question everything, even antibiotics....
Last month, Caryn Isaacs went to see her primary care doctor for her annual Medicare wellness visit. A patient advocate who lives in Manhattan, Ms. Isaacs, 68, felt perfectly fine and expected a clean bill of health.
But her doctor, who’d ordered a variety of blood and urine tests, said she had a urinary tract infection and prescribed an antibiotic.
“The nurse said, ‘Can you take Cipro?’” Ms. Isaacs recalled. “I didn’t have any reason not to, so I said yes.”
There are actually plenty of reasons for older people to avoid Cipro and other antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, which have prompted warnings from the Food and Drug Administration about their risks of serious side effects.
13/ The Times lists the best movies on Amazon Prime.....lot's of familiar films, but many you may have missed.....good article....
Todays rude Newfie joke
A fight breaks out at a Newfoundland wedding, chairs are flying and women are crying.The police show up and arrest all the men involved in the scuffle.
They all are brought to the courthouse and all you hear is chatter."Order in my court", screams the judge. "Can someone come up and please explain what happened?Johnny speaks up, "Well you sees judge, at a Newfie wedding, its tradition for the
first mate to have a dance with the bride. So I gets up there and I'm dancing with the bride. She was grinding up on me, you see, and Tommy, the groom, didn't take too kindly to that. So Tommy walks up and kicks her right in the pussy !!!"
"Right in the pussy"? The judge cringes as he says, "That must have hurt."Johnny says, "Hurt ? Broke three of me fingers."
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