1/. Andrew Sullivan on the abject failure of Nancy Pelosi.....ingnore the Maureen Dowd hype, she is a terrible Speaker for the Democratic Party - spineless
where we need some leadership....
Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
I suspect many of us voted for the Democrats last fall because we wanted a serious check on President Trump’s intensifying authoritarianism. That includes many of us who don’t support the far left’s takeover of the Democrats, but who saw the urgency of an opposition with teeth, confronted as we are by a deranged, tyrannical bully in the White House. What would happen if the Mueller Report emerged with a Republican House still intact, we worried? How could we begin to investigate Trump’s tax returns, or his cronies’ corruption, or his foul pedophile friends, or his murky real estate money-laundering, if Paul Ryan, the Randian eunuch from Wisconsin, were still in charge?
It turns out, six months later, that on all these topics, the Democratic House majority didn’t matter much at all. Whenever a serious administration abuse of power seems to demand investigation, Speaker Pelosi springs almost instantly into inaction. There is nothing she won’t not do.
2/. Frank Rich on the Epstein scandal.....excellent as always...
Acosta at Wednesday’s press conference. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/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, how far the Jeffrey Epstein prosecution might be able to reach.
In the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s indictment in New York, a number of powerful people formerly in Epstein’s orbit — Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, Bill Clinton, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and Donald Trump — have been scrambling in the face of renewed scrutiny. What will Acosta’s exit and the new Epstein prosecution shake up, and what might they not be able to change?
Perhaps at long last a serial rapist and pedophile may be brought to justice, more than a dozen years after he was first charged with crimes that have brutalized countless girls and women. But what won’t change is this: the bipartisan cesspool of elites, many of them in New York, that allowed Epstein to flourish with impunity all these years.
3/. Excellent story from WaPo on Trump and climate change denial....
Fifty or 100 years from now, we may well say that President Trump’s concerted effort to exacerbate climate change — and that’s precisely what it is — was the single worst thing he did in a presidency full of horrors. A new report from the New York Times gives new details about just how diabolical his administration’s actions have been:
In the next few months, the White House will complete the rollback of the most significant federal effort to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, initiated during the Obama administration
4/. In an ideal world, or at least in a world where there wasn't the depth of corruption we have now, Florida would have building codes that would mandate every house in the "Sunshine State" have solar panels......but not only is this not happening, there are major obstacles to putting solar on your house....and it's because the Florida utility companies own your Republican politicians.
This is how they do it, from the Times....
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida calls itself the Sunshine State. But when it comes to the use of solar power, it trails 19 states, including not-so-sunny Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Maryland.
Solar experts and environmentalists blame the state’s utilities.
The utilities have hindered potential rivals seeking to offer residential solar power. They have spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying, ad campaigns and political contributions. And when homeowners purchase solar equipment, the utilities have delayed connecting the systems for months.
5/. The amusing "Honest Trailers" does Terminator 2.....a pretty good one, five minutes....
6/. If I wasn't the age I am this would be me.....suffering from "climate despair"....as it is I'm sad enough, but super sorry for everyone younger...
GRETA THUNBERG, THE YOUNG SWEDISH ACTIVIST WHO HAS SPOKEN ABOUT HER STRUGGLES WITH DEPRESSION.
In the summer of 2015—the warmest year on record at the time—it was the literal heat that got to Meg Ruttan Walker, a 37-year-old former teacher in Kitchener, Ontario. "Summers have been stressful to me since having my son," said Ruttan Walker, who is now an environmental activist. "It's hard to enjoy a season that's a constant reminder that the world is getting warmer."
"I think my anxiety just reached a peak," Ruttan Walker continued. It felt like there was nowhere to go, and although she had spoken to her primary care doctor about anxiety, she hadn't sought help with her mental health. Suddenly, she was contemplating self-harm.
7/. John Oliver with one of his excellent comedic reporting segments, this one on Amazon and how they are gradually changing [destroying] the retail industry.....a very good 19 minutes....
8/. Most interesting story from Umair about what happens when the middle class is threatened.....
There’s something that people — especially pundits — are always surprised by, which doesn’t surprise me in the least. “Trump voters (Brexiters, the European fringe right) aren’t the poorest people in society! Why, they’re middle class, even sometimes affluent!!”
Now. What are we to make of this? Let’s leave aside the fact that not once in human history have we seen fascism arise during good economic times — only during depressions. What does history tell us about the rise of fascism?
9/. The billionaire that owns Home Depot loves Trump and is giving him millions in 2020.....Lowes or Ace for me....
Some Home Depot shoppers are calling for a boycott of the retailer after billionaire co-founder Bernie Marcus pledged to donate to President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, reports Business Insider.
Marcus is an active supporter of Trump’s, contributing $7 million to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and $7.9 million to Republican candidates, committees, and PACs in the 2018 midterms (outspending any other Republican-endorsing private citizen in the latter election cycle), according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In June, Marcus told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he will donate more of his vast wealth — estimated at $4.55 billion — to Trump’s reelection effort, saying of Trump’s presidency, “I would say that we are better off today than we were eight years ago or six years ago.”
10/. Trump in Asia - Bad Lip Reading.....some of this may be true, especially the Ivanka bits.....painfully funny, and the pain is from watching this moron for five minutes....
11/. Matt Taibbi on Ross Perot who just died.....interesting summary of this controversial billionaire....
Everyone laughed at Ross Perot. If the biggest third-party threat to the presidency since the Bull Moose Party hadn’t existed, late-night comics would have invented him.
In the early nineties, when Perot took on Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush for the presidency and became a political phenom, Perot impersonations were the rage. Dana Carvey doing Perot doing Neil Diamond after Perot’s famed 1993 NAFTA debate with Vice President Al Gore was a hit (“You don’t bring me flowers… Yer not listenin’!”). Jim Carrey doing Perot doing Steve Martin was more risqué (“You every notice how there’s no blacks, Jews, or Puerto Ricans on The Jetsons? Future looks pretty bright, dudn’t it?”). I remember seeing standup acts in New York at the time and Perot was mandatory. He was America’s punchline.
12/. It's rare to read such a rave review of a TV show, but "Years and Years" on HBO got these accolades.
Mary and I have watched three episodes, and it's incredibly good......
Idon’t feel we deserve Russell T Davies. We don’t deserve his talent, his generosity, his glee, his unabashed joy in everything. And we don’t deserve his ceaseless willingness to pour them all out before us in endlessly glorious TV dramas, from his singlehanded resurrection of Doctor Who to Queer as Folk, last year’s magnificent A Very English Scandal – and now, Years and Years.
The new six-part drama on BBC One follows the fortunes of three generations of one Manchester family, the Lyons, from 2019 through to 2034. The intertwined personal lives of close-knit siblings Stephen (financial adviser and loving family man, played by Rory Kinnear); Daniel (Russell Tovey), a housing officer who realises his husband Ralph is not the man he should have married; Rosie (a fun-loving single mother, with none of the stereotyping that implies – she has spina bifida – played by Ruth Madeley); and political activist Edith (played by Jessica Hynes). Together with various offspring and their grandma Muriel (Anne Reid), it is all played out against a bleak backdrop that sketches out our (realistically) imagined future.
Todays military joke
Years ago, a young Navy Pilot was injured while ejecting from his A-4 Skyhawk
due to engine failure during a catapult shot from the carrier. Due to the heroics
of rescue helicopter crew and the ship's hospital staff, the only permanent
injury was the loss of one ear.
He remained on flight status and eventually became an Admiral.
However, during his career he was always sensitive about his appearance.
One day the Admiral was interviewing two Navy Master Chiefs and a Marine
Sergeant Major for his personal staff. The first Master Chief was a Surface
Navy type and it was a great interview. At the end of the interview the Admiral
asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?"
The Master Chief answered, "Why, yes, Admiral. I couldn't help but notice that
you are missing your starboard ear, so I don't know whether this impacts
your hearing on that side."
The Admiral got very angry at this lack of tact and threw him out of his office.
The next candidate, an Aviation Master Chief, when asked this same question,
answered, "Well yes, Sir, you seem to be short one ear."
The Admiral threw him out as well.
The third interview was with the Marine Sergeant Major. He was articulate,
extremely sharp, and seemed to know more than the two Navy Master Chiefs
put together. The Admiral wanted this guy but went ahead with the same
question. "Do you notice anything different about me?"
To his surprise, the Sergeant Major said, "Yes Sir. You wear contact lenses."
The Admiral, impressed thought to himself, what an incredibly tactful
Marine. "And how would you know that?" the Admiral asked.
The Sergeant Major replied: "Well, sir, it's pretty hard to wear glasses with
only one ear. "
Todays Chicago joke
Bob was sitting on the plane,waiting to fly to Chicago, when a guy took the seat beside him. The guy was an emotional wreck, pale, hands shaking, obviously in fear.
"What's the matter," Bob asked, "flying bother you?"
"No, I've been transferred to Chicago. I've heard things are terrible there. They've got lots of shootings, gangs, race riots, drugs, poor public schools, and the highest crime rate in the nation."
Bob replied, "I've lived in Chicago all my life. It's not as bad as the media says. Find a nice home, go to work, mind your own business, and enroll your kids in a nice private school. It's as safe a place as you want to make it.
The guy relaxed and stopped shaking, and said, "Oh, thank you. I've been worried to death. But, if you live there and say it's OK, I'll take your word for it. What do you do for a living?
"I'm a tail gunner on a Budweiser truck."
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