1/ Frank Rich on how Trump now feels he is above the law....
That invincible feeling. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock
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 start of Russia’s interference in the 2020 campaign, the prospects of Michael Bloomberg’s post-debate recovery, and Trump’s pardon spree.
The House Intelligence Committee was recently briefed that Russia has already begun interfering in the 2020 campaign “to try to get President Trump re-elected,” according to a report in the New York Times. In response, Trump apparently replaced the acting director of national intelligence with a loyalist. Is this the intelligence community’s Bill Barr moment?
It has not even been three weeks since the Republican Senate acquitted Trump, ratifying his belief that he is above the law. In that brief time, he has conducted a political purge in the White House, let felons with personal connections to him out of jail, and now this: squelching his intelligence chiefs’ warnings of Russia’s efforts to further his reelection campaign, a de facto collusion with Vladimir Putin to betray American democracy.
https://nymag.com/
2/ Trevor Noah with some excellent commentary on last night's contentious Democratic debate.....a most amusing 13 minutes....
3/ So where are we with climate change? Yes we've had a bad year but things are stable right now [apart from Australia burning] aren't they, so other matters have our attention. This is why this article from Bill McKibben is so useful, as he summaries the current situation and says we have no more than 10 years to avoid catastrophe. He also takes a realistic look at whether we will mitigate the worst effects, because to get action we are up against the most powerful and wealthiest industry on the planet - fossil fuels.
And they don't care.....
This year began with huge bushfires in southeastern Australia that drove one community after another into temporary exile, killed an estimated billion animals, and turned Canberra’s air into the dirtiest on the planet. The temperatures across the continent broke records—one day, the average high was above 107 degrees, and the humidity so low that forests simply exploded into flames. The photos of the disaster were like something out of Hieronymus Bosch, with crowds gathered on beaches under blood-red skies, wading into the water as their only refuge from the flames licking nearby. But such scenes are only a chaotic reminder of what is now happening every hour of every day.
4/ Interesting and informative column about Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister and how he has used the tactics on Muslims that Trump wants to use on immigrants.....a scary story of how 1 1/2 billion people have been brainwashed....
“I love Hindu,” Donald Trump proclaimed during his presidential campaign in 2016. That adoration of India’s majority population, and America’s richest and most obviously pro-Trump minority, may have just gotten deeper.
On his first visit to India next week, Mr. Trump claims, he has been promised a welcoming crowd of “10 million” by the country’s Hindu-supremacist prime minister, Narendra Modi. (Never mind that the total population of the city where Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump plan to hold a joint rally is a little over eight million.)
5/ Here in Lake County we are having an issue with a Confederate statue being relocated to the County museum in Tavares....this has sparked many protests, but the County Commission refuses to touch the issue.
Jim Jeffries the Australian comedian looked at this subject a couple of years ago, and it's vey good.....four minutes...
6/ Jeff Bezos said he would pledge $10 billion to climate change, but as David Wallace-Wells says it sounds like a lot but is actually the tiniest of drops in the bucket needed - only governments can fight this battle....
Photo: Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images
The most important thing about Jeff Bezos’s commitment, announced Monday, to donate $10 billion dollars “to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share” is the scale. $10 billion is, by just about any standard, an enormous amount of money.
7/ A classic SNL skit with Bill Hader - "What's My Name".....a very funny five minutes.....
8/ A look at the upcoming election and what it represents, the last chance for our democracy - and the candidates from Umair's unique point of view...
Most interesting....
You don’t have to look too hard to see the parlous state of the American left. OK, it’s true — there’s not really an American “left”, so let’s just use the term lightly, to mean “Democrats.”
Now, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Democracy’s life is on the line.
There’s a Prez who by now has fulfilled all the worst prophecies of people like me, and then some. Do you remember just a scant few years when a small group of us (and by us I mean intellectuals, public figures, authors, etc) began to warn that this was the path to authoritarianism and fascism? https://eand.co/do-
9/ Matt Gaetz is Florida's most obnoxious Congressman, a Trump toadie to the max, but his opponent Phil Ehr in the 2020 election has just come out
with a great commercial.....two minutes of a Democrat with a spine....
10/ Remember the stories last week about the obesity epidemic? Read how Chile tackled the consumption of sugary drinks....and it worked!
But it will never happen here, our system is way too corrupt....
Four years after Chile embraced the world’s most sweeping measures to combat mounting obesity, a partial verdict on their effectiveness is in: Chileans are drinking a lot fewer sugar-laden beverages, according to study published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine.
Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks dropped nearly 25 percent in the 18 months after Chile adopted a raft of regulations that included advertising restrictions on unhealthy foods, bold front-of-package warning labels and a ban on junk food in schools. During the same period, researchers recorded a five percent increase in purchases of bottled water, diet soft drinks and fruit juices without added sugar.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/
11/ Another classic SNL skit "Career Day" with Adam Driver and Pete Davidson......a weirdly funny five minutes...
12/ A moving and pertinent story about a couple [64 and 74] who have come to terms with climate change by accepting it, and that the worst effects will be after they have gone so it's someone else fight. I suppose you could call this attitude irresponsible, but what else can you think when half the country is in total denial that there is a problem, and you know deep down that no matter what you individually do, it won't make any difference.....
So maybe this is a healthy attitude? You decide.....
Last year was when the endless bush fires in Australia convinced me and my wife, Susan, that climate change was unstoppable. It’s also when we realized that we likely will avoid seeing the worst of the climate emergency.
At 64 and 74 years of age, my wife and I believe there’s a good chance that we’ll be gone before coastal cities are flooded, the ice caps have melted, and the planet descends into a “Mad Max” dystopia.
13/ An anguished story from an Australian on how things have NOT got back to normal after the devastating fires.....their climate disaster has changed the country....
Some great pictures in this story.
RAINBOW FLAT, Australia — Standing in thick mud between burned trees and a concrete slab where his house had been, Peter Ruprecht admitted that he was not sure how or when to rebuild.
He was still dizzied by what Australia’s increasingly volatile climate had already delivered: first a drought, then a devastating bush fire, then a foot of rain from a tropical storm.
“It’s unstoppable,” said Mr. Ruprecht, a former dairy farmer. “We speak about the warmth of Mother Nature, but nature can also be vicious and wild and unforgiving.”
14/ The best TV on Netflix.....
Photo: CBS, Netflix and AMC
This post is updated frequently as TV shows leave and enter Netflix. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
We’ve already broken down the 100 best movies that you can watch on Netflix right now, but maybe you don’t like movies? Maybe you’re in the mood for a new TV series to binge or a classic you haven’t seen in a generation?
Todays video - time for some Clint moments......four minutes of some internet guys' opinion of his five greatest scenes.....
Todays Redneck Jokes
Southern Boys Will Never Say30. When I retire, I'm movin' North.29. I'll take Shakespeare for $1000, Alex.28. Duct tape won't fix that.27. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken with a slice of lime.26. We don't keep no guns in this house.25. You can't feed that to the dog.24. No kids in the back of the pickup, it's just not safe.23. Wrestling is fake.22. We're vegetarians.21. Do you think my gut is too big?20. I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits, grits, and gravy.19. Honey, we don't need another dog.18. Who gives a rip who won the Civil War?17. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.16. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.15. I just couldn't find a thing at Wal-Mart today.14. Trim the fat off that steak.13. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.12. The tires on that truck are too dang big.11. I've got it all on the C: DRIVE.10. Unsweetened tea tastes better.9. My fiancée, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany's.8. I've got two cases of Blue Moon iced down for the Super Bowl.7. Checkmate!6. She's too young to be wearing that bikini.5. Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" that we haven't seen.4. I don't have a favorite football team.3. "Youse Guys"2. Those cutoffs ought to be a little longer, Betty Mae.And the Number One Thing That You Will Never Hear a Southern Boy Say: 1. Nope, no more beer for me. I'm driving a whole busload of us down to help in the Elizabeth Warren Campaign
Todays senior jokes
BIRTH CONTROL FOR GRANDMA
The doctor that had been
seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally
retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her
to bring a list of all the medicines that had been
prescribed for her.
As the doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realized
seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally
retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her
to bring a list of all the medicines that had been
prescribed for her.
As the doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realized
Grandma had a prescription for birth control pills.
"Mrs. Smith, do you
realize these are BIRTH CONTROL Pills?
"Yes, they help me sleep at night."
"Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that could
possibly help you sleep!"
She reached out and patted the young Doctor's knee...."Yes, dear, I
know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in
the glass of orange juice that my 16 year old granddaughter
drinks. and believe me, it definitely helps me sleep at
night."
You gotta Love Grandmas
"Mrs. Smith, do you
realize these are BIRTH CONTROL Pills?
"Yes, they help me sleep at night."
"Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that could
possibly help you sleep!"
She reached out and patted the young Doctor's knee...."Yes, dear, I
know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in
the glass of orange juice that my 16 year old granddaughter
drinks. and believe me, it definitely helps me sleep at
night."
You gotta Love Grandmas
THE NICE MAN
BECAME IMPATIENT
A man was riding a bus, minding his own business, when
BECAME IMPATIENT
A man was riding a bus, minding his own business, when
the gorgeous woman next to him started to breast-feed her baby.
The baby wouldn't take it, so she said, "Come on sweetie, eat it all up
or I'll have to give it to this nice man next to us."
Five minutes later, the baby was still not feeding, so
or I'll have to give it to this nice man next to us."
Five minutes later, the baby was still not feeding, so
she said, "Come on, honey. Take it or I'll give it to this
nice man here."
A few minutes later, the anxious man blurted out, "Come on kid.
A few minutes later, the anxious man blurted out, "Come on kid.
Make up your mind! I was supposed to get off four stops
ago!"
ago!"
BIOLOGY EXAM
Students in an advanced
Biology class were taking their mid-term exam. The last
question was, 'Name seven advantages of Mother's
Milk. The question was worth 70 points or none at
all.
One student, was hard
put to think of seven advantages. He wrote:
1) It is perfect formula
for the child.
2) It provides immunity
against several diseases.
3) It is always the
right temperature.
4) It is inexpensive.
5) It bonds the child to
mother, and vice versa.
6) It is always
available as needed.
And then the student was
stuck. Finally, in desperation, just before the bell rang
indicating the end of the test, he wrote:
7) It comes in two
attractive containers and it's high enough off the
ground where the cat can't get it.
He got an A.
A RIDE IN THE TAXI
A woman and her twelve-year-old son were riding in a taxi in Detroit. It was
raining and all the prostitutes were standing under
awnings.
Mom," said he boy, "what are all those women
doing?"
"They're waiting for their husbands to get off work," she
replied.
The taxi driver turns around and says, "Geez lady, why don't you tell him
the Truth? They're hookers, boy! They have sex with men
for money."
The little boy's eyes get wide and he says, "Is that true
Mom?"
His mother, glaring hard
at the driver, answers "Yes".
After a few minutes, the
kid asks, "Mom, if those women have babies, what
happens to them?"
She said, "Most of
them become taxi drivers."
