1/ Frank Rich gives us his opinion on the last debate....
Here’s the deal. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via 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, the final presidential debate of the 2020 campaign.
2/ And of course the final debate from SNL - Jim Carrey as Biden, Alec Baldwin as Trump and Maya Rudolph as the moderator....11 minutes, fairly good
with a couple of decent zingers....
3/ A tough one....NOT!
4/ One of the areas most affected by the pandemic is commercial real estate.....and there's a reckoning coming...
Interesting story...
F
or a decade, Carlos Silva has been gluing, nailing, and re-zippering shoes and boots at Stern Shoe Repair, a usually well-trafficked shop just outside the Metro entrance at Union Station in Washington, D.C. On a typical day, he would arrive at 7 a.m. and stay until 8 p.m., serving the crowds of professionals shuttling by on their way to work. But since the near-shutdown of office work and train travel, he has been closing the shop at 4 p.m. “There is no traffic, my friend. The whole station is dead,” says Silva. “Now it’s only a part-time job.”
5/ Adele was the musical star of SNL last night, but she was also in a parody of "The Bachelor"....an amusing six
minutes......and she is amazing as she runs through some of her biggest hits......
6/ A most interesting story from the Times, that says the real divide in this country is between the politically informed and everyone else.....
I think this story is talking about us [followers of DDD!]
The common view of American politics today is of a clamorous divide between Democrats and Republicans, an unyielding, inevitable clash of harsh partisan polarization.
But that focus obscures another, enormous gulf — the gap between those who follow politics closely and those who don’t. Call it the “attention divide.”
7/ Michael Steele, lifelong Republican is voting for Biden - great ad....
8/ Why does the base stick with Trump when they know full well how awful he is.....this story from the Atlantic tries to explain....
What makes one voter who supported Trump in 2016 decide to support Biden? And what makes another voter — even one who thinks things are going badly — stick around?
9/ SNL - the Weekend Update boys are back to evil jokes on last night's 2 minute segment....
10/ How Republicans have long been anti-science, and this idiot Atlas is in a long line of charlatans that have made
us stupider....because a lot of people believe them....
Dr. Scott Atlas at the podium. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The implosion of the last Republican administration was in large part the story of conservative ideology defeating empiricism. George W. Bush dismissed intelligence and foreign-policy professionals who questioned the Iraq weapons claims and pressed the need to plan for an occupation as small-minded bureaucrats disloyal to his grand vision.
11/ "Vote Him Away", catchy, well sung and lively.....a well done little tune!
12/ Roger Cohen with a sobering column in the Times.....one of the casualties of the past four years is the degradation of our minds....
Trump has coarsened everything including our ability to think and reason....
Among the words or phrases that were never spoken in the two presidential debates were:
Syria, human rights, drones, democracy, inequality, dictatorship, Israel, Palestine, Middle East, United Nations, World Health Organization, Guantánamo, European Union, Britain, Brexit, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Africa (or any single African state), South America, terrorism, multilateral, authoritarianism, alliance.
That’s a pretty good measure of the shrinking of the American mind.
13/ An Immigrant's tale....
14/ Good column from Paul Krugman in the Times....how Republicans can still wreck America...
After 2016, nobody will or should take anything for granted, but at this point Joe Biden is strongly favored to beat Donald Trump, quite possibly by a landslide. However, Trump’s party may still be in a position to inflict enormous damage on America and the world over the next few years.
15/ Cleverly done, amusing toon...."Flush The Turd November 3rd".....literally!
16/ Tom Tomorrow.....Life In The Stupidverse....
17/ SNL's best election ad ever.....
18/ Rolling Stone loves the new Borat movie.....Borat Subsequent Moviefilm....
19/ Weekend Update with Don Jr., Eric and Tiffany....an amusing 4 minutes....
20/ "Totally Under Control", a film documentary that shows how Trump's response to the coronavirus has been a disaster.....streaming on Hulu....
While much of the United States was doing what it could to avoid COVID-19, Alex Gibney was busy making a documentary about the government’s failure to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker has in recent years trained his lens on Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (“The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley”), corporate corruption (“Dirty Money”), Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky (“Citizen K”), the Church of Scientology (“Going Clear”) and other contemporary torments. His prolific output prepared him to chronicle the coronavirus pandemic in real time, directing alongside frequent collaborator Ophelia Harutyunyan and “The Weekly” producer Suzanne Hillinger. The resulting film, “Totally Under Control,” is now available via video-on-demand platforms and will be streaming on Hulu starting Oct. 20.
21/ "My Octopus Teacher" - Mary and I just watched this incredible film, basically to get our minds away from the chaos and dysfunction of our country in this final week, and it's all it lives up to be....a beautiful story, exciting and sad as well.
I unreservedly recommend this.....a Netflix documentary...
22/ Fred Grimm in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel on the next flashpoint for South Florida real estate....insurance....
Environmental writers often employ a banal parable to explain America’s disregard of an existential crisis: Drop a frog into a vat of boiling water and the amphibian leaps to safety. Place the frog in tepid water, gradually increase the heat to 212 degrees, and the creature stays put, oblivious, never grasping the peril.
It’s a lousy example. Toss a frog in scalding water, it dies. Might as well add frog soup to the dinner menu.
Nor does the other option make sense. Not even a frog is idiot enough to hang around once conditions turn painful, no matter how gradual. The comparison is a downright insult to froggie intelligence. It’s the human species, not frogs, who’ve convinced themselves that the cascade of disastrous climate anomalies these last few years do not portend a cataclysm.
Today's marital joke
How men and women record things in their diaries.
Wife's Diary:
Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner.
I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it.
Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much.
I asked him what was wrong; He said, 'Nothing.
I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset.
He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him.
He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.'
When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent.
Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep; I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.
Husband's Diary: A two-foot putt .. who the fuck misses a two-foot putt?
Todays Bubba joke
A gas station owner in Alabama was trying to increase his sales.
So he put up a sign that read, "Free Sex with Fill-Up."
Soon a local redneck pulled in, filled his tank and asked for his free sex.
The owner told him to pick a number from 1 to 10.
If he guessed correctly he would get his free sex.
The redneck guessed 8, and the proprietor said, "You were close. The number was 7. Sorry, no sex this time."
A week later, the same redneck, along with a buddy, Bubba, pulled in for another fill-up. Again he asked for his free sex.
The proprietor again asked him to guess the correct number.
The redneck guessed 2 this time. The proprietor said, "Sorry, it was 3.
You were close, but no free sex this time."
As they were driving away, the redneck said to his buddy, "I think that game is rigged and he doesn't really give away free sex."
Bubba replied, "It ain't rigged. My wife won twice last week."
Today's senior joke
A 65 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital.
While on the operating table she had a near death experience.. Seeing God She asked "Is my time up?"
God said, "No, you have another 33 years, 2 months and 8 days to live."
Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a Face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck.
She even had someone come in and change her hair color and brighten her Teeth! Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as Well make the most of it.
After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing The street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.
Arriving in front of God, she demanded, "I thought you said I had Another 33 years? Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the Ambulance?"
God replied:
"Damn! I didn't recognize you!!!!!"
