1/ We used to be a smart country, but Trump has accelerated the process of dumbing down our systems and has contaminated
the minds of at least 72 million Americans...just look how we are handling the vaccines....
Excellent story from David Wallace-Wells....
Boxes containing the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi, on December 20, 2020. Photo: PAUL SANCYA/Getty/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
It’s happening all over again. For months, Americans who despaired about the country’s coronavirus-suppression efforts looked desperately to the arrival of a vaccine for a kind of pandemic deliverance. Now that it has arrived, miraculously fast, we are failing utterly to administer it with anything like the urgency the pace of dying requires — and, perhaps most maddeningly, failing in precisely the same way as we did earlier in the year. That is, out of apparent, near-total indifference.
2/ A mildly amusing SNL skit about robots and airlines.....three minutes, and Scarlett Johanssen....
3/ A devastatingly accurate and disturbing article about Trump....Chauncey de la Vega interviews Michael D'Antonio who gives us
some insights about the Trump era and what he might be capable of in the next weeks....
It's going to get even nastier folks....a must read...
4/ Goodbye and good riddance to 2020...
5/ A Fox News reporter tries to ambush Jon Ossof in Georgia, and Ossof takes the opportunity to
address the Fox audience live....great stuff....three minutes....
6/ How do you talk to someone who has been infected with FoxNewsitis, QAnon, Newsmax and Parler addiction and more....the Guardian
attempts to answer, but doesn't really get anywhere....
Good story though...
At the beginning of 2021, millions of Americans appear to disagree about one of the most basic facts of their democracy: that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.
The consequences of Donald Trump’s repeated, baseless claims of voter fraud will come in several waves, researchers who study disinformation say, even if Trump ultimately hands over power and leaves the White House. And there is no quick or easy way to fix this crisis, they warn. Because when it comes to dealing with disinformation, simply repeating the facts doesn’t do much to change anyone’s mind.
7/ Really not sure how I feel about this - robots that can dance better than I can.....kind of creepy, reminds
me of The Terminator...
8/ As DDD readers may know I have been following Heather Cox Richardson for a couple of months, and really look forward to her email every morning to try to make sense of the news in this crazy time. This morning's blog was, as is fitting on New Years Eve, a summary of not just the year's news but a recap of the last 40 years explaining how we got here, to Trump dysfunction and a raging pandemic. Her writing strips away a lot of the BS and takes a historical perspective on our reality, so I would recommend this blog to you unreservedly and if you like it, subscribe to her newsletter.
And so, we are at the end of a year that has brought a presidential impeachment trial, a deadly pandemic that has killed more than 338,000 of us, a huge social movement for racial justice, a presidential election, and a president who has refused to accept the results of that election and is now trying to split his own political party.
9/ And for the question of why people like HCR, this story in the Times explains why her newsletter is so remarkable....it's anti-media....
Last Wednesday, I broke the news to Heather Cox Richardson that she was the most successful individual author of a paid publication on the breakout newsletter platform Substack.
Early that morning, she had posted that day’s installment of “Letters From an American” to Facebook, quickly garnering more than 50,000 reactions and then, at 2:14 a.m., she emailed it to about 350,000 people. She summarized, as she always does, the events of the day, and her 1,120 words covered a bipartisan vote on a spending measure, President Trump’s surprise attack on that bill, and a wave of presidential pardons.
10/ Some say Trump is the most evil force in the world, but the most evil person in
America is definitely Mitch McConnell....
11/ Nursing homes are deadly for old people because of the virus, but why are they so vulnerable? The answer in this
good column from the Times is that a lot of them have been bought by hedge funds who immediately cut costs and care,
so when a crisis comes along like this one they [the old people] are screwed....
Eight months into the pandemic, Brendan House, a nursing home in Kalispell, Mont., had not had a single resident test positive for the coronavirus. It was an extraordinary feat, given that 40 percent of the deaths from Covid-19 nationwide had occurred in long-term care facilities.
12/ "Humans are Amazing"....some incredible sports feats...three minutes...
13/ Good story from the Times about the Johnny Carson show and why the writer is
streaming his early episodes now.....
In the last few months, at the end of news-packed days, as the noise of my cooped-up children gives way to the calmer sounds of sirens and fireworks, I have found myself uninterested in seeing any of the current late-night hosts transform the horrors of the world into jokes. I get my fill on Twitter.
Since the pandemic put normal life on pause, the only talk show I have regularly watched is, oddly enough, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,”
14/ And here's four minutes of Johnny, with some hit and miss jokes of "things you will never hear on TV"....
15/ Fascinating story from the Times on the growth of AI generating fake images and videos.....
There are now businesses that sell fake people. On the website Generated.Photos, you can buy a “unique, worry-free” fake person for $2.99, or 1,000 people for $1,000. If you just need a couple of fake people — for characters in a video game, or to make your company website appear more diverse — you can get their photos for free on ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com. Adjust their likeness as needed; make them old or young or the ethnicity of your choosing. If you want your fake person animated, a company called Rosebud.AI can do that and can even make them talk. artificial-intelligence-fake-
16/ A wonderful bedtime story about the virus, and our history.....four intelligent minutes....
17/ It would appear the Brexit deal that has just been finalised is flawed to the point it may well wreck the British
economy.....a columnist from the Guardian explains what happened and why....
W
hen the novelist John le Carré died earlier this month, among the passages quoted by journalists was a short excerpt from The Secret Pilgrim, published in 1990. In the book, the words are spoken by Le Carré’s fondly loved character George Smiley. “The privately educated Englishman – and Englishwoman, if you will allow me – is the greatest dissembler on Earth,” he says. “Was, is now and ever shall be for as long as our disgraceful school system remains intact. Nobody will charm you so glibly, disguise his feelings from you better, cover his tracks more skilfully or find it harder to confess to you that he’s been a damned fool.”
18/ Honest Trailers on the final season of Game of Thrones.....hint - they didn't like it....
An amusing 9 minutes....
19/ Thought this might be interesting - the best TV of the year from the Guardian, which means shows they can
see in Britain [which is a lot of our programs].......
The Crown (Netflix)
‘An amazing job of their portrayals’: Jackie Harding, 60, writer, the Netherlands
Being a Brit of a certain age I was a huge fan of Princess Diana and although I’m very aware that this show is fiction, not fact, it does come across as very believable. The cast does such an amazing job of their portrayals it is difficult at times not to think you are watching a reality show!
Today's video - found this nine minute compilation of Clint Eastwood shootouts......a few new ones.....
Today's thoughtful jokes....
My goal for 2020 was to lose just 10 pounds. Only 15 to go.
.........
Ate salad for dinner! Mostly croutons & tomatoes. Really just one big, round crouton covered with tomato sauce. And cheese. FINE, it was a pizza. I ate a pizza.
...........
How to prepare Tofu:
1. Throw it in the trash.
2. Grill some Meat.
...........
I just did a week's worth of cardio after walking into a spider web.
..............
I don't mean to brag but......I finished my 14-day diet in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
..................
A recent study has found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than men who mention it.
...................
Kids today don't know how easy they have it. When I was young, I had to walk 9 feet through shag carpet to change the TV channel.
.................
Senility has been a smooth transition for me.
................
Remember back when we were kids and every time it was below zero out they closed school?
Me neither.
...............
I may not be that funny or athletic or good looking or smart or talented....
I forgot where I was going with this.
...................
I love being over 50. I learn something new every day.......and forget 5 others.
...............
A thief broke into my house last night......
He started searching for money so I woke up and searched with him.
...............
My dentist told me I need a crown. I was like: I KNOW !, Right?
...............
I think I'll just put an "Out of Order" sticker on my forehead and call it a day.
................
PS: Sunday, March 13, 2021 will be Daylight Savings Time.
Don't forget to set your bathroom scale back 10 pounds on Saturday night.
Today's marital joke
Travis wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his company's Christmas Party. He didn't even remember how he got home from the party. As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong.
Travis had to force himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose! Travis sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed.
He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in the bathroom mirror. Then he notices a note hanging on the corner of the mirror written in red with little hearts on it and a kiss mark from his wife in lipstick: "Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to get groceries to make you your favorite dinner tonight. I love you, darling! Love, Jillian.
He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast, steaming hot coffee and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Travis asks, "Son...what happened last night?"
"Well, you came home after 3AM, drunk and out of your mind. You fell over the coffee table and broke it, and then you puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door.
"Confused, he asked his son, "So, why is everything in such perfect order and so clean? I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me????
His son replies, "oh THAT!...Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed,"Leave me alone bitch, I'm married!"
Broken Coffee Table $239.99
His son replies, "oh THAT!...Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed,"Leave me alone bitch, I'm married!"
Hot Breakfast $4.20
Two Aspirins $.38
Saying the right thing, at exactly the right time.....PRICELESS!
Today's single lady joke
Ethel checked into a Motel on her 65th Birthday; she was lonely and a little depressed at her advancing age so she decided to risk an adventure.She thought, "I'll call one of those men you see advertised in phone books for escorts and sensual massages."She looked through the phone book, found a full page ad for a guy calling himself Tender Tony, a very handsome man with assorted physical skills flexing in the photo. He had all the right muscles in all the right places, thick wavy hair, long powerful legs, dazzling smile, six pack abs and she felt quite certain she could bounce a dime off his well-oiled buns .......She figured, what the heck, nobody will ever know. I'll give him a call. "Good evening, ma'am, how may I help you?Oh my, he sounded sooo sexy!Afraid of losing her nerve if she hesitated, she rushed right in, "I hear you give a great massage. I'd like you to come to my motel room and give me one. No, wait, l'll be straight with you. I'm in town all alone and what I really want is sex. I want it hot, and I want it now. Bring implements, toys, everything you've got in your bag of tricks. We'll go at it all night - tie me up, cover me in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, anything and everything, I'm ready! Now how does that sound?He said, "That sounds absolutely fantastic, but you need to press 9 for an outside line.
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