1/. How far Trump is down......hero to loser, even with the Christian right....
Where has the love gone? Photo: Marco Bello/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Donald Trump may be generally amoral, but there is one value he holds fiercely: loyalty. So it’s not surprising that he’s angry at conservative Evangelical leaders who have, for the most part, refrained from immediately endorsing his 2024 comeback bid.
2/. I think this guy is called Alex, or maybe Tucker.....
3/. This "America This Week" with Matt Taibbi is definitely worth reading, especially if you think the Biden Classified documents issue smells to high heaven.
Six years after Biden left the VP spot these classified docs suddenly appear? So what's going on? Taibbi has an interesting theory.....and this story about Adam Schiff "worried" about National Security makes you think......
Skim the introverted bits about "journalism", but get to the meat...and this story about Schiff makes you think...
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Congress could not “exclude the possibility” that national security was jeopardized by the handling of President Biden’s classified documents, which are now at the center of a Department of Justice probe.
The post begins with an excellent piece on the NYT Montana story, where a Times reporter states Montana has gone White Nationalist based on
nothing substantial, and Walter Kim who actually lives there evicerates this "reporting"....
A really good piece, well worth reading.....
Here is the Times Montana piece.....but read the above by Walter Kim first.....
4/. A quiz for you from Tom Tomorrow.....
5/. The rubber is beginning to meet the road in the drought ridden West .....an
Arizona town has no water.....
RIO VERDE, Ariz. — Joe McCue thought he had found a desert paradise when he bought one of the new stucco houses sprouting in the granite foothills of Rio Verde, Ariz. There were good schools, mountain views and cactus-spangled hiking trails out the back door.
Then the water got cut off.
Earlier this month, the community’s longtime water supplier, the neighboring city of Scottsdale, turned off the tap for Rio Verde Foothills, blaming a grinding drought that is threatening the future of the West. Scottsdale said it had to focus on conserving water for its own residents, and could no longer sell water to roughly 500 to 700 homes — or around 1,000 people. That meant the unincorporated swath of $500,000 stucco houses, mansions and horse ranches outside Scottsdale’s borders would have to fend for itself and buy water from other suppliers — if homeowners could find them, and afford to pay much higher prices.
6/. An amusing Irish joke.....
7/. Andrew Sullivan with a fascinating story on why the right wing has lost the young.....
It’s dawning on many on the political center and right that the current younger generation in America is not like previous younger generations. They’re immaturing with age. Zoomers and Millennials are further to the left to begin with and, more critically, don’t seem to be moving rightward as they age. A recent, viral piece in the FT added a new spark to the conversation, arguing that if Millennials matured like previous generations, then by the age of 35, they
should be around five points less conservative than the national average, and can be relied upon to gradually become more conservative. In fact, they’re more like 15 points less conservative, and in both Britain and the US are by far the least conservative 35-year-olds in recorded history … millennials have developed different values to previous generations, shaped by experiences unique to them, and they do not feel conservatives share these.
8/. A classic SNL - "What's that Name?" With Bill Hader and John Mulvaney....
9/. How the poor are being pillaged by hedge funds and giant corporations......look at this mobile home park in Tampa for example.....
Nancy DeCamp can no longer bear to enter the home on lot 257.
Her sister Tootie lived here, just a golf cart ride from where Nancy shares a place with her husband in their manufactured home community in central Pinellas County. After Tootie died in October, the DeCamps tried, without success, to sell her home.
“It’s still Tootie’s house,” Nancy DeCamp said, her eyes welling. “It’s very hard to be there.”
The DeCamps never expected this problem in Caribbean Isles, nestled between Largo and Seminole. Selling in the 55-and-older park, their real estate agent said, was once so easy she scarcely had time to stake “for sale” signs.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/
10/. Rodney Dangerfield....the master of the one liner.....very amusing....
One of the best Johnny Carson's ever.....
11/. Here is the opposite of pillaged - a new book is coming out about The Villages, and
it really looks interesting....
When you consider how the baby boom has affected America, it’s impossible not to contemplate its natural conclusion.
There was a sudden, unexpected surge in births—and within a decade, diaper services went from a novelty to the equivalent in 2021 dollars of a nearly half‑billion‑dollar industry. Cities rushed to build more schools. Then a bit later America had millions of teenagers, so businesses and industries reorganized around them.
Over and over, age‑dependent systems struggled to accommodate the encroaching boomers. To use a boom‑appropriate analogy, America has been a nation of Lucille Balls scrambling to handle the conveyor belt of chocolates. And now, more than 75 years into the boom, you might be able to predict which systems will be overrun.
12/. It's all about distraction and owning the libs....
13/. Paul Krugman with a very good column on why Republicans hate Medicare......because their
owners, the right wing billionaires do....
The Republicans who now control the House will soon try to slash Social Security and Medicare. They plan to achieve this by holding the economy hostage, threatening to create a financial crisis by refusing to raise the federal debt ceiling. The interesting questions are why they want to do this, given that it appears politically suicidal, and how Democrats will respond.
Before I get into the puzzles, let me start by pointing out that the plot against the social safety net isn’t a conspiracy theory. The general shape of the scheme has been widely reported for months. The arithmetic is also clear: It isn’t possible to achieve huge reductions in the budget deficit, while depriving the I.R.S. of the resources it needs to go after tax cheats, without deep cuts in popular social programs.
14/. A charming little commercial.....nuns, and glue....
15/. The anti-abortion loonies haven't stopped, they are just getting craftier....
‘Alabama abortion ban specifically doesn’t allow prosecutors to go after women who have had abortions’ Photograph: Brian Branch Price/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/ShutterstockFri 13 Jan 2023 06.23 EST
This week, Steve Marshall, Alabama’s Republican attorney general, said he sees a path to prosecuting women for having abortions in his state. This was a bit of a faux pas: a moment of letting slip the mask that the anti-abortion movement always tries to keep on.
Alabama’s abortion ban, which has only limited exemptions for women’s lives, makes providing an abortion a felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison. But like nearly all of the abortion bans that have sprung into effect since the US supreme court’s ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health overturned Roe v Wade last June, the law has no mechanism to prosecute women who receive abortions. But that doesn’t mean that patients are safe from criminal charges, according to the state’s top prosecutor.
16/. Awwww.....sad one.....30 seconds....
17/. Brexit is now a factor in holding the EU together.....
‘The evidence of Brexit as a problem-creator is all around.’ A beach next to Felixtowe port, Suffolk. Photograph: Toby Melville/ReutersFri 13 Jan 2023 10.44 EST
We're good Europeans at last. Nearly seven years after we voted to leave, Britons are finally doing their bit for the European Union. Diligently and with dogged devotion to duty, we are strengthening the ties that bind the 27 remaining nations of the EU – though not quite in the way anyone would have wanted.
18/. The assumption is DeSantis is a shoo-in because Florida is such a success story, but as
this article points out that is an illusion.....
Engulfed in turmoil in Washington, D.C., and the humiliation and setbacks of their party leaders, Republicans can be forgiven for looking elsewhere for a savior. Former President Donald Trump was, until those final minutes, largely ineffective in getting his ideological offspring to make Kevin McCarthy speaker, and so hopeful eyes have turned yet again to that other Floridian.
“Wanna know who looks good right now and focusing on his state, constituents and staying out of the chaos and mayhem?” Meghan McCain tweeted. “DeSantis. DeSantis looks good right now.”
19/. This sounds like a must see.....From the Guardian - "Shout At the TV brilliance"......on Peacock....
If you thought the unbearably tense gameshow couldn’t get any more vicious, try adding celebrities. Episode eight will be the best hour of reality TV in 2023, hands down
Mon 16 Jan 2023 06.29 EST
There’s nothing like a bit of backstabbing to liven up the doldrums of January. Clearly, someone at the BBC agrees, as arriving on iPlayer in its entirety is the US version of 2022’s best reality show, The Traitors. A word-of-mouth hit, this bum-clenchingly tense gameshow revitalised the watercooler moment, set group chats alight and garnered huge iPlayer numbers.
Almost worth subscribing then cancelling....
20/. The Times lists the 50 best TV series on Netflix......if you can't find something here, you're too picky!
Netflix adds original programming at such a steady clip that it can be hard to keep up with which of its dramas, comedies and reality shows are must-sees. And that’s not including all the TV series Netflix picks up from broadcast and cable networks. Below is our regularly updated guide to the 50 best shows on Netflix in the United States. Each recommendation comes with a secondary pick, too, for 100 suggestions in all. (Note: Netflix sometimes removes titles without notice.)
21/. The Guardian's quote - "One of the finest TV shows you will see this year"....."The Last Of Us"....on HBO...
This desperately moving drama set in a zombie-ravaged US is a phenomenal blend of horror and heart, with a cast that could not be more perfect
The Last of Us recap episode one – welcome to the mushroom apocalypse
Mon 16 Jan 2023 17.35 EST
W
hat if it wasn’t a flu-like virus that threatened the existence of humankind, but a parasitic fungus that used rising temperatures to evolve and switch hosts, from ants to humans? That is the terrifying premise of The Last of Us, another post-apocalyptic prestige drama in a TV landscape that, for understandable reasons, is stuffed with game-over scenarios. While its zombie skeleton brings immediate comparisons to The Walking Dead, its beating heart is more in line with last year’s Station Eleven, with which it shares a surprisingly steady and meditative pace.
Today's Marketing joke
People often ask for a simple explanation of "Marketing."
Well, here it is:
* You're a woman and you see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him
and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."
______________________________ ______________________________
* You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One
of your friends goes up to him and, pointing at you, says, "She's fantastic
in bed."
That's Advertising.
______________________________ ______________________________
* You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get his
telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Telemarketing.
______________________________ ______________________________
* You see a guy at a party; you straighten your dress. You walk up to him
and pour him a drink. You say, "May I?" and reach up to straighten his tie,
brushing your breast lightly against his arm, and then say,
"By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Public Relations.
______________________________ ______________________________
* You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to you and says,
"I hear you're fantastic in bed."
That's Brand Recognition.
______________________________ ______________________________
*You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He fancies you, but you talk
him into going home with your friend.
That's a Sales Rep.
______________________________ ______________________________
* Your friend can't satisfy him so he calls you.
That's Tech Support.
______________________________ ______________________________
* You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be
handsome men in all these houses you're passing, so you climb onto the roof of
one situated towards the center and shout at the top of your lungs, "I'm
fantastic in bed!"
That's Facebook.
Today's courtroom jokes
Q: Did you blow your horn or anything?
A: After the accident?
Q: Before the accident.
A: Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it.Q: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in the voodoo?
A: We both do.
Q: Voodoo?
A: We do.
Q: You do?
A: Yes, voodoo.Q: Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing?
A: Yes.
Q: Did the defendant say anything when she got out of her car?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: What did she say?
A: What disco am I at?Q: She had three children, right?
A: Yes.
Q: How many were boys?
A: None.
Q: Were there any girls?Q: You say the stairs went down to the basement?
A: Yes.
Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?Q: Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you?
A: I went to Europe, Sir.
Q: And you took your new wife?Q: How was your first marriage terminated?
A: By death.
Q: And by whose death was it terminated?Q: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
A: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?
A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.Q: All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
A: Oral.Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
A: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time?
A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.Q: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
A: No.
Q: Did you check for blood pressure?
A: No.
Q: Did you check for breathing?
A: No.
Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
A: No.
Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
Q: But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?
A: It is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere.Q: The youngest son, the twenty-year old, how old is he?Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?Q: Was it you or your younger brother who was killed in the war?Q: How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collisionQ: Did he kill you?Q: You were there until the time you left, is that true?Q: How many times have you committed suicide?Q: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
A: Yes.
Q: And what were you doing at that time?
Today's talking parrot joke
Recently I received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. I tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else I could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.
Finally, I was fed up and I yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. I shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. So, in desperation, I threw up my hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.
Finally, I was fed up and I yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. I shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. So, in desperation, I threw up my hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.
For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that I'd hurt the parrot, I quickly opened the door to the freezer.
The parrot calmly stepped out onto my outstretched arm and said, "I
believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."
I was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As I was about to
ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"
The parrot calmly stepped out onto my outstretched arm and said, "I
believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."
I was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As I was about to
ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"
Today's teenager joke
A while back, when I was considerably younger, I picked up a date at her parents’ home.
I’d scraped together some money to take her to a fancy restaurant.
She ordered the most expensive items on the menu. Shrimp cocktail. Lobster. Champagne .
I asked her, “Does your mother feed you like that when you eat at home?”
“No,” she replied. “but my mother’s not expecting a blow job tonight.”
I said "enjoy".....
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