1/. RFK jr. is a dangerous man.....
Before Covid, Gabe Whitney, a 41-year-old from West Bath, Maine, didn’t think much about vaccines. He wasn’t very political — he didn’t vote in 2020, he said, because he thought Donald Trump was a “psycho” and Joe Biden was “corrupt.” It wasn’t until the pandemic that Whitney started regularly watching the news, but as he did, he felt that things weren’t adding up. He doubted what he called “the narrative” and struggled with the hostility his questions about vaccines and other mitigations elicited from those close to him. He described being “blamed and labeled as someone who’s part of the problem because you’re questioning. Like not taking a stance on it, but just questioning. That was the worst.”
2/. Tom Tomorrow explains the MAGAverse......
3/. Another Trump Presidency will be a revenge machine.......
Inside the White House complex, an instruction manual is hidden in a secure location for use only in national emergencies. Few people know where it is, and even fewer people are allowed to access it. Informally dubbed the “Doomsday Book,” the manual contains the president’s break-glass options for keeping the country running in situations ranging from global nuclear war to an armed foreign invasion of the United States.
The options are known by an anodyne name—PEADs—or “presidential emergency action documents.” Recently declassified records suggest that the PEADs allow the president to invoke extraordinary powers. The records hint at draft authorizations to enable the White House to unilaterally detain “dangerous persons,” censor the news media, flip an internet “kill switch,” take over social media, and suspend Americans from traveling. These might be the type of actions a president would take if the nation’s capital was destroyed, enemy forces were hunting down U.S. leaders, or the survival of U.S. democracy was in doubt.
4/. Billionaires - use your money!
5/. Portugal seems to be the #1 European retirement choice of Americans.....so if that's your plan, read on!
View of the beautiful central and unique street of the schist village Casal de São Simão in Figueiró dos Vinhos. Photograph: Luis Fonseca/Getty Images The interior of central Portugal, with its mountain ranges and rivers, ispeppered with castles, hiking and cycling trails, and little villages with houses made from schist. This brownish-grey metamorphic rock has a flat, sheet-like structure and was used to build hamlets up in the hills (it’s also the terroir of the Douro valley and some Azores vineyards).
6/. Ron DeSantis just released one of the weirdest ads ever, attacking Trump for his supporting LGBTQ but then pivoting to DeSantis
as a crusader with lightning bolts out of his eyes, and manly costumes too....really strange....
The ad is embedded in this article on Twitter....
7/. Bob Lefsetz on the disgusting Supreme Court decision on affirmative action......
I feel powerless. You’ll tell me to vote, and I do, each and every time, the only time I missed an election was a California Democratic primary for which I was out of town, and I know voting makes a bit of difference, but it seems more about putting one’s finger in the dike as opposed to making positive change. It didn’t used to be that way, then again I came of age in the sixties, when everything was possible and everything was up for grabs. It was all about going forward, questioning norms and authority for a better life for everyone.
8/. "Barbie '' movie trailer......actually looks like fun.....
9/. According to this column from the Guardian, Brits are feeling hopeless....
So it's not just Umair....
Illustration: Matt Kenyon/The Guardian In 15 years of on-the-ground political reporting, I don’t think I have ever experienced a more forlorn and frustrated public mood than the one that looks set to define this year. Some of people’s grievances are only too familiar: low pay, insecurity, a sense of being hopelessly cut off from power and influence. Others – inflation, impossible mortgage payments, rents, and the overlooked effects of the pandemic – have arrived comparatively recently.
What also seems new is the sheer reach of these problems, into parts of the population we might have previously considered to be relatively affluent. All this points to a question that now feels inescapable: what is the politics of complete exhaustion?
10/. Not really a cartoon any more, is it?
11/. Because Republicans can't win elections with the policies they have, their strategy is to fix election rules to disadvantage Democrats.....i.e. to cheat.
Here's how they are doing it.....
The Shelby county decision unleashed a wave of voter suppression across the country. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images For the last 10 years, Helen Butler and a coalition of activists have tried to accomplish a near-impossible task: to closely monitor the monthly meetings of the local elections boards in each of Georgia’s 159 counties.
The meetings can be tedious. Officials often discuss the nitty-gritty details of elections that can influence how easy it is to cast a ballot, or a county might announce plans to close a polling place and change early voting locations.
12/. I wish this was funny.....
13/. Oceangate was one of many risky trips designed for billionaires.....risky travel is 'in" for these guys....
It was less than an hour off the coast of Greenland that Jules Mountain began to question his sanity. The British entrepreneur was completing the second leg of his eight-day attempt to become the first person to fly a Bell 505 light helicopter across the Atlantic. “I had to go over freezing fog at 14,500 feet or ice would build up on the vehicle’s blades,” he says. “It was -14 degrees Celsius and the high altitude meant I was gasping for air. And then I worked out I had 30 minutes’ worth of fuel remaining.”
Mountain was flying the helicopter from Montreal to Guernsey: a nearly 4,000-mile journey that included fuel stops in the frozen wastelands of Northern Canada, Greenland, and Iceland. He says he took on the challenge when he realized the helicopter’s range was 350 miles and that it could fly only three hours at a time. It meant his longest leg required pumping fuel mid-flight.
14/. This looks interesting.....Bluesky - social media without the hate!
Anyone on this? Invite me.....
A few years ago, I was a Twitter obsessive, using the platform to build both my career and sense of self-worth. Then I inevitably fell victim to the wrath of the masses. I didn’t get Justine Sacco–ed or anything, but like many vaguely public people suffering from social-media illness, I expressed an opinion deemed unacceptable according to draconian Twitter statutes and paid the price (i.e., people stopped liking me). My decision to step back from frequent posting a few years ago radically improved my life. Sure, I still lurk on Twitter occasionally and post links to my work, but I no longer live and die by the amount of online attention I get every day.
15/. The Times with the best TV on Netflix....
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.)
16/. Bob Lefsetz likes "The Bear"....
This is American television at its best.
Watching reminded me of “thirtysomething,” a show made by people who were not pandering, who did their best to reflect real life, who respected the audience, whose main goal was to get it right.
American TV is produced, bright. But too often there are compromises. Big stars who can’t transcend their identity, who never meld with the role, assuming they can act to begin with, that they’re not just a pretty face. Then there’s the happy ending. Or the vivid loss. Everything is supersized. Focus-grouped. You don’t want to take any risk, you don’t want to offend anybody, you want to get the largest audience possible while keeping a modicum of respectability so the industry, and your peers, will acknowledge you, even though what you’ve ultimately produced is forgettable.
17/. And a book review from Lefsetz....
“Pineapple Street”: https://tinyurl.com/5c3vmd4b
As in the book doesn’t demand much, but calls out to you and keeps you reading.
As a matter of fact, once I started, I finished in a day. Because I was invested, I wanted to know how it all turned out.
This is the story of the rich you don’t see in the newspaper or on TV. Not exactly blue bloods, but something in between them and today’s wealthy. The blue bloods inherited their wealth, and downplayed it. In the sixties you could tell them by their khakis, Topsiders and Country Squires. And at this point, after decades, in some cases centuries, many were not rich, then again rich yesterday is different from rich today.
Today's music video
A DDD favourite - Arcade Fire with "Ready to Start", nothing fancy, just an excellent live rock video.....audience
freaking out, a lady drummer in a prom dress, good geetar......
Today's short drunk joke
Two drunk guys are sitting at a bar when one looksat the other and says,
"I had sex with your mother last night".
The other guy gets up, grabs his coat and says,
"OK dad, it's time to go".
Today's Groaner.....
Once upon a time there lived a king who had a beautiful daughter, The PRINCESS..
But there was a problem. Everything the princess touched would melt. No matter what; Metal, Wood, Stone would melt.
Because of this, men were afraid of her. Nobody would dare marry her. The king despaired. What could he do to help his daughter?
He consulted his wizards and magicians.
One wizard told the king, 'If your daughter touches one thing that does not melt in her hands, she will be cured.'
The king was overjoyed and came up with a plan.
The next day, he held a competition. Any man that could bring his daughter an object that would not melt would marry her and inherit the king's wealth...
THREE YOUNG PRINCES TOOK UP THE CHALLENGE.
The first brought a sword of the finest steel.
But alas, when the princess touched it, it melted. The prince went away sadly .
The second prince brought diamonds. He thought diamonds are the hardest substance in the world and would not melt.
But alas, once the princess touched them, they melted. He too was sent away disappointed.
The third prince approached. He told the princess, 'Put your hand in my pocket and feel what is in there.'
The princess did as she was told, though she turned red .
She felt something hard. She held it in her hand. And it did not melt!!!
The king was overjoyed. Everybody in the kingdom was overjoyed.
And the third prince married the princess and they both lived happily ever after.
Question:- What was in the Prince's Pants..?
M&M's of course. They melt in your mouth, not in your hand.
What were you thinking..??
I WORRY ABOUT YOU SOMETIMES..!!!!..
Today's guy joke
Four married guys go fishing. After an hour, the following conversation took place....
First guy, "You have no idea what I had to do to be able to come out fishing this weekend.I had to promise my wife that I will paint every room in the house next weekend"....
Second guy, "That's nothing; I had to promise my wife that I will build her a new deck for the pool"......
Third guy, "Man, you both have it easy! I had to promise my wife that I will remodel the kitchen for her".....
They continue to fish when they realized that the fourth guy has not said a word.
So they asked him. "You haven't said anything about what you had to do to be able to come fishing this weekend.
What's the deal"....?
Fourth guy, "I just set my alarm for 5:30 am.
When it went off, I shut off my alarm, gave the wife a nudge and said, "Fishing or sex," and she said, "Wear sun-block!!..
Today's golf joke
A couple of women, Janice and Sherrill, were playing golf one sunny Saturday morning.
Sherill, the first of the twosome, teed off and watched in horror as the ball headed directly toward a foursome of men playing the next hole.
Indeed, the ball hit one of the men, and he immediately clasped his hands together at his crotch, fell to the ground and proceeded to roll around in agony.
Sherrill rushed down to the man and immediately began to apologize.
She then explained that she was a physical therapist and offered to help ease his pain. "Please allow me to help. I'm a physical therapist and I know I could relieve your pain if you'd just allow me!" she told him earnestly."
Ummph, oooh, nnooo, I'll be alright...I'll be fine in a few minutes," he replied as he remained in the fetal position still clasping his hands together at his crotch.
But she persisted; and he finally allowed her to help him.
She gently took his hands away and laid them to the side,loosened his pants and put her hands inside, beginning to massage him.
"Does that feel better?" she asked.
"It feels great," he replied. "But my thumb still hurts like hell!
Today's old lady joke....
There was a man who worked for the Post Office whose job it was
to process all the mail that had illegible addresses.
One day, a letter came addressed in a shaky handwriting to God
with no actual address.
He thought he should open it to see what it was about.
The letter read:
Dear God,
I am an 83 year old widow, living on a very small pension.
Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had $100 in it, which
was all the money I had until my next pension check.
Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends
over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy
food with. I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope.
Can you please help me?
Sincerely,
Edna
The postal worker was touched.
He showed the letter to all the other workers.
Each one dug into his or her wallet and came up with a few dollars.
By the time he made the rounds, he had collected $96, which they put into
an envelope and sent to the woman.
The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking
of Edna and the dinner she would be able to share with her friends.
Christmas came and went.
A few days later, another letter came from the same old lady to God.
All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened.
It read,
Dear God,
How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?
Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends.
We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift.
By the way, there was $4 missing.
I think it must have been those bastards at the Post Office.
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