1/. An excellent and heartwarming article- The Day Of Reckoning for DeSantis is Here"....
We hate this bastard almost as much as Trump.....
It was no great shock the squadron of bleary eyed government employees and legislators who schlepped up to Iowa failed to move the good people of that state to the floundering campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, he of fake smiles and fake laughs and all around weird behavior. But the jarring presence of Florida state employees at the Iowa caucuses— including regulators like the head of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the leaders of important agencies like the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice, all of whom are supposed to be carrying out non-political work — revealed the degree to which DeSantis has deformed the notion of public service in Florida.
2/. And this is probably how our political media do their stories.........
3/. A pretty insightful look at Trump voters, and what they see in him.....
A little depressing, reading about such stupidity.....
Cheryl Sharp, a 47-year-old sales associate who was among the many Iowans turned away from a filled-to-capacity Trump rally last month, sounded pretty confident she knew why Donald Trump was so appealing to many voters. For her and many others, she said, his most important quality was strength: He had the fortitude to keep the country safe, avoid new wars and ensure the economy hummed along.
4/. Tom Tomorrow and the truly evil ones on the Supreme Court....
5/. We have no idea what's hitting the phones and media of kids today......most interesting.....
Do you know what a Zynbabwe is? Or an upper-decky lip pillow? OK, here’s an easier one — how about just Zyn?
If you are scratching your head, don’t feel bad: Almost no adult I have spoken to has had any idea either. This is despite the fact that the nicotine pouch Zyn is a jewel in the crown of a multibillion-dollar tobacco company. Haven’t heard of nicotine pouches to begin with? Neither had I. But when I ask my 19-year-old neighbor Ian if he knows what a Zynbabwe is, I get a shocked reply: “You know about Zyns?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/opinion/children-nicotine-zyn-social-media.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
6/. Remember the insane video last week "So God Made Trump?"
The Lincoln Project responded, and it's wonderful....."God Made A Dictator"....
7/. Thom Hartmann explains why we are seeing such cold weather, and also
how your EV can power your home.....
Republicans deny climate change and hate on electric vehicles. As such, they’re risking induction into the Darwin Awards Hall of Fame: they’re risking their own safety and comfort, and, in some cases, even their lives. As I’m writing these words, it’s sixteen degrees Fahrenheit here in Portland and the winds are whipping down the Columbia River at up to 60 miles an hour.
Which raises two questions: Why is America experiencing such extreme cold in an era of global warming, and is there any way we can power our homes with our cars in a blackout?
https://hartmannreport.com/p/blackouts-did-you-know-ev-cars-are-aa4?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=302288&post_id=140653678&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2cwgv&utm_medium=email
8/. Funny book covers on the Subway......quite amusing.....
9/. Some common sense ways we can all eat more healthily......good stuff in this article....
Add protein, fat or fibre to carbs to slow down glucose absorption. All photographs: Aaron Graubart/The Guardian. Food styling: Henrietta Clancy. Prop styling: Luis Peral Put clothes on your carbs
“When we eat naked carbs, such as plain pasta or a slice of cake, the glucose molecules arrive really quickly into our bloodstream uninterrupted, causing a big glucose spike,” says Jessie Inchauspé, author of Glucose Revolution, who kickstarted a conversation about balancing blood sugar for optimal health.
Delivering too many starches (pasta, rice, oats, bread, potatoes) and sugars (anything sweet, from an apple to a cookie)
to the bloodstream at once triggers a glucose rollercoaster of craving and crashing every two hours.
10/. There are apologists for evil everywhere.....
11/. Bob lefsetz with a fairly non-political rant, about the music industry but also life today.....worth a read.....
If I mention anything about Trump, I’m accused of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” from his acolytes. If I write anything about Taylor Swift, absolutely anything, I hear from her fans that I’m a hater.
This is the America we now live in. Black and white. Or should I say red and blue.
Everybody’s got a tribe, everybody’s got their beliefs, and you can’t say anything negative about them or the pushback becomes unreal. And the problem with this is the chilling effect, the people shutting up because they’re fearful of the blowback, and I understand this, completely.
I’m not talking about the trolls. Participate at all and your inbox or message thread will be inundated with comments from people who hate you in principle, who are mad that you have an audience and they don’t. Their goal is to make you shut up. And if you do, they win.
12/. Love this story....how Volvo now has a better car than Tesla.....
EVs are an integral part of our transition to net-zero. But, for them to truly dominate the market, we need affordable EVs that charge fast, have long ranges and are attractive to buyers. Elon Musk’s Tesla has been spearheading this affordability push for well over a decade, and to many, they seem lightyears ahead of anyone else. However, Volvo just announced a cheaper, better-looking, faster EV that has a longer range and charges just as fast as Tesla’s best offering. So, have the Sweeds leapfrogged Musk? Or, is something else happening here?
https://medium.com/predict/volvos-new-ev-is-a-true-tesla-killer-90960c85e386
13/. Boeing.....what happens when Wall Street drives an engineering company.....cut, cut, cut.....screw, screw, screw....
14/. "Poor Things".....Emma Stone is a female Frankenstein's monster.....sort of..........
Review is enthusiastic!
‘Uninhibited’: Emma Stone as Bella in Poor Things. Photograph: Atsushi Nishijima/ © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved t may only be the third week of January, but it’s hard to imagine that there will be a funnier, filthier or more extravagantly peculiar film this year than Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest picture, his second feature film collaboration with star Emma Stone. To describe Poor Things, which is adapted by Tony McNamara (The Favourite) from the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, as creatively uninhibited hardly does justice to the wild, wild ride that this explosively inventive picture takes us on. Driven by a courageous and physically committed performance from Stone, the film follows her journey as Bella Baxter, at the start of the picture a barely verbal blank slate, who embarks on an autodidact voyage of discovery to become the ultimate self-made woman.
Poor Things trailer...
15/. This looks really good - Jodie Foster in "True Detective - Night Country".....on Prime Video....
Cold case … Kali Reis and Jodie Foster in True Detective: Night Country. Photograph: AP Full disclosure: I have never been a fan of True Detective, even in its first and, by wide consensus, best instalment. It was so very full of Acting-with-a-capital-A and Directing-with-a-capital-D. When the two subsequent iterations of the anthology series became overwhelmed by the self-indulgences that had always threatened, I took my leave, along with many other viewers.
Now it is back for a fourth season – True Detective: Night Country. It is the first outing without its creator, Nic Pizzolatto, as either showrunner or writer (though he remains as executive producer).
16/. And if you're not already watching "Fargo - Season 5", do so.
It is incredibly exciting and wonderfully made, with Jon Hamm as the most evil Sheriff ever.........
Really, really good....on Hulu...
Today's oldies joke
The old man placed an order for one hamburger, French fries, and a drink.
He unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half, placing one half in front of his wife. He then carefully counted out the French fries, dividing them into two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife.
He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them.
As he began to eat his few bites of hamburger, the people around them were looking over and whispering.
Obviously they were thinking, ‘That poor old couple-all they can afford is one meal for the two of them.’
As the man began to eat his fries a young man came to the table and politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple.
The old man said, they were just fine-they were used to sharing everything.
People closer to the table noticed the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite.
She sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink.
Again, the young man came over and begged them to let him buy another meal for them.
This time the old woman said,
"No, thank you, we are used to sharing everything."
Finally, as the old man finished and was wiping his face neatly with the napkin, the young man again came over to the little old lady who had
yet to eat a single bite of food and asked,
"What is it you are waiting for?"
She answered, "My turn for the Teeth."
Today's Florida joke
Six retired Jewish Floridian fellows were playing poker in the condo clubhouse when Meyer loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his chest, and drops dead at the table.
Showing respect for their fallen comrade, the other five continue playing, but standing up.
At the end of the game, Finklestein looks around and asks, "So, who's gonna tell his vife?"
They cut the cards. Goldberg picks the low card and has to carry the news. They tell him to be discreet, be gentle, don't make a bad situation any worse.
"Discreet? I'm the most discreet person you'll ever meet. Discretion is my middle name. Leave it to me."
Goldberg goes over to Meyer's condo and knocks on the door.
The wife answers through the door and asks what he wants?
Goldberg declares: "Your husband just lost $500 in a poker game and is afraid to come home."
"Tell him to drop dead!" yells the wife.
"I'll go tell him." says Goldberg
Today's banking joke....
A 96-year-old woman's note to her bank! Priceless! 
The following is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by a 96-year-old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.
----------------------------
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his depositing the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly transfer of funds from my modest savings account, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only thirty-one years.
You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity that your bank has recently become.
From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person.
My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.
Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.
Please find attached an Application Contact Status form which I require your chosen employee to complete.
I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but so that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.
Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets, and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course,
I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Please allow me to level the playing field even further. When you call me, you will now have a menu of options on my new voice mail system to choose from.
Please press the buttons as follows:
Press 1: To make an appointment to see me.
Press 2: To query a missing payment.
Press 3: To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
Press 4: To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
Press 5: To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
Press 6: To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
Press 7: To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.
Press 8: To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may occasionally involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee of $50 to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. Please credit my account after each occasion.
Your Humble Client...
(Remember: This was written by a 96-year-old woman!)
Today's ethnic joke - life lesson
A poor Jew finds a wallet with $700 in it.
At his synagogue, he reads a notice saying that a wealthy congregant lost his wallet and is offering a $100 reward for it.
He spots the owner and gives him the wallet.
The rich man counts the money and says, "I see you already took your reward."
The poor man answers, "What?"
"This wallet had $800 in it when I lost it."
They begin arguing, and eventually come before the rabbi.
Both state their case. The rich man concludes by saying, "Rabbi, I trust you believe ME." The rabbi says, "Of course," and the rich man smiles. The poor man is crushed.
Then the rabbi hands the wallet to the poor man.
"What are you doing?!" yells the rich man.
The rabbi answers, "You are, of course, an honest man, and you say the wallet you lost had $800 in it.
Therefore I'm sure it did.
But if the man who found this wallet is a liar and a thief, he wouldn't have returned it at all.
Which means that this wallet must belong to somebody else.
If that man steps forward, he'll get the money. Until then, it belongs to the man who found it."
"What about my money?" the rich man asks.
"Well, we'll just have to wait until somebody finds a wallet with $800 in it..."
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