Sunday afternoon's announcement from Joe Biden was like a weight lifted off our shoulders - from certain defeat to the nightmare of Trump, we now have
hope that he will go down in flames and the MAGA party with him......
But it's early days folks.....this is American politics, and everything changes constantly, so watch this space.....but raise a glass of thanks to Joe tonight!
1/. Michael Moore is excited!
On Monday, July 22, 2024, one day after President Biden bravely ended his re-election run for a second term and endorsed his vice president as his replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris paid her first visit to the “Harris for President” campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, to meet the campaign staff and make a few remarks.
With only 106 days left until the general election on November 5th, and no time to waste, with a nation on edge over what may be the biggest threat ever to our Democracy with the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, still seething over his removal of office by voters in 2020, having vowed to seek revenge and, if elected, “be a dictator on Day One,” she stepped up to the podium. And delivered.
2/. A thoughtful and intelligent story on the challenges for Harris in the next month....
To borrow from Shakespeare, “Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.” Joe Biden might have clung on. He could, in his pain and pride, have fought and failed and lost the presidency to a gloating Donald Trump. He could have let his stubborn Irish heart rule his greying Yankee head. But in the end, finally, Biden, old and ill, bravely did the right and honourable thing.
Likening the departing US leader to the Thane of Cawdor is risky, all the same. The latter’s sudden demise opened the way to even greater tragedy, as students of Macbeth and disputed successions know well. Whether Kamala Harris, Biden’s hand-picked heir, can rise from the ashes of a burnt-out presidency is the great question of the hour. Never in modern times has the Oval Office – the world’s biggest, most awesomely powerful job – been so totally up for grabs with a few frenetic weeks to go.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/22/post-joe-biden-era-democrats-donald-trump?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
3/.
Tom Tomorrow on [I think] David Brooks from the Times.....
4/. Based on the wave of Democrats endorsing Kamala, it looks like a coronation has happened, but Bob Lefsetz has doubts.....
She has too much baggage.
That was the problem with Biden before the debate, before everybody realized he was too old, he had a record, and even though those on the left trumpeted it, those on the right have denigrated it and those who’ve been struggling don’t believe they’ve been saved by Joe.
Yes, a poor case of public relations. Don’t forget, Bill Clinton was sold by Hollywood, you remember “The Man From Hope”…where is the equivalent for Biden?
Nonexistent. Once again, Joe was and still is out of touch with the younger generations. The world lives online, it’s only the ancient string-pullers who deny this, I’d say if you want to put a new candidate over the top you’d call Monte Lipman, whose Republic has dominated the charts for years and years. One hit is admirable. But to do it over and over again? That shows skill. And it wasn’t Taylor Swift who kept her album atop the charts for twelve straight weeks, that was Monte and his team.
https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/07/21/no-to-kamala/
5/. Tom the Dancing Bug was at the RNC.....
6/. It's early days, but MAGA have already started with the racist, sexist and other vicious memes about Kamala.....
MAGA REPUBLICANS ARE subjecting Vice President Kamala Harris to a barrage of racist and sexist attacks as she has stormed out in front as the likely 2024 nominee in the wake of Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race. In just the past 48 hours, Harris has been targeted by resurgent “birthers” who claim she’s not a natural-born citizen and by Trumpy Bible-thumpers who claim she’s a biblical “Jezebel” — a reference to a temptress who misled the faithful into idolatry and sexual depravity. GOP Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee said that “100 percent, she was a DEI hire” insisting of Biden’s choice of Harris: “When you go down that route, you get mediocrity.” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/maga-republicans-racist-sexist-attacks-kamala-harris-1235065295/
7/. George Conway has started a PAC - the Anti-PyschoPAC.....it has to do with Trump's mental health! Give generously!
This is a great video.....
8/. Interesting - they are attacking Kamala for being childless, but the real reason is they want control over women...
Kamala Harris has not given birth to children — and is therefore unfit to be president of the United States of America — appears to be the first line of attack the GOP has come up with since the presidential race was upended this weekend when President Joe Biden dropped out. Which is so predictable it borders on laughable. Except if the last decade has taught us anything, it’s that the GOP is deadly serious in its endeavor to turn Onionheadlines into political platforms and subsequently laws.
It’s also in keeping with the messaging the GOP has been trying to attach to Harris for a while now. In 2021, now-VP nominee J.D. Vance warned against a ruling political party dominated “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.” He was referring to Harris, AOC, and Pete Buttigieg (who, with his husband, became parents to two adopted infant twins in 2021).
9/. All you need to know about JD Vance....
10/. We love Costco - now they have an apocalypse kit!
The growing threat of climate change and the increase in unpredictable natural disasters that comes with it is leading survival-minded shoppers to a bucket of possible salvation from Costco.
The big box warehouse club retailer is selling the “Readywise Emergency Food Bucket” for around $80 to its US customers.
“In a world where unpredictability has become a constant, our assortment takes on a vital role in emergency preparedness,” reads the product’s description on Costco’s website. “Imagine the sudden onset of severe weather, the challenges of unexpected job transitions, or the unsettling thought of food shortages. These are the moments when having a reliable source of sustenance becomes a game-changer.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/18/costco-emergency-food-bucket-apocalypse
11/ AI is here, and there are going to be major effects on the job market that a lot of people don't see coming.....
A very informative and disturbing article from the Guardian.....
Ashort while ago, a screenwriter friend from Los Angeles called me. “I have three years left,” he said. “Maybe five if I’m lucky.” He had been allowed to test a screenplay AI still in development. He described a miniseries: main characters, plot and atmosphere – and a few minutes later, there they were, all the episodes, written and ready for filming. Then he asked the AI for improvement suggestions on its own series, and to his astonishment, they were great – smart, targeted, witty and creative. The AI completely overhauled the ending of one episode, and with those changes the whole thing was really good. He paused for a moment, then repeated that he had three years left before he would have to find a new job.
12/. With all this shitty news, it's time to get a smile on your face....
This is the video that changed weddings in the US......Jill and Kevin's big day....
13/. Just an awful story - how an older black lady is shot in the face by a racist cop......
Authorities have released shocking video that shows a white police officer in Illinois shooting a Black woman – who called police in fear of a home intruder – in the face, killing her.
Sonya Massey, 36, was killed early on the morning of 6 July by Sean Grayson, an Illinois sheriff’s deputy, in her home in Springfield, the Illinois state capitol. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/22/sonya-massey-illinois-shooting-video
And this is the bodycam video.....FF to the 13 minute mark....
Note - this is very disturbing......
14/. A guy story - how Ukrainian tanks now have a real edge over Russian troops.....
The concept of camouflage has been around for, well… as long as animals and insects have, really.
Aristotle commented about the color-changing characteristics of an octopus, and later Charles Darwin had a thing or two to say about it.
In the West, military camo came into its own about the same time that long-range rifles made their debut.
But it wasn’t until the early 20th Century that camo became widely adopted across Europe and North America. A lot of camo advancements around this time were thanks to experiments by naturalist Abbott Thayer (dubbed the father of camouflage). https://wesodonnell.medium.com/this-swedish-camouflage-is-making-ukrainian-vehicles-nearly-invisible-3765d1f37d33
15/ Being our age means you don't have to deal with this problem, if it is indeed a problem....
Does anyone else think the term “narcissist” gets thrown around a little too much these days? If you listen to pop culture psychology, you might think that everyone is a narcissist.
As a person who’s dealt with people who have this personality disorder, I think the term is thrown around a bit much. And yet, it’s one of the biggest signs of things about to change in our society — in a way I’m thrilled to see.
Talking about something is the first sign that people will change how they behave about a topic. The fact that we’re talking about narcissists as much as we are means that people are finally getting wise to narcissistic abuse.
The increase in talk has also kicked off a new trend of going no-contact with narcissistic parents.
https://medium.com/raising-a-beautiful-mind/narcissistic-parents-are-about-to-have-a-rude-wakeup-call-53f7f1f3a903
16/. Boy is this one true....
17/. For you music fans - Rolling Stone lists the 100 best album covers.....
18/. Like true crime documentaries? Vanity Fair lists the 32 best.....
19/ Like to watch climbers do impossible things? Here are two for you from the Times....
Documentaries in which people climb very tall things have a remarkable track record. “Man on Wire,” James Marsh’s 2008 recounting of Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, is one of the most acclaimed and successful documentaries of all time. Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi have made two celebrated films about the sport, “Meru” in 2015 and “Free Solo” in 2018. Just do a quick search for “climbing documentaries” and you’ll find dozens — it’s clearly a genre people love.
That’s undoubtedly due in part to the fact that most of us (myself included) will never, ever attempt to scale a 3,000-foot cliff without ropes. These movies show us what we can’t otherwise see. Plus, in contrast to the manufactured safety of a fiction film, a documentary is heart-pounding. Your head knows they probably will get out alive — but your stomach sure doesn’t.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/19/movies/skywalkers-mountain-queen-netlix-documentary.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
20/. Remember Faye Dunaway? There is a new bio out on HBO that's unusually frank.....
Faye: The Many lives of Faye Dunaway, now streaming on Max in the US, is a refreshingly frank portrait of a genuinely interesting star. In fact it is often surprisingly candid. The director Laurent Bouzereau is a friend of the actor’s son Liam Dunaway O’Neill, who appears several times, so it is naturally a very compassionate film. Crucially, however, it confronts without flinching the subject’s reputation for being what is euphemistically described as “difficult” – so much so that even the redoubtable Bette Davis told Johnny Carson she would never work with her again.
Today's Waterman joke
One morning one of the residents didn't show up for breakfast so his friend went upstairs and knocked on his door to see if everything was OK.
She could hear him through the door and he said that he was running late and would be down shortly, so she went back to the dining area.
An hour later he still hadn't arrived so she went back up towards his room but found him on the stairs.
He was coming down the stairs but was having a devil of time. He had a death grip on the hand rail and seemed to have trouble getting his legs to work right. She told him she was going to call an ambulance but he told her no, he wasn't in any pain and just wanted to have his breakfast.
So she helped him the rest of the way down the stairs and he had his breakfast.
When he tried to return to his room he was completely unable to get up even the first stair step so they called an ambulance for him.
A couple hours later she called the hospital to see how he was doing.
The receptionist there said he was fine, he just had both of his legs in one side of his boxer shorts.
We need to send this to our children so they don't sell the house before they know all the facts.
Today's blonde joke....with a difference!
A blonde city girl named Amy marries a Colorado rancher.
One morning, on his way out to check on the cows, the rancher says to Amy, "'The insemination man is coming over to impregnate one of our cows today, so I drove a nail into the 2 by 4 just above where the cow's stall is in the barn.
Please show him where the cow is when he gets here,OK?"........
The rancher leaves for the fields. After a while, the artificial insemination man arrives and knocks on the front door.
Amy takes him down to the barn. They walk along the row of cows and when Amy sees the nail, she tells him,
"'This is the one right here."
The man, assuming he is dealing with an air head blond, asks,
"Tell me lady, 'cause I'm dying to know; how would YOU know that this is the right cow to be bred?"
"That's simple," she said. "By the nail that's over its stall," she explains very confidently.
Laughing rudely at her, the man says, "And what, pray tell, is the nail for?"
The blond turns to walk away and says sweetly over her shoulder, "I guess it's to hang your pants on."
Today's husband joke
Vern works hard at the Phone Company but spends two nights each week bowling, and plays golf every Saturday.
His wife thinks he's pushing himself too hard, So for his birthday, she takes him to a local strip club.
The doorman at the club greets them and says, "Hey, Vern! How ya doing?"
His wife is puzzled and asks Vern if he's been to the club before.
"Oh no," he says. "He's in my bowling league ."
When they are seated, a waitress asks Vern If he'd like his usual and brings over a Budweiser.
His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says, "How did she know that you drink Budweiser?"
"I recognize her, because she's also the waitress at the golf club. I always have a Bud at the end of the first nine, honey."
A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms around Vern, starts to rub herself all over him and says, "Hi Vern. Want your usual table dance, big boy?"
Vern's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club.
Vern follows and spots her getting into a cab. Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her and tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else.
But his wife is having none of it. She is screaming at the top of her lungs and calling him every four-letter word in the book.
The cabby looks in the rear-view mirror and says, "Geez Vern, you picked up a real bitch this time."
VERN'S FUNERAL WILL BE THIS COMING FRIDAY
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Today's Catholic joke
The parish priest went on a fishing trip.
On the last day of his trip he hooked a monster fish and proceeded toreel it in.
The guide, holding a net, yelled, 'Look at the size of that Son of a Bitch!'
'Son, I'm a priest. Your language is uncalled for!'
'No, Father, that's what kind of fish it is - a Son of a Bitch fish!'
'Really? Well then, help me land this Son of a Bitch!'
Once in the boat, they marvelled at the size of the monster.
'Father, that's the biggest Son of a Bitch I've ever seen'
'Yes, it is a big Son of a Bitch. What should I do with it?'
'Why, eat it! Of course. You've never tasted anything as good as Son of a Bitch!'
Elated, the priest headed home to the rectory.
While unloading his gear and his prize catch, Sister Mary inquired about his trip.
'Take a look at this big Son of a Bitch I caught!'
Sister Mary gasped and clutched her rosary, 'Father!'
'It's OK, Sister. That's what kind of fish it is, a Son of a
Bitch fish!'
'Oh, well then, what are you going to do with that big
Son of a Bitch?'
Sister Mary informed the priest that the new Bishop was scheduled to visit in a few days and that they should fix the Son of a Bitch for his dinner.
'I'll even clean the Son of a Bitch', she said.
As she was cleaning the huge fish, the Friar walked in.
What are you doing Sister?'
'Father wants me to clean this big Son of a Bitch for the new Bishop's Dinner'
'Sister! I'll clean it if you're so upset! Please watch your language!
'No, no, no, it's called a Son of a Bitch Fish.'
Really? Well, in that case, I'll fix up a great meal to go with it,
and that Son of a Bitch can be the main course!
Let me know when you've finished cleaning that Son of a Bitch.'
On the night of the new Bishop's visit, everything was perfect.
The Friar had prepared an excellent meal.
The wine was fine, and the fish was excellent.
The new Bishop said, 'This is a great fish, where did you get it?'
'I caught that Son of a Bitch!' proclaimed the proud priest.
'And I cleaned the Son of a Bitch!' exclaimed the Sister.
The Friar added, 'And I prepared the Son of a Bitch, using a
special recipe!
The new Bishop looked around at each of them.
A big smile crept across his face as he said,
'You fuckers are my kind of people!"
