Saturday, January 18, 2025

Davids Daily Dose - Saturday January 18

 1/. Why the Democrats lost - a very good and pretty persuasive assertion the Harris campaign was completely unfocused 

and obsessed with data, where Trump's team knew their targets and made their messages believable. 
The Democratic elite and their consultants were focussed on Trump and his insanity - and lost touch with actual voters. 
So here we are.....

For most of Election Day 2024, the mood was upbeat inside the windowless Philadelphia hotel ballroom where Team Kamala Harrishad set up its Pennsylvania command center. Early-­morning turnout was exceeding expectations, especially in Luzerne and other parts of the state with large Puerto Rican populations — a sign many in the room were eager to attribute to the Donald Trump campaign’s decision to host a comedian who denigrated the U.S. territory at a high-profile rally days before the election.

Like a lot of Harris-Walz staffers, Erik Balsbaugh woke up that morning optimistic. He thought the polls were underestimating Harris’ support the same way they had underestimated Democrats’ chances in the midterm elections two years earlier. He suspected a similar dynamic — female voters’ fury over efforts to dismantle abortion access — would fuel a Harris victory. And the snatches of information he heard over the course of the day only confirmed his priors: The Puerto Rican side of Balsbaugh’s family, mostly Republicans, had all voted for Harris. 



2/. Welcome to the future.....



3/. Unsure who to root for in the NFL playoffs? Here's a handy guide from New York Magazine.....
Or you could cheer for the guys with the nicest uniforms.....

The NFL needs no help reaching maximum market penetration, particularly as, next week, we enter an uncertain and potentially terrifying new world in which one suspects a large swath of the populace is going to be particularly eager to dive face-first into whatever available distraction is within reach. But as the league heads into its divisional playoff round next weekend, it is worth noting this: There are almost no unlikable teams remaining.

Now, if you are of the school that all NFL teams (and, specifically, their owners) are a net drain on society at large as well as loathsome in their own unique ways, I suppose I can’t argue with you, and I won’t try. But think of all the hateable teams that aren’t a part of the final eight:



4/. Desi Lydic of the Daily Show with a really good segment......the first two minutes are a must see - the seating 
chart for Jimmy Carter's funeral......the rest is pretty good too.....



5/. Bob Lefsetz on the Oscars......and more.....

Nine out of ten of last year’s biggest grossing movies were sequels. And the tenth was “Wicked.” But the mainstream press is caught up in Oscar fever. Why?

The vaunted Golden Globes didn’t even get 10 million viewers. But it dominated coverage in the same mainstream press. As for why I even bothered to write about Nikki Glaser… If you were reading the mainstream press there was a one month run-up, tons of stories orchestrated by publicists building up to this pebble falling into the lake.

There are 340 million people in America. And most don’t bother to go to the movies. Not that they’re not consumed by entertainment. It’s just that feature films are a construct of the past, of the last century. Kind of like writing the Great American Novel. That went out with the fifties, maybe the sixties… Thank god no one writes about that anymore. Although there are still novels, purveyed by an antique business run by English majors with some of the worst marketing of all time. Which is why James Patterson came along and dominated the business, he knows how to SELL!                                                               https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2025/01/09/oscar-nonsense/




6/. The Nikki Glaser roast of Tom Brady has become viral, probably because it's so raunchy.....



7/. Now this is frightening.....a long but excellent story on the extremes of the Evangelical movement, the ones who think Trump is a God.....
There's more of them than you might think, and they are all around us. I think I know a couple......

on the thursday night after Donald Trump won the presidential election, an obscure but telling celebration unfolded inside a converted barn off a highway stretching through the cornfields of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The place was called Gateway House of Prayer, and it was not exactly a church, and did not exactly fit into the paradigms of what American Christianity has typically been. Inside, there were no hymnals, no images of Jesus Christ, no parables fixed in stained glass. Strings of lights hung from the rafters. A huge map of the world covered one wall. On the others were seven framed bulletin boards, each representing a theater of battle between the forces of God and Satan—government, business, education, family, arts, media, and religion itself. Gateway House of Prayer, it turned out, was a kind of war room. And if its patrons are to be believed, at least one person, and at peak times dozens, had been praying every single minute of every single day for more than 15 years for the victory that now seemed at hand. God was winning. The Kingdom was coming.



8/. Again.....I wish this was funny.....



9/. The Shkreli Awards for worst health care stories.....remember Martin Shrekli and the $600 Epipen?
Yes, that bastard.....

• The 2024 Shkreli Awards highlighted the 10 most egregious examples of healthcare profiteering and dysfunction, including unethical practices by hospitals, insurers, and pharmaceutical companies.

• The top spot went to Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre for prioritizing private equity profits over patient care, leading to hospital closures, layoffs, and reduced healthcare access.

• UnitedHealth, the nation’s fourth-largest business, ranked second for pressuring doctors to minimize time with patients and maximize federal reimbursements through aggressive coding tactics.                                                                                                                           https://www.nationofchange.org/2025/01/08/winners-of-2024-shkreli-awards-expose-worst-healthcare-profiteering-cases/



10/. Tom Tomorrow has a MAGA conversation.......



11/. Elon Musk is demonising the Pakistani gangs in the UK that raped hundreds of young women for decades with nothing being done....
But it's a complicated story and very unpleasant.
Note - this is a disturbing article so if you are easily upset, don't read it......

The first response of most human beings to news of irredeemably evil acts is to ask who committed them. And if the answer makes us deeply uncomfortable, we tend to move on pronto. You see this most obviously on social media with news of an atrocity. Was the shooter white, a Democrat, a Republican, Muslim, MAGA, woke, trans? And where did the victim fit into these categories? 

Our priors instantly color our moral judgment, and even our sense of the seriousness of the offense. And the temptation simply to deny what seems to be in front of our nose can be overwhelming.                                                                                                                                                                                https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-price-of-orthodoxies?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=61371&post_id=153998388&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=2cwgv&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email




12/. And dancing they are.....


13/. Bob Lefsetz lives in Los Angeles, and here he riffs on the fires.....
My opinion -the best story yet on this disaster.....

One thing you can be sure of is the boys of summer will return. Human beings are incredibly resilient.

As for Pacific Palisades?

That’s another matter.

So it’s akin to lockdown, but instead of arguments over vaccines, it’s over California. Was the dreaded left coast bastion of liberal excess asleep at the wheel, or was this an act of God, or maybe more accurately man, as in climate change.

That was my first reaction, that’s what my instincts tell me, but it doesn’t matter, America doesn’t have the political will to address the problem head-on. Either it doesn’t exist, or like a teenager the finger is pointed at other countries not doing their part. Ain’t that America, all people can do is complain and nothing gets done. Best to demonize someone rather than look at the root causes of the problem and try to fix it.                                                                  https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2025/01/10/more-fires/




14/. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars with "Die With A Smile".....wonderful!



15/. Airline tips on how to get into first class......

Visions of champagne and lie-flat seats danced in my head when Azores Airlines accepted my 500-euro bid to upgrade my husband and me to business class during our kid-free vacation this past August.

But the reality was far less cushy: Our seats reclined only a few inches more than regular coach seats. There was no screen for TV or movies. We ate exactly the same meal they served at the back of the plane. And that bubbly? A bust.

There are more of us cabin climbers than ever, and many of us make the same rookie mistake I did, said Anthony Berklich, the founder of the luxury New York-based travel agency Inspired Citizen. Access to first and business class, once almost exclusively reserved for big spenders or as a perk for frequent fliers, is now open to a growing number of travelers willing to bid for an upgrade, spend loyalty points or shell out extra cash.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/31/travel/first-class-upgrade-flights-tips.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20250108&instance_id=144134&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=53832515&segment_id=187608&user_id=757da4c757bd7d86b040a18975d30c93




16/. The best TV coming in 2025....

Out with the old; in with the new. True, we don’t yet know what the best TV shows of 2025 will be. Heck, we only just named the best TV shows of 2024. Yet next year’s slate seems to have an awful lot to which we can look forward, including buzzy, long-awaited new seasons of old favorites like The White Lotus,Severance, Yellowjackets, Poker Face, and Wednesday; intriguing newcomers from beloved TV vets like Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Lena Dunham, and Jason Momoa; and highly anticipated conclusions for several of the best TV series of the past 10 years, including The Handmaid’s Tale, Stranger Things, Big Mouth, and You.

Ripped-from-the-headlines docudramas? Check. Big movie stars making a play for streaming eyeballs? Check. Carrie Coon relentlessly climbing the social ladder, with no care for whomever she steps over on her way to the top? Check, check, and check. Come, let’s look forward to the most anticipated TV series of 2025—in a year that’s sure to be weird at best and awful at worst, at least there will be plenty of worthy things to watch beyond the show to which numerous Americans desperately did not want a sequel

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/best-tv-shows-2025?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=vf&utm_mailing=VF_CH_010125&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9d5dd3f92a40469e409a5&cndid=24450331&hasha=757da4c757bd7d86b040a18975d30c93&hashb=2bad61b1bd19c0a6a3a4a38617b56bc8e87c94e9&hashc=fbbe473f5037f7de779a9b352866aaa97ce40dede88d542358cbe645dd211019&esrc=OIDC_SELECT_ACCOUNT_PAGE&mbid=mbid%3DCRMVYF012019&source=EDT_VYF_NEWSLETTER_0_COCKTAIL_HOUR_ZZ&utm_campaign=VF_CH_010125&utm_term=VYF_Cocktail_Hour



17/. The movies to watch this year.....

Several of the best movies of 2025 may still be complete unknowns. They could be titles that will be acquired at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice—or under-the-radar gems that will derive their power from unpredictable word of mouth. But several of the biggest movies of the year will definitely be found on this list, which focuses on studio films either dated for 2025 or scheduled to appear at some yet-to-be-disclosed point in the next 12 months.                                                                                                                                                                                                         https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/best-movies-2025?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=vf&utm_mailing=VF_CH_010125&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9d5dd3f92a40469e409a5&cndid=24450331&hasha=757da4c757bd7d86b040a18975d30c93&hashb=2bad61b1bd19c0a6a3a4a38617b56bc8e87c94e9&hashc=fbbe473f5037f7de779a9b352866aaa97ce40dede88d542358cbe645dd211019&esrc=OIDC_SELECT_ACCOUNT_PAGE&mbid=mbid%3DCRMVYF012019&source=EDT_VYF_NEWSLETTER_0_COCKTAIL_HOUR_ZZ&utm_campaign=VF_CH_010125&utm_term=VYF_Cocktail_Hour



18/. You may have seen this review before, but it's worth repeating....."Wolf Hall".....

it has been nine years since the first blockbuster run of Wolf Hall shot complete unknown “Mark Rylance” to critical and commercial acclaim, and a smarter TV columnist who pays more attention to geopolitics would draw out a doomed attempt at a metaphor here. One about how the world has so drastically changed since 2015 – all those prime ministers and monarchs and presidents, and also Brexit and Bake Off going to Channel 4 – and I’d nod at the returning treacle-moving drama of court intrigue and everyone caring slightly too much about blood and go: “See? It’s like that, isn’t it. It’s all sort of like that.” That’s the kind of thing writers who get tie-in TV podcasts say in their opening paragraphs, and I would quite like one of those.




Today's Jewish joke
On an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin, a well attired middle-aged woman found herself sitting next to a man wearing a kippa and a beard.
She called the attendant over to complain about her seating.
"What seems to be the problem, Madam?" asked the attendant.
"You've sat me next to a Jew! I can't possibly sit next to this strange man. Please find me another seat!!
"Madam, I will see what I can do to accommodate, but the flight is virtually full today"
A few minutes later the attendant returned and said, "Madam, the economy and club sections are full, however, we do have one seat in first class."
Before the lady had a chance to respond, the attendant continued, "It is only on exceptions that we make this kind of upgrade, and I had to ask permission from the captain. But, given the circumstances, the captain felt that no one should be forced to sit next to such an unpleasant person."
The flight attendant turned to the Jewish man sitting next to her, and said: "So if you'd like to get your things, sir, I have a comfortable seat for you in First class."
At this point, the surrounding passengers stood up and gave a standing ovation while the Jewish man walked up to the front of the plane.
The lady then said indignantly, "The Captain must have made a mistake."
To which the attendant replied, "No Ma'am. Captain Rabinowitz never makes a mistake.


Today's groaner....
Two bees meet in a field. One says to the other, "How are things going?" 
"Really bad," says the second bee. "The weather has been cold, wet and damp, and there aren't any flowers, so I can't make honey."
"No problem," says the first bee, "Just fly down five blocks and turn left. 
Keep going until you see all the cars. There's a Bar Mitzvah going on and there are all kinds of fresh flowers and fresh fruit." 
"Thanks for the tip," says the second bee, and he flew away.
A few hours later the two bees run into each other again. 
The first bee asks, "How'd it go?"  
"Great!" says the second bee. "It was everything you said it would be. There was plenty of fruit and, oh, such huge floral arrangements on every table."
"Uh, what's that thing on your head?" asks the first bee. 
"That's my yarmulke," says the second bee. "I didn't want them to think I was a wasp."



Today's Obituary joke
Anyone who has had to write an obituary for a loved one knows how challenging it can be.
That’s why we have to hand it to the offspring of former New Orleans firefighter William Ziegler for penning one of the most entertaining tributes we’ve read.
Ziegler, 69, “escaped this mortal realm” on July 29. 
The family jokes that, unlike previous times, this was “not a ploy to avoid creditors or old girlfriends … he assures us that he is gone.”
The publication has said the tribute “quickly went viral” and some have called it “one of the all-time great obituaries.”
Ziegler’s daughter, Sharah Currier, told the Times-Picayune that her dad would always pass along strange obituaries.
 “He would have loved this,” she says. “He probably would have forwarded this obituary to us.”
Here it is in its entirety:
He assures us he is gone
William Ziegler escaped this mortal realm on Friday, July 29, 2016 at the age of 69.
We think he did it on purpose to avoid having to make a decision in the pending presidential election.
He leaves behind four children, five grandchildren, and the potted meat industry, for which he was an unofficial spokesman until dietary restrictions forced him to eat real food.
William volunteered for service in the United States Navy at the ripe old age of 17 and immediately realized he didn’t much enjoy being bossed around. He only stuck it out for one war.
Before his discharge, however, the government exchanged numerous ribbons and medals for various honorable acts.
Upon his return to the City of New Orleans in 1971, thinking it best to keep an eye on him, government officials hired William as a fireman.
After twenty-five years, he suddenly realized that running away from burning buildings made more sense than running toward them. He promptly retired.
Looking back, William stated that there was no better group of morons and mental patients than those he had the privilege of serving with (except Bob, he never liked you, Bob).
Following his wishes, there will not be a service, but wellwishers are encouraged to write a note of farewell on a Schaefer Light beer can and drink it in his honor.
He was never one for sentiment or religiosity, but he wanted you to know that if he owes you a beer, and if you can find him in Heaven, he will gladly allow you to buy him another.
He can likely be found forwarding tasteless internet jokes (check your spam folder, but don’t open these at work). Expect to find an alcoholic dog named Judge passed out at his feet. Unlike previous times, this is not a ploy to avoid creditors or old girlfriends. He assures us that he is gone. He will be greatly missed.


Today's 5 undeniable facts joke

A wise person once said

1. We all love to spend money buying new clothes but we never realize
that the best moments in life are enjoyed without clothes.

2. Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but
having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

3. Breaking News: Condoms don't guarantee safe sex anymore.  A friend
of mine was wearing one when he was shot dead by the woman's husband.

4. Arguing over a girl's bust size is like choosing between Molson,
Heineken, Carlsberg, & Budweiser.  Men may state their preferences,
but will grab whatever is available.

AND...

5. I haven't verified this on Snopes, but it sounds legit --- A  recent
study found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer
than the men who mention it.



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