1/. Bill McKibben on the 1984-ish blatant lying of this administration.....
The past stretch of days—say, since the murder of Renee Good—has been marked by brutality, but also by a dishonesty so deep and stupid that it’s begun to finally turn on the liars. Following the execution of Alex Pretti, for instance, various White House officials were quick to start just plain lying: he was an “assassin” and a “domestic terrorist” who "wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."
As many videos emerged in the course of the day, those lies were shown for what they were. Pretti was, at worst, trying to help a woman who was being unnecessarily gassed; for his pains he was executed once he’d been disarmed; the only “weapon” he’d “brandished” was a cellphone. Oh, and instead of being a domestic terrorist he was a VA nurse who treated former soldiers with compassion and dignity.
2/. President Miller 2028...
3/. Andrew Sullivan on the Epstein files......some insightful observations.....
I’ve been struggling to write about the Epstein case — and the eponymous “files” — because, to be honest, I’ve been struggling to figure out what to think about them. I’m not a big conspiracy buff; my thoughts are far too complicated to say anything simple; and, well, sometimes life is too short to comb through acres of skeevy emails by many of the rich and powerful people I’ve spent the last 30 years desperately trying to avoid.
But here goes!
The following, it seems to me, is what really matters: an email from an Epstein friend in 2014 (long, long after Epstein’s conviction for sex with a minor):
Thank you for a fun night ...
Your littlest girl was a little naughty.
No proof of an actual crime here but, in the broader context of what we know about Epstein, the mind reels at the way so many in our elite were able to ignore the abuse of minors happening in the wings. Money, glamor, and connections easily trumped any moral qualms. I guess if Catholic Cardinals can look the other way, so can Larry Summers and Brad Karp. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/notes-on-epstein?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=61371&post_id=186518186&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=2cwgv&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email=email
4/. Talk about an accurate portrayal of MAGA!
5/. Jason Garcia's column looks at the Florida Legislature and who is funnelling money to your Republican politicians, but this is a doozy.
Have a look at the bills that have come out of committee and are going to almost automatic approval.
Wow, this is corruption on steroids.....
Key leaders in the Florida Senate want to crack down on a scheme used by some large developers to lock homebuyers into legally murky “forever fees.”
The ploy involves master-planned communities built with recreational facilities such as golf courses, fitness centers and tennis courts, and managed by homeowners’ associations that collect monthly assessments from residents for operations and maintenance.
In some communities built around Florida in recent years, the developers have decided to retain ownership of the recreational facilities for themselves rather than turn them over to the resident-controlled HOA. But they have still bound homebuyers to covenants that compel them to pay monthly “club fees” or “amenity fees” — fees that include an incremental profit margin for the developer and that can continue on in perpetuity.
6/. Did you watch the Super Bowl? Of course you did.
And did you see Bad Bunny's Halftime Show? You betcha.
Are you a right wing male? You hated it.
Everyone else? Loved it......such amazing energy....
This story from the Guardian explains all of the meaning behind the show,
and when you read this you'll have to watch it again.....
Still, 2025’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos was the monumental latest entry in Bad Bunny’s documentation of Puerto Rican struggle. Its sober caution against the erosion of a Puerto Rico for Puerto Ricans amid foreign tax incentives and mass economic displacement; its honoring of Afro-Puerto Rican modes of musical storytelling and resistance in bomba and plena; its 31-show residency at El Coliseo de Puerto Rico in lieu of an international tour brought millions into the island’s economy. All of it was in solemn devotion to never compromising his land, identity or history.
The Super Bowl half-time show is inherently about compromise. But as he kicked off the Benito Bowl, somehow, Benito’s biggest compromise seemed to be the amount of words bleeped out of his verse.
Here it is - 13 ,minutes of fun and Puerto Rican history.......!
7/. One issue Democrats need to be in front of is how does our society deal with the job disruption
and concentration of wealth upward that is being, and will be worse, with more and more AI deployed in the workplace.....
Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, has predicted that artificial intelligence could displace half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. Already, layoffs are on the rise. Recent college grads are struggling to find work. And even for those of us fortunate enough to be employed, our retirement savings are increasingly dependent on the fortunes of a small handful of high-growth tech companies.
The economics of A.I. may not be as politically urgent as President Trump’s latest international entanglements or Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s extrajudicial campaign of terror, but it is steadily if quietly becoming the country’s biggest political issue. It won’t define this year’s midterms, but it will almost certainly define the 2028 elections.
9/. Canadian rage has gone global.....
The defiance against America that has consumed Canadian life for over a year now has finally spread to the rest of the West. The message of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at Davos last month — that of a “rupture in the world order” — was not new for Canadians. Just after his election in April, Mr. Carney declared that “our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over.” At Davos, the moment caught up with him, and with Canada. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/opinion/canada-america-anger-carney.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
10/. It's Valentine's Day this week!
11/. Nicolas Kristof with a surprising story - schools in Mississippi have a better academic
record than most schools in the country.....
A ray of hope is emerging in American education.
Not among Democrats or Republicans, each diverted by culture wars. Not in the education reform movement, largely abandoned by the philanthropists who once propelled it. Not in most schools across the country, still struggling with chronic absenteeism and a decade of faltering test scores.
Rather, hope emerges in the most unlikely of places: three states here in the Deep South that long represented America’s educational basement. These states — Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi — have histories of child poverty, racism and dismal educational outcomes, and they continue to spend less than most other states on public schools. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html
12/. Polarization has a few meanings!
13/. Sydney Blumenthal in the Guardian with a summary of the last month's events......he's a really good writer......
NIt was the worst of times and then even worse; it was the age of lies and then more lies; it was an epoch of preening and cowardice. In the winter of despair, it was a day of the vile and a night of the obscene. It was a tale of two films, one featuring the stark killing of a protester on a cold Minneapolis street and the other starring Melania Trump striking poses in a “documentary” shown at a private screening at the White House.
Throughout the day of Saturday 24 January videos of the killing by ICE agents of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Veterans Administration hospital, on a street in Minneapolis were broadcast endlessly on TV news channels and seen by tens of millions online. The videos clearly showed Pretti with his phone in his hand, holding his hands up as he approached ICE agents who had pepper-sprayed a woman. He was coming to her aid, a Good Samaritan. The ICE agents instantly attacked him. One frame of a video shows one agent with his gun drawn, pointed at Pretti’s back as he fell, hands still in the air. Agents appear to have shot him 10 times in five seconds. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/29/trump-administration-minnesota-alex-pretti-ice-gregory-bovino
14/. Politics Girl Lee evicerates Mike Johnson....2 wonderful minutes....
15/. Were you aware Germany has sent a full brigade of troops and 100 of their Leopard tanks to Lithuania? Thought not.....
This story explains why this is a huge deal!
Germany is about to do something it has spent 80 years trying very hard not to do.
In May of last year, Germany announced that it will permanently station a full combat brigade, roughly 5,000 troops and more than 100 of its most modern main battle tanks, on the eastern edge of NATO.
Now, those troops are finally arriving.
I want to be clear here; this is not rotating forces. Not temporary deployments. Not “exercises.”
Permanently. And not somewhere abstract like a headquarters element or a training detachment, but in Lithuania, less than 30 kilometers from the Belarusian border, with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave looming to the west. https://wesodonnell.medium.com/germany-sends-5-000-troops-and-100-leopards-to-russias-doorstep-3ab220c8fb6c
16/. I put this story in last week, so we started watching "Steal".
Wow, WOW. Highly recommend it!
The trick, Zara Dunne tells her new underling as she shows her round the trades processing floor of the pension management company for which they both now work, is not to dwell on the fact that every day that passes is another day wasted. And to know where the nice biscuits are. This is very good advice for any twentysomething starting their first job, but especially one called Myrtle, as this one is, whom I imagine has already had much of the stuffing knocked out of her by her peers’ reactions to this odd parental choice of moniker.
Soon, however, they are all in need of substantially more comfort than even a chocolate Hobnob can provide, as a team of armed villains swarms the floor. From there, the glossy new six-part thriller Steal kicks into high gear and doesn’t let up for a moment.
Today's Flatulence joke...
My sister in law posted this and found it hysterical and thought you might also.
This is definitely one story you must read and pass on. Especially if you need a good laugh:
Like everything in life, farts have a time and place.
However, I never realized that in the wrong time and place, flatulence had enough power to alter my course in history.
Well, it can if it’s the third date with the man of your dreams.
And, if it makes his eyes burn. If God destined us to be together, I was one SBD away from foiling His plans (that’s “Silent But Deadly” for you prudes).
It was about five years ago. I was trying to lose a few pounds so I was staying away from carbs.
That’s when I met my husband, Rob. On our first date, he booked the next two. He liked me. I liked him. Things were looking real good.
He picked me up in a Mustang and his pathetic attempt to win me over with a car totally worked.
I’m not shallow, but since I spent most of my twenties picking men up because I didn’t want my hair to frizz in their non-air conditioned jalopies on 3 wheels and a 15 year old spare, I welcomed his fancy sports car with open arms.
We arrived at the restaurant and Rob was ordering food I hadn’t allowed myself to eat in years.
I didn’t want to be “that girl” so I ate, drank, and oh, was I merry.
Later we shopped a bit. Rob surprised me by buying an expensive pair of shoes that he caught me eyeing. Was this love?
That’s when it happened. Gas strikes in two different ways – uncontrollable toots or sharp, shooting pains that feel a lot like dying.
I thought I was dying. Not to make a scene, I told Rob I suddenly wasn’t feeling well and probably needed to head home.
On the way home in his Mustang, he tried to hold my hand and ask me lots of questions, but I wasn’t having any of it.
The pain was so bad it felt like I was being stabbed with a bunch of tiny forks. Then I realized …
My God, help me. I have a horrendous fart on deck. I’m in trouble. Big trouble.
HOW DO YOU TELL A MAN YOU JUST STARTED DATING, THAT THE REASON YOU ARE WRITHING IN PAIN IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO FART.
The more I held it in, the more pain would shoot through my stomach and down my legs.
I was even having to raise myself off the seat, gripping on to my door and the dashboard.
“Seriously, you need to hurry – I’m in a lot of pain.” I managed to say through gritted teeth.
“Wow, it’s that bad? What’s wrong? Do I need to take you to a hospital?”
How do you tell a man you just started dating that the reason you’re writhing in pain is because you have to fart?
Well, you can either tell him, or like me, let the fart speak for itself.
People, hear me. There was nothing I could do.
As impressive as I am with sphincter control, this was out of my hands.
Slowly, it eeked out. The more I tried to stop it, the more it forced its way through the door.
However, to my pleasant surprise, there was no sound. I sat silently, sweat accumulating above my upper lip.
Ok, maybe I got away with it. Maybe I’m home free. Then it hit me. Not an idea, a cloud.
A horrific, fart cloud. Not in a, “am I smelling something?” sort of way.
More like a “is someone dead and rotting in your trunk and am I in hell?” sort of way.
Suddenly, I panicked. “Roll down the windows!” I screamed (yes, I literally screamed it like I was in a horror movie).
“What? Why?” Rob asked, starting to freak out because I was freaking out.
“I can’t roll down the windows, unlock it! UNLOCK IT!”
“What’s going on?” Rob yells back to me, “Why are you …” then it hit him.
I could see it in his eyes. Was it surprise? Horror?
Water started to accumulate at the base of his eyelids, “Oh my God, I CAN TASTE IT!” he screamed.
“Roll down the windows!” As I screamed, the toots started to flood out uncontrollably.
I scratched and clawed at the window like I was being kidnapped.
Rob, unable to see either by fart cloud or panic, kept turning on the windshield wipers instead of unlocking the window.
It was chaos. We were acting like we were under siege by gun fire. We were under siege alright, just not by gun fire.
Finally he was able to hit the right control and he rolled down our windows.
We both gulped in fresh air. I was horrified, yet happy to be alive, then remembered I just farted on the man of dreams, then sorta wished I was dead.
We sat silently for the rest of the way home.
Although the shooting pains had subsided, I now desperately needed to use the bathroom, in an urgent, explosive kind of way.
He pulled up to my apartment and before he could come to a stop I had already jumped out,
“Ok, thanks for dinner, sorry about the fart, love the shoes!” and ran in to my apartment like I was running from the cops.
I burst through my door and ran straight for the bathroom, where I was finally able to unleash and make noises that no one should ever, EVER, hear coming from another person.
Then I heard it. Rob’s voice. Right. Outside. My. Bathroom. Door.
“Anna? You left your shoes in my car and your front door was open. Where do you want me to put them?”
“Get away from the door!” I scream like Reagan from The Exorcist.
“Ok, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
*toot* *toot* *splatter* *ungodly noise*
“I’m fine, Rob – just leave the shoes there. I’ll call you later okay?”
“Okay, are you sure you’re …”
“I’m fine! Get away from the door!”
This man! I mean, I love him, but take a freakin’ hint!
Finally, I heard the front door shut, and the Mustang engine zoom away.
I thought that was the last I’d hear from him.
I didn’t think it was possible to ever see a man again after he screams he can taste your fart after only knowing you for 48 hours.
But, to my surprise, I did. A couple days later, actually.
Now we’re married and he’s lying on the couch while I type this … “It was your rack that saved you,” he just lovingly reminded me.
Today's Medical joke....
A young doctor has moved out to a small community to replace a doctor who is retiring.
The older doctor urges the younger doctor to accompany him in his rounds so the people in town can meet the new younger doctor.
At the first house that they visit, the woman complained about her stomach pain.
The older doctor said " because you eat too much fruit. Just 1 or 2 portions is enough for a day.
After they left, the younger doctor said
" you didn't examine the woman. How come you got the diagnosis so quickly?"
" I didn't have to. Haven't you noticed that I dropped my stethoscope over there?
When I bent to pick it up, I saw a half dozen banana peels in the trash can. That must be the cause of her stomach pain.
"Huh?" The younger doctor said. " pretty clever. I think I will do the same for our next patient."
When they arrived at the next house, they spent several minutes talking to a woman.
She complained that she's always exhausted and feeling down lately.
" you've probably doing too much work for the church, " the younger doctor told her. "
maybe you should take it easy and see if that will make you feel better."
As they were leaving, the older doctor said
" I know that woman well. Your diagnosis is almost certainly correct, but how did you arrive with that?
"I did what you did, I dropped my stethoscope and when I bent down to pick it up, I noticed the preacher under the bed.
Today's Car joke
A Honda mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Honda when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop.
The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his car when the mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey Doc, want to take a look at this.?"
The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the Honda.
The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I opened its heart, took the valves out, repaired or replaced anything damaged, and then put everything back in, and when I finished, it worked just like new.
So how is it that I make £24,000 a year and you make £1.7M when you and I are doing basically the same work.?"
The cardiologist paused, leaned over, and then whispered to the mechanic.... "Try doing it with the engine running!
Today's blonde joke
A young ventriloquist was touring Sweden and, one night, he was doing a show in a small fishing town.
With his dummy on his knee, he started going through some of his standard dumb blonde jokes.
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