Friday, October 21, 2022

Davids Daily Dose - Friday October 21st

 

Why is rural America deep red? Paul Krugman with an excellent analysis of country voters, and how they are essentially lost to 
reality [and Democrats] even though red states get a disproportionate amount of government spending...

 The hard-right turn of rural America has become a key factor in our nation’s troubled politics. Rural voters are a declining share of the electorate, but their turn to the MAGAfied Republican Party has been so sharp that, combined with the way our political system underweights urban voters, the radicalization of small towns and the countryside may determine the future course of American democracy — indeed, may lead to its demise.





Tom Tomorrow and the Republican aliens....



Bob Lefsetz with one of his best ever in my opinion.....he summarises the issues in this election, and says the media is completely 
misreading what is actually happening because they don't understand social media, or ignore it.....
If you want a grain of hope about the midterms, read this.....
And yes, I get Val Demings texts and emails just like he says....

I’m sick and tired of political candidates blowing up my phone looking for money.

First and foremost is Val Demmings, running against Marco Rubio for Senate in Florida. Every damn day she texts me for money, AND I DON’T EVEN LIVE IN THE DAMN STATE!

And the odds of her winning are low anyway, right now she’s almost five points behind in the polls, and although anything can happen, in recent polling inaccuracies, the advantage always breaks to the right.

But no, I’m supposed to give my cash to Val.

Where it’s first going to get whacked by her consultants, and then her ad agency and what little is left of my dollar will be blown, because no one is more out of touch with how to reach the people than political candidates.

I mean come on, you expect someone to change their opinion? Based on your biased advertisement? That’s right, ads are now all about train-wreck, you push the limits, you attack your opponent and people have no idea what to believe. You’re influencing nobody, but you’re burning my money.





Watch this again.....it's very good! An SNL short, Alexa For Seniors...




I remember back in 2016 when Michael Moore was on the Bill Maher show and said "Trump has a very good chance to win this election", and all hell 
broke loose..... the media said whatever Moore thought didn't make any difference as Hillary was the ordained one who was a shoo in. 
Boy was Moore right, and in that context read this.....you'll be happy...
The people are speaking, but the media’s not listening. (SIphotography/Getty images)

(A daily series to counter the myth that the Republicans are going to win the House and Senate)

Six months ago, the pundits, the press and the protectors of the established order put out a lot of stories about how the Republicans were going to clean up in the November Midterms. And why wouldn’t they write that? History was on the Republican’s side. Plus Biden had sunk in the approval ratings. Senators Manchin and Sinema had blocked the votes in the Senate for most of Biden’s agenda. It was shaping up to be a comfortable, predictable midterm narrative — like any good Hallmark movie executive produced by Conventional Wisdom — and at the center of it was good ole “Grandpa Joe.”







No apologies for a second piece - Michael Moore with a column that should resonate with any of you following the Mount Dora referendum 
on capping building heights.....this is a great example of a grass roots initiative [Vote YES], being countered by the big money and the politicians they own [Vote NO].....
Fascinating....

(A daily series to counter the reporting that the Republicans are going to win the House and Senate. They are not.)

I’ve spent all my time here on the Tsunami of Truths focusing on us winning the House, the Senate, and some Governors’ races. 

But as one who himself was elected to local office at the age of 18, I’ve neglected to point out that all change begins at home — meaning right there in your neighborhood, your ward, your borough, your school district. It is there where the crazies are trying to ban Maya Angelou. Where the Right is trying to stop affordable housing from being built. Where the Chamber of Commerce is trying to eliminate environmental regulations. Their mission is to stifle debate, to put a halt to change, to lock things down so that the big money in town calls the shots. That’s where the Ted Cruzes of this world get their start on the road to perdition. And if we don’t stop them there, they will one day become the next Marjorie Taylor Greene. 




Bob Lefsetz recommends a book...probably guys only, but why not....

“Alpha: Eddie Gallagher and the War for the Soul of the Navy SEALs”: https://amzn.to/3D03pIY

Every American should read this book.

The best book about combat I’ve ever read is “Black Hawk Down,” the Mogadishu story. They made a movie of it, which ain’t bad, but isn’t in the league of the book. The movie solely depicts action, whereas the book also depicts thought, what was going through the minds of the soldiers engaged in battle. The chaos, the fear, you felt like you were right there.

The depiction of battle in “Alpha” is not quite as good, but that does not mean it’s not fascinating, and riveting.





Vanity Fair lists the best horror movies ever made.....predictable choices, but still interesting....
Image may contain Human Person and Sissy Spacek

The best horror movies tend to be trendsetters, whether by launching a subgenre, introducing new visual techniques, reinventing familiar tropes, or employing clever marketing schemes. Everyone has a different favorite, but it's the rare genre where people tend to agree on a handful of paragons. You'll find grisly slasher flicks, eerie ghost stories, creature features, and psychological freakouts in equal measure here, making this a guide to the best horror movies of all time for beginners and repeat viewers alike.




Today's oldie joke
An old fella was celebrating 92 years on this earth. 

He spoke to his toes. "Hello toes.", he said. "How are you?   You know, you are
92 today.  Oh the times we've had! Remember how we walked in the park in the
summer every Sunday afternoon. The times we waltzed on the dance floor?   
Happy Birthday toes!" 

"Hello, knees.", he continued. "How are you? You know you're 92 today.. 
Oh, the times we've had! Remember when we marched in the parade? 
Oh, the hurdles we've jumped together. Happy Birthday, knees." 

Then, he looked down at his crotch. "Hello Willie!  You little bugger.  Just think.
If you were alive today, you'd be 92.    







Today's parenting joke

A woman and her ten-year-old son were riding in a taxi. It was raining and all the prostitutes were standing under the awnings. 

“Mum," said the boy, "what are all those women doing?" 

“They're waiting for their husbands to get off work," she replied. 

The taxi driver turns round and says, "Geez lady, why don't you tell him the truth? They’re hookers, boy!  They have sex with men for money.” 

The little boy’s eyes got wide and he said, "Is that true, Mum?" 

His mother, glaring hard at the taxi driver, answered in the affirmative. 

After a few minutes, the kid asked, “Mum, what happens to their babies?" 

“Well, Son, most of them become taxi drivers," she said.



Today's blond joke
A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead all work at the same office for a female boss who always goes home early. 

"Hey girls," says the brunette, "Let's go home early tomorrow. She'll never know." 

The next day, they all leave right after the boss does. The brunette gets some extra gardening done, the redhead goes to a bar, and the blonde goes home to find her husband having sex with the female boss! 

She quietly sneaks out of the house and returns at her normal time.

 "That was fun," says the brunette. "We should do it again sometime."

 "No way," says the blonde. "I almost got caught!" 

Friday, September 2, 2022

Davids Daily Dose - Friday September 2nd


1/. Trump's legal woes follow a pattern.....a scandal is unearthed, the media leaps in saying he's finished now, but nothing 
happens and he is free to foment trouble. 
Will this be the case with the Mar-a Lago search? Or is it going to be more of the same....
At Trump Tower on August 9, a day after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago. Photo: David ‘Dee’ Delgado/REUTERS
For more than five years, the legal campaign against Donald Trump has followed a boom-and-bust cycle. 
First, some shocking information is reported or a significant development occurs in the various investigations 
of Trump. Second, national media outlets, assisted by the anti-Trump legal commentariat, explain how Trump 
might be criminally prosecuted. Then in the end, for some reason or another, Trump remains a free 
man, the threat he poses to the Republic more potent than ever.




2/. HBO Max is in the hands of the accountants....


3/. Kari Lake is the Republican nominee for Governor.....a great Lincoln Project ad.....



4/. The Atlantic with a chilling article that rings true - "Trump's Second Term Would Look Like This".....

Ever since the U.S. Senate failed to convict Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection and disqualify him from running for president again, a lot of people, myself included, have been warning that a second Trump term could bring about the extinction of American democracy. Essential features of the system, including the rule of law, honest vote tallies, and orderly succession, would be at risk.

Today, however, we can do more than just speculate about how a second Trump term would unfold, because the MAGA movement has been telegraphing its plans in some detail. 




5/. Bill Maher on straw man arguments, to do with the Salman Rushdie stabbing......amusing....




6/. Bob Lefsetz with his philosophical musings on America and innovation [or lack of it] and how the rest of the world is eating our lunch....
One of his better posts, lots of wisdom here....

Hyundai was a joke. The maker of the cheapest cars with the oldest technology. The only thing that you could buy that was worse was a Yugo.

But Yugo tanked, and Hyundai and its sister company Kia improved and then thrived over the ensuing thirty years they have played in the American market. And not only has Hyundai expanded into luxury, with its Genesis line, most analysts consider the Ioniq 5 and its sister Kia, the EV6, to be the only reasonably priced challengers to Tesla in the American market.

And then comes BYD:

“BYD, Tesla’s Chinese Rival, Is Coming Into Its Own – China’s top electric-vehicle maker has emerged as a formidable force—one that could soon be felt globally”: https://on.wsj.com/3R5PIfO

But Bob, you say, GM and Ford are moving into electric vehicles!




7/. Tom Tomorrow on student debt and Republican outrage....



8/. She's got a good view from her house!




9/. If you want to see how true evil succeeds, read this story about Jones, Day, a right wing 
law firm that has helped implement many of the terrible laws in the MAGA years.....evil bastards.....

On a balmy Saturday night in June, Traci Lovitt hosted a 50th birthday party for her husband, Ara, at their 9,800-square-foot Westchester mansion overlooking Long Island Sound. The couple met while clerking for Supreme Court justices: Traci for Sandra Day O’Connor, Ara for Antonin Scalia. These days, Ara worked in finance. Traci was a top partner at — and a contender to one day run — the international law firm of Jones Day, best known for representing Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns. To serve as M.C. for the event, the Lovitts flew in Richard Blade, the veteran disc jockey Ara listened to while growing up in Southern California. But Blade wasn’t the party’s biggest star. That distinction belonged to Justice Amy Coney Barrett.




10/. This toon is true....



11/. Ron DeSantis and schools....


12/. Yes it's satire, but probably close to true......

Fox News is finding it increasingly difficult to distract its conservative viewers from Donald Trump’s 

unprecedented legal peril, so top Fox executives have decided on a “Hail Mary” programming decision to launch 

its annual coverage of the “War on Christmas” starting September 1st

https://dashmacintyre.medium.com/fox-news-to-launch-war-on-christmas-content-early-to-distract-from-trumps-legal-problems-1e51d9b7863d




13/. Amy Coney Barrett was a cult member for years....and now, wants all women to join her....
Amy Coney Barrett, who was successfully nominated to the supreme court by Donald Trump.Amy Coney Barrett, who was successfully nominated to the supreme court by Donald Trump.Photograph: Reuters

The People of Praise, a secretive Christian faith group that counts the conservative supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett as a member, considered women’s obedience and subservience to men as one of its central early teachings, according to leaked remarks and writings of the wife of one of the group’s founders.

A leaked video of a recent private People of Praise event, marking its 50th anniversary, shows Dorothy Ranaghan 
explaining how some female followers of the faith group cried intensely in reaction to the group’s early teachings 
on “headship” and the “roles of men and women”, in which men are considered divinely ordained as the “head” of the 
family and dominant to women.



14/. Texas is choosing to literally torture it's prisoners for the three summer months a year by refusing to put in A/C in their prisons.....
Texan politicians are such bastards....

EDINBURG, Texas — Rashes from heat are common. Metal furniture is hot to the touch. Hyperthermia and dehydration are a constant risk, mitigated with fans, tepid water and wet towels. Deaths, though rare, have occurred.

This is life during much of the summer inside Texas’ stifling prisons, a majority of which have no air-conditioning for inmates despite increasingly extreme temperatures in the state.

For the men locked inside the dormitories of Lopez State Jail, dripping and desperate, a record-setting 
heat wave this summer created a feeling of misery bordering on hopelessness.



15/. The Lincoln Project with a powerful ad about Republicans.....the problem is no one sees these ads....




16/. Joe Manchin's deal to put a pipeline in WV is starting to unravel....
Woman in red shirt stands for a portrait outside

Taking on the fossil fuel industry in West Virginia was always going to be a David v Goliath type battle, but after years of protests, lobbying and lawsuits, 68-year-old Becky Crabtree thought the community-led resistance had beaten the Mountain Valley pipeline (MVP) in a fair fight.

So when news broke earlier in August that the state’s fossil-fuel friendly senator Joe Manchin had resurrected the beleaguered 
pipeline, Crabtree, a high school science teacher who teaches students about the climate crisis, felt “numb”.



17/. Painfully amusing...



18/. Bob Lefsetz is feeling hopeful......things are a'changin.....

Today I’m feeling optimistic, and I haven’t had that spirit here for a very long time.

Let’s start with France banning private jets:

“As France Swelters, Private Jets Come Under Attack – Politicians are proposing regulating or banning flights by such planes after a summer of 

extreme heat and soaring energy prices prompted growing calls to tackle the causes of climate change.”: https://nyti.ms/3Ks9AaH

I like to fly private as much as the next person, but not at the cost of burning up the planet.

Now the interesting thing is this has been a bottom-up effort. It started with that kid tracking Elon Musk’s flights, and evidence came 

out of the short trips taken by a Kardashian, Drake and Taylor Swift and… We have been told for decades that money rules and there’s 

nothing we can do about it other than to try and get ours. But the truth is the game is rigged, and in most cases we can’t get ours, and certainly not enough money to influence policy.




19/. Ron DeSantis's voter fraud spectacle is blowing up in his face.....


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a news conference at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 18 announcing criminal charges 
against 20 people for illegally voting in 2020. AMY BETH BENNETT AP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ big reveal of voter fraud in Florida is turning into a big
 embarrassment. His triumphant mid-August press conference in the Democratic stronghold of Broward County was clearly supposed to be a two-fer: 
justifying his unnecessary new Office of Election Crimes and Security while also striking fear — the GOP’s favorite emotion — in the hearts of a purportedly 
vast sea of wrong-doers. He struck a typical strongman pose at the event, surrounding himself with uniformed officers as he announced the 
arrests of 20 people and vowed to make them “pay the price.”




20/. "The Rings Of Power" is the new prequel to Lord Of The Rings.....on Amazon Sept. 2......here's the trailer....
And a factoid for you - this series will cost over a billion, yes billion because Jeff Bezos is a huge fan of Lord Of The Rings....




21/. Fall movie previews....
As Labor Day looms, the year’s big fall film festivals grind into motion. First the watery glitz of Venice, then the cozy mountain fever of Telluride, then the practical sprawl of Toronto. This year’s lineup of films is the most stacked we’ve had since pre-pandemic times, an intriguing jumble of projects ranging from nostalgia pieces from certified masters to cutting-edge comebacks to hotly anticipated star turns from global heartthrobs. It’s a lot to keep track of—and that’s before you even get to the guaranteed blockbusters and mysterious auteur projects awaiting us later in the fall. So we’ve compiled a little dossier to help guide you (and, really, ourselves) through the most exciting part of this, and any, moviegoing year—from the festivals and beyond. 



22/. "The Patient" with Steve Carrell looks really interesting.....

Most actors are attached to their jobs. Steve Carell was padlocked to his.

In FX’s new tête-à-tête thriller “The Patient,” Carell’s character, Dr. Alan Strauss, spends most of the show restrained by a serial killer — the titular patient — with a chain bolted to the floor. Every day, the prop master came in with a real manacle and shackled the actor with a real lock.

Carell had not quite pictured the full impact of his request for verisimilitude.





23/. The wonderful Julia Roberts - her 20 best movies.....
Ahead of the release of Ticket to Paradise, a romcom co-starring George Clooney, we 
rate the Pretty Woman’s finest work, from Steel Magnolias to My Best Friend’s Wedding




Today's boomer jokes....
1. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest or Google Maps really need to start their directions on #5.
I'm  pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment when you
know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of
the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blu-Ray?  I don't
want to have to restart my collection... again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I
did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers.  I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front.  Stay strong, brothers and
sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away,
in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and
the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men
to realize that their brain is also important.

(Ladies .... Quit Laughing! )

It just gets better as you get older, doesn't it?

I was in a Starbucks Coffee recently when my stomach started rumbling and I
realized that I desperately needed to fart.  The place was packed, but the
music was really loud so to get relief and reduce embarrassment I timed my
farts to the beat of the music.  After a couple of songs I started to feel
much better.  I finished my coffee and noticed that everyone was staring at
me.  I  suddenly remembered that I was listening to my Ipod (with ear piece)
- and how was your day?


Today's marital bliss jokes...
A bookseller conducting a market survey asked a woman – “Which book has helped you most in your life?”
The woman replied – “My husband’s check book!!”

A prospective husband in a book store “Do you have a book called, ‘Husband – the Master of the House’?
Sales Girl: “Sir, Fiction and Comics are on the 2nd floor.”

Someone asked an old man: “Even after 70 years, you still call your wife – Darling, Honey, Luv.  What’s the secret?
Old man: I forgot her name and I’m scared to ask

Wife: I wish I were a newspaper so I’d be in your hands all day.  
Husband: I too wish that you were a newspaper, so I could have a new one every day!

Husband to wife – “Today is a fine day.” Next day he says: “Today is a fine day.” Again next day, he says same thing – “today is a fine day.” 
Finally after a week, the wife asks her husband – “since last week, you are saying today is a fine day. I am fed up. What’s the matter?”
Husband: “Last week when we had an argument, you said, I will leave you one fine day. I was just trying to remind you."