Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Davids Daily Dose - Tuesday November 16th

 Number 2 is a must watch....


1/. Inflation is back, but does it matter?
Photo: Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
Not since George H.W. Bush’s administration has your paycheck been pummeled by inflation like this. People are seeing, for the first time in years, a real breakdown in the economy — bare shelves in supermarkets, weeks-long waits for household goods to get delivered, pricier checks at restaurants.




2/. One of the mysteries that baffles me is how Trumpies, anti-vaxxers and Q-Anon people can believe the nonsense they have been fed.
This short video explains why......it's a must watch, a lot of what is puzzling you will become clear....

This story supplements the video.....

How did we get here?  How did we almost become a dictatorship? How did the GOP become the GQP? Why is a return of tRump to the White House still possible?

I met tRump long ago and let’s just say we didn’t get along.  When he became POTUS I honestly believed we had entered The Twilight Zone.  I started connecting the dots and, before the 2018 mid-terms, concluded that we were dealing with a cult; Trump's base mindset/cult and the Dunning-Kruger effect

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/11/9/2063350/-The-Theory-of-Stupidity-must-watch-short-video-explains-trumpers




3/. Here we go again....especially the anti-vax states like Floriduh....the fourth Covid wave is coming....
Good story from the Guardian....
I
t’s deja vu, yet again. The pandemic first hit Europe in March 2020, and Americans were in denial, thinking it wouldn’t happen here. Then, later in the year, the Alpha variant wave took hold in the United Kingdom and the United States was unprepared. This recurred with Delta in the summer of 2021. Now, in the fall of 2021, Europe is the outlier continent on the rise with Covid, with approximately 350 cases per 100,000 people and many countries are soaring to new records.




4/. Tom Tomorrow channels Madison Crawthorn....


5/. Since we don't really get any International news any more, this piece by the wonderful Heather Cox Richardson is especially interesting......
Russia again, and note the Trump section in the beginning....explains a lot....
And in case we go to war again, this is why!

Today, in a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. is "concerned by reports of unusual Russian military activity," which it is "monitoring very closely” out of concern that Russia might invade Ukraine again as it did in 2014.

Russia has been building up troops near the border, and Russian leaders have been talking more forcefully about asserting control over Ukraine.




6/. Bill Maher with "OK Zoomer".....he takes Gen Z and Millenials to task for their indifference to the future....six minutes...



7/. Excellent column from Thomas Friedman in the Times on the climate conference in Glasgow.....he's energised, and afraid.....
Note - great pictures in this article....

I spent last week talking to all sorts of people gathered for the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, and it left me with profoundly mixed emotions.

Having been to most of the climate summits since Bali in 2007, I can tell you this one had a very different feel.



8/. Seth Meyers with a good segment - he's on form, looking at Kellyanne Conway as the person he misses the least from the 
Trump years...11 amusing minutes...



9/. The Steele dossier is at risk of exposure as mostly lies and gossip.....interesting and depressing.....

Christopher Steele, the former MI6 spy who compiled the notorious dossier during the 2016 campaign alleging ties between Donald Trump and Russia, made a splash a few weeks back when he gave his first interview about it. 




10/. Nothing political.....unless a multi-billionaire vs mere millionaires is political......interesting story about New York real estate....
The proposed Norman Foster penthouse. Art: Foster + Partners
For a little over a decade, the billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman lived in a duplex apartment at the Beresford whose windows looked south, toward 6–16 West 77th Street. Perched on the roof of that 1927 apartment building was a relatively undistinguished structure — a pink stucco penthouse — that nevertheless commanded some of the most spectacular sight lines in Manhattan.



11/. Are Democrats too.....?



12/. Honest Trailers - Squid Game....if you have seen this brilliant but most disturbing series, you'll appreciate this. 
If you haven't, you won't....




13/. Did you know Apple has a new chip out that could revolutionise computing? 
Thought not....love the picture, remember 2001-A Space Odyssey?....

For decades, the chip-making giant Intel reigned as one of the most technically advanced companies in Silicon Valley.

It was Intel’s co-founder Gordon Moore who famously predictedthat computer chips would keep getting unimaginably more powerful. 




14/. A SNL skit that has generated a lot of hate from Republican media was "Goober The Clown", where Cecily Strong played a 
clown talking about clown abortions. If you saw it and were a little confused, here's a story that will explain it.

SNL - "Goober The Clown" - three minutes....



15/. Umair with some advice for all of us .....maybe after 2022? 
Assuming the Dems lose the House and Senate....

Over the years, I’ve predicted America’s collapse into fascism, hate, and backwardness. Often with enough detail and precision to chill many of you. And in response, you often wondered, here in the comments, or in emails to me, “Should I leave?” I’ve left the question open. I’ll come back to why in just a moment. But now the time has to come to say it openly.

You should make exit plans from a collapsing America.




16/. If you haven't watched "Yellowstone" because it's been praised by right wing media [prestige TV for conservatives], read this story 
from Vanity Fair and maybe rethink it.....

There’s a TV show called Yellowstone from Taylor Sheridan that’s so wildly popular, it was last year’s most-watched cable series, beating out The Walking Dead for the distinction. It’s a sudsy contemporary Western about the Dutton family, the land they stole 150 years ago, their ruthless fight to fend off greedy developers, and the nearby Native Americans who intend to take it back. It stars Kevin Costner as patriarch John Dutton. It combines stunning cinematography with storylines reminiscent of Succession’s power grabs, The Godfather’s mob mentality, and Dallas’s bitchy in-fighting— except with cattle. Its first three seasons are streaming on Peacock; it launches its fourth season with a two-hour premiere Sunday night on the Paramount Network.

It’s also entirely possible you haven’t heard of it.



Today's video - an Audi R8 [600 hp] vs two superbikes on a Spanish? Brazilian? Interstate.....complete with audio and scared 
passenger......note the driver of the Audi is using the thumb shifts on the steering wheel.....



Today's parenting joke
As a woman passed her daughter's closed bedroom
door, she heard a strange buzzing noise coming from within. Opening the door, she observed her daughter with a vibrator.
Shocked, she asked: 'what in the world are you doing?'
The daughter replied: 'mom, I'm thirty-five years
Old, unmarried, and this thing is about as close as
I'll ever get to a husband. Please, go away and leave me alone.'
The next day, the girl's father heard the same buzz
coming from the other side of the closed bedroom
door. Upon entering the room, he observed his
daughter making passionate love to her vibrator.

To his query as to what she was doing, the daughter said: 

'Dad I'm thirty-five, unmarried, and this thing is about as close as I'll ever get to a
husband. Please, go away and leave me alone .'

A couple days later, the wife came home from a shopping trip, placed the groceries on the kitchen counter, and heard that buzzing noise 
coming from, of all places, the living room. She entered that area and observed her husband sitting on the couch,
downing a cold beer, and staring at the TV.

The vibrator was next to him on the couch, buzzing like crazy.

The wife asked: 'What the f@!* are you doing?'

The husband replied: 'I'm watching football with my son-in-law.'




Today's Cliven Bundy joke
A DEA officer stopped at a ranch in Texas , and 
talked with an old rancher. 

He told the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch 
for illegally grown drugs."

The rancher said, "Okay, but don't go in that field 
over there.....", as he pointed out a distant location.

The DEA officer verbally exploded, saying, " Mister, 
I have the authority of the Federal Government with me!"

Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removed his badge 
and proudly displayed it to the rancher.
"See this badge?!  This badge means I am allowed to go 
wherever I wish.... on ANY land!! No questions asked 
or answers given!!  Have I made myself clear...... do you understand???"

The rancher nodded politely, apologized, and went about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher heard loud screams, looked up 
and saw the DEA officer running for his life, being chased by 
the rancher's enormous Santa Gertrudis bull......

With every step the bull was gaining ground on the officer, 
and it seemed likely that the officer would be gruesomely gored 
before he reached safety. 

The man was clearly terrified.

The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and 
yelled at the top of his lungs.....

"Your badge........ 
show him your BADGE!!"



Today's Lawyer jokes...

Joke 1:

A lawyer dies and goes to Heaven. "There must be some mistake," the lawyer argues. "I'm too young to die. I'm only 55." "Fifty-five?" says Saint Peter. "No, according to our calculations, you're 82." "How'd you get that?" the lawyer asks. Answered St. Peter, "We added up your timesheets."

Joke 2:

What's the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer?

A bad lawyer can let a case drag out for several years. A good lawyer can make it last even long

Joke 3:

One day in Contract Law class, the professor asked one of his better students, "Now if you were to give someone an orange, how would you go about it?"

The student replied, "Here's an orange."

The professor was livid. "No! No! Think like a lawyer!"

The student then recited, "Okay, I'd tell him, 'I hereby give and convey to you all and singular, my estate and interests, rights, claim, title, claim and advantages of and in, said orange, together with all its rind, juice, pulp, and seeds, and all rights and advantages with full power to bite, cut, freeze and otherwise eat, the same, or give the same away with and without the pulp, juice, rind and seeds, anything herein before or hereinafter or in any deed, or deeds, instruments of whatever nature or kind whatsoever to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding..."

Joke 4:

As the lawyer awoke from surgery, he asked, "Why are all the blinds drawn?" The nurse answered, "There's a fire across the street, and we didn't want you to think you had died."

Joke 5:

A woman and her little girl were visiting the grave of the little girl's grandmother. On their way through the cemetery back to the car, the little girl asked, "Mummy, do they ever bury two people in the same grave?"

"Of course not, dear," replied the mother, "Why would you think that?"

"The tombstone back there said... 'Here lies a lawyer and an honest man.'"

Joke 6:

Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, an honest lawyer and an old drunk are walking down the street together when they simultaneously spot a hundred dollar bill. Who gets it? The old drunk, of course, the other three are fantasy creatures.

Joke 7:

At a convention of biological scientists, one researcher remarked to another, "Did you know that in our lab we have switched from mice to lawyers for our experiments?" "Really?" the other replied, "Why did you switch?" "Well, for three reasons. First we found that lawyers are far more plentiful, second, the lab assistants don't get so attached to them, and thirdly there are some things even a rat won't do."

Joke 8:

What does a lawyer get when you give him Viagra?

Taller.

Joke 9:

The lawyer's son wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, so he went to law school and graduated with honors. Then he went home to join his father's firm.

At the end of his first day at work, he rushed into his father's office and said, "Father, father! In one day I broke the Smith case that you've been working on for so long!"

His father yelled, "You idiot! We've been living on the funding of that case for ten years!"

Joke 10:

How many lawyer jokes are in existence?

Only three. All the rest are true stories.

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Davids Daily Dose - Sunday November 7th

 



1/. Ohio's Senate race is a clown car of the highest calibre.....BTW JD Vance wrote Hillbilly Elegy ....
Photo: Jeffrey Dean/AP/Shutterstock
We all have dreams. Small dreams, big dreams. I, for example, would like to live in a small forest hut, like a millennial Baba Yaga. For J.D. Vance, it’s to become senator, and his friends are trying to help him out. How nice.



2/. Bob Lefsetz watched the SNL cold open, and LOVED James Austin Johnson's Trump.....read this, then 
watch the cold open below....



3/. The SNL cold open with Judge Jeanine Pirro, fairly good but the highlight is James Austin Johnson 's interpretation 
of Trump's verbal diarrhea, amazing....8 minutes....Trump starts 4 minutes in.....



4/. Thomas Edsall in the Times nails the issue that is plaguing Democrats - immigration...

Although public polling on immigration shows a strong shift to the left, survey responses in that vein mask a far more complicated reality. Over and over again, immigration has proved to be politically problematic for Democrats. As far back as 2007, when he was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Rahm Emanuel warned that immigration had become the new “third rail of American politics.”




5/. Bill Maher with a pretty good "New Rules" - "Words Matter"....



6/. Bob Lefsetz spells out how Republicans win, and Democrats lose....excellent thoughts, and he has a knack of getting the essentials right. 
If I was a Democratic politician I'd be very worried....

They’re the North Vietnamese.

So, Republicans want an America that no longer exists, and they’re doing their best to make sure they get it. And if they can’t, which they can’t, progress moves forward, they’re going to do their best to put the brakes on change. Democrats? They just don’t care that much and they’re in disarray to boot.

That’s right, the Republicans are united. Together. They all hew to the same line, march to the same beat. Look at how they’ve all lined up behind Trump. They know it’s about defeating the enemy, the Democrats, they put their individual needs to the side in pursuit of mass victory. And they seem to be damn good at it.




7/. Tom Tomorrow....


8/. Matt Taibbi on how the Virginia governorship went red....the media line of why this happened 
is waaaaaaay too simple, the truth is much more nuanced....
The drama that played out in upscale Loudoun County, Virginia over the last year or so, and cost Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe the governorship last night, is a book waiting to be written. In fact, if companies like HBO or Netflix have any sense, it will soon be a movie as well, because almost every hot-button issue in American national politics was rolled up somewhere in this sprawling, preposterous, rage-filled suburban drama.




9/. Andrew Sullivan on the Virginia election.....love the headline - "The Woke Meet Their Match - Parents"....

The best news from Tuesday’s smattering of elections was what didn’t happen. Despite several pre-election bids to gin up skepticism about the integrity of the electoral system, the results, even in very close races, were broadly accepted as legit. Yes, the New Jersey result is super-close and the Republican Jack Ciattarelli may yet seek a recount, as would be his right. But here is his message: “I don’t want people falling victim to wild conspiracy theories or online rumors. While consideration is paid to any and all credible reports, please don’t believe everything you see or read online.”

https://email.mg-tx1.substack.com/c/eJxVUsmOozAQ_ZpwA3khkBx8aCUdTZgmmZaydJ-QsWsSEzDImBD4-jHJXFreVK9eVVn1SnALl9oMrKlb601XZocGmIa-LcFaMF7XgsmUZHQZYbygnmQoyoETT7XZXwNQcVUyr-nyUgluVa0ncoRpjL0rCyl3cYSCWNCIzmkcEokWIUScLkK6hFdJ3kkFWgCrdTlkDVfSK9nV2qad0bcZ2bjNtTTuT11ZqjvXQdvlreXiFoi6ct7GHXsFv69v4FcA1neWMn7Frbj6DTegrcu1sc6vZ3QNQ4IFOQ1fpLxti3rcH74f6eEyfqySPqc79B9H6ehWIeh-1St-3iCHPXZFStJDStP158RvBE3VXiW9PG_trngfd-O7cvjo7Cc-5fv4Ssrv8w7x87LbahQofdIJ-jxly7i4J0Z8Ro1Yxb5uB1ms49-Hozj--cXF46aPnmIEEYwxmrvuIxoHJCBRDJEkXOQYcRrzYEllZ2-4n4Wouvj2gX80yDNM8ruSDtAlDBg72mWS7el0ymXurTqt7JCB5nkJklnTgWdfY_GUOLuABuPGRWbcMhzRSWIUhmROXiI61UNKKYnjheeqy9pFafZTt38_ANNX




10/. A classic - Emma Stone and Jimmy Fallon battle it out in a lip sync contest....she's wonderful, 
he's pretty good too....about 9 minutes....



11/. Michael Moore is right.....unfortunately....the world still doesn't trust us....

As the week drew to a close and President Biden desperately tried to get Congress to vote on his infrastructure bills (build roads, help people) before he headed to two major summits in Europe, pundits and corporatist Dems railed against the progressive lawmakers for holding things up. Of course the only people holding things up were two pro-wealthy Democratic senators — and every single Republican. The progressives? They were holding out on behalf of the vast majority of Americans whose lives would be turned around and vastly improved should Biden’s big bill pass. 




12/. John Oliver with 24 minutes of comedic reporting on homelessness.....




13/. The biggest problem with this country is ignorance and stupidity....which is deliberate. The elites decided back in 
Reagan's day to gut the public schools, and here we are today. 
Excellent story from Salon....

With apologies to Paul Simon, and despite all of the information available to the mortal man, there are still millions of Americans who currently believe they're gliding down the highway when in fact they're slip slidin' away.

As President Biden prepares to travel to Europe to meet with the Pope and our NATO allies next week, there remains a huge national security problem for him to grapple with, one that hasn't been addressed in any meaningful fashion for many years.




14/. A supercut of Fox News"s endless wars on......everything! One minute....



15/. Despite all you hear and read, Democrats are still addicted to corporate money....

Democratic Party leaders on Thursday united around a plan to halve their economic agenda, which had already been nearly halved a few months ago. The full loaf is really a quarter loaf, but at this point, it’s actually less than that, because they also slashed promised regulatory and tax provisions that might have reduced medicine prices, provided workers some paid leave, and made billionaires start paying taxes.

In the coming days, we will learn more of the granular details in the 1,600-plus-page bill — but the overall agreement amid a flood of industry campaign cash is an illuminating moment: it reveals the outer limits of possibility for corporate politics, and the human costs of those politics



16/. John Oliver with a very interesting and amusing segment on car commercials.....six minutes....



17/. Umair with a very good question - are we headed to a Civil War?
There’s a question that’s been eating away at me. I’ve tried not to ask it, but it keeps coming back to haunt me. It’s an ugly one, a difficult one. I’d bet, perhaps, that it’s occurred to you, too. It goes like this. Is America headed for a second civil war?




18/. Jay Leno had a problem....one amusing minute....



19/. Just in case you don't read Umair because you think he's OTT, how about this from MSN....

If there is a second American Civil War, which side would you choose? It may be wise to make that decision now, in the spirit of planning for the worst while hoping for the best.

A recent public opinion poll by the University of Virginia Center for Politics finds that a majority of Trump voters want to secede from the Union. Alarmingly, nearly as many Biden voters, 41 percent, also feel it may be "time to split the country." This is part of a larger pattern; other polls and research have come to similar conclusions.



20/. Hmmmm.....Matt Taibbi with his thoughts on Rachel Maddow and the Russia investigation.....I watched the 
Danchenko piece and frankly did not get her connections....so this is worrisome....

Yesterday, Special Counsel John Durham indicted Brookings Institute analyst Igor Danchenko, better known as the primary source for Christopher Steele, the ex-spy who compiled the now-infamous “Steele Dossier” on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. The case has implications for higher-ranking figures, but the indictment is most immediately devastating to the reputation of the many famous news personalities who hyped the Steele story. They almost all look terrible today, but the response by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was a thing beyond. Whatever the category below “disgraced journalist” is, she entered it with gusto with last night’s performance.




Today's video - another of our short horror movies......this one is "The Closet", and not for the faint of heart! 
You've been warned......



Today's medical joke

There is nothing worse than a Doctor's Receptionist who insists you tell her what is wrong with you in a room full of other patients.
 
I know most of us have experienced this, and I love the way this old guy handled it.
 
A 65-year-old man walked into a crowded waiting room and approached the desk.
 
The Receptionist said, 'Yes sir, what are you seeing the Doctor for today?'
 
'There's something wrong with my dick', he replied.
 
The receptionist became irritated and said, 'You shouldn't come into a crowded waiting room and say things like that. '
 
'Why not, you asked me what was wrong and I told you,' he said.
 
The Receptionist replied; 'Now you've caused some embarrassment in this room full of people. You should have said there is something wrong with your ear or something and discussed the problem further with the Doctor in private.'
 
The man replied, 'You shouldn't ask people questions in a roomful of strangers, if the answer could embarrass anyone". 

The man walked out, waited several minutes, and then re-entered.

The Receptionist smiled smugly and asked, 'Yes??'
 
'There's something wrong with my ear,' he stated.

The Receptionist nodded approvingly and smiled, knowing he had taken her advice.. 'And what is wrong with your ear, Sir?'
 
'I can't piss out of it,' he replied.
 
The waiting room erupted in laughter... 

Mess with seniors, and you're going to lose.


Today's blonde jokes.....

What can strike a blonde without her even knowing it? A thought

What do you do if a blonde throws a grenade at you? Pull the pin and throw it back.

What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever.

How do you make a blonde's eyes light up? Shine a flashlight in their ear. 

What did the blonde say when she found out she was pregnant? "Are you sure it's mine?"

What do you call it when a blonde dies their hair brunette? Artificial intelligence.

How do you make a blonde laugh on Saturday? Tell her a joke on Wednesday

Today's old Trump jokes

Q: What’s the difference between God and Donald Trump?
A: God doesn’t think he’s Donald Trump.

Q: How’s Donald Trump going to get rid of all the Mexicans?
A: Juan by Juan

Q: What does Donald Trump tell Obama supporters he’s trying to win over?
A: Orange is the new black.

Q: Wanna hear a racist joke?
A: Donald Trump

Q: What happens when Donald Trump takes Viagra?
A: He grows taller.

Q: Why does Trump wants to ban the sale of pre-shredded cheese?
A: He wants to make America grate again.

Q: Why does Donald Trump secretly want to lose the election?
A: Because if he wins, he’ll have to move into a smaller house in a black neighborhood.

Q: What’s 18 inches long and hangs in front of an assh*le?
A: Donald Trump’s tie

Q: Minorities have the race card, women have the gender card, homosexuals have the gay card, but what do discriminatory white men have?
A: The Trump card

Q: America is going to suffer if Donald Trump becomes president
A: You could say we’re going toupée for it.

Q: What do a thong and Donald Trump’s toupee have in common?
A: They both barely cover an assh*le.

Q: Why did Donald Trump cancel his trip to Israel?
A: He realized they already have a wall and fear of Muslims.

Q: So Donald Trump wants to be president and move into the white house. Why not?
A: It wouldn’t be the first time he pushed a black family out of their home.