Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: When the Fire Comes (NY Times)
Get ready for the inevitable presidential power grab.
Caitlin McNeal: Trump And His Lackeys Land In Biggest Ethics Quagmire Yet With Nordstrom Dustup (TPM)
"It is a violation of federal ethics regulations prohibiting use of public office for private gain for any government employee in an official speech, an official capacity TV interview or any similar communication to promote the products or services of a particular private business belonging to the employee's own family, the President's family, a friend, a campaign contributor or anyone else," [Richard Painter, who served as the chief ethics lawyer under George W. Bush] wrote in an email to TPM. "That was strictly forbidden in the Bush administration because it is illegal."
Mark Morford: "Nevertheless, she persisted" (SF Gate)
And then came the surreal, extraordinary moment when the sneering old Republican male senator silenced his smart, uppity female colleague from reading, on the Senate floor, the words of Coretta Scott King, wife of one of the greatest civil rights leaders in American history, words that dared to call into question the integrity of the incoming, famously racist old white male Attorney General-to-be of the United States.
Paul Waldman: "On the Trump White House's economic agenda: Photo ops on jobs, and pitches for Ivanka's clothing line" (Washington Post)
As part of his tireless efforts to improve the American economy, President Donald Trump is currently in a battle with Nordstrom over the fact that the department store chain has decided to drop Ivanka Trump's clothing line from its stores.
Alyssa Hardy: Ivanka Trump's Clothing Is Made in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam (Teen Vogue)
Throughout his presidential campaign, one of the biggest platforms that Donald Trump ran on was, according to his website, his opposition to American companies that manufacture their products overseas. However, as his opponents quickly pointed out during election season, both Donald and Ivanka's clothing lines are made in countries like Bangladesh and China.
Elena Cresci: "'3-0': Hillary Clinton responds as Trump's 'SEE YOU IN COURT' becomes a meme" (The Guardian)
Donald Trump's angry tweet after judges upheld a temporary restraining order on his travel ban was met with mirth - including by the woman he beat to the presidency.
Sopan Deb: "Alec Baldwin Mocks Ivanka Trump (and Her Dad) on 'Tonight Show'" (NY Times)
"I got this suit from the Ivanka Trump Men's Collection at Nordstrom's. Big sale right now: 95 percent off of everything." - ALEC BALDWIN on "The Tonight Show" on Thursday.
Peter Bradshaw: The Lego Batman Movie review - funny, exciting and packed with gags (The Guardian)
Growing inexorably in awesomeness, the Lego movie empire delivers another fantastically funny and highly sophisticated pop culture adventure, though with only a hint of the first film's existential angst. (Gotham City is said to be built on thin planks over a void that smells of "dirty laundry". Like a kid's bedroom, maybe?)
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took the day off.
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
Nothing like an uppity woman.
I defy Mitch the Bitch to tell me to sit down & shut up. The stump he would pull back would not be an arm or a leg--think Lorena Bobbitt!
Friend Mike shared the link. I don't recommend reading it if you're hoping to get some sleep anytime soon after.
Former Russian foreign minister sees parallels between Trump and Putin | The Seattle Times
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda (& Mike)!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
"America First"
February 9, Back to Basics, Adolf the Wolf, and
America First ...
The focus here of this cartoon is all wrong ... while Adolf was
undoubtedly the wolf, it was the "Evil-Snake" leaders of Global
Zionism during WWII that was most helpful in producing their own
holocaust. Without Zionism's fabled 6-million martyred, Palestine's
Christian/Muslim holocaust would not be possible.
THE ROLE OF ZIONISM IN THE HOLOCAUST | True Torah Jews
Zionism Betrayed Holocaust Victims, Jewish Refugees
Zionists Sacrificed Jews to the Holocaust
Zionists Betrayed Jews to Holocaust - War Is Crime
DanD
Always interesting to hear from you, Dan!
Thanks.
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"THAT'S HOW IT HAPPENED"
WTF?
CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS!
WANTED: ONE MONKEY HOUSE SUPERINTENDENT.
"I HATE THIS SHIT!"
"HIS MOOTH WIS PURSED UP LIKE AN ARSE"
"THESE JOKERS ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS."
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Cold & rainy.
ABC Renews
Shonda's Trifecta
Hold onto your wine and popcorn because Shondaland's trifecta has been renewed.
ABC has picked up new seasons of "Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal" and "How To Get Away With Murder," Variety has learned.
The early triple-renewal comes as ABC's TGIT back-to-back-to-back lineup has won Thursday night for three weeks in a row among Adults 18-49. (Last night, TGIT reigned with "Grey's" bringing in 8.43 million viewers, "Scandal" with 6.24 million viewers and "HTGAWM" with 4.92 million.)
For the 2017-2018 season, "Grey's" will return for an impressive fourteenth season, "Scandal" for its seventh and "How To Get Away With Murder" with its fourth.
Shonda's Trifecta
Something Is Very, Very Wrong
Arctic Climate
This Arctic winter has startled even the most even-keeled scientists, with records set for low sea ice extent, high temperatures and other indicators of a climate gone awry.
Sea ice has plummeted to record lows and stayed there as pulses of unusually warm air have swept across the region, with the latest one set to reach the North Pole on Thursday. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), sea ice extent hit record lows for the months of November, December and January.
This comes on the heels of a year in which sea ice extent hit its second-lowest level on record at the end of the summer melt season in September.
The new figures for January sea ice extent, released on Tuesday, showed sea ice extent averaged 5.17 million square miles for the month, which was the lowest January extent in the 38-year satellite record.
This is 100,000 square miles, or slightly larger than the state of Oregon, below the previous lowest January extent in January 2016.
Arctic Climate
London Auction House Show
"Erotica: Passion & Desire"
Phallic furniture, graphic ancient Roman sculptures and hardcore photographs are among the new exhibits on show at London's Sotheby's auction house ahead of a sale of sexually-charged art through the ages.
"Erotica: Passion & Desire", which opens on Saturday ahead of the sale next week, brings together over 150 titillating items to explore the varied attitudes to nudity and sex across eras and continents.
The sale is expected to raise up £5 million (5.9 million euros, $6.2 million), with a 19th-century mahogany bed decorated with a carved female nude expected to be the standout item.
"Le Lit de La Paiva" was commissioned by the richest 'demimondaine' -- or hedonist -- of Second Empire Paris, and unearthed at the famous 19th-century brothel "La Fleur Blanche", where artist Toulouse-Lautrec set up easel.
Other prestigious lots include one of only four known examples of Roman marbles depicting human couples engaged in the act, photographs by Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe and Man Ray and centuries-old Japanese and Indian erotic drawings.
"Erotica: Passion & Desire"
Grain Of The Future
Quinoa
Quinoa, the sacred "mother grain" of the ancient Inca civilization suppressed by Spanish conquistadors, could become an increasingly important food source in the future thanks to genetic secrets revealed in a new study.
Scientists on Wednesday said they have mapped the genome of quinoa and identified a gene that could be manipulated to get rid of the grain's natural bitter taste and pave the way for more widespread commercial use.
Quinoa (pronounced KIN-wah) already grows well in harsh conditions such as salty and low-quality soil, high elevations and cool temperatures, meaning it can flourish in locales where common cereal crops like wheat and rice may struggle. But the presence of toxic and bitter chemicals called saponins in its seeds has been one of the impediments to extensive cultivation.
Plant scientist Mark Tester of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia said the research pinpointed a gene that guides production of saponins in quinoa. This knowledge could enable breeding of quinoa without saponins, to make the seeds sweeter.
Currently, quinoa grain must be processed through washing and drying after harvest to remove saponins.
Quinoa
Employee Fired
White House
A troubling report last month revealed that President Donald Trump (R-Nincompoop) still uses "his old, unsecured Android phone" despite protests from security experts and his closest advisers. He was given a more secure device once he took office, but for whatever reason, he refuses to make the switch and continues to tweet from his old phone. As baffling as this is, it's even more frightening in light of the news that Cory Louie, chief information security officer for the White House's Executive Office, has left his post.
Originally reported by Atlantic editor Steve Clemons last week, ZDNet was able to confirm the news through sources of its own on Thursday. According to ZDNet's report, Louie was "escorted out from his office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street from the West Wing" last Thursday, but it's still unclear whether he was fired or asked to resign by the new administration.
Louie was an Obama appointee from 2015, and one source claims that there is an ongoing "witch hunt" in the White House for those who were appointed to positions by the former president. The White House has yet to release a statement or even comment on Louie's role and why he no longer holds his position.
Putting aside the circumstances surrounding Louie's departure, the CISO is reportedly responsible for "the security of all White House internal networks, communications, device, and data." While someone might have stepped in to replace Louie as soon as he was let go, the alternative is that the CISO position is currently unoccupied while the president continues to use an ancient, unsecured Android phone.
White House
Mammoth Theft Of Classified Data
Booz Allen
A former National Security Agency contractor was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges he willfully retained national defense information, in what U.S. officials have said may have been the largest heist of classified government information in history.
The indictment alleges that Harold Thomas Martin, 52, spent up to 20 years stealing highly sensitive government material from the U.S. intelligence community related to national defense, collecting a trove of secrets he hoarded at his home in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
The government has not said what, if anything, Martin did with the stolen data.
Martin faces 20 criminal counts, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison, the Justice Department said.
Martin worked for Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp when he was taken into custody last August.
Booz Allen
Swiss Archaeologist Shines Light On Buried Past
Sudan
A veteran Swiss archaeologist has unearthed three temples in Sudan built thousands of years ago, a discovery he says promises to throw new light on Africa's buried ancient past.
The round and oval shaped structures dating from 1,500 to 2,000 BC were found late last year not far from the famed archaeological site of Kerma in northern Sudan.
Charles Bonnet, 83, considered a master student of Sudan's rich archaeological heritage, told AFP that the sites unearthed during recent digs were unlike anything so far discovered.
"This architecture is unknown ... there is no example in central Africa or in the Nile Valley of this architecture," Bonnet said as he wrapped up his months-long excavation.
The temples were found at Dogi Gel -- "Red Hill" -- located just several hundred metres from Kerma, where Bonnet and his team have been digging for decades.
Sudan
6-Ton Battle Painting
Civil War
A colossal panoramic painting depicting the Battle of Atlanta from the Civil War will be lifted by cranes from the building where it has been for nearly a century and then trucked to its new location.
Moving the 6-ton Cyclorama - one of the world's largest paintings - from Grant Park to the Atlanta History Center across town marks a major milestone in its restoration, historians said.
Crews began the delicate process Thursday, and the move was expected to take two days. Those in charge say they're using extreme caution to ensure the 15,000-square-foot painting is not damaged.
Before the move, the painting was cut at a seam into two pieces. Both pieces were rolled onto gigantic, custom-built steel spools, each taller than a four-story building.
The artwork, created by the American Panorama Co. in Milwaukee in the 1880s, is one of only two such panoramas on display in the nation. The other one is at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.
a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/giant-painting-atlanta-battle-scene-moving-092018063.html" target="_blank">Civil War
Sighting Raises Hopes
Javan Leopard
Four Javan leopards have been spotted in an Indonesian national park where they were previously thought to have died out, raising hopes for the future of the rare big cat.
The leopards were filmed in Cikepuh wildlife sanctuary on Java island by hidden cameras installed after reports the creatures' dung and footprints had been spotted in the area, the environment ministry said Thursday.
Several sets of cameras scanned the area for 28 days in July and August, and filmed three leopards with yellow fur and black spots, and one that was entirely black.
Another eight leopards were believed to be roaming the sanctuary, the ministry said, basing their estimate on studies of the animals' footprints and scratches found on trees.
The Javan leopard was previously believed to have died out in Cikepuh in the early 2000s due to rampant illegal logging that has devastated the area's forests, the big cat's natural habitat.
Javan Leopard
In Memory
Nicolai Gedda
Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda, whose superb vocal control made him a star on the international opera scene for half a century, has died at 91, his entourage said Friday.
He died on January 8 after a heart attack at his home in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, his daughter told the French magazine Forum Opera on Thursday night.
With a diverse repertoire and an exceptionally long career, Gedda was one of the opera greats of the 20th century, alongside stars such as Maria Callas, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
He was also admired for his deep musical intelligence, performing in French, Russian, German, Italian, English, Czech and Swedish.
Gedda was born in Stockholm on July 11, 1925 to a working-class Swedish mother and a half-Russian father.
His parents later abandoned him, and he was raised by his aunt and her Russian husband, a singer, who introduced him to music and language training.
After being trained by the renowned Swedish tenor Carl Martin Ohman, Gedda had his breakout role when he was 26, in a 1952 Royal Swedish Opera production of "The Postillion of Lonjumeau", which has one of the most difficult tenor arias.
His performance caught the attention of the Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, and by the following year he was appearing at the Paris Opera and the Royal Opera House in London.
In 1957, Gedda held his first performance at the Salzburg Festival in "The Abduction of the Seraglio". He performed in "Faust" at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York the same year.
Immensely popular among opera fans, Gedda sang more than 350 times at the Metropolitan Opera House between 1957 and 1983, performing all of the great French, Italian, Russian and Czech masterpieces.
Active into his late 70s, he also recorded the role of Emperor Altoum in Puccini's "Turandot" in 2001 and the role of a high priest in Mozart's "Idomeneo" in June 2003.
In 1994, the Royal Academy of Music in London made Gedda an honorary member, and in 2010 France gave him the Legion of Honour, the nation's most prestigious decoration.
Nicolai Gedda
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