Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Build He Won't (NY Times Column)
Don't fall for the Trump infrastructure scam.
Ivan Krastev: Donald Trump and the Bieber Doctrine (NY Times)
It's reported that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia instructed his defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, that if he wanted to understand how America worked, the only thing he needed to do was watch the Netflix series "House of Cards." The American president-elect would most likely agree. Which means, perhaps, that de Tocqueville is no longer required reading on American politics. Instead, just watch Frank Underwood.
Tom Toles: One last surprise in Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination (Cartoon)
Court Jesting.
LUIGI ZINGALES: The Right Way to Resist Trump (NY Times)
The Italian experience provides a blueprint for how to defeat Mr. Trump. Only two men in Italy have won an electoral competition against Mr. Berlusconi: Romano Prodi and the current prime minister, Matteo Renzi (albeit only in a 2014 European election). Both of them treated Mr. Berlusconi as an ordinary opponent. They focused on the issues, not on his character.
Judd Legum: This isn't just a photo of Ivanka Trump. It's a middle finger to democracy. (Think Progress)
Let's suppose one of Trump's companies would like to open a hotel in Japan and is seeking permits. Would the Japanese government deny them and risk the ire of the President of the United States?
Eric Redding: 29 Men And Women Share Their Amazing 'I Hung Out With A Celebrity' Story (Thought Catalog)
19. Bill Murray. No one is going to believe this, but here we go. In 2003 I had entered a competition to go to a meet and greet in Tampa Florida at some kind of convention with a bunch of celebrities.
Mirella Fabi: "Experience: my family's hypochondria saved my life" (The Guardian)
'I hadn't even put the antibiotic in my mouth when I started sneezing, scratching everywhere, and my scalp felt like it was on fire.'
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Today
This headline in a news email tonight--Is a Wave of Trump Staffers Moving to DC?--reminded me--dear heavens, we've got a bunch more Trump idiots moving into our neighborhoods! ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!
As for "registries" of Muslims (or gays or any other group they want to intimidate), I AM SPARTACUS! Muslim? I am Spartacus. Put me on the list. African-American? Put me on the list. Gay? Put me on the list. Any list you f'ers care to create, put me on it. I'll even wear the t-shirt if you want me to.
Linda Spartacus >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda Spartacus!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Sad State of Affairs
I had a number of links that I wanted to send you, but others beat me to that punch. I read the links you published and am falling down a rabbit hole I never imagined. I've worked hard locally for Hillary, and when I realized we were Trumped I've floundered. This week I was Stella, I found my groove. My Twitter feed was trolled by some who hated my "liberal bigot" posts. I respectfully disagreed with that and they went away. I won't engage the trolls and will continue to rep for what I, and you, and BartCop (RIP, dude) believe so much differently and I admit that I haven't feared for our country this much since the 1st time Bush the Stupider was sworn in.
The "Alt-Rght" is white supremacy at its core. What is the alt-left? I want to ride that train. I've voted every election since 1972 and will continue to do so. I also campaign for local and state representatives who share my values. Thanks, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinsteien and Kashala Harris. You make me proud to be a woman and an activist.
There are many of us who don't know how to proceed after Hillary's concession, because we never anticipated it. I lack a way to connect with them.
Color me frustrated and kind of scared. What will we be, as a society and culture, in a year?
Oy to the vey.
D
Thanks, D!
I limit myself to only the weather report on the news because I'm still talking back to the TV, mostly with 'fuck you'.
OTOH, I now know when & where to watch 'America's Test Kitchen', 'Cook's Country', and 'Martha's Cooking School' on any of 4 PBS channels.
And, thanks to sub-channels like Antenna,
Me,
Cozi,
Decades,
and
Heroes and Icons, I've got Johnny Carson, all the Star Treks, Alfred Hitchcock, The Man from UNCLE, and Dick Cavett.
But best of all, I can leave the windows open without worrying about the neighbors hearing a steady stream of 'fuck you'.
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
WHITE MAN RULES!
"THE BLOOD OF EXTRACTION".
SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL!
BURP!
ALL THE NEWS YOU MISSED...
BOOOOOO!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny and seasonal.
Green Day Performed
American Music Awards
The American Music Awards ceremony was light on political commentary this Sunday - unless you count co-hosts Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah's second-rate Melania and Donald Trump impressions, presenter Chrissy Teigen's reference to "this f-ed up f-ing election" (which got beeped out by ABC censors), or the white pantsuit ardent Hillary Clinton supporter Lady Gaga wore on the red carpet.
But leave it to American Idiot punk rockers Green Day to make a statement when the trio performed on the AMAs stage.
Sneering and snarling through "Bang Bang" - Green Day's Revolution Radio track inspired by the rise in gun violence in the U.S. ,and told from the point of view of a mass shooter - frontman Billie Joe Armstrong broke from the script to chant, "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!" with his fist in the air. It was a rare moment of danger and rebellion on a show that otherwise categorized twenty one pilots as "Alternative Rock," and judging by the standing ovation the group received, most of the audience in Los Angeles's Microsoft Theater agreed with Green Day's rabble-rousing sentiment.
Armstrong has never been shy about expressing his disdain for President-elect Donald Trump (R-Pendejo). In an August interview with Kerrang, he compared Trump to Hitler, and last week in an interview with Noisey, he said, "Hillary lost and it's over. As far as I'm concerned it was fair and square. But I look at the kind of campaign that [Trump] ran and we're already seeing the fallout from it. People are saying 'make America white again' and putting up swastikas. The KKK and other white supremacist organizations have been emboldened by it. The Republican party is like a big house. There's the fiscal conservatives, the Christian right, and they left a little bedroom in there for the white supremacists… But they're like rats, and now the rats have taken over the f-ing house."
American Music Awards
Huge Interest In Poem
Anne Frank
A very rare handwritten poem by Jewish diarist Anne Frank goes under the auctioneer's hammer Wednesday, amid a flurry of interest which may push the price well above the 30,000 euros ($32,000) reserve.
"These things are so rare that I've never seen anything like it," said Thys Blankevoort, co-director of the Bubb Kuyper auction house based in the western Dutch town of Haarlem.
Dedicated to "Dear Cri-cri," the poem, written in Dutch in black ink on a notebook-size piece of white paper which has slightly discoloured with age, is signed "in memory, from Anne Frank."
Frank wrote the 12-line text, dated March 28, 1942, in a friendship book belonging to the older sister of her best friend only three months before she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam.
A reserve price of 30,000 euros has been put on the text, but the auctioneer said while it could go up to 50,000 euros it was impossible to say what it would finally sell for as once museums and institutes became involved bidding could become "totally unpredictable."
Anne Frank
NBCUniversal Doubles Stake
BuzzFeed
Online media company BuzzFeed, best known for its list-based articles and quizzes, said Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal had invested an additional $200 million in the company.
NBCU parent Comcast has pumped heavily into digital-native companies such as BuzzFeed and Vox Media, partly in an effort to better service existing advertisers. The new investment, which gives BuzzFeed a valuation of around $1.7 billion, ups NBCU's stake to $400 million, following an initial $200 million investment last summer. NBCU also invested $200 million into Vox Media.
NBCU will take a larger role in selling ads for BuzzFeed with the ability to incorporate BuzzFeed's inventory into its deals with advertisers; BuzzFeed will also have the same option to sell space on NBCU's inventory to its advertisers.
Additionally, BuzzFeed's Swarm and NBCU's Symphony ad products will be offered as one package to advertisers. Both Swarm and Symphony allow advertisers to run campaigns simultaneously across all of their respective properties.
In the past year, NBCU and BuzzFeed have collaborated on several projects, most notably with the Rio Olympics, where BuzzFeed produced the content for NBC Olympics' dedicated Snapchat Discover channel. In February, the two teamed with American Express to replace 30 minutes of national ad spots during primetime on Feb. 29 with sponsored content that was tied to NBC programming. BuzzFeed created content that was distributed on social media as part of that deal.
BuzzFeed
Charged With Hit-And-Run
Dennis Rodman
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has been charged with hit-and-run for a wrong-way-related crash on a Southern California freeway.
Orange County prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges against Rodman on Monday for a July 20 accident on Interstate 5 in Santa Ana.
Prosecutors say Rodman's SUV was traveling north in a southbound carpool lane around 12:30 a.m., forcing a sedan to swerve into a dividing wall to avoid a collision.
Rodman's attorney, Paul Meyer, says the incident occurred on a poorly signed exit ramp. He says Rodman corrected the driving error without the cars touching, stopped and spoke to people in the other car.
Rodman's also charged with driving across a dividing section and without a valid license, and giving police false information.
Dennis Rodman
US Moves To Block Mining
Yellowstone
U.S. officials on Monday blocked new mining claims outside Yellowstone National Park as the Obama administration races in its last days to keep industry out of natural and environmentally sensitive areas.
Mining claims on more than 30,000 acres north of the nation's first national park will be prohibited for at least two years while a long-term ban is considered, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said during a visit to Montana's scenic Paradise Valley.
Interior officials last week blocked new oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean and cancelled 25 oil and gas leases in western Colorado and 15 in northwestern Montana.
Republicans and industry representatives have criticized the administration's eleventh-hour actions to limit development and promised to seek their reversal once Obama leaves office
The latest move came after a pair of gold exploration proposals north of Yellowstone drew strong opposition from l business owners, environmentalists and Montana elected officials.
Yellowstone
Wife, Son Will Move After School Year
White House
President-elect Donald Trump (R-Pendejo) says he's moving to the White House soon, but his current wife and youngest son will follow him at the end of the school year.
Trump spoke Sunday to reporters gathered at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, during a day of private meetings with potential administration officials. He said he will live in the White House and wife Melania Trump and 10-year-old son Barron will move "right after he finishes school."
Trump lives with his wife and son in the penthouse apartment at Trump Tower in New York City. Barron attends a private school in the city.
Trump is not the first recent president to move to the White House with school age children. When President Barack Obama took office, daughters Sasha and Malia were 10 and 7. When Bill Clinton came to Washington, Chelsea Clinton was 12. All three White House kids moved during the school year and attended the Sidwell Friends, a private school in northwest Washington.
White House
Control Of Washington Carries Risks
GOP
For Republicans, there will be no one left to blame.
As they prepare to take control of the White House and both chambers of Congress next year, Republicans are celebrating the opportunity to enact a new agenda for the country, including lowering taxes, securing the border and repealing President Barack Obama's health care law.
But with that opportunity comes massive political risk: If President-elect Donald Trump (R-Grifter) and congressional Republicans don't deliver, they will face a serious reckoning with voters. That could begin with the 2018 midterm elections, when every House member and one-third of the Senate will be up for re-election.
That sobering reality has been sinking in for GOP members of the House and Senate as they begin the early stages of planning an agenda for next year.
Republicans point out that although they will control a majority in the Senate with 52 votes, that's well short of the 60-vote supermajority needed to advance most major initiatives, including Supreme Court nominees. So although Republicans would be able to use a legislative maneuver to send a health care repeal to Trump's desk with just a simple majority, other major objectives, including immigration and border enforcement, would require some degree of cooperation from minority Democrats.
GOP
Roles Blur Lines
Trump Children
Nearly every morning since their father's stunning victory on Election Day, three of Donald Trump's grown children walk through the Trump Tower lobby and board an elevator. But are Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric going to the campaign office on the fifth floor? Their business offices on the 25th floor? The president-elect's penthouse on the 56th floor?
That uncertainty highlights the multiple roles the children play for their father. For the past year, the lines were constantly blurred between political campaign and business empire, raising questions about a possible conflict of interest between Trump's White House and his sprawling business interests.
So far, they've been heavily involved in shaping the new administration. They've sat in on meetings and taken late night calls from their father. They advocated for making Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, the White House chief of staff. They counseled against bringing back Corey Lewandowski, Trump's first campaign manager, who was fired in June on their advice.
Congress passed an anti-nepotism law in 1967 that prohibits the president from appointing a family member to work in the office or agency they oversee. The measure was passed as a reaction to President John F. Kennedy appointing his brother Robert as attorney general.
But the law does not appear to prevent the children - or Kushner, who is one of Trump's closest aides and is said to be weighing a White House role - from serving as unpaid advisers or providing informal counsel.
Trump Children
Grandfather Was Also A Draft Dodger
Friedrich Trump
A handwritten letter has been found in a German archive in which President-elect Donald Trump's (R-Weasel) grandfather unsuccessfully fought his expulsion from the country for failing to perform mandatory military service.
Bild newspaper on Monday printed the 1905 letter located by an historian, in which Friedrich Trump wrote Bavarian Prince Luitpold begging the "well-loved, noble, wise and just" leader not to deport him. Luitpold rejected the "most subservient request."
Trump's grandfather was born in Kallstadt, then part of Bavaria, and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager without performing his military service. It was after he'd made his fortune there and tried to resettle in Germany that he was ordered expelled, and returned to the U.S.
Rhineland-Palatinate state archive spokeswoman Isabell Weisbrod says Friedrich Trump's birth certificate's also in the archive.
Friedrich Trump
In Memory
Jer Bulsara
Freddie Mercury's mother, Jer Bulsara, passed away on Nov. 13 at the age of 94. Kashmira Cooke, Mercury's sister, confirmed the news of her mother's death on Sunday (Nov. 20) in a statement to the press, saying that she died in her sleep.
Queen's Brian May paid tribute to his late bandmate's mother with a touching letter posted on his website: "Jer was a warm and devoted Mum to Freddie, and, like Freddie, always had a strong twinkle in the eye. Although she was also devoted to her husband Bomi, and lived in the Zoroastrian faith as a good Parsee, she had an independent spirit and a strong sense of humour."
"Of course I knew her for over 50 years, and when I first used to go around to Freddie's parents' house in Feltham, only a few yards from where I lived, in our student days, Jer was a busy Mum, full of life and optimism," May continued. "And even then, fiercely proud of her children, Freddie and Kashmira."
"It's probably true to say that Freddie's father, strongly committed to the Parsee faith, didn't find it easy that Freddie took the path he did, as a Rock musician, and a fairly irreverent one, at that. Nevertheless the support was always there. But Jer was always a keen follower of our progress as a band, and always came to see us when we played nearby, always with huge enthusiasm. Freddie was very close to his Mum, and, I think, took a mischievous pleasure in trying to shock her," he said.
"In private moments with us, away from the glare of the spotlights, in latter years Jer was always ready with a cup of tea when we visited, and we were always able to speak about 'My Freddie' without shyness, feeling that he was not far away," said May.
Bulsara will have a private Zoroastrian funeral ceremony.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Mercury's death. The Queen frontman passed on Nov. 24, 1991.
Jer Bulsara
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