It’s Friday again! Congrats you made it through another week. I worked from home most of the week, which was fine, but I get sick of being in my basement all day. I got one of those bright lights to try and help with the S.A.D. It seems to help.
Got any big romantic plans for the Valentine’s Day weekend? And yes, I know it’s a Hallmark holiday but my Grandfather was a florist so I’m biased. I love it.
Biden on Ukraine situation: ‘Things could go crazy quickly’
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/politics/biden-ukraine-things-could-go-crazy/index.html
Some Trump records taken to Mar-a-Lago clearly marked as classified, including documents at ‘top secret’ level
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/10/trump-records-classified/
Stonks!
Dow slides 500 points as yields spike following red-hot inflation report
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/09/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html
Sprots!
Not an #ad, but just want you guys to know about this: https://costplusdrugs.com/
Oopsy!
Have a great Friday!
Lock him up.
We are going to see some furious work to set up firewalls, both by Trump and by some parts of the GOP angling to either take advantage or preserve their gains.
Those firewalls won’t line up neatly. The McConnell types will want to frame everything as a goofy loudmouth’s fault, a guy they barely knew. Trump wants them all in the same boat.
Where they will line up is going to be claiming that this is trivial paperwork and unconnected to 1/6.
The establishment political press is going to back the McConnell framing. They hate they Democrats so much they will work overtime to keep this limited to the whims of a wacky guy with a bad haircut. They don’t want to lose control of the narrative and let other reporters on to their beat.
I have a moderate amount of hope, though, that attempts by all these parties to minimize the crime and delink it from 1/6 won’t work. I think a big piece is pretty clearly tied into obstructing 1/6 investigations, and I think those investigations have enough momentum that they can spin off new investigations into Trump’s dealings in other areas. He obviously wasn’t just trying to cover up 1/6, but a whole slew of dirty deals with Russia, the Saudis, etc.
Like I said, the establisment political press and the McConnell wing wants this story contained. But it may spin out of their control.
I think the issue on the other end of the media process is punishment. I’ve seen analyses that say that Biden doesn’t want to push this all the way, because it makes him look petty and that this is banana-republic politics. They’re providing cover for the crimes because they claim that prosecuting Trump would cause more trouble than it’s worth.
The problem with that is that as more and more documents are uncovered, it’s becoming very clear that Trump stole top-secret information. Framing it as antics from a goofy and senile septuagenarian is very misleading. If there’s one thing Trump understands, it’s blackmail. If he stole information, it’s because he thinks he can use or sell it.
I’ve seen these analyses too, and they show a lot about the writers.
They’re blindly assuming it’s given that there is no major evidence of serious crimes and building their case from there. That’s really dumb.
It’s certainly possible there isn’t major evidence, but they have no way of knowing. And there are reasons to believe there may be.
Prosecutors on cases like this don’t talk, nor do they share evidence until the day it is legally required. The only people who do talk are either people who know nothing, or people like defendants or their lawyers who do know things but have a vested interest in lying or spinning.
And as you point out, the information that has come out over time has always built the case, not eroded it. The writers who are assuming it would be too costly for DOJ to file charges either against Trump or his top level people aren’t seeing the trajectory of the case.
And it also possible that enough evidence comes out that it is no longer a case of what DOJ wants, and they may be compelled to do it even if there are political costs to pursuing the cases.
Again, that doesn’t mean that there is enough damaging evidence. But I can’t see any other explanation for these writers except, as you say, they’re providing cover for crimes. Whether it’s deliberate or just the side effect of living in a bubble probably depends on the writer.
The stories yesterday about companies jacking prices because of inflation, even though they made record profits, is why I don’t think this current system of economy can work, not for everyone.
Reminds me of when I worked for dominoes and minimum wage went up. They gave the drivers the choice of a raise or higher delivery fee (that ended up being illegal) and then gave us 35 cents more a delivery, but charged 1 dollar more (or something to that affect ((effect and affect have always given me trouble)), point being they made money on the “wage increase.”).
People always bitch about wages being increased, saying it will cause inflation and goods etc. To go up, but they forget to mention that is 100% corporate greed, not inherent in the system.
Fudge, I don’t know.
A professor in grad school formulated a concept he called “cultural rate of profit.” It turns out the Japanese were satisfied with exporting products at a profit margin so low that Americans would consider it “dumping,” and that is largely why their superior products were also more affordable. But no, go ahead and blame union labor for the fact that no one buys your overpriced garbage.
Holy fuck, what is up with the edit function today?
There’s always a dodge around how little wage increases mean to the bottom line. People think most companies are like sports teams, where salaries are almost 50% of revenue. The reality is much, much less goes to payroll, so raising wages is only a small percent of a small percent.
And the reason most people think this way is because that’s what the press reports. Profits are delinked in a way that wages aren’t.
Gotta love all the charlatans seeing the pandemic as an opportunity.
If you are worried about uncertainties in the stock market, invest wisely by following the Nancy Pelosi Portfolio Tracker:
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/12/house-speaker-paul-stocks-insider-trading-wealth
Dubbed “The Wizard of Wall Street” and “The Gordon Gekko of Our Age,” Nan posted a solid 69% return as of October of last year, beating Warren Buffett and most other so-called “experts.” Just one Alphabet (Google) call option exercised by her personal assistant added a cool $5.3 million to her bottom line.
If you would rather invest invest in real estate (because God is not making any more land), stay away from Montecito for now. Or maybe now might be the time to swoop in:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10500243/Harry-Meghans-11m-Montecito-mansion-engulfed-foul-smell.html
And don’t forget to keep an emergency cash cushion in case of job loss. Job loss can happen at any time: just ask the Dickensian-named Dame Cressida Dick:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/uk/london-police-commissioner-gbr-uk-intl/index.html
Well, I never! Sir, are you insinuating that the esteemed congresswoman has chosen to enrich herself by exploiting knowledge of upcoming legislation, and executing financial maneuvers through the thinly veiled actions of proxy? Why, you should be ashamed to say such things!
Wait, that’s what actually happened.
Never mind then.
It’s kind of breathtaking how brazen it is. If it were Donald Trump he’d just laugh it off and say, “Of course I did, and I dare you to do something about it.” But apparently Nan is not too principled to make a quick buck or 5.3 million off the uncertainty around whether the House would pass regulatory laws concerning Google, which of course they never did. That was a good hunch her personal assistant Paul had, putting in that call option just before that vote was to take place.
You should read about when her father was Mayor of Baltimore, and then later her brother. The Casa D’Alesandro does not fuck around.
The foot soldiers in the anti-vaxx Crusade have arrived at the steps of City Hall:
https://nypost.com/2022/02/11/thousands-of-nyc-workers-to-lose-jobs-friday-as-vaccine-deadline-ends/
The top photo is my favorite. There we see a large American flag (they are patriots) and at least two small Canadian flags (they are in communion with their truck-driving Canadian brethren, yearning for liberty and personal freedoms.) But what really shortlists this for any number of photography awards is the person on the right and their sign. Red-white-and-blue, as God intended, with little sprigs of green, because vegan. So much better than the crappy design and iconography the city of New York excretes at a furious pace.
I am so very tired of people framing their stupidity as bravery (I’m reading the red t-shirts).
I’m pretty sure those are the firefighters. New York’s police have been called “New York’s Finest” for many decades, and at some point other big divisions jumped in with their own nicknames, so the firefighters are New York’s Bravest, the sanitation workers are New York’s Strongest, and the corrections officers are New York’s Boldest. These four groups are, for some reason, the most vaxx-hesitant of all. Months ago when they required vaccination (and when it should have started being enforced) the city published lists of departmental vaccination rates and only one department was at 100%: The Department of City Planning, which is one of the (if not the only) meritocratic divisions at City Hall and most of them have Master’s at least.
Good to know. Still, how brave is it to avoid getting shots? Most of us stop crying about that in middle school….
I feel sure that the vegan is advertising her veganism as evidence that she is both morally and nutritionally superior to the rest of us, and should therefore be relied upon as an authority on epidemiology. It’s a lot of weight to put on three words but I’m almost certain I’ve interpreted them correctly.
I can sort of see the connection between the two issues, being careful to the point of obsession over what you put into your body, but I was imagining alternate signs. “Unvaxxed and drive a Ford.” “Unvaxxed and went to a top-tier university but not an Ivy.” “Unvaxxed and love Wordle.”
I don’t often actually laugh out loud while reading things, but your comment for me. Good stuff.
I wonder why the security guard only drew eyes on two figures. Was he making a social comment about the male gaze? Would pen dot eyes be proportionately too small for the larger figure’s face? Was he interrupted by a pesky patron of the arts? Any other guesses?
apparently we are also telling our people to get out of ukraine asap…
i wonder if we are just blindly parroting america again of if they actually really expect shit to blow up over there
wierd trying to figure out what to believe when you dont trust any of the parties involved
(edit) oh hey wow….this was actually not meant to be a reply to hammer..lol
tho for what its worth here the news reported it as temporary insanity…first night on the job by himself..dude was literally bored out of his mind…so who knows what he was thinking
It’s very clear the commentary is sociological. In his initial interpretation of the painting, the security guard assessed it as a condemnation of ignorance, an illustration of “the blind leading the blind.”
This, however, struck our intrepid and erudite guard as both inappropriate and insufficient as commentary to today’s culture of ignorance and stupidity, stemming from the proliferation of social media. He chose to reframe (pun not intentional but I’ll take it nonetheless) the debate and depict “the blind leading the sighted” as a commentary on those who follow demagogues and idealogues without recourse to their own intellect and discernment.
It’s very obvious and I’m somewhat startled more people don’t see (pun not intentional but again I’ll take it) the true meaning behind this visionary’s (pun … ah, you know what I’m gonna say) trenchant and incisive criticism of this piece.
I can’t believe I didn’t see it at first glance! Thank you lifting the veil from my eyes. Some days, it’s like I’m scrolling through the internets with blinders on.
#art
@megmegmcgee Thanks for lending personal experience to the Cuban drug thing (boy, that could totally mean something else). I had wondered about that, but I’m never an early adopter, so have been waiting to hear about actual experiences with the program. Glad you found it useful!
It was pretty easy. I called Walgreens, had them send over the list of all my Mom’s pills (I’m POA), went through the Cost Plus site, found the ones they had and had her Dr. fax over scrips. They sent me an email to ‘check out’ once they received the fax and the drugs should be in the mail as we speak.
Not all of them were cheaper, so it was a bit of pick and choose, but it wasn’t a lot of work and I’ll take the $700/mo. savings, especially since I pay for all my mom’s care. Yay me!!
$700 is a lot. Very happy for you.
Saw a joke on facebook today that if you somehow still thought Trump was fit for office, consider that he was trying to flush documents in a house with 28 fireplaces.
THAT is delightful.