Donald and Melania Trump gave speeches today on the Opioid crisis. I watched and listened to it. You can read the transcript here. The White House Press Release is here. Donald Trump sounded just like Nancy Reagan and her "Just Say No" campaign. He's going to create an advertising campaign to tell kids how bad drugs are and not to use them.

He's going to fund law enforcement programs. (Anyone remember "DARE"? These programs don't work.

He's going to limit prescriptions to 7 days supply. One unnamed opioid will be removed from the approved drug list and become illegal.

He said this will take years if not decades (I guess so he can't be blamed when there's no huge reduction of overdose deaths during his term.)

He talked about his brother Fred, who told him over and over, don't drink, don't smoke and he listened. That's his plan for kids, just tell them don't do it. [More...]

The Washington Post reports Republicans passed a budget bill with Donald Trump's planned tax cuts:

No Democrats voted for the budget Thursday, nor did 20 Republicans, indicating ongoing qualms about the tax push within the party.

Donald Trump cares about one thing: businesses making money. If people pay less taxes, he thinks they will spend more money, which is good for business owners. It's a bad bill and I doubt it will make it through the Senate in its present form.

Stephen Paddock's estranged brother (not the one who talked to the press and went to Las Vegas to be interviewed)is in custody on a child p*rn allegation.

Bruce Paddock, 58, was detained at a Los Angeles assisted-living facility, where he was awaiting surgery for spinal stenosis. He had not yet been booked, and no other details were available.

An attorney who Paddock said had represented him in criminal matters in the past told NBC News he is no longer representing Paddock and declined comment.

Bruce had not been in contact with Stephen in 10 years, so I don't see how this is relevant to the Las Vegas shootings, any more than his father's past as a bank robber.

Donald Trump got a $100k fee to speak at a state university lecture. The school says private donors paid Trump Jr.'s speaking fee.

The event was sponsored by private donors, such as Ryan LLC...Trump's $100,000 speaking fee is coming from a tax advisory firm owned by Ryan, according to UNT. Ryan used political and business connections to land the real estate executive as a speaker.

The article says he promoted his father's "nationalism" message. Did he have an original thought of his own to share? Never mind, I couldn't care less.

The FBI today released about 1,500 pages of documents relating to interviews in the Sandy Hook shooting. You can view them here.

I skimmed them and didn't learn anything new. Most of the documents are blacked out, and the interviews that are not seem to be those we've read before (although from the media, not the FBI.) There are a few Connecticut state police reports, which were previously available, basically saying we'll never know what caused Adam Lanza to go on the shooting spree.

There are numerous references to Adam having Asperger's but that's not an explanation for his behavior. Personally, I would have liked to see what his mother's family members and brother said, but given the blackouts, it's hard to connect the interviews to a particular person.

There's simply not much new here.

Bill O'Reilly has just been dumped by his talent agency, following the disclosure by the New York Times that he settled a sexual harassment claim by Fox Legal analyst Lis Wiehl for $32 million.

Here's the affidavit she signed.

"I would no longer make the allegations contained in the draft complaint," she wrote.

It's clear from that statement that her lawyers sent O'Reilly a draft of the complaint she intended to file in court. Was she also going to sue Fox? I suspect the answer is yes, because the affidavit also refers to her settling her claims against Fox. I wonder what Fox agreed to pay her.

Lis is a long time acquaintance of mine and I have a great deal of respect for her -- professionally, personally and ethically. We used to spend time together in New York. She was already O'Reilly's radio co-host, and while my impression was she found it difficult to work with him and didn't look forward to it, I don't recall ever discussing any specifics with her. So I have no first-hand information. [More...]

Sorry for the lack of blogging the last several days, but every time I read the news, there is so much more Trump madness I get too disgusted to write about it.

This weekend I watched Kate del Castillo's "The Day I Met El Chapo" a three part documentary on Netflix. Sean Penn wanted to block it saying it would endanger him. Then he said she was a fame seeker and her version was a lie. He told his version, why can't she tell hers? Anyway, it's very good -- I ended up watching the whole thing twice. To me, her version makes more sense.

Two weeks (or so) until the TL kids have their baby -- it's just flown by. I've cooked about 15 meals for them in my Instant Pot to freeze and eat after the baby arrives. It's been more far rewarding than blogging about Trump.

This is the last week (for real) of Senor de Los Cielos 5. (warning: auto-play video.) I really don't want Monica Robles to be killed. They should kill the monster Tony Pastrana instead.

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

Jeff Sessions is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Live video link) He promises to ramp up the war on drugs, especially the war on pain meds, prescribers and manufacturers, and war on immigrants. He praises Trump's border wall. He says there can't be full amnesty for the DREAMERs.

He read out a speech on why he won't answer questions about conversations with Trump -- he says it's up to Trump to claim the executive privilege, and he's considering it but hasn't made a decision so Sessions says he can't it for him.

There are several old people on this committee who look miserable. Maybe they aren't thrilled about Sessions wanting to make it harder for them to get pain meds.

Colony Capital, owned by Trump adviser Thomas J. Barrack Jr., has agreed to bail out Harvey Weinstein's company, providing an immediate cash infusion and then buying most if not all of the assets.

In September, the Washington Post reported that the RNC was paying out huge bucks for legal fees charged by lawyers for Donald Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. regarding Russia.

The Republican National Committee is using a pool of money stockpiled for election recounts and other legal matters to pay for [Donald] Trump's ballooning lawyer fees related to the multiple Russia investigations, directing more than $427,000 so far to lawyers representing him and his eldest son, party officials confirmed Tuesday.

Today the Washington Post reports that Trump's re-election campaign (not the RNC) shelled out more than $1 million in legal fees for Russia and Trump Sr and Jr just for last quarter. [More...]

I was just reading about the really high prices of Manhattan luxury condos, when I came upon this article in Curbed saying that a 90 story skyscraper is coming to Denver that will change the skyline forever. Then I saw the address: the building is going to replace the parking lot right next door to my office building. I think Denver needs a 90 story building like it needs a hole in the head. Aside from being an eyesore, it will stick out like a sore thumb.

The building will contain a "boutique hotel", 250 condos, parking for 500 vehicles, retail space, a spa and a pool -- 1 million square feet -- all in one half of a city block. Who's behind this? A New York company called Greenwich Realty Capital. [More...]