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Saturday Open Thread

It's one of those infrequent gray sky days here. So gray that I've turned on all the lights and lamps and it's only 8 a.m.

I think I'll stay in, ride my Peloton and catch up on paper work.

Has anyone noticed the change in Google News? They took away the personalization feature and made it worthless. Google's presumption that it knows what we want to read better than we do is both arrogant and insulting. I've un-bookmarked it.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    Don. Jr. also met with ... (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Yman on Sat May 19, 2018 at 03:26:34 PM EST
    ... reps of Arab princes and an Israeli social media specialist at Trump Tower three months before the election, where they were offering their help to the campaign.

    Don.Jr. says nothing came of it.

    Heh.

    Treasonous...... (5.00 / 3) (#3)
    by desertswine on Sat May 19, 2018 at 04:30:57 PM EST
     Bloody, bawdy villain!
    Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!

    O vengeance!

    Trump's loyalties lie solely with his wealth.

    Parent

    tRump's (none / 0) (#26)
    by FlJoe on Mon May 21, 2018 at 03:45:22 PM EST
    version of the Travelling Wilburys?
    "We learned the president aggressive move is part of a new strategy being pushed by a form of advisers outside of the White House and including Steve Bannon, former campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, former deputy campaign manager David Bossie and president of the Trump Hispanic Advisory Counsel and CNN commentator, Steve Cortes,
    add in Giuliani to complete the quintet.

    Parent
    Michael S. Schmidt (5.00 / 2) (#22)
    by KeysDan on Mon May 21, 2018 at 02:01:16 PM EST
    and Maggie Haberman have the front page NYTimes breaking story: "The special counsel hopes to finish by Sept l the investigation into whether President Trump obstructed the Russia inquiy, according to the president's lawyer Rudolph W.  Giuliani, who said on Sunday that waiting any longer would risk improperly influencing voters in November's elections."

    Schmidt, who possesses the world's smallest opening for a mouth, and Maggie Haberman, whom Trump does not know despite all the photos, actually used Guiliani as a credible source for their article.  They deserve all the ridicule that can be laid upon them. Front Page.  Then...as Reuters reports, Guiliani entirely made up the the Sept l date, and the rest of the story was Rudy spin.  

    I gave up on the New York Times ... (5.00 / 2) (#25)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon May 21, 2018 at 03:01:37 PM EST
    ... after the 2016 election season, during which its performance can be most charitably described as less than stellar. And they don't take criticism well at all.

    (Whenever I see Times political correspondent Nick Confessore on TV, his demeanor reminds me of a mob lawyer, not unlike George Hamilton in "The Godfather, Part III.")

    What continues to very much bother me about the so-called Paper of Record is its staff's almost complete lack of remorse and contrition for their most glaring mistakes in coverage. Their hostility toward the Clintons has since assumed near-legendary status.

    In particular during the campaign's final weeks, they first misinformed the public about the Trump-Russia scandal by insisting that the FBI had "found no clear link" between the two on October 23, 2016.

    And then, six days later, they hyperhyped then-FBI Director James Comey's announcement that the agency was re-opening the Clinton email investigation, which took up nearly the entirety of the paper's front page that day.

    I gave the NY Times a mulligan for Judith Miller's front-page Iraq schittshow in 2002-03. Not this time. I walked away from them for good.

    And I don't miss them at all.

    Parent

    It may end up (none / 0) (#27)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 03:54:26 PM EST
    Being up to Trump.  If there is a subpoena and he fights it.  

    I don't doubt Rudy made it up.  But I also don't doubt the obstruction part could be reported by the 1st.

    Parent

    I (none / 0) (#28)
    by FlJoe on Mon May 21, 2018 at 04:29:20 PM EST
    heard somewhere  that Mueller already as everything wrapped up in the obstruction case except for the interview with tRump. Mueller might be holding it out as a dangle, tRump is crazy and foolish and might jump at the bait, thinking as always that he can bluster his way out of it.

    Parent
    I get the feeling (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 05:03:58 PM EST
    Trump and Rudy think this report will be helpful in the midterms.  That they know Mueller is going to have solid evidence of obstruction.  Heck, the public record is as plain as it gets.

    With that they think they will be able to make the argument that if Trump doesn't have a republican House to cover his sorry azz he is history.

    Which is true.

    I'm just not sure clearly stated and presented evidence of obstruction is going to motivate people as much as they think in the way they think.  It definitely will motivate the dirty 30 but I suspect it may also motivate the remaining 70.

    Parent

    In 2006 the horror of Iraq caught Dubya finally (none / 0) (#33)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 08:42:24 PM EST
    And threw him down so hard he still hasn't got up. So many things were shrugged off until there was nothing left in the refrigerator. Trump is Dubya x 10 in incompetency and corruption. Hope it doesn't take 6 years and the world on the brink of financial obliteration or war or both.

    How are we here again? Only worse this time?

    Parent

    I gave up on the Catholic Church a long time ago (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by vml68 on Mon May 21, 2018 at 05:31:11 PM EST
    but I will admit to liking Pope Francis a little more everyday.
    Pope Francis tells gay man: 'God made you like that and loves you like that'

    You guys (5.00 / 1) (#41)
    by Zorba on Tue May 22, 2018 at 01:09:50 PM EST
    I am so sick of the idiots in charge of this country.
    I'm glad I spent the last week making baklava, hummus, chicken souvlaki, Greek salad dressing, dolmades, tzatziki sauce, etc.
    Even though I'm still exhausted, it's better than driving myself crazy mentally because of Trump and his idiot minions.
    {{Sigh}}

    Sounds like good therapy (5.00 / 2) (#42)
    by Yman on Tue May 22, 2018 at 01:33:32 PM EST
    OTOH, if I kept that up for the rest of his term I'd be 50 pounds heavier ...

    Parent
    Rest of his term? With Zorba's menu, I think I (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by vml68 on Tue May 22, 2018 at 03:39:50 PM EST
    could pack on 50 pounds this week!

    We have had almost non-stop rain for the past few days and the forecast calls for it to continue through Memorial Day weekend.
    We usually average 2 inches of rain for the month of May. We are over 7 inches just in the past week alone in my part of town.

    My dogs and I are going stir crazy in the house.

    Parent

    Oh, I don't eat it (none / 0) (#45)
    by Zorba on Tue May 22, 2018 at 02:26:29 PM EST
    I just make it.  😄

    Parent
    How do you DO it?!? (5.00 / 1) (#54)
    by Yman on Tue May 22, 2018 at 04:57:42 PM EST
    I was getting hungry just reading about it!

    That's some serious self-discipline.

    Parent

    It's not like (5.00 / 1) (#66)
    by Zorba on Tue May 22, 2018 at 07:31:19 PM EST
    I never eat these foods.  Just not when we're cooking for our food festival.  We do have to taste stuff and adjust seasonings, but if we started chowing down on everything, we'd just have to keep making more stuff.  We want to get everything cooked and served and cleaned up so we can get home and rest.

    Parent
    Completely (none / 0) (#46)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 03:00:39 PM EST
    understand. It's enough to make you sick keeping up with the news for sure.

    Parent
    What's your take on today's (none / 0) (#52)
    by Peter G on Tue May 22, 2018 at 04:37:05 PM EST
    Georgia Primary, GA6?

    Parent
    Didn't ask me (none / 0) (#53)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 04:41:43 PM EST
    But my money is on Stacy of color.

    And I think she wins in November

    Parent

    Don't really (none / 0) (#55)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 05:06:17 PM EST
    know because polling had a lot of undecideds like over 50% undecided. Stacy Abrams will probably win the primary and lose to a GOP nut in the fall.

    Parent
    She seems like (none / 0) (#56)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 05:11:32 PM EST
    A good candidate to me.  I think she might be a November surprise

    Parent
    I'm not (none / 0) (#58)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 05:42:14 PM EST
    so sure she's a good candidate. She has a lot of issues that can be exploited by the GOP like she messed up on her taxes and she's a tax attorney, a Yale educated tax attorney at that. I honestly don't see how she bests Hillary's numbers here. It's likely that the state will flip in 2020 to blue but there's still too many rural Georgians who will not vote for her and she's from Atlanta which is a big impediment to winning statewide. There's a good article in the New Yorker that profiles the two Staceys running here in GA. Things are weird with the primary in that you would think the entire black community would be behind Abrams but they are not because it seems her being single is an issue. I was surprised to find that was an "issue". Whatever. We'll see what happens when the numbers start rolling in.

    Parent
    There's been a couple new Yorker stories (none / 0) (#59)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 06:00:13 PM EST
    Another, different reporter (none / 0) (#60)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 06:01:45 PM EST
    Oops (none / 0) (#61)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 06:03:38 PM EST
    Messed up the title but the link is correct

    Parent
    this (none / 0) (#63)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 06:23:46 PM EST
    article is the one I was talking about. It talks about the pluses and minuses of both candidates.

    Parent
    Yeah, the local (none / 0) (#62)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 06:21:40 PM EST
    media hasn't been quite so favorable to Abrams due to her messed up finances and her cutting deals with Nathan Deal as minority leader.

    Parent
    From your link (none / 0) (#64)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 07:17:49 PM EST
    Just my outside opinion but I think this is one of the reasons she could win.  Today and in the fall.


    Yet she served in the Georgia House for 11 years, seven of them as minority leader, and has a reputation as a pragmatist willing to do deals with the Republicans who've controlled state politics for almost two decades.


    Parent
    The thing (none / 0) (#65)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 07:28:23 PM EST
    is those Republicans are not going to vote for her but she is aware of that fact. Her strategy it max out certain demographics but it has to fall just right for her to win. Her best bet when it comes to winning is hoping that there are enough disgusted Republicans who just sit home in November.

    Parent
    Clearly no (none / 0) (#67)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 07:44:09 PM EST
    That is her opponents strategy.  If we can just be "middle of the road" enough we can win back those "independents".  Which I think is misguided.  At best.

    Abrams is going for those demographics that have not voted in the past.  It's what I personally believe Democrats from coast to coast should be doing.

    We have tried the middle of the road thing.   For decades.  I think it's time to try something else.

    Parent

    Evans (none / 0) (#68)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 07:56:56 PM EST
    strategy is to appeal to those disgusted Republicans. Abrams strategy is to max out minority voters. The max out minority voters is what Hillary and Obama did in 2008-2016. That is why I say Abrams best chance is for enough Republicans to sit home is what I'm saying because there just is not enough of those voters to win an election right now. If there were not enough of them in 2008 to flip the state there still are not quite enough.

    Parent
    Don't necessarily agree (none / 0) (#70)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:04:02 PM EST
    With that last part.  There have already been off year primaries with higher minority turnout than Obama got.  Either time.

    I lived in GA for a while.  True it was Atlanta but it's not like I don't know low information rednecks.  There are not going to vote for republican lite.  They just won't.  Abrams strategy might not work but IMO it's more likely to work than the other Stacys plan.

    There are plenty of blacks in rural GA. They just don't usually vote.

    Parent

    Well, (none / 0) (#72)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:25:42 PM EST
    I know those people are not going to vote for a woman. I think Evans was going to focus more on the collar counties of Atlanta to get her votes, those voters that are disgusted with Trump not the rural voters. The rural voters are going to be the reason why neither one would win in November. Georgia is only 30.5% African American with another 10% being Hispanic and Asians and others. So that's the 40% baseline that all Dems get every election. So that's the major problem that she is going to have to overcome. So in order for her to do better than past Dems it really relies on enough white voters sitting home because all things being equal the GOP making one party be the party of POC has worked for them when it comes to winning elections.

    Parent
    Abrams wins (none / 0) (#73)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:28:21 PM EST
    No surprise there.

    Parent
    By (none / 0) (#74)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:31:25 PM EST
    39 points

    That's a little surprising

    Parent

    Sorry (none / 0) (#75)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:33:49 PM EST
    That was wrong

    Parent
    Wow (none / 0) (#76)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:42:15 PM EST
    Nbc is reporting more like 50 points.

    The republican primary has been a freak show.  The "deportation bus"?  I think GAs time has come.

    Parent

    Yeah, (none / 0) (#77)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:57:08 PM EST
    it's a real freak show. However where are the Republicans disgusted with this? Where are the evangelicals disgusted with all this? Nowhere to be found. They will show up and vote for this trash just like they did with Trump.

    Parent
    If it's Tuesday (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 04:33:25 PM EST
    I actually did something I never thought I would do today.  I voted for Asa Hutchison.

    ARTimes

    A new poll from Talk Business finds that Governor Hutchinson has a substantial lead over Jan Morgan, the hog-riding, Muslim-banning, gun-toting, airbrushing, RINO-busting gadfly from Hot Springs

    The most interesting finding in the poll, however, is a substantial shift in the views of GOP voters on Medicaid expansion. A substantial plurality of likely voters in the Republican primary now support the program, continuing a trend toward increasing support for the policy among GOP voters that has been shown in previous Talk Business polls. That's a doozy of a finding, a major turnaround from four years ago when the program was first enacted (and led to wave of primary challenges, with mixed results, on that very issue).

    The Talk Business poll found that 41.5 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the state support "Arkansas Works," the Medicaid expansion program that uses Medicaid dollars made available by the Affordable Care Act to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans (this is the same program once known as the "private option" until Hutchinson re-branded it, concluding that the old name had become "politically toxic"). That's compared to 25.5 percent who oppose it and 33 percent who don't know.

    You really should click the link and check out Morgan.  

    Trump is tweeting (5.00 / 2) (#85)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 08:20:19 AM EST
    I will not repeat it but if you want to totally fk up your day, find them

    Seriously.  When you think it can't get worse...

    I am going to pass. (none / 0) (#86)
    by vml68 on Wed May 23, 2018 at 12:10:35 PM EST
    This was enough to totally fk up my day yesterday.

    Interior proposes allowing Alaskan hunters to bait bears, kill wolf pups

    I need a break.

    Parent

    Legalized savagery... (none / 0) (#89)
    by desertswine on Wed May 23, 2018 at 02:30:00 PM EST
    Jamie Rappaport Clark, chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife, added: "The Trump administration has somehow reached a new low in protecting wildlife. Allowing the killing of bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens is barbaric."

    Also in bad news...   The world's longest-studied wolf pack may have been wiped out, wildlife officials fear amid an escalating battle between federal and state authorities in Alaska over the aggressive hunting of predators such as wolves and bears.

    It's going to take a long time to recover from these a--holes.

    Parent

    Did you know that the Obama legislation (none / 0) (#91)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:15:53 PM EST
    did not pertain to indigenous peoples?

    iow, indigenous Alaskan peoples are free to continue their custom of hunting bears and cubs while they sleep in their winter dens.

    Hunting bears as they sleep in their winter dens is a time-honored indigenous custom. If the bear is a sow, and has cubs, the natives feel obliged to kill the cubs too.

    Parent

    Yes, we knew that there are exceptions.. (none / 0) (#118)
    by desertswine on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:53:11 PM EST
    for indigenous peoples and there should be, imo.

    Parent
    So the act is only "legalized savagery" (none / 0) (#121)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed May 23, 2018 at 06:33:35 PM EST
    when certain people do it, but not when certain other people do it.

    Another of the "legalized savagery" hunting techniques that is due to be re-legalized is the hunting of bears, etc., with dogs.

    I'm not sure who the "we" are that you speak of, but did you know that that is another indigenous technique?

    METHODS OF HARVEST

    Traditionally, the preferred method for hunting brown bear was to hunt in groups and often with dogs.

    Will you also support or condemn this practice based on the race of the participants?


    Parent

    "Based on race"? (5.00 / 1) (#122)
    by Yman on Wed May 23, 2018 at 07:29:30 PM EST
    The exemption to the regulations is for subsistence hunters - ya know, those who are hunting based on necessity/survival, as opposed to those killing for fun.

    You may now continue with the usual passive aggressive, false accusations of hypocrisy, served with a side of white, male privilege.

    Parent

    Uh, McGruff, the comment I responded to (5.00 / 1) (#127)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed May 23, 2018 at 10:23:22 PM EST
    was very specific that there should be exceptions in the law (and, seemingly, in the moral judgement of what "legalized savagery" might be) for a particular race/group/belief set/whatever.  I.e., indigenous peoples.

    You seem to want to pursue a very different and irrelevant point to the existing discussion.

    Good luck with that.

    dswine, back on topic, imo, something is either savage or not savage, no matter who is doing it. It should be either legal or not legal, regardless of who is doing it.

    The state of AK decided the baseline decades ago. The fed law of only like 3 or 4 years ago is being changed back to what it was; back to reflect what has been the state law of AK for decades.

    Parent

    Uh, McGruff (5.00 / 1) (#163)
    by Yman on Thu May 24, 2018 at 07:35:29 PM EST
    The comment you were responding to was itself a response to your completely false claim that the "Obama legislation (sic) did not pertain to indigenous peoples" and your follow up "question" suggesting in your usual, passive-aggressive way a laughably false suggestion of hypocrisy.  Perhaps you should do a little more sleuthing yourself.  It's really quite easy to find out that:

    1.  The exception was not for "indigenous peoples" but for federally qualified subsistence users, some of whom are "indigenous people" and some of whom are not.

    2.  The exception is not "based on race" but on necessity, since subsistence users hunt in order to survive.  Human survival tends to justify hunting methods that would otherwise be banned as cruel or inhumane for sport.

    But you knew all of that, which is why you're now feigning ignorance while trying to pretend it's irrelevant.

    Oops.  

    Parent

    Sarcastic, don't be cute (none / 0) (#164)
    by MKS on Thu May 24, 2018 at 08:36:09 PM EST
    Do you support the baiting of bears and killing of their pups?  Don't wimp out by trotting out a variation of the Dems do it too defense.

    The issue is the killing  of bears.   If you think it is great, then get up on your soapbox and tell us how great Cheeto jr. and Eric  are for shooting trapped elephants, etc. and other big game like bears.

    Are you for or against it?  

    Parent

    Oh looky thar, the cavalry is here! (5.00 / 1) (#182)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri May 25, 2018 at 12:41:25 PM EST
    MKS will save the day!

    Actually MKS, the issue is the use of "extreme" hunting techniques to hunt a variety of animals in AK, including bears.

    No, I don't support the use of (most) of these methods. Some of the methods I don't care about. And I don't support the hunting of bears or wolves at all, unless they've proven to be a danger to people or livestock.

    Heck, from what I've read, bear tastes like sh1t anyway.

    From what you've written, I suspect you have little knowledge of the issue outside of reading a few headlines and such.

    No big deal, I think probably most of us are/were in the same boat. I know I certainly was.

    Like I've said before, what I like about TL is that occasionally a subject comes up that intrigues me such that I am motivated to dig in and learn about it. And this is one of those subjects.

    VML, I believe, started the convo with a link to an article with this headline:

    Interior proposes allowing Alaskan hunters to bait bears, kill wolf pups

    I saw it and thought "Wow, that's effed up." So I started googling around and learned some stuff. And posted some comments, and googled some more, and learned some more stuff. Etc.

    As I don't think you are willing to spend the time doing the research, here is the issue in broad strokes.

    The headline on VML's linked article, and many, many others, like the one below from NY Magazine that popped up on my google "Top Stories" feed this AM, are simply not true.

    Trump Ends Obama's Ban on Bear Baiting and Other Cruel Hunting Techniques in Alaska

    OK, they do have some truth to them but they are very misleading. These headlines basically lead one to believe that if not for Trump's legislation, these cruel/extreme/savage/etc hunting techniques would not exist in Alaska.

    And that simply is not true.

    Why is that important? Well, if you want to effect a change in something, you really ought to know where the actual problem lies.

    Here is a broad strokes overview of the issues as I understand it. Broad strokes. Like all gvt stuff, I'm sure there are numerous exceptions...

    These "extreme" hunting techniques exist right now, today, as we speak, throughout the entire state of Alaska, and have existed there basically for ever. And neither Obama nor Trump have the power to change it.

    AK's lands are comprised of three types - private, state, and federal - and on all of those lands these techniques are legal. Obama's ban was limited to only federal lands, and did not apply to all Alaskan hunters. So even with Obama's ban, these "extreme" hunting techniques were in use on federal lands and in all of the rest of Alaska as well.

    Trump's legislation, like Obama's, is limited to the federal lands, and yes, it will allow more hunters to use these techniques there.

    And Trump is rightly blamed for those additional hunters using these techniques on fed lands.

    But, by far, the muuuch larger problem is with the state of Alaska and its hunters.

    The state of Alaska supports these hunting methods so much that it has lawsuits against the fed gvt to overturn the Obama ban.

    Where is the outrage at AK? Its governor?

    Those bears certainly aren't baiting themselves, where is the outrage at the actual AK hunters who use these methods?

    Nothing is going to change if you direct all your energy at Trump, as therapeutic as that may be.

    If you really want to stop such "extreme" hunting methods, focus on where the actual problem is. AK's hunters and legislators need to be edumacated.

    Nah, by next week there will be some other issue to get outraged about, and AK's hunters will continue use these "extreme" hunting methods w/o giving it a second thought...

    Parent

    Progress (5.00 / 1) (#193)
    by Yman on Fri May 25, 2018 at 07:33:53 PM EST
    At least you've now dropped the claim that "Obama's legislation" (sic) included an exemption for "indigenous peoples" because of their race.

    BTW - "Calvary"?  You don't need a "calvary" when fighting poorly informed Trumpers spreading false facts and false accusations of hypocrisy.  Just some basic facts/reality.

    Parent

    Heh, yeah. For a while there (none / 0) (#194)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:02:48 PM EST
    I was under the mistaken impression, as I think you figured out, that subsistence hunters = indigenous peoples. When in fact just about any Alaskan resident of 12 continuous months or more, regardless of race, wealth, urban, rural, etc. is eligible to participate in subsistence hunts.

    Parent
    If that's your conclusion ... (5.00 / 1) (#199)
    by Yman on Fri May 25, 2018 at 09:42:30 PM EST
    ... then you're operating under a new, mistaken impression.  The regulations you were discussing (i.e. "Obama's legislation") were federal regulations that applied to federal lands and the exemption was for federally qualified subsistence users, not the much broader definition of subsistence hunters adopted by Alaska after the 1992 court battle.

    Parent
    Hijacking the conversation (none / 0) (#165)
    by MKS on Thu May 24, 2018 at 08:50:02 PM EST
    So, the issue was the killing of bears, etc., and Sarcastic hijacks the conversation and starts talking about exceptions and issues of race and ethnicity.  

    Fantastic.  Looks like trolling to me.

    And, no, I do not believe one can have a real conversation with most Trump supporters.  Not possible.  The level of hypocrisy and cravenness is just too much.  

    Parent

    I never really thought of this ... (none / 0) (#128)
    by desertswine on Wed May 23, 2018 at 11:11:33 PM EST
    as a "racial" issue.

    Alaskan native hunting and fishing rights are significant because many tribal communities rely on these traditional foods for subsistence.  It's a matter of cultural survival and identity for many Native Alaskan groups. I don't think that you need me to tell you why its OK for indigenous people to preserve their cultural identity.

    Parent

    Ya, I hear you. (none / 0) (#144)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu May 24, 2018 at 11:34:01 AM EST
    I think it may be tough, though, to rationalize solidarity with the pearl clutching and couch fainting over the issue when one takes the time to actually learn more about it.

    FGM, for an extreme example, has cultural roots that go back 2000 years. That sure doesn't mean the practice should be supported, regardless of a particular culture's historical affinity for it.

    Parent

    Well, I do not support fgm in any way, shape. (none / 0) (#147)
    by desertswine on Thu May 24, 2018 at 02:12:54 PM EST
    or form.  But I do support this, however.

    Parent
    If it ain't fun... (none / 0) (#148)
    by desertswine on Thu May 24, 2018 at 02:14:21 PM EST
    it ain't nothin'.

    Parent
    That's a funny! (none / 0) (#151)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu May 24, 2018 at 02:43:08 PM EST
    And Native Americans (none / 0) (#166)
    by MKS on Thu May 24, 2018 at 08:51:02 PM EST
    have different legal rights in many instances, especially with regard to land and what occurs on their land.....

    Parent
    Tomatoes and jalepenos (5.00 / 1) (#99)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:44:48 PM EST
    are blooming

    Very exciting.  That's one container.  I have eight more.  

    I am so jealous (none / 0) (#107)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed May 23, 2018 at 04:32:33 PM EST
    of you. You get to spend time with plants and dogs and watch TV when you want.

    Parent
    You make it sound better (none / 0) (#109)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 04:42:17 PM EST
    Than it really is but thanks

    Parent
    I'm ready to retire frankly (5.00 / 1) (#112)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:15:48 PM EST
    but not old enough yet. Therefore jealous of those that are. I'm sure like everything else in life it's not what it's cracked up to be but I have had children ruling my life for 25 years now and I'm still not finished and I'm just flat tired and old.

    Parent
    I lied to make you feel better (5.00 / 2) (#113)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:27:32 PM EST
    :)

    Parent
    Baa waa waa (none / 0) (#116)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:45:33 PM EST
    I am still getting used to the totally different (none / 0) (#124)
    by vml68 on Wed May 23, 2018 at 09:02:18 PM EST
    gardening season here in FL. For us, the spring planting tomato season is almost over. The next round of tomato plants will get planted in Aug-Sept.

    Parent
    It was a late planting season here (none / 0) (#126)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 10:03:01 PM EST
    Coldest April on record.  It was below freezing until the first week of May.  That's when I set them out. So it's only been about three weeks.

    Oddly on May 1 it started being in the 90s.  And has been way above average the whole month.

    Welcome to the new climate.

    Parent

    Same (none / 0) (#129)
    by Militarytracy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 05:07:23 AM EST
    Too cool and then 90, not much of a spring but the daffodils and cherry blossoms lasted forever in the coolness.

    Parent
    Interesting to see it charted (none / 0) (#156)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 04:03:21 PM EST
    If you scroll down last the calendar page there is a graph that charts the average highs and lows vs the actual highs and lows

    april

    may

    Parent

    Philip Roth, RIP... (5.00 / 2) (#119)
    by desertswine on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:56:25 PM EST
    "No one I know of has foreseen an America like the one we live in today," he said. "No one could have imagined that the 21st-century catastrophe to befall the USA, the most debasing of disasters, would appear not, say, in the terrifying guise of an Orwellian Big Brother but in the ominously ridiculous commedia dell'arte figure of the boastful buffoon."

    How's that Nobel Prize going? (5.00 / 1) (#136)
    by MKS on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:20:01 AM EST
    The Trumpites' chant of Nobel, Nobel.....looks even more absurd now...if that were even possible.

    Be sure to save (5.00 / 2) (#141)
    by KeysDan on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:49:23 AM EST
    your Commemorative Meeting Coin.  It may become quite valuable.

    Parent
    I think the subpoena schedule (none / 0) (#153)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 03:10:00 PM EST
    Just changed.  The Kim meeting was such an effective shield you marvel that he abandoned it.  

    I really think this means Mueller will move.  Surely they must know that.

    Parent

    Probably wanted to beat (none / 0) (#159)
    by KeysDan on Thu May 24, 2018 at 05:42:17 PM EST
    Kim to the draw.  The Pence/Bolton Libyan Model was not too attractive to Kim----No nukes, no Gaddffi. And, his death by bayonet sodomizing, gunshot, and hanging in a suburban meat locker, no doubt, did not "sit" well for Kim.  Kim was fearful, as it was, to leave North Korea for a little trip to Singapore.

    Probably, all to the good.  Trump was no doubt learning that negotiations of this nature are hard work, beautiful chocolate cake and locking elbows for a kumbaya folk dance are not enough.

    Parent

    Almost certainly that was it (none / 0) (#160)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 05:49:34 PM EST
    I just am a little amazed.  You know how much he wanted this.  Not just for the Nobel but as a shield from Mueller.

    I think it's an important development in Mueller world.  They were clearly trying to use it to push any talk of an interview into the election season.

    Parent

    Yes, it looks like (none / 0) (#181)
    by KeysDan on Fri May 25, 2018 at 09:43:34 AM EST
    we got it right.  And, Bolton and his Libyan Model won out over Sec of State Pompeo, who was blindsided by Trump's bowing out.

     It is reported that Trump dictated the break-up letter to Bolton.  Hard to know who to root for...the awful, never saw a war I did not like, Bolton, or the former Tea Party, anti-gay Pompeo, an expert on North Korea who called Kim Jong Un, Chairman Un.  I tilt toward Pompeo on policy, such as it is.

    Parent

    Also (none / 0) (#161)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 06:27:52 PM EST
    I think the chances of a way the dog military action just increased exponentially

    Parent
    There is a large tropical disturbance (5.00 / 1) (#138)
    by fishcamp on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:33:57 AM EST
    in the Caribbean down by Yucatán.  It doesn't seem to be moving much, but if it does get going it could become Alberto, the first named storm of the season.  The spaghetti lines show it moving up the west coast of Florida with at least two lines coming to the Florida Keys.  They love to keep us worried.  The water is very warm here and probably warmer down there, and hurricanes love that warm water.  Here we go again.

    Yesterday I got my generator running again. (5.00 / 2) (#142)
    by fishcamp on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:51:06 AM EST
    It had become plugged up with a blade of grass after crawling out to siphon fuel rom my boat last year during hurricane Irma.  My boat was hidden and tied to two trees about 100 feet from my house.  The wind was blowing about 100 mph at that point, down from 140.  That was not a pleasant task, but I needed to keep the refrigerator running.  

    These hurricanes that hatch down by Yucatán don't give us much warning.  The ones that come off the Sahara Desert and meander across the Atlantic do allow us some extra time.  Either way I'm not looking forward to the next few months, but I am prepared.

    Parent

    Keep your head down (none / 0) (#155)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 03:49:42 PM EST
    I'm dreading tornado season.  

    Parent
    Oh, fishcamp, what a drag. (5.00 / 1) (#205)
    by caseyOR on Sat May 26, 2018 at 09:39:19 PM EST
    I feel for you, my friend, I really do.

    But Google DOES know what you want, Jeralyn. (none / 0) (#1)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat May 19, 2018 at 01:19:22 PM EST
    Jeralyn: "Has anyone noticed the change in Google News? They took away the personalization feature and made it worthless. Google's presumption that it knows what we want to read better than we do is both arrogant and insulting. I've un-bookmarked it."

    They know everything about everyone. And they know you'll be back. We'll all be back, because Google knows we just can't help ourselves. Resistance is futile.

    ;-D

    Fahrenheit 451 (none / 0) (#4)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat May 19, 2018 at 07:00:25 PM EST
    The latest such drama to plumb the depths of post-everything paranoia is HBO's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's 1953 sci-fi classic "Fahrenheit 451." The film, which premieres Saturday, is set in a future America shaped by many of the same events that underpin Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel for which the "Handmaid's Tale" series is based. Following a second civil war, Americans have been stripped of most of their rights. Books, films, paintings and other forms of individualist human expression are forbidden and Canada (once again) is the final destination on the road to freedom.

    Its very good.  The updated internet/fake news version almost cuts to close to the bone

    LATrines review

    The review was correct (none / 0) (#7)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun May 20, 2018 at 09:33:07 AM EST
    It would have worked better as a series but it was pretty good.  

    Parent
    More door control. (none / 0) (#5)
    by Chuck0 on Sun May 20, 2018 at 09:05:44 AM EST
    That will fix that pesky dead students problem!

    Speaking of doors (none / 0) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun May 20, 2018 at 09:30:30 AM EST
    i saw this on SNL and did a goog

    Uncertain which will more certainly condemn me to hell.  That I laughed or that I admit I laughed.

    Parent

    Yes, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, (none / 0) (#8)
    by KeysDan on Sun May 20, 2018 at 10:12:09 AM EST
    felt that the well-patrolled Santa Fe High School had "too many entrances and too many exits."  This is the same Dan Patrick who responded to the shooting at the gay club in Orlando with a tweet quoting the Bible: "God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows."

    So, it seems God has placed the responsibility for this tragedy at the feet of the high school architect.  Putting in doors and exits just reaps what has been sowed.

    Parent

    No doubt (none / 0) (#9)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Sun May 20, 2018 at 10:23:00 AM EST
    Revolver control is the answer.

    Parent
    Great idea! (5.00 / 4) (#12)
    by Yman on Sun May 20, 2018 at 03:42:36 PM EST
    Revolvers, rifles, shotguns, semi-automatics - all should have strict regulations and registration requirements - along with ammunition, too.

    Parent
    There are... (none / 0) (#20)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon May 21, 2018 at 11:46:41 AM EST
    ...already scads of regulations federal, state, and local.

    Parent
    Yep (none / 0) (#24)
    by Yman on Mon May 21, 2018 at 02:54:30 PM EST
    ... and they are far too weak.  But if you think it's the number if regulations that matters, I'd gladly agree to cut the number in half if you agree to let the Brady Center write them.

    Parent
    Safe storage (none / 0) (#10)
    by KeysDan on Sun May 20, 2018 at 11:07:28 AM EST
    might help, at least as much as the door idea.

    Parent
    And once again (none / 0) (#11)
    by Zorba on Sun May 20, 2018 at 02:27:40 PM EST
    I spent Friday cooking and supervising cooking for our food booth, and spent several days before that making baklava.

    I do have a couple of young ones who are learning to supervise others, but a lot of our helpers aren't Greek and need a lot of supervision to produce a good product.  They're learning, but we Greeks have been cooking this stuff since we were quite young.  Plus, three people who said they were going to show up on Friday, didn't.

    Funny (none / 0) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun May 20, 2018 at 04:48:44 PM EST
    How Trump changed everything for The Onion

    A lot has changed since 2013, when the editors of The Onion got an angry email from Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen.

    Back then, Cohen was an executive vice president at the Trump Organization, and his client was just a TV mogul, still years away from announcing his first serious presidential bid.

    Cohen was fuming over a satirical article published under Trump's name with the headline, "When You're Feeling Low, Just Remember I'll Be Dead In About 15 Or 20 Years." On Trump's behalf, Cohen demanded that The Onion immediately remove the article and apologize.

    "This commentary goes way beyond defamation and, if not immediately removed, I will take all actions necessary to ensure your actions do not go without consequence," Cohen wrote, according to a copy of the email provided to POLITICO. "Guide yourself accordingly."

    Five years later, Trump is in the White House, Cohen is under federal investigation and the article is still on The Onion's website, which many West Wing staffers begrudgingly admit to occasionally reading.



    That was Sunday (5.00 / 2) (#44)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 02:06:47 PM EST
    This was the Onion yesterday

    As Mr. Trump is now the leader of the free world, now is clearly the best time to resume our discussion. While it is generally not our policy to let outside forces affect our editorial decisions, the opportunity to gain a direct line to the president clearly presents a special case. We would be more than willing to accommodate Mr. Cohen's wishes--provided we get something in return, of course. A quid pro quo, if you will.

    We believe the removal of the piece in exchange for influence over the president's decision-making constitutes a more than reasonable deal, and we implore Mr. Cohen to meet with us without delay. We are happy to schedule around his upcoming court appearances.

    onion

    Parent

    Aloha from the island of Hawaii, ... (none / 0) (#14)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun May 20, 2018 at 08:27:24 PM EST
    ... where some of the lava flows in Leilani Estates finally broke out and rolled to the coast yesterday, although a crack in the earth has opened under the eastern flow this morning, so all its lava is pouring back into the wide hole rather tan heading toward the sea.

    One poor guy down in Puna had his leg badly shattered when he was struck by spatter from a lava fountain near his house outside Pahoa. This is why you evacuate when told to do so by civil defense officials. Those "spatters" of molten rock may look small on video, but they can be as big as a refrigerator and weigh as much, too. And by refusing to leave, he put first responders at risk when they had to enter the exclusion zone to rescue him. He's both stupid for having refused to comply with civil defense directives, and lucky that he wasn't killed.

    We've gone down to Pahoa on a couple of occasions to watch the activity, along with countless numbers of others. It's especially spectacular at night. But officials and law enforcement personnel ensure that viewers are kept a very respectful distance from the lava fountaining and sulfur dioxide gas.

    Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

    Boy it sure feels like it's coming (none / 0) (#15)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 07:43:55 AM EST
    Soon.

    I assume we know about Twitter meltdown yesterday.

    I will not quote but he "demands" an investigation of the investigators.  Rosensteins response seemed more like a short time pasifcer than anything else.

    Manafort is likely to flip soon when his pointless play to get the charges dropped are laughed out of the VA court as they were recently in the DC court.

    It just really feels like it's coming.  Trumps freak out underlines it.

    Going after John Brennan now (none / 0) (#16)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 08:46:25 AM EST
    As the years have gone by I have not been able to discern John Brennan's politics. He seems to be simply an American who believes in democracy and rule of law.

    I used to read that he was a Conservative, and that analysis seemed to be arrived at because he was part of our national security apparatus.

    But he has served the nation consistently and well alongside individuals from all over the spectrum.

    Trump's tweets attempting to politicize John Brennan seem ridiculous to me.

    And nobody except Joy Reid and Neera throws shade at Trump better. I never want John Brennan to point out my character flaws on Twitter. Never

    Parent

    I think many people (none / 0) (#18)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 09:17:27 AM EST
    Have an updated opinion of what conservative means.

    Parent
    A great read here Capt (none / 0) (#35)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 05:46:47 AM EST
    Outlines the elements of the Constitutional crisis we face.

    NYTimes

    Parent

    Interesting (none / 0) (#39)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:51:47 AM EST
    In this way, the regulations put a thumb on the scale in favor of having Mr. Mueller seek an indictment if he finds evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Mr. Trump. Unlike the Independent Counsel Act, a predecessor to the special counsel regulations that required the prosecutor to write a detailed final report to Congress, the regulations require only a substantive report when the acting attorney general overrules the special counsel. The acting attorney general is free to write one otherwise, but the only way Mr. Mueller can ensure such a report is written is to make a request that is overruled.


    Parent
    PS (none / 0) (#40)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 09:34:01 AM EST
    how great is KILLING EVE?

    Parent
    I haven't watched the most recent episode (none / 0) (#43)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 01:47:49 PM EST
    Yet. Tried to watch the Obama Administration documentary The Final Year, but it was too much loss juxtaposed with where the nation and the world is today. Didn't make it through yet. Had to stop it at the beginning of election night. Couldn't do it all at once.

    Parent
    How about (none / 0) (#48)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 04:10:18 PM EST
    THE TERROR season finale

    Parent
    So good (5.00 / 1) (#130)
    by Militarytracy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 06:04:20 AM EST
    Gonna rewatch it

    Incredible ending

    Parent

    I just watched it again (5.00 / 1) (#140)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:46:48 AM EST
    Amazing.  I can't wait to see what they come up with next season.  Reportedly it will have nothing to do with THE TERROR.

    Parent
    Waiting for Josh to wake up (none / 0) (#81)
    by Militarytracy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 07:58:30 AM EST
    To watch it with me. He doesn't have to be in school until noon today. This is his first senior sleeping in, he had a full schedule all year because he changed states and his graduation requirements changed.

    Today is the first morning I've had where it feels like this is really happening.

    Parent

    Give him my congratulations (5.00 / 1) (#83)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 08:18:23 AM EST
    The finale does not disappoint

    Plus, series finale of the Americans tonight.

    The FBI guy across the street is onto them.  Yikes.

    Thank the flying spaghetti monster for all this great dramatic escapism.  I believe it's the only thing keeping my head from Trumploding

    Parent

    We really wanted to make the Russian (none / 0) (#123)
    by Militarytracy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 08:36:42 PM EST
    Stew for the Americans finale. We found the recipe. You start out browning diced celery root and potatoes. Couldn't find celery root. Whole Foods has it sometimes, but not right now.

    Parent
    Oops (none / 0) (#125)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 09:58:44 PM EST
    I really thought this was the series finale.  I was sure they said that at some point.

    Shrug.

    It was weird.  I kept thinking 'it can't end like this'll

    Finale next Wednesday.  Time to make Russian stew.  

    Parent

    Yeah, sure (none / 0) (#21)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon May 21, 2018 at 01:27:20 PM EST
    feels that way and Roger Stone apparently is basically spilling the beans on his own impending indictment.

    Not sure I agree with you on Manafort. I still think he will stick it out and go to trial and take his chances.

    Parent

    Gotta go find this news (none / 0) (#36)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 05:54:47 AM EST
    I saw Stone on HBOs The Circus. He really came undone last week, hostile about not being able to control the news cycle.

    Parent
    Yeah, (none / 0) (#37)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 22, 2018 at 06:08:57 AM EST
    these toddlers have been enabled to the point where people like the NYT and WaPo were going to serialize a book written by a Nazi.

    The only good thing I can see coming out of all this horror is the fact that whole conservative movement that has spent decades shopping propaganda to the country has been exposed.

    Parent

    As the greatest generation leaves us (none / 0) (#38)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 06:54:25 AM EST
    It is almost as if we are losing touch with what systemic institutionalized hate gets us in the end.

    Parent
    New Starbucks policy (none / 0) (#17)
    by McBain on Mon May 21, 2018 at 09:08:48 AM EST
    Link

    On Saturday the company announced that "any customer is welcome to use Starbucks spaces, including our restrooms, cafes and patios, regardless of whether they make a purchase."

    It added that employees should follow established procedures for "addressing disruptive behaviors," and call 911 in the case of "immediate danger or threat" to employees or customers.

    I can see this working in some neighborhoods but maybe not where there's a large homeless population.

    The nation wide, closed door, ant-bias training day will be on Tuesday May 29th.  

    The Note8 Sucks (none / 0) (#19)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 10:06:41 AM EST
    Phone died right after Christmas. The Note8 was the it thing. I'm not an iphoner. I paid $1,000 for this phone in January and it died Friday night. It is still under warranty, but Samsung is out of picture now, my new phone is arriving from Verizon and it is not new. It is a reconditioned Note8 coming from Verizon.  How in the hell do they already have reconditioned Note8's available?

    I must mail my dead phone back immediately or I will be charged $800. If they find any damage to the dead phone I will be billed $372, any damage, cracked screen, charging port bent, any damage. It isn't even paid for yet and I'm not getting a new phone as a replacement.

    When my face was sad my kind Verizon person patted me and said that everyone must stop needing the it phones between Apple and Samsung. That is leading to terrible customer service for all of us.  He said many of us insist on phones that do things we don't need and most don't use and we need to be giving competitors like LG a look too.

    When I told him that online other Samsung Note8 owners seemed to have the same issue that my phone did, I allowed the battery to completely drain and now it won't charge, he nodded. You can't remove the Note8 battery and place one in it with charge though, I knew I couldn't remove the battery but I told myself it would be okay, they have this all figured out now. It wasn't okay though. They don't have it all figured out. And the kind Verizon employee solemnly nodded and muttered, "their batteries are catching on fire too."

    So....just wishing I hadn't needed the Note8 in January. Doesn't appear to be an easy way out of the $1,000 I got myself into. And according to my kind Verizon employee, a possible fire hazard will exist in my home unless I can get Samsung or Verizon to admit to that and allow me out of the buy in order to get a safer phone.

    I want my cell phone for three things, ... (none / 0) (#23)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon May 21, 2018 at 02:15:40 PM EST
    Militarytracy: "When my face was sad my kind Verizon person patted me and said that everyone must stop needing the it phones between Apple and Samsung. That is leading to terrible customer service for all of us.  He said many of us insist on phones that do things we don't need and most don't use and we need to be giving competitors like LG a look too."

    ... and that's phone calls, text messages and emails. Everything else to me is entirely superfluous. The technology that we allow into our lives must exist to serve us. Instead, I see far too many people becoming enslaved by it, as we become self-captivated by the ease with which we can be entertained by our various devices.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Yeah....well this is my new (none / 0) (#31)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 06:55:57 PM EST
    Not new phone Donald. And it has the equivalent of laptop capabilities and I'm feeling all bada$$ again. Addictive damn things!!!!

    Parent
    Yes, they are. (none / 0) (#34)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon May 21, 2018 at 08:58:51 PM EST
    Personal communication devices such as iPhones, etc., are the telecommunications equivalent of the needle and the spoon, and their content is like heroin.

    And for those who don't have them, well, heroin itself is once again fashionable.

    I don't have one of them fancy-schmncy iPhones / itPhones for exactly that reason. I'd rather do heroin.

    ;-D


    Parent

    I just got an LG phone (none / 0) (#80)
    by CST on Wed May 23, 2018 at 07:54:29 AM EST
    It was "free" through Verizon (I paid a $30 activation fee).  My previous phone died suddenly - but it was a few years old, or "ancient" in technology terms.

    I got it two weeks ago and it is also already broken, but that's because I dropped it on the floor before I managed to get a new case.

    That said - LGs are just as addictive as any other kind of smart phone.  I honestly couldn't even tell you the difference, other than the fact that it doesn't have a ton of storage.

    My friends keep trying to get me on the iphone train because of how "intuitive" it is or something.  I just tell them "it's an expensive solution to a problem I don't have".

    Parent

    This is my last "it" phone (none / 0) (#84)
    by Militarytracy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 08:18:45 AM EST
    But I think the last time the masses started getting tired of the "it" phone stampede Apple ended up creating a $99 iphone to get us all back onboard in the industry.

    Some of the updates are downright annoying too. The curved edge screen means that just brushing the phone edges can close windows you are in the middle of reading or using. I'm never getting a curved edge screen phone ever again!

    I will be shopping LG next time.

    Parent

    Got my phone kind of set up (none / 0) (#32)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 21, 2018 at 08:06:26 PM EST
    I hope Josh can help me finish getting this phone managed

    But I'm afraid to read my twitter followings after watching the news.

    Cohen (none / 0) (#49)
    by FlJoe on Tue May 22, 2018 at 04:18:01 PM EST
    takes a shot to the gut
    A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

    Under the agreement, the partner, Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, will avoid jail time, and will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter.

    Ball's in your court Mikey.Mikey

    A russian (5.00 / 2) (#50)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 04:29:08 PM EST
    That's new

    Parent
    This guy must have some serious stuff (none / 0) (#69)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 07:58:20 PM EST
    5 separate felony charges with a potential 125 years (25 for each) down to 5 years probation.

    I guess it could also be an unsubtle message to Cohen.

    Parent

    Have you seen a picture of this guy? (none / 0) (#78)
    by desertswine on Tue May 22, 2018 at 10:27:49 PM EST
    Evgeny Freidman - he does not look like a man you'd want to cross.

    Parent
    Looks like (none / 0) (#82)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 08:14:39 AM EST
    An eminently trustworthy gentleman to me.

    Parent
    A sinkhole on the White house lawn (none / 0) (#57)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 05:30:13 PM EST
    Hardly needs further comment.

    Course that has not stopped the commenting.

    If the Bible Is Correct, This White House Sinkhole Means End Times



    TwItter tells me (5.00 / 1) (#79)
    by Towanda on Tue May 22, 2018 at 11:28:44 PM EST
    that this is sad news for Melania. That's her escape tunnel collapsing!

    Parent
    Rachel is interviewing (none / 0) (#71)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 22, 2018 at 08:10:11 PM EST
    West Hollywood is giving Stormy (5.00 / 1) (#88)
    by Militarytracy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 02:11:22 PM EST
    The key to the city

    Parent
    Cohen received at least 400,000 big ones... (none / 0) (#87)
    by desertswine on Wed May 23, 2018 at 02:11:09 PM EST
    from the Ukranians to set up a meeting with Trump.  Isn't this why we have a State Department?  There's no bottom to this barrel.

    I really have the feeling (none / 0) (#90)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 02:48:46 PM EST
    Something big is about to drop.  This meeting with republicans has the feel of a delaying tactic.  It won't delay much for long.

    Trumps rising hysteria is probably because he thinks, or knows, so too.

    The tension is killing me.  

    Parent

    Personally, Cap'n, ... (none / 0) (#93)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:19:00 PM EST
    ... I'm starting to get this feeling in my gut that Trump's going to flee the country and request asylum in Russia or the United Arab Emirates. He won't resign his office, he'll just exit stage right - likely taking Air Force One with him - and then claim that he's being unfairly persecuted by his enemies.

    Parent
    The consensus (none / 0) (#94)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:24:39 PM EST
    Seems to be not if Cohen will flip but when.  My guess is fairly soon.  

    If that happens and/or if Manafort flips I think it's going to quickly get taken to the next level.

    Parent

    Manafort (none / 0) (#98)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:40:25 PM EST
    has a little over a month to make a decision and is there ever a too late to flip situation? His trial is scheduled for July 10th.

    Parent
    Well (none / 0) (#95)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:31:30 PM EST
    that would be a fast resolution to the problem with the exception that the GOP would still have to remove him from office I would imagine.

    Then we would be stuck with Commander Pence who wants to rule the Republic of Gilead.

    Parent

    That would be the ultimate connundrum. (none / 0) (#114)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:30:43 PM EST
    Trump refuses to resign, but is out of the country. And then the GOP, which has committed to defending Trump from these charges come hell or high water, is confronted with the question of what to do about an absentee commander in chief.

    Parent
    The (none / 0) (#96)
    by FlJoe on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:32:06 PM EST
    shoes are dropping at least daily and most of them are huge, and always damming and never exculpatory to Trump and his cronies. Mueller will only act when he is ready and not before (although he probably has contingency plans in the face of a purge).

    I think tRump's team is not reacting to any particular boulder that is falling on them, more of a scorched earth policy against the mountain of evidence that is steadily growing.

    That being said I'm putting my money on Cohen flipping soon. I also believe the the second Trump tower meeting with Nader and Prince may provide solid evidence of foreign money laundered into Trump and maybe other Republican's campigns, From Josh Marshall Remember that Zamel appeared to be pitching his services to the Trump campaign in concert with George Nader who was there as an emissary of the United Arab Emirates and, less formally, Saudi Arabia. Zamel's company would provide the services, the princes would cover the tab. As the article describes, shortly after the election in December 2016, PSY Group went into business with Cambridge Analytica. Later the article notes that PSY Group shut down "the same week that Nader testified before the grand jury working with Mueller."

    Parent

    Link (none / 0) (#97)
    by FlJoe on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:36:09 PM EST
    to TPM

    Parent
    Nader is in other news (none / 0) (#106)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 04:23:06 PM EST
    Kevin Drum and a growing number of others are saying the playmates abortion was Trumps not Broidys.

    If that's shown, that link discusses how it could be, that might really be something the bible thumpers may not be able to ignore.

    Parent

    I don't know (5.00 / 1) (#111)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:13:40 PM EST
    if even paying for an abortion would get these people to quit supporting Trump but it sure would be fun to see them squirm and twist themselves into pretzels making excuses for it.

    Parent
    My previous Congress-member went to (none / 0) (#92)
    by Peter G on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:17:41 PM EST
    prison for 10 years for much less, but along the same lines, and with less evidence of corrupt involvement, while his rich friend (my client) got several years for participating to a far lesser degree than Cohen.

    Parent
    Congratulations to Jared (none / 0) (#100)
    by KeysDan on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:45:12 PM EST
    Jared Kushner received his permanent security clearance, after one and a half years, and the "correction" of over 100 little mistakes such as omitting meetings with foreigners.  Hard to understand how a security clearance was awarded to the son-in-law.    Maybe we need a special council to check into this although not that a security clearance was needed for Jared, anyhow.

    It was probably rushed (none / 0) (#101)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:48:28 PM EST
    So he could get it before he is indicted.  After would have been problematic.

    Parent
    Also (none / 0) (#102)
    by FlJoe on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:51:32 PM EST
    Kushner was recently grilled for seven hours by Mueller. The WH probably gave him back his clearance for spite, Kelly took it away in the first place.

    Parent
    Also (none / 0) (#103)
    by FlJoe on Wed May 23, 2018 at 03:51:32 PM EST
    Kushner was recently grilled for seven hours by Mueller. The WH probably gave him back his clearance for spite, Kelly took it away in the first place.

    Parent
    Wow Clapper goes there (none / 0) (#104)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 04:17:37 PM EST
    He will say publicly tonight that

    "He's personally concluded Russians not only influenced but DECIDED the outcome of the 2016 election.  80 thousand votes in three states.

    NEWSHOUR tonight.

    Holy Shiite

    That will probably make some waves.  I can already hear the response, he's just trying to sell books.

    I hope (none / 0) (#108)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed May 23, 2018 at 04:40:51 PM EST
    it makes waves but darn the media will probably tut tut it and clutch their pearls because it makes them complicit because they are complicit.

    Parent
    I hope he has some reason (5.00 / 1) (#110)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 04:43:34 PM EST
    For saying this.  I mean that's what I have thought for a long time but .......

    Parent
    He didn't (5.00 / 1) (#120)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 06:07:11 PM EST
    Or if he did he didn't share it.  Just his "informed opinion".  Which granted is more important than mine but I fear it might just make it easier for the peanut gallery to dismiss all the other really important stuff he is saying

    Maybe not

    Who knows.  If he believes it he should probably say it.

    Parent

    What did he say last night to Rachel Maddow? (none / 0) (#115)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:38:38 PM EST
    I was finishing up a report and didn't get back home until after 7:00 p.m. HST. And unfortunately, the final airing of Maddow's show is at 6:00 p.m. MSNBC used to have a later airing of Maddow at 10:00 p.m., but the network brass gave that rerun slot to "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" because Lord knows, one can never have too much BriWi. (Cue eye roll.)

    Parent
    Nothing dramatic (none / 0) (#117)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed May 23, 2018 at 05:45:36 PM EST
    Or unexpected except parts of his book which really is pretty scathing

    Parent
    The book zone is flooded (none / 0) (#131)
    by Militarytracy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 06:08:58 AM EST
    We are going to be reading about a certain pos for years. We don't even have the report yet, we haven't had public hearings, but a forest has already died trying to record this history.

    Parent
    Just finished watching the Netflix documentary (none / 0) (#105)
    by McBain on Wed May 23, 2018 at 04:21:43 PM EST
    Evil Genius about the bizarre pizza bomber/bank robbery of 2003.  I knew a little about this case but most of the details were new to me.  I recommend it. It's one of those stranger than fiction crimes.  

    A massive judgement (none / 0) (#132)
    by CST on Thu May 24, 2018 at 09:52:50 AM EST
    Was just handed to Brigham & Women's hospital - a top 5 national hospital in gynecology and cancer treatment (I was born there).  Link

    "A Haitian-American nurse who sued Brigham and Women's Hospital for discrimination and retaliation was awarded more than $28 million by a jury Wednesday -- an amount several attorneys said is the largest verdict of this type in Massachusetts."

    "A Suffolk Superior Court jury deliberated for more than three days. It said that Toussaint did not prove race discrimination but agreed that the Brigham and manager Mary Ann Kenyon were guilty of retaliation. Most of the award -- $25 million -- was for punitive damages."

    "Toussaint and her Haitian-American colleague Nirva Berthold filed a joint lawsuit against the hospital, but Toussaint's claims were the first to go to trial. She became involved in the case because she defended Berthold, who had nursed cancer patients at the Brigham for nine years."

    Berthold is the one suing for racial discrimination, Touissant was suing for retaliation.

    Boston has a massive hospital presence - and the Brigham is one of the more prominent and prestigious ones in the area.

    It's clear that this judgement was about sending a message to the hospitals about what will not be tolerated anymore - and IMO, this message is not going to be heard by just the Brigham.

    Woody Allen's son defends him (none / 0) (#133)
    by McBain on Thu May 24, 2018 at 09:53:48 AM EST
    against Mia Farrow.
    Moses claims his adoptive mother Mia Farrow raised her children by "coaching, influencing, and rehearsing." He said his father never assaulted his sister Dylan Farrow and suggests the story was likely planted in Dylan's head, reports CBS News' Bianna Goldryga...
    ...
    In 1992, 7-year-old Dylan claimed she was sexually assaulted by Allen in the attic of her mother's Connecticut home - an allegation she has maintained for nearly 30 years. But Wednesday Moses said he was with Dylan and his father the day of the alleged assault, and "it never happened."

    Moses also claims to have been physically abused by Mia Farrow.

    I have to say (none / 0) (#134)
    by CST on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:04:02 AM EST
    I think the whole idea of defending someone else against sexual harrassment/assault claims to be somewhat problematic - as there is simply no way they could have known what happened when they weren't there.  It's just them saying they trust the word of one person over the word of the other person, that's not really valuable information.  Especially in a family like this where half of them all seem to hate the other half.  Even if he was there that day, that doesn't mean he spent every single minute of that day with the two of them, and I don't think he's even suggested as much.  It's like the Tom Brokaw letter all over again.  To quote Megan Kelly "You don't know what you don't know".

    That said, I think his claims about what he did experience personally should be taken seriously.

    Parent

    Except that Moses Farrow WAS there ... (5.00 / 1) (#168)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:05:08 PM EST
    CST: "I think the whole idea of defending someone else against sexual harrassment/assault claims to be somewhat problematic - as there is simply no way they could have known what happened when they weren't there.  It's just them saying they trust the word of one person over the word of the other person, that's not really valuable information."

    ... on the particular day in question. From his blogpost "A Son Speaks Out":

    "Strangers on Twitter pose me this question all the time: 'You weren't there to witness the assault, so how do you know it didn't happen?' But how could anyone witness an assault if it never happened?

    "As the 'man of the house' that day, I had promised to keep an eye out for any trouble, and I was doing just that. I remember where Woody sat in the TV room, and I can picture where Dylan and Satchel were. Not that everybody stayed glued to the same spot, but I deliberately made sure to note everyone's coming and going. I do remember that Woody would leave the room on occasion, but never with Dylan. He would wander into another room to make a phone call, read the paper, use the bathroom, or step outside to get some air and walk around the large pond on the property.

    "Along with five kids, there were three adults in the house, all of whom had been told for months what a monster Woody was. None of us would have allowed Dylan to step away with Woody, even if he tried. Casey's nanny, Alison, would later claim that she walked into the TV room and saw Woody kneeling on the floor with his head in Dylan's lap on the couch. Really? With all of us in there? And if she had witnessed that, why wouldn't she have said something immediately to our nanny Kristi? (I also remember some discussion of this act perhaps taking place on the staircase that led to Mia's room. Again, this would have been in full view of anyone who entered the living room, assuming Woody managed to walk off with Dylan in the first place.) The narrative had to be changed since the only place for anyone to commit an act of depravity in private would have been in a small crawl space off my mother's upstairs bedroom. By default, the attic became the scene of the alleged assault.

    In her widely-circulated 2014 open letter in The New York Times, the adult Dylan suddenly seemed to remember every moment of the alleged assault, writing, 'He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies. I remember staring at that toy train, focusing on it as it traveled in its circle around the attic. To this day, I find it difficult to look at toy trains.'

    It's a precise and compelling narrative, but there's a major problem: there was no electric train set in that attic. There was, in fact, no way for kids to play up there, even if we had wanted to. It was an unfinished crawl space, under a steeply-angled gabled roof, with exposed nails and floorboards, billows of fiberglass insulation, filled with mousetraps and droppings and stinking of mothballs, and crammed with trunks full of hand-me-down clothes and my mother's old wardrobes.

    "The idea that the space could possibly have accommodated a functioning electric train set, circling around the attic, is ridiculous. One of my brothers did have an elaborate model train set, but it was set up in the boys' room, a converted garage on the first floor. (Maybe that was the train set my sister thinks she remembers?) Now, whenever I hear Dylan making a public statement about what allegedly happened to her that day when she was barely seven, I can only think of that imaginary train set, which she never brought up during the original investigation or custody hearing. Did somebody suggest to the adult Dylan that such a specific detail would make her story more credible? Or does she really believe she remembers this train 'circling around the attic' the same way she says she remembers Woody's whispered promises of trips to Paris and movie stardom (kind of odd enticements to offer a 7-year-old, rather than a new toy or a doll)? And all this apparently took place while those of us who promised to have our eyes trained on Woody were downstairs, seemingly oblivious to what was happening right above our heads?

    "Eventually, my mother returned with Casey and her newest adoptees, Tam and baby Isaiah. There were no complaints by the nannies, and nothing odd about Dylan's behavior. In fact, Woody and Mia went out to dinner that night. After dinner, they returned to Frog Hollow and Woody stayed over in a downstairs bedroom - with, apparently, no abnormal behavior by Dylan, and no negative reports from any of the grown-ups.

    "The next morning, Woody was still at the house. Before he left, I briefly wandered into the living room and witnessed Dylan and Satchel sitting with him on the floor by a wall with a big picture window. The kids had a catalogue from a toy store and were marking off the toys they wanted him to bring back on his next visit. It was a cheerful, playful atmosphere - which would soon seem jarring compared to what Mia would allege happened less than a day before. Many years later, I once mentioned my recollection to Woody, and he said that he, too, remembered it quite vividly, telling me how he had told Satchel and Dylan to mark one or two toys each, but they had laughingly managed to check off virtually every toy in the catalogue. He remembers bringing it back to the city with him, with the intention of purchasing a few of the items they had checked. He told me he wound up holding onto that catalogue for years, having no idea that he would never see his daughter again.

    "Interestingly, it was only after Woody returned to the city that Mia would receive a phone call that would change our lives forever. It was from her friend Casey, who reported that her nanny Alison had witnessed Woody supposedly placing his head in Dylan's lap on the sofa in the TV room.

    "When Monica, our long-term nanny who was out that day, returned to work the next day, I confided to her that I thought the story was made up. Monica, who had been with us for six years, would quit her job a few months later, saying that Mia was pressuring her to take her side and support the accusation.

    "It was Monica who later testified that she saw Mia taping Dylan describe how Woody had supposedly touched her in the attic, saying it took Mia two or three days to make the recording. In her testimony she said, 'I recall Ms. Farrow saying to Dylan at that time, "Dylan, what did daddy do... and what did he do next?" Dylan appeared not to be interested, and Ms. Farrow would stop taping for a while and then continue.' I can vouch for this, having witnessed some of this process myself. When another one of Dylan's therapists, Dr. Nancy Schultz, criticized the making of the video, and questioned the legitimacy of the content, she too, was fired immediately by Mia. (My mother, for whom 'loyalty' was hugely important, would also fire another long-term caretaker, Mavis, claiming that she was making statements against her.)

    "During the custody hearing, my mother kept stressing how we needed to stick together as a family. Frightened and beaten down, I, too, played my part. I even wrote a letter condemning Woody, saying that he had done something horrible and unforgivable, and had broken my dreams. I even read the letter for the news media that were now regularly gathered at the end of our driveway, knowing that doing so would earn my mother's approval. That public denouncement of my father remains the biggest regret of my life."

    Anyway, I would urge you and McBain to read Moses Farrow's entire essay, and not just rely on second-had news reports of his account from CBS News, People magazine, &etc. He makes a pretty compelling case that his mother Mia Farrow has never been entirely straight and forthright about her allegations that Woody Allen abused their adopted daughter Dylan. In fact, he makes a pretty compelling case that Mia was the second coming of "Mommie Dearest."

    And if that's true, then Dylan Farrow was indeed victimized -- just not by the person she believes to be her assailant. Sad, really, because it's not all that uncommon for parents at odds in a contentious custody fight or bitter divorce to attempt to weaponize their own children for use against one another, or for one to level allegations of child abuse against the other. Mia Farrow and Woody Allen just so happened to have been high-profile litigants, and it played out in the national media.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Yes, it's impossible to know who's telling (none / 0) (#135)
    by McBain on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:15:48 AM EST
    the truth.  Since nothing has been proven I give both Allen and Mia Farrow the benefit of the doubt. It's unfortunate their children have to take sides.

    All I know is Allen has made some really good films.  Here are a few of my favorites...
    Take The Money and Run
    Bananas
    Annie Hall
    Manhattan
    Crimes and Misdemeanors
    Hannah and Her Sisters
    Match Point

    Mia Farrow was in two of those (Crimes and Hannah). I also enjoyed her in Rosemary's Baby.
     

    Parent

    Annie Hall, yes (5.00 / 1) (#198)
    by Peter G on Fri May 25, 2018 at 09:09:21 PM EST
    and I would add, "Midnight in Paris." I also liked "Everyone Says I Love You" (the Venice movie), but probably that's because I'm a Marx Brothers fan.

    Parent
    I'll be honest (none / 0) (#137)
    by CST on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:27:04 AM EST
    I am not a big fan of Woody Allen films.

    I've seen a few of them, and they just don't "do it" for me.

    Also the fact that he made a movie about a Jazz club named after one of the first integrated clubs in America - without casting any black people - just rubbed me the wrong way.  And his excuse that he "writes what he knows" seems disingenuous when he's essentially re-writing the history of what that club actually was.  Either he knew it was integrated or he didn't know the scene and wrote about it anyway, either way, it's a poor cop-out.

    I'm not saying anyone has to make art that I approve of, I'm just not interested in his.

    Parent

    My favorite film (none / 0) (#139)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:41:32 AM EST
    Is Manhattan.  Well, other than the "early funny ones".

    A film he did not want released

    It's B&W.  One of the more beautiful odes to a city I loved.

    I generally agree that I do not "get" his later films.  I'm sure they have their place in film history but not for me.

    Parent

    For the most part he stopped making (none / 0) (#143)
    by McBain on Thu May 24, 2018 at 11:20:34 AM EST
    good films after Husbands and Wives in 1992.  Match Point and Vicky Christina Barcelona were exceptions.

    Manhattan was great.  His style, his acting certainly isn't for everyone.  Another, somewhat similar filmaker, although far less prolific is Albert Brooks.  

     

    Parent

    Blue Jasmine was one of his better ones (none / 0) (#145)
    by jondee on Thu May 24, 2018 at 12:02:16 PM EST
    Cate Blanchette was wonderful in that.

    My favorite film, by far, that featured Woody acting was The Front.

    Parent

    Vicky Christina Barcelona (none / 0) (#150)
    by CST on Thu May 24, 2018 at 02:20:40 PM EST
    Was entertaining, I forgot he did that one.  That said - while I enjoyed it at the time, nothing really sticks out about it today.

    I just couldn't get into Match Point.

    Parent

    Death penalty advantage again (none / 0) (#146)
    by thomas rogan on Thu May 24, 2018 at 02:02:04 PM EST
    No death penalty means a year long trial and massive waste of time and resources.  Now:

    "An Alaska man has pleaded guilty in exchange for a life prison sentence in the Florida airport shooting that killed five people and wounded six. Esteban Santiago pleaded guilty in Miami federal court Wednesday to 11 charges stemming from the January 2017 attack.

    The 28-year-old Santiago, of Anchorage, Alaska, admitted he opened fire with a handgun in a baggage area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

    The plea deal was struck after prosecutors announced they wouldn't seek the death penalty. Instead, Santiago agreed to a life prison sentence plus 120 years. The sentence will be officially imposed in August."

    Nice to know (none / 0) (#149)
    by CST on Thu May 24, 2018 at 02:17:01 PM EST
    That you can acknowledge the death penalty is only useful for threatening people and not actually useful to implement.

    Parent
    I guess I'd be up in arms too.. (none / 0) (#152)
    by jondee on Thu May 24, 2018 at 02:54:05 PM EST
    these anti-death penalty people are trying to put forensic psychiatrists out of business.

    Seriously, is the suggestion being made that the death penalty being in place automatically guarantees speedy trials with minimal costs to the state?

    Parent

    White supremacists in the White House (none / 0) (#154)
    by Militarytracy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 03:43:31 PM EST
    No need for anyone to hide their light under a bushel any longer.

    Parent
    Harvey Weinstein to face charges (none / 0) (#157)
    by McBain on Thu May 24, 2018 at 04:05:42 PM EST
    for sexual assualt.
    Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, is expected to surrender to investigators on Friday after a monthslong inquiry into allegations that he sexually assaulted numerous women.

    Mr. Weinstein is to be charged by the Manhattan district attorney's office, according to two law enforcement officials.

    It will be interesting to see what the exact charges are who will be allowed to testify.

    Also... allegations of inappropriate behavior against Morgan Freeman.

    Another day (none / 0) (#158)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 05:28:36 PM EST
    Another red line crossed

    How would you like to be Robert Mueller?   He's just the one person with the ability, possibly, to save democracy.  And possibly the world.  

    Just another day on the job.

    I am a very optimistic person by nature but it's getting tougher by the day.

    Well, Mueller (none / 0) (#162)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu May 24, 2018 at 06:36:46 PM EST
    and Barbara Underwood and SDNY but yeah, I get the point. It does get darker every day and more criminal actions are taking place. Zerlina Maxwell tweeted that it is patently obvious that the press is unable to handle this situation correctly. So it is going to be up to the voters.

    Parent
    If you are not watching (none / 0) (#167)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu May 24, 2018 at 09:38:43 PM EST
    Westwood become Shogun world you are missing out.

    I have completely lost (none / 0) (#169)
    by Chuck0 on Thu May 24, 2018 at 10:21:05 PM EST
    Track of the timelines.

    Parent
    Me too (none / 0) (#170)
    by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 07:12:54 AM EST
    I trust it will all come together. It doesn't bother me like it bothers my husband though. It drives him bonkers when he can't track the timelines clearly.

    Parent
    It's a bit confusing but (none / 0) (#172)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 07:26:25 AM EST
    The scenes with the park officials roaming through the bodies and finding them floating in the lake and stuff is at the end.  It's after all the other stuff happens.  We know this because one of the dead found was Teddy.

    The other two stories, Dolores and Maeve, are before that.  Remember the line from last week, "if we only knew how these disparate story lines come together we will know how the story turns"?

    I think that was all of us speaking.

    Dolores and Maeve are on two very different adventures.  I see Maeve with her new WiFi abilities as more likely to have a somewhat happy ending.

    That's my take anyway.

    I think it's just amazing.  We are in Shogun world again this Sunday.


    Parent

    Delores is scary (none / 0) (#173)
    by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 07:39:41 AM EST
    The first season I loved the silent discussion about what constitutes consciousness. I was enveloped in the Delores character.

    She's woke now, and a psychopath, whew

    I guess Maeve is too, just a little more subtle.

    The rage of the women over the past abuse is engrossing.

    Parent

    Interesting (5.00 / 1) (#176)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:10:05 AM EST
    That the white plastic man from the title sequence last season has been replaced by a woman.  And Maeve and her daughter.

    The title sequence so perfectly captures the theme of chaos.  The one last year was so precise.  This year we have buffalos tumbling thru space.

    Parent

    One other thing (none / 0) (#180)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 09:06:30 AM EST
    Where IS this place?  Where in the future could there be this vast unspoiled area.

    Maybe another planet?  Or some vast orbiting space station?

    Parent

    Wyoming (none / 0) (#185)
    by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 03:59:29 PM EST
    Wyoming (none / 0) (#186)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 04:23:57 PM EST
    Doesn't have much jungle India-like terrain suitable for Bengal tigers or that resembles Japan.  And supposedly there are other parks.  I think that's been in the dialog

    Parent
    Btw (none / 0) (#187)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 04:25:01 PM EST
    Including My Fugi which we saw Sunday.

    Parent
    Mt Fuji (none / 0) (#188)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 04:30:01 PM EST
    Of course

    Parent
    Wasn't that machine chewing up (none / 0) (#189)
    by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 04:30:14 PM EST
    The landscape in season 1 some sort of terraforming contraption?

    Parent
    They made Mt Fugi? (none / 0) (#190)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 04:31:54 PM EST
    That would be impressive.  But I don't think it's Wyoming

    Parent
    There's been of course (none / 0) (#191)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 04:41:30 PM EST
    Tons of chatter and speculation about this.  Reddit of course.

    This was on MASHABLE

    In the second scene of Sunday's premiere, "Journey Into Night," Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) meets Delos' Karl Strand (Gustav Skarsgård) while he's arguing with a member of the Chinese military. China has signed over authority over the entire island, though that doesn't totally clarify its location (EW notes that in Westworld's future, China may have acquired more territory). Strand isn't particularly fussed about the property's history - he calls it "my fu--ing island" and sends the military away immediately.

    I think a literal island is to easy but maybe.

    Parent

    You got me started on the theories (5.00 / 1) (#192)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 06:19:49 PM EST
    This is from the syfy site.  It's interesting.  There's a video you should watch.  This is speculation not spoilers.  I guarantee it will show you things you did not see.

    From the beginning, things haven't added up about Bernard, starting from the very first scene in which he wakes up on the beach only to be informed it's been two weeks since the Hosts took control of the park. Now Reddit believes they have an answer to why this is. It concerns "The Cradle."

    The Cradle has only been mentioned on screen twice so far this season, but according to Westworld's tie-in website, it's a virtual reality apparatus used to store and test storylines prior to the introduction of narratives to the park. The trailer for Episode 6, "Phase Space," promises to introduce the Cradle properly, but this video by Reddit user HaxDogma has already made a leap and has Reddit convinced Bernard's experiences this season are happening inside the Cradle's VR simulation.
    ---
    In short, all of this adds up, explaining everything about the "two weeks later" scenario before the item that could perform the simulation in question has even shown up on screen. This means the introduction of the Cradle this weekend into the show is perhaps the biggest plot point of the season so far. Let's hope it lives up to the hype

    LINK

    Parent

    China creating islands (none / 0) (#196)
    by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:33:19 PM EST
    Is a thing right now.

    Parent
    We watch the opening credits fully (none / 0) (#183)
    by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 02:17:07 PM EST
    Because they began to change in season 1, like GoT does.

    Parent
    Delores sees the beauty in the world (none / 0) (#174)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 07:57:02 AM EST
    Wyatt is the psychopath

    I think Bernard is the most interesting character.  At least in terms of story.  He's there at the end and apparently they still do not know he is AI.  We still haven't seen the woman from management who was trying to extract Dolores father, who Bernard was with.  It will be interesting to see what happens to the Mr Abernathy bomb and what happens to her.

    I think Bernard may kick some azz before it's over.  He too is like a ticking bomb.

    Parent

    we did see her (none / 0) (#177)
    by CST on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:23:05 AM EST
    She commented to Bernard that he "made it out alive" - somewhat surprised, and asked if he'd found Abernathy.  It wasn't this past episode but one of the earlier ones, and it took place in the future.

    Parent
    Your right (none / 0) (#178)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:31:14 AM EST
    I forgot that

    Also about the man in Black

    There is a theory the young guy who falls for Delores is in fact the man in Black 30 years or so earlier.  I agree with this.

    Last week the guy in the glass box was being visited by the young guy and then Ed Harris.  Suggesting they are the same person.  That the idea of transferring consciousness into an artificial body might have been an early goal that failed.  Maybe this is what Abernathy is about. Maybe they have it working?

    Anyway there are almost as many theories online as with GoT.

    Parent

    This is funny (none / 0) (#179)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:47:51 AM EST
    The music is beginning (none / 0) (#171)
    by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 07:14:12 AM EST
    To take up space in my head much like Game of Thrones :)

    Parent
    I loved that they tied (5.00 / 1) (#175)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:02:48 AM EST
    The robbery scene in Shogun World to the one in Westworld with that Stones song.  It worked perfectly you instantly understood what was happening when Painted Black started on Japanese instruments.

    The music choices are inspired.

    Parent

    Rudy's (none / 0) (#184)
    by FlJoe on Fri May 25, 2018 at 02:39:49 PM EST
    theory of relativity
    Giuliani said he was concerned that the president would become a target or that the interview would be a perjury trap, because the "truth is relative."


    These people give me a fckng headache. (none / 0) (#195)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri May 25, 2018 at 08:27:36 PM EST
    Trump's Uncle... (none / 0) (#197)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri May 25, 2018 at 09:04:13 PM EST
    John G., was hired by the US government to review thousands of confiscated documents representing Tesla's life work shortly after his death and declared them to be of no value after two days. Talk about the deep state.

    Also, where is Melonie?

    Melania made it outathere (none / 0) (#200)
    by Towanda on Fri May 25, 2018 at 10:36:23 PM EST
    to freedom before her tunnel collapsed.

    (See: White House lawn sinkhole)

    Parent

    Hope she got the kid out too if that's the case. (5.00 / 1) (#201)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri May 25, 2018 at 11:04:59 PM EST
    My $ is on plastic surgery gone wrong or more sinister, a black eye from a certain someone.

    Parent
    Ya, sure, that makes sense. (none / 0) (#202)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat May 26, 2018 at 08:46:09 AM EST
    And qualifying for fed subsistence requires living rural and 12 months continuous. And, like before, fed subsistence hunter does not necessarily = indigenous.

    My house is flooded...again from (none / 0) (#203)
    by fishcamp on Sat May 26, 2018 at 10:06:27 AM EST
    TS Alberto.  The upstairs porch drains clog and water silently comes in, flows down the spiral staircase and causes a giant mess.  Fortunately this is not as severe as hurricane Irma was.  It's not blowing 140 mph this time and I have electricity.  Thankfully I have my super dooper  water vac to suck up the water.  My carpets are all wet again.  So the moral of this story is:  no matter how well one is prepared this house will get wet both inside and outside.  🌴

    I'm so sorry Fishcamp (none / 0) (#204)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat May 26, 2018 at 02:02:56 PM EST
    But like you say at least you have electricity and and a water vac to ease the pain.

    RUDY GETS BOOED FOR HIS BIRTHRATE (none / 0) (#206)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 28, 2018 at 07:40:50 PM EST
    New Open Thread (none / 0) (#207)
    by Jeralyn on Mon May 28, 2018 at 08:52:10 PM EST
    Up, let's close this one out. Thanks.