February 9, 2018 7:00 AM
Morning Reads for Friday, February 8, 2018
- Go see these cool Atlanta spots before some developer tears them down!
- Enjoy the sunny Georgia weather (Warning – audio starts immediately).
- Evidently, Deadspin is running low on material.
- Winston, why are you hiding in the corner? The dishwasher told me you were there.
- Nothing to see here, move along.
- Father-daughter dance canceled for… you guessed it…
- As if spiders weren’t creepy enough…
- Yes, Everything. (NSFW)
- “Hangry” is a real word. Really.
- For those dreary weekends when nothing’s on the telly.
- Mistakes were made.
About Author
Ginny
Get off my lawn.
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For a few hours last night and this morning, Rand Paul ran the Senate as he engineered a mini-shutdown of government, in the process uniting every Senate faction in opposition to him. Up the libertarians! They must be very proud today.
Meanwhile I read that the new deal will fund government operations six whole weeks, until March 23. That should be plenty of time for pols to buff up their omnibus bill funding government all the way until September 30. That will barely leave time for campaigning.
So the big FBI stories that were ignored are: Hillary Clinton mishandled emails, and; Some people in the FBI actually have personal opinions and they mentioned the word “Clinton” sometimes.
…
How many generations will it be before some conservatives stop losing their composure whenever the word “Clinton” can be associated with something? Will it be 130 years like it was for “Lincoln”?
That father-daughter dance issue seems silly. Easily fixed with a few words. E.g. “Please join us for the annual parent-child dance, for dads and daughters, moms and sons, and all parents and children.” As a Dad with a daughter, sure the bond is special, but so is every parent-child bond, and no parent worthy of respect would get jealous or territorial over another parent-child bond. Plenty of room in the gym.
This was specifically a father-daughter event. So, a better message would have been: “There is still going to be a father-daughter event this Friday. One or two objections from those confused about their gender identity are concerning to us. Please get the name of a qualified mental health professional at the counselor ‘s office.”
Are you saying that any of the fathers would care if some of the attendees were transgender? Doubt that. Maybe you would, but you’re special. The problem is that the School Board and/or the administration didn’t plan properly, or couldn’t figure out a basic problem quickly enough. Governing with Equality for All does require thought and planning, and adapting.
I’m saying the Dad’s wouldn’t give a “rats” who ultimately attended. And neither would I. But shutting down a traditional event like this is just stupid. See my note taped to the counselor’s door.
Pretty sure they just had to reschedule, not cancel. Since parent-child love is not dependent upon Hallmark’s favorite holiday, there is not a drop of actual harm.
LOL! Moore againnnnnnnnnn!! And what about your God, Slick Willy, who had all of those trips on the Lolita Express, or as The Rapist himself has called it, “The Bone Drone…”
It feels good seeing that extra $300 in my bank account this morning. Thank you tax cuts.
Nope. I was hoping to get a three day weekend out of it. I love that republicans control the House, Senate and the presidency and we have shut the government down twice already.
OK, so it was futile in the big scheme, but a lot of what he said was pretty good.
Although he did fail to distinguish between government spending during a downturn to stimulate the economy, and government spending during a boom to… I don’t know what. To him, it’s all the same apparently.
And it’s true that they should consider appropriations by department so they can actually provide some review and oversight. A 700 page bill with less than 12 hours to consider is ridiculous. Nobody knows what all is in there.
Yeah, I agree with a lot of what Rand said on the floor, but he’s a damn hypocrite just like his dad. He votes against everything with spending, but is perfectly fine putting a bunch of goodies for his state in must pass bills.
Doesn’t this also go against the generally understood strategy of using decreased revenues caused by tax cuts to justify cuts to social programs?
I have a whole $34.64 added to my pay check or $900.64 a year. I already did my taxes for 2017 – without the additional payments I made that I was going to loose under the new itemization level(which only removed about an extra $85 in my final taxes) , I had $11,699, plus my personal exemption to deduct from my gross. My tax accountant already warned me I will either pay in an extra $300 (Worse case) or break even on my federal for my 2018 unless he can fin some additional info in the next year. My state taxes for 2018 will be about $$250 higher if the standard deduct amount is not changed.
As one of the 10% who not being paying less taxes in 2018, enjoy your new found wealth Eiger.
Will do.
You can celebrate by buying yourself (or the wife) my favorite martini. (I normally drink bourbon but I do branch out sometimes) I use Grey Goose’s pear.
https://www.liquor.com/recipes/pear-tree-martini/#gs.oI4Vh2g
I drink bourbon and when I drink vodka it’s usually a very dirty martini. I did learn how to make a cosmopolitan because that’s what my wife drinks. She says they are better than most bars. I still think they are terrible. I’ll make this one for her and see what she thinks.
Or my favorite, a Manhattan. Some good bourbon, a splash of red vermouth, some bitters if you have them. Cherry in there for tradition, but not essential for me. Mmmmm.
LM*AO!!! I saw this already. Gilligan kept moving the lobster trap further out in the lagoon without telling the Professor! Egads! The damn island is actually getting bigger. What climate change morons!
https://phys.org/news/2018-02-pacific-nation-bigger.html
You don’t even read the stuff you post do you? Doesn’t it get embarrassing? I only respond because I don’t want others to get the impression that your take on anything you post has any basis in fact.
Quote from your story:
“It found eight of the atolls and almost three-quarters of the islands grew during the study period, lifting Tuvalu’s total land area by 2.9 percent, even though sea levels in the country rose at twice the global average.
I know it’s hard to believe that the world is complicated, and there may actually be more than one or two things going on at the same time. But the universe has no obligation to keep things simple for us.
“Science” and “nuance” do not make good headlines for click-baiting bots.
Mean while…
https://www.axios.com/how-climate-change-could-affect-your-favorite-ski-resorts-1518181731-7d250890-2d6a-45a7-b4c0-ba6926d55fdb.html
Wellllllll, say it ain’t so….You’ll never guess and I do mean “never” guess her party affiliation.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/08/cristina-garcia-california-metoo-398985
Please stop making sexual harassment/assault a partisan issue. It’s beyond insulting.
No, it’s the assaults that are insulting.
Exactly. So why make such a big deal abt party affiliation, as you did?
A public service…
My outrage batteries?! LM–AO!!!! You and your side have been eaten up with blinding, irrational hate since November ’16!! That same time period has been the most politically rewarding for Deplorables like me in our collective lives!! To see you guys losing your minds over The Great Man is more funny than a Rodney Dangerfield concert!
“A public service…”
Your services are no longer required.
Partisan hackery makes the world a worse place, especially when it overshadows concern for domestic violence victims.
By my guesses, you should be comfortably collecting Social Security now or in the near future. Thanks Socialism!
Where in my response did I nit care about domestic violence abusers? Just so you jnow, part of my real job is reporting on those who commit such acts, so those that make high level decisions can decide if such people will remain viable in getting federal employment. You’re losing it Balance… Anddddddd, your side has displayed the worst examples of partisan hackeru in the history of the Republic since Trump was elected, so you should just be quiet.
Have a quick look back. Your Over-Emphasis on party affiliation is what I am saying overshadowed the issue of the assault. And that emphasis is particularly egregious to me, and a awful disservice to the victim(s). One could actually argue that highlighting party affiliation in the context of most any crimes is pretty useless and ignores the problem. So, yeah, I’m going to do what I can to point that out.
Personally, btw, I don’t have a team. I understand the game, but play by my own rules. Frankly, I’m not opposed to reversible jerseys, depending on the issue. Plus, parties evolve. So it’s more about individuals.
Throw the whole legislative book at her.
Now where is your Rob Portman post?
I’m waiting for you to talk about it.
I did on Wednesday. I would have posted this one too once I read it.
But since you asked me to talk about Portman, how is it that the WH has known about this for over a year and no one is asking why he was not asked to leave then? There were 3-4 that had the same issues last year which didn’t hired into the West Wing or asked to leave. The lawyers knew, Kelly knew, I am going to go on a limb and say Reince knew. I would bet Jared (who is Portman’s friend and former classmate in college) knew. How is it that a man with no security clearance is allowed to be in charge of every file that crosses the Presidents desk. Either Portman was allowed to see top secret documents or the President is not being handed any. I know carelessness with classified documents has become a ‘Lock Them Up’ thing in the last decade or so, but this was completely preventable and sloppy.
I ran across this video yesterday. I’d say if you’ve reached the point of losing former DeMint and Cruz staffers, you’re well on the way to losing the war.
Also…
https://www.axios.com/the-john-kelly-crisis-white-house-rob-porter-b7924ce5-e4d4-40e1-bc50-e901a6471fa2.html
This entire “Rob PORTER” thread is saying “Rob PORTMAN”. Rob Porter is the scumbag that beat his wives. Rob Portman is the exceptionally boring (in a good way) Republican US Senator from Ohio that is probably pretty ticked this scumbag’s name sounds like his.
I blame my auto correct, and my dyslexia… I will be more attune to the problem in the future.
If you click on the history center link, you will be invited to download adobe flash player. This download is evil, and should never be clicked on.
That site has no such issue. Do a Google search on “fake acrobat update” and I heartily recommend the program Malwarebytes. Their freeware version works fine.
This is funded through the Foundation. No tax payer funds involved.
https://www.axios.com/uw-madison-to-offer-free-tuition-to-families-making-under-56000-1518198703-6f72e285-de47-4a8e-a7c8-49a6419af2cc.html?source=sidebar
Should Carper resign?
http://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-senator-hit-ex-wife-sits-rob-porter-abuse-scandal/
Hey, Drew, are you insulted by Carper’s hitting his wife ir are you the head of Crickets for Carper, cause you ain’t uttered a peep about that?
This isn’t Hannity. This isn’t Alex Jones. This ain’t even Rush. McCarthy is a respected guy. Read it. Drew, please help me with an exhumation order for Don Meredith…
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/456287/grassley-graham-memo-affirms-nunes-memo-fisa-steele-dossier
Never said dossier was SOLE. But without it – no Fisa. Period. McCabe said so. Very clearly. The bureau is in trouble here. Let’s wait and watch.
Drew, McCabe himself said it. Did you hear him say that? No snark. He said it.
You might be surprised to know I don’t watch or listen to him. I’ m a Drudge guy. Bottom line in all of this: FBI in big trouble with the way they present evidence to get FISA warrants.
The stock market evidences Trump’s greatness, unless it goes down, in which it’s not important. Budget deficits are bad, unless the GOP cuts taxes on the rich while concurrently amplifying them by increasing spending. Trump tweeted 21 June 2016, having heard it on Fox, that trade deficits are bad: “Hillary Clinton surged the trade deficit with China 40% as Secretary of State, costing Americans millions of jobs.”.
So natch, it’s expected that trade deficits, like the budget deficit, are simply more hypocritical GOP chatter that occurs only when it’s not on their watch: “The U.S. trade deficit increased more than 12 percent in 2017, to $566 billion — its highest level since 2008, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Commerce Department. The trade deficit with China rose to a record $375 billion in 2017, and trade gaps with Mexico, Canada and Japan also increased.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/06/trump-trade-disaster-325749
Fake News. MAGA.
Last week’s brutal action seems to be driven by Hedge Funds getting out of their VIX positions via margin calls, ie the hard way. They apparently invested in ETF’s like VIXY. They’d short or sell calls on the VIX ETF which was highly profitable and predictable until it wasn’t.
Trump had nothing to do with this trade/issue. In this case, it is Robert Soft-Coup Meuller Fan and Deep Stater George Bush whose administration who approved these funds.
You can’t take credit when it goes up without taking the blame when it goes down.
Cognitive Ability and Vulnerability to Fake News
Researchers identify a major risk factor for pernicious effects of misinformation
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cognitive-ability-and-vulnerability-to-fake-news/
Interesting. I think this is something that we all know already as we see it happening every day, even here, but it’s nice to see some scientific validation.
The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy media industry has known this for many years and exploits it ruthlessly.
The ironic thing is, this will probably be dismissed as fake news by some. A deep state conspiracy. One can imagine a Breitbart story with the provocative headline condemning the studies. Then it gets repeated on Twitter and Facebook and voila, it becomes true that the scientists involved were paid by Obama confidants in a politically motivated sham (even though nothing in the text of the story actually supports the claim). Sad!
General cognitive ability and age were other notable factors in addition to hearing fake news over and over.
Interesting story in the NY Post.
https://nypost.com/2018/02/10/peeling-back-the-layers-of-hillary-clintons-deceit/