From the Astronomy Picture of the Day website (Image Credit & Copyright: Ollie Taylor)… because we all miss Alain’s wonderful morning posts.
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Apart from Thanksgiving prep/travel, what’s on the agenda for the start of another week?
***********
Also entertaining, though on a far less elevated plane — from the Washington Post, “‘A long winter’: White House aides divided over scope, risks of Russia probe”:
Six months into a special counsel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, White House aides and others in President Trump’s close orbit are increasingly divided in their assessments of the expanding probe and how worried administration officials and campaign aides should be about their potential legal peril, according to numerous people familiar with the debate…
The investigation reached a critical turning point in recent weeks, with a formal subpoena to the campaign, an expanding list of potential witnesses and the indictments of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates. Some within Trump’s circle, including former chief of staff Reince Priebus, have already been interviewed by Mueller’s investigators, while others such as Hope Hicks — the White House communications director and trusted confidant of the president — and White House counsel Donald McGahn are expected in coming weeks.
One Republican operative in frequent contact with the White House described Mueller’s team “working through the staff like Pac-Man.”
“Of course they are worried,” said the Republican, who insisted on anonymity to offer a candid assessment. “Anybody that ever had the words ‘Russia’ come out of their lips or in an email, they’re going to get talked to. These things are thorough and deep. It’s going to be a long winter.” …
The president himself, however, has warmed to Cobb’s optimistic message on Mueller’s probe. Cobb had initially said he hoped the focus on the White House would conclude by Thanksgiving, but adjusted the timeline slightly in an interview last week, saying he remains optimistic that it will wrap up by the end of the year, if not shortly thereafter…
But the reassurances from Cobb and others — which seem at least partially aimed at keeping the president calm and focused on governing — are viewed by others as naive.
“The president says, ‘This is all just an annoyance. I did nothing,’ ” said one person close to the administration. “He is somewhat arrogant about it. But this investigation is a classic Gambino-style roll-up. You have to anticipate this roll-up will reach everyone in this administration.”…
In fact, legal experts and private defense lawyers monitoring the case believe that Mueller’s investigation — which officially began in May and resulted in its first charges against three former campaign aides last month — is still in its early stages.
They expect that the prosecutors have considerable investigative work still to do, and they predict more campaign officials, among others, will face charges. They expect the probe to extend deep into 2018 and possibly longer…
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Baud
I know what I’ll be thankful for his Thursday.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
OzarkHillbilly
In his entire life, legalities have never been anything more than an annoyance. He’s playing on a whole different field now tho. I am going to thoroughly enjoy the smack down when it comes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Thursday will probably be the beginning of chauffeur season for me, since madame works at the local mall and it’s pretty much impossible to get(or get to***) a parking space until Dec. 25th.
*There’s usually parking on the upper level, but it takes pretty much half a hour to get up there since people wait for other to leave since they must park right next to the mall entrance to maintain their fat asses(bitter, who me?).
Elizabelle
Good morning, jackals. Countdown to Turkey Day.
Do you think Mr. Mueller will gift Trump’s cronies w indictments before or after our day of thanks? They will be stewing, no matter what.
Raven
Manson died
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Right. I remember that Turkey Day is not a pleasant time for Madame.
Elizabelle
@Raven: LA Times had a good article on Manson. His crimes were terrible, but so was his background. http://beta.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-charles-manson-20171119-story.html#nt=oft06a-1la1
Symbol of an era; will not be missed.
Baud
@Raven: Hillary killed him as a distraction because people were starting to talk about the 1990’s again.
geg6
@Elizabelle:
My birthday is Friday. I’m hoping for a nice present tied up with a big bow from Mr. Mueller.
And someone the last thread was saying Brian Wilson was tangled up with Manson but that’s wrong. It was Dennis Wilson.
Meanwhile, Dems have picked what looks like a good candidate for the congressional seat being vacated by Tim Murphy. A veteran and former federal prosecutor who beat a Bluedog-type anti-abortion candidate for the party nomination.
Gvg
@OzarkHillbilly: yes. We would not be in this mess if the law had been impartially enforced on on rich crooks like Trump all along. He just didn’t understand that President isn’t just another rich guy prize. With real power comes real scrutiny and Other people have competing interests. Losers don’t just go away in this game because they can’t afford to.
If he’d paid attention he would have known this. I bet a lot of rich criminals noticed this and stayed out of the spotlight. However we can’t afford not to knock him down or more scum will try for the prize next. Gah…I always hated the America’s stupidest criminal show type but now I am forced to watch.
Baud
@geg6: Early happy birthday.
Raven
@Elizabelle: I’ll never forget the argument I had with my mom. I’d been home for about 6 months and I was in LA. We were talking about Manson and I said it was the same rot as My Lai. The conversation did not go well.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@geg6:
A classmate in my Calculus class in college used to party with Dennis on his boat.
Happy early b-day, you’ve got a couple of months on me, IIRC.
Raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: and then there was Squeaky.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: There’s a house(actually a former convent) that Katy Perry was*(is) buying in Los Feliz. The house next door is the Labianca house.
*There was a dispute between the sister’s order and dioceses about who owned the property and who could sell it.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: No no no, she killed him because he was about to spill the beans on that shady LA real estate deal she and Bill got into where they needed to buy the Polanski/Tate properties but they wouldn’t sell.
ETA word change
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA: have been watching that. What a view those nuns had. Eerie about the LaBianca home so close.
Patricia Kayden
@Raven: Good. Lived way too long.
LurkerNoLonger
@Raven: and there goes the only legitimate primary challenger to Donald Trump.
Kay
All investigations are “classic Gambino- style roll-ups”. There is no investigation where they start at the top and then go to lower people because who gives a shit about lower people if they could reach the top immediately?
I love how Trump hires lawyers who tell him what he wants to hear. Because he’s dumb and arrogant and he wouldn’t take real counsel anyway.
Patricia Kayden
@geg6: Happy B’Day (in advance). Hoping you get exactly what you want regarding this awful regime. That would be a gift for all of us.
OzarkHillbilly
I think that’s called, “Fleecing the flock.”
Baud
@Kay: His lawyers probably spend all their time telling him how unfair it all is because Hillary’s crimes were worse.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Evey museum has a gift shop. I thought I read that this museum had their opening night reception at the Trump Hotel though.
satby
@?BillinGlendaleCA: the insanity has already started at the mall where our Lenscrafters is. I’ve had a hard time parking most of the last week. The lines start early for Santa, and that’s near our store. Christmas music started right after Halloween.
I get through it by knowing it’s the last year I will work at a mall during this season for the rest of my life.
Did anyone see my comment last night that the new full time employee hired last week only lasted 2 hours?
Immanentize
@Raven: Helter Skelter
An odd version.
Baud
@satby: What happened?
Raven
@Immanentize: look out now!
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: is this the museum that the Hobby Lobby nuts are funding? Not quite up to clicking the link.
Kay
@Baud:
Sure! Because what do they care? They’re not going to prison. He’s really his own lawyer. Anyone who gave him real advice would get fired.
His assertions of innocence are completely meaningless to me. He doesn’t know any of the laws and he doesn’t think they apply to him anyway. Of course he thinks he didn’t do anything wrong. He has no idea what “wrong” might be.
Just one more canuck
@satby: yes, that’s a story begging to be told
Immanentize
@Raven:
Such a great song….
The Family was seriously messed up. But I suspect there are more crazy people with more weapons out there today plotting a way to start a race war…..
Kay
True. People should stop making this dumb distinction between Donald Trump’s racist behavior and Donald Trump’s racism.
If Donald Trump isn’t a racist then no one is- the word has no meaning. This has been going on for decades. How long does he get this ridiculous pass where people insist it’s somehow a show? This is what he IS. To his BONES. Deal with it- the President of the United States is a racist. He’s not fucking shy about it! No need to continue making excuses for him!
satby
@Baud: After a prolonged search of 3 months for just the perfect person to join our exalted staff, they hired some inexperienced 18 year old who asked to leave early after two hours on her first day. Evidently that wasn’t enough of a clue; it took 2 more days when she didn’t show up as scheduled, and no calls, before it dawned on them she wasn’t coming back. They don’t know how to even pay her for the two hours, because she hadn’t filled out any paperwork.
Bet you guys thought I exaggerated about my manager ?
Amir Khalid
@geg6:
It was eemom. I’d asked about Manson’s history as a musician, and she said Brian Wilson had been among his enablers. Either way, it seems incongruous that a band like The Beach Boys, with such a clean-cut image, would be associating with Manson. (Yes, I’m aware that image =/= reality.)
Immanentize
@satby: OK, this is one of my “Get off my lawn!” Pet peeves.
Christmas just shouldn’t start until Thanksgiving is over! That is why the Macy’s Day Parade always ENDED with Santa coming into New York. Holiday music (which I love — especially the Low Album) is banned at my house until the day after T-Day. Ok. End of rant.
/S/. Scrooge
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Kay: It’s almost as if his dad was in the KKK
Raven
@Immanentize: forever and always
Baud
@satby: Wow. That’s pretty quick.
Steeplejack (phone)
@satby:
I do not get how your boss, the doctor, does not see, or can keep on ignoring, the chaos caused by the crazy office manager. It has got to be a drag on the whole operation.
Raven
It’s only 43 degrees so I’m going to wait. A while to hit the gulf. The water is 10 degrees warmer than Manhattan beach was in July so I should be ok. I only fished for a few hours yesterday and it was 15mph winds gusting to 30 si it was a bit chilly.
satby
@Immanentize: Oh, I do agree! I could have committed seppuku right in the parking lot as soon as I pulled up Nov. 1 and cheesy Christmas music was blasting over the speakers. But as long as people show up on Thanksgiving day to shop and weeks before Thanksgiving to line their kids up for Santa, the stores will push this. I spent two decades not working in retail, and not going out at all on Black Friday. I hate the entire circus.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: The article states that the avg museum gift shop is 1,000 sq ft. This one is over 3 times that size.
25$ t-shirts? Sure. $15 coffee mugs? All the time. $1,250 footstools????? $5,000 necklaces????? That’s a hefty (and very small) price tag on those shears.
debbie
@Baud:
No, he’ll be tweeting on the holiday.
Kay
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Who IS a racist if Donald Trump isn’t one? What in heck would the standard if he doesn’t meet it? 40 years of specifically targeting black people, well before he was shilling for the “racist vote”. Why is it so difficult for people to admit? Because he doesn’t have a southern accent? Because “NYC real estate developer and con man” doesn’t fit the stereotype of “racist”? They’re everywhere and he’s one. Not acting racist to please his base. A racist.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
No, he was the symbol of the end of an era. There were no longer flower children, only dirty hippies.
satby
@Steeplejack (phone): The doctor was hoping the manager would decide to leave under her own steam rather than need to be pushed out. This last episode is the final straw though, they’re starting to train one of my younger co-workers to take over the office management duties. She’s a smart kid, pretty stable and good common sense and work ethic. I told the doctor she would be a good choice to train a few months ago. The office manager wants to just work occasionally, so hopefully the situation is on the way to some improvement.
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack (phone):
It can happen where the doctor concerns himself with only the doctoring because he doesn’t know or couldn’t be arsed about the rest of it.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby:
Heh. Reminds me of the new journeyman I got handed to show the ropes. About an hour into the day he asked me how much drywall we had to hang in a day. I told him.
He said “I can’t do that!”
I shrugged and that was the last I saw of him.
debbie
@Kay:
He also picks fights where there are none. Why does he keeping saying he should have left the players in jail when they in fact apologized?
debbie
@Amir Khalid:
Manson believed he was the next John Lennon, and Dennis was naive enough to want to help him.
gene108
@Kay:
You are only, defininetly, a racist, if you say the N-word. Otherwise the media gives you wiggle room. They have been doing this for Rwpublicans for decades.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Yep. It’s worth clicking thru for the laughs. The first pic is of a shelf of animal figurines. My first thought was, “You have to buy them in male and female pairs I’ll bet.” the 2nd thought was, “Where’s the special commemorative Ark display case for them?”
bystander
@OzarkHillbilly: I lost interest once I realized I was misreading it as the Museum of the Edible.
Wasn’t Terry Melcher, Doris Day’s son, the landlord of the house where Tate, Folger and Sebring were murdered? He was a record producer who was the connection to Manson. IIRC Manson went there to kill Melcher because he never delivered a recording contract. Anyway, Doris is still with us.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Heh. Prosperity Gospel indeed
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: yes, but how much is the nail from the one true cross??
satby
@Amir Khalid: She’s an excellent doctor, but you’re right, she hired office managers because that aspect of the business isn’t her strength. I assume the manager was once capable, because she’s been there years, but she’s almost 72 and though a very spry woman she’s just not up to the job anymore. At some point as we age we need to accept as well as we can that we slow down.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@satby: While the mall she works in has a large 3-level parking lot, it’s next door to the fancy pants mall that charges for parking; so folk park at her mall’s parking lot and walk across the street to the fancy pants mall and avoid the parking fees.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Immanentize: Wonder if that one of the versions on the Anthology.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Immanentize: And it’s a song about a playground slide.
Immanentize
@?BillinGlendaleCA: it may be. I like it, pretty raw. I have considered getting myself the Apple thumb drive with every damn recording on it…. But, 400 balloons!
rikyrah
@Raven:
Lucifer has a new guest
Mustang Bobby
I work today and tomorrow then take Wednesday as a one of the two comp time days that I earned for coming in to work the Thursday and Friday after Hurricane Irma. I expect I will be one of many who will be cramming into the parking lot of the local Publix on Wednesday morning.
rikyrah
@geg6:
Well, Pre Happy Birthday ??????
rikyrah
@Kay:
1. You have to PAY real counsel.
2. You have to do what real counsel tells you.
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: O/T — is your email address associated w/ your BJ account operative? Got an Ozark-specific question!
Kay
@debbie:
Because he’s a spoiled, coddled brat who demands congratulations for what is mediocre, ordinary work? Because the giant baby is banging on his high chair tray and he wants someone to pay attention to him?
Why can’t he go away for a week? Just shut the fuck up for 7 days and give the country a break. See if he’s capable of existing without constant attention or if he disappears up his own ass on Day Two.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Grifters all.
JPL
Jana Novotna winner of 17 Grand Slam titles, but only one in singles, died. She was 49.
rikyrah
@satby:
I read that and LOL ?
Immanentize
@?BillinGlendaleCA: or drugs….
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: Because the father of one dissed him.
Steeplejack (phone)
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I think it’s from a Paul McCartney concert, maybe this one.
geg6
@Amir Khalid:
Dennis was the bad boy of The Beach Boys.
Phylllis
@Mustang Bobby: We hit Publix while in Charleston Saturday. It was on the edge of mad house-ish. Snagged a fresh turkey breast though, so it was worth it.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Trump says he “didn’t do anything wrong”. Based upon his extensive reading of the applicable law and his own high ethical standards?
What exactly would qualify as “wrong” to a Trump? They have no standards at all. It isn’t just him. The kids are thieves and con men too. Asking them to determine if something is “wrong” is a complete waste of time. Nothing they do is wrong, according to them.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Tell it, Kay.
So racist that the Nixon government charged him.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: You mean the blood stained nail from the one true cross? $9,999.99. Comes with a special ebony and glass display case.
satby
Mel Tillis has also died.
satby
@rikyrah: I’m torn between staying way the hell out of the whole thing and offering to help hire someone. Because I would be interviewing for someone who could do the job, not for someone to fit in and adopt.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: No it isn’t. (I’ve tried changing it a # of times but when I do I go straight to spam hell) My new addy is karstedm2 at gmail dot com.
rikyrah
@Kay:
This is the truth. They have never been held accountable. They have never been in a situation where there are actual rules in place to follow. They had phucking Kushner stand out in front of the White House, giving that statement that was FULL OF LIES ??
GLAD that Richard Engel found a clear cut angle to circle Ivanka too.
Want that entire crooked gene pool to do a perp walk.
Kay
I see the Trump Team are hard at work again this morning. Low quality people who don’t do a whole lot of work.
We really can do better than this. There’s no reason we have to hire the mediocre, lazy heirs of people who made some money once.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Then diss the father back, FFS.
Amir Khalid
@OzarkHillbilly:
Are there pious Christians gullible enough to want such a thing? If it was an actual relic, and I’m not sure how you could prove that about a rusty old nail, it wouldn’t be on sale in a gift shop.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
Faith.
But it would be on sale somewhere.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Damn. Another of the greats gone.
Elizabelle
@satby: I think you should offer to help hire and train. Do it for the doctor, whom you seem to like. And so that you can get out of there.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Are there? Of course. The history of Christendom is replete with (questionable) relics.
Kay
This case is interesting. It’s an Ohio state rep but it seems to have national implications because (supposedly) the Washington Post was pursuing it and that’s why the state rep resigned so quickly. Maybe Perkins is the national part of the story.
Baud
@Kay: I bet Perkins told God, and God told him He would take care of it.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: C’mon now debbie, you know he doesn’t work like that. ;-)
@Amir Khalid:
Well, they may be pious, and they certainly would want such a thing, and while I’m not sure they would be gullible enough to actually believe it really is from the “one true cross”, I am certain that there are people gullible enough to buy such a thing and the more it costs the more they will want it.
“There’s a sucker born every minute.” -David Hannum
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: I read that Perkins did do something. The man was banned from the FRC and all events, but it was done quietly so that nobody would be embarrassed.
satby
@Elizabelle: I have sort of offered, but we’ve had to tread very carefully because of the manager.
I don’t hate the woman, it’s really a sad situation. She’s not aging gracefully, she’s in denial about it all. Which makes it worse, because it all becomes so personal. As a human being, she’s quite a nice person and devoted to the doctor. I get the doctor’s dilemma, because to push more openly makes it obviously about a formerly competent manager and friend’s failing capacities as they age. But, it’s now become more than just something to work around. Fortunately, this time the manager herself has decided to dial back.
It’s an object lesson in staying realistic about what you can and can’t do as you get older, and many of us aren’t good at that.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: Hell, at that price I think I’ll buy three!
Immanentize
@Amir Khalid:
Amir,. The Hapsburgs were rather notorious collectors of such relics –. Or easy marks if you prefer — from crusaders. I have a post card of (one of the many) nails from the one true cross which is in Vienna still.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: Cheaper by the dozen!
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: @satby:
Even though I didn’t favor country music when I was younger, M-m-mel T-tillis was always a favorite. He was one of the first people I ever saw overcome a disability in such a public way. It was a great story which captivated the young me.
FlipYrWhig
@OzarkHillbilly:
I am not neither a Jew nor a Christian. Isn’t the Old Testament God the OPPOSITE of forgiving and patient? He’s always smiting people.
MJS
@Immanentize: There’s a very good Stephen King book, “Needful Things” where one of the “needful things” is an alleged splinter from “the Cross”. Stories about religious relics always remind me of that book.
OzarkHillbilly
Somehow or other I don’t think any tears around here at this news: Gunmaker Remington faces default as Americans buy fewer firearms
OzarkHillbilly
I got the horse and she got the saddle
-Mel Tillis
Immanentize
@MJS: They say that the extant slivers from the one true cross could build five hundred true crosses.
I actually thought the more creative salesmen were those who would sell items not from Jesus, but from those more tangentially related to the story — like a leg bone from one of the thieves crucified next to him. That is smart marketing!
NotMax
@Gin & Tonic
As such “relics” go, perhaps the most outre.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Holy Foreskin Batman!
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: Thanks! You’ve got mail!
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: I’ll go see if I can help.
Amir Khalid
@FlipYrWhig:
That’s the problem with the Abrahamic deity. He can be shockingly petty and spiteful.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: Ok, I thought I knew my relic mythology — but man that is too much!!
Somewhere I am sure someone has the knife of the Mohel.
I always thought it was funny that one of the first members of the Morman church was named Moyle.
satby
@NotMax: yep, that was weird.
Baud
@Amir Khalid: He and I have that in common.
Immanentize
@NotMax: sorry, my comment at 111 was for you
gene108
@OzarkHillbilly:
Funny how the gun lobby backed Trump, when from a business point of view, Obama was the best thing ever for sales. And Hillary would have kept the buying frenzy going.
rikyrah
@Kay:
You don’t think the ‘ male student’ part is what made him resign so quick?
rikyrah
Happy 70th Anniversary to Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e6be0664ba6e33034ff735e0b8b7156e3d2acebcc81dca3105d13448e061ab3d.jpg
rikyrah
Ten African Americans win Rhodes scholarships, the most ever in a single US class. The winners include the first black woman to lead the Corps of Cadets at West Point. https://t.co/hGJfe54R8W
— AP West Region (@APWestRegion) November 19, 2017
rikyrah
Uh huh
Uh huh
Reminder:
If Rs wanted to cut taxes for the middle class, they could go ahead and *cut taxes for the middle class,* while minimizing the huge giveaway to their corporate donors.
But Rs have publicly admitted their donors must be rewarded:https://t.co/zs0lqT1Ey7 pic.twitter.com/JVYdvU3lec
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) November 20, 2017
rikyrah
Wow. That’s some honesty– the White House admitting that electing a pedophile is worth it to pass tax cuts. ? https://t.co/DvJOwJQ5e2
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) November 20, 2017
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
Baud is great.
Peale
@Amir Khalid: yes. But then looking at the stories told about the pagan gods in the neighborhood, God seems relatively stable and chipper.
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
It’s the same thing Governor KIV of Alabama said about voting for the child molester: party before principle.
schrodingers_cat
@OzarkHillbilly: Snooze Hour’s Jeffrey Brown covered it lovingly last week. I can has liberal media?
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: That’s some great news. Kind of surprising given all the shootings we have each year but I assume their competition is doing better.
rikyrah
Technical Foul: Trump Goes There Again
by D.R. Tucker November 19, 2017
…………………..
……………………………
Trump had the option of simply ignoring LaVar Ball’s dismissal of his role in freeing the UCLA players; he wouldn’t be the first person to simply ignore Ball. Trump chose otherwise, for fairly obvious political reasons: he figured that attacking supposedly ungrateful African-Americans would maintain his popularity among his most devoted followers. Ball is being attacked for the same reason Colin Kaepernick was attacked by the 45th President: he’s a convenient target.
Trump’s base undoubtedly thinks he “should have left them in jail.” Their hatred fuels Trump; their resentment is the force that gives him power. Imagine dealing with three (or even seven?) more years of this. Imagine hearing similar rhetoric from Roy Moore if (when?) he wins the US Senate seat Jeff Sessions vacated.
This Thursday, give thanks for the anti-Trump resistance movement. It’s hard to imagine our country remaining stable without it.
rikyrah
The Melting of Republican Snowflakes
by D.R. Tucker November 19, 2017
That sound you hear is the playing of the world’s tiniest violin for Republican Governors who didn’t have enough sense to walk away from the party once Donald Trump secured the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, and who now fear the consequences:
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: Fleecing the rubes dry. That’s one museum I’ll never set foot in.
rikyrah
Mueller’s latest request suggests trouble for Trump’s White House
11/20/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
………………………..
ABC News’ report, which hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that this line of inquiry “marks the special counsel’s first records request to the Justice Department, and it means Mueller is now demanding documents from the department overseeing his investigation.”
The piece went on to say, “The latest move suggests the Special Counsel is still actively digging into, among other matters, whether Trump or any other administration official improperly tried to influence an ongoing investigation.”
Peale
@Patricia Kayden: as you know, us liberal elite types who are stocking up for the coming revolution wouldn’t be caught dead holding a Remington. When we go nuts, we buy imported foreign arms from Sweden and France. Directly. Hand crafted and curated weapons that we buy at film festivals and avant-guard performance art shows. Remington is soulless mass market American piffle.
Ridnik Chrome
There was a very small part of the punk-rock-alternative scene that idolized Charles Manson as some kind of nihilist-revolutionary-hero. It always kind of disgusted me. Back when I briefly worked in a record store one of the other clerks was going on one day about what a genius Manson was, and I finally just looked at him and said, “You know, I’m against the death penalty, but I’d make an exception for Charlie.” Shut the guy right up. Glad to hear that fucker is gone. The world is a (slightly) better place this morning.
rikyrah
11/17/17
Echoes of Trump in corrupt former Panama president Martinelli
Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent, reports on similarities between Donald Trump and his friend, former Panama president Ricardo Martinelli, who is being held in a federal detention facility in Miami fighting extradition back to Panama.
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah:
According to our progressive betters we are all supposed to curl up and die, because Rs always win, we are supposed to help them by demanding immediate firing of our allies based on flimsy allegations.
Amir Khalid
@Patricia Kayden:
There are not enough gun hoarders in America to make up for more and more people not wanting to own even one gun.
J R in WV
@Elizabelle:
Charley Manson grew up in Charleston WV for a time; in a log home that was once a turnpike tavern back when turnpikes had stops for the stage coaches and horses. It was moved when the road was widened and the Midland Trail became Rt 60, which runs clear to the west coast.
Sara Jane Moore, who attempted to shoot President Ford also grew up in that same old log house. Perhaps there was something odd about that old house…
PaulWartenberg
My thoughts on Charles Manson mirrors that of Sam Kinison’s:
YOU WERE ON ACID, MANSON. You’d have gotten the same message out of the Monkees you f-cking psycho.
Gelfling 545
@OzarkHillbilly: Very biblical. It leaps to the eye how it’s based on scripture. “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth. and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” Faugh!
gene108
@rikyrah:
Got it backwards. Trump’s racism fuels his base. For the first time in fifty years a national politician is saying out loud and vindicating what they have always been thinking.
rikyrah
11/17/17
Trump may be at legal risk for crimes at Trump-named building
Arlo Devlin-Brown, former public corruption unit chief for the Southern District of New York, talks with Richard Engel about whether Donald Trump is at any legal risk for illegal things that happen through a building to which he has sold his name.
rikyrah
11/17/17
Many Trump deals abroad come with conflicts
Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent, reports on some of the unsavory circumstances and outright conflicts of interest in some of Donald Trump’s international business ventures.
rikyrah
11/17/17
Trump comfort with foreign corruption hurts US global reputation
Sarah Chayes, author of “Thieves of State,” talks with Richard Engel about how Donald Trump’s tolerance of corruption in other countries reflects back on the reputation of the United States, and why Donald Trump is in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
rikyrah
11/17/17
Trump makes position on foreign bribery clear
Richard Engel shares a CNBC clip of Donald Trump expressing his displeasure with a law that forbids American businesses from bribing foreign officials.
Chet
Anyone else noticed this?
I thought Trump was going to fix that?
Amir Khalid
@J R in WV:
The other woman who tried to shoot Ford that
yearmonth, Lynette Fromme, was a member of Manson’s cult at the time. There may indeed be some evil connection at work here.Gelfling 545
@Immanentize: In our family, holiday music, movies, etc. are BANNED until Santa arrives at the Macy parade. Then break out the champagne, toast Santa, crank up the music & deck those halls!
PaulWartenberg
Can I ask a favor of the Juicers here?
Can you confirm that a panelist on a real live show on CNN this morning just said, no dubbing or editing or anything, that he just said he trusts trump over JESUS CHRIST COMING DOWN OFF THE CROSS when it comes to the Russian scandal?
I can’t believe that really happened. I can’t… I just… JESUS, I AM HONESTLY THINKING OF DRINKING HEAVILY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY 47 YEARS OF EXISTENCE. /cries
hueyplong
@J R in WV: I thought it was US highway 50 that went all the way to the west coast. Maybe both did.
PaulWartenberg
I am a complete amateur when it comes to getting drunk. As I cannot abide the smell of beer, what are my alternatives to drown myself in this hellish season of JFC trump VOTERS ARE STUPID AND INSANE. /headdesking
rikyrah
11/18/17
Trump Panama building a magnet for dirty money laundering
Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent, looks at how a Panama building project bearing the Trump name became a hot spot for illegal money world wide to be cleaned through real estate transactions.
J R in WV
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’m acquainted with a very pleasant young woman who started and runs a small BBQ restaurant. Sometimes very busy, other times not so much. She tries to have two staff to help in the kitchen so she can devote her time to the front where the customers are.
Hired a young man for the summer one time. Next day he didn’t show up as needed, so she called him. He told her it wouldn’t work for him, asked why he told her, very seriously, “I don’t like to be told what to do!”
That boy is going to have a fairly hard and unhappy life, I suspect. Military draft might be good for him. Not sure what else could fix that.
Jeffro
Hey happy Monday everyone! A good swim in the morning gets the day started off right…well, that and the sweet, sweet sound of two #NeverTrumpers going. off.
First up, as usual, Ms. Rubin: The Face of a Soulless, Intellectually Corrupt Party
And then Fred Hiatt weighs in: Did Putin Get Taken For a Ride?
*yeah BUDDY! =)
If y’all have a minute in between calls to your Senators, shoot these two an email and tell ’em to keep it coming!
Jeffro
Oh and PS: Has Russian Money Gone to Trumpov’s Legal Defense? (inquiring minds – like Bobby Three Sticks’ – want to know)
Cheryl Rofer
@PaulWartenberg: Here you are!
Remember, you asked for it.
bystander
@Jeffro: Nothing undermines democracy more than repub gerrymandering. Putin contributed by exposing our corrupt media.
I’m guessing Putin is also enjoying the sexual harassment revelations and their damaging effects on both parties.
J R in WV
@OzarkHillbilly:
Might be related to a 60 Minutes piece about a Remington rifle (an expensive one!) which fires randomly when the safety is clicked off, without anything near the trigger. They did a secret recall, which made it worse.
The show had a number of filmed examples of a suspect rifle, reworked by the Remington shop, firing about 1 time in 4 when the safety was clicked off. People were shot, killed, often relatives.
One young man wasn’t believed when he told cops the gun “just went off” and killed his brother, so he was looking at life without parole, spent several years in jail. Because Remington did their best to keep their shitty trigger mechanism’s faults secret. Now they’re fucked hard. I wouldn’t have one nor be around one lest it go off pointed at one of us.
Was offered a used 30-06 Remington 700 for $289 not long ago, looked pristine, least expensive gun in the (very big) shop. It would normally go for $1200 used in as new condition. But not any more.
rikyrah
Trump now says he ‘should have left’ Americans in Chinese jail
11/20/17 08:42 AM
By Steve Benen
………………………………………………………….
Stuart Stevens, a Republican strategist and former aide to Mitt Romney, responded to this story by explaining, “This is on emotional spectrum of a troubled child. Elected officials don’t help the taxpayers they work for because they expect praise. They do it because it’s their job.”
I realize that this president often struggles to understand the nuances of his responsibilities, but this isn’t especially complicated: for generations, U.S. officials have worked on behalf of Americans, not for glory or public displays of gratitude, but out of a desire to serve.
Trump did something worthwhile by taking steps to free those three Americans from a Chinese jail – in other words, the president did his job – but now he regrets it because one of those American’s fathers hurt his feelings.
Yes, this makes Trump appear alarmingly small. And yes, this reminds us that the president has the temperament of a spoiled child. But this incident also makes clear that in Trump’s mind, public service is a vanity exercise. He’s willing to do the right thing, but only if he’s rewarded with gratitude and praise.
Without them, Trump is inclined to ignore Americans’ needs. Indeed, in his mind, the president’s work is inherently transactional: he’ll protect our interests, and in exchange, we’ll acknowledge his greatness and satisfy his ego. Those who fail to live up to their end of the bargain, evidently, are unworthy of his efforts.
There is nothing like this in the American tradition.
Amir Khalid
@Cheryl Rofer:
Ah, I see: the guy is a Trumpian, not a Christian.
rikyrah
From FORBES…
FORBES!
FORBES: GOP Tax Bill Is The End Of All Economic Sanity In Washington
burnspbesq
@J R in WV:
U.S. 60 terminates somewhere near Phoenix, and has since the 1980s. The Pomona Freeway (CA 60) is the last vestige in California. The rest was swallowed up by I-10.
jonas
The fact that he fired the FBI director heading the investigation and is still furious that his own AG recused himself from anything Russia related would suggest otherwise. Had he just kept his cool, he could have at least copped to the classic “I was too stupid/naive to know what was going on in my own organization” excuse beloved by crooked CEOs everywhere. As it is, he’s acting — and tweeting — as if he’s guiltier than hell.
rikyrah
This Is Just How Badly Scott Walker Has Decimated Public Schools in Wisconsin
A new study highlights the dire teacher shortage created by Walker’s anti-union law.
NOV. 20, 2017 6:00 AM
burnspbesq
@rikyrah:
That Forbes article almost certainly understates how bad the bills are.
laura
@satby: Yes, and we’re awaiting the details. Was it the Office Manager?
rikyrah
@Jeffro:
I will remind folks of the $ 50 million AT LEAST leftover from the Inauguration.
He has that $50 million for legal funds, and he was still phucking greedy – having the RNC pay his and Jr’s legal bills.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Welp, looks like we have another Franken accusation over at Huffpo.
Aleta
@Chet: “for a weekend of
Christmas magiccaptive fundraisers. (Additional fees and service charges may apply.)”different-church-lady
@Cheryl Rofer: This is really really amazing: he got a bunch of football fans to pick him over the NFL, he got a bunch of southern voters to side with him over child molestation, and now he’s got Jesus freaks picking him over Jesus.
Gelfling 545
@Amir Khalid: Well, to be fair, a lot of Christians have been ignoring the teachings of Jesus for quite some time without seeming to feel it’s a big deal.
Citizen Alan
@OzarkHillbilly:
It’s like these people have never heard of Mammon.
Citizen Alan
@Kay:
Yes, but do give him a little credit. He did not personally shoot Medgar Evans. Therefore he’s not really a racist.
Citizen Alan
@gene108:
Nope. Remember that staff member for Bay Buchanan who got arrested for yelling the n-word at a black woman while he was in the process of physically assaulting her? Buchanan described accusations of his racism as “a high-tech lynching.”
Citizen Alan
@different-church-lady:
That’s not surprising at all to me. If there is any validity at all to Christianity, on Judgement Day Jesus Christ will tell the majority of Evangelical Christians to their faces that he never knew them and then he will send them to hell. In my opinion, the New Testament is absolutely clear on what makes someone a good Christian and what makes someone a future permanent resident of a lake of fire. And there ain’t nothing in there about voting a straight Republican ticket being the thing that gets you into heaven. It’s all about what you do to the least of these, and Republicans think the least of these should be ground up into a fine powder.
TenguPhule
@Cheryl Rofer: Whelp, so much for co-existence.
Burn em all, its the only way to be sure.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Forever Kay, or until Village gets his way with the tumbrels. Whichever comes first.
TenguPhule
@PaulWartenberg: Sake. Hot Sake.
Very little taste but feels good going down.
OzarkHillbilly
@J R in WV: I have a 40 yr old Model 700 (.30-06). Very good and accurate rifle, and safe too. I wonder what they changed in the trigger. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!)
PaulWartenberg
@Cheryl Rofer:
I’ve confirmed it since my first posting, so yes indeed. it is official. the Age of trumpian assholes has driven me to drink.
As a complete newb when it comes to getting drunk, should I start with hard cider and work my way up to whiskey? Is there a chart that shows which drinks are harder than others?
Death Panel Truck
@Immanentize: “I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!” — Ringo
J R in WV
@Patricia Kayden:
@OzarkHillbilly:
These guys were buying ancient cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia, Babylon as mentioned in their bible. They were shipped to America in crates marked “ceramic tile” which was true as far as it goes. Basically bought from tomb robbers and ISIS – real terrorists – to support their war against western culture.
They got caught, and wound up forfeiting 5,500 artifacts looted from Iraq, and IIRC paying $3,000,000 in fines. If you Google just “Bible Museum” you get lots of hits (1.4 million) which are quite positive and complementary. If you Google “Bible Museum and stolen artifacts” you get 1.28 million hits with more accurate data.
What they think lists of harvests and amounts of produce owed to local government has to do with their bible I cannot tell, but that’s what most cuneiform tablets were, bookkeeping taxes and tithes, crops raised and harvested, inventory of beer, etc.
Very few regarding Jews captured into Babylonian slavery until their Lord G-d set them free. Besides, all that is the Old Testament, should be irrelevant to Christians who believe in the story of Christ, right? Those artifacts are all in museums, inventoried and recorded, hard for the Bible Hobby folks to steal!
J R in WV
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, I guess it is safe, until it goes off without a trigger pull. Maybe never, maybe the next time you load it. I’m in the market for a deer rifle, thinking about a Ruger Mini-30 after seeing one at the same Rod and Gun shop. Then I asked about used .30 caliber rifles and they showed me the used Remington 700. Here’s the CBS story…