Yeah, what Jared and Kayleigh say here are terrible, but what really annoys me about this clip is the shock that Woodward tries to conjure up about Trump actually thinking something so horrible. I mean, Woodward literally wrote a book full of the awfulness that is Trump two years ago and he still acts like he just met the man a few weeks ago? The media has been doing this all along. Trump says or does the worst thing imaginable, the media is shocked that he would say/do something this terrible, and then the cycle repeats the very next day.
“A Shakespearean tragedy unto itself,” says Bob Woodward, of Jared Kushner recounting an Oval Office conversation in which he said Kayleigh McEnany said Pres. Trump might be better off politically because of Covid-19.
This is a must read article discussing how Covid is spread in different situations using different measures (ie masks, ventilation) with some amazing visualizations.
Jon Ossoff murdered a guy on the teevee last night.
EXCLUSIVE: A man who paid $150 for a “full-contact experience” with a black leopard says he had to undergo multiple surgeries after he was mauled by the animal in an enclosure behind a Davie home https://t.co/x0zlA4G9Ne
A baseball player finds out that he has tested positive in the middle of a game and is moved away from the other players for a few innings before the team wins and Mr. Covid then decides he’s going to celebrate with the rest of the team despite carrying a terribly contagious disease. He tweeted that he feels fine though!!!! So nothing to worry about. It’s not as if asymptomatic carriers are the biggest spreaders or anything.
We have had half a million new cases of Covid this past week alone:
Breaking News: The U.S. reported a record of more than 500,000 cases this past week, as the coronavirus raged across the country. https://t.co/0w9ieU9qf4
Trump supporters left out in the cold (literally) when a Trump rally fails to have enough buses to bring supporters back to their cars after Trump left. People had to walk several miles to their cars in the cold while others were taken to the hospital.
Wishing these people a safe and speedy recovery from hypothermia, exhaustion, and metaphor https://t.co/1dFZvOYa1B
And Trump seems to be perfectly fine with people who attempt to kidnap a governor:
Trump on a kidnapping plot against a governor: “I mean, we’ll have to see if it’s a problem. Right? People are entitled to say maybe it was a problem, maybe it wasn’t.” https://t.co/0YboF8uGK4
It’s almost over. Eight days remain. So many emotions are running through me about this. First of all, part of me is just glad that all of the craziness that happens as a precursor to the election is just about over. I hate how long the Presidential election cycle is and how it is covered in the media. It’s just excruciatingly neverending. And it’s even worse when you factor in the absolutely worst person in the world who has proved again and again how much disdain he has for everybody whose name isn’t Donald Trump. I know it’s a cliche to say that this election is the most important one of our lives, but given how Trump and his crew of racist sycophants have responded to the pandemic, or more accurately, how they haven’t responded to it, I don’t see how this isn’t the most important election of our lifetime. The current numbers are the worst we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic and Trump and his ilk have completely given up at even trying to pretend that they care.
So what can we do in the home stretch? Firstly, vote! I voted two weeks ago. I received a vote-by-mail ballot and put it in the ballot drop box at my town hall. (Easier for me to do that than trusting the mail at this point) But there are many options this year. Please, do early voting if you can. And if you can’t do it early, vote on November 3rd. Don’t let your vote go to waste this year. There is just too much at stake.
Ok, you voted. EXCELLENT! Now what can we do? Personally, I donated a few extra dollars this past weekend. I donated to Biden/Harris and also donated to Jaime Harrison in South Carolina. I rarely donate to out of state candidates but Lindsey Graham has just been such a snake that seeing his ass booted out of the Senate would be the most fun I could possibly have without waking up with a headache the next morning. I think a lot of people don’t donate money because they feel like they have to donate a lot to make it worth it. But even just a few bucks from a lot of people make a huge difference though. I donated $15 to Harrison. (As a side note, what is annoying about donating is as soon as you do, the next email is them urging you to give more. Dudes, I just gave. At least give me 24 hours before you try bleeding more from me.)
So we donated and voted. Now what? Urge your friends and family to do the same. Or at the very least, get them to vote. So many people just don’t vote because they don’t think they will make a difference.
Use the comments to let us know what you have been doing, or what you intend to do to make a difference as this election cycle winds down.
The 60 Minutes interview with Trump is just a mess. Let’s put it this way, a President of the United States who is in the final weeks of his reelection bid, runs away from an interview on one of the most top rated news shows because he was asked if he could do some tough questions, and took that question as the tough question.
This was Trump’s epic meltdown on 60 Minutes and it was even worse than reported. Trump literally ran away because he didn’t like the questions. pic.twitter.com/48Xu2TiI1o
If we think he’s bad now, he’s going to be so much worse if he gets a 2nd term. VOTE!
But at least he has a big binder that details his healthcare plan. Oh, wait:
President Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, gave us a heavy book that she described as the president’s health care plan. It was filled with executive orders and congressional initiatives, but no comprehensive healthcare plan. https://t.co/Mn6HRAOwHLpic.twitter.com/WmsoRQP2WJ
A grocery store in Dublin has a glass floor that gives shoppers a peek into some history:
Shoppers at a new Lidl store in Dublin will get a unique insight into the city’s medieval past. The remains of an 11th century house are clearly visible beneath a glass section of the floor of the store on Aungier Street in the city centre.
I’ve been a little busy with work projects but mostly have just been tuning out news for the last week or two. And it has been AMAZING. Now that we have under 2 weeks before all hell breaks loose in early November, I guess it’s time to start wading into the cesspool though.
I will be watching the debate tonight, so perhaps I’m not wading so much into the cesspool than diving in headfirst. That’s if there is a debate. Trump has been whining about it all week and now that they have decided to cut the microphones for those who won’t stfu when it’s not their time to speak, I can see Trump doing something stupid like walking off, or going over and grabbing Joe’s microphone. His base would love that.
Rudy Giuliani, who runs a security consulting firm, got caught on film with his hands down his pants in Borat’s new movie coming out tomorrow on Amazon Prime. Rudy says he was just tucking his shirt into his pants. And in his defense, who doesn’t thrust his shirt deep into one’s pants while lying down on a bed with a young woman hovering over you?
So Rudy likes tucking his shirt under his scrotum I guess?
Oh, America….
Just dropped a big investigation with @VICENews:
The U.S. will have almost fewer 21,000 Election Day polling places in 2020 than four years ago.
Breaking News: The parents of 545 migrant children separated at the border by the Trump administration still haven’t been found, court documents show. https://t.co/0MhhBA3ml7
This is my favorite monologue of all time and this is wonderful!
My acting teacher told us to perform a dramatic monologue from any movie and I did mine from Austin Powers and no one noticed. pic.twitter.com/1ZZtIsJdvE
I stayed away from as much news as possible over the weekend. I’m not watching any of the sham hearing on that religious nut they are going to install on the Supreme Court despite their own rules that they wielded for Merrick Garland. At the moment I’m just trying to pace myself until November 3rd, after which I’ll either be completely inconsolable or see a spark of hope. Can you imagine waking up on a random day without having to deal with the narcissist in chief screaming for attention. And he’ll be screaming for attention no matter what happens, but if he is successfully kicked out of office, his wailing will be more easily ignored.
But, I did manage to find something new that probably most of you have heard about but it had slipped beneath my radar:
A little hurt that none of you mentioned this to me, but I forgive you.
Another thing I watched this weekend and enjoyed was the Spanish Netflix film, The Platform, which doesn’t even attempt to disguise the capitalist metaphor but still makes for a compelling film:
The California Republican Party has been placing fraudulent election ballot boxes around churches and schools. For the party that complains nonstop about election fraud, it seems that they really enjoy the frauding part. Hopefully there is some jail time for those responsible for this but I’ve given up hope.
A man attacked reporters doing a segment on masks. The man was so upset that he ended up knocking himself out:
I grabbed my phone to document it and told the man to leave my colleague alone. The man then punched my coworker. We got away, went to a safe location to call our managers and also called police. We’re okay. If you’ve seen this man or know him–please call MNPD. pic.twitter.com/OXtAdbL9lg
One sort of optional thing you might do is to realize that there are six seasons instead of four. The poetry of four seasons is all wrong for this part of the planet, and this may explain why we are so depressed so much of the time. I mean, spring doesn’t feel like spring a lot of the time, and November is all wrong for autumn, and so on.
Here is the truth about the seasons: Spring is May and June. What could be springier than May and June? Summer is July and August. Really hot, right? Autumn is September and October. See the pumpkins? Smell those burning leaves? Next comes the season called Locking. November and December aren’t winter. They’re Locking. Next comes winter, January and February. Boy! Are they ever cold!
What comes next? Not spring. ‘Unlocking’ comes next. What else could cruel March and only slightly less cruel April be? March and April are not spring. They’re Unlocking.
Speaking of President Roid Rage, he had a phone interview with Fox this morning that was even crazier than usual, and apparently that is possible. I really don’t have the time to delve into the garbage this morning so here’s a link if you really want to wade in.
Cynics, I know you get bored of me trying to find new ways of calling Ron DeSantis an idiot but……. he’s done something really fucking dumb again.
I took a little mini-vacation from the news yesterday. I say “mini-vacation” because it was actually only 3 hours. But even the smallest of breaks these days feel like a week at a resort. Then I got a notification that Eddie Van Halen had died, and then Stephen Miller came down with coronavirus and I was back binge scrolling Twitter.
But I think it’s important to get offline when you get a chance. Trump has made this political climate into a burning toxic dump. He is the ultimate narcissist. He has been tweeting nonstop the last day and not one tweet about the 215,000 people who have died from the same disease that he is now infected with, as he walks around the White House, spreading it even more to the staff and Secret Service agents who protect him. So mini breaks are needed from this incessant chaos. And I don’t think there’s going to be much let up from the news anytime soon.
And of course, the Vice Presidential Debate will be on tonight. Lifehacker has a list where you can watch it online. I won’t be blogging this one but I’ll most likely be chirping about it on Twitter so join me there if you are up for it.
RIP Eddie Van Halen. Everybody always talks about Eddie’s guitar playing, and rightfully so. But his song writing was probably even more spectacular. Their early catalog material was just fun. It’s difficult to listen to them without turning the volume up as high as your ears can take it.
The hell is wrong with Republicans. (I know, I keep asking this question but come on.) Brit Hume is saying that Trump should debate Biden even if Trump is still testing positive with coronavirus by the time of the debate.
Brit Hume on Fox News says there should still be a presidential debate even if Trump is contagious: “There’s a real need in this country to get on with life. And presidential and vice-presidential debates are part of that” pic.twitter.com/OZtZeHmeXG
First of all, we know that Trump didn’t abide by the rules last debate and was not tested before the debate and more than likely was on stage with Biden while infected. Trump’s word is garbage about sticking to any rules. The only way I would go along with this was if Trump was in a different building altogether.
The astronomer, Denison Olmsted, was awakened by neighbors on November 13, 1833, and walked into the cold November night to see a sky filled with shooting stars, 72,000 or more per hour. It was the November meteor shower we now call the Leonids, but at the time, no one knew what caused the display or where meteors came from. But because of the number of shooting stars filling the heavens—20 a second—Olmsted saw clearly a pattern that had escaped other astronomers.
“Olmsted realized for the first time that they came from one point, one he first called the radiant,” Littmann says. Astronomers today still use the radiant to name meteor showers: The Leonids take their name from their seeming origin in the constellation Leo, the Lion. And the Perseids seen in early August every summer take their name from their origin in the constellation Perseus.
This is a must read article discussing how Covid is spread in different situations using different measures (ie masks, ventilation) with some amazing visualizations.
