Roundup: McCabe; Cohen
Lately there have been so many big news stories each day that there’s no way a single person can write about all of them. So I’m going to weasel out of this one (for now, anyway) and refer you to … Continue reading →
neo
Red lines in Syria: if Russia really wanted Trump to win the election…
…they certainly didn’t get their money’s worth: U.S. and allied warships and warplanes in the eastern Mediterranean launched a fiery barrage of missiles at multiple military targets in Syria to punish the Russian-backed government in Damascus for its alleged use … Continue reading →
Doing a 180 on NIMBY in LA and Seattle
The city of Los Angeles is hoping that some people will say YIMBY—“Yes! In my backyard!”—to the homeless, for pay: In August, the county Board of Supervisors approved a $550,000 pilot program to build a handful of small backyard houses, … Continue reading →
Trump pardons Scooter Libby
Here’s the story. I bet Trump has gained increased sympathy in recent months for those caught up in a politically vindictive net and charged with “process” crimes. Libby was certainly one of them. Libby’s sentence had already been commuted by … Continue reading →
Why does hip-hop music get a pass from the #MeToo movement?
Good question, I think. And it’s one being asked by Gabriel Hays in this article: For the week of March 31st, 2018, eight of the top 20 songs in Billboard’s “R&B/Hip-Hop” chart were blatantly sexist and misogynistic. In these songs, … Continue reading →
Taking stock of Never-Trumpers
Two fascinating pieces came out recently about the phenomenon of the Never-Trumpers, now that it’s a year-plus into the Trump presidency. The first is David Brooks’ (yes, he of the crease in Obama’s pants) essay in the Times, entitled “The … Continue reading →
Goodbye to Necco wafers?
Say it isn’t so: Word that the country’s oldest continuously operating candy company might shut down has people suddenly hoarding Necco Wafers… Candy stores and consumers are trying to get their hands on whichever Necco products they can get, the … Continue reading →
Mueller and Bulger
I had forgotten (or never knew) the Mueller connection to the Whitey Bulger case, but Alan Dershowitz hasn’t forgotten. For those of you non-New Englanders, here’s the gist of it: Look, [Mueller’s] the guy who kept four innocent people in … Continue reading →
Zuckerberg on Facebook bias
I didn’t watch Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony yesterday, and I didn’t read a transcript of it, either. But I did read several summaries, and I’m in agreement with what John Hinderaker writes here: Zuckerberg responded by acknowledging”“remarkably, I think”“that Silicon Valley … Continue reading →
“More than half your body is not human”
That’s the clickbait headline for this BBC article. I thought it might be something about Neanderthal genes, or perhaps mitochondria. But no; it’s about bacteria, mainly gut bacteria: Human cells make up only 43% of the body’s total cell count. … Continue reading →
Paul Ryan won’t be running in 2018
Does this news make you happy? It doesn’t make me happy. Ryan is a moderate Republican. A lot of people on the right can’t stand moderate Republicans and want them out, either believing they can be replaced by conservatives, or … Continue reading →
Obama’s illegal campaign contributions vs. Trump’s
From Andrew C. McCarthy, a little recent history: Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign was caught hiding the sources of 1,300 large campaign donations, aggregating to nearly $2 million. The campaign also accepted more than $1.3 million in unlawful donations from … Continue reading →