By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor
Another week another overture. This one is just too fun to resist. Orpheus in the Underworld.
Enjoy the music, enjoy the football games, but mostly enjoy your day!?
More Posts by Jace
User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor
Another week another overture. This one is just too fun to resist. Orpheus in the Underworld.
Enjoy the music, enjoy the football games, but mostly enjoy your day!?
More Posts by Jace
ahh, jace, yes these times politically are truly, as wiki says about Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers, an
opéra bouffe ….
The operetta is an irreverent parody and scathing satire on Gluck and his Orfeo ed Euridice and culminates in the risqué Galop infernal (“Infernal Galop“) that shocked some in the audience at the premiere. Other targets of satire, as would become typical in Offenbach’s burlesques, are the stilted performances of classical drama at the Comédie-Française and the scandals in society and politics of the Second French Empire.
How are you feeling Jace? Thank you for the music. I see the ‘trail of tissues’ this morning, to all who are sick — hydrate. We are big bags of water and flushing the system helps your immune system.
the wrap wraps it up: ‘SNL’: Jessica Chastain Hosts Trump-Inspired Game Show ‘What Even Matters Anymore?’ (Video)
Chastain is really upset that none of the incredibly scandalous stories that come out about Donald Trump seem to be enough to bring him down
Jessica Chastain predictably killed it as this week’s “SNL” host, and her best sketch was probably the one in which she hosted a game show geared toward venting her frustrations about the current U.S. president.
“Hey folks, welcome to ‘What Even Matters Anymore?’ the show where I tell you something our president did or said, and you have tell me: does it even matter anymore?” Chastain said as she introduced the game show.
Here’s an example of one of the questions on this show:
“The president has an extramarital affair with a porn star right after his wife gives birth to his son, then he pays the porn star to shut up! Does it even matter to, say, is evangelical base?”
“SNL” cast member Kenan Thompson, playing one of the contestants, chimed in with a response: “To evangelicals, of course it matters. It’s against everything that they stand for.”
Europe readies riposte to Trump’s ‘America First’ push in Davos
trump, the bull in the china shop, ‘punches back’ and the Europeans responds with a classy parry.
With the dotard? My vocabulary in growing. I figure most writers are trying to confound trump with big words, seldom used words. All making a comeback under the idiot-moron-imbecile. Long live the thesaurus…that old dinosaur of words by any other name.
a good sunday morn to you, bw,
a good flushing of the system is indeed what we need right now at the white hole….uh, house.
Here we are just over thirty hours into the shutdown. The only interesting issue to come out of the mess is that McConnell would not allow a vote on a Mccaskill bill to pay the military while the shutdown is happening. The new batch of kimchi is doing nicely. It will be ready in a week or so. Did not get a lid down tight and the kitchen was fragrant this morning.
Twitter has all sorts of stuff on it, some nice like the #TheGoldenRatio4 which are four plus one golden labs. All I can think of is large bags of dog food. I had a golden lab and she could eat.
Current betting is showing doubts the shutdown will last the entire week. A bunch of optimists there.
Current betting is the shutdown will not last the week. A bunch of optimists there.
I sure hope so this coming november
cnn; Here are the signs of the Women’s March
Although schumer is not the young, surfing jackass I would want to lead the ride on the blue wave? I believe this shutdown is a deliberate attempt by repugs to stop the blue wave before it grows into a tsunami. But, schumer’s line that trump is like ‘negotiating with jello?’ Getting good play and I received two emails from friends telling me they liked that phrase. I am not a schumer fan and he lost me when he did a vid with his staff mocking trump’s brown noser meeting. He should stick to politics, not humor. But, some like him to strike back in that way. Whatever works.
The dems needs to become more fiscally cognizant of the shutdown. Blame the repugs for adding to the deficit and they can get out of the stalemate by helping the other side of the house whose paychecks depend on the government.
This is the way the WH comment line is responding
Imagine if any other President had authorized this garbage.
keith schiller was quite the pimp. The Stormy diary of golf and foreplay (trump watching tv in jammie pants)? Details the pattern and style of schiller as the arranger...just like in moscow during the famous wee-wee leaks party (thank you for the SNL vid of Moscow Mueller, patd).
from the link —
Two of the sources said the bodyguard, Keith Schiller, viewed the offer as a joke, and immediately responded, “We don’t do that type of stuff.”
Hah! (remembering Patsi)
I guess when schiller finally departed from the WH? nikki haley made her way through the backdoor of the oval office and onto AF1? She continues to be the mysterious woman of the alleged affair with trump. Her husband and children must be mortified.
Jace, Hope you are feeling better. Thank you for the wonderful addition to every Sunday.
For those who have never seen it, you might enjoy trying to find another version of the story set in Rio de Janeiro: 1959’s Black Orpheus
The theme from the film that was then turned into a popular song “A Day In The Life of a Fool”
bw, that wrap link ended with a bit of humor…not that the bar is so high or that any trump-perps would recognize smart if they saw it:
Wolff cited one “senior Trumper” who said the problem with Trump mentoring Haley “is that she is so much smarter than him.”
vanity fair:
Mueller’s Probe Is Dangerously Close to a Republican Red Line
The special prosecutor has reportedly ensnared the N.R.A.
…
The revelation that the special prosecutor might target the gun lobby, arguably the most influential and sacrosanct faction of the Republican Party, could embolden G.O.P. lawmakers to bring a swift end to the Trump-Russia probe and hasten a Mueller ouster.
jace – That was surprising, based on the title. Really liked it. Hope you’re doing well.
Melania, file for divorce already.
NRA has jumped the shark along with the GOP.
mueller ain’t afeared……time for some reining in, and some kicking around of the asses… ..else what does justice even mean?
I wonder what Melanoma’s pre nup looks like
My cat is smarter than SFB. My iron skillet is too. The thought of Haley as a fill in for a porn star makes it very difficult to keep breakfast down. She is smart enough to know that a porn star was worth $130K, not enough to retire on, so wearing out the Forbes on SFB would not be worth the risk of STD.
Don’t see it as Nikki Haley, although that would be astounding in itself…….I think he refers to the much more obvious Hicks.
I saw 2 paragraphs which could qualify as the one to which Wolff referred……one about Hicks, one about Haley. She couldn’t possibly be enamoured and would just have too much to lose by such an affair.
Scuttlebutt out of Albany is that Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul may be considering taking on Congressman Chris Collins ( again.) I’ve stated before I hope the Democratic powers that be realize what a gem she is. She has appeal, open friendliness & is as smart as they come. Am hoping her star shines brightly & broadly.
She came up under the tutelage of Daniel Patrick Moynihan. How missed he is – his influence a positive force.
Overseas troops won’t be able to watch football playoffs today due to the shutdown
I could see that getting the shutdown negotiations rolling more than anything else. Otherwise – we could see Trump giving a State of the Union address Jan. 30 during a shutdown!
Mr. President, why do you hate our troops?
sjwny, your Kathy sounds pretty good
finger lakes times:
State Lt.. Gov. Kathy Hochul noted the federal government shutdown that occurred at midnight Friday.
“Do you think this would happen if women were running the country?’’ she asked, to which the crowd yelled “No.’’
ny times:
One year to the day after taking office with vows to bring the dysfunction of Washington to heel, President Trump on Saturday found himself thrust into the most perennial of political crises, bitterly casting blame on Democrats for a government shutdown he said they had orchestrated to mar the anniversary.
Mr. Trump had planned to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., celebrating his first year in office at a soiree with friends and supporters. Instead, he remained out of sight in the White House, where he stewed about an impasse he had been unable to prevent, according to people close to him, and held a feverish round of conversations with Republican leaders in search of a resolution.
[….]
In his morning Twitter burst, Mr. Trump said Democrats were prioritizing “illegal immigrants” over American citizens and military personnel, and argued that the only solution to end the dysfunction was to defeat the party in this year’s midterm congressional elections.
“Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border,” the president said on Twitter. “They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!”
In fact, it was Mr. Trump who opted not to pursue a potential deal that he and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Senate Democrat, had hashed out over lunch at the White House on Friday. The proposal would have kept the government open, funded a border wall and extended legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, while including disaster aid funds and money for a federal children’s health insurance program. Mr. Kelly later called Mr. Schumer to say the agreement lacked sufficient immigration restrictions.
While Mr. Schumer said shortly after the government shut down that “in my heart, I thought we might have a deal tonight,” White House officials argued that he had drastically overstated the progress made during the lunch.
On Saturday, though, Mr. Schumer said that even members of the president’s party had by now recognized that Mr. Trump was ill equipped to strike a political compromise.
“What’s even more frustrating than President Trump’s intransigence is the way he seems amenable to these compromises before completely switching positions and backing off,” he said on the Senate floor. “Negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O.”
The remark echoed one made by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, at a hearing this past week, in which he said there were “two Trumps,” one who was open to a bipartisan immigration deal and one who was not.
[…]
One senior administration official, who asked for anonymity to discuss private conversations, described an inexperienced president who genuinely wanted to reach a deal with Mr. Schumer when he called the Democratic leader to the White House on Friday. But Mr. Trump had not determined how it would play out or mapped out a strategy with Republican leaders, the official said, or considered how the politics of a shutdown might unravel.
After Mr. Schumer departed, Mr. Trump met at the White House with Representatives Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Raúl Labrador of Idaho, members of the conservative Freedom Caucus who insist that any DACA measure include steeper immigration restrictions than the president has demanded.
[….continues…]
repeating for emphasis from above nyt:
In fact, it was Mr. Trump who opted not to pursue a potential deal that he and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Senate Democrat, had hashed out over lunch at the White House on Friday. The proposal would have kept the government open, funded a border wall and extended legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, while including disaster aid funds and money for a federal children’s health insurance program. Mr. Kelly later called Mr. Schumer to say the agreement lacked sufficient immigration restrictions.
🙂
BiD… hope you feel better soon.
daveb… I saw on some morning show on the tv at a local Dunkin Donuts that the afn feed for the footballs games has been restored to our overseas troops. Go Patriots!
BlueB… hell… the rocks in my yard are smarter than SFB!
Thanks once again, Jace.
and did I mention…. Go Patriots!
Go, Pats! Go, Vikings!
Schumer came real close to calling him “Jelly”…….a common derisive nick-name in the south.
Jace
In the hazy distant past, a friend and her husband used to wake each other up, from afternoon naps, by playing music like this. I tried it this morning with Mr. C and he was not amused. He thought he would just go back to sleep but no! I can’t can can much above ankle height but we did have a good time.
I have a soft spot for the Vikings because of X-R but I spent some time in Philadelphia and the iggles and their fans make them hard to resist.
No offense to RR, but go Jaguars
Once again, Jace, my hearty thanks!
And, speaking of heart, there’s no way in hell that Nikki would debase herself and her marriage.
I hope the games are as exciting as last week….the Vikings’ win was amazing.
Nikki already went thru that scene when running for Governor of sc…..was accused of an alleged affair with another state political figure.
I haven’t watched a pro game all year–no point with my Browns having an unblemished record. Right now I’m watching women’s basketball with my Gamecocks going against Kentucky. ESPNU. We have season tickets for the past several years.
Go Jaguars! I’ll be rooting for Orlando boy Bortles today. (Gotta love a football team with a swimming pool.)
patd,
Lieutenant Governor Hochul has balls, which is something the Democrats sorely need. Seriously, I will support her in any capacity because I have confidence in her strengths & intelligence. She is a voter friendly Leader.
Andrew Cuomo is not voter friendly & is a first class a-hole. I say this as a citizen of the great state of New York who has lived here all my life.
Democrats, vote Hochul nationally & keep Cuomo local where his damage can be limited. Thanks.
Am I the only one on the Trail who doesn’t like or watch or care about football? 😉
To all who do, Good Luck with your teams.
I predict whomever scores the most overall points will win. Unless the teams are in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or Michigan.
Doing a Lucretia Garfield avatar in honor of the ladies, just because.
Democratic candidates’ dependence, at all levels, on ActBlue campaign management software is turning genuine, personalized outreach into pandering in an effort to grow money generating contributor lists for National at the expense of meaningful support for the actual candidate. I have received up to 40 solicitations in a single day with ActBlue’s finger prints on them–they are all on my spam list now including the good individuals who aren’t perceptive enough to realize that something is wrong.
I have no use for football…….I don’t mind playing football, but have no desire to watch it being played except maybe by the kids down at the school…….but faaaaar be it from me to rain on the parade….lol
flatus, has anyone yet developed a scam buster to spot russian attempts at infiltrating the outreach efforts? need alarms, gong show gongs, red alert flashing lights and a virtual hook dragging them off the screen.
via msn
When asked what would happen if President Donald Trump were to fire her, McKinnon’s Mueller answered, “It’s a little late for that. Cat’s out of the bag and the bags full of, how do I say this, Michael Flynn’s wiretaps.” Jost seemed intrigue by the concept of wiretapping the former national security advisor, but McKinnon couldn’t verbally confirm the statement — she could however affirmatively pound on the desk when asked.
“You got to understand,” McKinnon told Jost, “the guy didn’t leave me a trail of breadcrumbs here, he left me full loaves.”
excerpt from abcnews:
“I think the wall is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money, and it’s to build a monument to stupidity and it’s just idiotic,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday.
“Having said that, if that’s what it’s going to take in order to put 800,000 young men and women in the country … in a safe place and put them on course to full integration in our society… I say pay it,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez, who is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, likened the president’s demands for a border wall to holding the “Dreamers” hostage. And, he predicted that Republicans would suffer in the midterm elections as a result.
“Next November, we’ll deal with the ‘kidnappers’ at the election, at the polls,” Gutierrez said.
Pat
I simply don’t know. My gut feeling is, they are oblivious to the whole concept of party building much less subterfuge.
Well, our SC women did it to KY 81-64. The game was in honor of the legendary TN coach Pat Summit.
I hate it when an administration uses a backdrop of active duty military people to propagandize their political messages. Keep our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines out of partisan politics.
Now, if Trumpie wants to resurrect the Herald Trumpeters, that’s different.
Last week’s giant pot bust in TX didn’t come over the border from Mexico, as usual. This time, it came from California.
It’s a shame that recreational is being legalized in states, here and there. It should be medicinal only. Truly medicinal, not OK’d by some BS “doctor.”
I know I’m in the minority here, again, but it’s such a waste, plus, if smoking it’s super-unhealthy. Smoke inhalation is not good for your lungs, no matter what you are burning.
If pot is a gateway drug it better hurry up…..Willie Nelson is 84
Jaguars ahead.
“Sacksonville” Jaguars humiliating Brady
“Smoke inhalation is not good for your lungs, no matter what you are burning.”
bid, amen to that and yes there should be real effort to research and use all plainly folk remedy plants for medicinal purposes. who knows what treasures are out there that can cure or at least ease the pain of major illness.
that’s a lotta quid for some quo there, paul
HuffPost.
Just days after the House passed its version of the federal tax law slashing corporate tax rates, House Speaker Paul Ryan collected nearly $500,000 in campaign contributions from billionaire energy mogul Charles Koch and his wife, according to a recent campaign donor report.
Koch and his brother David spent millions of dollars to get the tax law passed and are spending millions more in a public relations campaign in an attempt to boost support for the law, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Koch Industries, one of the largest private corporations in the nation, operates refineries and manufactures a variety of products. The new tax law — which slices corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 21 percent, slashes estate taxes and includes a special deduction for oil and gas investors — is expected to save the Koch brothers and their businesses billions of dollars in taxes.
Just 13 days after the tax law was passed, Charles Koch and his wife, Elizabeth, donated nearly $500,000 to Ryan’s joint fundraising committee, according to a campaign finance report filed Thursday.
Five other donors, including billionaire businessmen Jeffery Hildebrand and William Parfet, each contributed $100,000 in the last quarter of 2017, according to the records.
“It looks like House Speaker Ryan is quickly being rewarded for passing this legislation that overwhelmingly benefits the Kochs and billionaires like them,” Adam Smith, spokesman for campaign finance reform nonprofit Every Voice, told the International Business Times, which first reported the Koch contributions.
The Koch donations were paid into Team Ryan, which raises money for the speaker, the National Republican Congressional Committee and a PAC run by Ryan. On the same day, Charles and Elizabeth Koch also each donated $237,000 to the NRCC.
The Koch brothers, worth an estimated $100 billion together, have become the gorillas of dark money contributions distorting American democracy since the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC lifted campaign contribution restrictions. The brothers are using their massive wealth to push a political agenda that’s the “most hard-line libertarian philosophy” in America, according to Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.
Ryan has indicated that he won’t run again when his term is up this year, Politico reported, though he hasn’t made an official announcement. If he doesn’t run, his contributions would be redirected.
that paul haul from the kochholds should be looked at by the same doj guys retrying the menendez case.
Tobacco is legal. Alcohol is legal. Ergo…..There are no legal grounds to outlaw pot. Period.
Anyone heard from EProf lately?
roasting this duck to celebrate Jags halftime lead
bbronc, looks like lucy is setting up that football again
from the hill
Senate group signals they are near a deal on shutdown
A bipartisan group of roughly 20 senators are signaling they are nearing an agreement to reopen the government.
Multiple senators that were part of the talks stressed that their negotiations are ongoing and still fluid.
edibles
everybody likes to get high
Jags are looking good, but I never count NE out so long as Tom Brady is the ball slinger.
Nice looking duck Poobah. Turkey chili is about to be in the works here.
BTW SNL was brilliant last night.
If the Vikings win tonight, at least I’ll have an easy time picking sides in the Super Bowl with the Pats out of it. If it ends up being Jags/Eagles, I won’t care at all.
hey, flatus, did you see this?
the hill: Duckworth slams Trump: I won’t be lectured on military needs by a ‘five-deferment draft dodger’
Ladda (Tammy) Tammy DuckworthThe Hill’s 12:30 ReportAvalanche of Democratic senators say Franken should resignDems resurface Flynn’s ‘lock her up’ comments after Mueller chargesMORE (D-Ill.) tore into President Trump on the Senate floor Saturday, calling him a “five-deferment draft dodger” and slamming him for his comments toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth
“Does he even know that there are service members who are in harm’s way right now, watching him, looking for their commander in chief to show leadership, rather than [trying] to deflect blame?” Duckworth said. “Or that his own Pentagon says that the short-term funding plans he seems intent on pushing is actually harmful to not just the military, but to our national security?”
“I spent my entire adult life looking out for the well-being, the training, the equipping of the troops for whom I was responsible,” she continued. “Sadly, this is something that the current occupant of the Oval Office does not seem to care to do — and I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.”
“And I have a message for cadet bone spurs: If you cared about our military, you’d stop baiting Kim Jong Un into a war that could put 85,000 American troops, and millions of innocent civilians, in danger.”
Duckworth, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, lost both of her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade shot down the helicopter she was piloting over Iraq in 2004.
Duckworth’s comments come after the federal government shut down Friday at midnight after the Senate failed to pass a short-term funding bill.
Trump has cast blame on the Democrats for the shutdown, tweeting Saturday that they decided to “play shutdown politics.”
[….continues…]
RR – rocks in your yard have bacteria, mold and fungi growing on them, those are smarter than SFB.
Patd – yup. As long as the white supremacists are in power in the WH there will not be a deal. SFB probably would go along with anything (child like brain) but his handlers squash anything that allows people of color in the U.S.
sjwny – I thought football season was over a few weeks ago. I hate when people look at me and think I am into sports. The only sport I enjoy watching, and once I get new knees will get active in, is bicycle racing. I do have favorite teams, but only from location association.
Patd – I have to deal with the GawdDamned (GD) russians (putin ball suckers) all the time. The security programs can pick up what they are doing – that is if people bother to put those in place for protection.
Donald J Trump
Titular Leader of Our Government
I feel better now.
BB, I think she was thinking of the more proactive measures such as the ones monitored from behind the green doors and from within the caves, and the what program?, programs.
Congrats RR, the Pats are awesome
Phew… that was close.
Craig… much respect to Blake Bortles and the Jaguars… they will be a formidable team next season.
Blue Bronc,
The only sport I was ever good at was badminton – honest. Really enjoyed playing it.
As for watching sports, the 1970’s Montreal Canadiens were a thing of beauty on the ice. Unfortunately fighting gets the hype but when a really good skating team with amazing puck handling skills takes the ice it is a totally different game. Les Habs were it. Lafleur, Savard, Robinson, Lapointe, Dryden …. Bunny Larocque! These names bring back happy memories of Saturday nights & thrilling playoffs, especially when the Big Bad Bruins were involved.
He shoots! He scores!
Hey, they did it! I loved the presser Brady did earlier. He refused to talk about the injury. He just didn’t own it, so the negativity was out of his mind.
Out at the farm, before the introduction of electricity and telephones and other new-fangled things, we thought croquet was really neat.
yep RR, sorry to be a sore loser. But seems to me the refs did all they could to help the Patriots. Six of 7 flags against the Jags.
I can’t say the refs swung the game but the Jags couldn’t get an interference call in the second half. That said, … Brady. That about explains it all.
Flatus,
Croquet is still a fun game.
Looks like Minnesota goin down. Where’s the defense we saw last week?
While traditional croquet is fun….extreme croquet is great fun. We live on a hillside so we have crooked croquet.
One of the wineries here has a tournament croquet court. If you go during the week it’s usually open and available -the lawn feels like velvet…I like to play barefoot
Beam me up! Powerful tractor beam to revolutionize the transport ‘wave’ of the future.
Acoustic tractor beams use the power of sound to hold particles in mid-air, and unlike magnetic levitation, they can grab most solids or liquids