Headlines

Barr offers skepticism on Giuliani’s offer of info on Bidens

Amazon wants to depose Trump after losing $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract

We’re all Parasites! Politics dominate Oscars

Crossfire Hurricane: Texts suggest that FBI considered using agent’s connection to Mike Pence aide

Manchin: Trump needs ‘to act like a responsible adult, and he’s not’

Justice Department indicts four members of Chinese military for Equifax hoax

Greta Thunberg gets TV series ...

Sanders: ‘I’m not a Communist,’ Trump doesn’t know the difference

Schumer asks inspectors general to investigate whistleblower retaliation after Vindman firing

Coronavirus updates: WHO says 15% of patients get pneumonia, WeWork closes 100 buildings

More quarantine centers open up at U.S. military bases ...

Florida man arrested for allegedly driving van into GOP test

Headlines

Ex-Trump aide [Nunberg] defies Mueller, risks jail

Dreamers walk to DNC, block doors, call Democrats 'fake allies'

Diplomat whose tip started FBI Russia probe has tie to Clintons ...

Collapse: Oscar ratings crash by double digits

Judge declines to halt part of Trump's anti-sanctuary city policy

[Famous pollster] Nate Silver shoots down Dems taking the House in 2018

As yellow fever spreads, Brazil struggles to vaccinate millions ...

Alec Baldwin: Time to rethink Second Amendment

Republicans blitz Trump to head off tariffs

Bruce Orr is the target of another DOJ lawsuit linked to the Trump dossier

Nunberg Trial: Former Trump aide unravels in whirlwind tour ... Meds?

Nortth Korea has expressed a willingness to talk about denuclearization, South Korea says

Headlines

Tariffs on track to be imposed, Trump,officials say

Exit poll shows Italian election is heading for hung parliament

Florida Senate rejects ban on assault weapons, votes to arm teachers ...

Guatemala to follow Trump's lead and move embassy to Jerusalem in May

GOP fears midterm backlash from Trump tariffs

Trump's tariffs could emerge as a black swan for stocks, one long-time Wall Street bull warms

Twitter suspends user for calling Maxine Waters 'crazy old lying lunatic in bad wig' ...

Oscars: Celebrities push gun control surrounded by a wall of 500 armed officers

Germany's Social Democrats endorse grand coalition

China says it does not want a trade war with the US

Play titled 'Kill Climate Deniers' launches its theatrical run ...

Florida billboard: 'NRA is a tortoise organization'

Headlines

Democrats fear California crack-up

Not one, but four Broward deputies hid outside during Stoneman Douglas shooting

China unveils hypersonic jet -- ANYWHERE in 3 hours ...

More big corps sever ties with the NRA

Trump directs Pentagon to schedule military parade for Veterans Day

Public employees challenge mandatory union fees at Supreme Court

[Justin] Trudeau's India trip disaster ...

Mueller probe: Bates pleads guilty to process crime

U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to open in May, state Department announces

NRA slams Sheriff Israel for failing to stop school shooter

Oscars producers: Tone down politics! Viewers fleeing ...

Princeton professor: 'Toxic masculinity' at heart of the gun culture

Picture for Today

From Powerline Blog

See no evil, hear no evil, not sure about speak no evil ...

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites. 

Guess which ones came from Politico?

'Repair Kit' for heart offers hope to millions ...

Divided Republicans look to Trump to lead on tax reform

Oscars: Dozen-plus celebs bash Trump

Sean Spicer targets staff in leaks crack down

Palestinian official: 'I pray to Allah that Iran will produce 1,000 nuclear bombs'

Schumer puts GOP Intel [Committee] Chairman on notice

Revolutionary Guard Commander admits [Iran] terror cells ready to strike in America

Lawyer: Justice Dept. to no longer contest Texas voter ID law

Trump to governors: We're giving power back to the states ...

Democrats invite undocumented immigrants to Trump's speech [to Congress]

Kim Jong Un guns down five senior officials with anti-aircraft gun

Former store owner jailed for $2.8 million food stamp fraud

Kindanagrams

I've just invented a new form of anagram, kindanagram, wherein one can use the same letter multiple times. Here are my offerings for tonight's circle-yank ceremonies:

OSCARS  --  ORCA'S ASS

STREEP  -- PEE REST

CLOONEY  --  ONCE ONLY

GIBSON  --  BIG BONGS

AFFLECK  --  FECKLE FLACK  (look it up)

PORTMAN  --  TAMPON PORN

HOLLYWOOD  --  WHY WOO DOLLY

[Michael] MOORE. --  MOO MORE

DAMON  -- DAMN NOMAD

KIMMEL  ---  ME MILK ELK

This is fun!

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

NKorea mocks China ...

[UMich] Food cart serving free meals only for 'black people' ...

Broadcaster Alan Colmes dead ...

Chicagoland: 7 killed in deadliest day this year ...

Social Security Admin. gave $1 billion to those without SSN #s

Cuomo won't endorse any candidate for DNC

Economist: 41% of white working class men are not working

Paglia: Grandeur of Hollywood Oscars is gone ...

Ted Cruz predicts Supreme Court seat will open up this summer

Standing ovations for Bannon at CPAC

Swedish politician proposes paid sex breaks for workers

Trickle of refugees fleeing to Canada could become a deluge

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Women getting freckles tattooed on faces ...

Poll: 80% oppose sanctuary cities

Americans buy homes at fastest pace in decade ...

China slams U.S. deployment of aircraft carrier to the South China Sea

'Do your job,' Republican-friendly crowd demands of McConnell

Sen. Gillibrand: Predcts Gorsuch will be confirmed [for Supreme Court]

Mika slips: Controlling what people think 'is our job' ...

George Will: Conservatives will turn on Trump 'by mid summer'

Iran to give USA 'slap in face'

Snap: Maxine Waters, Trump's cabinet: 'bunch of scumbags' ...

Oscars poll: 60% can't name one Best Picture nominee ...

Trump lifts trans bathroom rules ...

Swag Bags

The plutocratic glitterati attending the Oscar ceremonies this weekend are given gratis a bunch of goodies, a swag bag, mostly for promotional reasons. Can we call this "gilding the lily?" The monetary value of these gifts can exceed six figures ... certainly to most of us not so blessed with big screen abilities ... a green-eyed monster temptation, The details of what is in these swag bags comes from: A CNBC Story. And here is a sampling of the contents:

An Oomi "intelligent home" starter kit - $599

A CPR Anytime kit - $38.50

Three nights at the Lost Coast Ranch in California – price on application

A customized set of Crayola crayons - $24.99

A limited edition Elvie pelvic floor exercise tracker - $199

A wooden Positive Cube box, filled with cards of positive quotes - $40

A jar of pecans from the National Pecan Shellers Association – prices vary

A solid gold and diamond-encrusted OM bracelet from Yoga Jewelz - $375

A pack of 10 sweat-absorbing Dandi Patches - $7.99

A week at the Golden Door spa - around $8,850

Five nights at the Kōloa Landing in Hawaii  - around $5,750

Three nights at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento - $2,100

Three nights at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lago Como - around $4,200

If I had to do it over when I was starting out, I think I would have tried out as the fourth Stooge.

"Them that has, gets!"

Food Fight

Civility is just about dead. Almost every issue is a food fight these days. The Oscars. Both party's nomination processes. The replacement for Scalia on the Supreme Court. The immigration issue. Free speech on college campuses. Black Lives Matter activism. The climate.

What is the genesis of all this mud slinging? If one starts connecting the dots back from Donald Trump's brand of playground shenanigans, it is not too surprising that one ends up on the steps of the White House. The public discourse has steadily gone down hill since the 2008 elections when Obummer (yes, I have also been sucked into this base rhetoric) repeatedly gave a not-too-disguised middle finger to his political foes. Or, even further back, when Bill Clinton was using a cigar as a sex toy.

Is there any stopping this downward spiral? My guess is that it must run its evil course. Eventually the public will get disgusted with all this banality ... most likely, if Hellery gets elected, it will be when we choose the next president in 2020. Then, once again we will have to fumigate 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Grunge

Leslie and Leigh Keno

The Keno brothers (you know, the twin twits on The Antique Roadshow) have helped propagated the notion that grunge is good. If a beautiful Philidelphia Chippendale chair has been refinished or had its tattered seat cover replaced, it's value plummets by 90%. As long as there is no restoration on an antique of any type, according to these taste setters, it is far more valuable. Why? That's just the way it is ... because these guardians of public taste say so ... and the fact that collector lemmings follow such pronouncements at auctions and estate sales, reinforces such nonsense. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars ... or even millions of dollars of profit in the fine art world ... has a contra-logical way of influencing people's taste. Of couse, fifty years from now things could well be reversed. Following fads is a dangerous way of long-term investing.

Witness how expensive a Renoir or Andy Warhol paintings are today ...

(By the bye ... the same twisted logic can be applied to who or what wins awards ... like at the Oscars.)

Afterward: There is a certain irony in following the advice of these taste-arbiter twins ... by the name of Keno ... in that you are really taking a gamble.

Mexican Foreign Aid

This is Academy Awards weekend ... wherein Oscar, the golden statue that thespians aspire to most, has just appeared on Hollywood Boulevard … doing what actors and actresses there do best … snorting two lines of cocaine … see: Hollywood Reporter Story. This is a right-on social commentary by the street artist, Plastic Jesus, about the culture of Glitter Town and how magnanimous the people there are to our neighbors to the south, Mexico. The residents of Hollywood and its surrounds send billions of dollars of foreign aid every year to this country in the form of payment-in-kind for this white-powder elixir … see: The Wages of Sin.

Matter of fact, it is surprising that the organizers of Oscar-night … you know that orgy of self-aggrandizement … do not pack those traditional multi-thousand-dollar goodie bags proffered at these festivities … with at least a 10 cent bag of this omnipresent staff of life.

Yet these good-looking and well-appointed frauds there feel it is their moral obligation to point out cinematically any slight failings in the rest of American society.

Isn't that special?

Afterward: For those of you who doubt my reference to billions of dollars of drug money going to Mexico ... here is a picture of $22 billion siezed at a Mexican drug lord's estate. And to read the details of same, please go to: Makes the World Go Around. Muse on this while you watch the Oscars on Sunday night. For this very reason, I, for one, won't be a viewer.

After Afterward: I came across a breakdown of what is in the $125,000 goodie bag (swag bag) of the Oscar nominees and it does not contain even one ounce of cocaine (but it does include a vibrator) ... see:Variety Story.

Predictions for 2011

Every New Year's Eve a group of friends get together to feast, imbibe, tell stories, Yankee swap, and make predictions for the coming year.  Here are some of the more interesting predictions for 2011:

• Facebook takes second place to a glossier social networking site

• The Euro will decline by at least 20%

• Serious civil unrest in Venezuela

• North Korea will suffer an economic collapse

• Oprah decides to run for public office

• Kate Middleton will be 2 months pregnant at her royal wedding

• Gracie Mansion (NYC) will be held by terrorists for 12 hours: 5 killed, 7 wounded

• True Grit will win Best Movie Oscar

• Prominent Wall St. firm will collapse amidst political scandal

• Suze Orman will file for bankruptcy

• Patriots win League championship and then Superbowl by 14+

• Obama proves he was born in the U.S.A.

• Glenn Beck retires after scandals hound him

• Bottled water co. has massive recall -- contaminated by plastic bottles

• Supreme Court Justice is caught in illegal activities, steps down

• Two major religions talk merger

• A plot to disrupt the power gird is foiled, but only after 1/4 of the country goes dark

• Tiger Woods declares he is gay

• Randy Moss begs to come back to Patriots and is welcomed home

• Unemployment will fall below 8%

• Gold prices will stall but silver prices will go up by 20%+

• More global warming data found to be fudged

• Massive student-loan meltdown -- Uncle Sam foots the bill

• One state will declare bankruptcy

• Colin Firth wins Best Actor Oscar for The King’s Speech