Fractured Definition

Partisan -- an avid devotee of aged Italian cheese

Headlines

Pelosi asks Trump to reschedule SOTU because of shutdown

Theresa May's government survives no-confidence vote after its crushing Brexit defeat

Feds foil 'jihad' plot on White House ...

White House cheers bipartisan meeting with 'Prolem Solvers' caucus

GOP blocks the Senate's rebuke of Trump over Russia sanctions

Amazon is on a hiring spree in India, even as new restrictions on foreign sellers loom

Border ranchers warn: We're finding prayer rugs out here ...

Victims of illegal immigration storm Nancy Pelosi's office

Greek prime minister wins vote of confidence

US pursuing criminal charges against Huawei for alleged theft of trade secrets: WSJ

ISIS claims suicide attack in Syria ... 4 American soldiers killed ...

Report: Pakistan releases senior Taliban jihadi days after his arrest

Headlines

Pelosi gets revenge on one of the Dem rebels

CEO of world's largest money manager: There would be a bullish surge on a US-China trade deal

Pelosi asks president to reschedule State of Union address ...

Historian: Queen should suspend Parliament to stop anti-Brexit plots

Gilliibrand's 2020 path: 'Women are pissed off and they're fired up'

Mortgage applications surge 13.5% as borrows rush to take advantage of lower rates

ISIS claims deadly suicide attack on US-led coelition parole in Syria ...

Judge orders removal of citizenship question on 2020 census

Brexit: Britain goes over a cliff

The government shutdown is starting to make the IPO market nervous

WITNESS: El Chapo paid $100M bribe to ex-Mexican president ...

New York law to make abortion 'fundamental right'

Barking Dogs [Updated]

Like Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Dog that Didn't Bark," Sherlock Holmes solved a mystery because witnesses did not hear a dog bark ... on Monday a similar event occurred in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on confirming William Barr as our next attorney general.

So what happened or didn't happen there?

Well, there were NO raucous demonstrators during this controversial appointment. The dog didn't didn't bark. We have become accustomed to such demonstrations from Act Up, Code Pink, etc. whenever the left wants to make civil discourse impossible during attempts to move Trump's agenda forward. For some reason, the Democrats must have thought that sliming Barr was not a good idea.

But the shouters and sign wavers were not there. How come?

It is now clear to me that Democrats control the on-off switch to such barking chaos. They can organize, distribute entrance passes ... and even tell these curs what to shout and chant ... they might even pay them.

So, kind readers, next time you view such obnoxious displays against rationality, you can  assume that the Democrat poobahs have given the go-ahead to such nonsense. No sh.t Sherlock ...

Frightening afterthought: Maybe the Dems didn't call out the dogs on Barr because he too is a Deep Stater?

Big Three

Bumper Stickers

Now that we are into the 2020 campaign season, I have started seeing partisan bumper stickers. Here are a few:

Veto Beto!

I am Spartacus -- Booker

Warren Peace!

Am I With Her Again?

Burn With Bernie

Biden My Time ...

Kamala My House

Gillibrrand-new

Vote for Cuomo, not the homo*

Keeping America Great

I'm Not Fidel -- Vote For Castro


* Actual Mario Cuomo slogan when he ran against Ed Koch

Fractured Definition

Occidental -- false teeth for a bovine with toxic masculinity

Headlines

Trump backs off national emergency with no end to shutdown in sight

Investors are hiding out in cash. Assets in money market accounts surge past $3 trillion

USA secretly takes nuclear material out of Africa -- with Beijing's help

Donald Trump mocks Democrats for Puerto Rico trip

Barr pledges to allow Mueller to complete investigation

Cramer says the bear market in stocks ended on Christmas Eve

Poll: Trump approval lowest in year

ABC's Karl: Mueller report 'almost certain''to be anticlimactic'

Trump urges Turkey president not to 'mistreat' Kurdish fighters

GOP's John Kasich is looking to work for CNN or MSNBC as he considers running for president in 2020

Gilette ad challenges men to shave their toxic masculinity  ...

Evidence of operations at NKorea nuke facilities

Immigration Thoughts

"Everything in moderation" -- Julia Child

Open-border liberals are a lot like gourmands who never seem to realize that too much of anything, even good things, can be dangerous. A few good honest hard-working (even illegal) immigrants seeking a better life could be digestible ... but not multiple thousands or even millions of them all at once. That is why rational immigration laws, policies and border barriers should be constructed  and enforced. -- Anon.

Fast Food

White House fast-food buffet honoring the Clemson Tigers, national college football champs

Headlines

Forget Mexico, Democrats turn focus to porous Canadian border

Saudi oil minister: Russia moving 'slower than I'd like' on oil cuts

White House sought options for striking Iran ...

Netanyahu confirms latest Syrian strike

Democrat governors steer party to left for universal health care

Julian Castro announces bid for 2020 Democrat presidential bid

Dems party in Puerto Rico during shutdown, fun and sun!

Tehran warns Poland: Don't side with U.S. against Iran

Theresa May: Brexit deal rejection may lead to democratic 'catastropy'

Huawei reportedly fires employee in Poland after charges of espionage

Poll: President, Republicans blamed for shutdown ...

Michael Avenati: Stormy Daniels to attend Cohen hearing

Debt

Fed Chairman Powell is justifiably concerned by the growing level of debt in the United States ... and this is because, at about 2.70%,  for a 10-year government bond, interest rates throughout the economy are at very low levels. This, of course, encourages borrowing instead of equity financing. Powell sees a debt crisis in the U.S. looming and he is likely right.

However, the rib is ... interest rates in other developed countries are quite a bit lower ... except for the U.K. They are well below 1%. So, if America is n danger, the rest of the developed world is in extremis. This suggests that an almost-certain debt crisis will start elsewhere and then spread to our shores.

Of course there are problems compounding this threat:

- The U.S. national debt, at close to $22 trillion, means that interest payments on this debt can easily consume our annual budget as rates go up. This puts pressure on the Fed to keep rates low ... and also let inflation run to monetize this debt.

- The large differential between American interest rates and the rest of the developed world means that the "carry trade" drives up the dollar and hurts  our balance of payments. This should do nothing but encourage the Fed to keep rates from going up further until others start tightening ... with a nudge from Trump.

Bottom line: Powell is right to be concerned, but this is not just an American problem ... it is worldwide. And Trump should take up this cause too ... not that he doesn't have enough on his plate already.

Headlines

White House warns shutdown could carry on after emergency declaration

SpaceX plans to lay off 10% of its workforce

FBI opened  probe into whether Trump [was] working for Russians ...

EU army 'already taking shape' brags German Defense Minister

FBI's blockbuster probe of Trump's loyalty revealed

New home sales tank19 percent to end 2018

Monster snowstorm to blanket more than half of USA ...

Donal Trump fondly recalls firing 'total sleeze' James Comey

U.S. starts withdrawing supplies, but not troops, from Syria

A crunch Brexit vote is coming that could trigger  even more political chaos

Oprah backs Beto in star studded NYC event ...

NYC's Bill DeBlasio vows to wrest wealth from the 'wrong hands' and redistribute

reddit Pic

African sunset

Obvious Truth #40

Socialism only exists as a leach on a capitalist host. Since it can't generate its own sustenance (wealth), if it grows too large and kills its capitalist host, it will also soon expire ... as has been frequently demonstrated ... but infrequently acknowledged.

Headlines

Shutdown will be the longest in history as Congress skips town

If the shutdown lasts two mote weeks, the cost to the economy will exceed Trump's wall

Trump eyes disaster money to fund border wall ..

Report: WaPo owner Jeff Bezos allegedly sent penis selfies to mistress

Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Ocasio-Cortez

CDC says it's another bad flu season with 7.3 million people sick so far

San Diego TV station: CNN declined 'local view' on wall effectiveness ...

China: U.S. company 'pathetic' for refusing to  buy goods made by Muslim slaves

[Kamala] Harris schedules first South Carolina visit

This chart shows the market is due for another 5% slide

Ocasio-Cortez mocks aging Democrats ...

Report: Desantis to replace Scott Israel with Broward's first black sheriff

Powerline Pic

Melanin

If the Democrats (or Republicans for that matter) run a person of color for president in 2020 based on the notion that our electorate will once again cast a "I'm not a racist" vote ... ignoring policy considerations ... they will likely be disappointed. Barack Obama did enough damage to America during his eight years to trench us that skin color does not necessarily translate into good national policies.

Yes, of course a person of color can once again be our president ... but hopefully not just because he/she has more dermal melanin.

Headlines

Trump threatens national emergency as negotiations at standstill

Fed Chairman Powell says he is 'very concerned' about growing amount of U.S. debt

White House readies for Ginsburg departure ...

Reporters mock Beto O'Rourke for live-streaming dental cleaning

Michael Cohen to testify to Congress

Powell says Fed's balance sheet will be 'substantially smaller' indicating more tightening ahead

Poll: Bernie biggest approval in Senate ...

Yellow Vests have destroy 60% of France's speed cameras

Trump on Jeff Bozos' divorce: 'It's going to be a beauty'

U.S. weekly jobless claims smaller than expected

Steel prototype for border wał sawed through ...

Donald Trump cancels trip to Devos as shutdown continues ...

The Juggler

President Trump is juggling many tough negotiations ... lots of balls in the air  -- the border wall, China trade war, North Korea nukes, withdrawal from Syria, Mueller's investigations, Russian threats, staff replacements, isolation of Iran, immigration reform, Obamacare replacement, the Fed raising interest rates, etc., etc.

Anybody who is watching has to wonder how this man does not unravel as a result of the pressures that come from all these challenges.

But he seems to actually enjoy all the chaos that these negotiations entail. May I say he even seems to thrive on the angst created ... particularly in the media? This personal style must be the result of his many years of dealing with the tough and tumble world of huge construction projects in Manhattan and around the world ... where those on the other side of the negotiating table may be somewhat unsavory and underhanded. And yet he continually prevailed and his projects got completed.

This may be America's unexpected benefit of elevating a non-politician to our highest office ... someone who knows his way around even more dismal swamps than are found in Washington.

Headlines

Trump and lawmakers face off in breakneck shutdown talks

Fed 'can afford to be patient' about future rate hikes, FOMC minutes show

Trump storms out of Dems meeting, 'Total waste of time'

Rep. Mo Brooks: Ocasio-Cortez 'somewhat nutty', has 'low respect' in DC by both parties

Rosenstein expected to step down after new attorney general's confirmation

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and wife MaxKenzie are divorcing

Record number of migrant families crossing border ...

Lindsey Graham elected Senate Judiciary Committee chairman

Schumer calls on Trump to withdraw Barr nomination

Saudi Arabia's massive oil reserves total 268.5 billion barrels, even bigger than previously known

Trump: Emergency declaration coming IF no deal ...

Planned Parenthood president: Abortion is 'our core mission'

More Daily Humor

From the New Yorker magazine ...

Fractured Definition

Impasse -- The spanked backside of a misbehaving child.

Headlines

GOP in the dark as president makes the case for emergency declaration

Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I'm very optimistic about US-China trade talks'

LEFT TURN: NYC guarantees free healthcare for all ...

Poll: Plurality agrees with Donald Trump's 'border crisis' description

Supreme Court turns down mysterious Mueller subpoena fight

BP just discovered a billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico

Trump campaign chairman gave polling data to Russian ...

Former Facebook employees compare company to 'cult'

Trump gets reprieve from economic freak out. But will it last?

Chinese middle class is buying up American residential real estate

Another black man dies in home of West Hollywood Dem donor

Obama-appointed Border Patrol chief: Trump right about the wall

You Like Your Eyes?

From reddit Pics

Are you sure you want to hide that catnip?

Headlines

Trump to travel to the southern border as shutdown deal remains elusive

Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan thinks Ocasio-Cortez 70% tax plan is 'a terrible idea'

Ginsberg will not sit for Supreme Court arguments ... First time ever ...

Whoopi Goldberg to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Stop 'pooping' on Democrats

'Draft Beto' effort builds momentum

US service sector grows at slowest pace since July

[NFL] TV ratings soar ...

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: Maybe Trump 'doesn't know how to read'

Shutdown workaround: National Park Service uses visitor fees for cleanup

World Bank president [former Dartmouth president, Jim Kim] to resign effective Fed. 1

Tax refunds will still be sent out [during shutdown] ...

Cubans furious at luxury life of Fidel Castro's grandson

Sears Roebuck ...

maybe is no more. This corporate demise is particularly nostalgic to my family because we live in an updated and expanded Sears Roebuck house ... delivered by semi-trailer truck in 1928 and constructed of dimensioned lumber on an accommodating foundation. It has good bones and has been improved multiple times ... but still has the look of old-fashioned quality. We love it!

Pet Peeves

- Being made to wait forever on line at a restaurant where, once you get in, you see oodles of empty tables

- Birds that reward your bird-feeder generosity by pooping all over your deck

- Endless My Pillow, E.D. and personal-injury lawyer TV commercials

- Tech companies appropriating our most private data and selling it

- Melodramatic Mika,  Morning Joke and other spittle-flecked never-Trump talking heads

- Strange first names with weird spellings and apostrophes ... see: The Name Game.

- Cats that sit there looking elsewhere when you ope the door for them ... letting in the freezing air

- Restaurant wait staff who clearly look the other way when you are trying to get their attention

- Multiple belly-rubbing award ceremonies run by puffed-up glitterati for puffed-up glitterati

- Hypocrites hiding behind walls saying that walls don't work to keep us safe

Modern Irony

From Powerline blog

Headlines

Warren regains footing in Iowa blitz

Dow jumps more than 700 points, propelled by Powell comments and a blowout jobs report

Iran naval drills with Russia in Caspian Sea ...

Top Dem: Trump has the authority to use the military to build the wall

Bolton outlines conditions for U.S. withdrawal from Syria

US withdrawal from Syria won't happen without deal to protect the Kurds, White House says

NAACP blames 'white supremency' foe Portland quake signs  ...

Israel to demand $250B for Jews forced out of Arab countries ...

Schiff to target potential perjury firing Congress' Russian probe

Britons would now vote to stay in EU, want second referendum - poll

Malaysian King abdicates is unexpected and rare move ...

Tom Steyer to launch more impeachment ads

Neophytes

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Beto O'Rourke

Notoriety well beyond their abilities ...

2020 Foresight

If the Democrats make "Medicare for All" a center plank of their 2020 platform, they will get a total of 3, maybe 4 votes from all Americans over the age of 55 ... no matter who their candidate is.

Headlines

Supreme Court to take on partisan gerrymandering this year

Moscow says FBI detained a Russian the day after it arrested ex-US Marine

Flu widespread in 24 states; Pediatric deaths rise ...

Arrest made after man stabbed to death on London train

House Dems eye $12B in aid for states hit by natural disasters

Government shutdown means tax refund delays and no IRS customer service

Airports see rise in security screeners calling off work ...

Women's March cancellations grow; California group cites gender issues

Ocasio-Cortez floats 70 percent tax on the super wealthy to pay for Green New Deal

Tuna sells for record $3 million at Tokyo's new fish marker

Democrats look to kill Electoral College ... Make D.C. 51st state ...

Judge sets date for Rachael Dolezal welfare fraud case

Sharing a Sip

From refddit Pics

Headlines

'Months or even years': Both sides brace for a lengthy shutdown

Stock market comeback is now in the hands of China-US trade talks

First openly bisexual Senator sworn n ... Doesn't take oath on Bible ...

Virginia's Democrat gov. proposes gun confiscation orders

Existing Mueller grand jury gets extension

The Fred may have just set the Trump rally back on track, says Jim Cramer

Poll: Immigration among top concerns in 2019

House Democrats to introduce boll criminalizing private gun sales ...

Trump says he would consider declaring a national emergency to force border wall funding

Job growth surges by 312,000 in December

New Dem bill requires 10 years of presidential tax returns ...

Canada: China has detained 13 Canadians since Huawei CFO arrested

Powerline Pic

Elizabeth Warren and friend

Opprobium

When one has a visceral dislike for someone else ... be it a politician, a celebrity or even a neighbor ... then, depending on degree of emotion, one will often amass a parcel of reasons to justify this opprobrium ... many having nothing to do with the original aversion. 

And the same layering of rationales occurs in reverse ... as a result of an infatuation. This suggests that our emotions too often have a leash on our logic ... and this is a flaw that keeps pulling mankind down.

Headlines

China 'lifts mysterious veil' by landing probe on far side of the moon ...

Apple suffers its biggest single-day loss in 6 years after cutting revenue guidance

Google shifting billion$ to tax haven Bermuda ...

12 Americans allegedly killed by illegal aliens in 2018

State Department warns Americans traveling in China to use 'increased caution'

Military vets can use both Medicare and VA health care

NFL ratings rebound: Sunday Night Football eyes No. 1 finish ...

Donal Trump: Mitt Romney fights me more than he did Barack Obama

Trump judicial nominees face setback

China annual auto sales fall for the first time in nearly two decades with more pain on the way

Pelosi in control ... Constitution considers me president's equal ...

Twelve Germans beaten in random attacks by asylum seeking mob

Lament

Why can't everyone agree with my brilliant insights and follow my sage advice? Could I possibly be wrong? Nah ...

Headlines

Why Trump has spared Pelosi from his personal vitriol -- so far

Apple's China struggles highlight US companies' trade war vulnerabilities

Romney downloads on Trump ...

Rand [Paul] hits Mitt: 'Big government' Republican who 'never liked Reagan'

How women took over the military-industrial complex

Tesla shares tumble 9% as company misses Wall Street vehicle delivery estimates, cuts prices

Ocasio-Cortez bashes 'bad economics' of Dem's budget rules ...

Mark Zuckerberg's 2019 resolution: More censorship on Facebook

American, arrested in Russia as a spy, was there for a wedding

The Fed is losing its ability to control interest rates, the former Senate banking committee chief says

Former NY Times editor rips Trump coverage as biased ...

TX sheriff blames unsecured border for deaths of 49 migrants in 2019

DACA

Obvious Trith #40

Predicting the future is easier if one can understand the present and remember the past. -- Anon.

Headlines

House Democrats to push for more diversity in top corporate ranks

Chinese manufacturing had an even worse December than expected, more data show

Brazil's Bolsonaro rakes power amid high hopes, fears ...

John Brennan hopes GOP ditches Trump in 2019

Changes may be ahead for criticized Georgia election system

Why 2019 could be very good for stocks, after worst year in a decade

Courtroom foe resurrects Mueller team's prior botched legal work ... [prosecutorial misconduct]

Poll: Most Democrats pessimistic about 2019

Trade deal unlikely under May's Brexit deal, U.S. enjoy warns U.K.

Romney attacks Trump saying he causes dismay around the world

Netflix bows to Kingdom, corporate censorship intensifies

Kenye West kicks off 2019 by reasserting support for Donald Trump

Modern Times

We are living in a bizarre current era when aberrant behavior is normalized and normal behavior is declared to be aberrant.

Raison d'Etre

It seems that most luminaries have a central motivating force, a raison d'etre  ...  something that underlies many of their actions. Thinking about this notion, brought the following instances to mind:

Bill Clinton: Sex ... Hillary Clinton: Money and power ... Mitch McConnell: Conservative judges ... Nancy Pelosi: Eternal youth ... Donald Trump: Deals ... Vladamir Putin: Machismo ... Barack Obama: Style ... Elizabeth Warren: Stridency ... Kim Jong-un: Swiss cheese ... Al Gore: Climate change ... Emanuel Macron: Fraternite ... Joe Biden: Touchy-feely, Xi Jinping: Next Chinese Dynasty

Headlines

Pelosi challenges McConnell with shutdown plan

Why China's market lost nearly a quarter of its value in 2018

Viewers slam NBC for 'train-wreck' New Year's Eve coverage ...

John Kelly: Catch-and-release laws encourage migration crisis

U.S. military apologizes for New Year's Eve bomb tweet

US stocks suffer worst year in a decade as S&P 500 falls mote than 6% in 2018

3 stabbed at UK railway station; 'Allihu Akbar!' ...

Thousands march in Hong Kong against Chinese political oppression

Putin to Trump: Moscow ready for 'most extensive' talks

Vehicle plows into New Year's crowd in Tokyo, injures 8 people

[Mayor] Khan slammed for turning London show into EU tribute ...

2018: The year China's Communists turned on Xi Junping

Morning After

From reddit Pic

Headlines

On shutdown, White House wants Trump's tweets to do the talking

Here's why gas prices are falling, and why drivers shouldn't get used to them

[Computer] Virus cripples newspapers, LATimes, Tribune hit, 'Foreign Entity'

[David] Brooks: Blood on hands of Pelosi, Schumer until they help with border

A holiday mystery: Why did John Roberts intervene in Mueller probe?

US judge dismisses suit against Google over facial-recognition software

Trump: Obama has wall around his house!

LA crime drops in 2018 -- first in five years

Senators begged Mattis to stay, Durbin says

Complex web of international banks, shell companies said to help North Korea skirt sanctions

Jerry Brown: Climate change as serious as World War II ...

More health exams instituted for migrant children at border

2019 Predictions

- Trump is impeached ... not convicted n Senate ...  but McConnell votes guilty

- China will not cave in trade war ... 25% tariffs happen  ... Apple and Nike declare bankruptcy

- US to pull out of Afghanistan, entire Pentagon resigns

- "Hard" Brexit ... Theresa May becomes Angela Merkel's sex slave

- Russia puts missiles in Venezuela which then sells them to North Korea

- Paul Ryan leaves his family, returns to DC as very high priced lobbyist

- Michelle O announces she is transgender and will run in 2020

- Trump reveals that his presidency is just a Reality TV gig

- Facebook transitions into a porn website, Zuckerberg and Sandberg star

- Mueller indicts Jared Kushner for eating bacon

- John Roberts becomes swing vote on Supreme Court ... somehow upholds ACA without the Individual Mandate