Nov 29 2020

The Breakfast Club (Pecan pie)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club!

AP’s Today in History for November 29th

President Johnson names commission to investigate JFK’s assassination; U.N. passes resolution calling for the British Mandate of Palestine to be partitioned; First flight over the South Pole; Natalie Wood, Cary Grant and George Harrison die.

Breakfast Tune Beatles’/George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” on 5-string Banjo

Something to think about, Breakfast News & Blogs below

Something to think about over coffee prozac

Will the World Community Condemn the Murder of Iran’s Nuclear Scientist?
Medea Benjamin, Ariel Gold, Common Dreams

…The European Union, as well as some important US figures have already condemned the attack. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy pointed out the risks involved in normalizing assassinations, how the killing will make it harder to restart the Iran Nuclear agreement, and how the assassination of General Soleimani backfired from a security standpoint. Former Obama advisor Ben Rhodes tweeted that it was an “outrageous action aimed at undermining diplomacy,” and former CIA head John Brennan called the assassination “criminal” and “highly reckless,” risking “lethal retaliation and a new round of regional conflict,” but rather than putting the responsibility on the U.S. and Israel to stop the provocations, he called on Iran to “be wise” and “resist the urge to respond.”
…
Many on Twitter have raised the question of what the world response would be if the roles were reversed and Iran assassinated an Israeli nuclear scientist. Without a doubt, the U.S. administration, whether Democrat or Republican, would be outraged and supportive of a swift military response. But if we want to avoid escalation, then we must hope that Iran will not retaliate, at least not during Trump’s last days in office.

The only way to stop this crisis from spiraling out of control is for the world community to condemn the act, and demand a UN investigation and accountability for the perpetrators. The countries that joined Iran and the United States in signing the 2015 nuclear agreement —Russia, China, Germany, the UK and France—must not only oppose the assassination but publicly recommit to upholding the nuclear deal. President-elect Joe Biden must send a clear message to Israel that under his administration, these illegal acts will have consequences. He must also send a clear message to Iran that he intends to quickly re-enter the nuclear deal, stop blocking Iran’s $5 billion IMF loan request, and begin a new era of diplomacy to dial back the intense conflict he inherited from Trump’s recklessness.

Nov 29 2020

Pondering the Pundits: Sunday Preview Edition

Pondering the Pundits: Sunday Preview Edition” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

On Sunday mornings we present a preview of the guests on the morning talk shows so you can choose which ones to watch or some do something more worth your time on a Sunday morning.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with George Stephanopolis: The guests on Sunday’s “This Week” are: Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director; and Adm. William McRaven, U.S. Navy (Ret), Former Commander, U.S Special Operations Command.

The roundtable guests are: Matthew Dowd, ABC News Political Analyst; Rebecca Jarvis, ABC News Chief Business Correspondent; Evan Osnos, The New Yorker Staff Writer; and Michele Norris, Washington Post Opinion Columnist.

Face the Nation: Host Margaret Brennan’s guests are: El Paso Mayor-Elect Dee Margo (D); Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D); David Beasley, Executive Director for the UN World Food Programme; Scott Gottlieb MD, former commissioner of the FDA; Dr. Deborah Birx, Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force; and Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Chief Executive Officer of Feeding America.

Meet the Press with Chuck Todd: The guests on this week’s “MTP” are: Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director; and adm. Michael Mullen, U.S. Navy (Ret) former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The panel guests are: O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa News Director; Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University; Hugh Hewitt, conservative Trumpster radio host; and Kasie Hunt, NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent.

State of the Union with Jake Tapper: Mr. Tapper’s guests are: Admiral Brett Giroir, US Public Health Service, Assistant Secretary for Health; Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO); Georgia US Senate candidate Jon Osoff (D); Rep.-Elect Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY); and Rep.-Elect Nancy Mace (R-SC).

Nov 28 2020

Today’s News Rundown

This is brief rundown of the news so you don’t have to watch cable news. It’s just the facts with maybe a little snark.

This is day 21 of the Squatter- in-Chief’s refusal to admit he lost to President-Elect Joe Biden. There are 53 days left of his occupation of the White House. He’s tweeting and playing golf at Camp David. I suppose he’ll be back at the White House to light the National Christmas tree on December 3. The Rockefeller tree will be lit on December 2.

It’s been a fairly quiet news day except for reports of spikes in CoVid-19 infections and deaths surpassing 4 million infections in November, double October’s rate.

More than 170,000 people in the United States are now testing positive on an average day. More than 1.1 million people tested positive in the past week alone. The country’s overall total, from the start of the pandemic, is over 13 million infections — by far the world’s largest outbreak. [..]

Many hospitals across the country are already overcrowded and struggling to keep up with rising numbers of patients seeking care, and the pressure on the health care system is likely to only increase. [..]

The number for this month, as of midday Saturday, was 4,006,548, with more than two days left for the tally to grow.

Monthly deaths have been rising more slowly, but they are already higher than at any point since the spring surge, when New York, New Jersey and Louisiana became global hot spots.

Good news is many shoppers stayed home Friday spending over $9 billion on U.S. retail websites on Black Friday while traffic to physical stores fell.

This was a bit of a surprise Justice Samuel Alito stuck down a megachurch pastor’s lawsuit that claimed  obeying god meant ignoring CoVid-19  orders. Just Thursday, Alito was part of the majority that struck down New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s CoVid-19 orders that restricted the size of indoor worship. Color me confused. Restrictions don’t apply in Blue states just Red states????

Even animals are affected, a mink farm in Oregon reported a CoVid-19 outbreak. The workers are infected, too. So who infected whom?

Turtles eventually get to the finish line. Senate Majority Leader Mitch “The Human Hybrid Turtle” McConnell finally woke up and smelled the flies and lettuce. Moscow Mitch suspended in-person lunches for GOP Senators to stop the spread of CoVid-19 in his caucus. Democrats stopped theirs in the spring. Of the eleven Senators infected nine are Republicans. Duh. you’d think Mitch was from Floriduh. Nope, Kentucky, same difference.

The Pennsylvania GOP and the Squatter-in-Chief’s campaign can’t seem to win in the courts. The PA Supremes tossed dismissed a lawsuit Saturday night from US Rep. Mike Kelly and other Republicans that tried to invalidate absentee voting and block the certification of votes in recent weeks.

The dismissal adds to a growing number of losses in court for Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump, who have tried to attack voting systems in the wake of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. The lawsuits have failed almost uniformly.

The court was unanimous in deciding against Kelly and others, and refusing to block vote certification on Saturday. Five of the seven judges wrote that they believed the lawsuit had been filed far too late, a year after absentee voting procedures had been established in the state and weeks after millions of Pennsylvanians voted in good faith.

Who knew the courts work on a holiday weekend. It was a mute point anyway, PA counties have already certified the vote counts giving the win to Biden.

To show you just how really stupid the Squatter-in-Chief really is he wasted $3 million dollars on a recount in Wisconsin that, in the end, gave Biden 132 more votes. That works out to $22727.27/ vote.

He lost in Federal court on Friday, too. No rest for those weary jurists.

After more than a decade a cat is coming back to the White House, along with two dogs.

Nov 28 2020

Health and Fitness News

Health and Fitness News Welcome to the Stars Hollow Gazette‘s Health and Fitness News weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

What To Cook

 

Alton Brown Makes Broccoli Casserole
 

 

 

 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a bowl combine mayonnaise, yogurt, cheddar cheese, blue cheese dressing, eggs, salt, pepper, and flavor pack from noodles. In a separate bowl combine broccoli, mushrooms, and broken noodles then toss together wet mixture and vegetables to evenly coat. Place in an 8 by 8-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with non- stick cooking spray and cook for 45 minutes covered. Then remove cover and bake for additional 15 minutes to brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

 

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Nov 28 2020

Cartnoon

This is the theme song of 2020! (you know…the trash dumpster year.)

TMC for ek hornbeck

Nov 28 2020

The Breakfast Club (Values)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean; British prime minister Margaret Thatcher resigns; Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is beaten to death; The Grand Ole Opry makes its radio debut; Comedian Jon Stewart born.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

If you don’t stick to your values when they’re being tested, they’re not values: they’re hobbies.

Jon Stewart

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Nov 27 2020

Late Night Today

This is a round up of the previous night’s late night talk show host’s opening monologues and highlight segments, because we need a good laugh to get through the rest of the evening.

Shown on November 25, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert monologue does as the Utah Monolith wishes.

Stephen and A Late Show’s writers were so taken by the mystery of an unexplained monolith found in the Utah desert that they were compelled to devote the entire monologue to it. Thankfully, the monolith allowed time for updates on the president’s pardoning of Michael Flynn and his speakerphone antics at Rudy Giuliani’s sham hearing in Pennsylvania.

Late Night with Seth Meyers was also shown Wednesday.

Trump Rambles on Speakerphone During Fake GOP Voter Fraud Hearing: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at Trump and his gang of very bad lawyers laying the groundwork to spend four years baselessly claiming the election was stolen from him.

Broadcast on Thanksgiving Day, The Today Show with Trevor Noah takes a different look at those Fox News loving family members.

A Fox News Thanksgiving | The Daily Social Distancing Show

Stressed out by family members who love Fox news? Imagine if they WERE Fox News. Desi Lydc checks in with Aunt Jeanine, Uncle Rudy, Cousin Tucker and more.

Recorded on November 24, Jimmy Kimmel Live looked at Day 21 of #Squattergate.

Trump Isn’t Going Anywhere, Biden Moves Forward Anyway

Day 21 of #Squattergate is upon us, Trump did his ceremonial duty by pardoning the White House turkey, retweeted actor Randy Quaid 5 times, we matched Trump to music from Dreamgirls, Jimmy offers you a way to get out of your Thanksgiving Family Zoom, and he gives Harvard grad Bennett from “The Bachelorette” a chance to redeem himself with a make-up quiz after he failed on last week’s episode.

The Late, Late Show with James Corden was aired the day before Thanksgiving.

There’s So Much to Be Thankful for, Right?

It’s the day before Thanksgiving and James Corden checks in with Reggie Watts and Ian Karmel to see what their plans are, which are modified like most Americans thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. And one of the show’s writers, Tom, has to sweat it out to see if his parade float jokes are good enough for him to keep his job.

Nov 27 2020

Today’s News Rundown

This is brief rundown of the news so you don’t have to watch cable news. It’s just the facts with maybe a little snark.

This is day 20 of the Squatter- in-Chief’s refusal to admit he lost to President-Elect Joe Biden. There are 54 days left of his occupation of the White House.

The US has surpassed 3 million CoVid-19 infections with over 264,000 deaths. Even with 20 states not reporting data on Thanksgiving Day, the day still saw America enters the somber holiday weekend following a Thanksgiving Day that saw more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases and 1,200 deaths.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously denied the Squatter’s campaign’s lawsuit challenging the election results in Pennsylvania. The court also denied “crack” lawyer Rudi Giuliani’s request to amend the lawsuit which has previously been denied.

In the District of Columbia, a three judge panel dismissed the challenge to the Squatter’s memo that excluded undocumented immigrants from the census. Two of those judges were appointed by the Squatter. It is the first court to uphold the memo.

The Squatter held a Thanksgiving Day press conference, appropriately seated behind a tiny table. He took questions from the press for the first time since his election loss. Needless to say, he is still denying defeat and the presser was laced with his nasty responses to questions he didn’t like and the usual litany of lies. Ha had one fleeting moment of reality when he said he would leave the White House if the Electoral College confirmed Biden’s victory. Leave it to Twitter to poke another hole in his gigantic ego. During the presser #DiaperDon trended, obviously inspired by this infantile man sitting behind a little desk.

When a president leaves office, traditionally, he continues to receive national security briefings. There are some ex-intelligence officers questioning trusting the Squatter with the information.

They argue soon-to-be-former President Trump already poses a danger because of the secrets he currently possesses, and they say it would be foolish to trust him with more sensitive information. With Trump’s real estate empire under financial pressure and his brand suffering, they worry he will see American secrets as a profit center.

In Iran, their top nuclear scientist was killed in a ambush that the Iranians believe was carried out by Israel.

Belarus’ Lukashenko says he will leave his post, state media reports

Belarus has been rocked by protests ever since Lukashenko — referred to as “Europe’s last dictator” — claimed an election his opponents say was rigged.

If that claim sounds familiar, it is, except that election was most probably rigged for Lukashenko.

Loujain al-Hathloul, Saudi women’s rights campaigner, has case transferred to terror court

“They’re criminalizing activism,” sister Lina al-Hathloul said. “It’s extremely stressful to never know what your own government can do to you.”

The Squatter only wishes.

Germany wants Alpine countries to keep ski resorts closed to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, but reaching an agreement with neighboring Austria is proving difficult, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.

Legendary Argentinian soccer star Diego Mardonis died Wednesday at the age of 60 in his Buenos Aires home of a fatal heart attack. He was the colorful and outspoken star was captain of the 1986 team that captured his nation’s second World Cup title. He was celebrated as the “Hand of God.” He was laid to rest today in Buenos Aires.

Nov 27 2020

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news media and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Paul Krugman: In Praise of Janet Yellen the Economist

She never forgot that economics is about people.

It’s hard to overstate the enthusiasm among economists over Joe Biden’s selection of Janet Yellen as the next secretary of the Treasury. Some of this enthusiasm reflects the groundbreaking nature of her appointment. She won’t just be the first woman to hold the job, she’ll be the first person to have held all three of the traditional top U.S. policy positions in economics — chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, chair of the Federal Reserve and now Treasury secretary.

And yes, there’s a bit of payback for Donald Trump, who denied her a well-earned second term as Fed chair, reportedly in part because he thought she was too short.

But the good news about Yellen goes beyond her ridiculously distinguished career in public service. Before she held office, she was a serious researcher. And she was, in particular, one of the leading figures in an intellectual movement that helped save macroeconomics as a useful discipline when that usefulness was under both external and internal assault.

Before I get there, a word about Yellen’s time at the Federal Reserve, especially her time on the Fed’s board in the early 2010s, before she became chair.

Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex: The Losses We Share

Perhaps the path to healing begins with three simple words: Are you OK?

It was a July morning that began as ordinarily as any other day: Make breakfast. Feed the dogs. Take vitamins. Find that missing sock. Pick up the rogue crayon that rolled under the table. Throw my hair in a ponytail before getting my son from his crib.

After changing his diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right.

I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.

Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.

I recalled a moment last year when Harry and I were finishing up a long tour in South Africa. I was exhausted. I was breastfeeding our infant son, and I was trying to keep a brave face in the very public eye.

“Are you OK?” a journalist asked me. I answered him honestly, not knowing that what I said would resonate with so many — new moms and older ones, and anyone who had, in their own way, been silently suffering. My off-the-cuff reply seemed to give people permission to speak their truth. But it wasn’t responding honestly that helped me most, it was the question itself.

“Thank you for asking,” I said. “Not many people have asked if I’m OK.”

Sitting in a hospital bed, watching my husband’s heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine, I realized that the only way to begin to heal is to first ask, “Are you OK?”

Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent: Trump wages war on our country and the rule of law one last time

Michael Flynn becomes the latest in a line of Trump’s criminals and thugs to escape accountability.

In a move no less appalling for it being no surprise, President Trump has pardoned Michael Flynn, his disgraced former national security adviser. Add him to the rogue’s gallery — among them Joe Arpaio, Dinesh D’Souza, Rod Blagojevich, Bernard Kerik and Roger Stone — of criminals and reprobates to whom Trump has given executive clemency, their loyalty and obsequiousness winning them an escape from full accountability for their misdeeds.

But Flynn stands apart from the rest, because his whole story contains so much of the Trump era in microcosm.

And in pardoning Flynn, Trump has waged what may be his final biggest act of war on our country [..]

Yet while Trump has been off spinning these fantasies and preparing to pardon his cronies, it has fallen to President-elect Joe Biden to urge Americans to take precautions against the coronavirus pandemic during the holiday, stepping into the leadership role that Trump has refused to fill himself for most of the year, to extraordinarily destructive and catastrophic effect.

Fortunately, Trump’s single most ambitious assault on this country and the rule of law failed. But, for now, we can only hope that the Flynn pardon is the very worst act of retributive warfare he intends to wage against the country before he’s gone.

Joshua Craze and Ainsley LeSure: Republicans are right: democracy is rigged. But they are the beneficiaries

Conservatives relish the irony of Trump’s audacious reversal of the truth around rigging – because it distracts attention from their minority rule

The Republican establishment, despite being unfairly advantaged by the skewed composition of the electoral college, by over-representation in the House due to partisan gerrymandering and in the Senate due to equal State suffrage, has been in no hurry to reject Donald Trump’s ludicrous allegation that the American electoral system is rigged to favor Democrats. Sweating the make-or-break Georgia runoffs, the party’s leaders are apparently frightened to cross the mad king, who owns their voters, lest he cause their ratings to plummet as he is doing with Fox News. But Republican complicity with this unprecedented attack on American democracy is not a matter of short-term expediency or fear of reprisals. It is much worse than that. Mitch McConnell and the others are not merely humoring the president until his mania subsides. Trump’s voters are the Republicans’ voters and the Republican party cannot easily cut them, and their deranged conspiracy theories, loose even after 20 January.

This has important implications for how Biden should respond to the incalculable damage Trump has inflicted on the country, including how his Department of Justice approaches the restoration of the rule of law.

Nov 27 2020

Cartnoon

Sure, you’ve seen Vincent Van Gogh’s famed painting The Starry Night before. And maybe you know of him as a tortured soul. But let’s take a closer look behind this most recognizable work of art.

TMC for ek hornbeck

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