"Oh yes, politics, where greed wears the mask of morality." -- Inspector Clouseau
Even a cursory check of the news headlines reveals what a strange time we are living through -- I use the word "through" because this is clearly a transition moment, from one era to another.
It's impossible to ignore the growing astronomical evidence that there is intelligent life out there in the universe and that our biosphere is probably visible to some of those living on other exoplanets. I hope I live long enough to see this confirmed.
Meanwhile, Borat is back and has entrapped no less a victim than the President's top apologist, Rudy Giuliani, who unconvincingly says he was tucking in his shirt while lying on a bed and reaching inside his pants while flirting with a "Russian" actress in a hotel room in New York.
I suppose it's hard to flirt when your shirt is untucked. Never tried that one.
Next, Santa Claus is *not* showing up at Macy's in New York this year. He won't be in Detroit or San Francisco either. So much for how we've resolved the contradiction of presents under the Christmas Tree with the nativity story to kids.
I mean, all of this is crazy. But at least the old world is going out with a bang, not a whimper. (Sorry, T.S. Elliot, circa 1925.)
Trump threw a hissy fit and walked out on Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes, but what else is new? His enablers are all feeling the pain, even Lindsey Graham, who is in deep trouble now.
Joe Biden leads practically everywhere now and has even answered the question he avoided for so long about what he will do about the Supreme Court after Barrett gets in. He says he'll appoint a non-partisan panel of Constitutional Law experts to give him recommendations about what, if anything, to do about Trump's last-ditch outrage to pack the court.
My guess is that commission will say to leave it alone, and he probably will.
I don't know what else awaits us in these final days before the election, so stay tuned, but beware of any bangs, and pray for some whimpers.
NOTE: I found the debate boring but at least more substantive on issues than the first one. It seems doubtful it will have much impact on the outcome of the election. My 12-year-old grandson summed it up: "At least it was better than the first one." Amen.
***
"The area is secure." -- Inspector Clouseau
* I Should Have Worn a Mask by Chris Christie (WSJ)
* The majority of U.S. registered voters, 56%, believe President Donald Trump does not deserve to be reelected, while 43% say he does. (Gallup)
* Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats' decision to boycott Thursday’s committee vote on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination was a protest against Republican efforts to rush her through before the election. This follows the release of Barrett's answers to follow-up questions from the Senate, many of which she kept extremely vague. She refused to say whether voter fraud is a widespread problem in U.S. elections (it is not) and whether restrictive voter ID laws suppress the vote in poor and minority communities (they do). Both questions are easy to answer and backed by substantial evidence. [HuffPost]
* Demand for Pakistan Visas Sets Off Deadly Stampede in Afghanistan -- At least 12 people died as thousands crowded a soccer stadium. Many were seeking medical care in Pakistan, which recently eased its pandemic border restrictions. (NYT)
* North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid respects to Chinese soldiers killed in the Korean War, ahead of the 70th anniversary of Chinese forces entering the conflict. (NHK) Remember BTS controversy? (DW)
* Facebook's Oversight Board open but unlikely to play role before U.S. election
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Facebook Inc's independent Oversight Board, which can overrule company decisions on whether content should be removed and recommend policy changes, started accepting cases for review on Thursday. (Reuters)* Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up to his 2006 hit comedy "Borat," to be released Friday, reportedly features a scene in which Rudy Giuliani puts his hands down his pants and touches himself in the presence of a woman pretending to be a conservative reporter. Soon afterward, Baron Cohen, playing Borat, bursts into the room and says, “She’s 15, she’s too old for you!” (The woman is actually 24.) Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, said he was tucking in his shirt. He said earlier that he thought he was participating in a real interview, only to find out he was being fooled by Baron Cohen, who is notorious for pranking public figures. [HuffPost]
* Trump weighs firing FBI director after election as frustration with Wray, Barr grows -- Trump and his senior aides have been disappointed that FBI DIrector Christopher A. Wray and Attorney General William P. Barr have not done what Trump had hoped — indicate that Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, or other Biden associates are under investigation. (WashPo)
* Joe Biden demanded that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian military “cease the violent crackdown on protesters” who have been peacefully calling for an end to police brutality. The Democratic presidential nominee called on the U.S. to stand with Nigerians who have been protesting a police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, which has a reputation of abuse that includes extortion, rape, torture and extrajudicial killings. [HuffPost]
* With a push from the government, angry mobs online have swarmed any criticism of Chinese leaders or perceived disloyalty to their country. Targets are being harassed and silenced, and some have lost their jobs. (WSJ)
* Belching Cows and Endless Feedlots: Fixing Cattle’s Climate Issues -- The United States is home to 95 million cattle, and changing what they eat could have a significant effect on emissions of greenhouse gases like methane that are warming the world. (NYT)
* Democratic Senate candidate Jaime Harrison has taken a two-point lead over Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, according to a new poll. Conducted by Morning Consult, the latest survey found 47 percent of South Carolina respondents saying they'd vote for Harrison, while 45 percent sided with Graham. (Newsweek)
* Let’s not mince words. The Trump administration kidnapped children. (WashPo)
* Since March, a coalition of Asian American advocacy groups and scholars has been collecting and documenting the alarming surge in anti-Asian racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, the group, STOP AAPI HATE concluded Trump is by far the most influential “superspreader” of anti-Asian racism. Throughout this year, Trump has routinely used racist slurs and epithets to refer to COVID-19. He also frequently blames China, placing an outsized focus on where the virus originated, in order to deflect from his own catastrophic response to the pandemic. [HuffPost]
* Goldman Sachs fined record $2.9 billion over role in Malaysian bribes (WashPo)
* Actress Jennifer Lawrence has revealed that she voted for John McCain over Barack Obama - but that she voted for the Democratic Party after that. She was talking to Heather McMahon on the Absolutely Not podcast. "I was fortunate to grow up in a Republican house, where I could see the fiscal benefits of some of the Republican policies. But then, for me, when Donald Trump got elected, that just changed everything." (BBC)
* Colorado wildfire grows by more than 100,000 acres in a day, forcing evacuations (WashPo)
* Macy’s said Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. (AP)
* Are aliens watching us? Many exoplanets may be able to see life on Earth (StudyFinds)
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"The area is still secure." -- Inspector Clouseau
We're going out with a bang
I said we gonna go out with a bang
Bang-bang-bang, bang-bang
Out with a bang, yeah
Watch out, we're taking the crown
Thumbs go up all the way
No sign of slowing down, yeah
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