After all the Bizarre and Not-Funny Events of the Week this is well….Bizarre Period
In a somewhat famous and now infamous episode of The Simpsons, Homer has a dream (nightmare?) relating to the U.S. elections, that were about to take place. The segment aired on November 1, 2020, and, in the end, became eerily prophetic. It didn’t take long for the world, particularly on Twitter, to take note and react.
In his dream, he never ends up voting and the scene cuts to January 20th, 2021, inauguration day, a day that has not yet arrived, of course, but, as if often the case with physic phenomena, the details had a shocking correlation to what we all witnessed on January 6th, 2021.
#DiaperDon trends as Trump has a T-day Tantrum behind a Very Tiny Desk
The date discrepancy is worth noting, since some of the scenes that were not directly accurate on January 6th, could well be at a future date.
The clips show apocalyptic, war like scenes, buildings burning, robots all around and the course horsemen bearing flags that read: famine, war, and pestilence.
Another clip from the 1996 episode “The Day the Violence Died” shows the constitution (as a person) atop the Capitol hills steps saying “Doors open boys” resulting in a horde of amended bills (also anthropomorphized) toting shot guns and bombs as they storm the building.
The visual similarities, how the mob is somehow savage and yet ridiculous and mirrors the videos and photos of real life to a T. Maybe there’s more than just the ability to predict the future at work here? Maybe there’s a message of wisdom in Homer’s dream?
Suffice it to say for the moment: He deserved it and it’s about time. The fact that his account was re-activated after a short pause was a strange choice by the platform. At least they made the right one in the end. Here’s the official tweet
Below the full text from the official Twitter bog explaining, in detail the action taken and why:
After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.
In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action. Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.
However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.
The below is a comprehensive analysis of our policy enforcement approach in this case.
Overview
On January 8, 2021, President Donald J. Trump tweeted:
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
Shortly thereafter, the President tweeted:
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks. After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service.
Assessment
We assessed the two Tweets referenced above under our Glorification of Violence policy, which aims to prevent the glorification of violence that could inspire others to replicate violent acts and determined that they were highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
This determination is based on a number of factors, including:
President Trump’s statement that he will not be attending the Inauguration is being received by a number of his supporters as further confirmation that the election was not legitimate and is seen as him disavowing his previous claim made via two Tweets (1, 2) by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Dan Scavino, that there would be an “orderly transition” on January 20th.
The second Tweet may also serve as encouragement to those potentially considering violent acts that the Inauguration would be a “safe” target, as he will not be attending.
The use of the words “American Patriots” to describe some of his supporters is also being interpreted as support for those committing violent acts at the US Capitol.
The mention of his supporters having a “GIANT VOICE long into the future” and that “They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” is being interpreted as further indication that President Trump does not plan to facilitate an “orderly transition” and instead that he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election.
Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021.
As such, our determination is that the two Tweets above are likely to inspire others to replicate the violent acts that took place on January 6, 2021, and that there are multiple indicators that they are being received and understood as encouragement to do so.
This is breaking news coverage of the active situation at the US Capitol in Washington D.C. Trump “supporters” are attacking the Capitol and some have made it inside. The video above from Instagram shows what happened earlier during a skirmish as the entrance to the Capitol was breached.
Opinion and observation on the unfolding situation:
Once again a “shocking” turn of events related to Trump that was telegraphed and even specifically detailed days and weeks in advance.
Once again a situation where the response of law enforcement shows a reticence toward confrontation not customary in similar situations not related to Trump followers.
However, without downplaying a clearly historic, shocking and dangerous situation, there is, without some very big surprise that is not likely, no possibility of any “victory” or any outcome that would benefit Trump or the followers who have responded to Trump’s rhetoric and broken laws.
The situation is, as of this writing, still unfolding, but the character and outrageousness of the acts are far more meaningful than any real danger. Like Trump himself, the followers represent a huge annoyance and disgusting manifestation, but are ultimately, impotent fools.
Regardless of what James Comey might think, as of today, no one in their right mind with any sense of decency or justice can now condone this idea that Trump should not be held accountable for his many alleged crimes. Today ended any possibility of that stance, unless one wants to join his alleged criminal exploits.
The D.C. showdown, from all angles, appears unlikely to be the start of Trump’s “revenge”, but rather the beginning of the end for him
His law suits crashing left and right, his own party “rebelling” against the endless repetition of unsubstantiated fraud claims, and then he pressures his own VP to reject the electoral college vote on January 6th, something that he has no legal power to do.
All in all it’s not been going well recently for Trump. The trend is very likely to continue as the various desperate and potentially illegal tactics play out in what appears to be building to some sort of crescendo on or before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20th.
No, sir, he does not:
The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.
The Constitution does not give the vice president any such power, period.
“Proud Boys” leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested on destruction of property charges. The judge ordered him to stay out of Washington D.C. and then released him on his own recognizance. Unless he defies the judges orders, he will therefore not be present for the planned “wild” demonstrations that Trump has called for in Washington DC on January 6th.
Since carrying a gun is already against the law in Washington D.C., and Washington DC’s mayor has called in the the National Guard to help local authorities, as needed there is a concerted effort to minimize any potential for violence. According to various local officials, the troops will not be armed and they will be there to assist with crowd management and traffic control.
To borrow a phrase from Trump himself, this, most likely, will add up to a “nothing burger” and a lot of flag waving and yelling and swearing. Meanwhile the electoral count may be delayed by the various objectors but the outcome, a “landslide” win for Joe Biden, does not appear to be in any doubt.
And, although the Right has talked in terms of a “civil war” either in the larger sense of violently pitting Trump “forces” against the entire rest of the US population, and in another sense, between one wing of the Republican party and another, it remains unlikely that either one will be much of a “war” at all in the scariest sense of the word.
Looking at the most extreme opposing view, there is also the fact that all 10 living former secretaries of defense, both as Republicans and Democrats, issued a statement , in the form of an opinion article in The Washington Post questioning, implicitly, Trump’s willingness to follow his Constitutional duty to peacefully relinquish power on Jan. 20. Although they did not mention him by name, they referred to his failed law suits and attempts to overturn the election results.
This warning is meant, it appears, to also be a tacit rebuke of any current pentagon officials that may be considering aiding Trump’s possible plan to engage the armed forces or declare martial law, at any time before January 20th, if there is indeed such a plan in the works. The rumors and evidence, that there may indeed have been consideration of such a plan, involving ideas credited to Retired Lt. General Michael Flynn, former national security advisor and newly pardoned admitted felon, has been discussed in the media and by political insiders, and roundly rejected as both unconstitutional and alarming.
Needless to say, any election related actions involving the military, in any form whatsoever, domestically or internationally, potentially as some sort of distraction or diversion, would be highly dangerous and shocking, to say the least.
Trump tweeted an invitation to his followers to come to Washington D.C. on January 6th for a “wild time”. There are many tweets and a social media barrage to make this into a public spectacle, ardently in the hope that a large turn-out will somehow have an effect on the official counting of the electoral votes. It won’t.
In typical Trump style, the plausibly-deniable-adjective “wild” is meant to imply, depending on which way you spin it, to be harmlessly “high-energy” or a kind of veiled threat of violence by the militant fringes of the far-right.
Many are on edge ahead of this attempt to turn the 6th into something dangerous sounding – and it is right to remain vigilant with all the bizarre twists that have already happened.
As we have stated before, in previous articles, whatever “malarky”, to use Joe Biden’s go to phrase, Trump and his wacko band of followers are planning they will fail and fail miserably.
The telegraphed, scheduled-coup attempt has awoken counter-measures, you can be certain
The massive failures can be easily predicted for one simple reason: everything beyond a “peaceful” and benign protest is against the law and we still have laws and a constitution. For each illegal act the response by the “state” will be 100 times larger and more consequential. And, of course, it won’t take more than a tiny response by law enforcement to quell this fake unrest.
”The massive failures can be easily predicted for one simple reason: everything beyond a “peaceful” and benign protest is against the law and we still have laws and a constitution.”
— D.L.
Trump will whine and bellow that it is not the sate, but rather the “deep-state” that is against him, as it has been (in his mind) all along. He will try to turn himself into some bizarre kind of martyr- hero who is at the same time also a carnival-barker clown.
In his mind, just as with the original run for the presidency, it’s a no lose situation. Either he somehow manages to succeed beyond all reason, or he can continue to monetize the chaos and his position as King of Fools, a world where his marks are, at the same time, his most ardent followers.
There will be no need for him to end up like Mussolini, or to be taken seriously with his tin-pot army. It’s highly likely now, actually, that the military, FBI, CIA and all the rest of the national security apparatus is receiving two messages, related to this publicly telegraphed “coup” attempt.
Be on heightened alert for any activities inspired by Trump’s, basically ridiculous, stunt, and at the same time, do not say or do anything to draw attention to its existence.
Even if there are small disruptions and illegal acts by his most crazed “supporters” these will be small, not-coordinated and local. Washington D.C. will be, as we have seen in Portland and elsewhere, a lot of pick-up trucks with waving flags and people wearing silly red hats.
There is no reason not to be on guard, considering the statements and thinly veiled threats that have been made by so many
This is not to say don’t remain alert. It is truly sad that this kind of behavior is being drummed up by Tump and the least informed and most gullible amongst the population. At the extreme edge, of course, organizations such as Qanon and Proud Boys are very deranged and should not be excused or tolerated in any way.
But the veiled threats that some kind of uprising to bring down democracy and execute a coup by a deluded minority is about to take place , both in the general population and among lawmakers, is just wishful thinking by a deranged man that still, technically, remains president for a few more weeks.
More likely, we will all be witness to Trump’s greatest day of failure in his entire life. Bigger than his 6 chapter 11 bankruptcies, bigger than his many humiliating business and personal defeats, this will be the day that every hope he has to milk some kind of benefit out of losing the 2020 election will die.
And, afterwards, starting on January 7th, 2021 he will have to decide wether he should flee the country and go into exile, or stay and try to avoid the arrests, convictions and incarcerations that are likely in his near future.
Midnight Autofahren through Berlin mixed with a Psychedelic Visualization of Tomorrow
Night views of Berlin with mental memory materials echoing forward. Thoughts manifest toward a space ship example song. How to relax? How to sleep? How to dream? A smooth experience of where. Minimal and fluid yet encouragement reliability source code. Hello. Thanks for listening.
Spirit in the Woods Official Music-Video: Exotic Animals in an Ambient Mix of Audio-Visual Adventure
Spirit in the Woods Official Music-Video: Exotic Animals in an Ambient Mix of Audio-Visual
Alien Genius Sensitivity: Galactic Theory Ambient Trance
Space visualizations of epochs unwound above. Inside metal galaxies of tone and perspective lanes into joy. Relaxation alternative nodes for belief of tunnels of impact arrows. Space Force Mix 22XLT
Northern lights: Aurora Borealis – Ambient Music-Video – set to ‘on a blue day’ by Alejandro
Ambient Music-Video – music video for northern lights on a blue day by Alejandro ( can be downloaded at https://bit.ly/3j0qH4f ) – time-lapse night photography – night sky dancing with Northern Lights against an aural backdrop of soothing yet upbeat groove. The combination can be heard seen and felt.
Plans appear to show that being out of the country for his ouster is a high priority
For months there has been speculation that Trump, given very few options for what to do beginning on January 20th, 2021, once the Biden Presidency begins, will take refuge overseas. As if right on cue, it appears that he could be planning a trip to Scotland. Now it appears that there is a plan already in place, with the precise timing needed to avoid the dreaded event, according to UK aviation sources.
Dailyrecord.co.uk has reported that a plan exists for what could be a first leg of an extended sojourn:
“Prestwick Airport has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, which is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19 – the day before his Democratic rival takes charge at the White House.
Speculation surrounding Trump’s plans has been fuelled by the activity of US Army aircraft, which were based at Prestwick airport for a week and said to be carrying out 3D reconnaissance of the president’s Turnberry resort.”
Aircraft used by the President, First Lady and Vice-President are known to have a US special call sign, rather than a tail number making it easier when air traffic controllers need to give them special treatment.
In various Lynxotic articles since November, based on the various options and statements “leaking” from Trump himself, we had some confidence that he would not remain in the US once Biden was officially taking over. The remaining uncertainty is if or when he would return, assuming that this report is ultimately confirmed.
“Sore loser” is, as so often in the case when trying to describe Trump’s character, a massive understatement
Per my NBC News colleagues: Trump may announce for 2024 on inauguration day. Either way, he won't attend the inauguration and does not plan to invite Biden to the White House or even call him.
“Trump may announce for 2024 on inauguration day. Either way, he won’t attend the inauguration and does not plan to invite Biden to the White House or even call him.”
Meanwhile, with UK (and the US) in the middle of restrictions related to the coronavirus, just arriving at that time would potentially violate Tier 4 rules which forbid travel into the area of Trump Turnberry which is effectively closed until February 5, according to its website.
Ivanka Trump, first daughter, posted a video of herself, in an extreme-self-congratulatory fashion, with instrumental music playing in the background. In the oddly disconcerting clip she can be seen working “hard” to hand deliver boxes of food to those in need. In the final days left of Trump’s term, apparently, his eldest daughter felt the need to make her presence known. According to many on Twitter, her strange, weak attempts to display compassion (with a clear agenda to promote herself) failed to convey actual concerned authenticity, despite the fact that millions of people continue to be seriously affected during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ivanka Trump decided to share a picture of her father during his visit to the historic Mount Rushmore back in July of this year. The positioning of Trump’s head alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, was according to the caption of Trump’s daughter… “amazing”. Back in August, Trump was quick to call reports from the NYT “Fake News” that he had inquired with the South Dakota governor about getting his face carved upon the iconic rock face, yet he also somehow thought it was “good idea”. Ivanka’s tweet went viral with immediate reactions on Twitter, proving those on the internet felt the opposite of amazed, with majority of users, quick to mock her decision and timing of the shared post.
Hilarious Negativity and Scare Tactics in non-stop Coke filled tirade from “upbeat” RNC. The juxtaposition of the ridiculous scare tactics and nonsense threats of what could happen if Trump is not re-elected would be funny is not so sad. The overblown screaming and the smug self satisfied exaggerated nonsense begs the obvious question: who supplied the blow? The ad splices together a long list of speakers at the convention, from Don Jr. to Charlie Kirk to Kimberly Guilfoyle to Tim Scott, each of them attempting to paint the most gruesome picture imaginable of the horrible state of America in some imaginary post Trump future. Naturally, this is nearly believable, as long as one is referring not to what would happen if Joe Biden were to become president, but the actual current reality today in Trump’s America.
Some of the many appalling and even disgusting facets of the Trump era are reflected in the primitive psychological tactics that emanate from any speech or off the cuff remark from the President. “Gaslighting“, “Whataboutism” and “I know you are but what am I” playground level taunts and name calling abound. And, above all, the tactic of projecting whatever you are accused of onto your enemies, no matter how ridiculous it appears. Like on July 4th when trump implied that Antifa was a “fascist” organization. How can a group with “anti” and Fascist” in the very name be accused of being the thing that they have clearly and overtly declared themselves to be against? Ask Trump. And now, in an apple-falling-not-far-from-the-tree moment of imbecilic genetic transference, Don Jr. employs all of the above in a recent twisted tirade on Fox. Unfortunately for him, the folks that call themselves the “Meidas Touch” were able to illustrate just how ridiculous and revealing this web of insanity really is.
No surprise, yet another of the Trump clan has covid-19.Asymptomatic but in quarantine, one more of the anti-mask Trump crew has been added to the list of those that have tested positive for the Covid 19 virus. It’s unknown whether the public would have been informed by either Trump Jr. or the White House without the story from Bloomberg broken. Recent news that pentagon officials and other have tested positive after several other members of the Trump family including Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, were infected with the virus earlier this year. Trump Sr. was positive in October, first lady Melania Trump, and their son Barron had also tested positive for the disease and Guilfoyle was infected in August .
Nepotism proves to be a recipe in failure for Trump clan. Featured in this ad produced by the super PAC known as – The Lincoln Project takes a well deserved shot at Jared Kushner, calling him the “secretary of failure”. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law has been given a large handful of very important tasks, one of which was heading the response team uncharge of coming up with a plan to contain the spread of the pandemic. So far the total lack of an effective “plan” and instead the obvious outcome that more and more Americans are losing their lives, he has definitely failed on that front.
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Adventure Island Voyager: Winter Escape into Tropical Bliss
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This girl in the Late Afternoon Sunset is Like a Dream on Skates
A dream like scenarios with a girl on skates enjoying and exploring golden hour as the sun sets. Music is mysterious and ambient with a quality of unreality and illusion, though the title is “Lust or Love” by Arulo, it imbues less a feeling of lust but rather metaphysical floating in a world of dreams and random thoughts.
Surf Sounds of Air and Sunset, aDrift among the Palm Sweet Soliloquy
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Surf Sounds of Air and Sunset, aDrift among the Palm Sweet Soliloquy
The music winds and floats and takes a dream to a foreign unknown shore. Endless summer and a sunset island fantasy come true. Enjoy the track and transport your mind into relaxing sea and surf. Ambient Relaxation Therapy Forever.
Lonely wafted and adrift in clam and clean motionless ocean glass. Colors of the sky with incredible soft pastel rays of light, rising from the furthest point of infinity. Gulls fly and dreams envelope now. Featuring: “Opalescent” by Eugenio Mininni
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Ceremonial Sustenance Waveforms: Standing Above from Within Ourselves
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As massive political and economic crises come into focus a must-solve climate issue looms
After nearly four years of madness emanating from the White House, now, even as the world reels from a pandemic that has yet to show signs of abating, another issue is still to come back into the center of our consciousness, and soon. If and when the vaccines and immune system strengths among survivors increases, other serious issues will come to the forefront, if not sooner.
Along with another great recent documentary on how to solve the climate crisis, “Kiss the Ground“, this documentary is inspired by the book by Naomi Klein and is called ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’. It is unique in that it exposes the deep and obvious ties between failed capitalist systems and the climate crisis. Since we are already facing, as 2021 rapidly approaches, a twin if not triple group of crises, with the economic devastation potentially even worse, in the coming years, than either the pandemic or the climate crisis, the message of this film is more urgent than ever.
The premise that the climate crisis actually presents an opportunity to change the entire world economic system for the better has been made even more pertinent and cogent by the events of 2020, both by the political disaster brought about by Trump, particularly his anti-environmental crusades, and the pandemic, which brought economic hardship upon millions worldwide.
The future is, in some ways, clearer than ever before
The positive side of this debate, what ‘could be‘ rather than the devastating and depressing reality of what already is, has a great potential to become a growing and expanding movement in 2021 and beyond. Ultimately, the climate crisis, as an extinction level threat, is, without a doubt, a wake-up call for the entire human race and almost certainly the last one that will be coming.
In other words, we all need to wake up to what might be the only solutions to this threat, or else we simply won’t be around to try any alternative solutions.
Academy Award winner George Clooney took on dual roles as producer and star in the now available Netflix movie “The Midnight Sky”. The film is based and adapted off the science fiction novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton called “Good Morning, Midnight”.
During an interview with the NYT, Clooney talked about the movie, as well as his thoughts on the future of movie theaters and Hollywood.
His thoughts on his movie premiering on a streaming service and the future of theaters:
“People want to get out of their house — I got twins, man! And it’s still a great way to ask somebody out. Comedies are great in cinemas, scary movies are great in cinemas. So I don’t see it completely going away.”
How would he know without box office numbers if his movie would be a “success”:
“Look, I’ll be 60 this year, and I get to be on a set with people I adore and work in a profession that I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to do. So I guess that’s sort of the victory in the whole thing. I didn’t have it for the early part of my life — I did jobs I hated and lived for the weekend.”
His character in the movie is a man focused on career versus love and family. Was that ever him?
Yeah, but I hadn’t found the person that filled everything up for me, that would have made me fully in love. I dated a lot of really terrific women, but Amal showed up and suddenly it was like, “Well, this is different on every level for me.” I don’t think I was actively saying, “I’m just going to work on my career and I’m not going to have a wife.” That was the story that got told about me, but it wasn’t really the reality.
“The Midnight Sky” has already been delivered as a crowdpleaser among those that have viewed the film and has garnered talks that Clooney is in line for multiple Oscar category nominations; for best director and picture. Clooney’s fellow cast include: Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo.
The film is a post-apocalyptic story about an astronomer named Augustine, played by Clooney. Set in a remote outpost in the Arctic, he receives news of a catastrophic event, forcing him and his fellow scientists to evacuate. After refusing to leave his post, he come across a mysterious child, Iris, played by newcomer actor Caoilinn Springall. Together they race to contact a group of astronauts who are making their return home from a mission to Jupiter in order to avoid the global catastrophe.
Check out “The Midnight Sky” is now available to stream on Netflix.
Seinfeld” holiday Festivus is among us: Time for the Airing of Grievances
Every year on December 23, a different kind of holiday comes round, one that stands apart in its unique perspective and knocks traditional celebrations aside, with humor. If you are finding it hard to muster any “holiday cheer”, don’t worry, that is why Festivus was created, a holiday for the rest of us.
If you have no idea what Festivus is, that ok, it is a made-up holiday many have come to celebrate, originating as a plot twist from the 90’s sitcom “Seinfeld”.
The holiday exists in stark contrast to the traditional, not surprising, being that it is a concoction from a 90s sit-com. Instead it’s taken on a life in the real world as a non-religious and anti-holiday of sorts, veering far from the realm of commercial (gift giving) so heavily associated with December holidays.
“I’ve got a lot of problems with you people!”
Festivus also comes with some pretty unique traditions, including gathering round a bare aluminum pole (instead of decorated tree or lit Menorah) for the “feats of strength” display (a wresting match). Then in the ultimate Festivus ceremony; an orgy of comic-relief known as the “airing of grievances”.
The latter is an opportunity to gather round and let the people in your life know exactly how they have disappointed you. Or really just a time to comically and exaggeratedly complain about literally anything and everything that has happened to you throughout the year.
Festivus is, of course no more possible to physically stage this year than many aspects of the traditional holiday festivities. However, it does have one huge advantage, in fantasy, over traditional holiday celebrations.
It allows for, and even demands, an insane explosion of complaining, a cathartic griping and a no-holds-barred primal screaming against the “year-like-no-other” a.k.a. the year from hell.
And maybe a deluge of grievances and an orgy of anger is the only release that would allow us to make it whole past the holidays in into 2021.
And maybe, the turning of the wished for happy holiday clichés on their head, one day per year in any case, is just what we need to end this sh*t-show of a 12 month stretch. That’s why we should all honor; Festivus for the rest of us.
Check out the below meme-worthy posts that epitomize Festivus :
Once more defying logic Trump insists the Democrats are right for wanting bigger checks
In yet another bizarre missive, this time via video, the long fought battle over the 2nd coronavirus relief package is suddenly sent into a chaotic last minute re-do. Trump called the $600 check amount and other aspects of the current bill a “disgrace, at once criticizing the paltry sum and also stating:
“It’s called the Covid relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with Covid, Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists and special interests while sending the bare minimum to the American people.”
Just how odd this announcement today is underscored by the fact that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who along with Democrats had, for months, pushed similarly sized checks, reacted positively to the announcement:
“Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks. At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!” she said in a tweet.
Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks. At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it! https://t.co/Th4sztrpLV
Some have speculated, on twitter and elsewhere, that this was a kind of revenge move by Trump against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for having the temerity to tell the truth and acknowledge that Joe Biden is the president-elect. After tweets bashing McConnell, this is an escalation of the same tantrum by Trump.
Although the bill was passed by a large bi-partisan majority, it’s massive size — weighing in at 5,593 pages — as well as the rush with which it was passed engendered critics on the left and the right, even as it was passed within less time that many in congress could possible have read it.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, likened the rushed vote on so many unread measures to “hostage-taking,” while extreme right wing Senator Ted Cruz, said that it was “ABSURD.”
This is why Congress needs time to actually read this package before voting on it.
Members of Congress have not read this bill. It’s over 5000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in 2 hours.
As has been the case many times in the past, Trump may suddenly sing a different tune at any moment, or the Republican side might defy Trump and refuse to amend the bill.
Stay tuned for more breaking news, as it will no doubt be coming down the pike any minute now…
Former President Barack Obama continues his annual tradition, one that he has observed since he was first in office, where he shares his list of favorite TV shows and movies for the year. Throughout the years Obama has limited his selection to 3, yet he expanded his list to 10 for 2020, apparently because, like the majority of us, he had a lot of extra time on his hands to stream and watch videos.
In his tweet, Obama said:
“Like everyone else, we were stuck inside a lot this year, and with streaming further blurring the lines between theatrical movies and television features, I’ve expanded the list to include visual storytelling that I’ve enjoyed this year, regardless of format,”
Among the top TV shows chosen include: “The Queen’s Gambit”, “Mrs. America”, “Better Call Saul”, “The Good Lord Bird”, “The Last Dance”, and “I May Destroy You”.
On the film side, Obama’s choices, which not surprisingly also include some of AP’s list of best movies: “Mank”, “Boys State”, Lovers Rock”, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, and a documentary produced by Barack’s production company, “Crip Camp”.
Like everyone else, we were stuck inside a lot this year, and with streaming further blurring the lines between theatrical movies and television features, I’ve expanded the list to include visual storytelling that I’ve enjoyed this year, regardless of format. pic.twitter.com/a8BS8jDkSs
We’ve included some TV and movie trailers that held the top spots for Obama’s movie list. All the videos below are currently available to stream through the various platforms: Netflix, HBO, Showtime, Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime Video:
Russia and others speculate on what will become of ‘Trumpusha’
When Trump leaves the White House come January 20th, he will undoubtedly have many obstacles to face, both legal and in his business concerns. Meanwhile, it still remains unclear if Trump has plans to try and preemptively pardon himself (and that point is moot since it only covers federal crimes), as he stands to face charges for numerous offenses related to fraud, tax evasion and sexual assault.
What will happen with Trump as he makes his likely final exit as president is a question on many people’s minds, including at the Kremlin, interestingly.
Russian state media have expressed concern about their dear “Trumpusha” or “Comrade Trump” as he is sometimes referred to. During a state-run TV talk show ‘Russia-1’, Olga Skabeeva brought up the “serious” possibility that the soon to be ex-President should seek asylum within Russia in order to avoid the prosecutions that will surely follow him at the end of his term.
Other Russian leaders also had more to say, such as Defense Ministry’s Public Council Igor Korotchenko, who also spoke out to defend Trump; which is reportedly a stark contrast to his traditionally combative stance toward other Western leaders.
“Russia can offer political asylum to the persecuted former president of the United States, Donald Trump. But let him not simply arrive to Rostov or elsewhere, but also transfer his capital here and finally build his famous Trump City somewhere in our New Moscow.”
Day by day the options for Trump dwindle and recede, it seems…
U.S. laws may or may not allow Trump to roam free after he is no longer protected by presidential immunity to prosecution. Yet in Russia, a country who’s laws have the ability to stretch and blur leaders’ accountability, like the constitutional amendment barring any criminal liability for Putin, should he ever step down, that was recently advanced.
The amendment that would secure immunity from any type of criminal prosecution not just within the tenure of the country’s former presidents, but lifetime criminal immunity. Which is just the kind of thing Trump might be wishing for right about now.
During the Russia-1 TV show, politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky spoke to the idea of potential last-minute surprises that could still be unveiled prior to the 20th of January.
“You don’t know Trump, he has plenty of tricks up his sleeve and can still cause lots of damage to America and the entire world.” This could be an indicator of the reason why Putin held out for as long as possible in acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden.
Ever the Trump cheerleader, Putin has some encouraging words
During an annual news conference, Putin, on center stage, spoke of Trump, future U.S.-Russia relations, as well as continued to deflect questions stemming from the long-standing allegations of Russia’s involvement with hacking and interference in the 2016 presidential elections.
When asked about the U.S. elections and what Trump’s future would hold, he seemed very optimistic on Trump’s possible future options when he said:
“He is an experienced man both in domestic and foreign policy, and we expect that all the problems that arose, or at least some of them, will be solved with the new administration. Trump, in my view, doesn’t have to find a job, almost 50% of the [US] population voted for him if we count the number of voters, not the electoral college. He has quite a large base of support in the U.S. and, as far as I understand, he is not going to leave the political life of his country.”
Dirty Politics and crazy hunt for voter fraud conspiracy ‘proof’ continues
Mark Aguirre, a former captain for the Houston Police Department (HPD) was charged with assault after running an A/C repairman off the road and then holding him at gunpoint. Aguirre was fired from HPD back in 2003 for a botched raid on illegal street racing. The reason for the violent altercation? Aguirre claimed the man was the mastermind of voter-election fraud scheme. He was nothing but an AC Repairman going about his business.
In the Fox news account, however, there was no mention of the fact that the man was not involved with ballots or the election.
According to the affidavit, the defendant stated the driver held “approximately seven hundred and fifty thousand fraudulent mail ballots and is using Hispanic children to sign the ballots because the children’s fingerprints would not appear in any databases”.
What was actually inside the A/C repairman truck? Police inspected thoroughly and found that his vehicle was filled with air conditioning parts and tools, zero ballots, nor anything resembling such items.
While the above information implies the possibility that the allegations by the defendant could have some kernel of truth behind them, they fall apart completely and show the opposite when the most glaringly important fact is omitted.
This story was first broken by the Associated Press and then picked up and expanded on by many others, including the Washington Post and, of course Fox News. The Fox News version was notable for a very significant omission: they chose not to mention that the ‘ballots” were never in the truck and there were no ballots. Here are some of the comments from the Fox News thread:
“Here is the key detail that was omitted in this description of the story: KTRK (Houston): “According to court documents, there were no ballots in the truck. The truck was filled with air conditioning parts and tools.”
The police found nothing but HVAC material in the guy’s truck. Read basically every other article on this and you will see they found ZERO BALLOTS.
The reason that Fox omits this statement of fact from the article is that they know a good percentage of their base believes in these crackpot theories. They can’t be calling out their base for being insane, so they just dance around the facts in this article so that they can avoid alienating that part of their base.
Go read some of the comments. The fact that Fox didn’t put the fact that there were no ballots in the truck is enough to make people think they DID find something but they are keeping it quiet because it’s all part of the bigger conspiracy.
It took them 2 months and they only charged him with assault. How about willful reckless driving, unlawful detainment, kidnapping, use of a weapon to commit a felony.
Fox left out part of the story that was mentioned in every Texas paper. “There were no ballots in the truck,” according to the Harris district attorney’s office press release. “It was filled with air conditioning parts and tools.” There, you have the rest of the story.
From all appearances,’crazies’ are being recruited, then go over the edge trying to fabricate “evidence”
Trump has spread so many lies about the election being “stolen”, “rigged” and riddled with “fraud”, all baseless to the point of insanity, if viewed from a sane perspective. Yet this story shows how there are always “unintended” consequences. Trump’s GOP base and MAGA followers, because of his crazy rants, have gone to ever more extreme measures to try to prove what cannot be proven, that the election was somehow corrupt.
The story is even more bizarre, once the facts emerge, such as how it was revealed Aguirre received a payment of $266,400 from a GOP mega-donor, a Houston organization, Liberty Center for God and Country.
The CEO of the organization, Steven Hotze , reportedly hired Aguirre to investigate voter fraud. Hotze sued, and was unsuccessful, in an attempt to have nearly 127,000 votes deposited at drive-thru polling sites invalidated.
Aguirre told police that he assembled a group of friends to set up a post at the Marriott hotel where they conducted 24-hour surveillance on the repairman for 4 days.
Nothing about Aguirre’s allegations matched up and the Harris Country District Attorney Office called the story “bogus”. District Attorney Kim Ogg commented “He crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed”.
On Dec. 16 he was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, Aguirre can face up to 20 years in prison.
After the Electoral College affirmed what the majority of us already knew, that President-elect Joe Biden won over President Trump, with an electoral count of 306 vs 232, coincidentally the same margin as Trump had and called a “landslide” in 2016, perhaps a sigh of relief can finally happen. Or even a little laugh. What better way to bid farewell to Trump than with a viral Twitter video.
Paul Lee Teeks shared a hilarious video of Trump being rolled out of the White House while he rants and raves about the “rigged” and “stolen” election. Trump blabs and continues to flap his gums all the way until the end when he is wheeled and lifted up into a moving truck.
The original video comes from creator of the “The President Show” Tony Atamanuik from the Comedy Central network. Teeks recreated the video placing the head of Trump (versus a caricature in the original) with dubbed audio, creating mass interest within the social media world. The hashtags #LoserOfTheCentury and #TrumpIsALaughingStock trended as a result.
If you like winning, this is your chance to do it, over and over and over…
Never before has a presidential candidate won his election so many times. Never before has a loser found so many ridiculous ways to avoid conceding to the winner. Of course, it is the very fact that a loser has brazenly lied and fabricated nonsense reasons and accusations to contest at every opportunity that has created the possibility for Biden to win, again and again.
First, Joe Biden won what appeared to be a relatively narrow victory on election day with enough confirmed electoral votes, along with a lead in enough other states to create an impossibility for Trump to get to 270, the margin of votes needed to prevail.
Next Biden was declared winner in states which had held back in declaring a projected winner. Then the re-counts, court challenges and and final tallies commenced.
Pennsylvania gave him a win. That was a big win and he became President-elect. Then the Georgia re-count was another time to celebrate his victory. And Arizona, a state he flipped for the first time since 1996, and before that a Republican won there since 1948.
So, get ready everyone, on December 14th there will be another win for Joe Biden. Tired of winning yet?
In the end Biden will have, barring any absolutely and totally unlikely changes, 306 electoral votes. “A landslide” according to Trump when it was his exact winning number. Of course he did not get more than 80 million popular votes, or vanquish his opponent by more than 6 million. That’s only another unique and first in all history – big big win for Biden.
Trump lost the popular vote by 2.9 million votes in 2016.
A comet, a meteor shower and a total eclipse of the sun (visible in some parts of the Earth) will all occur on December 14th. It also will be the final deadline for the Electoral College to officially confirm Joe Biden as President-elect. Are the stars, planets and even meteors in our solar system feeling like celebrating?
Florida is the only one of the four most populous states that has, as of yet, already been certified. Early in December was the deadline for the other large ones: California, Texas and New York. None of them were ever in doubt, of course.
Talk of “faithless electors” being put into action by Trump is becoming les and less likely by the day. Not 100% off the table but around 99.9999% not gonna happen.
I wonder if Trump is tired of losing yet? Gas-up the private jet. Moscow’s waiting.
Electoral College meets on Dec. 14, and all states must be certified before that, while any challenges to the results must have been resolved by Dec. 8.
In a filing at the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., on December 9th, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission, together with 46 states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, alleged that Facebook employed anticompetitive tactics, allowing it to bully and bury its rivals. In a strongly worded brief it recommends that the massive company be broken up, specifically by divesting itself of Instagram and WhatsApp.
“For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition. By using its vast troves of data and money, Facebook has squashed or hindered what the company perceived to be potential threats.”
–New York attorney general, Letitia James, representing the state group, at a news conference
After the 18 month long investigation, charges are finally arriving, well after Facebook has already made extensive retaliatory changes to its products. The changes that were implemented, which interlinked the functionality of Facebook apps with Instagram and WhatsApp, are clearly meant to try and make it technically impossible, or at least difficult for them to function separately again.
This amounts to a way of using computer code to fabricate a “moat”, basically an excuse or impediment which they hope, apparently, would make it impossible to reverse the changes, in the event they are forced to sell off the previously separate companies.
The brazen and obvious action which appears designed to impede and block any remedies that the court could impose is reminiscent of the now infamous “move fast and break things” motto often attributed to Mark Zuckerberg, and the, just as famous, Silicon Valley truism “Ask forgiveness not permission”.
This kind of preemptive obstruction, while not necessarily illegal in any way, is nevertheless a perfect reflection of the attitude also associated with Facebook via Peter Thiel: “Competition is for Losers” phrase which stems from title of a WSJ article on Thiel’s book and which was adopted fondly by the billionaire.
It is important, from a layman’s perspective, to note that being big or being, effectively, a monopoly, is not enough, necessarily, to justify drastic government imposed remedies. The behavior, however, in other words, wether or not there was abuse of the power a monopoly affords, is crucial.
In the past several years Facebook has been found to be guilty of abuses, primarily in European cases, as have Google and Amazon. All the evidence, so pervasive as to be easily noted by even a casual observer, points to a pattern of behavior that could be seen, and possibly even proven to be, predatory and abusive of market power.
The response from Facebook has been anything but substantive, with the initial defense being a very weak statement that the government should not be allowed “do-overs”:
“Those acquisitions were cleared and if you can buy a company, and eight years, 10 years later, the government can clear them and unwind it — that’s going to be a really big chilling problem for American business, we are not going to be competitive around the world,”
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, in a recent interview with Tamron Hall
The facts in no way back up this surprisingly flaccid response, since the mergers were, in fact never, “approved” just not blocked at the time, and in public statements, in writing, the FTC clearly and specifically stated:
“This action is not to be construed as a determination that a violation may not have occurred, The Commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require.”
As for the decades old “we are not going to be competitive around the world,” comment that is the oldest excuse for awarding big internet companies with special status to run amok going back to Al Gore’s “Internet Superhighway” exemptions from the early 90s.
To quote Kara Swisher in a recent New York Times opinion piece:
“Those charged with regulation have given companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon a very wide berth to grow into some of the most valuable entities in the history of the planet. Their founders are among the richest people ever.”
— Kara Swisher, in the New York Times
And, in case anyone is feeling sorry for poor Facebook, it’s also pertinent to point out that what they claim to need or be entitled to is exactly the kind of special treatment and license to break rules that others would have to abide by.
And that status and privilege is exactly what enabled Facebook (and Amazon and Google) to become so massive and so intensely inclined toward abuse of market power in the first place.
“Action as the public interest may require. “ Remember that phrase, you may be hearing it often, over the next few years, in relation to Facebook, Google and Amazon. And, in the end, it is the public verdict in the marketplace that will ultimately have the power to intercede with enough force to achieve change.
Above: Photo Collage / Time Inc. / Mock up of Der Spiegel Concept
Changing America’s Story and Awarding Trump what he has Earned
On the same day that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris received the “Time’s Person of the Year” designation, jointly, in another of the new twists that Time likes to feature, Trump got his own award from Germany’s ‘Der Spiegel’ magazine: Loser of the year.
While anyone who has been paying attention, noticed that Trump deserved this award most, if not, all the years of his life, this year it is particularly fitting as he earned it with the most lies and potentially, the most alleged indictable crimes.
Featuring Kamala Harris as co-Person of the year is a nice touch, since she is both a woman of color and was attacked in a particularly vicious and personal way by Trump and his Republican minions during the campaign.
Further, the possibility of real partnership to oust a misogynistic and racist foe showed that humility, dignity and compassion for others could actually win against a bully and, with Kamala Harris on the ticket, could demonstrate leadership and leaders, who are not bullies or failed human beings but empathetic and fully functioning people capable of cooperation and teamwork.
For so many, indeed, over 81.2 million, the time was right to join together and take the old saying “nice guys (or gals) finish last” and turn it on its head – This year, the best man & woman won and the world’s biggest a-hole lost big, which, though long-ish, makes for a more apt phrase to sum up 2020, in the presidential race, at any rate.
CD Projekt Red, makers of “Witcher” launch its newest game
It is here; Cyberpunk 2077 has finally had its official launch! The massive and complex RPG is now available around the globe. CD Projekt Red encountered major obstacles getting this game out, including: delays, leaks and crunch. However, nearly 8 years and after $130 million spent, the game is ready and accessible through the various compatible devices, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, and Google Stadia.
At the start of the game, you get to customize the main character and protagonist named V. The extensive character builder and roleplaying decisions allow you to customize your character, down to the T, or P in this case, with even 5 crazy options for pubic hair. In the end no two players will likely design the same version of V, nor have the exact playing experience.
We’ve compiled some tips and helpful tricks below that will be to your benefit before you take on the giant world of Night City.
Don’t just play the main quest or only use fast travel
All the early release gamers have been desperately trying to finish the primary quests in order to give an overall review of the game. However it’s noteworthy that there are a lot of additional side quests that can be really fun, sometimes even more than the main missions. Taking on more of the optional quests will give gamers access to better ending alternatives. The take away; do more side quests and you’ll get more satisfying ending options for your character V. Also worth mentioning, you can “fail” side quests with no chances to re-do them, so take them on as seriously as the main ones.
Within the game there will be fast travel points that you can use. Although tempting and sometimes necessary to quickly meet your objective in a timely manner, we suggest you don’t always depend on this mode. There can be rewards for traveling by use of car or motorbike when time allows. With the expansive landscape of Night City, you will find that there’s tons to see and do, and traveling manually you will definitely find some cool things along the way. Examples include finding crimes being committed that you can get rewarded ($$) to break it up and get the perpetrators.
Get your “gig” on for some cash
In addition to side quests, there are also “gigs” which are usually related to some sort of exchange/ trade. A “Fixer” will ask you to do a job and in return you’ll get money. Money that you will need in order to buy things like cars, new weapons and upgrades. Gigs are fun and challenging and usually don’t take up that much time, typically around 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Just as mentioned with side quests, gigs can also be failed and unfortunately if you lose, there is no cash , which can leave you feeling like you did all that for nothing.
Your experience will never be the same
As mentioned at the start, from building your character, you are like a beautiful snowflake, in that no other player can exactly replicate the look of your V, nor the way in which you go through the game. All the choices and decisions you make in Cyberpunk 2077 matter. The staggering amount of choices and the approach to your quest, like how you confront your enemies have tangible impacts on the virtual world around you. All choices, however small you may initially deem them are in fact quite significant, drastic and hold lasting affects. So keep in mind, how you go about completing missions and basically everything you do, will impact your playing experience.
Yes there are bugs
Unfortunately, even though we all got an early warnings of this, there are some bugs. Users have shared clips of glitches, freezes/frame rate issues and more continue to pop up on social media as the games becomes more readily available. It is unclear if gamers (on console or PC) were trying the game with the day zero patch or not. CD Project Red did note that if the game was preloaded before the launch, when booted up it would already have the patch.
Academy Award winner George Clooney has taken on the ambitious task of both producing and starring in the Netflix movie “The Midnight Sky”. The film is based and adapted off the science fiction novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton called “Good Morning, Midnight”.
The movie, which has already been delivered as a crowdpleaser among those that viewed the film early, has garnered talks that Clooney is in line for multiple Oscar category nominations; for best director and picture. Clooney’s fellow cast include: Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo.
Hope finds a way. From Academy Award® winner George Clooney, The Midnight Sky premieres on Netflix December 23rd. pic.twitter.com/BQpYn03Fpm
The film is a post-apocalyptic story about an astronomer named Augustine, played by Clooney. Set in a remote outpost in the Arctic, he receives news of a catastrophic event, forcing him and his fellow scientists to evacuate. After refusing to leave his post, he come across a mysterious child, Iris, played by newcomer actor Caoilinn Springall. Together they race to contact a group of astronauts who are making their return home from a mission to Jupiter in order to avoid the global catastrophe.
Check out “The Midnight Sky” which will be released on the streaming platform Netflix come December 23.
